DUKE UNIVERSITY 
 
 DIVINITY SCHOOL 
 LIBRARY 
 
 FRANK BAKER COLLECTION 
 OF 
 WESLEYANA 
 AND 
 BRITISH METHODISM 
 
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 1VERLASTIN G REST: 
 
 OR, 
 A TREATISE 
 + ' ON THE 
 
 BLESSED STATE OF THE SAINTS, 
 IN THEIR : 
 Enjoyment of God in Heaven. 
 ALSO, - 
 
 «Gall to the enconverten. 
 
 Written BY THE Rev. RicHARD BAXTER. 
 
 zs —<—Fer- 
 } j 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 
 
 _A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO PENITENTS, 
 
 ‘ 
 By tHe Rev. Jonn FLETCHER, 
 
 ALLEINE’S ALARM. 
 
 Je 
 . MR. BAXTER’S EPITAPH. 
 
 Farewell, vain World,---as thou hast been to me, 
 Dust endl a shadow, those I leave with thee ; 
 The unseen vital substance, | commit 
 
 To him that’s Substance, Life, Light, Love, fo it. 
 The leaves and fruit are ‘dropp’ d for soil and seed, 
 Heaven's heirs to generate---to heal and feed ; 
 ‘lhem also thou wilt flatter and mulest, 
 
 But shalt not keep from Everlasting Rest. 
 
 ee 
 “LONDON: 
 PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY HENRY FISHER, 
 
 (PRINTER IN ORDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY.) ' 
 
 BOLD AT 87, BARTHNOLOMEW CLOSE,’AND BY THE 
 BOOKSELLERS. 
 
THE PREFACE. 
 
 Mr. Ricuarp Baxter, the author of the Saint's 
 Rest, so well known to the world by this, and many 
 other excellent and useful writings, was a learned, la- 
 borious, and eminent holy divine, of the 17th centu- 
 ry. He was born near Shrewsbury, in 1615, and died 
 at London, in 169]. 
 
 His ministry, in an unsettled state, was for many 
 years employed with great and extensive success, both 
 in London, and in several parts of the country; but 
 he was nowhere fixed so long, or with such entire sa- 
 tisfaction to himself, and apparent advantage to others, 
 as at Kidderminster.—His abode there was indeed in- 
 terrupted partly by his bad health, but chiefly by the 
 ealamities of a civil war, yet in the whole it amount- 
 ed_to sixteen_years; nor was it by any means the 
 result of his own choice, or that of the inhabitants of | 
 Kidderminster, that he never settled there again, af- 
 ter his going from thence in 1660. Before his com- 
 ing thither, the place was over-run with ignorance and 
 profaneness; but, on the divine blessing on his wise 
 and faithful cultivation, the fruits of righteousness 
 sprung up in rich-abundance. He at first found but 
 a single instance or two of daily family prayer in a 
 whole street, and, at his going away, but one family 
 or two could be found in some streets that continued 
 to neglect it. And on Lord’s day, instead of the open 
 profanation to which they had been so long accus-' 
 
 ‘ 
 
WwW PREFACE. 
 
 tomed, a person, in passing through the town, in the 
 intervals of public worship, might overhear hundreds 
 of families engaged in singing psalms, reading the 
 scriptures, and other good books, or such sermons 
 as they had wrote down, while they heard them 
 from the pulpit. His care of the souls committed 
 to his charge, and the success of his labours among 
 them, were truly remarkable; for the number of his 
 - stated communicants rose to six hundred, of whom 
 he himself declared, there were not twelve concern- 
 ing whose sincere piety he had not reason to enter- 
 tain good hopes. Blessed -be God, the religious 
 spirit which was thus happily introduced, is yet to be 
 traced in the own and neighbourhood in some de- 
 gree: (O that it were in a greater!) and in proportion 
 as that spirit remains, the name of Mr. Baxter con- 
 tinues in the most honourable and affectionate re- 
 “membrance. 
 
 As a writer, he has the approbation of some of his 
 greatest contemporaries, who best knew him, and were 
 under no temptations to be partial in his favour.—Dr. 
 Barrow said, ‘“‘ His practical writings were never mend- 
 *‘ ed, and his controversial ones seldom confuted.”—. 
 With a view to his casuistical writings, the honourable 
 Robert Boyle, Esq. declared, ‘‘ He was the fittest man 
 “of his age for a casuist, because he feared no mans 
 ‘displeasure, nor hoped for any man’s preferment.” 
 —Bishop Wilkins observed of him, ‘“‘ That he had 
 “cultivated every subject he had handled; that if he 
 ‘‘had lived in the primitive times, he would have 
 “been one of the fathers of the church; and that it 
 ** was enough for one age to produce such a person as 
 * Mr. Baxter.” Archbishop Usher had such high 
 thoughts of him, that by his earnest importunity he 
 put him upon writing several of his practical discour- 
 ses, particularly that celebrated piece, his Cal to the 
 Unconverted. Mr. Danton, as he freely expressed it, 
 “thought Mr. Baxrer came nearer the apostolical 
 *“‘ writings than any man in the age.”—And it 1s both as 
 a preacher, and a writer, that Dr. Bates considers him, 
 when in his funeral sermon for him he says, “In hig 
 
PREFACE. Vv 
 
 ‘‘ sermons there was a rare union of arguments and 
 “« motives, to convince the mind, and gain the heart. 
 ‘« All the fcuntains of reason and persuasion were open 
 “to the discerning eye. There was no resisting the 
 “‘ force of his discourses, without denying reason and 
 “divine revelation. He had. a marvellous facility 
 “and copiousness in speaking. There was noble 
 “negligence in his style, for his great mind could 
 ‘“* not stoop to the affected eloquence of words; he 
 “‘ despised flashy oratory; but his expressions were 
 “clear and powerful, so convincing the understand- 
 “‘ ing, so entering into the soul, so engaging the affec- 
 “‘ tions, that those were as deaf as adders who were 
 “not charmed by so wise acharmer. He was animat-° 
 “ed with the Holy Spirit, and breathed celestial fire, 
 “to inspire heat and life into dead sinners, and to 
 “‘melt the obdurate in their frozen tombs. His 
 “‘ books, for their number, (which it seems were more 
 “than one hundred and twenty,) and variety of mat- 
 “ter in them, make a library.. They contain a trea- 
 ** sure of controversial, casuistical, and practical divi- 
 “nity. His books of practical divinity have been 
 ** effectual for more numerous conversions of sinners 
 “to God, than any printed in our time; and, while 
 ‘the church remains on earth, will be of continual 
 “* efficacy to recover lost souls. There is a vigorous 
 “pulse in them, that keeps the reader awake and at- 
 *“‘tentive.” To these testimonies may not be impro- 
 perly added that of the editors of his Practical Works, - 
 in four folio volumes; in the Preface to which they 
 ‘say, “‘ Perhaps there aré no writings among us that 
 ‘** have more of a true Christian spirit, a greater mix- 
 “ture of judgment and affection, a greater tendency 
 “to revive pure and undefiled religion, that have 
 *“« been more esteemed abroad, or more blessed at home 
 ‘“‘for the awakening the secure, instructing the igno- 
 “rant, confirming the wavering, comforting the de- 
 “jected, recovering the profane, or improving such 
 ““as are truly serious, than the practical works of this 
 ‘“‘ author.” Such were the apprehensions of eminent 
 persons, who were well acquainted with Mr. Baxter 
 
vi ' PREFACE. _ 
 and his writings. It is therefore the less remarkable 
 
 that Mr. Addison, from an accidental and very. im- — 
 perfect acquaintance, but with his usual pleasantness” 
 and candour, should mention the following inci-— 
 dent: “I once met with a page of Mr. Baxter. 
 0); h 1 of it I ived d an ide 
 
 pon the perusal of it I conceived so good an idea 
 “of the author's piety, that I bought the whole 
 ** book.” 
 
 consult but his Bible, and in such an ill state of health, 
 as to be in continual expectation of death for many 
 months; and therefore, merely for his own use, he 
 fixed his thoughts on this heavenly subject, ‘* which - 
 (says he) hath more benefited me than all the stu- 
 dies of my life.” At this time he cculd be little more 
 than thirty years old. He afterwards preached over 
 the subject in his weekly lecture at Kidderminster, and 
 ‘in 1656 he published it; and indeed it appears to 
 have been the first that ever he pnblished of all his 
 practical writings. Of this book Dr. Bates says, “ It 
 “was written by him when languishing in the sus- 
 ** pence of life and death, but has the signatures of his 
 “holy vigorous mind. To allure our desires, he un- 
 “‘ vails the sanctuary above, and discovers the glories 
 “ and joys of the blessed in the divine presence, by a 
 “light so strong and lively, that all the glittering va- 
 “* nities of this world vanish in that comparison, and a 
 “ sincere believer will despise them, as one of mature. 
 “age doés the toys and baubles of children. To ev- 
 “ cite our fears, he removes the screen, and makes the 
 
| m us 
 PREFACE. vil 
 *¢ everlasting fire of hell so visible, and represents the 
 “‘ tormenting passions of the damned in those dread- 
 “ful colours, that, if duly considered, would check 
 “ and control the unbridled licentious appetites of the 
 - “ most sensual wretches.” ~ 
 Heavenly rest is a subject, in its own nature so uni- 
 versally important and interesting, and at the same 
 time so truly engaging and delightful, as. sufficiently 
 accounts for the great acceptance which this book has 
 met with; and partly also for the uncommon blessing 
 which has attended Mr. Baxrer’s manner of treat- 
 ing the subject, both from the pulpit and the press. 
 For where are the operations of divine grace more rea- 
 sonably to be expected, or where have they in fact 
 been more frequently discerned, than in concurrence 
 with the best adapted means? And should it appear, 
 ‘that persons of distinguishing judgment and _ piety, 
 have expressly ascribed their first religious impres- 
 sions to the hearing or reading the important senti- 
 ments contained in this book: or, after a long series 
 of years, have found it both the counterpart and_the 
 improvement of their own divine life, will not this be 
 thought..a considerable recommendation of, the book 
 itself? 
 _ Among the instances of persons that dated their 
 true conversion from hearing the sermons on the Saint's 
 Rest, when Mr, Baxter first preached them, was the 
 Rev. Thomas Doolittle, M. A. who was a native of 
 Kidderminster, and at that time a scholar, about seven- - 
 teen years old; whom Mr. Baxter himself afterwards 
 sent to Pembroke-hall, in Cambridge, where he took 
 his degree. Before his going to the university, he 
 was upon trial as an attorney's clerk, and under that 
 character being ordered by his master to write some- 
 thing on a Lord’s day, he obeyed with great reluc- 
 tance, and the next day returned home, with an ear- 
 nest desire that he might not apply himself to any 
 thing as the employment of life, but serving Christ 
 in the ministry of the gospel. His praise is*yet in the 
 churches, for his pious and useful labours, as a minis- 
 ter, a tutor,-and a writer. © eae 
 
 nal ‘| 
 
rem ° y 
 Vill PREFACE. 
 
 In the life of the Rev. Mr. John Janeway, Feliow 
 of King’s College, Cambridge, who died in 1657, we 
 are told, that his conversion was, in a great measure, 
 occasioned by his reading several parts of the Saint's 
 Rest. And ina letter which he afterwards wrote to 
 a near relative, speaking with a more immediate re- 
 ference to that part of the book which treats of hea- 
 venly contemplation, he says, ‘‘ There is a duty, which, 
 “if it were exercised, would dispel all cause of me- 
 “‘lancholy; I mean heavenly meditation, and con- 
 “templation of the things which true Christian reli- 
 “‘ gion tends to. If we did but walk closely with God 
 “one hour in a day in this duty, oh what influence 
 “would it have upon the whole day besides, and, 
 “‘duly performed, upon the whole life! This duty, 
 ‘* with its usefulness, manner, and directions, I knew 
 ‘‘in some measure before, but had it more pressed 
 “upon me by Mr. Baxter's Saint’s Everlasting Rest, 
 ‘‘ {a book] that can scarce be over-valued, for which I 
 “have cause for ever to bless God.”—This excellent 
 young minister's life is worth reading, were it only to 
 see how delightfully he was engaged in heavenly con- 
 templation, according to the directions in the Saint's 
 Rest. : 
 
 It was the example of heavenly contemplation, at 
 the close of this book, which the Rev. Mr. Joseph 
 Allein, of Taunton, so frequently quoted in conversa- 
 tion, with this solemn introduction, “ Most divinely 
 “says that man of God, holy Mr. Baxter.” 
 
 Dr. Bates in his dedication of his funeral sermon 
 for Mr. Baxter to Sir Henry Ashurst, Bart. tells that 
 religious gentlemen, and most distinguished friend 
 and executor of Mr. Baxter, “‘ He was most worthy 
 “of your highest esteem and love; for the first im- 
 “‘ pressions of heaven upon your soul were in read- 
 “ing his invaluable book of the Saint's Everlasting 
 ** Fest.” 
 
 In. the life of the Rev. Mr. Matthew Henry, we 
 , have the following character given us of Robert War- 
 
 burton, Esq. of Grange, the son of the eminently re- 
 ligious Judge Warburton, and father of Mr. Matthew 
 
PREFACE... 1X 
 
 Henry’s second wife. ‘‘ He was a gentleman that 
 “ oreatly affected retirement and privacy, especially 
 “in the latter part of his life: the Bible, and Mr. 
 “ Baxter's Saint's Everlasting Rest, used to lie daily 
 ‘‘ before him on the table in his parlour; he spent the 
 “« oreatest part of his time in reading and prayer.” 
 
 In the life of that honourable and most religious 
 
 knight, Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston, we are told, that 
 “he was constant in secret prayer and reading the 
 “* scriptures ; afterwards he read other choice authors : 
 “but not long before his death, he took singular de- 
 “light to read Mr. Baxter’s Saint's Everlasting Rest, 
 ‘and Preparations thereunto; which was esteemed a 
 “eracious event of Divine Providence, sending it as 
 “a guide to bring him more speedily and directly to 
 “ that rest.” 
 _ Besides persons of eminence, to whom this book 
 has been precious and profitable, we have an instance, 
 in the Rev. Mr. Janeway’s Tokens for Children, of a 
 “little boy, whose piety was so discovered and promot- 
 ed by reading it, as the most delightful book to him 
 next the Bible, that the thoughts of everlasting rest 
 seemed, even_while he continued _in health, to.swallow 
 up all other thoughts; and he lived in a constant 
 preparation for it, and Jooked more like one that was 
 ripe for glory, than an inhabitant of this lower world. 
 And when he was in the sickness of which he died 
 before he was twelve years old, he said, “I pray, let 
 ““me have Mr. Baxter’s book, that I may read a little 
 “more of eternity, before I go into it.” 
 
 Nor is it less observable, that Mr. Baxter himself, 
 taking notice, in a paper found in his study after his 
 death, what numbers of persons were converted hy 
 reading his Call to the Unconverted, accounts of which 
 he had received by letter every week, expressly adds, 
 “This little book, [the Call to the Unconverted| God 
 “hath blessed with unexpected success, beyond all 
 “that [have written, except the Saint’s Rest.” With 
 an evident reference to this book, and, even during 
 the life of the author, the pious Mr. Flavel affection- 
 ately says, ‘‘ Mr. Baxter is almost in heaven ; living 
 
x. | PREFACE. 
 
 “in the daily views, and cheerful expectation, of the 
 “* Saint's Everlasting Rest with God; and is left for a 
 “little while among us, as a great example of the life 
 “ of faith.” And Mr. Baxter himself says, in his preface 
 to his Treatise of Self-denial,. “1 must say, that of all 
 “the books which I have written, I peruse none so 
 “often for the use of my own soul in its daily work 
 “as my Life of Faith, this of Self-denial, and the last 
 “ part of the Saint’s Rest.” On the whole, it is not 
 without good reason that Dr. Calamy remarks con- 
 cerning it, “‘ This is a book, for which multitudes will 
 “« have cause to bless God for ever.” 
 
 This excellent and useful book now appears in the 
 form of an abridgment, and therefore it is presumed 
 will be the more likely, under a divine blessing, to 
 diffuse its salutary influence among those that would 
 otherwise have wanted opportunity or inclination to 
 read over the large volume. In reducing it to this 
 small size, I have been very desirous to do justice to 
 the author, and at the same time promote the plea- 
 sure and profit of the serious reader. And, I hope, 
 those ends are, in some measure, answered; chiefly 
 by dropping things of a digressive, controversial, or 
 metaphysical nature ; together with prefaces, dedica- 
 tions, and. various allusions to some peculiar circum- 
 stances of the last age; and particularly by throwing 
 several chapters into one, that the number of them 
 may better correspond with the size of the volume; 
 and sometimes by altering the form, but not the sense, 
 of a period, for the sake of brevity ; and when an 
 obsolete phrase occurred, changing it for one more 
 common and intelligible. I should never have thought 
 of attempting this work, if it had not been suggested 
 and urged by others; and by some very respectable 
 names, of whose learning, judgment, and piety, I 
 forbear to avail: myself. However defective this per- 
 formance may appear, the labour of it (if it may be 
 called a labour) has been, I bless God, one of the most 
 delighful labours of my life.-—Certainly the thoughts 
 of everlasting rest may be as delightful to souls in the 
 present day, as they have ever been to those of past 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 generations. Iam sure such thoughts are as absolute- 
 ly necessary now; nor are temptations to neglect them, 
 either fewer or weaker now than formerly. The 
 worth of everlasting rest is not felt, because it is not 
 considered ; it is forgotten, because a thousand trifles 
 are preferred before it. But were the divine reason- 
 ings of this book duly attended to, (and oh that the 
 Spirit and grace of a Redeemer may make them so!) 
 then an age of vanity would. become serious; minds 
 enervated by sensuality, would soon resume the 
 strength of reason, and display the excellence of Chris- 
 tianity ; the delusive names of pleasure would be 
 blotted out, by the glorious reality of heavenly joy 
 ‘upon earth; every station and relation in life would 
 be filled up with the propriety and dignity of serious 
 religion ; every member of society would then effec- 
 tually contribute to the beauty and happiness of the 
 whole ; and every soul would be ready for life or death, 
 for one world or another, in a well-grounded and 
 cheerful persuasion of ,having secured a title to that 
 rest which remaineth to the people of God. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 meen Gh Cette 
 
 ) 
 
 Baxter’s Sarnt’s Evertastine Rest, page 
 
 --~Chap. I. The Introduction to the Work, with some Account 
 of the Nature of the Saint’s Rest, - - --------- 
 Chap. II. The great Preparatives to the Saint’s Rest, - - - 32 
 Chap. III. The Excellencies of the Saint’s Rest,- - - - - - 42 
 Chap. IV. The Character of the Persons for whom this Rest 
 - 18 designed, - -'- --------------=5<== 
 Chap. V. The Misery of those who lose the Saint’s Rest,- - 79 
 Chap. VI. The misery of those who, besides losing the Sainc’s 
 Rest, lose the Enjoyment of Time, and suffer the Tor- 
 ments of Hell; -.- <= - (=< jn <)o)=, = =)-\= Sepa 94 
 Chap. VII. The Necessity of diligently seeking the Saint’s Rest 110 
 ~— Chap. VIII. How to discern our Title to the Saint’s Rest, - 132 
 Chap. IX. The Duty of the People of God to excite others 
 to seek. this “Rest, - - - - - << -'- = «/ste0eueee 154 
 Chap. X. The Saint’s Rest is not to be expected on Earth, - 176 
 «Chap. XI. Importance of leading a heavenly Life upon Earth, 198 
 Chap. XII. Directions how to lead a heavenly Life upon Earth, 219 
 Chap. XIII. The Nature of heavenly Contemplation; with 
 the Time, Place, and Temper, fittest for it, - - - - - - 241 
 Chap. XIV. What Use heavenly Contemplation makes of _ 
 Consideration, Affections, Soliloquy, and Prayer, - - - 235 
 Chap. XV. Heavenly Contemplation assisted by sensible 
 Objects, and guarded against a treacherous Heart, - - 273 
 ~ Chap. XVI. Heavenly Contemplation exemplified, and the 
 whole Work concluded, - - -------------= 291 
 
 A Catt To THE UNCONVERTED, ----------- 319 
 
 Preface, 321---Doctrine I. 327---Use, 331—-Doctrine II. 
 345---Doctrine III. 350---Doctrine IV. 353---Use, 354-— 
 Doctrine V. 357---Doctrine VI. 366---Use, 368---Doc- 
 
 trine VII. 376---Use 380---Directions to Sinners, 396 . 
 —-The Conclusion, 461. 
 
 FLETCHER’s SERIOUS ADDRESS TO THE TRUE PENITENT, 469 
 ALLEINE’s ALARM TO THE UNCONVERTED, - - - - - - 517 
 
 To the unconverted Reader, 519---An earnest Invitation 
 to Sinners, 541---What Conversion is not, 542---What 
 Conversion is, 546---The Necessity of Conversion, 565--- 
 The Marks of the Unconverted, 578---The Miseries of 
 the Unconverted, 586---Directions for Conversion, 599 
 
THE 
 
 SAINT’S EVERLASTING REST. 
 <= @-s 
 
 THERE REMAINETH THEREFORE A REST TO THE PEOPLE. 
 ‘OF GOoD.---Heb. iv. 9. 
 
 =260Qoos— 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 The Introduction to the Work, with some Account of the 
 Nature of the Saint's Rest. 
 
 § 1. The important design of the apostle in the text, to which the 
 author earnestly bespeaks the attention of the reader. § 2. 
 The saint’s rest defined, with a general plan of the work. 
 § 5. What this rest presupposes. § 4. The author’s humble 
 sense of his inability fully to shew what this rest contains. § 5, 
 It contains (1.) A_ceasing from means of grace; § 6. (2.) A 
 perfect freedom from all evils; § 7. (3.) The highest. degree.of. 
 the_saint’s personal perfection, both in body.and soul; § 8. 
 (4.) The nearest enjoyment of God the chief good; § 9---14. (5.) 
 A sweet and constant action ofall the powers of soul and body 
 in this enjoyment of God ; as, for instance, bodily sense, know- 
 ledge, memory, love, joy, together with a mutual love and joy. 
 § 15. The author’s humble reflection on the deficiency of this 
 
 account. s 
 
 § J. IT was not only our interest in God, and .actual 
 enjoyment of him, which was lost in Adam’s fall, - 
 but all_spiritual knowledge of him, and—true—dis- 
 position. towards such a_felicity. When the Son of 
 God comes with recovering grace, and discoveries 
 of a spiritual and eternal happiness and glory, he 
 finds not faith in man to believe it. As the poor man 
 that would not believe any one had such a sum ag 
 a hundred pounds, it was so far above what. himself 
 possessed ; so men will hardly now believe. there is 
 such a happiness as once they had, much less as Christ 
 
14 THE NATURE OF 
 
 hath now procured. When God would give the Israel- 
 _ites his sabbaths of rest, in a land of rest, he had more 
 ado to make them believe it, than to overcome their 
 enemies, and procure it for them.. And when they 
 had it, only as a small intimation and earnest of an 
 incomparably more glorious rest through Christ, they 
 yet believe no more than thy possess, but say, with 
 the glutton at the feast, Sure there is no_other heaven. 
 but this! Or, if they expect more by the Messiah, it 
 is only the increase of their earthly felicity. The apos- 
 tle bestows most of this epistle against this distemper, 
 and clearly and largely proves, that the end of all ce- 
 remonies and shadows, is to direct them to Jesus 
 Christ the substance ; andthat..the_rest_of sabbaths,. 
 and. Canaan, should teach them to look for a farther 
 rest, which indeed _is their happiness. My text is his 
 conclusion after divers arguments ; a conclusion which 
 contains the ground of all the believer's comfort, 
 _ the end-of all his duty and sufferings; the life and 
 sum of all gospel promises and Christian privile- 
 ges. What more welcome to men under personal 
 afflictions, tiring duties, successions of sufferings, than. 
 rest?__It is not_our comfort only, but our stability. 
 Our liveliness in all duties, our enduring tribulation, 
 our honouring of God, the vigour of our love, thank- 
 fulness, and all our graces; yea, the very being of our 
 religion and Christianity, depend on the believing 
 serious thoughts ‘of our_rest. And now, reader, what- 
 ever_thou.art, young or old, rich or poor, 1 entreat 
 thee, and charge thee, inthe name..of thy Lord, who. 
 will.shortly..call thee.to..a_reckoning, and judge thee. 
 -to thy everlasting unchangeable state, that thou. give 
 not_these things the reading only, and so dismi 
 
 with a,bare approbation ; but that thou set upon this 
 work, and take God in Christ for thy only rest, and 
 fix thy heart upon him above all. May the living God, 
 who is the portion and rest of his saints, make these 
 our carnal minds so spiritual, and our earthly hearts 
 so heavenly, that loving him, and delighting in 
 him, may be the work of our lives; and that neither 
 I that write, nor you that read, this book, may 
 
; THE SAINT'S REST. 15 
 eyer be turned from_this. path of life; lest a promise. 
 being left us of entering into his rest, we should come short 
 of it, through our own unbelief or negligence. (a) : 
 
 § 2. The saint’s rest is, the most happy state of a 
 Christian; or it is, the perfect endless enjoyment of 
 God by the perfected saints, according to the measure 
 of their capacity, to which their souls arrive at death ; 
 and hoth.soul and. body most fully after the resurrec- 
 tion and final judgment. According to this definition 
 of the saint's rest, a larger account of its nature will 
 be given in this chapter; of-its-preparatives, chap. 11; 
 its_excellencies, chap. iir; and chap. iv. the persons 
 for whom it is designed. Farther to illustrate this 
 subject, some description will be given, chap. v. of 
 their misery who lose this rest; and chap. vi. who also 
 lose the enjoyment of time, and suffer the torments of 
 hell: next will be showed, chap. vil. the necessity of 
 diligently seeking this rest; chap. viii. how our title 
 to_it_ may be discerned ; chap. ix. that_they who dis- 
 cern their title to it should help those that cannot ; 
 and_ chap. x. that this rest is not_to be expected on 
 earth. It will then be proper to consider, chap. xi. 
 the importance of a heavenly life upon earth; chap. 
 xil. how to live an heavenly life upon earth; chap. xill. 
 the nature of heavenly contemplation, with the time, 
 place, and temper, fittest for it; chap. xiv. what use 
 heavenly contemplation makes of consideration, affec- 
 tions, soliloquy, and prayer; and likewise, chap. xv. 
 how heavenly contemplation may be assisted by sensi- 
 ble objects, and guarded against a treacherous heart. 
 Heavenly contemplation will be exemplified, chap. xvi. 
 and the whole-work concluded. 
 
 § 3. There are some things necessarily presup- 
 posed in the nature of this rest; as, for instance, that 
 mortal men are the persons seeking it. For angels 
 and glorified spirits have it already, and the devils 
 and damned are past hope.—That they choose God 
 only for their end and happiness. He that takes any 
 thing else for his happiness, is out of the way the first 
 step.---That they are distant from this end. This is 
 
 (a) Heb. iv. 1. 
 
16 THE, NATURE OF” 
 the woeful case of all’mankind since the fall. When 
 
 Christ comes with regenerating grace, SEE 
 man_sitting still, but all posting to eternal ruin, an 
 
 making -haste towards hell ; till, by conviction, he 
 first brings them toa stand, and then, by conversion 
 
 turns. their. hearts and lives s sincerely to himself. This 
 end, and its excellency, is supposed to be known, 
 and seriously imtended. An unknown good moves 
 not to desire or endeavour. And not only a distance 
 from this rest, but the true knowledge of this distance, 
 is also supposed. They that never yet knew they 
 were without God, and in the way to hell, did never 
 yet know the way to heaven. Can a man find he 
 hath lost his God, and his soul, and not ery, J am 
 undone? The reason why so few obtain this rest is, 
 they-will_notbe_convinced that they are, in point of 
 title, distant. from it, and_in_ point of practice, con- 
 trary_to it. Whoever soi 
 
 knew_not. he had lost? They, that beuholelegiadaaae 
 physician, but they that _are sick. (b)_ bis ine aae 
 a superior moving cause. 1s also _su 
 
 shall all stand still, and not move toward our rest. 
 
 x God..move.us_not, we.cannot moye, It is a most 
 necessary part of our Christian wisdom, to keep our 
 subordination to God, and dependence on him, ‘We 
 are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as as 
 
 of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.”(c) Without 
 me, says Christ, ye can do nothing.(d) It is next suppos- 
 ed, that they who seek this rest, have an inward prin- 
 ciple of spiritual life. God_does_ not move men like 
 stones, but he endows them with life, not not to enable them 
 to. move without him, but in subordination to himself, 
 ~ the first mover. And, farther, this rest supposes suc 
 
 an actual tendency of soul towards it, as is regular 
 and constant, earnest and loborious. He that hides 
 his talents, shall receive the wages of a slothful servant. 
 Christ is the door, the only way to this rest. But 
 strait is the gate, and narrow is the way; (e) and we 
 
 (6) Matt. ix. 12. (c) 2 Cor. i. 5. 
 (d) John xy. 5. (e) Matt. vii. 13. 
 
THE SAINT'S REST. 17 - 
 
 Jub i eh 10 enter | 
 mgr oS eae C if 5 which roe that the 
 kingdom of heaven suffereth violence. (g) Nor will it 
 bring us to the end of the saints, if we begin in the 
 spirit and end in the flesh. (h) We-only that endureth_to 
 the-endshall_besaued. (i) And never did a soul obtain. 
 rest_ with God, whose desire was not set_upon him 
 above all things else in the world. Where your treasure 
 is, there will your heart be also.(k) The remainder of 
 our old nature will much weaken and interrupt these 
 desires, but never overcome them. And considering 
 the opposition to our desires, from the contrary prin- 
 ciples m our nature, and from the weakness of our 
 graces, together with our continued distance from the 
 end, our: tendency to that_end_must_be laborious, 
 and with all our might. _All these things are presup- 
 posed, in order to.a_Christian’s. obtaining. an_interest 
 
 enly_rest.. 
 
 § 4. Now we have autended these steps into the 
 outward court, may we look within the vail? May 
 we show what this rest contains, as well as what it 
 presupposes ?—Alas, how little know I of that glory. 
 The glimpse which Paul had, contained what could 
 not, or must not, be uttered. Had he spoke the things 
 of heaven in the language of heaven, and none un-’ 
 derstood that language, what the better? The Lord’ 
 reveal to me what I may reveal to you! The Lord 
 open some light, and shew both you and me our in- 
 heritance!- Not as to Balaam only, whose eyes were 
 open to see the goodliness of Jacob’s tents, and Israel’s 
 _ tabernacles, where he had no portion, and from 
 
 whence must come his own destruction: not as: to 
 Moses, who had only a discovery, instead of posses- 
 sion, and saw the land which he never entered. But 
 as the pearl was revealed to the merchant in the Gos- — 
 pel, who rested not till he had sold all he had, and 
 bought it. And as heaven was opened to blessed 
 Stephen, which he was shortly to enter, and the glory 
 
 (Ff) Wake xii. 24. ~~ (g) Matt. xj. 12. (A) Gal. fi. 3. 
 (e) Matt. xxiv. 1B. (k) Matt. vi. 21. ; 
 I.. C 
 
 / 
 a 
 
~ 
 
 18 THE NATURE OF 
 
 showed him, which should be his. own possession, 
 The things contained in heavenly rest are such as 
 these ;—-a_ceasing from means of grace ;—a perfect 
 
 freedom from all evils ;---the highest dégree of the | 
 
 saints’ personal perfection, both of body and_soul ,--- 
 the nearest enjoyment of God the chief good ;---and, 
 
 a sweet and constant action of all the powers of hody - 
 
 and soul in this enjoyment of God. 
 
 § 5. (1) One thing contained in heavenly rest, is, 
 the ceasing from means of grace. When we have ob- 
 tained the haven, we—have_done sailing. When the 
 workman receives his wages, it is implied hé has done 
 his work. When we are at our jourmeys.end, we 
 have done with the way. Whether prophecies, they 
 _ Shall fail; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether 
 knowledge, it also, so far as_it_had the nature of means, 
 shall vanish away. (!) There shall be no..moreprayer, 
 
 because.no more necessity, but the full enjoyment 
 
 of—swhat..we..prayed..for: neither shall we need to 
 fast and weep, and watch any more, being out of 
 the reach of sin and temptations. Preaching is done ; 
 the ministry of man ceaseth; sacraments. become. use- 
 less ;_the labourers are called in, because the haryest 
 is gathered, the tares burned, and the work finished ; 
 the_ungenerate. past hope, and the saints past. fear, 
 - for_ever. 
 
 § 6. (2) There is in heavenly rest_a_ perfect free- 
 dom_from all _eyils; all the evils that accompanied 
 us through our_course, and. which necessarily follow 
 outr_absence from the chief good : besides our freedom 
 from those eternal flames, and restless miseries, which 
 the neglecters of Christ and grace must remedilessly 
 endure ; a woeful inheritance, which, both by birth 
 and actual merit, was due to us as well as to them! 
 
 In heaven there is nothing that defileth, or is unclean: 
 
 all that remains without.(m) And doubtless there is 
 not such a thing as grief and sorrow known there: 
 nor is there such a thing as a-pale face, a languid 
 body, feeble joints, unable infancy, decrepit age, 
 
 (7) 1 Cor.-xiii, 8. = - (mm) Rev. xxi. 27. xxi. 15. 
 
 ! 
 
THE SAINT'S REST. 19 
 
 peccant humours, painful or pining sickness, griping 
 fears, consuming cares, nor whatsoever deserves the 
 name of evil. ‘‘ We did weep and lament when the 
 world did rejoice ; but our sorrow is turned into joy, 
 and our joy shall no man take from us.” (7) ; 
 
 § 7. (3) Another ingredient of this rest, is, the 
 
 highest degree of the saint’s personal perfection, both 
 _ of body and soul. Were the glory ever so great, and 
 themselves not made capable of -it, by a personal per- 
 fection suitable thereto, it would be little to them. 
 . “ Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
 entered into the heart of man; the things which God 
 hath prepared for them that love him.” (0) For the 
 eye of flesh is not capable of seeing them, nor this 
 ear of hearing them, nor this heart of understanding 
 them: But there the eye, and ear, and. heart, are 
 made capable; else how do they enjoy them! The 
 ‘more perfect the sight is, the more delightful the 
 beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the 
 sweeter the food. The more musical the ear, the more 
 pleasant the melody. The more perfect the soul, the 
 more joyous those joys, and the more glorious to us is 
 that glory. : 
 
 § 8. (4) The_principal..part..of.thisrest, is our 
 nearest.enjoyment.of.God.the.chief..good..... And.here, 
 reader, wonder not.if I be at.a.loss; and if my appre- 
 hensions receive but little of that which is in my ex- 
 pressions. If 2 did not appear’, to the beloved disciple, © 
 what we shall be, but only in general, that when Christ 
 shall appear we shail be like him, (p) no wonder if I 
 know so little. When I know so little of God, I can 
 not much know what it is to enjoy him. If I know 
 so little of spirits, how little of the Father of spirits, 
 
 . or the state of my own soul, when advanced to the 
 * enjoyment of him! I stand and look upon a heap of 
 ants, and see them all with one view; they know not 
 me, my being, nature, or thoughts, though I am their 
 fellow-creature : how little then must we know of the 
 great Creator, though he with one view Clearly beholds 
 
 (x) John xvi. 20, 22. (0) 1 Cor. ii. 9. (p) 1 Johniii. 2. 
 
Gor F. . THE NATURE OF 
 .us all! A glimpse the saints behold as in @ 
 _ which makes us capable of some poor dark a 
 Sions of what we shall behold in glory. If I should 
 tell a worldling what the holiness and spiritual joys of 
 the saints on earth are, he cannot know; for grace — 
 cannot be clearly known without grace; how much 
 less could he conceive it, should I tell him of this 
 glory? But to the saints I may be somewhat more 
 encouraged to speak; for grace gives. t : t 
 ledge and.shight..taste.of glory. If men and angels 
 should study to speak the blessedness of that state in. 
 .one, word, what could they say beyond this, that itis — 
 the nearest enjoyment of God. 0 the full joys offered 
 to a believer in that one sentence of Christ, Mather,. I 
 will that those whom. thou hast given me be with me where I 
 am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast. given 
 me.(r), Every word is full of life and joy. -If the queen 
 of Sheba had cause to say of Solomon's glory, Happy, 
 are thy men, happy are thy servants, which stand continu- 
 ally before thee, and that hear thy wisdom ; (8) then sure. 
 they that stand continually before God, and see his. 
 glory, and the ‘glory of the Lamb, are more happy. 
 To them will Christ “give to eat of the tree of life; 
 and to eat of the hidden manna; yea, he will make 
 them pillars in the temple of God, and they shall go. 
 no more out; and he will write upon them the name 
 of his God, and the name of the city of his God, which 
 is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven, 
 from his God, and he will write upon them his new 
 name ;” yea, more, if more may be, “ he will grant them, 
 to sit, with him on his throne.”. These are they “‘ who 
 came. out of great tribulation, and have washed their 
 robes, and have made them white in the blood of the 
 Eamb.; therefore are they before the throne of God, 
 and serve him day and night in his temple, and he 
 that sitteth on the throne shall: dwell among, them. 
 The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall 
 feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of 
 water; and God shall.wipe away all tears from their _ 
 
 (q) 2 Cor. iii, 18. (7) John xvii, 24. (9) 1 Kings x. 3. 
 
N 
 
 THE SAINTS REST. 21 
 
 eyes.” (¢). O_ blind deceived world, can you show us 
 sucha glory? Thisis the city of.our.God,.where<‘‘ the 
 tabernacle..of:God.is.with.men, and he will dwell with 
 them, and they shall be his people, and God himself 
 shall be with them, and be their God. The glory of 
 God shall lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 
 And there shall be no, more curse; but the throne 
 of God and of the Lamb shall be im it; and his ser- 
 vants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and 
 his name shall be in their foreiead. - These sayings are 
 faithfnl and true, and the things which must shortly 
 be done.” (w) And now we say, as, Mephibosheth, 
 Let the world take all, forasmuch, as our Lord will come 
 am, peace.(w) ‘* Rejoice therefore in the Lord, O ye 
 righteous, and say with his servant David, The Lord 
 is the portion of mine inheritance; the lines are fallen 
 unto. me in pleasant places ; yea, I have a goodly he- 
 ritage. Ihave set the Lord always before me: because 
 he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. There- 
 fore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my 
 flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave 
 my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one 
 to see corruption. ‘Thou wilt shew me the path of 
 life: im thy presence is fulness of joy ; at thy right. 
 hand: there are pleasures for evermore.” (7) What 
 presumption would it have been, once to have thought 
 or spoke of such a thing, if God had not spoken. it 
 before us! I durst not have thought of the saint’s pre- 
 ferment in this life, as scripture sets it forth, had it 
 not been the express truth of God. How indecent. to 
 - talk of bemg sons of God—speaking to bim—having 
 fellowship with him---dwelling in him, and he invus ;. 
 (y) if this had not been God's own language! How 
 much less: durst. we have once thought of shining forth 
 as the. sun---of being jomts-heirs with Christ-—-of judg-. 
 ing the world---of sitting on Christ's throne---of being 
 
 (é) Rev. u. 7---17. iii. 12---21. vii. 14, 15---17. (u) Rev. 21. 3--- 
 24. xxi. 3, 4---6. (w) 2 Sam. xix.30. (x) Psalm xvi. 5, 6---8--- 
 Tl... xxx (y) 1 John ms. 1. Gen. xvii. 27. 1 Johni. 3. iv. 16. 
 
22 THE NATURE OF 
 
 one in him and the Father ;(z) if we had not all this 
 from the mouth, and under the hand of Ged! But 
 ‘* hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spo- 
 ken, and shall he not make it good ?”(a) Yes, as the 
 Lord God is true, thus shall it be done to the man 
 whom Christ delighteth to honour.(6) Be of good 
 cheer, Christian; the time is near, when God and 
 thou shalt be near, and as near as thou canst well de- 
 sire.---Thou shalt dwell in his family. Is that enough ? 
 - It is better to be a -door-keeper in the house of God, 
 than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (c) Thou 
 shalt ever stand before him, about bis throne, in the 
 room with him, in his presence-chamber. Wouldst 
 thou yet be nearer? Thou shalt be his child, and he 
 thy Father; thou shalt be an heir of his kingdom; yea, 
 more, the spouse of his Son. And what more canst 
 thou desire? Thou shalt be a member of the body 
 of his Son; he shall be thy head: thou shalt be’ 
 one with him, who is one with the Father; as 
 he himself hath desired for thee of his Father, 
 “that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art 
 in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one 
 in us: and the glory which thou gavest me I have 
 given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 
 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made 
 - perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou 
 hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved 
 me.” (d) MC ites 
 § 9. (5) We must add, that this rest contains a sweet 
 and constant action of all the powers of the soul and 
 body.in this enjoyment.of God. It is not the rest of — 
 a.stone, which ceaseth from all motion when it attains 
 the.centre. This body shall be so changed, that it shall 
 - no more be flesh and blood, which cannot inherit the 
 kingdom of God; but a spiritual body. ‘* We sow 
 not that body that shall be; but God giveth it a body 
 as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own 
 body.” (e) ‘If grace makes a Christian differ so much 
 
 (2) Matt. xii. 43. Rom. vii. 17. 1 Cor. vi. 2. Rev. m. 21... 
 John xvii. 21. (a) Numb. xxi. 19. (4) Esther vi. 11.' (©) Psa. 
 Ixxiv. 10.° (7) John xvii. 21—23. ‘(e) 1 Cor. xv. 37,38, 44—80. 
 
THE SAINT'S REST. 23 
 
 from what he was, as to say, J am not the man I was ; 
 how much more will glory make us differ!’ As much 
 as a body spiritual, above the sun in glory, exceeds 
 these frail, noisome, diseased, lumps of flesh, so far 
 shall our senses exceed those we now possess. Doubt- 
 less as God advanceth our senses, and enlargeth our 
 capacity, so will he adyance the happiness of those 
 senses, and fill up with himself all that capacity. 
 Certainly. the body. ‘shail not.be.raised up, and con- 
 tinued, if it.should. not share in the glory. As it 
 hath shared in the obedience and sufferings, so shall 
 it also in the blessedness. As Christ bought the 
 whole man, so shall the whole partake of the ever- 
 lasting benefits of the purchase. O blessed employ- 
 ment of a glorified body, to stand before the throne 
 of God and the Lamb, and to sound forth for ever, 
 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and 
 honour, and power. Worthy is the Lamb that was 
 slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
 strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing; for 
 thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of 
 every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, 
 and hast made us unto our God kings and priests. 
 Alleluia, salvation, and glory, and honour, and 
 power unto the Lord our God. Alleluia, for the 
 Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” O Christians! 
 this is the blessed rest ; a_rest,as_it..were, withont_ 
 rest; ‘‘ For they rest not day and night, saying, 
 -Holy,. holy, holy, Lord God. Almighty, who was, and. 
 is, and is to come.”(f) And if the body shall be 
 thus employed, oh, how shall the soul be taken up! 
 As its powers and capacities are greatest, so its actions 
  are..strongest, and_its enjoyments..sweetest. the 
 bodily senses have their proper actions, whereby they 
 receive and enjoy their objects, so does the soul in its 
 own action enjoy its own. object, by knowing, remem- 
 
 bering, loving, and delightful joying. This is the soul's 
 enjoyment .By these eyes it sees, and by these arms it 
 embraces. 
 
 (f) Rev. iv. 11. v. 9, 10, 12. xix. 1, 6. iv. 8. 
 
v 
 
 y \ 
 
 g4 THE NATURE OF 
 
 » $10. Knowledge of itself is very desirable. As far 
 as_the rational soul exceeds the sensitive, so far the 
 delights of a philosopher, in discovering the. secrets 0 
 nature, and knowing the mystery of science, exceed 
 the delights of the glutton, the drunkard, the unclean, 
 and of all voluptuous sensualists whatsoever. So ex- 
 celient is all truth. What then is their delight who 
 know the God of truth? How noble a faculty of the 
 soulis 1 erstanding'! It can compass.the earth ; 
 it.cau_measure. the sun, moon, stars, and heaven; at i 
 can foreknow.each eclipse to a minute many years be~ 
 fore. But this is the top of all its excellency, that it 
 can know God, who is infinite, who made all these 5. 
 a little here, and more,.much more, hereafter. t 
 wisdom and goodness of our blessed Lord! He hath 
 created the understanding witha natural bias and in- 
 clination to truth, as its object.;and to.the pri | 
 as.its prime object. Christian, when after a long gaz- 
 ing heaven-ward, thou hast got a glimpse of Christ, 
 dost thou not sometimes seem to have been with Paul 
 in the third’ heaven, whether in the body or out, and 
 to have seen what is unutterable?(g) -Art thou not 
 with Peter, ready to say, “‘ Master, it is good to be 
 here.(h) © that I might dwell inthis mount! O that 
 I might ever see what I now see!” Didst thou never 
 look so long upon the Sun of righteousnes, till thine 
 eyes were dazzled with his astonishing glory? And 
 did not the splendour of it make all things below seem 
 black and dark to thee’? Especially in the day of suf- _ 
 fering for Christ, when he usually appears most ma- 
 nifestly to his people, didst thou never see one walking 
 in the midst of the fiery furnace with thee, like the Son of : 
 God?(i) Believe me, Christians; yea, believe God; 
 you that have known most of God in Christ here, _ 
 itis‘as nothing to what. you_shall know; it searee, 
 in comparison of that,..deserves. tobe called. know- 
 ledge.—For. as...these...bodies, so that knowledge, 
 must cease, that.a.more perfect may succeed. “ Know-_ 
 ledge shall vanish away. For we know in part: but 
 
 (g) 2 Cor. xit. 2—4. (A) Mark ix. 5. (2) Dan... 25. 
 
THE SAINT’S REST. Q5 
 
 when that which is perfect to come, then that.which is 
 in_ part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake 
 as.achild, | understood as.a.child, I thought.asa.child ; 
 
 but.when.I became.a.man, L-put.away. 
 
 For now_we.see-through.a.glass_darkly,. but.then face 
 ~ toface; now. 1 know. in.part,-but.then_shall_ I. know, 
 even as_also Iam. known.’(k) Marvel not therefore, 
 Christian, how it can be Zi life eternal to know..God and 
 Jesus Christ.) To enjoy God and Christ, is eternal 
 life ; and—the-soul’s_enjoying_is_in_knowing.—They 
 that savour only of earth, and consult with flesh, 
 - think it a poor happiness to know God. “ But we 
 know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth 
 in wickedness; and we know that the Son of God is 
 come, and hath given us an understanding that we 
 may know him that is true; and we are in him that is 
 true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true 
 God, and eternal life. Ea 
 
 ham behind _ him, _and_before him. And to compare 
 past with present. things, must needs raise in the bless- 
 ed soul an inconceivable esteem _and_sense.of its con- 
 dition. To stand on that mount, whence he can see 
 the wilderness and Canaan, both at once; to stand in 
 heaven and look back on earth, and weigh them toge- 
 ther in the balance ofa comparing sense and j - 
 ment, how must it needs transport the soul, and make 
 it cry out, Is this the purchase that cost so dear as the 
 blood of Christ? No wonder. O blessed price, and ' 
 thrice blessed love, that invented and condescended. 
 Is this the end of believing? Is this the end of the Spi- 
 rit’s workings? Have the gales of grace blown me 
 into such a harbour? Is it hither that Christ hath 
 allured my soul? O blessed way, and thrice blessed 
 end. Is this the glory which the scriptures spoke of, 
 and ministers preached of so much? I see the gospel 
 is indeed good tidings, even tidings of peace and good 
 things, tidings of great joy to all nations. Is my 
 
 (k) : Cor. xiii. 8—12. (2) John xvii. 3. (m) 1 John v. 19, 20. 
 A D : 
 
26 THE NATURE OF 
 
 mourning, my fasting, my sad humblings, my heavy 
 walking, come to this? Is my praying, watching, 
 fearing to offend, come to this? Are all | my afflictions, 
 Satan's temptations, the world’s scorns and jeers, 
 come to this ?—O vile nature, that. resisted so much, 
 and so long, such a blessing! Unworthy soul, is this 
 the place thou comest so unwillingly to? duty | 
 wearisome? Was the world too good. to lose? ¢ Didst 
 thou stick ; _at_leaying all, denying all, an Ss 
 thing,.for.this? Wast thou loth to die, to come to 
 this? O. false heart, thou hast almost betrayed 
 
 me. to to eternal 1 flames, and Jost me this glory? ™. 
 
 question that. Joye. _that brought thee hither; that 
 thou wast jealous of the faithfulness of the Lord ; that 
 thou. suspectedst his love, when thou shou est only 
 have suspected thyself; that ever thou didst quench a 
 motion of his Spinit ; and that thou shouldest misin- 
 terpret those providences, and repine at those ways, 
 which have such an end? Now thou art sufficiently 
 convinced, that thy Redeemer was saving thee, as 
 well when he crossed thy desires, as when he granted 
 them; when he broke thy heart, as when he bound 
 it up.. No thanks to thee, unworthy self, for this 
 received crown; but to Jehovah, and the Lamb, be 
 glory 5 for ever. i, 
 § 12. But. oh! the full, the near, the sweet en- 
 oan is that of love. God is love, and he that 
 dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.(n) 
 Now the poor soul complains, “‘ Oh that I could love 
 Christ more!” Then thou canst not choose but love 
 him. Now thou knowest little of his amiableness, 
 and therefore lovest little: then thine eyes will affect 
 thy heart, and the continual viewing of that perfect 
 beauty will keep thee in continual transports of love. 
 Christians, doth it now stir up your love, to Femem- 
 ber all the experiences of his love? Doth not kind- 
 ness melt you, and the sunshine of divine goodness 
 warm your frozen hearts? What will. it do then, 
 
 (n) 1 Johniy. 16. 
 
THE SAINT'S REST. 2¢ 
 
 when you shall live in love, and have all in him, w ho 
 is all? Surely love is both work and wages. What 
 a high favour that God will give us leave to love him: ; 
 that he will be embraced by those who have embraced 
 lust and: sin before him! But more than this, he return- 
 eth love for love; nay, a thousand times more.—— 
 ‘Christian, thou wilt’ then be brimful of love; yet, 
 love as much as thou canst, thou shalt be ten thousand. 
 times more’ beloved. Were the arms of the Son of 
 God open upon the cross, and an open passage made. 
 to his heart by the spear; and will not arms and heart 
 be open to thee in glory? Did he begin to love be- 
 fore thou lovedst, and will he not continue now ? 
 Did he love thee, an enemy; thee, a sinner; thee, 
 who even loathedst thyself; and own thee, when 
 thou didst disclaim thyself? And will he not. how 
 immeasurably love thee, a son; thee, a perfect 
 saint; thee, who returnest some love for love? He 
 that in love wept over the old Jerusalem when near 
 its ruin, with what love will he rejoice over the new 
 Jerusalem in her glory! Christian, believe this, and 
 think on it; thou shalt be eternally embraced in the 
 arms of that Love, which was from everlasting and. will 
 extend to everlasting ;—of that Love, which brought 
 the Son of God's love from heaven to earth, from 
 _ earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave, from the 
 grave to glory ;—that Love, which was weary, hun- 
 gry, tempted, scorned, scourged, buffeted, spit upon, 
 crucified, pierced ; which did fast, pray, teach, heal, 
 weep, sweat, bleed, die ;—that Love will. eternally 
 embrace thee. When_perfect..created love, and_most 
 perfect uncreated.love,.meet together, it will not be 
 like Josephand.his..brethen,.2ho. lay upon ¢ one ano- 
 ther's _necks.weeping; it will be loving and rejoicing, 
 not loving and sorrowing: yet it will make Satan's 
 court ring with the news, that Joseph’s brethren are 
 come, that the saints are arrived safe_in the bosom of 
 Christ, out_of the reach of hell for ever. Nor is there 
 any such: love as David's and Jonathan's breathing out 
 its last and sad lamentations for a forced separatian. 
 Know this, believer, to thy everlasting comfort, that 
 
28 THE NATURE OF 
 
 “while thou hangest on God by faith, neither sin, 
 earth, nor hell, can move thee. Christ will stick closer 
 to thee than a brother, and he is above all enemies, 
 with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.(o) His 
 love to thee will not be, as thine was on earth to him, 
 seldom and cold, up and down. He that would not 
 cease nor abate his love, for all thine enmity, unkind 
 neglects, and churlish resistances ; can he cease to love 
 thee, when he hath made thee truly lovely? He that 
 keepeth thee so constant in thy love to him, that thou 
 canst challenge tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, 
 nakedness, peril, or sword, to separate thy love from 
 Christ, how- much more will himself be constant ? (p) 
 Indeed, thou mayest be persuaded, “ that neither death, 
 nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 
 nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
 nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to 
 separate us from the love of God which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord.’(g) And now, are we not left in 
 the apostle’s admiration, What shall we say to these 
 things? (r) Infinite love must needs be a mystery to 
 a finite capacity. No wonder angels desire to look 
 into this mystery.(s) And if it be the study of saints 
 here, to know the breadth, and length, and depth, and 
 height, of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,(t) 
 the saints’ everlasting rest. must consist. joy- 
 ment.of God by. love. 
 
 § 13. Nor hath joy the least share in this frui- 
 tion.—’Tis that, which all the former lead to, and 
 conclude in; even the inconceivable complacency 
 which the blessed feel in their seeing, knowing, lov- 
 ing, and being beloved of God. This is the white stone, 
 _ which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.(u) 
 Surely this is the joy which a stranger doth not intermed- 
 dle with.(w) All Christ's ways of mercy tend to and 
 end in the saints’ joys. He wept, sorrowed, suffered, 
 that they might rejoice; he sendeth the Spirit to be 
 
 (0) James i. 17. (p) Rom. viii. 35. (g) Rom. viii. 38, 39. 
 (r) Rom. vii. 31. (s) I Peter i. 12. (¢) Ephes. iii. 18, 19. (w) Rev. 
 ii. 17.-(w) Prov. xiv. 10. 
 
/ 
 
 THE SAINT'S REST. 29 
 
 their comforter; he multiplies promises ; he discovers 
 their future happiness, that their joy may be full.(x) 
 He opens to them the fountain of living waters, — 
 that they may thirst no more, and that it may spring 
 "up in them to everlasting life(y) He chastens them, that 
 he may give them rest.(z) He makes it their duty to 
 rejoice in him alway, and_again commands them to re- 
 joice.(a) He never brings them into so low a condi- 
 tion, wherein he does not leave them more cause of' 
 joy than sorrow. And hath the Lord such a care of 
 our comfort here. Ob, what will that joy be, where 
 the soul being perfectly prepared for joy, and joy 
 prepared by Christ for the soul, it shall be our work, 
 our business, eternally to rejoice! It seems that the 
 saints’ joy shall be greater than the damned’s torment, 
 for their torment is the torment of creatures prepared 
 Sor the devil and his angels ; (b) but our joy is the joy of 
 our Lord.(c) The same glory which the Father gave 
 the Son, the Son hath given them,(d) to sit with him in 
 his throne, even as he is set down with his Father in his 
 thronee) Thou, poor soul, who prayest for joy, 
 waitest for joy, complainest for want of joy, longest 
 for joy; thou then shalt have full joy, as much as 
 thou canst hold, and more than ever thou thoughtest 
 on, or thy heart desired. In the mean time, walk 
 carefully, watch constantly, and then let God mea- 
 sure out to thee thy times and degrees of joy. It may 
 be he keeps them till thou hast more need. Thou 
 hadst better lose thy comfort than thy safety. If 
 thou shouldest die full of fears and sorrows, it will be 
 but a moment, and they are all gone, and concluded 
 in joy inconceivable. As the joy of the hypocrite, so the 
 fears of the upright, are but for a moment. God's anger 
 endureth but a moment ; his favour is life: weeping may 
 endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.(f) O 
 blessed morning! pvor, humble, drooping soul, how 
 would it fill thee with joy now, if a voice from hea- 
 
 (2) John xvi. 24. (y) Johniv. 10, 14. (z) Psalm xciv. 12, 13. 
 (a) Phil. iv. 4. (6) Matt. xxv. 41. (c) Matt. xxv. 21. (d) John 
 xvil. 22. (e) Rev. iii. 21. (f) Job xx. 5. Psalm xxx. 5. 
 
30 THE NATURE OF 
 
 ven should tell thee of the love of God, the pardon 
 of thy sins, and assure thee of thy part in these joys ! 
 What then will thy joy be, when the actual posses- 
 sion shall convince thee of thy title, and thou shalt be 
 in heaven before thou art well aware ? 
 
 § 14. And it is not thy joy only; it is a mutual 
 joy, as well asa mutual love. Is there joy in heaven 
 at thy conversion, and will there be none at thy 
 glorification? Will not the angels welcome thee. thi- 
 ther, and congratulate thy safe..arrival ?—Yea, it is 
 the joy of Jesus Christ; for now he hath the end of 
 his undertaking, labour, suffering, dying, when we 
 have our joys; ‘‘ when he is glorified in his saints, 
 and admired in all them that believe ;(g) when he 
 sees of the travail of his soul, and is satisfied.”(h) 
 This is Christ’s harvest, when he shall reap the fruit 
 of his labours ; and it will not repent him concerning — 
 his sufferings, but he will rejoice over his purchased 
 inheritance, and his peopie will rejoice in him. Yea, 
 the Father himself: puts on joy too, in our joy. ‘“ As 
 we grieve his Spirit, (?) and weary him with our ini- 
 quities ;(*) so is he rejoiced in our good.” O how 
 quickly does he now spy a returning prodigal, even 
 afar off! How does he run and meet him! And 
 with what compassion does he “ fall on his neck, and 
 kiss him, and put on him the best robe, and a ring 
 on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and kills the fat- 
 ted calf to eat and be merry!”(/) This is indeed a 
 happy meeting ; but nothing to the embracing and 
 joy of that last and great meeting.—Yea, more ; as 
 God doth mutually love and joy, so he makes this his 
 rest, as.itis.our.rest. What an eternal sabbatism, 
 - when the work of redemption, sanctification, preser- 
 
 vation, glorification, is_all_finished_and_ perfected for 
 ever! “ The Lord thy God. in the midst of thee is 
 mighty. He-.swall.save,-He-willrejoi 
 joy, He will rest_in his loye, He will joy over thee 
 with singing.”(m) Well may we then rejoice in. our 
 
 (g) 2 Thess. i. 10 (h) Isa. litt. 11. == @) Eph. iv. 30. 
 (A) Isa. xl. 24. = (0) Luke xv. 20---23. (m) Zeph. ui. 17. 
 
TUE SAINT'S REST. 31 
 
 God with joy, and rest in our love, and joy in him 
 with singing. 
 
 § 15. Alas! my fearful heart scarce dares proceed. 
 ---Methinks I hear the Almighty’s voice saying to 
 ine, ‘‘ Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words 
 without knowledge!” (m) But pardon thy servant, 
 O Lord, I have not pried into unrevealed things. I 
 bewail that my apprehensions are so dull, my thoughts 
 so mean, my affections so stupid, and my expressions 
 so low, and unbeseeming such a glory. I have only 
 heard by the hearing of the ear: oh, let thy servant 
 see thee, and possess these joys; and then shall I 
 have more suitable conceptions, and shall give thee 
 fuller glory ; I shall abhor my present self, and dis- 
 claim and renounce all these imperfections. “I have’ 
 uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful 
 for'me, which I knew not.(o) Yet I believed, and 
 therefore have I spoken.”(p) What, Lord, canst 
 thou expect from dust, but levity? or from corrup- 
 tion, but defilement ? Though the weakness and’ 
 irreverence be the fruit of my own corruption, yet 
 the fire is from thiné altar, and the work of thy | 
 commanding. I looked not unto thy ark, nor put 
 forth my hand unto it, without thee. Wash away 
 these stains also in the blood of the Lamb! Imperfect, 
 or none, must be -my service here. O take thy 
 Son’s excuse, “ The spirit is willing, but the flesh is 
 weak.’(q) 
 
 (n) Job xxxvil. 2. .  — (0) Job xiii. 3, 5, 6. 
 (p) 2 Cor. iv. 13. (q) Matt. xxvi. 41. 
 
(32.. THE GREAT PREPARATIVES. 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 The great Preparatives to the Saint's Rest. 
 
 § 1. The happiness of Christians in having a way open into Para- 
 dise.. There are four things which principally prepare the way 
 to enter into it: § 2,3. particularly, (1.) The glorious appear- 
 
 ‘ing of Christ ; § 4. 2) The general resurrection; §5—8. (3.) 
 The last judgment ; § 9, 10. and (4.) The Saint’s coronation 5. 
 § 11. Transition to the peliiect of the next chapter. 
 
 ies Tur passage of paradise i is not now so blocked 
 up, as when the law-and curse reigned. Wherefore 
 finding, beloved Christians, “a new and living way 
 consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, 
 the flesh of Christ, by woe we may with_boldness, 
 enter_into.the. ‘holiest, 1 1 shall draw near with fuller 
 ‘ assurance.’(r) And finding the flaming sword remoy- 
 ed, shall look. again into the paradise of our God. 
 And because I know that this: is no forbidden “fruit, 
 and. withal that it is.good for food, and pleasant.to the, 
 spiritual eyes, and a tree*to be desired to make: 
 
 truly wise and happy; I shall, through the assistance of re 
 
 _the Spirit, take and eat thereof myself, and give to you. 
 according to my power, that you may eat. The porch 
 of this temple is exceeding Sratene. and the gate of it 
 
 is called Beautiful. Here are four things, as the four 
 corners of this porch.—Here is the most glorious 
 coming and appearance of the Son of God ;—that great 
 work of Jesus Christ in raising our bodies from the 
 : dust, and uniting them again to the soul;—the public 
 
 In_process_ ‘at_ their. _judgment, where they 
 
 shall first themselves be acquitted and justified and 
 then with Christ judge the world ;—together with 
 their solemn coronation, and receiving the kingdom. 
 
 § 2. 1. The most glorious coming and appear-— 
 ance of the Son of God may heed be reckoned in his 
 
 “ 
 
 - (7) Heb. x. 19, 20, 22. 
 
. 
 
 TO TUE SAINT'S REST.» ° 33 - 
 
 people's glory. For their sake he came into the world, 
 suffered, died, rose, ascended, and for their sake it 
 is that he will return. To this end will Christ come 
 again to receive his people unto himself, that where he 
 as there they may be also.(s) The bridegroom’s depat- 
 ture was not upon divorce. He did not leave us with 
 a purpose to return no more. He hath left pledges 
 enough to assure us to the contrary... We have his 
 
 -word, his many ‘promises, his sacraments, which 
 ‘shew forth his death till he come ;(t) and_his Spirit, to 
 
 direct, sanctify, and comfort, till he return. e 
 have dequamapecns of love from him, to show us, 
 he forgets not his promise, nor us. We daily behold 
 the forerunners of his coming, foretold by himself. 
 We see the -fig-tree putteth forth leaves, and there- 
 fore know that summer is nigh.(w) Though the riotous 
 world say; My Lord delayeth his coming ;(w) yet let 
 the saints lift up their heads, for their redemption draweth 
 nigh.(v) Alas, fellow christians, what should we do 
 
 - 
 
 if our Lord should not return ! What a case are we here-. 
 
 left in! What, leave us inthe mids 
 
 st_of wolves, Cy,and 
 Me Lilie, (2) dete of -vipers,a).andhere for- 
 
 get us ’—Did he buy us so dear, and then leave us sin- 
 
 ning, suffering, groaning, dying daily, and will he come 
 
 no more to us? It cannot be.—This is like our un- 
 kind dealing with Christ, who, when we ieel our- 
 selves warm in the world, care not for coming to him: 
 but this is not like Christ’s dealing with us. He that 
 would come to suffer, will surely come to triumph. 
 He that would come to purchase, will surely come to 
 possess. Where else were all our hopes? What 
 
 were become of our faith, our prayers, our tears, and. 
 
 ¢? What were all the patience of the saints _ 
 worth to them? Were we not left of all men most mi- — 
 
 serable ? (b) Christians, hath Christ_made, us forsake 
 all the world, and be forsaken of all..the world ; to 
 hate_all, and_be hated of all; and all this for him, 
 
 (s) Solin ciy. 3. (®). Cor. ix. 26. “(u) Matt. xxiv. 30. 
 (w) Matt. xxiv. 48. (7) Luke xxi. 28. (y) Matt. x. 16. 
 (2) eas 4, (a) Matt. - a o 1 Cor. xv. 19. 
 
, P & 
 34 THE GREAT *PREPARATIVES 
 
 that we might have him instead of all? And willjhe, 
 think ‘you, after all this, forget us, and forsake us 
 himself? Far be such a thought from our heatts! _ 
 But why stayed not he with his people while’ he. 
 was here? Why, was not the work on earth done? 
 Must he not take possession of glory in our behalf; 
 must le not intercede with the Father, plead his suf- 
 ferings, be filled with the Spirit, to send forth, receive 
 authority, and subdue his enemies? ,Our abode here 
 is short. If he had stayed on earth, what would it 
 have been to enjoy him for a few days, and then die? 
 He hath more in heaven to dwell among; even the 
 ' spirits of many generations. He wi j | 
 faith, and not by sight. 
 
 § 3. O fellow christians, what a day will that be, 
 when we, who have been kept prisoners by sin, by - 
 sinners, by the grave, shall be fetched-out by the Lord 
 himself! It will not be such a coming as his first was, 
 in poverty and contempt, to be spit upon, and buf- 
 feted, and crucified again. He will not come, oh 
 careless world, to be slighted and neglected by you 
 any more. Yet that coming wanted not its glory. 
 If the heavenly host, for the celebration of his nativity, 
 must praise God, (c) with what shouting will angels and 
 saints at that day proclaim, Glory to God, peace and good- 
 will towards men! ~ If a star must lead men from remote. 
 parts of the world to come to worship a child in a 
 manger; (d) how will the glory of his next appearance 
 constrain all the world to acknowledge his sovereignty ! 
 If, riding on an ass, (e) he enter Jerusalem with hosan- 
 nas; with what peace and glory will he come toward 
 
 - the new Jerusalem! If, when he was in the form ofa 
 ” “servant, (f) they cry out, “‘ What manner of man is 
 - this, that even the winds and the sea obey him ;”(g) 
 what will they say, when they shall see him coming in 
 his glory, and the heavens and the earth obey him! 
 «Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.” (h) To. - 
 think,and speak of that day with horror, doth well be- - 
 come the impenitent sinner, but ill the believing saint: 
 -(c) Luke it. 13, 14. (d} Matt. ii, 2. (e) Matt. xxi. 5-9. 
 (f) Phil. ii: 7. - (g) Matt. viii. 27. (h): Matt. xxiv.'30.. 
 
- - 
 . 
 
 ~ 
 TO THE SAINT'S ‘BEST; > 33. 
 
 Shall the wicked behold him and cry, ‘“ Yonder i is he,, 
 whose blood we neglected, whose grace we resisted, 
 whose counsels we refused, whose government. we 
 east off?” And shall not the saints, with inconceivable 
 gladness, cry, ** Yonder is he, shies blood redeemed. 
 us, whose Spirit cleansed us, whose law did govern us, 
 in whom we trusted, and he hath not deceived our 
 trust ; for whom we long waited, and now we see we 
 have-not waited in vain? Q. cursed _corruption,.that. 
 would haye had us. turn tothe world and. present. 
 things... and § aed ss he should we wait for the Lord 
 
 i)..Now.we.see,.‘‘ blessed are all they 
 that Seatt for mm * (&)—And> now, Christians, should 
 we not put up that petition heartily, “* Thy kingdom 
 come?” The Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let 
 him that heareth and readeth say, Come. Our Lord 
 himself says, Surely I come quickly. Amen, even so, 
 come Lord Jesus.(/) 
 
 § 4. (2) Another thing that leads to paradise is, 
 that great work of Jesus Christ, in_raising our. bodies. 
 from the dust, and uniting them again unto the soul. 
 
 A wonderful effect of infinite power and love! Yea, 
 wonderful indeed, says unbelief, if it be true. What! 
 shall all these Scattered bones and dust become a man ? 
 —tLet me with reverence plead for God, for that 
 power whereby I hope to arise. ~What_beareth. the 
 massy body of the earth? What limits the vast.ocean 
 of the waters? Whence is_that\ constant, ebbing gad. 
 
 flowing of _ the tides? How. nany times.bigger than ~ 
 
 all the earth is the sun, that glorious body of light ? 
 Is it not.as easy to raise the dead, as to make heaven 
 and earth, and all of nothing ?—Look not on the dead 
 bones, .and.dust, and difficulty, b buts at the promise. 
 Contentedly commit these carcases to a prison, that 
 
 ee 
 . 
 
 wearer, it is ; that = sci yert have iene lating: (m) 
 If to be turned out of doors be the thing thou fearest 
 
 (@) 2 Kings vi. 33. (k) Isa. xxx. 18s 
 (} Rev. xx. 17, sie (m) 2 Cor. v. 4. 
 
 @ ’ 
 
 Lay Zak tong. contain them. Letus_lie down in.peace, 
 : : OLDE an CVvercd : igh 
 
. ss 
 
 36 THE GREAT PREPARATIYES 
 
 _ remember, that when’ the “‘ earthly house/ of this) ta» 
 bernacle is dissolved, thou hast a building.of ten 
 house not made with hands, eternal in the, heavens. 
 
 Lay down. cheerfully: this lump of corruption ; thou : 
 undoubtedly receive it again in incorruption. Lay an 
 freely. this. larrtetiinh: this natural body ; oe shalt 
 be ‘Teceive it again. a.celestial, a spiritual. body. . Though: 
 thou lay it down with great dishonour, thou shalt Te- 
 ceive it in glory. Though thou art separated, from. it 
 through weakness, it shall be raised again in mighty 
 power; ‘in a moment, in the twinkling of, an eye, 
 atthe last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and 
 the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we, shall be 
 changed.”(0) . “‘ The dead in Christ\)s first, 
 Then they who are aliye and_ remain... 
 up-together.with. them in.the.clouds, 
 inthe air,”(p) Triumph now, O Christian, in these 
 promises : thou shalt shortly triumph i in their,perform- 
 ance. ‘This is the day which) the Lord wall make, 
 we shall rejoice and be glad init."(g) The grave, that 
 could not keep our Lord, cannot keep us. He arose 
 for us, and by the same power will cause us to arise. 
 “ For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, 
 even so them also;who sleep in! Jesus will. God. bring 
 with him.”(r) Let us never look at the grave, but 
 jet us see the resurrection beyond it. Yea,, let,us ‘* be 
 stedfast, immoveable, always abounding. in; the. work 
 of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our, Hatin is 
 not in vain in the Lord.”(s) 
 
 their_doom.—O terrible, O ieptel day !.. Terrible to 
 those that have forgot the coming of their Lord! joy- 
 
 ful to the saints, whose waiting, and hope ;was. to 
 
 this day, Then shall the world “ ~« behold the — 
 ~ (a) 2 Cor. v. 1. (0) 1 Cor. xv. 42—44—52.. (p) 1 Thess. iv. 16, 
 17. (q) Psalm CXVii. 24. (r) 1 Thess. iy. 14. (s) 1 Cor. xv. 58. 
 
¥O THE SAINT'S REST... . 37. 
 
 ness and severity of God: on them who,perish, seve- 
 nity 5 5 but ta-his_chosen, goodness.(¢) 
 ardship.”(«)—Every. ta- 
 
 lent of dency: health, wit, mercies, afflictions, means, 
 
 warnings, must be reckoned. for.. The sins-of. youth, 
 those which they had forgotten, and their secret. sins, 
 shall all be laid open before angels and men,—They 
 
 shall see the Lord Jesus whom they_neglected, whose 
 word they disobeyed, whose. ministers they, abused, 
 whose servants they hated, now sitting to judge, them. 
 Their own consciences shall cry out.against them, and 
 call to their remembrance all their misdoings.—Which 
 way will the wretched sinner look ; who can conceive 
 
 the terrible thoughts of his heart? Now the world can-. 
 
 not help him; his old companions cannot; the saints 
 neither can nor will; only the Lord Jesus can: but, 
 there is the misery, he will not. 
 
 Time._.was,..sinner,, 
 when. Christ. would, and.you. would not; now.fain ° 
 
 would you, and he will not, All in vain to ery “ to 
 the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us. from 
 the face of him that sitteth upon the throne ;"(2), for 
 thou hast the Lord of mountains and rocks for thine 
 enemy, whose voice they will obey, and not thine. “I 
 charge thee therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, at his 
 ial tg and his kingdom,”(2) t 
 
 § 6. But why tremblest thou, oh humble, gracious 
 soul? He that would not lose one Noah in a common 
 deluge, nor overlook one Lot in Sodom; nay, that 
 could.do nothing till he went forth ; will he forget 
 thee.at that day? “ The Lord knoweth how to de- 
 liver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the 
 unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.’ y) 
 He knoweth how to make the same day the greatest 
 terror to his foes, and yet, the greatest joy to his 
 people.“ There_is_no ¢ 
 
 apein Christ Jesps,. who walk gat.after ibe flesh. but 
 alter the Spirit. Who shall lay any thing to the 
 
 (t) Rom, x. 22. (u) Luke xvi. 2. (w) Rey. vi 13. 
 (z) 2 Tim. iv, 1. €y) 2 Pet. ii. 9. ae 
 
AS 
 
 * 
 
 THE eubar PREPARATIVES 
 ine ye of God’s.c ’s.elect.?. Shall the law?” ‘The law 6f 
 pas pirit of life in Christ Jesus, hath made ‘them free’ 
 
 frou th he law of sin and dea eath. Or_shall_consei 
 ai S| pirit itself beareth witness with their s pirit,.’ hat 
 
 hey be the sldten af God. Itis God that ju 
 on who is he who condemneth ?”"(z) | If our raaee 
 condbinn’ us ott who shall? He that said to the adul- 
 are ‘woman, Hath no man condemned thee? neither do 
 @) will say to us, more faithfully than Peter to him, 
 The h all men deny thee, and condemn thee; Iwill not.(b) 
 Having Ci se A me before men, thee will I also confess 
 et! Sa ather which is in heaven. (c) 
 hat inexpressible j oy, that our holy Lord, 
 
 mf Lb: our souls, and whom our souls love, shall 
 
 be'o el Willa ings “mar ay his 
 eS 2 ora wife by ber, own hadband Gt 
 
 tian, did Christ. come down, and. 
 
 and bleed, and die for thee; and will he now condeiin 
 thee ?—Was he judged, condemned, and executed, in 
 thy stead; and now will he condemn thee himself? 
 
 ‘Hath he. done. most.of.the. work already, in redeem- 
 ‘ing, regenerating, sanctifying, . and _ preserving 
 
 and._-will. he.undo.all..again? Well then, let the 
 terrorofthat.day be.ever so great, surely our Lore 
 
 can. mean. no.ill to us in all. Let it make th 
 tremble,.and.the wicked. tremble ; but it ‘si 
 
 _ Make 
 ~ usleap for joy. It must needs effect us deeply with 
 
 the sense of our mercy and happiness, to see most of 
 the world tremble With terror, while we triumph 
 with joy! to hear them doomed to everlasting flames, 
 when we are proclaimed heirs of the kingdom! to 
 see our neighbours, that lived in the same towns,” ‘came 
 to the same.congregation, dwelt in. ses 
 
 ae or percemed, more.hona 
 
 the.Searcher of hearts eternally se- 
 
 rated meee "This, with the great magnificence and 
 ar eadfulness of the day, the apostle pathetically ex- 
 presses; “It is a righteous thing with God, to re- 
 compense tribulation to them that trouble you; and 
 
 (2) Rom. vin. 1, 2—16—33-—34.  (@) John viii. 10 Tl. 
 (6) Matt. xvi. 33, 35. (c) Matt. x.32. 
 
a 
 “TO THE SAINT'S REST. 89 
 
 to you pike are troubled, res 
 Jes ; 
 
 ’ 2 nth bi ' 
 
 angelausinafinming fire taking. ven eterna = rst 
 
 and that obey not the gospel of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with ever- 
 lasting destruction ‘from the presence of the Lord, and 
 from the glory of his power; when he shall come to 
 be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them 
 that believe, in that day.”"(d) 
 
 § 8. Yet more, a dread 
 of_that..j that_ourselvyes_ shall ecome_the 
 
 judges. Christ will take his people, as it were, into 
 commission with himself, and they shall sit and ap- 
 prove his righteous judgment. “‘ Do ye not know that. 
 the saints ? Nay, know ye not 
 that we shall.judge_angels?”(e) Were it not for the 
 word of Christ that speaks it, this advancement 
 would seem incredible, and the language arrogant. 
 ** Even Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied 
 this, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thou- 
 sand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and 
 to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all 
 their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly com- 
 mitted, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly 
 sinners have spoken against him?"(f) Thus shall the 
 saints be honoured, and the upright shall have domi- 
 nion in the morning.(g) O that the careless world were 
 wise, that they understood this, that they would con- 
 sider their latier end ;(A) that they would now be of 
 
 the same mind as—they.will_be,when they shall see 
 « the heavens. aranlumemantinaaiecadics anil 
 earth also, and 
 Gal works that are therein, burnt.up!” when all s 
 be on fire about their ears, and all earthly g lory con- 
 sumed.—*‘‘ For the heavy | 
 now,.are reserved unto. the fire. coiosk she igitat 
 judgment, and_ _perdition. of. suipedly. men. Seeing 
 then that all these things shall..be.dissolved, what 
 manner of persons ought © ye to be in all holy conver- 
 
 (a) 2 Thess. i. 10.. © 1 Cor. vi. 2,3. @ ade AS 
 (g) Psalm xlix. 14. .(@) Deut. xxii, 29. 
 
* 
 40 THB GREAT PREPARATIVES. 
 
 ‘sation and godliness, looking for and. hasting unto 
 the coming. of the day of God, wherein the heavens 
 being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall 
 melt with fervent heat?*(‘) bo 
 
 ~ §°9.°(4) The last preparative to the saint’s rest, is 
 their solemn coronation, and receiving the kingdom. 
 —For as Christ, their head, is anointed both King 
 and Priest, so under him are his people made unto 
 God both kings and priests, to reign and to offer 
 praises for ever.(k) The crown of righteousness which 
 was laid up for them, shall by the Lord the righteous 
 Judge be given them-at.that. day.(/) They have been 
 faithful’ unto death, and therefore he will give them a 
 crown of life.(m) And according to the improvement 
 of their talents here, so shall their rule and dignity 
 be enlarged.(v) They are not dignified with empty — 
 titles, but real dominion. ‘‘ Christ will grant them 
 to\sit with him in his throne ;(o) and will give them 
 power over the nations, even as he received of. his 
 - Father; and he will give them the morning star.”(p) 
 The Lord himself will give them possession with these 
 _ applauding expressions; ‘‘ Well done, good and faith- 
 ful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, 
 I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou 
 into the joy of thy Lord.”(¢) 
 
 ~§ 10. And with this solemn and blessed proclama- 
 tion shall he enthrone them; ‘‘ Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
 foundation of the world.”(7) Every word is full of life 
 and joy. Come, this is the holding forth of the golden 
 sceptre, to warrant our approach unto this glory.— 
 Come now as near as you will; fear not the Beth- 
 shemite’s judgment ; for the enmity is utterly abolish- 
 ‘ed.(s) This is not such a Come as you were wont to 
 hear: ‘ Come, take up your cross, and follow me-(é) 
 Though that was sweet, yet this much more. Come, from 
 all that afflicted you to all the company of heaven; 
 
 @), 2 Peter in. 7—12. (hk) Rev. v. 10. (2) 2. Tim. iv. 8, 
 (an). Rev. ii. 10. (n) Matt. xxv. 21, 23. (0) Rev. iti. 21. 
 (p) Rev. u. 26, 28. (q). Matt. xxv. 23. (r) Matt. xxv. 34. 
 (s) Ephes. nu. 15. (t) ,Matt. xvi. 24. b ta) 
 
‘~O THE SAINT’S REST. AA 
 
 Come ye, ye who were in poverty, in sickness, in 
 temptation, and persecution ; ye who were mortal, _ 
 bearing the cross after Christ ; ye who acknowledged 
 me before men and devils, and were not ashamed ‘of 
 my cause; ye who fought with and conquered sin, 
 who resisted the devil, stedfast in the faith, who de- 
 spised the world’s pleasures, honours, and riches, and. 
 fixed your hearts upon me and my ways; ye who have 
 been counted the offscouring of all things, and hated 
 of all men; ye whose life was counted madness, and 
 end without honour. Come ye to my presence, to 
 my throne, and kingdom; Come ye to dwell with 
 me, and my Father and his angels; Come ye and wear 
 a crown, and bear a palm, and behold my glory; 
 Come, ye blessed, blessed ndeed! What a blessing to 
 be brought from the verge of hell! to be washed from 
 the defilements of sin through faith in Christ’s blood ! 
 to be redeemed from the slavery of Satan, and to be 
 made a free child of God! Blessed in-life with the 
 Spirit, the promise, and protection of God; not only 
 blessed in life, but through life every thing hath 
 worked together for good; blessed in and through 
 death, blessed with a joyful resurrection, blessed be- | 
 fore men, angels, and devils, with the favour and 
 smiles of God. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
 the kingdom,—ah! wonderful!—a kingdom prepared 
 ‘ for thee.’ bint 
 
 § 11. Thus-we have seen the Christian safely landed 
 in paradise, and_conveyed_honourably to. his. rest. 
 Now let us a little further, in the next chapter, view 
 those mansions, consider their privileges,, and see 
 _ whether there be any glory like unto this glory. 
 
 py 
 1. 
 
™-™ = ™ 
 
 42 THE EXCELLENCIES OF 
 
 CHAP. Il. 
 
 - The Excellencies of the Saint's Rest. 
 
 § 1. The excellencies of the Saint’s rest are enumerated. § 2. (1) 
 It isthe purchased possession. § 3,4. (2) A free gift. § 5. 
 (3) Peculiar to the saints. § 6. (4) An association with saints 
 andangels. § 7. (5) It derives its joys immediately from God 
 himself. § 8. (6) It will be seasonable. § 9. (7) Suitable. 
 § 10, 12. (8) Perfect, without sin and suffering. § 13. 
 (9) And everlasting. § 14. The chapter concludes with a 
 serious address to the reader. 
 
 -§ 1. Ler us draw a little nearer, and see what fur- 
 ther excellencies this rest affordeth.—The Lord hide 
 us_in_theclefts ofthe rock,.and_.cover_us with the 
 hands of indulgent grace, while we approach to take 
 this view ! This rest 1s excellent for beimg—a purchased 
 possession ;—a free gift ;—peculiar to saints ;—an asso- 
 ciation with saints and angels ;—yet deriving its joys 
 immediately from God; and because it will be a sea- 
 sonable, —suitable,—perfect, and eternal rest. 
 
 § 2. (1) It is a most singular honour of the saint’s 
 rest, to be called the purchased _possession,(s) that 1s, 
 the fruit of the blood of the Son of God ; yea, the chief - 
 fruit, the end and perfection of all the fruits and 
 efficacy of that blood. Greater love than this there 
 is not, to lay down the life of the lover, And to 
 have this our Redeemer ever before our eyes, and the 
 liveliest sense and freshest remembrance of that dying 
 bleeding love still upon our souls! How will it fill our 
 souls with perpetual joy, to think that in the streams 
 of ‘this blood we_haye swam_through the violence of 
 the world, the snares of Satan, the seducements of the 
 flesh, the. curse. of the law, the wrath of an offended 
 God, the accusations of a_ guilty conscience, and_the 
 vexing doubts and fears_of an-unbelieving heart, and 
 
 * 
 
 (8) Ephes. i. 14. 
 
THE SAINT'S REST. 43 
 are ard ? Now he 
 cries to us, “ Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? 
 behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my 
 sorrow !”(¢) and we scarce regard the mournful voice, 
 nor scarce turn aside to view the wounds. .But then 
 
 will feel, and flame in love for 
 love. With what astonishing apprehensions will 
 redeemed saints everlastingly behold their blessed 
 Redeemer, the purchaser, and the price, together 
 ‘with the possession! Neither will the view of his 
 wounds of Jove renew our wounds of sorrow. He, 
 whose first words, after his resurrection, were to a 
 great sinner, Woman, why weepest thou?) knows how 
 to raise love and joy, without any cloud of sorrow, or 
 storms of tears.—If any thing we enjoy was purchased 
 with the life of our dearest friend, how highly should 
 we value it! If a dying friend deliver us but a token 
 of his love, how carefully do we preserve it, and 
 still-remember him when we behold it, as if his own 
 name was written on it! And will not then the 
 death and blood of our Lord everlastingly sweeten 
 our possessed glory? As we write down the price our 
 goods cost us; so on our righteousness and glory, 
 write down the price—the precious blood of Christ. 
 
 es 
 
 lost, and happiness 
 eee fell from, The work of Christ's redemption so 
 well pleased the Father, that he gave him power to 
 advance his chosen, and give fhient the glory, which 
 was given to himself; and “all this according to his good 
 pleasure, and the counsel of his own will.(w) 
 
 § 3. (2) Another pearl in the saint's diadem is, 
 that it is a free gift. These two, purchased, and free, 
 are the chains of gold which make up the wreaths for 
 the tops of the pillars in the temple of God.(r) It was 
 dear to Christ, but free to us. When Christ was to 
 buy, silver and gold were nothing worth, prayers and 
 
 (t) Lam. i. 12. (u) John xx.15. * 
 (w) Ephes. i. 9, 11. (x) 1 Kings vii. 17. 
 
~ Lion.of the. tribe.of Judah.is. worthy, and hath ue = 
 
 44 "THE EXCELBENCIES OF * 
 
 tears could not suffice, nor any thing below his blood ;. 
 
 but.our buying. is | Feceiving ; we have it freely without — 
 money and without price.( y) ‘A thankful accentenaa: 
 of_a free acquittance, is no paying.ofthe.debt. Here. 
 is_all. free: if the Father. freely. 712. thiesono Ani Ale: 
 
 Son freely pay the debt; and_if a 
 that_ way of payment, when he. migh require 
 
 it.of the principal ; _and if both Father. 
 
 offer.us. the. purchased life on our. caudal aceapts 
 ance, and if they freely send the Spinel to eT Ok e 
 
 xtaaccept; what is here, then, that is not free? Oh 
 
 the everlasting admiration that must needs surprise. 
 the saints to think of this freeness! <‘‘ What did the 
 Lord see in me, that he should judge me meet for 
 such a state! that Iwho.was.but.a_poor di: diseased. 
 despised. wretch, should be clad in the brightness of 
 this glory! that I, a creeping worm, shouldbe ade ; 
 vanced to. this high. dignity! .that..L,_.who 1 
 lately groaning, weeping, dying, should ow bea ,as 
 full of joy as my heart can hold! yea, should be taken 
 from ‘the grave, where I was rotting, and from the 
 dust and darkness, where I seemed forgotten, and be 
 here set before his throne! that I should be taken, 
 with Mordecia, from captivity, and be set next unto 
 the King! and with Daniel from the den, to be made 
 ruler of princes and provinces! Who can fathom 
 unmeasurable love?” If worthiness were. our ¢ 
 
 tion. for admittance,.we might.sit.down and weep ¥ 
 St.John, because no man was found worthy. 
 
 ed;(z) and_by that title we must hold the imheri- 
 tance. We shall offer there the offering that David 
 refused,. even praise for that which cost us nothing.(a). 
 Here our commission runs, ‘‘ Freely ye have received, 
 freely give;”(b) but Christ has dearly bought, yet 
 freely gives. : 
 § 4. If it were only for nothing, and withou our . 
 merit, the “wonder. were._great ; but it is “moreover 
 
 {y) Isa. ly. 1. ; (z) Rey. v. 4, 5. 
 (a) 2Sam. xxiv. 24. (6) Matt. x. 8. 
 
THE SAINTS REST. Ad 
 
 ainst our mérit> and against our long endeavouring 
 our own ruin. hat an astonishing thought it,.will 
 be, to think of the unmeasurable differencebetween, 
 our_deservings..and receivings!, between ‘the pata wie, 
 should have..been.in, and.the state, we..are, in! to 
 look down, upon.hell, and see: the vast. difference that. 
 grace hath..made. between.us.and them! to see the 
 inheritance there which. we. were. born to, so different. 
 from that..which.we.are.adopted.. to! What pangs of 
 love will it cause within us to think, ‘“‘ Yonder was 
 the place that sin would have brought me to, but this 
 is it that Christ hath brought me to! Yonder, death 
 was the wages of my sin, but this eternal life is the 
 gift of God, through Jesus Christ my Lord!(c) Who 
 made me to differ?(d) Had I not.now.been..in, those 
 flames, if I had my. own. way,.and.been.let.alone to 
 my own will? Should I not have. lingered in Sodom, 
 till the flames . had. seized..on me,.if God had not, in 
 mercy brought me_.out.?’ (e) Doubtless this will be 
 our everlasting admiration, that so rich a crown should 
 fit the head of so vile asinner! that such high ad- 
 vancement, and such long -unfruitfulness, and un- 
 kindness, can be thé state of the same person! and that 
 such vile rebellions can conclude in such most precious 
 joys! Butno. thanks. to.us,..nor..to.any.of.our.duties. 
 and labours, much. less.to..our.neglects..and laziness. 
 We know to whom. the praise. is. due,. ‘and. must. _be 
 given for ever. Indeed to ‘this very end it was, that 
 infinite Wisdom..cast..the...whole..design of,,man’s..sal- 
 vation into this. mould. of purchase..and_freeness,, that 
 the. love and joy of man might. be perfected, and the 
 honour of grace most highly. advanced ; that the 
 thought of merit might neither. cloud. ‘the, one,, nor 
 obstruct the other; and that on these two hinges ‘the 
 gate of heaven might turn.—So. then let. DESERY.ED 
 be written_on the door. of hell; but..on.the..door of 
 heaxen and life, THE FREE GIFT. 
 
 fd. (3) This rest is peculiar to saints, belongs to 
 no other ofall the sons of men. If all Egypt had been 
 
 © Rom, ess! td) 1 Cor. iv. 7, py Getlahs! ae 
 
= 
 
 46 THE EXCELLENCIES OF 
 
 light, the Israelites would not have had the less; but 
 to enjoy that light alone, while their neighbours lived 
 in thick darkness, must make them more sensible of 
 their privilege. Distinguishing mercy affects more 
 than any mercy. If Pharaoh had passed as safely as 
 
 Israel, the Red Sea would have been less remem- : 
 
 bered. Ifthe rest of the world had not been drown- 
 ed, and the rest of Sodom and Gomorrah not burned, 
 the saving of Noah had been no wonder, nor Lot's 
 deliverance so much talked of. When one is enlight- 
 ened, and another left in darkness; one reformed, 
 and another by his lust enslaved; it makes the saints 
 ery out, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest. thy- 
 self unto us, and. not unto the world?(f). When the 
 prophet is sent to one widow only of all that were in 
 Israel, and to cleanse one Naaman of all the lepers,(g¢) 
 the mercy.is.more..observable. That will surely be a 
 day of passionate sense on both sides, when there shall 
 be two in one bed, and two in the field, the one taken 
 and the other left.(h) The saints shall look down 
 upon t the burning lake, and in the sense of their own 
 happiness, and in the approbation _ of God's just pro- 
 abcde they shall rejoice and sing, Thou art righ- 
 teous, O Lord, who wast, art, and shalt be, because thou 
 hast judged thus.(?) 
 
 § 6. (4) But though this rest be proper to the 
 saints, yet it is common to all the saints; for it is ‘an 
 association of blessed spirits, both saints and angels ; a 
 a corporation of perfected saints, whereof Christ is 
 _ the head ; the communion of saints completed. As 
 we have been together in the labour, duty, danger, 
 and distress; so shall we in the great recompence 
 and deliverance. As we have been scorned and de~ 
 spised ; so shall we be owned and honoured together. 
 We, who have gone through the day of sadness, 
 shall enjoy together that day of gladness. Those, 
 who have been with us in persecution and prison, 
 shall be with us also in that palace of consolation. 
 How oft have our groans made, 2 as it were, one sound! 
 
 ( ip John xiv. 22. (zg) ene iv. 25, a7. : 
 ) Luke xvii. 34, 36. (0) Rev. xvi. 4. ‘ 
 
THE SAINTS REST. AT 
 
 ‘our tears, one stream! and our desires, one prayer ! 
 But now all our praises shall make up one -melody ; 
 all our churches, one church; and all ourselves, one 
 body; for we shall be all one in Christ, even as he 
 and the Father are one(k) Tis true, we must be 
 careful not to look for that in the saints which is 
 alone in Christ. But if the fore-thought of sitting 
 down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the king-- 
 dom of heaven,(l) may be our lawful joy; how much 
 more the real sight, and actual possession! a 
 choose but be comfortable to_think of that day, when 
 we shall join with Moses in his song, with David in 
 his psalms of praise, and with all the redeemed in the 
 song of the Lamb for ever;(m)..when we shall see Enoch. 
 walking with God ;(n) Noah enjoying the end of his 
 singularity; Joseph of his integrity ; Job of his pa- 
 tience; Hezekiah of his uprightness; and all the 
 saints the end of their faith.(o) Not only our old ac- 
 quaintance, but all the saints, of all ages, whose 
 faces in the flesh we never saw, we shall there both 
 know and comfortably enjoy. Yea, angels, as well 
 as saints, will be our blessed acquaintance. Those, 
 who now are willingly our ministering spirits,(p) will 
 willingly then be our companions in joy. They, who 
 had such joy in heaven for our conversion, (q) will 
 gladly rejoice with us in our glorification. Then we 
 shall truly say, as David, “Iam a companion of all 
 them that fear thee ;’(r) when we are come unto mount 
 Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the hea- 
 venly Jerusalem, and unto an innumerable company of 
 angels, to the general assembly and church of the 
 first-born, who are written in heaven, and to God 
 the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made 
 perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new coye- 
 nant.(s) “Tis a singular excellence of heavenly rest, 
 that we “are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of 
 the household of God.”(é) 
 
 (k) John xvii. 21. (2) Matt. viii. 11. (m) Rev. xv. 3. (n) Gen. v. 24. 
 (0) | Pet. 1.9. (p) Heb. i. 14: (g) Luke xv. 7, 10. (7) Psa. cxix. 63. 
 (s) Heb. xii. 22, 24. (é) Eph. ii. 19. 
 
 : 
 
— 
 
 © d es 
 
 48: - THE EXCELLENCIES OF 
 
 _.§ 7. (5) As another property of our rest, we shall 
 derive its joys immediately from. .God. Now we 
 have.-nothi i but...at..the. second, 
 or-third hand ;.or. how many,..who knows? From the 
 earth, from man, “rapes sun and moon, from the minis- 
 tration of angels, and from the Spirit, and Christ— 
 Though, in the hand of angels, the stream savours not 
 of the imperfection of sinners, yet it does of the im- 
 perfection of creatures; and as it comes from man, 
 it savours of both.. How quick and piereing is the 
 word in itself!(w) yet many times it never enters, be- 
 ing managed by a feeble arm. What weight and worth — 
 is there in every passage of the blessed gospel. Enough, 
 one would think, to enter and pierce the dullest soul, 
 and wholly possess its thoughts and affections; and 
 yet how oft does it fall as water upon a stone. The 
 things of God-which we handle are divine; but our 
 manner of handling them is human. There is ‘little we ne 
 touch, but we leave the print of our fingers behind. 
 If_God speaks the word himself, it will be a piercing, 
 melting . oem indeed. The_ Christian_ “Dow _knows 
 sweetest joys; which | have least of 1 “man, and are most 
 directly,..from, the.Spinit. Christians, who are much 
 in secret prayer and contemplation, are men of the 
 greatest life and joy; because they have al] more am- 
 mediately from God himself. 
 
 east off hearing, o yo 
 any ordinance. of LY; them, wh 
 . we use them ie. f_a Christian. There is 
 
 joy in these remote receivings; but the fulness of 
 
 meme wenn? 
 
 (u) Heb. iv. 12.” (w) Psalm xvi. 1. (z) Rev. xxi. 23. xxii, 5. 
 
* 
 
 THE SAINT'S REST. | 49 
 
 have enlightened.understandings.. without. scripture, 
 and_be_ governed without.a_written law; forthe Lord. 
 will_ perfect. his Jaw.in-our.hearts, and we.shall be.all 
 perfectly taught.of.God, We shall have joy, which 
 we drew not from the promises, nor fetched home by 
 faith or hope. We —shall_have..communion...withont 
 sacraments. ;.. without this fruit_of the vine,..when Christ 
 shall drink.it new.with.us.in his. Kather's kingdom,(y) and. 
 refresh us with the comforting wine of immediate en- 
 joyment. To have necessities, but no supply, is the 
 ease of them in hell. Tohave necessities supplied by 
 means of the creatures,.is.the case.of us on earth. To 
 have necessity supplied.immediately. from. God, is ‘the 
 case of the saintsin.heaven. To ae no. necessity, at_ 
 all, is. the prerogative. of God himself. 
 
 § 8. (6) A farther excellence of this rest is, that 
 it will be seasonable. He that expects the fruit of his 
 vineyard at the season,(z) and makes his people“ like a 
 tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth 
 his fruit in his season,”(a).will also give them the crown 
 in his season. He that will have a word of joy spoken 
 in season to.him_thatis_weary, (6) will surely cause.the 
 time_of joy to appear.in.the fittest season. They who 
 ** are not weary in well doing, shall, if they faint not, 
 reap in due season.”(c) . If God ‘‘ giveth rain” even to — 
 his enemies, ‘‘ both the former and the latter, in his sea- 
 son, and reserveth the appointed weeks of harvest, and 
 covenants that there shall be day and night in their 
 season ;'(d) then surely the glorious harvest of the 
 saints shall not missits season. Doubtless he that would 
 not stay a day longer than his promise, but brought 
 Israel out of Egypt on the self-same day when the four 
 hundred and thirty years were expired,(e) neither will 
 he fail of one day or hour of the fittest season for his 
 people’s glory. When we have had in this world a 
 long night of darkness, will not the day of breaking, 
 apd the rising of the Sun of righteousness, be then 
 
 seasonable ? ? When we have passed_along and tedious 
 
 < 
 
 (y) Matt. _ Ge (2) Mark xii. 2. (a) Psal. i. 3. (6) Isa. i. 4. 
 (c) Gal. vi. 9.- (d) Jer. v. 24. xxxiii. 20. (¢) Exod. xii. 40, 41. 
 ee G : 
 
50 THE EXCELLENCIES OF 
 
 j through nos no small dangers, is not home then 
 hensntiblers ? When we haye had a long. and_perilous 
 “war, and received. many a.wound, would not a peace 
 with victory be. seasonable ? 2 Men. live in a continual 
 ~ weariness, ‘especially the saints, who are most. weary 
 of that which the.world cannot feel. Some weary of a 
 blind .mind.;..some,.of.a. hard. heart. ;.some,.of their daily 
 doubts,and. fears; some, of the. want,of spiritual. joys ; 
 and, some, of the sense of God’s wrath. And when a 
 poor Christian hath desired, and prayed, and waited for 
 deliverance many years, is it not then seasonable?, We 
 grudge that we do not find a Canaan in the wilder- 
 ness, or the songs of Sion in a strange land: that we 
 have not-asharbour..in.the..main.ocean, nor our rest in 
 the heat of the day, nor, heaven. before.we leave the 
 earth : and would not all this be very.unseasonable ! ? 
 
 § 9. (7) As this rest will be seasonable, so it will be 
 suitable. The new nature of the saints doth suit their 
 spirits to this rest. Indeed their holiness is nothing 
 else but a spark taken from.this element, and by the 
 _ Spirit of Christ kindled in their hearts; the flame 
 whereof, mindful of its own divine original, ever tends 
 to the place from wence it:comes. Temporal crowns 
 and kingdoms could not make a rest for saints. As 
 they were not redeemed with so low a price,(f) neither 
 are they endued with so low a nature. ‘ As God will 
 have from them a spiritual worship, suited to his oa 
 Spiritual being, he.willprovide..them. 
 suitable..to. their Spizitual.nature. The knowledge of 
 God_and_his Christ, a delightful.com 
 mutual. love, an_everlasting rejoicing in. the enjoyment 
 of..our..God, with, a. -perpetual..singing. f hi 
 - praises ;..this.is.,a, heaven. for a, saint. Then, we sl 
 _ hye in our own element.—We.are.now.as. In 
 vessel of water, only so much.as.will.kee: 
 but what. is.that to the ocean? We havea little air 
 let into us, to afford us breathing: but what is that to 
 the sweet and fresh gales upon Mount Sion? We have 
 a beam of the sun to lighten our darkness, and a warm | 
 ray to keep us from freezing: but then we shall isi 
 
 (f).1 Peter i. 18. 
 
THE SAINT'S REST. 51 
 
 in its light, and be revived by its heat for ever.—As 
 the nature of saints are, such are their desires; and it 
 is the desire of our ruined nature which this rest is. 
 suited to. Whilst..our desires remain corrupted and 
 ‘ misguided, it is a far greater mercy to deny them, 
 yea, to destroy. them, than. to satisfy them: but those 
 which are spiritual are.of his.own planting, and he will 
 surely. water..them,.and.give, the increase.—He quick- 
 ened our hunger and thirst for righteousness, that he 
 might make us happy in a full satisfaction.—Christian, 
 this i f ; it contains all that 
 thy heart can’ wish: that which thou longest, prayest, 
 labourest for, there thou shalt find it all. Thou hadst 
 -vather have God in Christ, than all the world? . There 
 thou shalt have him. What wouldst thou not give for 
 assurance of his life? There thou shalt have assurance 
 without suspicion. Desire what thou canst, and ask 
 _ what thou wilt, as a Christian, and it shall be given 
 thee, not only to half of the kingdom, but to the en- 
 joyment both of kingdom and King. This is.a life of 
 desire and prayer, but that isa 
 j This rest is very suitable to the saint's ne- 
 cessities also, as well as to their natures and. desires. 
 It contains whatsoever they truly wanted: not sup- 
 plying them with gross created comforts, which, like 
 Saul’s armour on David, are more burden than benefit. 
 It was Christ and perfect holiness which they most 
 needed, and with these shall they be supplied. nll 
 § 10. (8) Still more, this rest will be absolutely. 
 
 perfect. We shall then have joy without sorrow, and 
 
 rest. without weariness. There is no mixture of cor- 
 ruption, with our graces, nor, of. suffering. with, our 
 comfort.—There are. none.of those, waves.in that har- » 
 hour, which now so toss us up and down. To-day we 
 are well, to-morrow sick; to-day in esteem, to-mor- 
 row in disgrace; to-day we have friends, to-morrow 
 none; nay, we have wine and vinegar in the same 
 cup. “If revelations raise us to the third heaven, the 
 messenger of Satan must presently buffet us, and the 
 thorn in the flesh fetch us down.”(g) But there is none . 
 i re 
 
 _ (g) 2 Cor. xi. 2,7, 
 
52 THE EXCELLENCIES OF 
 
 of this inconstancy in heaven. If perfect love casteth out 
 Jear,(h) then perfect joy must needs cast out sorrow, and 
 perfect happiness exclude all the relics of misery: We 
 shall there rest from all the evil of sin and of suffering. 
 
 § 11. Heaven excludes nothing more directly than 
 sin, whether of nature or of conversation.“ There shall 
 
 aE re ac Aer that.defi 
 z rane ie,” (2) What 
 
 or. ma 
 iiss rary ae at all to have died, if heayen could have 
 contained imperfect souls ? For this purpose the Son of 
 God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the 
 devil.(k) His blood and Spirit have not done all this 
 to leave us after all defiled. What -Counzasita ladle et 
 with darkness :and_.what. concord. 
 
 al?(/) Christian, if thou be once in heaven, tion 
 shalt sin no more. Is not this glad news to thee, _ 
 who .hast. prayed, and watched against it solong? I 
 know if it were offered to thy choice, thou wouldst 
 ‘rather choose to be freed from sin, than have all the 
 world. Thou shalt have thy desire.—That hard heart, 
 
 those vile thoughts which accompanied thee to every 
 duty, shall now be left behind for ever. Thy under- 
 standing shall never more be troubled with darkness. 
 
 All dark. scriptures shall, be made. plain; all s seeming 
 contradictions reconciled... The, poorest Christian is: 
 presently there a more perfect divine than any | here. 
 
 O.that-happy day, when error shall. vanish. for_ever! 
 When our understanding shall be filled with God him- 
 self, whose light will leave no darkness in us! His 
 face shall be the scripture, where. we shall read the 
 truth. Many a godly man hath here, in his mistaken 
 zeal, been a means to deceive and pervert his brethren ; 
 
 and when he sees his own error, cannot again tell how 
 to undeceive them: but there we shall sng tno in, 
 lal fro: 2 ee vil, ae 
 shall also rest.from.all. our.w a 
 
 Y csererrmae _ We shall no more s aihale this rebel ing 
 
 (A) 1 John iv. 18. Rev. xxi. 27, - 
 (k) 1 John un 8. dt 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. 
 
THE SAINT'S REST.: 53 
 
 -tions, nor vexed with their presence: no pride, passion, 
 slothfulness, insensibility, shall enter with us; no 
 ‘strangeness ‘to God, and the things of God; no cold- 
 ness of affections, nor imperfection in our ‘love; no 
 uneven walking, nor grieving of the Spirit; no scan- 
 dalous action, nor unholy conversation: we shall rest 
 from.all these for ever. Then-shall our.will. correspond 
 to the divine will,.as face answers face. in.a. glass, and 
 from. which,...as..our,Jaw and rule, we shall never 
 swerve. For he that is entered into this rest, hath also 
 ceased from his own works, as Grod did from his.(m) 
 
 § 12. Our sufferigs were but the consequences of 
 our sinning, and in. heaven they both shall cease to- 
 
 gether.—We_shall_ rest from all..our.doubts.of.God's —~ 
 
 love, It_shall_no more be.said, that,‘ Doubts are 
 like. the thistle, a.bad weed, but. growing. in good 
 eround.”(m).. They. shall. now. be weeded out, and trou- 
 ble_the gracious soul..no.more. We shall hear that . 
 kind..of language no..more;. ‘What. shall I do to” 
 know. ,.my_ state ? How. shall I know. that.God is. my 
 Father;that_my. heart.is upright ; that my conversa- 
 tion_is. true ; that my faith is simcere? I.am_ afraid my 
 sims..are- unpardoned ; that-alLI do. is. hypocrisy ; that 
 God_wall reject.me; that-he does. not hear my pray- 
 ers.” All this is there turned into praise. We-shall. 
 rest-from_all_sense.of God's displeasure. Hell..shall 
 not.be.mixed.with.heaven. At times the gracious soul 
 remembered God, and was troubled; complained, and 
 was overwhelmed, and refused to be ‘comforted ; divine 
 wrath lay hard upon him, and God afflicted him with all 
 his waves.(o) But that blessed day shall convince us, 
 that though.God._‘<-hid_his.face.from_us.for.a_moment, 
 yet. with everlasting. kindness .will..he_hayve.mercy.on 
 us.” (p).. We...shall_rest.. from_all_ the..temptations..of. 
 Satan, What.a.grief.isitto.a.Christian, though. he 
 yield .not_,to. the..temptation,_.yet, to. be. solicited.to 
 deny his Lord! What a torment to_have such hor-. 
 rid_motions.made_to_his._soul, such blasphemous 
 
 ideas presented to his: imagination; sometimes cruel 
 ates <5 SACP RGIS 8 WEE Se AE PARSE Soh 
 
 (m) Heb. iv. 10. Gen. ii. 2. (n) Dr. Preston. 
 (0) Psalm Ixxvil. 2, 3. Ixxxviiil. 7. (p) Isa. liv. 8. 
 
aS. 2° —_—=- 
 
 54 THE EXCELLENCIES OF 
 
 thoughts of God, undervaluing thoughts of Christy un- 
 believing. thoughts..of sacred..scripture, or injurious 
 thoughts of Providence; tobe tempted. sometimes 
 
 _to..turn...to..present., things, to.play..with..the baits 
 
 of .sin,.and venture _on.the delights of flesh,.and some- 
 times..to atheism itself; especially when we know 
 the treachery of our own hearts, ready, as tinder, to 
 take fire as soon as one of these sparks shall fall upon 
 them. Satan hath power here to tempt us iz the wil- 
 derness, but he entereth not the holy city.. He may set 
 us on a pinnacle of the temple in the earthly Jerusalem, 
 but the New Jerusalem he may not approach. He may 
 take us up intaan exceeding high mountain, but the mount 
 Sion he cannot ascend ; and if he could, all the kingdoms 
 of the world, and the glory of them,(q) would be a despis- 
 ed bait to.a soul possessed of the kingdom of our Lord. 
 No, it is in vain for Satan to offer a temptation more, 
 All our temptations from the world and the flesh 
 shall also cease. Oh the hourly dangers that we here 
 walk in! Every sense, and member, isa snare; every 
 creature, every mercy, and every duty, is a snare to 
 us. We can scarce open our eyes, but we are in 
 danger of envying those above us, or despising those 
 below us; of coveting the honours and riches of 
 some, or beholding the rags and beggary of others, 
 with pride and unmercifulness. If we see beauty, it 
 is a bait to lust;.if deformity, to loathing and dis= 
 
 dain. How soon do slanderous reports, vain jests; — 
 
 wanton speeches, creep into the heart! How - 
 constant and strong a watch does our appetite: re- 
 quire!—Have we comeliness and beauty? what fuel 
 for pride! Are we deformed? what an occasion of 
 repining? ..Have we strength of reason, and’ gifts of 
 learning? ©- how prone to be puft up, to hunt after 
 applause, andidespise our brethren! Are we unlearn- 
 
 -ed? how apt then to despise what we have not. Are 
 
 wein places of authority? how strong is the tempta- 
 tion to abuse our trust, make our will our law; and 
 cut out all the enjoyments of others by the rules 
 and model of our own interest and policy. Are we 
 
 (q) Matt. iv. 1—5 —8. - 
 
THE SAINT'S REST. 55 
 
 inferiors ? how prone to grudge at others’ pre-eminence, 
 and bring their actions to the bar of our judgment! 
 —Are we rich, and not too much exalted? Are we 
 poor, and not discontented? Ave we not lazy in our 
 duties, or make a Christ ofthem? Not that God hath 
 made alJ these things our snares; but through ‘our 
 _ Own corruption they become'so to us. Ourselves are 
 
 our rest will free_us fromall-these...As-Satan hath no ~ 
 
 entrance there, so neither any thing to serve his ma- 
 lice; but all things there. shall_jom with ys in the 
 high praises.of_our.great.Deliverer. As we 
 
 t lous, we—shalllikewisefrom..the abuses 
 and persecutions of the world. The prayers of the souls 
 under the aitar will then be answered, and God will 
 avenge their blood on them that dwell on the earth.r) 
 This is the time for crowning with thorns: that for 
 erowning with glory. ‘‘ Now, all that will live godly in 
 Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution :(s) then, they that 
 suffered with him shall be glorified with him.(¢) Now, 
 ‘we must be hatéd of all men for Christ’s name’s sake :() 
 then, Christ will be admired in his saints that were 
 thus hated.(w) We are here made-a spectacle unto the 
 world, and to angels, and to men; as_the filth of the 
 world, and the offscourine of all things. (v7) Men 
 separate us from.their company, and reproach us, and 
 cast_out our names.as.evil;”(y) but we shall then be 
 as much gazed at for our glory; and they will be shut 
 out of the church of the saints, and separated from us, 
 whether they will or not. We can scarce pray in our 
 families, or sing praises to God, but our voice isa 
 vexation to them: how must it torment them then, 
 to see us praising and rejoicing, while they are howl- 
 ing and lamenting. You, brethren, who can now 
 attempt no work of God without losing the love of the 
 world, consider you shall have none in heaven but will 
 further your work, and join heart and voice with you 
 
 in your everlasting joy and praise. Till then “possess 
 
 (r) Rev. vi. 9,10. (s) 2 Tim. iti. 12. (@ Rom. viii. 17. (w) Matt. 
 wv. 22. (w)2Thess.i.10 (x) 1 Cor.iv.9,13. (¢y) Luke vi. 22. 
 
 eee 
 
* yo = eee ee 
 
 56 _ THE EXCELLENCIES -OF 
 
 ye ‘your souls in patience.”(z) Bind all noatitalaiaiies 
 aicrown to your heads. Esteem them greater riches 
 than the world’s treasures. “ It is a righteous. thing 
 with God to recompense tribulation to them that 
 trouble you; and. to.you. .who.are.troubled,.xest..with 
 Christ.”(@)—We shall then rest from all..our..sad_.divi- 
 sions, and. unchristian quarrels with oneanother... How 
 lovingly do thousands live together. in. heayen,..who 
 lived at variance upon.earth! “There. is.no. contention, 
 because none of this pride, or ignorance, or the other cor- 
 ruption... There is no plotting to strengthen our party, 
 nor, deep. designing against our brethren.—If there-be 
 sorrow or shame in heaven, we shall. then be both 
 sorry and ashamed, to remember all this carriage on 
 earth; as Joseph’s brethren were to behold -him, 
 when they remembered their former unkind usage. 
 Is it not enough that all the world is against us, but 
 we must also be against one another? O happy days 
 of persecution, which drove us together 1 in love, whom 
 the sun-shine of liberty and prosperity crumbles into 
 ¢ dust by our contentions! O happy day of the saint's 
 rest in glory, when, as there is one God, one Christ, 
 one Spirit, so we shall have one heart, one church, 
 one employment, forever! We shall then rest from 
 our participation of our brethren’s sufferings. The 
 church on earth is a.mere hospital; some. groaning 
 under_a dark. understanding,..so 
 | ; sible heart, some languishing .under 1 unfit wes werk 
 ness, and some bleeding for. miscarriages 
 ness, some crying out.of their. poverty, some 
 ing under pains and infirmities, and some bewai aoe a 
 _ whole catalogue of calamities. But a far greater grief . 
 it is, to see our dearest and most intimate friends 
 turned aside from the truth of Christ, continuing 
 their neglect of Christ and their souls, and nothing 
 will awaken them out of their security; to look.on 
 an ungodly father or mother, brother or sister, wife 
 _ or husband, child or friend, and_think how certainly 
 they shall_be- in-hell_for. ever, if they die in their pre- . 
 x sentunregenerate.state ; to—thinkof. a 
 
 -(®) Luke xxi. 19. (a) 2 Thess.i.6,70 
 
 - 
 
| THE SAINT'S REST. \ 57 
 
 left willingly dark and destitute, and_ blowing.’ 
 
 light that should guide them.to.salvation.| Our day of 
 rest will free us from all this, ‘‘ and the days of mourn- 
 ing shall be ended ;” then thy people, O Lord, shall be 
 all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the 
 branch of thy planting, the work of thy hands,| that 
 thou mayest be glorified.(c )—Then we shall rest from 
 all our own personal sufferings, This may seem ja 
 small thing to those that live in ease and prosperity; 
 but to the daily afflicted soul it makes the thoughts:of 
 heaven delightful. Ob.the.dying. life..we.now,dive,.as 
 _ full of.sufferings.as.of.days.and hours.! .,.Oux Redeemer 
 leaves..this..measure.of, misery upon us, to.make us 
 know for what we are beholden, to:mind us of what 
 we should else forget, to be serviceable to,his wise and. 
 gracious designs, and advantageous to our full and final 
 recovery. Grief enters at every sense, seizes every 
 part and power of flesh and spirit. |. What'noble part 
 is there, that suffereth its pain and ruin alone? But sin 
 and flesh, dust and pain, will all be left. behind toge- 
 ther. Oh the blessed tranquillity of that region, where 
 there is nothing but sweet continued peace! Oh 
 - healthful -place, where none are sick; oh fortunate 
 land, where all are kings; oh holy assembly, where all 
 are priests! How free.a state, where none are servants; 
 but to their supreme Monarch! , The poor. man,shell 
 no more be tired with his labours: no more hunger 
 or thirst, cold or nakedness: no: pinching frosts ‘or 
 scorching heats. »-Our faces shall’ no:;more be pale .or - 
 sad: no more breaches in: friendship, no parting .of 
 
 + friends asunder: no more trouble aceompanying our 
 
 relations, nor voice of lamentation heard in our dwells 
 ings. -God will wipe away all tears from our eyes.(d) 
 O my soul, bear with the infirmities of thine. earthly 
 tabernacle; it will be thus but a little while;. the 
 sound of thy Redeemer’s feet is even at the door. We 
 shall also rest from all’ the toils'of duties... The consci+ 
 entious’ niagistrate, parent and minister, cries out, 
 
 * (e) Isa. ix, 20, 21. . (d) Rev. vii. 16, 17, 
 
 pe 
 
x! 
 
 58 THE EXCELLENCIES OF 
 
 *“O the burthen that lieth upon me!” Every relation, 
 State, age, hath variety of duties; so that every con- 
 scientious Christian cries out, “ O the burthen, ohimy 
 weakness, that makes it burthensome!” But our re- 
 maining rest will ease us of the burthens.—Qnee:more, 
 we_shall_rest. from.all. these..troublesome. afflictions 
 which necessarily accompany our. 8X) : 
 The trouble that is mixt in our Sesires ang hopes, 
 our longings and waitings, shall then cease. We shall 
 no more look into our cabinet, and miss our treasure ; 
 mto our hearts, and miss our Christ: no. 
 him from ordinance to ordinance, but all be concluded 
 in a most blessed and full enjoyment. » th 
 § 13. (9) The last jewel of our crown is, that it 
 will be an eyerlasting rest. Without this all were 
 comparatively nothing. The very thought of leay- 
 ing it would embitter all our joys. It would. be 
 a hell in heaven, to think of once losing heaven; as 
 
 it would be a kind of heaven to the damned, had 
 
 they but hopes of once. escaping. Mortality is the 
 disgrace of all sublunary delights. How it spoils 
 our pleasure to see it dying in our hands! But 
 oh blessed eternity, where our lives are perplexed 
 with no such thoughts, nor our joys interrupted 
 with any such fears; where we shall be pillars in 
 the temple of God, and go no more out. (¢) While 
 we were servants, we held by lease, and that but 
 for the term of a transitory life; but the son abid- 
 eth in the house for ever.(f) O my soul, let go thy 
 dreams of present pleasures, and loose thy hold of earth 
 
 frequently, study thoroughly, this 
 one word, efernity. What | live, and never die; re- 
 joice, and ever rejoice! O happy souls in hell, should 
 you but escape, after millions of ages! O miserable 
 saints in heaven, should you be dispossessed, after the 
 age of a million of worlds! This word, everlasting, con- 
 tains the perfection of their torment, and our glory: 
 O that the sinner would study this word; methinks it 
 would startle him out of his dead sleep! O that the 
 
 (e) Rev. iii. 12. (f) John viii. 35. 
 
‘THE SAINTS RES?Y. ag 
 gracious soul would study it, methinks it would re- | 
 vive him in his deepest agony. ‘‘ And must I, Lord, 
 thus live for ever? Then will I also love for ever. 
 Must my joys be immortal ; and shall not my thanks 
 be also immortal? Surely, if I shall. never lose my 
 glory, I will never cease thy praises. If thou wilt both 
 perfect and perpetuate me and my glory, as I shall be 
 thine, and not my own, so shall my glory be thy glory. 
 And as thy glory was thy ultimate end in my glory ; 
 so shall it also be my end, when thou hast crowned me 
 with that glory which hath no end.”——“ Unto the 
 King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, 
 _ be ur and glory, for ever and ever.’(g) 
 
 14. Thus I have endeavoured to show you a 
 glimpse of approaching glory. But how short are m 
 expressions of its excellency! Reader, if thou be an 
 humble sincere believer, waitest..wi ing.and 
 labouring...for..this.rest,.thouwilt. shortly.see,.and_feel, 
 the truth of allthis. Thou wilt then have so high an 
 apprehension. of this. blessed state, as_will make thee 
 pity the ignorance and. distance of mortals, and will 
 tell_thee, all that 1s here said falls short.of the whole 
 truth a thousand fold, In the mean time let this much 
 kindle thy desires and quicken thy endeavours: up and 
 be doing, run, and strive, and fight, and hold on; for 
 thou hast a_certainglorious_prize before thee. God 
 will not mock thee; do not mock thyself, nor betray 
 thy soul by delaying, and all is thine own. What 
 kind of men, dost thou think, would Christians be in 
 their lives and duties, if they had still this glory fresh 
 in their thoughts? What frame would their spirits be 
 in, if their thoughts of heaven were lively and believ- 
 ing. Would their hearts be so heavy, their counte- 
 nances be so sad, or would they have need to take up 
 
 _. their comforts from below? Would they be so loth 
 
 to suffer; so afraid to die: or would they not think 
 every day a year till they enjoy it? May the Lord 
 heal our carnal hearts, lest we enter not into this rest, 
 because of unbelief.(h) 
 
 ¢g) 1 Tim. i. 17. ath Sorte ae 
 
—— tC 
 
 60 THE CHARACTER OF THOSE 
 
 MOI 
 
 CHAP. IV. hae Stta 
 
 ’ Lit ees 
 
 The Character of the Persihi for whom this Rest ‘is 
 
 designed. “ry 
 
 § ’Tis wonderful that such rest should be designed for mortals. 
 § 2. The people of God. who shall enjoy this rest, are, (1) Cho- 
 sen of God, &¢. _ § 3. (2) Given to Christ. § 4. @) Born again. 
 § 5—8. (4) Deeply convinced of the evil of sin, their misery by 
 ‘sin, the vanity of the creature, and the all-sufficiency of Christ. 
 '§ 9. (5) Their will is proportionably changed. § 10: (6) They 
 
 " engage i covenant with Christ. § 11. and (7). They persevere 
 in their engagements.) § 12. The reader invited to examine him- 
 
 . Self by the! characteristics of God’s people. ., § 13. | Further 
 testimony from scripture that this rest shall be enjoyed by the 
 
 po a ag of God. 14. Also that none but they shall enjoy it. 
 
  § 15. 16. And that it remains for them, and _is not to be en- 
 
 _ goyed till they come to another world. § 17. The chapter con- 
 clades with showing, that their souls shall enjoy this rest while 
 
 Separated from their bodies. i) OM 
 
 ? § 1..Wuite I was in the mount describing the 
 
 excellencies, of the saint’s rest, I felt it was good — 
 
 being there, and therefore tarried the longer; and 
 was there not.an extreme disproportion between my 
 conceptions and the subject, much longer had I been. 
 Can a prospect of that happy land be tedious? Having 
 read of such a high and unspeakable glory, a stranger 
 would wonder for what rare creatures this mighty 
 preparation should be made, and. expect some illus- 
 trious sun should break forth. But, behold! only 
 a shell-full of dust, animated with am inyisible rational 
 soul, and that rectified with as unseen a restoring 
 cower. of grace; and this is the creature that must 
 possess, such glory. You would think it must needs 
 be some deserving piece, or one that. brings a valuable 
 price: but, behold, one that hath nothing, and can 
 deserve nothing ; yea, that deserves the, contrary, and 
 would, if he might, proceed in that deserving : ; but 
 being apprehended by love, he is brought to him that 
 is A/l,(i) and most affectionately receiving him, and 
 
 @) Col. iii. 11 
 
 ¥ 
 
WHO SHALL ENJOY) THIS REST... 61 
 
 resting on him, he doth inand through him. receive 
 all this!’ More particularly, the persons for whom 
 this rest is designed, are—a—holy.peoples given to 
 Christ as their Redeemer; born..again ;..deeply.con- ; 
 vinced_of the. evil and misery, ofa. sinful. state,..the s 
 vanity of the creature, and the all-sufficiency of Christ ; 
 their will is renewed; they engage themselves to Christ 
 in-govenant and they. persevere. in their. engagements 
 
 4 2 () ‘The persons for whom this rest is sesigned 
 whom the text calls the people of God, are.chosen oe 
 God before.the...foundation..of..the.world,...that.,they. er 
 be_holy and without. -hlame..hefore..him.in,love.(k).... That 
 they are. but a small part of mankind,.1s too apparent 
 in scripture and. experience. They are the litile flock, 
 to whom it ts their Father's good pleasure to give the 
 kingdom.(1) Fewer_they are e than the world imagines ; 
 yet not so few as some drooping spirits think, who 
 are suspicious . that_ God_is unwilling to be_ their 
 - God, when they know themselves willing to be his 
 people. 
 
 § 3. (2) These persons are given of God to his 
 Son, to_be by a no pens lost state, and 
 advanced + to this glory. God hath given all things 
 to . his Son. __ © God_hatl 1 given him power. “overall 
 flesh, that_he. should... give eternal life to as many as 
 the Father hath given him.”(m) The Father hath 
 given him all who repent and believe. . The difference 
 is clearly expressed by the apostle; ‘‘ He hath put all 
 things under his feet, and gave him to be the head 
 over all things to the church.”(”) And though Christ 
 is, in some sense, @ ransom for all,(o) yet not in that 
 special manner as for his people. \ 
 
 § 4. (3) One great qualification of these persons 
 is, that they are “born again.(p) To.be.the.peaple..of. 
 God without r “regeneration, is _as,.impossible. as to be 
 the children of men. without generation. Seeing we 
 are born God's enemies, we .must. be. -new:born. his 
 sons, or else remain enemies. still. The greatest -re- 
 
 Ron ener I 
 
 (k) Ephes. i. 4, 5. oO) Luke xii. 82. (m) John xvii. 2. 
 (2) Ephes. i. 22. (0) 1 Tm, n.6. = (p) John iii. 3. 
 
A 
 
 62 THE CHARACTER OF THOSE 
 
 formation of life that can be attained to, without this 
 new life wrought in the soul, may procure our farther 
 delusion, but never our salvation... 
 
 § 5. (4) This new life of the people of God disgo- 
 vers_ itself. by conviction, or_a deep sense of divine 
 things. As for ‘nstance—They. are convinced of the 
 evil of sin. The sinner is made to ey ee aaa 
 — -Sin,.which -was_his_delight,.is.a. 
 thing than _a toad_or serpent, and a greater ae ap 
 plague_or famine; he ee breach of the righteous 
 law of the Most High God, dishonourable to him, 
 and destructive to the aifinen: Now the sinner_no 
 more hears. the reproof_of..sin as wordsof_ course; 
 but_the mention of his_sin.speaks to his very heart, 
 and yet he is contented you should show him the 
 worst. He was wont to marvel, what made men 
 keep up such a stir against sin, what harm it was for 
 a man to take a little forbidden pleasure; he saw no 
 such heinousness in it, that Christ must needs die for - 
 it, and a christless world be eternally tormented in 
 hell. Now the case is altered: God hath opened his 
 eyes to see the inexpressible vileness of sin. 
 
 § 6. They are convinced of their own misery by 
 reason of sin. They. who. before read ‘the threats of 
 _God’s law, as men do the story of. foreign, wars, now 
 find it their own story, .and_perceive.they. re: | 
 own doom, as if they found their. own names. written. in 
 the curse, or heard the law say, as Nathan, Thou art 
 the man. (g)... The wrath of God seemed. to. him before 
 but as.a_storm.to..a man-in.a.dry house, or as the 
 pains ofthe sick to the healthful stander-by ; but now 
 he finds the disease is his own, and feels himself a 
 condemned man, that he is “dead and damned. in 
 point of law, and that nothing was wanting but mere 
 execution to make him absolutely and poration wp 
 miserable. This—is-a-work.ofthe. it in 
 some.measure.in.all the regenerate.—How should rm 
 come to  Christ.for.-pardon,.that..did not first. find 
 himself guilty, and condemned; or for life, that never 
 found himself spiritually dead? The whole need not 
 
 (q) 2 Sam. xi. 7. 
 
WHO SHALL ENJOY THIS REST. 63 
 
 a physician, but they that are sick.(r) The discovery — 
 
 ofthe remedy,...as..soon...as...the. misery,,... must, needs . 
 prevent.a.great.part.of the.trouble. And perhaps the 
 joyful apprehensions of mercy may make the sense of 
 misery sooner forgotten. 
 
 § 7. They are also convinced ofzthe | creature's. ya- 
 nity and_insufficiency.....Every..man. 1s. naturally. an 
 idolater. Our. cag reer from...God...in.,.qur, first 
 fall, and. ever. since. the creature hath, been our. god, 
 This. is, the grand sin of nature. Every unregenerate 
 man ascribes to the creature divine prerogatives, and _ 
 allows it the highest room in his soul; or if he is 
 convinced of misery, he flies to it as his saviour.— 
 Indeed, God and his Christ shall be called Lord and 
 Saviour; but_the.real. expectation..is. from. the .crea- 
 -ture,and. the work of God is laid upon.it..... Pleasure, 
 profit,..and honour,..are.the natural man’s trinity,,.and 
 his. carnal.self..is.these.in unity. It was our first sin, 
 to aspire to be as gods; and it is the greatest sin, that 
 is propagated in our nature from generation to gene- 
 ration. When God should guide usy we guide our- 
 selves; when he should be our Sovereign, we Tule 
 - ourselves; the laws which he gives us we find fault 
 with, and would correct; and if we had the making 
 of them, we should have made them otherwise ;_ 
 when he should take care of us, (and must, or we 
 perish,) we will take care for, ourselves; when we 
 should depend on him in daily receivings, we had 
 rather have our portion in our own hands; when we 
 should submit to his providence, we usually quarrel 
 at it, and think we should make a better disposal than 
 God hath made. -When we should study and love, 
 trust and honour God, we study and love, trust and. 
 honour our-carnal_selves.. Instead_.of.God, we would 
 have.-all..men’s..eyes..and..dependence,..on_us,,.and_all 
 men's_thanks. returned to_us,..and_-would.._gladly...be 
 the only. men_on earth,.extolled..and..admired...by_all, 
 Thus we are...naturally..our..own..idols. But down 
 falls this Dagon, when God does once renew the 
 soul. It is the chief design of that great work, to 
 
 (7) Luke v. 31. 
 
64 THE CHARACTER OF THOSE © 
 bring theheart-back.to-God.himself..... He. 
 the_ sinner,..that.the.creature..can_neither be hi 
 to_make him happy, nor his Christ,. to recoye 
 from his misery, and restore him to God, who is his. 
 happiness. God-does this, not only by his word, but 
 by. his. proxidence.also, cen is the reason why afiie- 
 tion so sineaeealle concurs in the work of conversion. 
 Arguments which speak to the quick, will force a 
 hearing, when the most powerful words are slighted. 
 Ifaosimner,.made. his...credit.-his..god,,.and..God. shall 
 cast him into:the lowest disgrace ;..or:bring him, who 
 olized_ his riches, into.a condition.wherein. they-can-. 
 Byori -him.; or cause them to. take, _Wwing,..and fly 
 awayy.;- ca a help is here to this’ work of conviction! 
 If a man made pleasure his god, whatsoever a roving’ 
 eye, a curious ear, a greedy: appetite, or a lustful 
 heart, could desire, and God should take these from 
 him, or turn them into gall and wormwood, what a 
 help is here to conviction! When) God shall: castia 
 man into Janguisbing sickness, and inflict wounds on 
 his heart, andgstir up against him bis.own conscience, 
 d*then,.as it were, say to him, ‘ Try if your cre- » 
 dit,” Tichés, "or pleasure, can. “help: “you... “Cant the 
 » “heal -your. wounded. conscience 5... 
 port_your tottering tabernacle ;. ee they. Heep. 3ou 
 departing soul in your body; or save 
 - everlasting. wrath ;.or redeem..your. so’ ie ernal 
 flames ? Cry: aloud to them, and see now whether 
 these will be to you instead of God and his Christ.’ 
 O how this works now with the smner! Senseac- 
 knowledges the truth, and even the flesh is convinced 
 of the creature’s vanity, and our very deceiver is en 
 deceived. 
 § 8. The people of God are likewise cowviridedl of 
 _ the absolute necessity, the full sufficiency, and per- 
 fect excellency, of Jesus Christ. As a man in famine 
 is convinced of the necessity of food; or a man that 
 had heard or read his sentence of condemnation, of 
 the absolute necessity of pardon; or a man that lies 
 in prison for debt, is convinced of his need of a pe 
 to discharge it. ie the sinner feels an insupp 
 
 #. 
 
WHO SHALL ENJOY THIS REST. 65 
 
 able burden upon him, and sees there is’ none bit 
 Christ can take it off. He perceives the Jaw proclaims 
 him.a.rebel, and none but Christ can make his peace. 
 He is asa man pursued.by.a.lion, that must perish, if 
 he finds not a present sanctuary. He is now: brought 
 to this dilemma; either he must,.have.. Christ. justify 
 him,.or.be.. eternally.condemned ; have. Christ.,to..saveO' 
 him,..or_burn.in,hell. forever; have Christ to bring , 
 ‘him to God, or be shut out of his presence everlast-” 
 ingly. And no wonder if he cry, as the martyr, 
 «« None but Christ, none but Christ.” Not: gold, but 
 bread, will satisfy the hungry; nor any thing but 
 pardon will comfort the condemned. All things are 
 counted but dung now, that he may win Christ ; anil what 
 was gain, he counts loss for Christ.(s) As the sinner, 
 sees his misery, and the inabilityof. himself and. all 
 things to relieve.him, so he perceives-there.is.no.saying 
 mercy out.of.Christ.. He.sees,..though--the--creature 
 cannot, and himself.cannot,...yet.Christ can... Lhough . 
 the fig-leaves of our own unrighteous righteousness 
 are too short to cover our nakedness, yet-the righte- 
 ousness.of Christ isJarge enough, Ours is dispro- 
 portionate to the justice of the law, but Christ’s 
 extends to every tittle. If he intercede, there is no 
 denial; such is the dignity of his person and the value _ 
 of his ‘merits, that the Father grants all he desires.— / 
 Before, the sinner knew Christ’s excellency, as a blind | 
 man knows the light of the sun; but now, as one ee 
 ‘beholds its glory. 
 § 9. (5) After fis deep conviction, the will disco- 
 As for instance—The. sin which 
 the as pronounces evil, the will turns from 
 with abhorrence. Not that the’ sensitive appetite is — 
 changed, or any way made to abhor its object: but 
 when it would prevail against reason, and carryvus.to ~ 
 sin-against God, _instead of scripture being the rule, 
 and_reason...the..master, inaster, and sense. the servant;..this 
 
 diac. and. evil. the. wi ors.—The misery also \ 
 
 “ 
 
 | (s) Phil. in,.7, 8, 
 3. 1 
 
66 THE CHARACTER OF THOSE 
 
 which sin hath procured, is not only discerned, but be- 
 wailed. It is impossible that the soul should now look, 
 either on its trespass against God, or yet on its own 
 ‘self-procured calamity, without some contrition. He 
 that truly discerns that he hath killed Christ, and killed 
 himself, will surely in some méasure be pricked to the 
 heart.(t) If he cannot weep, he can heartily groan; 
 _ and_his heart feels what his understanding sees. The 
 creature is renounced as vanity, and turned out of 
 the heart. with disdain. Not that it is” sme eps we 
 or the use of it disclaimed; but its idolatrous abuse, 
 and _ its unjust usurpation...Can Christ be the way, 
 where. the. creature.is,the end? Can we seek to Christ 
 to.reconcile_.us to God, while in our hearts we. prefer 
 the creature before him? In the soul of every unre- 
 generate man, the creature is both God and Christ. 
 As turning from the creature to God, and not by 
 Christ, is no true turning; so believing in Christ, 
 while the creature hath our hearts, is no true be- 
 lieving. Our aversion from sin, renouncing our idols, 
 and our right receiving Christ, is all but one work, 
 which..God_ever_ perfects. where he begins, At the 
 same time, the will..cleaves.to.God. the aeneneeet 
 Christ... Having. been convinced. gre nothing. 
 can. be. his happiness, the sinner. now finds. empties ae 
 Convinced also, that Christ alone is able, and willing 
 to make peace for him, he most affectionately accepts 
 of Christ for Saviour and Lord. Paul's preaching was 
 repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
 Christ.(u) And life eternal, consists first im knowing 
 the only true (rod, and then Jesus Christ whom he 
 hath _sent.w) To take the Lord for our Gad, is the 
 natural part of the covenant; the supernatural part 
 is to take Christ for our Redeemer. The former is 
 first necessary, and implied in the latter. To aceept 
 Christ without affection and love, is not justifying 
 faith. Nor does love follow asa fruit, but immedi- 
 ately concurs: for faith is the receiving of Christ with 
 
 (®) Acts ii. 37. wu) Acts xx.21. — (w) John xvii. 3. 
 
 J 
 
> 
 
 WHO SHALL ENJOY THIS REST. 67 
 
 the whole soul. He that loveth father or mother more 
 than Christ, is not worthy of him,(r) nor is justified by 
 him. Faith accepts him for Saviour and Lord: for 
 in both relations will he be received, or not at all. 
 Faith not only acknowledges his sufferings, and ac- 
 cepts of pardon and glory, but acknowledges his so- 
 vereignty, and submits to his government and way of 
 salvation. 
 § 10. (6) As an essential part of the character of Ce”. 
 God's people, they now enter-into.a.cordial covenant. 
 1 The_sinner was never strictly, nor com- 
 fortably, in. covenant with Christ till now, He is sure, 
 - the free offers, that Christ consents; and new—he 
 : and so the agreement is 
 fully made.—With this covenant Christ delivers up 
 himself in all comfortable relations to the sinner; and 
 the sinner delivers up himself, to be saved and ruled 
 by Christ—Now the soul resolutely concludes, “I 
 have been blindly led by flesh and lust, by the world 
 and the devil, too long, almost to my utter destruction ; 
 1 will now be wholly ; at_the disposal of my Lord, who 
 hath bought. _me_with his blood, and will bring.me.to 
 
 § 11. (7) Ladd, “thatthe people.of God persevere — 
 in_this_covenant.to the end, Though the believer 
 ee. yet he never disclaims his. Lord, re- 
 
 nor. ae Ler be said. to. break ‘that covenant, 
 
 wish that_faith continues. ‘which is the condition var : 
 Indeed, those that have verbally covenanted, and 
 
 oe cordially, may tread under foot the blood of the 
 
 covenant as.an_unholy. thing. This” iss), - 
 
 made the conditi yea, of their con-__ 
 i j ss, and of the continuance h 
 
 of_their justification, tho’ of th 
 
 ugh not of their first justi- | 
 fication itself (y) But eternally blessed be that hand~ 
 
 (x) Matt. x. 17. (y) John xv. 4—6-—9. viii. 31. Rev. ii. 26. 
 26. mi. 11, 12. Col. i. 23. Rom. xi. 22. | 
 
68 THE CILARACTER OF THOSE 
 
 ‘of love, which hath drawn the free promise, and sub- 
 scribed and sealed to that which ascertains us, both 
 of the grace which is the condition, and the kingdom 
 which on that condition is. offered ! 
 
 Ԥ 12. Such are the essentials of this people of God. 
 Not a full portraiture of them in all their excellencies, 
 nor all the notes whereby they may be discerned. If 
 beseech thee, Reader, as thou hast the hope of a 
 Christian, or the reason of a man, judge’ thyself as 
 one that must shortly be judged by a righteous God, 
 and faithfully answer these questions. Tswill_ not in 
 quire whether. thou remember the time.or the order of 
 these workings. ofthe Spirit;. there.may be much up- 
 certainty and mistake.in_that., If thou art sure they 
 
 at 
 
 oe wrought in thee _the matter is not so ¢ 
 
 i, een But carefully exam aug 
 
 thou_been. thoroughly. + anced of 2 preve 
 
 pravation_throug che mee soul? and a prevailing 
 
 -~wickedness..through thy whole life? and how vile sin 
 is? and that, by the covenant thou esse 
 
 the least. sin deserves.cternal death? Dost thou con- — 
 sent to the law, that it is true and righteous, and 
 perceive thyself sentenced to this death by it? Hast 
 
 thou seen the 
 
 utter_insufliciency of every. creature, 
 either to be itself thy. Be ieee or the means. of re- 
 moving.this thy misery? Hast. thou been convinced, 
 
 that thy happiness..is.only.in.God, asthe end; and in 
 
 Christ, as the way to him; and that thou must be 
 ‘brought to God through Christ, or perish eternally? 
 
 Hast thou seen an absolute necessity of thy enjoying 
 Christ, and the full sufficiency in him to do for thee 
 
 ‘whatsoever thy case requires? Hast thou discovered 
 -the excelJency of this pearl, to.be worth thy selling all 
 to buy it %(s) . Have thy convictions been like those of 
 ‘aman that thirsts; and not merely a change in opi- 
 
 nion,. produced by reading or education? ' Have both 
 thy sin and misery been the abhorrence and burden 
 
 -of thy soul? Ifthou couldest not weep, yet couldest 
 
 (2) Matt. xiii. 46. 
 
. WHO SHALL ENJOY THIS ‘REST.. 69 
 
 thou heartily groan under the insupportable weight 
 of both? Hast thou renounced all thy own righte- 
 ousness? Hast thou turned thy idols out of thy heart, 
 so that the creature hath no more the sovereignty; — 
 but is now,a servant to God and Christ? Dost thou 
 accept of Christ as thy only Saviour, and expect thy 
 justification, recovery, and glory, from him alone? ~ 
 Are his laws the most powerful commanders of: thy 
 ‘life and soul! Do they ordinarily prevail against the 
 commands of the flesh, and against the greatest in- 
 terest of thy credit, profit, pleasure, or life? Has 
 Christ the highest room in thy heart and affections, 
 so that, though thou canst not love him as thou 
 wouldest, yet nothing else is loved so much ?—Hast 
 ’ thou to this end made a hearty covenant with him, 
 and delivered up thyself to him? Is it thy utmost 
 care and watchful endeavour, that thou. mayest be 
 found fa:thful in this covenant; and.though. thow. 
 fall_into.sin, yet wouldest not renounce... thy. bar- 
 gain,_nor..change,.thy Lord, nor give..up. thyself to. 
 any other government..for_all..the..world?2—If this be 
 truly the case, thou, art one of the people of God in: 
 my text; and_as sure as the promise.of God. is true, 
 this. blessed__yest..remains,.for.thee. Only see thou 
 
 found within, thee ; 
 Feet casts except..thorough conversion. prevent..it, 
 e_rest_of the saints belongs not..to thee. O 
 
 this, that thou wouldest consider thy latter end!”(d) 
 that yet while thy soul is in thy body, and @ price in 
 thy hand,(e) and opportunity and hope before thee, 
 thine ears may be open and thy heart yield to the 
 persuasions of God, that so thou mightest rest among 
 
 (a) John xv. 4. (b) Matt. xxiv. 13. (c) Heb. x. 38. 
 (d) Deut. xxxii. 29.  (e) Prov. xvii. 16. 
 
 ‘ 
 
70 THE CHARACTER OF THOSE | 
 
 his people, and enjoy the inheritance of the saints in 
 light ((f) | . 
 
 § 13. That this rest shall be enjoyed by the people 
 of God, is a truth which the scripture, if its testi- 
 mony be further needed, clearly asserts in a variety 
 of ways. As for instance, ‘‘ God is not ashamed to 
 be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a 
 city.(¢) They are styled vessels of mercy, afore pre- 
 pared unto glory.(h) In Christ they have obtained the- 
 earnest of an enheritance. Who can bereayve the Chris- 
 tian of that rest, which is designed for them of God? 
 —Scripture tells us, they are redeemed ‘to this rest. 
 “ By the blood of Jesus we have boldness to enter 
 into the holiest;"(2) either that enter means by faith 
 and prayer here, or by full possession hereafter.--- 
 Therefore the saints in heaven sing a new song unto 
 Him who has “ redeemed them to God by his blood, 
 out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and 
 nation, and made them kings and priests unto God.(k) 
 Either Christ then must lose his blood and sufferings, 
 and never see the travail of his soul, or else there 
 remaineth a rest to the people of God.---In scripture 
 this rest is promised to them. As the firmament 
 with stars, so are the sacred pages bespangled with — 
 these divine engagements. Christ says, ‘‘ Fear not, lit- 
 tle flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give 
 you the kingdom.(/) I appoint unto you a kingdom, 
 ‘as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may 
 eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. ’(m) &e. 
 &c.---All the means of grace, the operations of the © 
 Spirit upon the soul, and gracious actings of the 
 saints, every command to repent and believe, to fast 
 and pray, to knock and seek, to strive and labour, 
 to run and fight, prove that there remains a rest for 
 the people of God. The Spirit would never kindle 
 in us such strong desires after heaven, such love to. 
 Jesus Christ, if we should not receive what we desire. 
 
 Cf) Col.1.12. "  (g) Heb. xi. 16. (h) Rom. ix. 23. — 
 
 '(@) Heb. x. 19. (k) Rev. v. 8---10. (2 Luke xii. 32. 
 ~ (m) Luke xxii. 29, 30. fi 
 
WHO SHALL ENJOY THIS REST. 71 
 
 and Jove. He that “ guides our feet into the way of 
 peace,”(”) will undoubtedly bring us to the end of 
 eace.—How nearly are the means and end conjoin- 
 ed! “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, 
 and the violent take it by force.”(0) They that ~ 
 “follow Christ in the regeneration, shall sit upon 
 thrones of glory.”(p) Scripture assures us, that the 
 saints have the beginnings, foretastes, earnests, and seals, 
 
 _ of this rest here. “The kingdom of God is within 
 
 them.(7) Though they have not seen Christ, yet 
 loving him, and believing in him, they rejoice with 
 joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end 
 of their faith, even the salvation of their souls.(7) 
 They rejoice in hope of the glory of God."(s)— 
 And_does_God.sealthem..with.that..Holy Spirit. of 
 promise, whichis. the. earnest.of their_inheritance, 
 
 . and will he deny the full possession ?(t)---The_ scripture 
 
 also mentions, by name, those who have entered into 
 this rest; as Enoch, Abraham, Lazarus, the thief that. 
 was erecified with Christ, &e. And if there be a rest 
 for these, sure there is a rest for all believers. But 
 it ig vain to heap up scripture proofs, seeing it-is the 
 very end of scripture to be a guide to lead us to this 
 blessed-state, and to be the charter and grant by which 
 we hold all our-title-to-it. . 
 4 14. Scripture not only proves, that this rest re- 
 mains for the people of God, but also that it remains 
 
 for none but them; sa_that the rest. ee shall. 
 
 not the Son shall not see life, pat ie wrath of God 
 abideth on him.(w) No whoremonger, nor unclean 
 person, nor coyetous man, who is an idolater, hath an 
 inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.(x 
 The wicked shall be fired into hell, and all the na- 
 tions that forget God.(y) They all shall be damned, 
 
 (n) Luke i. 79. (0) Matt. xi. 12. ¢p) Matt. xix. 28. 
 (q) Luke xvii. 21. (r) 1 Pet. i. 8, 9. (3) Rom. v. 2. 
 (¢) Ephes. i. 13,14. (uw) Heb. xii. 14. (w) John iii, 3, 36. 
 
 (z) Ephes. v. 5. (y) Psalm ix. 17. 
 
72 THE CHARACTER OF fHOSE > 
 
 who believe ‘not the truth, but have pleasure in un- 
 righteousness.(z) The Lord Jesus shall come in flam-: 
 
 . ing fire, to take vengeance on them that know not — 
 _ God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
 
 — 
 
 es 
 
 Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting de-: 
 struction from the presence of the Lord, and from: 
 the glory of his power.”(a) Had the ungodly returned: 
 before their life was expired, and been heartily will-: 
 ing to accept of Christ for their Saviour and their. 
 King, and to be saved by him in his way, and upon 
 his most reasonable terms, they ——- have - been 
 saved: ould 
 The pleasures.of. s 
 Ree lent than the glory of t the. saints. Satan’ 
 offered. themthe.one,.and.God offered them. 
 and they had free liberty, to.choose which they would, 
 and they chose. the pleasures of sin. for a_season, betore 
 the everlasting rest with Christ. And is it not a 
 righteous thing, that they should be denied that 
 which they would not accept? When God pressed 
 them so earnestly, and persuaded them so importu- 
 nately to come in, and yet they would not; where 
 should they be but among the dogs without? Though 
 man. be_so..wicked,.. that he. will. not-yield, till. the 
 mighty power of grace prevail with him, yet still we 
 may _truly_say,..that_he maybe. REMBEE CT 
 God’s terms.’ His inability, being mortal, and 
 in. wilful wickedness, is no more. excuse to } rr 
 it is to.an adulterer, that_he cannot love his 
 or to a malicious person, that he. cannot. but. hate be 
 own brother: is he not so much. the worse, and de- 
 serving of so much the sorer Tt punishment? Sinners shall 
 lay all the blame on their own wills in hell for ever: 
 Hell is a rational torment by conscience, according. to 
 the nature of the rational subject.---If sinners could 
 but then say, “‘ It was long of God, and not of us,” 
 it _would_quiet their consciences, and ease thei se_their {ot 
 ments,..and..make.hell..to. them. ut 
 
 hell. to.them.to be no hell, 
 to_remember_ their wilfulnéss will feed_the fire, aud 
 cause ¢ the worm worm of ‘conscience mever to die. (0) 
 
 (z) 2 Thess. ii. 12. ' (@) 2 Thess. i. 7---9. (0) Mark ix. 44.’ 
 
WHO SHALL ENJOY THIS REST 75 
 
 § 15. It is the will of God that this rest shoula yet 
 remain for his people, and not be enjoyed till they 
 come to another world.—Who should dispose of the 
 créatures, but he that made them? You may as well 
 
 ask, why have we not spring and harvest without 
 
 oak was once an acorn.—This life is our infancy: and 
 
 would we be perfect in the womb, or born at full 
 stature? If our rest was here, most of God's provi- . 
 
 dences must be useless. Should God lose the glory of 
 his church’s miraculous deliverances, and the fall of 
 his enemies, that men may have their happiness here? 
 If we were all happy, innocent, and perfect, what 
 use was there for the glorious works of our sanctifi- 
 cation, justification,....and..future..salvation?—If we 
 wanted nothing, .we.should. not. depend_on.God_ so 
 
 closely, nor.call. uponhimso..carnestly.—How_little. 
 
 should he hear from..us, if we had what we would 
 have? God would never have had such songs of praise 
 from Moses at the Red Sea and in the wilderness, 
 from Deborah and Hannah, from David and Heze- 
 kiah, if they had been the chusers of their con- 
 dition.—Iave not thy own highest praises to God, 
 Reader, been occasioned..by.thy.dangers.ormiseries ? 
 The greatest. glory and praise God has through the 
 world, is for..redemption,.reconciliation, and_salva- 
 tion by..Christ : and_.was not. man’s misery_the occa- 
 sion.of. that.?---And.where.God_loses. the opportunity 
 of exercising his mercies, man-must needs lose the 
 happinessof enjoying them. Where God loses his 
 praise, man will certainly lose his comforts. Oh the 
 sweet comforts the saints. have had in return to their 
 prayers! How should we know’ what a tender-hearted 
 Father we have, if we hadg#ot, as the prodigal, been 
 denied the husks of earthly’pleasure and profit? We 
 should never have felt Christ’s tender heart, if we had 
 not felt ourselves weary and heavy) en,’ hungry and 
 
 s 
 
‘ 
 
 TA THE CHARACTER OF THOSE ~ 
 thirsty, poor and contrite. Itis.a delight to a soldier, 
 or_traveller, to look back..on_his. 
 
 are over; and for a saint in_heayen to look back on. 
 his. sins and _sorrows.upon..earth, his. fears and tears... 
 
 ‘his enemies and dangers, his wants and. calamities, 
 
 must make his joy more joyful. Therefore the blesse 
 
 in praising the Lamb, mention his redeeming them 
 out of every nation, and kindred, and tongue; and 
 so out of their misery, and wants, and sms, and 
 making them kings and priests to God. But if they. 
 had. had. nothing, hut. content and rest_on earth, what 
 
 a ees moat te ee ne 
 
 room would there have been for these rejoicings here- 
 
 ? 
 §. 16. Besides, we are not capable of rest upon 
 
 earth.---Can a_soul that is so weak in grace, so prone 
 
 to_sin, so_nearly joined to such a neighbour as this . 
 flesh, have full-content.and_rest in. such a_case? What 
 
 but our ireedom jrom sin, and impertec 
 is. pestered, with all these, and 1 thal-continually ontinually! Why — 
 do Christians so often cry out in the language of 
 Paul, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me! (c) 
 What makes them run . 
 that_they may obtain, and. strive to enter in, i 
 are.capable. ot rest .Jn_thelr present. condition ?--Any 
 our bodies are incapable, as well as our souls. They 
 are not now those sun-like bodies which they shall be, 
 when. this corruptible. hath put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal put on immortality. “T isons, 
 and, our_burdens; so full of. infirmities and defects, 
 that. we are fain to spend most of our time in repair- 
 ing them, and. supplying their continual wants. Is it 
 possible that.an.immortal soul should have.rest.in.such 
 
 a. mpered noisome.habitation,? Surely these sick- 
 ly, weary, loathsome bodies, must be refined, before 
 they. can be capable of enjoying rest.---The objects. 
 we. here.enjoy.are_ insufficient. to afford us rest. Alas! 
 what is there in all the world to.give us rest ?---They 
 that_have..most..of_it, have the greatest burden.--- 
 They.that.set.most by it, and rejoice. most.init, do all 
 
 (c) Rom. vii. 24. 
 
WHO SHALL ENJOY THIS REST. 15 
 
 ery out at last of its vanity and vexation. Men pro-. 
 ‘mise themselves.a heaven upon earth; but when they 
 
 come to.enjoy it, it flies from them. He that has any 
 
 regard to the work of the Lord, may easily see, that — 
 the very end of them is to tales down our_ idols idols. to 
 make us weary_of_ the world, and_seek our_re oux_restin., 
 him. Where does he cross US most, but where we 
 promise ourselves most content? If you have a child 
 you dote upon, it becomes your sorrow. If you have 
 a friend you trust in, and judge unchangeable, he be- 
 comes your scourge. Is_this. a. place.or.state of rest ? 
 And _as the objects_we here. enjoy are. insufficient. for 
 
 our_rest, so God, who_is sufficient, is here little en- 
 joyed. It is. not. here that he hath _prepared_ the pre- 
 sence- -chamber. of - his glory. He hath drawn the 
 curtain between us and him. We are far from him as 
 creatures, and farther as frail mortals, and. farthest 
 as sinners. We hear now and then a word of com- 
 fort from him, and receive his love-tokens, to keep 
 up our hearts and hopes: i ah ne not our full en- 
 joyment. ent fui sal eed by Him his 
 
 port tion, as. = one hath that shall be saved by. im, 
 
 d he crown, before we have 
 overcome ? or for the prize, before we have run the 
 race? or to receive our penny before we have work- 
 “or to be rulers of ten cities, be- 
 fore we have improved our ten talents? or to enter 
 into the joy of our Lord, before we have well done 
 as good and faithful servants? God will not altar the 
 course of justice to give you rest before you have la- 
 boured, nor the crown of glory till you have over- 
 come. There is reason enough why our rest should 
 remain till the life to come. Take heed then, Chris? : 
 
 tian Reader, ieee: ener ag eng HC 
 “ 5: LeGDraeEeE 
 
 and...toil, nigh shania thee Doth thy poverty 
 weary thee? thy sickness, thy bitter enemies, and 
 
 Ky r. : ie 
 
76 THE CHARACTER OF THOSE « 
 
 unkind friends? It should be so here. Do the abo- 
 minations of the times, the sins of professors, the 
 hardening of the wicked, all weary thee? It must be 
 so, while thou art-absent. from thy.rest. Do thy sins, 
 and thy naughty distempered heart, weary.thee?’ Be 
 thus. .wearied..more...and...more.......But..under—alL..this, 
 weariness..art. thou willing to go. .to God. thy..zest! 
 and to have thy warfare. accomplished? and .thy.race. 
 and Jabour ended? If not, complain more of thy 
 
 own heart, and get it more weary, tl vesi_seemmare 
 dgsirable. 
 
 § 17-1 have but one thing more to add, for the 
 i of this chapter,---that the souls of believers do 
 enjoy inconceivable blessedness and glory, even while ~ 
 
 be more plain than those words of Paul, We are 
 
 always confident,. Jnowing-that.whilst.. 
 
 Wl MC M AQUI Oke 
 . rather sojourning, 2 the body, we are absent from the 
 
 \ 
 
 Lord, (for we walk by faith, not by sight.) We are 
 cqnfident, I say, and willing rather to “be absent from 
 the body, and_be present with the Lord Id) Ox those, 
 I am in.a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, 
 and to be Pit Christ, which -is far better 2e) It Paul 
 had.not.... expected. to. enjoy..C Christ....till..the...resur- 
 rection,... eee Se he..be..in.,..a.Stralt,..Of-Aesire..t0 
 depart? Nay,..should he not.. haye_been loth te.de- 
 p verysame..grounds ? for while he was 
 in the flesh, ! 
 
 enough is that of Christ to the thief “< To- a ay shalt 
 thou be with me in paradise. "( f--In the parable of 
 Dives and Lazarus, it seems unlikely Christ would so 
 evidently intimate and suppose the soul’s happiness . 
 or misery presently after death, if there were no.such 
 matter.(¢)---Our Lord’s argument for the resurrec- 
 tion supposes, that, God being not the God of the dead, 
 but of the living,(h) therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Ja-. 
 cob, were then living in soul.---If the dlessedness of the 
 dead that die in the *Lord,(i) were only in resting in 
 
 (d) 2 Cor. v. 6, 8. (e) Phil. i. 23. (f) Tuke xxii. 45. 
 (g) Luke xvi. 19, 31. (A) Matt. xxii. 52. (2) Rev. xiv. 13 
 
WHO SHALL ENJOY THIS REST. ry 
 
 the grave, then a beast ora.stone were as blessed; 
 
 nay, it_were evidently a. curse,.and. nota. blessing. 
 
 For was_not life.a,creat.mercy.? Was it not a greater 
 
 mercy to serve God and to do good, to enjoy all the 
 
 comforts of life, the fellowship of saints, the comfort 
 
 of ordinances, and much of Christ in all, than to lie 
 
 rotting in the grave? Therefore some farther blessed- 
 
 ness is there promised.—How else is it said, We are 
 
 come to the spirits of just men made perfect 2(k) . Sure, at 
 
 the..resurrection,...the...body...will..be..made.perfect. as 
 
 well as the spirit. Does not scripture, tell us, that 
 Enoch and Elias are taken up already? and shall we 
 
 think they possess that glory alone? Did not Peter, 
 
 James, and John, see Moses also with Christ on the 
 
 mount? yet the scripture saith, Moses died. And is: 
 it likely that Christ deluded their senses, in showing 
 
 them Moses, if he should not partake of that glory till 
 
 the resurrection ?—and is not that of Stephen as plain 
 
 as we can desire, Lord Jesus: receive my. spirit ? (1) 
 
 Surely, if the Lord receive it, it is neither asleep, nor 
 
 dead, nor annihilated; -but it is where he is, and 
 
 beholds his glory.---That of the wise man is of the 
 
 same import; The spirit shall return unto God who gave 
 
 at.(m)---Why are we said to have. eternal life; and 
 
 that to know God is life eternal; and that. a believer 
 
 on the Son hath everlasting life? or how.is the king- 
 
 dom of God within us? - be as_great an inter- 
 
 ruption of our life, astill the resurrection, this is no 
 
 eternal life, nor_everlasting Kingdom.---The cities of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah are spoken of as suffering the ven- 
 
 Seance of eternal fire(n) And if the wicked already 
 
 suffer eternal fire, then no doubt but the godly enjoy 
 
 eternal blessedness.---When John saw his glorious re- , 
 velations, he is said to be in the spirit, and to be car- 
 
 ried away in the spirit.(0). And when Paul was caught 
 up to the third heaven, he knew not whether in the body 
 
 or out of the body.(p) This_implies, that-spirits are ca- 
 
 pable of these glorious things, without the help of their 
 
 (k) Heb. xii. 22,23. (2) Acts vii. 59. (m) Eccl. xu. 7, 
 (x) Jude ver. 7. (c) Rev. 1. 10. iv. 2. (p) 2 Cor. xii. 2. 
 
78 . THE CHARACTER, ETC: 
 
 bodies.—Is not so much implied when John says, J 
 saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for 
 the word of God ?(¢)—When Christ says, Fear not them 
 that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul,(r) does 
 
 RECO ne nena Cregg 
 
 yet.the. souls. are. “sal alive ?—The eee Chrat “was 
 alive when his body was dead, and therefore. e sa.shall £ be 
 ours..too..... This appears_by..his_.words te the_thief, 
 To-day. shalt thou. be-with.me in paradise; and also. by his 
 voice.on the cross, Futher, into thy hands I commen my 
 spirit.(s) If the spirits of those that were disobedient in 
 the days of Noah were in prison,(t) that is, in a living 
 and. suffering state; then certainly t 
 
 of the just_are in an. 
 Therefore_faithful. 
 
 prisons of flesh, but..angels._ will. be__ their conyoy ; 
 Christ, with all the perfected spirits of the just, will 
 ‘be their companions ; ce, 
 and God their happmess. When such die, they may 
 boldly and believingly say, as Stephen, Lord Jesus, 
 receive my spirit! and commend it, as Christ did, 
 into a Father's hands. 
 
 (q) Rev. vi. 9. (r) Matt. x. 28. 
 (8) Luke xxiii. 46. (t) 1 Pet. iu. 19, 20. 
 
THE GREAT MISERY, ETC. 79. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 The great Misery of those who lose the Saint's Rest. 
 
 §. 1. The reader, if unregenerate, urged to consider what the loss 
 of heaven will be. § 2. (I.) The loss of heaven particalarly in- 
 cludes, § 3. (1) The personal perfection of the saints; § 4. 
 (2) God. himself; § 5. (8) All delightful affections. towards 
 God; § 6. (4) The blessed society of angels and_ glorified 
 spirits. § 7. (II.)' The aggravations‘of the-loss of heaven: 
 § 8. (1) The understanding of the ungodly will then be cleared; 
 §.9. (2) also enlarged; § 10. (8) Their consciences: will 
 make a true and close application; § 11. (4) Their. affections: 
 will be more lively; § 12---18. (5) Their memories. will. be 
 large and strong, § 19.. Conclusion of the chapter. 
 
 § 1. Ir thou, Reader, art a stranger to Christ, and 
 to the holy nature and life of his people, who are 
 before described, and ‘shalt live and die in this condi- 
 tion, let me tell thee, thou shalt never partake of 
 the joys of heaven, nor have the least taste’of the 
 saint's eternal rest. I may say, as Ehud, to Eglon, I 
 have a message to thee from God ;(u) that as the word 
 of God is true, thou shalt never see the face of God 
 with comfort. This sentence I am commanded’ to 
 _ pass upon thee; take it as thou wilt, and escape'it if 
 thou canst. I know thy humble and hearty subjection 
 to Christ would’ procure thy escape; he would then 
 acknowledge thee for one of his people, and give 
 thee a portion in the inheritance of his chosen.—If 
 this might be the happy. success of my message, I 
 should be so far from repining, like Jonah, that the 
 threatenings of God are not exeeuted upon thee, that 
 I should bless the day that ever God made me so 
 happy a messenger. But if thou.end thy days in thy 
 
 (u). Judges ii. 20. 
 
80 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 unregenerate state, as sure as the heavens are over thy 
 head, and the earth under thy feet, thou shalt be shut 
 out.of the rest of the saints, and receive thy portion 
 
 in everlasting fire. I expect thou wilt turn upon me 
 tell you who. they are_that shall be saved, and. who 
 - Shut.out? I answer, I do. not_name thee, nor any 
 other; I only conclude it. of the unregenerate in 
 general, and of thee, if thou_be such a one. Nor do 
 I go about to determine who shall repent, and who 
 shall not; much less, that thou shalt never repent. 
 Thad rather show thee what hopes thou hast before_ 
 thee, if thou wilt not sit still, and lose them. - I 
 
 and say, When did God show you the book of life, or — 
 
 would far rather persuade thee to hearkenin_time, 
 hefore. the door.be..shut.against..thee, than tell thee 
 there is no.hope.of thy repenting and returning. But 
 if-the foregoing ionof..the.people of: God does. 
 -not_agree with the state.of thy soul, is it then a hard 
 question, whether thou shalt ever be saved? Need I 
 ascend up into heaven to know, that-without_holiness_ 
 no.man.shall see the Lord; .or, that only the pure in 
 heart_shall_see_God ; or, that_except_a_man be born 
 again.he..cannot..enter..into..the,.kingdom of God ? 
 Need J. go up.to -heaven, to inquire that of C 
 which he came down. to_earth to tell us; and sent his 
 Spirit_in_his.apostles.to_tell_us; and..which he and 
 they. have left. upon..record_ to all. the wor 7—And 
 though I know not the secrets of thy heart, and there- 
 fore cannot tell thee thy name, whether it be thy state, 
 or not; yet if thou art but.willing, and dili ! 
 mayest know..thyself, whether. thou art..anheir of 
 heaven.ornot. "Tis the main thing I desire, that if thou 
 art. yet miserable, thou mayest discern and escape it. 
 But how canst thou escape, if thou neglect Christ 
 and salvation? . Tis as impossible, as for the devils 
 themselves to be saved. Nay, God has more plainly 
 and frequently spoke it in scripture of such sinners as 
 thou art, than he has of the-devils. Methinks a sight 
 ot thy case would strike thee with amazement and 
 horror. When Belshazzar saw the fingers of a man’s 
 hand that wrote upon the wall, his countenance was 
 
 - 
 
WHO LOSE THE SAINT’S REST. 81 
 
 changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the 
 joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote. one 
 against another.(w) What trembling then should seize 
 on thee, who hast the hand of God himself-against 
 thee, not m a sentence or two, but in the very scope 
 of the scriptures, threatening the loss of an everlasting 
 kingdom! Because I would fain have thee lay it to 
 heart, I will show thee—the nature of thy loss of. 
 heaven—together with its aggravations. | 
 
 § 2. (1.) In their loss of heaven the ungodly lose— 
 the saint’s personal perfection,---God _himself,---all 
 delightful affections towards God,---and the blessed 
 society of angels and saints. 
 
 § 3. (1) The glorious -personal perfection which 
 the saints enjoy in heaven, is the great loss of the un- 
 godly. They lose that shining lustre of the body, sur- 
 passing the brightness of the sun at noon-day. ‘Though 
 
 the bodies of the wicked will be raised more spiritual 
 than they were upon earth, yet that will only make 
 them capable of the more exquisite torments. They — 
 would be glad then, if every member were a dead 
 member, that it might not feel the punishment in- 
 flicted on it; and if the whole body were a rotten - 
 earcase, or might lie down again in dust; Much 
 more do they want that moral perfection which the 
 blessed partake of: those holy dispositions of mind; 
 that cheerful readiness to do the will of God; that 
 perfect rectitude of all their actions. Instead of these, 
 they have that perverseness of will, that loathing of 
 good, that love to evil, that violence of passion, which 
 they had on earth. “Tis true, their understandings 
 will be much cleared by the ceasing of former tempta- 
 tion, and experiencing the falsehood of former delu- . 
 sions. But they have the same dispositions still; and 
 fain_would_ they commit the same sins, if they could :, 
 they want but opportunity. There will be a greater 
 difference.between. these wretches,.and the glorified 
 Christians, than there is betwixt a toad and the sun 
 in the firmament. The rich man’s purple and fine 
 
 _ (w) Dan. v. 5, 6. 
 3, Te 
 
ee lee, 
 
 in_his_househol 
 
 82 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 linen and sumptuous fare, did not so exalt him above 
 
 Lazarus, while at his gate full of sores 
 
 § 4. (2) They shall have no comfortable relation 
 to God, nor communion with him. As they did not 
 like to_retain God. in. their knowledge,...but.said unto 
 him, Depart from us, for we desire not the know- 
 Jedge of thy ways; so God will abhor to retain then 
 
 h he i t x. “le will never admit eres the 
 inheritance of his, saints, nor endure them to stand in 
 his presence, but will profess unto them, “‘ I never. 
 knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” 
 They are ready now to lay as confident claim to Christ 
 
 and heaven, as if they were sincere believing saints. 
 
 The -swearer, the drunkard, the whoremaster, the 
 worldling, can say, Is not God our Father as well as 
 yours? But when Christ separates his followers 
 
 - from his foes, and his faithful friends from his de- 
 -ceived flatterers, where then will be their presump- 
 
 tuous claim! Then they shall find that God is not 
 their Father; because they would_not_be his people. 
 As they would not consent that God by his Spirit 
 should dwell in. them, so the tabernacle of wicked- 
 ness shall have no fellowship with him, nor the wick- 
 ed inhabit the city of God. Only they that walked 
 with God here, shall live and be happy with him in 
 heaven.---Little does the world know what a loss that 
 
 - soul hath, who_loses God! What a dungeon would 
 
 earth be, if it had.lost the sun! what a loathsome 
 carrion the body, if it had lost the soul! yet all these 
 are nothing to the loss of God. As the enjoyment 
 of God is the heaven of the saints, so the loss of God 
 is the hell of the ungodly. And as the enjoying of 
 God is the enjoying of all, so the loss of God is the 
 loss of all. 
 
 § 5. (3) They also lose all delightful affections to- 
 wards God :---that-transporting knowledge ;. those de- 
 
 lightful. views_of bis. glorious face ;...the inconceivable 
 
 pleasure.of Joving-him; theapprehensions of his infi- 
 nite love.to.us; the.constant joy.of his saints; and the 
 rivers.of consolation.with.which he satisfies them.--- 
 
WHO LOSE.TILE SAINTS REST. 83 
 
 Is it nothing to lose all this? The employment of a 
 king’ in ruling a kingdom, does not so far exceed that 
 of the vilest slave, as this heavenly employment, ex- 
 ceeds that of an earthly king. God suits men’s em- 
 ployments to their natures. Your hearts, sinners, 
 _ were never set upon God in your lives, never warmed 
 with his love, never longed after the enjoyment of 
 him; you had no delight in speaking or hearing of 
 him; you would rather have continued on earth, if 
 you had known how, then be interested in the glori- 
 ous praises of God. Is it meet then that you should 
 be members of the celestial choir? “3 
 § 6. (4) They shall be deprived of the blessed so- 
 ciety of angels and glorified saints. Instead of being 
 _ companions of those happy spirits, and numbered 
 with those triumphant kings, they must be members 
 of the corporation of hell, where they shall have com- 
 _ panions of a far different nature and quality. Scorn- 
 ing and abusing the saints, hating them, and rejoicing 
 in their calamities, was not the way to obtain their 
 blessedness. Now you are shut out of that company, 
 from which you first shut out yourselves; and are se- 
 parated from them, with whom you would not be 
 joined. You could not endure them in your houses, 
 nor towns, nor scarce in the kingdom. You took 
 them, as Ahab did Elijah, for the troublers of the 
 land, and as the apostles were taken for men that 
 turned the world upside down. If any thing fell out 
 amiss, you thought all was owing to them. When 
 they were dead or banished, you were glad they were 
 gone, and thought the country well rid of them. - 
 They molested you by faithfully reproving your sins. 
 Their holy :conversation troubled your consciences, - 
 to see them so far excel you. It was a vexation to 
 you to hear them pray, or sing praises in their fami- 
 lies. And is it any wonder if you be separated from 
 them hereafter? The day is near when they, will 
 trouble’ you no more. Betwixt them and you will 
 be a great gulph fixed. Even in this life, while the 
 saints were mocked, destitute, . afflicted, tormented, and“ 
 while they had their personal imperfections; yet, 
 
84 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 in the judgment of the Holy Ghost, they were such 
 of whom the world was not. worthy.(«) Much more 
 a. will the world be of their fellowship in 
 Saath 
 
 § 7. (11) [know many will be ready to think they 
 could Spare these things in this world well enough; 
 
 and why may they not be without them in the world 
 to come? Therefore to:show them that this loss of 
 heaven will then be most tormenting, let them now 
 consider,—their__understandings..will be cleared to 
 know. their _loss,—-and_have more more.enlarged apprehen- — 
 sions concerning. it.;—their_consciences.will make a 
 closer-application. of it.to.themselves ;---their affections 
 will _no longer be . stupified, ---nor their memories be 
 treacherous. 
 
 -§ 8. (1) The understanding of the ungodly. will 
 then be cleared to know..the..worth,.of | 
 they have lost. _Now they lament not their loss of _ 
 God, because they never knew his excellence; nor - 
 the loss of that holy employment and society, for they | 
 were never sensible what they were worth. A man 
 that has lost a jewel, and took it but for a common 
 stone, is never troubled at his loss; but when he 
 
 comes tm Know achat he. doin — — ee it. 
 
 ETE ste greens 
 
 phases sh epighe and. life, are. better... eer 
 
 bour_than.the..things...of. -another..world; but when 
 these things have left them in misery, when they ex- 
 perience the things which’ before they did but read 
 and hear of, they will be of another mind. They 
 would not believe that water would drown, till they 
 were in the sea; nor the fire burn, till they were cast 
 - into it: but when they feel, they will easily believe: 
 All that error of mind which made them set light by 
 God, and abhor his worship, and vilify his people, — 
 will then be confuted and removed by experience. 
 Their knowledge shall be increased, that their sor- 
 
 rows. may be increased.. Poor souls! they “would be 
 (v) Heb. xi..36, 38. 
 
WHO LOSE THE SAINT'S REST~ 85. - 
 
 comparatively happy, if_their. -understandings...were 
 wholly taken from. them,.if.theyhad.no..more.know- 
 ledge than, idiots, or brutebeasts; or if they knew ‘no 
 more in hell, than they did upon earth, their loss 
 would less trouble them. How happy would they 
 then think themselves, if they did not know there is 
 such a place as heaven! Now, when their knowledge 
 would help to prevent their misery, they will not 
 know, or will not read or study that they may know; 
 therefore when their knowledge will but feed their 
 consuming fire, they shall know whether they will 
 or not. They..are.now.in a dead sleep, and. dream 
 they_are_the happiest.men..in.the world; but when, 
 death..awakes..them, how will their, judgments be 
 changed in a moment !—and they that would not see, 
 shall then see, and be ashamed. 
 
 § 9. (2) ‘As their understanding will be cleared, so 
 it will be more enlarged, and made mote -capacious 
 
 to conceive the worth of that glory which. they have 
 
 lost. ‘The strength of their apprehensions, as well as 
 the truth of them, will then be increased. What 
 deep apprehensions of the wrath.of.God, the mad- 
 hess of sinning, the misery of sinners,..haye those 
 souls that now. endure this. misery, in comparison 
 with those on earth that do but hear of it! What 
 sensibility of the worth of life has the condemned 
 man that is going to be executed, compared with 
 what he was wont to have in the time of his prospe- 
 rity! Much more will the actual loss of eternal 
 blessedness make the damned ‘exceedingly appre- 
 hensive of the greatness of their loss; and as a large - 
 vessel will hold more water than a shell: ; so will their 
 more enlarged understandings contain more matter . 
 to feed their torment, than their shallow i can 
 how do. 
 a 10. oe hei al 
 Eee ee arr to emselves, 
 anit lhe ccdsdiacly: tend. to increase. their tor- 
 ment, It will then be no hard matter to them to s say, 
 _ “ This is my ve and this is my everlasting remedi- 
 
86 _ THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 less misery!” The want of this self-application is the 
 main cause why they are so little troubled now. ~ They 
 are hardly. brought to believe that there is such a 
 state of misery; but more hardly to believe that it 
 is like to be their own. This makes so many sermons — 
 lost to them, and all threatenings and warnings in 
 vain. Leta minister of Christ show them: their 
 misery ever so plainly and faithfully, they will not be - 
 persuaded they are so miserable. Let him tell them 
 of the glory they must lose, and the sufferings they 
 must feel, and they think he means not them, but 
 some notorious sinners. .[t is one of the hardest things 
 in the world, to bring a wicked man to know that he 
 is wicked, or to make him see himself in a state of — 
 wrath and condemnation. Though they may easily 
 find by their strangeness to the new birth, and their 
 enmity to holiness, ;that they never were partakers of 
 them; yet they as verily expect to see God and be 
 saved, as_if_they werethe_most.sanc! 
 
 the_world. How seldom do men cry out, after the 
 plainest discovery of their state, J am the man! or 
 acknowledge, that if they die in their present condi- 
 tion they are undone for ever! But when they sud- 
 denly find themselves in the land of darkness, feel 
 themselves in scorching flames, and see they are shut_ 
 out_of the presence of Go “God for. for ever, then the applica- 
 
 tion of .God’s.anger. to. to.themselves: “will be. the_ sasie st 
 - matter in the. world... They.will thn roar out. these 
 
 forced. confessions, O my misery! O my folly! O my 
 inconcewable, irrecoverable loss ! 
 
 § 11. (4) Then will théir affections likewise be 
 more lively, and no longer stupified. A hard heart 
 now makes heaven and hell seem but trifles. We - 
 have showed them everlasting glory and misery, and 
 they_are-as_men asleep ; our.words.are.as_stones cast_ 
 against.a wall, which. fly.back in-ourfaces, We talk 
 af terrible things, hut_it_is.to.dead.men; we search 
 the. wounds, but they. never.feel us; we speak to 
 rocks,..rather. than..to.men; the earth will as soon 
 tremble..as_they. But when these dead souls are re- 
 
WHO LOSE THE SAINT'S REST. . $7 
 
 vived, what passionate sensibility! what working 
 affections! what pangs of horror! what depth of 
 sorrow, will there then be! How violently will they 
 fly in their own faces! How will they rage against 
 their former madness! The lamentations of the most 
 affectionate wife for the loss of her husband, or of 
 the tenderest mother for the loss of her children, 
 will be nothing to theirs for the loss of heaven. O 
 the self-accusing and self-tormenting fury of those 
 forlorn creatures! How will they even tear their own 
 hearts, and be God’s executioners upon themselves! 
 As themselves were only the meritorious cause of 
 their sufferings, so themselves will be the chief exe- 
 cutioners. Even Satan, as he was not so great a 
 cause of their sinning as themselves, he will not be 
 so great an instrument of their torment. How happy 
 would they think themselves then, if they. were 
 turned into rocks, or any thing that had neither pas- 
 sion nor sense! How happy, if they could then feel 
 as lightly as they were wont to hear! if they could 
 sleep out the time or execution, as they did the time 
 of the sermons that warned them of it! But their 
 stupidity is gone; it will not be. 
 
 § 12. (5) Their memories will moreover be as large 
 and strong as their understanding and affections.— 
 Could they but lose the use of their memory, their 
 loss of heaven being forgot, would little trouble them. 
 Though they would account annihilation a singular 
 
 e 
 ICO 
 ¥} 
 
 ence; so by these 
 
 u ot G rth perpetual 
 the joys of his pres must they feed 
 u | 
 of his absence. Now they have no leisure to consider, 
 nor any room in their memories for the things of 
 another life: but then they shall have nothing else 
 to do; their memories shall have no other employ- 
 
 ment. God would have had the doctrine of their 
 
88 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 eternal state written on the posts of their doors, on 
 their hands and hearts; he would have had them 
 mind it, and mention it when they lay down and 
 rose up, when they sat in their house, and when they 
 walked by the way; and seeing they rejected this 
 counsel of the Lord, therefore it shall be written 
 always before them in the place of their thraldom, that 
 which way soever they look, they may still behold it. 
 It will torment them to think of the greatness of the 
 glory they have lost. If it had been what they could 
 have spared, or a loss to be repaired with any thing 
 else, it had been a smaller matter. If it had been 
 health or wealth, or friends, or life, it had been no- 
 
 thing. But, O! to lose that exceeding eternal weight _ 
 
 of glory! It: will also torment them. to think of the 
 possibility they once had of obtaining it. Then they 
 will remember, ‘‘ Time was, when I was as fair for 
 the kingdom as others. I was set upon the stage of 
 the world: if [ had played my part wisely and faith- 
 full, I might now have had possession of the inlé- 
 ritance. 1 might. haye. been among yonder. blessed 
 saints, who am. now..tormented with. Anese. damne 
 fiends. The Lord did set before me life a mre ro 
 and having chose death, 1 dosome. sean The. 
 prize was held out before me; if I had. run well, I 
 might have obtained it; if I had striven, I might 
 have had the victory ; if I had fought valiantly, I had 
 been crowned.”  It..will..yet..more..torment them to 
 remember, that their obtaining the ¢ eae not 
 only.possible, but very probable. It ‘wil nd then em 
 to fis «I had ‘once.the.gales.of the Spirit rea 
 tohave assisted.me. I was proposing to be another 
 man, to bave cleaved to Christ, and forsook the 
 world. I was_almost_resolved_to_have J 
 for_God.__I_.was once..even_turning from my base 
 seducing lusts. I had cast off my old companions; 
 and was associating with the godly. . d . 
 back, lost.my hold, and broke my promises. I 
 was almost persuaded to be a real Christian, yet I 
 conquered those persuasions. What workings were in 
 
WHO LOSE THE SAINTS REST. 89 
 
 my heart, when a faithful minister pressed home the 
 truth! O how fair was I once for heaven! 
 had_it, and yet I have lost it. Had I followed on 
 to seek the Lord, I had now been blessed among the 
 saints.” - 
 
 § 13. It will exceedingly torment them to remem- 
 ber their lost opportunities. ‘‘ How many weeks, 
 and months, and years, did I lose, which, if I had 
 improved, I might now have been happy! Wretch 
 that I was! could I find no time to study the work, 
 for which [ had all my time! no time among: all my 
 labours to labour for eternity! Had I time to eat, 
 and drink, and sleep, and none to save my soul? 
 had I time for mirth, and vain discourse, and none 
 ' for prayer? could I take time to secure the world, 
 and none to try my title to heaven? O precious 
 time! I had once enough, and now I must have no 
 more. I had once so much, I knew not what 
 to do with it; and now it is gone, and cannot be 
 recalled. O that I had but one of those years to 
 live. over- again! how speedily would I repent! | 
 how earnestly would I pray! how diligently would » 
 I hear! how closely would I-examine my state! 
 how strictly would I live!. But it is now. too late, 
 alas! too late.” 
 
 § 14. It will add to their calamity to remember 
 how often they were persuaded to return. ‘‘ Fain 
 would the minister have had me escape these torments. 
 With what love and compassion did he beseech me! 
 and yet I did but make a jest of it. How oft did he 
 convince me! and yet I stifled all these convictions. 
 How did he open to me my very heart! and yet I 
 was loth to know the worst of myself. O how glad 
 ‘would he have been, if he could have seen me cor- 
 dially turn to Christ! My godly friends-admonished 
 me. hey told me what would become of my wil- 
 fulness and negligence at last: but I neither believed, 
 nor regarded them. How long did God himself con-_ 
 descend to entreat me! How did the Spirit strive 
 
 with my best, _as if he was.loth to take ‘a denial! 
 a 3. ‘ M ' b 
 
90 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 > 
 
 How did Christ stand knocking one sabbath after 
 another, and crying to me, “‘ Open, sinner, open thy 
 heart to thy Saviour; and I will come in, and sup 
 with thee, and thou with me! Why dost thou delay? 
 How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? 
 Wilt thou not be pardoned, and: sanctified, and made 
 happy ? when shall it once be?” O how the recollec- 
 tion of such divine pleadings will passionately trans- 
 port the damned with self-indignation! Must I tire 
 out the patience of Christ? must I make the God of 
 heaven follow me in vain, till I had wearied him with 
 crying to me, Repent, return? O how justly is that 
 patience now turned into fury, which falls upon me 
 with irresistible violence ! When the Lord cried to me, 
 Wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be? 
 my heart, or at least my practice, answered, Never. 
 And now. when I cry, How long shall it be till I am 
 freed from this torment? how justly do I receive the 
 same answer, Never, never.” 
 
 § 15. It will also be most cutting to remember on 
 what easy terms they might have escaped their mi- 
 sery. This work was not to remove mountains, nor 
 conquer kingdoms, nor fulfil the law to. the smallest 
 tittle, nor satisfy justice for all their transgressions. 
 The yoke was easy, and the burden light, which 
 Christ would have laid upon them. It —was_but_to 
 repent, and cordially..accept him for.their Saviour ; 
 to_renounce..all..other-happiness, and.takethe-Lord 
 for their supreme.good; to renounce the world and 
 the flesh, and submit to his meek and gracious govern- 
 ment; and to forsake the ways of their own devising, 
 and walk in his holy delightful way.—‘ Ah,” thinks 
 the poor tormented wretch, ‘‘ how justly do I suffer 
 
 _ all'this, who would not be’ at so small pains to avoid 
 
 it! Where was my understanding, when I neglected 
 that gracious offer? when I called the Lord a hard | 
 master, and thought his pleasant service a bondage, 
 
 - and the’ service of the devil and the flesh the only 
 
 freedom? Was I not a thousand times worse than 
 mad, when I censured the holy way of God as need- 
 
 f 
 
 ) 
 i 
 
WHO LOSE THE SAINTS REST 91 
 less preciseness? when I thought the laws of Christ 
 too strict, and all'too much that: I did for the life to 
 come? What would all sufferings for Christ and 
 well-doing have been, compared with these sufferings 
 that I must undergo for ever? Would not the heaven ° 
 which I have lost have recompensed all my losses? 
 and should not all my sufferings have been there for- 
 gotten? What if Christ had bid me do some great 
 matter; whether to live in continual fears and sor- 
 rows, or to suffer death a hundred times over; 
 should I not have done it?—how much more when 
 he only said, ‘‘ Believe and be saved. Seek my 
 face and thy soul shall live. Take up thy cross, ” 
 and follow me, and I will: give _ thee everlasting 
 life.” rracious : ! erms! .O cursed 
 wretch, that would not be. persuaded. to accept 
 them ! mi; 
 
 Ҥ 16. This also will be a-most tormenting consi- 
 deration, to remember what they sold their eternal 
 welfare for. When they compare the value of the 
 pleasures of sin, with the value of the recompence of 
 _ reward, how will the vast disproportion astonish them ! 
 to think of the low delights of the flesh, or the ap- 
 plauding breath of mortals, or the possessing heaps of 
 gold; and then to think of everlasting glory, *‘ This 
 is all I had for my soul, my God, my hopes of blessed- 
 ness!” It cannot possibly be expressed, how these 
 thoughts will tear his very heart. Then will he ex- 
 claim against his folly, ‘‘ O miserable wretch! did I 
 set my soul to sale for so base a price? did I part 
 with my God for a little dirt end dross; and sell my 
 Saviour, as Judas, for a little silver? I had but a 
 dream of delight, for my hopesof heaven; and, now 
 I am awaked, it is all vanished. My morsels are now 
 turned to gall, and my cups to wormwood. When 
 they were past my taste, the pleasure perished. And 
 is this all that I have had for the inestimable treasure ? 
 What a mad, exchange did I make!. What if I had 
 gained all the world, and lost my soul? But, alas! 
 how small.a part of the world was it, for which I gave 
 
 they_were. punished for another man’ 's.transgressions ; 
 
 92 THE. GREAT MISERY» OF THOSE 
 
 up my part in glory!” O that sinners would think of 
 this, when they are swimming in the delights of the 
 flesh, and studying how to be rich and honourable in 
 the world! When they are desperately venturing 
 upon known transgression, and sinning against the 
 checks of conscience. 
 
 § 17. It will add yet more to their torment, when 
 they consider that they most wilfully procured their 
 own destruction. Had.they been forced to sin, it 
 would much abate the rage of their, consciences; or if 
 
 or anyother had been_the chief author.of.th 
 But to think it was the ; 
 
 and that none in the world could have forced ‘ligan 
 
 to sin against their wills; this will be a cutting 
 thought. ‘‘ Had I not enemies enough in the world, 
 (thinks this miserable creature,) but I must be an 
 enemy to myself? God..would..never..give..the devil, 
 nor.the.world, so much.more.power.overme.as. to force 
 me. to..commit.-the, least... icannaieesienee _They. sould 
 but_entice; it was myself that. yielded and. did th 
 
 evil.—And must I lay hands upon. my-pwn soul; and 
 imbrue.my.hands in my own blood? Never had I so 
 great an enemy as myself. Never did God offer any 
 good to my soul, but I resisted him. He hath heaped 
 
 -merey upon me, and renewed. one deliverance after 
 
 another, to draw my heart to him; yea, he hath 
 gently chastised me, and made me groan under the 
 fruit of my disobedience; and though I promised 
 largely in my affliction, yet never was I heartily will 
 ing to serve him.” Thus will it gnaw the heart. of 
 these sinners, to remember that they were the cause 
 of their own undoing ;. and that they wilfully and ob- 
 stinately persisted in their-rebellion, and were mere 
 
 volunteers in the service of the cae 
 
 § 18. The wound..dn..their.. iences will be yet 
 deeper, when they shall not only mere Fo it was 
 their own doing, but that they were at so much cost 
 and pains for their own danmation. What great un- 
 dertakings did they engage in to effect their ruin; to . 
 
2 
 “WHO LOSE THE SAINTS REST. 93 
 Dame 1 ecornagaent to-ovexcome-the-pawerof 
 
 subdue thé power of. reason, and sitehheJeniiassinel! 
 All this they understood and performed. Though | 
 they walked in continual danger of the wrath of God, 
 and knew he could lay them in the dust, and east 
 them into hell, in a moment; yet would they run 
 upon all this. O the labour it cost sinners ‘to be 
 damned! Sobriety, with health and ease, they might 
 have had at a cheaper rate; yet they will rather have 
 gluttony and drunkenness, with poverty, shame, and 
 sickness. Contentment they might have, with ease 
 and delight; yet they will rather have covetousness 
 and ambition, though it cost them cares and fears, 
 labour of body, and distraction of mind. Though 
 their anger be -self-torment, and revenge and envy 
 ‘consume their spirits; though uncleanness destroy 
 their bodies, estates, and good names; yet will they 
 do and suffer all this rather than suffer their souls to 
 be saved. With what rage will they lament their 
 folly, and say, ‘“‘ Was damnation worth all my cost 
 and pains? Might I not have been damned on free 
 cost, but I must. purchase it so dearly? I thought I 
 could have been saved without so much ado; and. 
 could I not have been destroyed without so much ado? 
 Must I so laboriously work out my own damnation, 
 when God commanded me to work out my own 
 salvation? If I had done as much forheaven as I did 
 for hell, I had surely had it. I cried out of the tedious 
 way of godliness, and the painful. course of self- 
 denial; and yet I could be at a great deal more pains 
 for Satan, and for death. Had_,I loved Christ as 
 strongly as_I did my pleasures, and profits, and 
 honours, and thought on him as often, and sought 
 him as painfully, O how happy had I now been! But 
 justly do I suffer the flames of hell, for buying them 
 so dear, rather than have heaven when it was pur- 
 chased to my hands!” 
 § 19. O that God would psa phe ‘Reader, to 
 take the thoughts. now, for preventing the in- 
 ; conceivable calamity_of faking them. up.in hell as thy 
 
04. THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 own tormentor! Say not, that they are only imagi- 
 nary. Read what Dives thought, being in ae 
 As the joys, of heaven are chiefly enjoyed. - 
 tional. .soul.in.its.rationaL.actings, so.must 
 
 hell.be. eater As_they will be. meal, 0a 
 they f feel and act as men. 
 
 e 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The Misery of those, who, besides losing the ‘Saint's Rest, 
 _ lose ee TUTE of Time, and ba es the Torments 
 
 of He 
 
 § 1. The connexion of this with the preceding chapter. § 2. a ) 
 The enjoyments of time which the damned lose: § 3: (1) 
 Their presumptuous belief of their interest in God and Christ ; 
 § 4. 2) All their hopes ; § 5. (8) All their peace of conscience ; 
 § 6. (4) All their carnal mirth; § 7. (5) All their sensual de- 
 lights. § 8. (IL.) The torments of the damned are exceeding 
 
 great: § 9. (1) The principal author of them is God himself; 
 . 10. (2) The place or state of torment: § 11. (8) These tor. 
 ments are the effects of divine vengeance; § 12. (4) God will 
 take pleasure in executing them ; & 13. (5) Satan and sinners 
 
 - themselves will be God’s executioners: § 14 (6) These tor- 
 ments will be universal; § 15. (7) without any mitigation; 
 
 _§ 16. (8) and eternal. N 17. The obstinate sinner convinced 
 of his folly in venturing on these torments; § ue and entreated 
 to fly for safety to Christ. 
 
 § 1. As godliness hath the promise of the life that 
 now is, and of that which is to come; and if we 
 seek first the kingdom of God and his mghteous- 
 ness, then all meaner things shall be added unto 
 us: so also are the ungodly threatened with the loss 
 both of temporal and spiritual blessings ; and because 
 they sought not first God’s kingdom and righteous- : 
 ness, therefore shall they lose both it and that which - 
 they did seek, and there shall be taken from them 
 
 (y) Luke xvi. 
 
WHO LOSE THE SAINTS REST. 95 
 
 that little which they have.—If ‘they could but have 
 kept their present enjoyments, they would not have 
 much cared for the loss of heaven. If they had lost 
 and forsaken all for Christ, they would have found 
 all again in him: for he would have been all in all to 
 them. But now they have forsook Christ, for other 
 things, they shall lose Christ, and that also for which 
 they forsook him;  even—the enjoyments of time— 
 besides suffering the torments of hell. 
 
 § 2. .) Among the enjoyments of time, they 
 shall particularly lose—their presumptuous belief of 
 their interest in the favour of God, and the merits 
 of Christ ;—all their hopes ;—all their false peace of 
 conscience ;—all their carnal: mirth, and all their sen- 
 sual delights. ! 
 
 § 3. (1) They shall lose their presumptuous belief 
 of their interest in the favour of’ God, and the merits 
 of Christ. This false belief now supports their spirits, 
 and defends them from the terrors that would 
 otherwise seize upon them. But what will ease their 
 trouble, when they can believe no longer, nor rejoice 
 any longer? Ifa man be near to the greatest mischief 
 and yet strongly conceit that-he_is in safety, he may 
 _be_as cheerful as_if all were well. If there were no 
 more to make a man happy, but to believe that he is 
 so, or shall be so, happiness would be far more com- 
 mon than it is like to be. As true faith is the leading 
 grace in the regenerate, so is false faith the leading 
 vice in the unregenerate. Why do such multitudes 
 sit still, when they might have pardon, but that they 
 _vetily think they are pardoned already? If you could 
 ask thousands in hell, what madness ‘brought them 
 thither? they would most of them answer, ‘‘ We 
 made sure of being saved, till we found ourselves 
 damned. We would have been more earnest seekers 
 of regeneration, and the power of godliness, but we 
 verily thought we were Christians before: _We have 
 flattered ourselves into these torments, and now there 
 is no remedy.” Reader, I must in faithfulness tell 
 thee, that the confident belief of their good state, | 
 which the careless, unholy, unhumbled multitude, so 
 
96 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 commonly boast of, will prove in the end but a soul-— 
 damning delusion. There is none of this believing in 
 hell. It was Satan’s- stratagem, that being blindfold’ 
 they might follow. him the more boldly; but then he. 
 will uncover their eyes, and they shall see where 
 they are. 
 
 _§ 4..(2) They shall lose also all their hopes. In 
 this life, though-they were threatened with the wrath 
 of God, yet the hope of their escaping it bore up 
 their hearts. We cannow scarce speak with the vilest 
 
 ‘ drunkard, or swearer, or scoffer, but he hopes to be 
 
 saved. for all this. O happy world, if salvation were 
 as common as this hope! Nay, so strong are men’s 
 hopes, that they will dispute the cause with Christ 
 himself at judgment, and plead their havmg eat and 
 drank in his presence, and prophesied in his name, 
 and in his name cast out devils; they will stiffly 
 deny that ever they neglected Christ in hunger, 
 
 “nakedness, or in -prison, till he confutes them with - 
 
 the sentence.of their condemnation. O the sad state 
 of those men, when they must bid farewell te all their - 
 hopes! When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall 
 perish; and the hope of unjust men perisheth(2) The 
 eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and 
 their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.(a) The 
 giving up the ghost is a fit, but’terrible, resemblance of 
 a wicked man giving up his hopes. As the soul de- 
 parteth not from the body without the greatest pain; — 
 
 _ so doth the hope of the wicked depart. The soul 
 
 departs from the body suddenly, in a moment, which 
 hath there delightfully continued so many years; 
 just so doth the hope of the wicked depart. The 
 soul will never more return to live with the body in— 
 this world; and the hope of the wicked takes an 
 everlasting farewell of his soul. A miracle of resur- 
 rection shall again unite soul and body, but there 
 shall be no such miraculous resurrection of the 
 damned’s hope. Methinks it is the most pitiable sight 
 this world affords, to see such an ungodly person dy- 
 mg, and to think of his soul and his hopes departing - 
 . (2) Prov. xi. 7. (a) Job xi. 20. . 
 
WHO LOSE TIE SAINTS REST. Q7 
 
 together. With what a sad change he appears in ano- 
 ther world! Then if a man could but ask that hope- 
 less soul, “‘ Are you as confident of salvation as you 
 were wont to be?” -what a sad answer would be re- 
 turned! O that careless sinners would be awakened 
 to think of this in time! Reader,—rest—not-til-theu- 
 canst_give a_reason..of all thy.hopes, grounded..upon 
 scripture..promises.; that. they purify thy, heart.;..that 
 they quicken thy..endeayours..in..godliness,,...that..the 
 more thou_hopest.the lessthou. sinnest,.,.and. the...more 
 exact is thy obedience. If thy hopes be such as these, 
 go on in the strength of the Lord, hold fast thy 
 hope, and never shall it make thee ashamed. But if 
 thou_hast,not one sound.evidence, of..a..work.of.grace | 
 op_thy soul, cast_away. thy.hopes.....Despair.of ever 
 being saved, except, thou be born again; or of seeing 
 God... pathout holiness; or.of. _haying part. in.Christ, 
 except thou love him above father or mother, or thy 
 own life. This kind of despair is one of the first 
 steps to heaven. If a man be quite out of his way, 
 what must be the first means to bring him in again ? ? 
 He must despair of ever coming to his journey’s end 
 in the way that he is in.- If his home be eastward, 
 and he is going westward, as long as he hopes he is 
 right he will go on; and as long as he goes on 
 hoping, he goes farther amiss. When he despairs of 
 coming home, except he turn. back, then he will re- 
 turn, and then he may hope. Just so it is, sinner, with 
 thy soul: thou art born out of the way to heaven, and 
 hast proceeded many a year; thou goest on and hopest 
 to be saved, because thou art not so bad as many others. 
 Except thou throwest away those hopes, and seest that 
 thou hast all this while been quite out of the way to 
 heaven thou wilt never return and be saved. There 
 1s nothing in the world more likely to keep thy soul 
 out of heaven, than thy false _hopes_ofbeing..saved 
 while thou.art.out.of the way.to salvation. See then 
 how it will aggravate the misery of the damned, that 
 with the loss of heaven, they shall lose all that hope 
 of it which now supports ee 
 4, 
 
98 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE , 
 
 § 5. (3) They will lose all that false "peace of con- 
 science-.which.makes. their present ] life’so_easy-~"Who 
 would think, that sees how quietly the multitude of the 
 ungodly live, that they must very shortly lie down in 
 everlasting flames ! from the-fears.of 
 hell as_an_ obedient, believer ;..and. fer. the..moast... part 
 haye_less..disquiet,.of mind. than...those..who.shallbe 
 saved. Happy.men, if this peace..would prove lasting! 
 
 “ When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden 
 destruction.cometh upon them, as trayail upon a woman 
 with child; and_they. shall not escape."(6) O cruel 
 peace, which ends in such a war! The soul of every 
 man by nature is Satan’s garrison : all is at, peace in 
 such a man till Christ comes, and gives it terrible 
 alarms of judgment and hell, batters it with the ord- 
 nance of his threats and terrors, forces it to yield to his 
 mere mercy, and take him for the governor; then doth 
 he cast out Satan, “‘ overcome him, take from him all 
 his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils,” 
 (c : 
 If therefore thou art yet in that first peace, never 
 think it will endure. 
 
 Can thy soul have lasting peace, 
 in_enmity with Christ ! Can_ be. have peaceagainst 
 homGod_proclaims_war! Lt 
 
 W. 
 
 good, than.tha . r_care 
 and shake thee out of thy falca peak, and make thee 
 lie down at the feet of Christ, and say, Lord, What 
 wouldst thou have me to do? and so receive from 
 him a better and a surer peace, which will never be - 
 quite broken, but be the beginning of thy everlasting 
 peace, and not perish in thy ‘perishing, as the ground- 
 less tia of the world will do. 
 
 § 6. (4) They shall lose all their carnal mirth. 
 They will themselves say of their laughter, Jé is mad ; 
 and of their mirth, What doeth it ?(d) Tt was but as the 
 ~cracklings of thorns under a pot.(e) It made a blaze for 
 a while, but it was presently gone, and returned no. 
 
 (6) 1 Thess. v. 3. (c) Luke xi. 22. 
 (d) Eccles. ii. 2. (ce). Eccles. vu. 6. 
 
- WHO LOSE THE SAINT'S. REST. { 99 
 ~~ 
 
 more. The talk of death and judgment was irksome 
 to them, because it damped their mirth. They could 
 not endure to think of their sin and danger, because 
 these thoughts sunk their spirits. They knew not 
 what it was to weep for sin, or to humble themselves 
 under the mighty hand of God. They could laugh 
 away sorrow, and sing away cares, and drive away 
 those melancholy thoughts. To meditate and pray, 
 they fancied would be enough to make them miser- 
 able, or run mad. Poor souls, what a misery will that 
 life be, where you shall have nothing but sorrow; 
 intense, heart-piercing, multiplied sorrow; when you 
 shall neither have the joys of saints, nor your own 
 former joys! Do you think there is one merry heart 
 in hell? or one joyful countenance, or jesting tongue? 
 You now cry, a little mirth is worth a great deal of 
 sorrow. But, surely, a little godly sorrow, which 
 would have ended in eternal joy, had been worth 
 much more than all your foolish mirth; for the end 
 of such mirth is sorrow. 
 
 § 7. (5) They shall also lose all their sensual de- 
 lights. That which they esteemed their chief good, 
 their heaven, their God must they lose, as well as 
 God himself.—What a fall will the proud ambitious 
 ‘man have from the top of his honours! As his dust 
 and bones will not be known from the dust and bones 
 of the poorest- beggar; so neither will his soul be 
 honoured and favoured more than theirs. What a 
 number of the great, noble, and learned, will be 
 shut out of the presence of Christ! They shall not 
 find their magnificent buildings, soft beds, and easy 
 couches. They shall not. view their curious gardens, - 
 their pleasant meadows, and plenteous harvests.— 
 Their tables will not be so furnished, nor attended. - 
 The rich man is there no more clothed in purple and 
 fine linen, nor fareth sumptuously every day. There 
 is no excepting the admiration of beholders. They - 
 _ shall spend their time in sadness, and not in sports 
 and pastimes. What an alterdtion will they then 
 find? The heat of their lust will be then abated. 
 
100 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE, 
 
 How will it even cut them to the heart to look each 
 ether in the face! What an interview will there then 
 be, cursing the day that ever they saw one another! 
 O that sinners would now remember, and say, “ Will 
 these delights accompany us into the other world? 
 Will not the remembrance of them be then our tor- 
 ment? Shall we then take this partnership in vice for 
 true friendship? Why should we sell such lasting in- 
 comprehensible joys for a taste of seeming pleasure ? 
 Come, as we have sinned together, let us pray together 
 that God would pardon us; and let us help one another 
 towards heaven, instead of helping to deceive and de- 
 stroy each other.” O that men knew but what they 
 desire, when they would so fain have all things suited 
 to the desires of the flesh! Itis but to desire their temp- 
 tations to be increased, and their snares strengthened. 
 
 ~ § 8. (II) As the loss of the saint’s rest will be ag- 
 graved by losing the enjoyments of time, it will be 
 much more so by suffering the torments of hell. The 
 exceeding greatness of such torments may appear by 
 considering,—the principal author of them, which is 
 God himself;—the place or state of torment ;—that 
 these torments are the fruit of divine vengeance ;— 
 that the Almighty takes pleasure in them ;—that 
 Satan and sinners themselves shall be God’s execu- 
 tioners ;—that these torments shal! be universal, with- 
 out mitigation,—and without end. 
 
 § 9. (1) The principal author of hell torments is 
 God himself. As it was no less than God whom the 
 sinners had offended, so it is no less than God who 
 will punish them for their offences. He hath prepared 
 those torments for his enemies. His continued anger 
 will still be devouring them. His breath of indigna- 
 tion will kindle the flames. His wrath will be an in- 
 tolerable burden to their souls. If it were but a 
 creature they had to do with, they might better bear 
 it. Woe to him that falls under the strokes of the 
 Almighty! Jt is a fearful thing to fall into thé hands of 
 the living God(f) It were nothing in comparison 
 
 -(f) Heb. x. 31. 
 
-» WHO LOSE THE SAINT'S REST. 101 
 
 to this, if all the world were against them, or if the 
 strength of all creatures were united in one to inflict 
 their penalty. They had now rather venture to dis- 
 please God than displease a landlord, a customer, a 
 master, a friend, a neighbour, or their own flesh ; 
 but then they will wish a thousand times in vain, 
 that they had been hated of all the world, rather 
 than have lost the favour of God. What a consum- 
 ing fire is his wrath? Ifit be kindled here but a little, - 
 how do we wither like the grass? How soon doth 
 our strength decay, and turn to weakness, and our 
 beauty to deformity! The flames do not so easily 
 run through the dry stubble, as the wrath of God will 
 consume these wretches. They that could not bear 
 a prison, or a gibbet, or a fire, for Christ, nor scarce a 
 few scoffs, how will they now bear the devouring 
 flames of divine wrath. 
 
 § 10. (2) The—place_or state of torment. is_pur-. 
 posely ordained to glorify the justice of God. When 
 God ‘would glorify his power, he made the worlds. 
 The comely order_of-all his creatures declareth his 
 wisdom. His. providence.is shown in_sustaining all 
 things.—When a spark of his wrath kindles upon the. 
 earth, the whole. world,..except..only eight per- 
 sons, are drowned ; Sodom, Gomorrah, ‘Admah, and — 
 Zeboiim, are burnt with fire from heaven ;_ the sea 
 shuts her mouth upon some; the earth opens and 
 swallows up others; the pestilence destroys by thou- 
 ‘sands. What a standing witness of the wrath of God 
 ‘is the present deplorable state of the Jews! Yet the 
 glorifying the mercy and justice of God, is intended 
 ‘most eminently for the life to come. As God will 
 then glorify his mercy in a way that is now beyond, 
 the ‘comprehension of the saints that most enjoy it; 
 
 so also will he manifest his justice to be indeed the 
 
 -- justice of God. The everlasting flames of hell will 
 
 not_be. thought too hot for the rebellious; and. when 
 they have there burned. through millions. ‘of. ages, he 
 will not repent him of the evil which is pefallenth them. 
 Woe to the soul that is thus set up as a butt, for the 
 
' 102 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE _ 
 
 wrath of the Almighty to shoot at! and as a bush 
 that must burn in the flames of his jealousy, and 
 never be consumed ! se 
 
 . § 11. (3) The torments of the damned must be 
 extreme, because they are the effect of divine ven- 
 geance. Wrath is terrible, but revenge is implacable. 
 When the great God shall say, “« My rebellious crea- 
 tures shall now pay for all’ the abuse of my patience. 
 Remember how I: waited your leisure in vain, how 
 I stooped to persuade and entreat you. Did you think 
 I would always be so slighted?” Then will he be re- 
 venged for every abused mercy, and for all their neglects 
 of Christ and grace. O that men would foresee this, . 
 and please God better in preventing their woe! 
 
 § 12. (4) Consider also, that though God had 
 rather men would accept of Christ and mercy, yet 
 when they persist in rebellion he will take pleasure 
 in their execution. He tells us, Fury is not in me; 
 yet he adds, Who would set the briers and thorns against 
 me in batile? I would go through them, I would burn 
 them together.— Wretched creatures! when he that made 
 them will not have mercy upon -them, and he that formed 
 them will show them no favour.(g) As the Lord rejoiced 
 over them to do them good; so the Lord will rejoice over 
 them to destroy them, and to bring them to nought.(h) 
 Woe to the souls whom God rejoiceth to punish! 
 He will laugh at their calamity, he will mock when their 
 fear cometh ; when their fear cometh as desolation, and 
 their destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress 
 and anguish cometh upon them.(i) Terrible thing, when 
 none in heaven or earth can help them but God, and 
 he shall rejoice in their calamity. .Though scripture - 
 speaks of God’s laughing and mocking, not literally, 
 but after the manner of men; yet it is such an act of 
 God in tormenting the sinner, which cannot otherwise 
 be more fitly expressed. . 
 
 § 13.. (5) Cénsider that Satan and themselves 
 shall be God’s executioners. He that was here so 
 
 (g) Isa. xxvii. 4, 11. (A) Deut. xxviii. 63. (2) Prov. i. 26, 27. | 
 
WHO-LOSE THE SAINT’S REST. 103 
 
 successful in drawing them from Christ, will then 
 be the instrument of their punishment, for yielding 
 to his temptations. That is the reward he will give 
 them for all their service; for their rejecting the 
 commands of. God and. forsaking Christ, and neg- 
 lecting their souls, at his persuasion.’ If they had 
 served Christ as faithfully as they did Satan, he would 
 have given them a better reward. It is also most 
 just, that they should be their own tormentors, that 
 they may see their whole destruction is of them- 
 selves; and then who can they complain of but them- 
 selves ? 
 
 § 14. (6) Consider also that their torment will be 
 universal. As all parts have joined in sin, so must 
 they all partake in the torment. The soul, as it was 
 the chief in sinning, shall be the chief in suffering ; 
 
 ’ and as it is of a more excellent nature than the body, 
 
 so will its torments far exceed bodily torments; and 
 _ as its joys far surpass all sensual pleasures, so the 
 pains of the soul exceed corporeal pains.---It is not 
 only a soul, but a sinful soul, that must suffer. Fire 
 will not-burn except the fuel be combustible; but if 
 the wood be dry, how fiercely will it burn! The 
 guilt of their sins will be to damned souls like tinder 
 fo gunpowder, to make the flames of hell take hold 
 upon them with fury.---The-bodymust—also.-beax_its 
 part. That body which was_so. carefully looked. to, 
 so_tenderly cherished, so_.curiously, dressed; what 
 must it now endure! How are its haughty looks now 
 taken down! How little will those flames regard. its 
 eomeliness and beauty! Those eyes which were wont 
 to be delighted with curious sights, must then see 
 nothing but what shall terrify them! an_angry God 
 above them, with. those_saintsswvhom. they..scorned 
 enjoying the. glory..which..they..have. lost;.and..about. 
 them will be only devils. .andodamned.souls. How 
 will they look back, and say, ‘‘ Are all our feasts, and 
 games, and revels, come to this!”. Those ears aie 
 were. accustomed to music and songs, shall hear the 
 shrieks and cries‘of their damned companions ; chil- 
 
104. THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 dren crying out against their parents, that gave them 
 encouragement and example in evil; husbands and 
 wives, masters and servants, ministers and people, 
 magistrates and subjects, charging their misery upon 
 one another, for discouraging in duty, conniving at 
 sin, and being silent, when they should have plainly 
 foretold the ‘danger.---Thus will soul and body be 
 companions in woe. 
 
 § 15. (7) Far greater will these torments be, be- 
 cause without mitigation. In this life, when told of 
 hell, or if conscience troubled their peace, they had 
 comforters at hand; their carnal friends, their busi- 
 ness, their company, their mirth. They could drink, — 
 play, or sleep away their sorrows. But now all these 
 remedies are vanished. ‘Their hard, presumptuous, 
 unbetieving heart, was a wall to defend them against 
 trouble of mind. Satan was himself their comforter, 
 as he was to our.first mother; ‘‘ Hath God said, ye 
 shall not eat ?---ye shall not surely die. Doth God 
 tell you, that you shall lie in hell? It is no such mat- 
 ter; God is more merciful.---Or if there be a hell, 
 what need you fear it? Are not you Christians? Was 
 not the blood of Christ shed for you?” Thus as the 
 Spirit of Christ is the comforter of the saints, so 
 Satan is the comforter of the wicked. Never was a 
 thief more careful lest he should awake the people, 
 when he is robbing the house, than Satan is not to 
 awaken a sinner. But when the sinner is dead, then 
 
 Satan hath done flattering and comforting. Which 
 
 way then will the forlorn sinner look for comfort? 
 They that drew him into the snare, and promised 
 him . safety, now forsake him, and are forsaken 
 themselves. His comforts are gone, and the righ- 
 
 teous God, whose forewarnings he made light of, 
 
 will now make good his word against him to the 
 least tittle. ~ “ 
 
 § 16. (8) But the greatest aggravation of these 
 torments, will be their_eternity. When a thousand 
 millions of ages are past, they are as fresh to begin 
 as the first day. If there were any hope of an end, 
 
WHO LOSE THE SAINT'S REST. 105 
 
 it would ease the damned to foresee it, but for ever 
 is an intolerable thought. They were never weary of 
 sinning, ner will God be weary of punishing. They 
 neyer heartily repented of sin, nor will God repent 
 of their suffering. They broke the laws of the eter- 
 nal God, and therefore shall suffer eternal punish- 
 ment. They knew it was an everlasting kingdom 
 which they refused, and what wonder if they are 
 everlastingly shut out ef it? Their immortal souls 
 were guilty of the trespass, and therefore must im- 
 mortally suffer the pains. What happy men would 
 they think themselves, if they might have lain still in © 
 their graves, or might but there lie down again! 
 How will they call and ery, “‘ O death, whither art 
 thou now gone? Now come, and cut off this doleful 
 life, O that these pains would break my heart, and 
 end my being! O that I might once at last die! O 
 that I had never had a being!” These groans will the 
 thoughts of eternity wring from their hearts. They, 
 were wont to think sermons and prayers long; how 
 long then will they think these endless torments !— 
 What difference is there betwixt the length of their 
 pleasures and their pains! the one continued but a 
 moment, the other endureth through all eternity. 
 Sinner, remember how time is almost gone. Thou 
 art standing at the door of eternity: and death is 
 waiting to open the door, and put thee in: Go, sleep 
 out a few more nights, and stir about a few more 
 ‘days on earth, and then thy nights and days shall. 
 end; thy thoughts, and cares, and pleasures, shall 
 all be devoured by eternity; thou must enter upon 
 the state which shall never be changed. As the joys 
 of heaven are beyond our conception, so are the | 
 pains of hell. ti t_is inconcel 
 
 -§ 17. But methinks I see the obstinate sinner des- 
 perately resolving, “‘If I must be damned, there is 
 no remedy: rather than I will live as the scripture 
 requires, I will put it to the venture; I shall escape 
 as well as the rest of my neighbours, and we will 
 “even bear it as well as we can.” Alas! poor creature, 
 
 , 
 
PY 
 
 Anat. claps of thunder; 
 
 106 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 Jet me beg this of thee, before thou dost so flatly 
 
 resolve, that thou wouldest Jend me thy attention to 
 a few aceeer and weigh them with thes ‘Teason of 
 
 thy._skengi! Te atc ae thes "strength. of 
 stu to‘resist the fire; or as s chaff to oe rnd oc as 
 st before 1 1e fierce | “whirlwind ind ? If thy er were 
 
 as iron, and thy bones as brass; if thy foundation were: 
 as the earth, and thy power as the heavens; yet 
 
 shouldst thou ps 
 
 How much. ‘more when thou: art but a piece of breath-' 
 ing clay, kept a. few days from being eaten with 
 worms by the mere support and favour of him 
 
 -' whom thou art thus resisting !---Why dost thou 
 
 tremble at the signs of PAimighty: power and wrath? 
 
 shes of lightning ;_ or'that’ 
 “unseen power which- rends i pieces the mighty oaks, 
 and tears down the strongest buildings; or at the 
 plague when it rages around thee? ? If thou hadst seen 
 
 _the plagues of Egypt, or the earth swallow up Da- 
 
 than and Abiram, or Elijah bring fire from — n 
 to destroy the captains and their companies, » muld 
 not any of these sights have daunted thy spirits ? 
 How then canst thou bear the plagues of hell ?---Why 
 art thou dismayed with such small sufferings as befal: 
 thee here? a tooth-ache, a fit of the gout or: stone, 
 the loss of a limb, or falling into beggary and dis- 
 grace? And yet all these laid together will be one 
 day accounted a happy state, in comparison of that 
 which is suffered in hell. --Why does. the approach of 
 death so much affright thee? O how cold/it strikes 
 to thy heart! and would not the grave be accounted 
 a paradise compared with that place. of torment 
 which thou slightest ?---Is it an intolerable thing to 
 burn part. of thy body, by holding it in the fire? 
 what then will it be to suffer’ ten thousand times 
 more for ever’ in hell?---Why does. the thought or 
 nention of hell occasion any disquiet in thy spirit ? 
 yd canst thou endure the torments themselves #---: 
 Why doth the rich man complain to Abraham. ofhis 
 
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“WHO: LOSE THE SAINTS. REST: | .07 
 
 torments in hell? or thy dying companions lose their 
 courage, and change their haughty language? Why 
 cannot these make as light of hell as thyself ? ? Didst: 
 thou never see or speak with a man under despair ? 
 how uncomfortable was his talk! how burdensome 
 his life! nothing he. possessed did him good: he had 
 no sweetness in meat or drink: the sight of friends 
 troubled him: he was weary. of life, and fearful of 
 ee". If the misery of the damned can be endured, 
 
 y cannot.a man more easily endure these foretastes 
 of hell? What if thou shouldest see the devil appear 
 to thee in some terrible shape; would not thy heart 
 fail thee, and thy hair stand on an end? and how wilt 
 thou endure to live for ever, where thou shalt have no 
 other company but devils and the damned; and shalt 
 not only see them, but be tormented with them and 
 by them? Let me, once more ask, If the’ wrath of 
 God be so light, why did the Son of God himself 
 make so great a matter of it? It made him sweat as 
 it were great drops. of blood falling down to the 
 ground. _The ‘Lord of life cried, My soul is exceed- 
 ing sorrowful even unto death. And on the cross, 
 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 
 Surely if any one could have borne these sufferings 
 easily, it would have been Jesus Christ. He had 
 another measure of strength to bear it than thou 
 hast. Woe to thee, sinner, for ity ? 
 - Dost thou think to find it tolerable to thee, which was 
 so heavy to Christ? Nay, the Son of God is cast into 
 a bitter agony and bloody sweat, only under the curse 
 of the law; and. yet thou, feeble, foolish creature, 
 makest nothing to bear also the curse of the gospel, 
 which requires a much sorer punishment.(g). The good 
 Lord bring thee to thy right mind hy repentance, lest 
 thou buy thy wit at too dear a rate! 
 
 § 18. And now, Reader, I demand thy resolution ! 
 What use wilt thou make of all this? shall it be 
 lost to thee? or wilt thou consider it in good earnest ? 
 Thou hast cast away many a warning of God; wilt 
 
 —_ 
 
 a) Heb. x. 29. 
 
108 THE GREAT MISERY OF THOSE 
 
 thou do so by this also? Take heed, God will not al- 
 ways stand warning and threatening. The hand of 
 revenge is lifted up, the blow is coming, and woe to 
 him on whom it lighteth! Dost thou throw away the 
 book, and say, it speaks of nothing but hell and dam- 
 nation?—thus thou useth also to complain of the 
 preacher. But wouldst thou not have us to tell thee 
 of these things? should we be guilty of the blood. 
 of thy soul, by keeping silent that which God hath 
 charged us to make known? wouldst thon perish in ~ 
 ease and silence, and have us to perish with thee, ~ 
 rather than displease thee by speaking the truth? If 
 thou wilt be guilty of such inhuman cruelty, God 
 forbid we should be guilty of such sottish folly. This 
 kind of preaching or writing is the ready way to be 
 hated ; and the desire of applause is so natural, that 
 few delight in such a displeasing way. But consider, 
 Are these things true, or ate they not? If they were 
 not true, I would heartily join with thee against any 
 that fright people without a cause. But if these 
 _ threatenings be the word of God, what a wretch art 
 thou that wilt not hear it, and consider it! If thou 
 art one of the people of God, this doctrine will be a 
 comfort to thee, and not a terror. If thon art yet 
 unregenerate, methinks thou shouldst be as fearful 
 to_hear of heaven as. of hell, except the bare name of 
 heaven..or salvation be sufficient. * Preachmg heaven 
 Vand mercy to thee, is entredting thee to. seek them, 
 and. not. reject them; and preaching hell, is but to 
 persuade..thee..to.avoid.it. Ifthou—wert quite past 
 hope. of.escaping.it, then.it.were.in.vain.to.tell thee 
 of hell ;.but_as.long.as thou art alive, there is hope | 
 of _thy recovery, ond. shcsiives, ll seta ea? 
 used..to.awake.thee-from-thytethargy. Alas! what 
 heart can now. possibly: conceive, or what tongue 
 express, the pains of those souls that are under the 
 - wrath of God! Then, sinners, you will be crying to 
 Jesus Christ, O mercy! O pity, pity on a poor soul! 
 Why; I do now, in the name of the Lord Jesus, cry 
 to thee, O have mercy, have pity, man, upon thy own 
 soul! Shall God pity thee, who will not be entreated 
 
WHO LOSE THE SAINTS REST. 109 
 
 sto pity thyself? If thy horse see but a‘pit before him, 
 thou canst scarcely force-him in; and wilt thou so 
 obstinately cast thyself into hell, when the danger is 
 foretold thee? Who can stand before the indignation of 
 the Lord? and who can abide the fierceness of his 
 anger ?(/h) Methinks thou shouldest need no more 
 words, but presently castaway the soul-damning sins, 
 and wholly deliver up thyself to Christ. Resolve on 
 it immediately, and let it be done, that I may see thy . 
 face in rest among the saints. May the Lord persuade 
 thy heart to strike this covenant..without any longer 
 
 delay! - But if thou be hardened unto death, and there, 
 be no remedy, yet. say not another, day but that, thou 
 wast faithfully warned, and hadst a friend, that. would 
 
 fain have prevented thy damnation. 
 
 (hy Nahum i. 6. 
 
110 NECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 CHAP. VIL. 
 
 The Necessity of diligently seeking the Saint's Rest. — 
 
 § 1. The saint’s rest. surprisingly neglected ; particularly, § 2. by 
 the worldly-minded, § 3. the profane multitude, § 4. formal pro-. 
 fessors, § 5—8. and by the godly themselves, whether magis-- 
 trates, ministers, or people. § 9. The author mourns the neg- 
 lect, and excites the reader to diligence, by considering, § 10; 
 ‘the ends we aim at, the work we have to do, the shortness and 
 
 - uncertainty of our time, and the diligence of our enemies } 
 § 11. our talents, mercies, relations to God, and our afflictions ; 
 
 - § 12. what assistances we have, what principles we profess, and 
 our certainty never to do enough; § 13. that every grace tends 
 to diligence, and to trifle is lost labour; that much time is mis- 
 spent, and that our recompence and labour will be proportion- 
 able; § 14. that striving is the divine appointment, all men do 
 or will approve it, the best Christians at death lament their want 
 of it, heaven is often lost for want of it, but never obtained 
 without it; § 15. God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, are in ear- 
 nest ; God is so in hearing and answering prayer, ministers ir 
 their instructions and exhortations, all the creatures in serving 
 us, Sinners in serving the devil, as we were once, and now are, in 
 worldly things ; and in heaven and hell all are inearnest. § 16. 
 
 . The chapter concludes with proposing some’ awakening ques- 
 tions to the ungodly, and § 17. also to the godly. 
 
 § 1. Ir there. be so certain and glorious a rest for 
 the saints, why is there no more industrious seeking 
 after it? One would think, if a man did but once 
 hear of such unspeakable glory to be obtained, ‘and 
 believed what he heard to be true, he should be 
 transported with the vehemency of his desire after 
 it, and should almost forget to eat and drink, and 
 should care for nothing else, and speak of and inquire 
 after nothing else, but how to get this treasure. And 
 yet people who hear of it daily, and profess to 
 believe it as a fundamental article of their faith, do 
 as little mind it or labour for it, as if they had never 
 heard of any such thing, or did not believe one word 
 
oe 
 
 : 
 SEEKING- THE SAINT'S REST. 111 
 
 they hear. ‘This reproof is’ more particularly appli- 
 cable to—the worldly-minded,—the profane multi- 
 tude,—the formal _professers, and_even_ to the godly 
 € 
 § 2. The- worldly-minded are so taken up in 
 seeking the things below, that they have neither 
 heart nor time to seek this rest. O foclish sinners, 
 
 beyond madness. See what riding and running, 
 what scrambling and catching, for_a thing of nought, 
 while eternal rest.lies neglected! . What contriving 
 and caring to get a step higher in the world than 
 their brethren, while they neglect. the kingly dignity 
 of the saints! What insatiable pursuit of fleshly 
 pleasures, while they look on the praises of God, 
 the joy of angels, as a tiresome burden!’ What un- 
 wearied diligence in raising their posterity, enlarging 
 their possessions, (perhaps for a poor living from hand 
 to mouth,) while judgment is drawing near;~ but 
 how’ it shall go with them, never puts them to 
 one hour's consideration! What rising early, and 
 
 ‘sitting up late, and labouring from year to year, to 
 
 maintain themselves and children in credit till they 
 die ; but what shall follow after they never think on! 
 Yet these men cry, “ May we not be saved without 
 so much ado?” How early do they rouse up their ser- 
 vants to their labour; but how seldom do they call 
 them to prayer or reading the scriptures! What 
 hath this world done for its lovers-and friends, that it 
 is so eagerly followed, and painfully sought after, 
 while Christ and -heaven stand by, and few regard 
 them? Or what will the world do for them for the 
 time to come? The common entrance into it is 
 through anguish and sorrow. The passage through 
 it is with contiiual care and labour. . The passage 
 out of it is the sharpest of all. O unreasonable be- 
 witched men! will mirth and pleasure stick close to 
 you ?- Will gold-and worldly glory prove fast friends 
 
 to you in the time of your greatest need? Will they 
 
 hear your cries in the-day of your calamity? At the hour 
 
112 | § #$WNECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 of your death, will they either answer or relieve you? 
 Will they go along with you to the other world, and 
 bribe the Judge, and bring you off clear, or purchase 
 you a place among the blessed? Why then did the 
 rich man want a drop of water to cool his tongue? 
 Or, are the sweet morsels of present delight “and 
 honour of more worth than eternal rest? And will 
 they recompense the loss of that enduring treatise ? 
 Can there be the least hope of any of these? Ah, yile 
 deceitful world! how oft have we heard thy most | 
 faithful servants at last complaining; ‘“ Oh, the world 
 hath deceived me, and undone me! It flattered me in 
 my prosperity, but now it turns me off in my necessity, 
 ‘If I had as faithfully served Christ, as I have seryed 
 it, he would not have left me thus comfortless and 
 hopeless.” Thus they complain; and yet succeeding 
 sinners will take no warning. : 
 
 § 3. As for the profane multitude, they will not 
 be persuaded to be at so much pains for salvation, as 
 to perform the common outward duties of religion, 
 If they have the gospel preached in the town where 
 they dwell, it may be they will give the hearing to it 
 one part of the day, and stay at home the other; or 
 if the master come to the congregation, yet part of 
 his family must stay at home. If they want the plain 
 and powerful preaching of the gospel, how few are 
 there in a whole town’ who will travel a mile or two 
 
 to hear abroad; though they will go many miles to — 
 
 the market for provisions for their bodies! They know 
 the scripture is the law of God, by which they must — 
 be acquitted or condemned _in judgment. ;.. and_ that 
 the man_is. blessed. who_delights..in the law.of the 
 Lord, and.in_his.law.doth..meditate day and night; 
 yet will they not be at pains to read a chapter once a 
 day.  If.they carry a bible to church, and neglect it 
 all the week, this is the most use they make of it. 
 Though they are commanded to pray without ceasing, 
 and to pray always; yet they will neither pray con- 
 stantly in their families, nor in secret. Though Daniel 
 would rather be cast to the lions, than forbear praying 
 three times a day in his house, where his enemies 
 
€ 
 
 SEEKING THE SAINT'S: REST. 113 
 
 might hear him; yet these men will rather venture to 
 be an eternal prey to Satan, the roaring lion, than thus 
 seek their own safety. Or their cold and heartless 
 prayers invite God to a denial: for among men it is 
 taken for granted, that he who asks but slightly and 
 seldom, cares not much for what he asks. They judge 
 themselves unworthy of heaven, who think it is not 
 worth their more constant and earnest requests. If 
 every door was marked, where families do not morn- 
 ing and evening earnestly seek the Lord in prayer, 
 that his wrath might be poured out upon such prayer- — 
 less families, our towns would be as places overthrown 
 by the plague, the people being dead within, and the 
 mark of judgment without. I fear, where one house 
 would escape, ten would be marked out for death; 
 and then they might teach their doors to pray, “ Lord 
 have mercy upon us,” because the people would not 
 pray themselves. But especially if he could see what 
 men do in their secret chambers, how few would. 
 you find in a whole town that spend one quarter of 
 an hour, morning and night, in earnest supplication 
 to God for their souls! O_how_little.do.these.men.set 
 by_eternal_rest!.'Thus.do_ they slothfully neglect all 
 endeavours for their_own welfare, except.some. public 
 duty.in the congregation, which custom or credit 
 engages them to. Persuade them to read good books, 
 learn the grounds of religion in their catechism, and 
 sanctify the Lord’s day in prayer, and meditation, 
 and. hearing the word, and forbearing all worldly 
 thoughts and speeches; and what a tedious life do 
 they take this to be! as if they thought heaven were 
 not worth doing so much for. 
 
 § 4. Another sort are. _formal,.professors,..who_will 
 be_ brought to an outward duty; but to the inward 
 work of religion they.will never be persuaded. They. 
 will. preach, or hear, or read, or.talk..of heayen,..or 
 pray in their families, and take part with the persons 
 or causes that are good, and desire to be esteemed 
 among the godly: but you can never. bring them to 
 the more spiritual duties ; =i to be constant and fer- 
 
. 
 
 114 NECESSITY OF-DILIGENTLY 
 
 all; to prepare to die, and willingly leave all to go 
 to Christ. Hypocrites will never be persuaded to 
 any of these.—If any hypocrite entertains the gospel 
 with joy, it is only in. the surface of his soul; he 
 never gives the seed any depth of earth: it changes 
 his opinion, but never melts and new-moulds his 
 heart, nor sets up Christ there in full power and au- 
 thority. As his religion lies most in opinion, so does 
 his chief business and conversation. He is usually an 
 ignorant, bold, conceited dealer in controversies; ra- 
 ther than an humble embracer, of known truth, with 
 love and obedience. By his slighting the judgments 
 and persons of others, and seldom talking with ‘seri- 
 ousness and humility of the great things of Christ, he 
 shows his religion dwells in the brain, and not in his 
 heart. The wind of temptation carries them away asa 
 feather, because his heart is not established with Christ 
 and grace. He never in private conversation humbly 
 bewails his soul's. imperfections, or tenderly acknow- 
 
 ‘ledge his unkindness to Christ ; but gathers his ‘great- 
 
 est comforts from his being of such a judgment or 
 party.—The like may be said of’ the worldly hypo- 
 crite, who chokes the gospel with the thorns of 
 
 . worldly cares and desires. He is convinced that he 
 
 must be religious, or he cannot be saved; and there- 
 fore he reads and hears, and prays, and forsakes his 
 former company and courses ; but he resolves to keep 
 his hold of present things. His judgment may say, 
 
 God is the chief good; but his heart and affections 
 
 never said so. The world hath more of his affections 
 than God, and therefore it is his god. Though he does 
 not run after opinions and novelties, like the former, 
 yet he will be of that opinion which will best serve 
 
SEEKING THE SAINTS REST 115 
 
 chis worldly advantage. And as one whose spirits are 
 ‘enieebled by some pestilential disease; so this man’s 
 spirits being possessed by the plague of a worldly dis- 
 position, how feeble is he in secret prayer! how su- 
 perficial in examination and meditation! how poor in 
 heart-watchings! how nothing at all in loving and 
 walking with God, rejoicing in him, or desiring him! 
 —So that both these, and many other sorts of hypo- 
 crites, though they will go with you in the easy out- 
 ‘side of religion, yet will never be at the pains of in- 
 -ward and spiritual duties. 
 
 § 5. And even the godly themselves are. too lazy 
 seekers_of their everlasting..rest,... Alas! what. a_dis- 
 | proportion 1s tnere bekween out. light_and heat! our 
 profession.and_ prosecution! Who makes that haste, 
 as if it were for heaven? How still we stand! how 
 idly we work! how we talk, and jest, and. trifle 
 away our time! how deceitfully we perform the 
 work of God! how we hear, as if we heard not! 
 and pray, as if we prayed not! and examine, and me- 
 -ditate, and reprove sin, as if we did not! and en- 
 joy Christ, as if we enjoyed him not! as if we had 
 ‘dearned to use the things of heaven, as the apostle 
 teacheth us to use the things of the world! Whata 
 frozen stupidity has benumbed us! we are dying, 
 ‘and we know it, and yet we stir not; we are at 
 ‘the door of eternal happiness or misery, and yet we 
 ‘perceive it not; death knocks, and we hear it not ¥* 
 Cod and Christ call and cry to us, “ To-day, if ye 
 -will hear my voice, harden not your hearts: work 
 while it is day, for the night cometh when none can 
 -work: now ply your business, labour for your lives, 
 -lay out all your strength and time: now or néver!” 
 -and yet we stir no moré than if we were half asleep. 
 What haste do death and judgment make! how fast 
 -do they come on! they are almost at us, and yet 
 -what little haste we make! Lord, what a senseless, 
 ‘earthly, hellish thing, is a hard heart! Where is the 
 ‘Iman that is in earnest a Christian! Methinks men 
 every-where make but a trifle of their eternal state. 
 
 5 
 
116 NECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 They_look after it but alittle by the bye; they do not 
 sare it the business of pS Sen it ron eee 
 myself of the same disease, with what tears should T 
 mix this ink! with’ what groans should I express 
 these complaints! and with what heart-grief should I 
 mourn over this universal deadness ! ree 
 
 § 6. Do magistrates among us seriously perform 
 their work? are they zealous for God? do they 
 build up his house? are they tender of his honour ? 
 do they second the word? and fly in the face of sin 
 and sinners, as the disturbers of our peace, and the 
 
 _ only cause of all our miseries? Do they improve all 
 their power, wealth, and honour, and all their influ- 
 ence, for the greatest advantage of the kingdom of 
 Christ, as men that must shortly give an account of 
 their stewardship ? 
 
 § 7. How thin are those ministers that are serious 
 in their work! nay, how mightily do the very best 
 fail in this! Do we cry out of men’s disobedience to 
 the gospel in the demonstration of the Spirit, and 
 deal with sin as the destroying fire in our towns, and 
 by force pull men out of it? Do we persuade peo- 
 ple, as those should that know the terrors of the 
 Lord? Do..we..press..Christ,.and.regeneration, and 
 faith, .and.holiness, believing that, without these, 
 men_cannever-have life? Do our bowels. yearn 
 over the ignorant,.careless,.....and.....obstinate. maulti- 
 
 * tude? When.we.look.them.in. the face, do.our.-hearts 
 melt--over- them, lest-.we-.should...neyer_see. their 
 faces_in rest? Do we, as Paul, tell them, weeping, 
 of their flesaly and earthly disposition? and teach 
 them publicly, and from house to house, at all 
 seasons and with many tears? and do we entreat 
 them, as for their soul’s salvation? Or rather, do we 
 not study to gain the approbation of critical hearers ; 
 as if a minister’s business were of no more weight but 
 to tell a smooth tale for an hour, and look no more 
 after the people to the next sermon? Does not car- 
 nal prudence control our fervour, and make our 
 discourses lifeless, ‘on subjects the most piereing ? 
 
 . 
 
SEEKING THE SAINT'S REST. DME 
 
 How gently do we handle those sins, which will so 
 cruelly handle our people’s souls! In a word, our 
 ’ want of seriousness about -the things of heaven, 
 charms the souls of men into formality, and brings 
 them to this customary careless hearing, which 
 undoes them. May the Lord pardon the great sin 
 of the ministry in this thing! and,’ in particular, my 
 own ! 
 
 § 8. And are the people more serious than magis- 
 trates or ministers? How can it be expected? Rea- 
 der, look but to thyself, and resolve the question. 
 Ask conscience, and suffer it to tell thee truly, Hast 
 thou.set thy. “eternal rest. before _ thine eyes..as.the 
 great. business..thau..hast.to.do_in_this world? Hast 
 ’ thou-watched and laboured, with all thy might, that 
 no man take thy crown? Hast thou made haste, lest 
 thou shouldest come too late, and die before thy work 
 be done? Hast thou pressed on through crowds of 
 
 opposition towards the mark of the prize of the high. 
 
 calling of God in Christ Jesus, still reaching forth 
 unto those things which are before? Can conscience 
 _ witness your. secret...cries,...and..groans,..and..tears ? 
 Can. your family..witness,...that. you. taught. them the 
 fear of the Lord, and. warned them not to. go to 
 that place of. torment,? Can your ministers witness, 
 that he has heard you cry out, “* What shall I do to 
 be saved?” and that you have followed him with 
 
 complaints against your corruptions, and with ear- ° 
 
 nest inquiries after the Lord? Can your neighbours 
 about you witness, that you reprove the ungodly, 
 and take pains to save the souls of your brethren? 
 Let all these witnesses judge this day between God 
 and you, whether you are in earnest about eternal 
 rest. You can tell by his work, whether your ser- 
 vant has loitered,, though you did not see him; so 
 you may by looking at your own work. Is your love 
 to Christ, your faith, your zeal, and other graces, 
 strong or weak ? What are your joys? What_is 
 your-assurance? Is all in order with you? Are you 
 
 Pie tice this should be the.day?._.. Do the souls, © 
 
118 NECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 among whom you have conversed, bless you? Judge 
 by this, and it will quickly appear whether you have ~ 
 been labourers or loiterers. 
 
 § 9. O blessed rest, how unworthily art thou neg- 
 lected! O glorious kingdom, how art thou underva- 
 lued! Little know the careless. sons of men, what a 
 state they set so light by.- If they once knew it, they 
 would surely be of another mind. Ihope thou, Rea- 
 der, art sensible, what..ades 
 _ about..eternal..rest.;..and...how,..deeply..thou..hast. been 
 guilty..of this thyself. And I hope also thou wilt 
 not now suffer this conviction to die. Should the 
 physician tell thee, Jf you will observe but one thing, I 
 doubt not to cure your disease ; wouldest thou not ob- 
 serve it? So I tell thee, if hag wilt observe but this 
 one thing. for thy soul, I make no doubt of thy 
 salvation ;—shake...off.. thy sloth,..and. eomeaeaied 
 strength, and be a Christian indeed ; A Anew not. then 
 what_can. hinder. thy. happiness. s far as thou art 
 gone from God, seek..him. with all thy heart, and no 
 doubt. thou shalt find him. As unkind as thou hast ‘ 
 been to Jesus Christ, seek him heartily, obey him 
 unreservedly, and thy salvation is as sure as if thou 
 _hadst it already. But full as Christ's satisfaction ls, 
 free as the promise is, large as the mercy of God is; 
 if thou only talk of these, when thou shouldest eagerly © 
 entertain them, thou wilt be never the better for them: 
 and if thou loiter, when thou shouldest Jabour, thou wilt — 
 lose the crown. Fall to work then speedily and serious- 
 ly, and bless God that thou hast yet time todoit. And 
 to’show that I urge thee not without cause, I wil] here 
 add a variety of animating considerations. Rouse up 
 thy spirit, and, as Moses said to Israel, set thy heart unto 
 all the words which I testify unto thee this day ; for it is not 
 avain thing, because it is your life.(h) May the Lord open 
 thy heart, and fasten his counsel effectually upon thee ! 
 
 § 10. Consider how reasonable it is, that our 
 diligence should be answerable to the ends we aim 
 
 meee ae mee 
 
 (4) Deut. xxxi. 46, 47. 
 
 a 
 
SEEKING THE SAINT'S REST. 119 
 
 at, to the work we have to do, to the shortness and 
 uncertainty to our time, and to the contrary dili- 
 
 gence of our enemies.—The ends of a Christian’s. 
 
 desires and endeavours are so great, that no human 
 understanding on earth can comprehend them. What 
 is so excellent, so important, or so necessary, as the 
 glorifying of God d, the saliation of our. own and. other 
 men’s souls, by escaping. the torments of hell, and 
 possessing the glory | any heayen ?—And can a man be 
 too_much_ affected with. things..of .such moment? 
 Can he desire them too earnestly, or love them too 
 strongly, or labour for them too diligently? Don’t 
 we know, that if our prayers prevail not, and our 
 labour succeeds not, we are undone for ever ?’—The 
 work of a Christian here is very great and various. 
 The soul must be renewed; corruptions...must..be 
 mortified ; custom, . temptations, and worldly in- 
 terests, must be conquered ; flesh must be. subdued ; 
 
 life, friends, and. credit,.. must.be. slighted ;..conscience , 
 
 on good grounds be quieted; and assurance of pardon 
 and salvation..attained. Though God must give us 
 
 these without_our.merit, yet_he will not.give them > 
 
 without our.earnest..seeking and labour, Besides, 
 there is much. knowledge to, be got, many ordinances 
 to_be used, and duties to be performed ; every age, 
 year, and day; every place we come to; every per- 
 son we deal with; every change of our condition ; 
 
 still require the renewing of our labour: wives, chil- 
 dren, servants, neighbours, friends, enemies, all of 
 them call for duty from. us.—Judge, then, whether 
 men that have so much business lying ‘upon their 
 hands should not exert themselves; and whether it 
 be their wisdom either to delay or loiter.—Time 
 passes on. Yet a few days, and we shall be here 
 nomore. Many diseases are ready to assaultus. We, 
 that are now preaching, and hearing, and talking, 
 and walking, must very shortly be carried, and laid 
 in the dust, and there left to the worms in darkness 
 and corruption; we are almost there already; we 
 know not whether we shall ous another sermon, or 
 
 on. 
 
120 © NECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 sabbath, or hour. How active should they be, who 
 know they have so short a space for so great a work! 
 —And we have enemies that are always plotting 
 and labouring for our destruction. How diligent is 
 Satan in all kind of temptations ?—Therefore be sober, 
 be vigilant ; because: your adversary the devil, as a roar- 
 ing lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 
 Whom resist, stedfast in the faith.(i) How diligent 
 are all the ministers of Satan! False teachers, scof- .. 
 _ fers, persecutors, and our inbred corruptions, the 
 most busy and diligent of all! Will a feeble resist- 
 ance serve our turn? Should not we be more active 
 for our own preservation, than our enemies are for 
 our ruin? 
 
 § 11. It should excite us to diligence, when we 
 consider our talents, and our mercies, our relation 
 to God, and the affliction he lays upon us. The 
 talents which we have received are many and great. 
 What people breathing on earth have had plainer in-, 
 structions, or more forcible persuasions, or more con- 
 stant admonitions, in season ahd out of season? Ser- 
 mons, till we have been weary of them; and sab- 
 _ baths, till we profane them; excellent books in such 
 plenty that we knew not which to read. What peo-— 
 ple have had God so near them? or have seen so much 
 of Christ crucified before their eyes? or have had hea- 
 ven and hell so open unto them? What speed should 
 such a people make for heaven !' How should they fly, 
 that are thus winged! And how swiftly should they 
 sail, that: have wind and tide to help them! A small 
 Measure of ‘grace beseems not such a people, nor will 
 an ordinary diligence in the work of God excuse them, 
 All our lives have been filled with mercies. ‘ God hath 
 mercifully poured out upon us the riches of sea and 
 land, of heaven and earth. We are fed and clothed 
 with mercy. We have mercies within and without. 
 To number them, is to count the stars on the sands 
 of the sea-shore. If there be any difference betwixt 
 hell and earth, yea, or heaven and earth, then certainly 
 
 (i) 1 Pet. v. 8, 9. 
 
SEEKING THE SAINTS REST. 121 
 
 we have received mercy. If the blood of the Son of 
 God be mercy, then we are engaged to God by 
 mercy. Shall God think nothing too much, nor too 
 goed for us; and shall we think all too much. that 
 we do for him? , When I compare my slow and un- 
 profitable life, with the frequent and wonderful mer- — 
 cies received, it shames me, it silences me, and leaves 
 me inexcusable. Besides our talents and mercies, 
 our relations to God are most endearing. Are we 
 his children, and do we not owe him our most tender | 
 affections and dutiful obedience? .Are we the spouse 
 of Christ, and should we not obey and love him? 
 Tf he be a Father, where is his honour ? and.if he be a 
 Master, where is his fear 2m) We-call him Master, and 
 Lord, and we say weill.n) :But if our industry be. not 
 answerable to our relations, we condemn ourselves 
 in saying, -we are his children, or his-servants. How 
 will the hard labour, and daily toil, which. servants 
 undergo to please their masters, judge and condemn 
 those who will not’ labour so hard for their great 
 Master! Surely there is no master like him; nor can 
 any servants expect such fruit of their.labours as his 
 servants.—And ‘if we wander out of God’s way, or 
 loiter in-it, how is every creature ready to be his 
 rod to reduce us, or put us on! Our sweetest mer- 
 cies will, become our sorrows. . Rather than want a 
 rod, the Lord will make us a scourge to ourselves: 
 our diseased bodies shall make us groan; our per- 
 plexed minds shall make us restless; our conscience 
 shall be as a scorpion in our bosom. And is it not 
 _ easier to endure the labour than the spur? Had 
 we rather be still afflicted, ‘than be up and doing? 
 And though they that do most meet also with afflic- 
 - tions; yet surely, according to their peace of con- 
 
 science, and faithfulness to Christ, the bitterness of 
 their cup is abated. | 
 
 § 12. To quicken our diligence in our, work, w 
 should also consider what assistances we have, what 
 
 principles we profess, and our certainty that we can 
 
 (m) Mal.i.6. © — (u) John xiii. 13. 
 Quy: 
 
__—- 
 
 °122 NECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 never do toomuch. For our assistance in the service 
 of God, all the world are our servants. The sun, 
 moon, and stars, attend us with their light and influ- 
 ence. The earth, with all its furniture of plants and 
 flowers, fruits, birds, and beasts; the sea, with its 
 
 / whabitants; the air, the wind, the frost and snow, 
 
 sides. the ministers..of.the.gospel,.whostudy.and wait, - 
 preach and wait, pray..and.wait,..upon careless .sin- 
 gers. And is it not an intolerable crime for us to 
 trifle, while angels and men, yea, the Lord himself, 
 Stand by, and look on, and, as it were, hold us the 
 candle while we do nothing? I beseech you, Chris- 
 tians, whenever you are praying, or reproving trans- 
 gressors, or upon any duty, remember what assistances 
 you have for your work, and then judge how you 
 ought to perform it.—The principles we profess are, 
 that. God is the chief good ; and that all our happiness 
 consists in his love, and therefore it should be valued 
 
 -and sought above all thmgs; that he is our only 
 
 Lord, and therefore chiefly to be served; that we 
 must love him with all our heart,, and soul, and 
 strength; that our great busmess m the world is to. 
 glorify God, and obtain salvation. Are these doc- 
 trines seen in our practice? or, rather do not our 
 works deny what our words confess ?---But however 
 our assistances and principles excite us to our -work, 
 we are sure we can never do too much. Could we 
 do all, we are unprofitable servants ;(p) much more 
 when we are sure to fail’ in all. No man ean obey 
 or serve God too much. Though all superstition, or 
 service of our own devising, may be called a being 
 righteous over much; yet as long as we keep to the 
 rule of the word. we can never be righteous too 
 
 (0) Heb. 1.14. © (p) Luke xvii. 10. - 
 
SEEKING THE, SAINTS REST. -~ 125 
 
 much. The world is mad with malice, when they 
 think, that faithful diligence in the service of Christ 
 is foolish singularity. The time is near when they 
 will easily confess, that God could not be loved or 
 served too much, and that no man can be too busy to 
 save his soul. We may easily do too much for the 
 world, but we cannot for God. 
 
 § 13. Let us further consider, that it is the nature 
 of every grace to promote diligence, that trifling in 
 the way to heaven is lost labour, that much. precious 
 time is already mis-spent, and that in proportion to 
 our labour will be our recompence.—See the nature 
 and tendency of every grace. If you loved God, 
 you would think nothing too much that .you could 
 possibly do, to serve him and please him still more. 
 ‘Love is quick and impatient, active and observant. 
 If you love Christ, you would keep his command- 
 ments, nor accuse them of too much strictness. If 
 you had faith, it would quicken and encourage you. 
 if you had the hope of glory, it would as the spring 
 in the watch set all the wheels of your souls a-going. - 
 If you had the fear of God, it would rouse you out 
 of your slothfulness. If you had zeal, it would in- 
 flame and eat you up. In what degree soever thou 
 art sanctified, in the same degree thou wilt be serious 
 and laborious im the work of God.---But they that 
 trifle lose their labour. Many who, like Agrippa, 
 _ are but almost Christians, will find in the end they 
 shall be but almost saved. If two be running in a 
 race, he that runs slowest loses both prize and labour. 
 A man that is lifting a weight, if he put not suffi- 
 cient strength to it, had as good put none at all.— 
 How many duties have Christians lost, for. want of 
 doing them thoroughly! Many will seek to enter in, and 
 Shall not be able ;(q) who, if they had striven, might 
 have been able. Therefore put to a little more dili- 
 ‘gence and strength, that all you have dune already be 
 not in vain.— Besides, is not much precious time 
 
 already lost? With some of us, childhood and youth 
 
 (q) “Luke xiii. 24. 
 
124 NECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 are gone; with some, their middle-age also; and the 
 time before us is very uncertain. What time have we 
 slept, talked, and played away, or spent in worldly 
 thoughts and cares!, How little of our work is done! - 
 The time we have lost cannot be recalled; should we 
 not then redeem and improve the little which remains ? 
 If a traveller sleep, or trifle most of the day, he must 
 travel So much faster in the evening, or fall short‘of his 
 journey’s end.---Doubt not but the recompence will 
 be according to your labour. 
 
 The..seed. which. is 
 buried and_dead,. will. a lott Ee ie 
 
 contrary, it will be t 
 
 belr,jay-10-1oal AG eieieraae 
 labours..and. tribulations, and to consid. w_ the 
 mighty... power..of...God... brought. th g 
 ‘We may all say,.as Paul, I reckon that the sufferings, ani 
 
 labours, of this present ime, are not worthy to be compared 
 with the glory which shall be revealed in us.r) We la- 
 bour but for a moment, 
 Who would not put forth all. his strength for one 
 hour, when for that hour's work he may be a prince 
 while he lives? God is not unrighteous to forget our 
 work and labour of love.(s) Will not all our tears be 
 wiped away, and all the sorrow of our duties be then 
 forgotten. 
 
 § 14. Nor. does.it less. deserve to be, considered, 
 
 Beye as 
 
 that.striving is..the..divinely 
 
 tion, that. all men_ either. 0. 0F 4 
 
 ‘the best_Christians at_¢ 
 
 and that heaven itself is s often I lost fo for wan f 
 soversigi n 
 
 wisdom. of. God has. made mio mh 
 
 tion.__Who knows the way to heaven better than ee 
 
 God_of heaven? Sas 
 
 whom..do—they--aceuse? God or us? If it were a 
 
 (r) Rom. viii. 18. (s) Heb. vi. 10. 
 
; SEEKING THE SAINTS REST. 125 
 fault, it would lie in him that commands, and not 
 in us who obey. .These are the men that ask us, 
 whether we are wiser than all the world besides? and 
 yet they will pretend to be wiser than God. How 
 can they reconcile their language with the laws of 
 God? The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the 
 violent take it by force.(t) the_strai 
 gate ; for many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.(u) 
 Whaisoever thy hand findeth to do, doit with thy might ; 
 for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wis- 
 dom in the grave, whither thou goest.(v) Workout yous. 
 own salvation with fear and trembling.(w) Give diligence 
 t i NS. on.sure(x) Ifthe righteous 
 scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner 
 appear (y) Let them bring all the seeming reasons 
 they can, against the holy violence of the saints; this 
 sufficeth me to confute them all, that God is of ano- 
 ther mind, and he hath commanded me to do much 
 more than I do; and though I could see no other 
 reason for it, his will is reason enough. Who should 
 make laws for us, but he that made us? and who 
 should point out the way to heaven, but he that 
 must bring us thither? and who should fix the terms 
 of salvation, but he that bestows the gift of salva- 
 tion? So-thatlet the world, the flesh, or-the devil, 
 speak against a holy laborious.life, this is my answer, 
 God_hath commanded it.— Nay, there never was, or 
 ever_will be a man, but will approve such a life, and 
 will one day justify the diligence of the saints. And 
 who would not go that way, which every man shall 
 finally applaud? True, it is now a way every-where 
 spoken against; but let me tell you, most that speak 
 against it, in their judgments approve of it; and 
 those that are now against it, will shortly be of ano- 
 ther mind. If they come to heaven, their mind 
 must be changed before they come there; if they go 
 to hell, their judgment will then be altered, whether 
 they will or not. Remember this, you that love the 
 
 (t) Matt. xi. 12. (u) Luke xiii. 24. (v) Eccles. ix. 10. 
 (w) Phil. ii. 12. (x) 2 Peteri: 10. €y) 1 Peter iv. 18. 
 
126 NECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 opinion and way of the multitude; why then will 
 you not be of the opinior that all will be of? Why 
 will you be of a judgment, which you are sure all 
 of you shortly to change? O that you were but as 
 wise in this, as those in hell!---Even the best of 
 Christians, when they come to die, exceedingly 
 lament their negligence. They then wish, “‘ O that 
 I had been a thousand_timés more _holy,..more hea- 
 venly, more_laborious. for my soul! The world ac- 
 
 ene 3 
 
 conscience.——I_had.rather.-be.reproached.by the deyil: 
 for_seeking_salvation,. than reproved of God for neg- 
 ing it.” How do their failings thus wound and 
 disquiet them, who have been the wonders of the 
 world for their heavenly conversation! It is for want 
 of more diligence, that heaven itself is often lost.--- 
 When they that have heard the word, and anon with 
 joy received it, and have done many things, and heard the 
 ministers of Christ gladly,(z) shall yet perish; should 
 not this rouse us out of our security? How far hath 
 many a man followed Christ, and yet forsook him, 
 when all worldly interests and hopes were to be re- 
 nounced !—God hath resolved, that heaven shall not 
 ~~ be had on easier terms., Rest must_alw Ja, 
 _.. bout,...... Without. holiness no man shall see the a) 
 Seriousness is the ey thing vheren tea our 
 sincerity. If thou art not serious, thou art not a 
 Christian-..It -is.not_only..a.high degree in Christia-- 
 nity, but the very life andessence of it. As fencers 
 upon a stage diifer. from soldiers fighting for their, 
 lives; so hypocrites differ from serious. Christians.— 
 If men could be saved without this serious diligence, 
 they would never regard it; all the excellencies of _ 
 God’s ways would never entice them. But when 
 God hath resolved, that without serious diligence - 
 here, you shall not rest hereafter, is it not wisdom to 
 exert ourselves to the utmost? 
 
 @ Matt. xiii, 20. Mark vi. 20. (a) Heb.) Mae 
 
, 
 SEEKING THE SAINTS REST 127 
 
 4 15. But to persuade thee, if possible, shag to 
 be serious. in..thine.endeayours, for, beavene del. e add 
 more ;. As for imstance, con er,— 
 God is in earnest with you! and why should you 
 not be so with him? In his commands, his. threaten- 
 ings, his promises, he means as he speaks. In 
 his judgments he is serious. Was he not so when he 
 drowned the world? when he consumed Sodom and 
 Gomorrah? and when he scattered the Jews? Is it 
 time then to trifle with God? Jesus Christ was seri- 
 ous in purchasing our redemption. In teaching, he 
 neglected his meat and drink: in prayer he con- - 
 tinued all night: in doing good, his friends thought 
 him beside himself: in suffering, he fasted forty days, 
 was tempted, betrayed, spit upon, buffeted, crowned 
 ‘with thorns, sweat drops of blood, was crucified, 
 pierced, died. There was.no-jesting.in.all this, wad 
 ee own. salva- 
 
 ich in Eten ahi adie -to. bis. motions. an 
 ig.serious in_hearing..our_prayers,and_bestowing. his 
 mercies. He is afflicted with us. He regardeth every 
 groan and sigh, and puts every tear to his bottle. 
 The next time thou art in trouble, thou wilt beg for — 
 a serious regard. of thy prayers. And shall we expect 
 real mercies, when we are slight and superficial in 
 the work of God? The ministers of Christ are seri- 
 ous in exhorting “and instructing you. They beg of 
 God, and of you; and long more for the salvation of 
 your souls, than for any worldly good. If they kill 
 themselves with their labour, or suffer martyrdom 
 for preaching the gospel, they think their lives are 
 well bestowed, so that they prevail for the saving of 
 your souls. And shall other men: be so painful and 
 careful for your salvation, and you be so careless and 
 negligent of your own !—How diligent and serious are © 
 
 all the creatures in serving you! What haste makes 
 
128 ‘NECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 the sun to compass the world! The fountains are 
 always flowing for thy use; the rivers still running; 
 spring and harvest keep their times. How hard does 
 thy ox labour for thee from day to day! How speedily 
 does thy horse travel with thee! ‘And shalt thou only 
 be negligent? Shall all these be so serious in serving 
 thee, and thou so careless in thy service to God ?--- 
 The servants of the world and the devil are serious 
 and diligent. They work as if they could never do 
 enough. They make haste, as if afraid of coming 
 to hell too late. They bear down ministers, sermons, 
 and all, before them. And shall they be more diligent 
 for damnation, than thou for salvation? Hast thou 
 not a better master, sweeter employment, greater 
 encouragements, and a better reward ?---Time was, 
 when thou wast serious thyself in serving Satan and 
 the flesh, if it be not so yet. How eagerly didst thou 
 follow thy sports, thy evil company, and sinful de- 
 lights! And wilt thou not now be as earnest and 
 violent for God? You are to this day in earnest about 
 the things of this life. If you are sick, or in pain, 
 what serious complaints do you utter! If you are 
 poor, how hard do you labour for a livelihood! .And 
 is not the business of your salvation of far greater 
 moment? There is no jesting in heaven or hell. The 
 saints have a real happiness, and-the damned a real 
 misery. There are no remiss or sleepy praises in 
 heaven, nor such lamentations in hell. All there are 
 in earnest. _When thou, Reader, shalt come to death 
 and judgment, O what deep heart-piercing thoughts 
 wilt. thou have of eternity! Methinks I foresee thee 
 already astonished to. think how thou couldest pos- 
 sibly make so light of these things. Methinks I 
 even hear thee crying out of thy stupidity and ~ 
 madness. iit a 
 
 -. §.16. And now, Reader, having laid down these 
 undeniable arguments, I do, in the name of God,. de- 
 mand thy resolution: Wilt_thou_yield obedience, or 
 not? _ ‘Lam _confident_thy conscience is convinced of 
 _ thy duty.---Darest thou now go on in thy common, 
 
SEEKING THE SAINTS REST. ~ 129 
 
 careless course, against the plain evidence..of..reason. 
 and. cama pf-tiodyantl again ~theenliphletis 
 
 boldly,..an ~pray..as ‘as-seldom.as.before.” tase thou 
 profane the sabbath, slight the service of God, and 
 think of thine everlasting state, as carelessly as before ? 
 Or dost thou not rather resolve to_gird up the Joins 
 of thy mind, and_set thyself: wholly. to. the work of 
 thy salvation, and _break. through. the. oppositions, 
 and slight the scofls and pesccutions,..of the word, 
 
 : which doth so 
 easily beset thee, ‘and run with patience the race that 
 is set. before thee? T hope these are thy full resolutions. 
 Yet, because | know the obstinacy of the. heart of 
 
 ‘man, and because I am solicitous thy soul might live, 
 
 { once more entreat thy attention to the following 
 1 te oars and { command thee from God, that thou 
 s conscience, nor resist conviction; but 
 answer them faithfully, and _obey—accordingly.— 
 byLlusing thligent-mn_godliness.you-could_ grow sich, 
 get honour.or.preferment.in_the world, be recovered 
 
 from sickness, or live for ever in prosperity on earth ; 
 
 what lives would you lead, and what pains would you 
 take in the service of God? And is not the saint’s 
 rest a more excellent happiness than ail this ?—If it 
 were felony to break the sabbath, neglect secret or 
 family worship, or be loose in your lives ;« what man- 
 mer of persons would you then be? And is not 
 eternal death more terrible than temporal ?—Ii God 
 usually punished with some present judgment every 
 act.of sm, as he did the lie of Ananias and Sapphira ; 
 what kmd of lives would you Jead?: And is not eter- 
 
 aa 
 
 nal wrath far more terrible?—If one of your ac-_ 
 
 quaintance should come from the dead, and tell you 
 that he suffered the torments of hell for those sins 
 you are guilty of; what manner of persons would you 
 be afterwards ? How much more should the warn- 
 ings of God affright you?—If you knew that this 
 were the last day you had to live in the world, how 
 would you spend it? And you know not but it 
 
 “may be your last, am are sure ‘pour last is near—If . 
 5. R 
 
130 NECESSITY OF DILIGENTLY 
 
 you had seen the general dissolution of the world, and 
 all the pomp and glory of it consumed to ashes; what 
 would such a sight persuade thee to do? Sucha Sant 
 you shall certainly see.—l-you. 
 ment-seat, and the books onenpi-candasie Gane 
 
 stand trembling on. the left hand. paeafhe tudes Ue 
 
 the. godly rejoicing on.their right hand, and their, dif- 
 ferent sentences pronounced ; what persons would you 
 
 have been after such a sight? This sight you shall 
 
 one..day...surely..see.—If_ you_had_ seen hell. 
 all.the damned. there in. their easeless..torments.;... 
 heaven...opened,...as..Stephen did, and_all_the saints 
 there..triumphing in. sslory ; what a life would you 
 lead after such sights! These you will see before it . 
 be long.—If you had laid in hell but one year, or one 
 day, or hour, and there felt the torments you now 
 hear of; how seriously would you then speak of hell, 
 and pray against it! And will you not take God's 
 word for the truth of this, except you feel it? Or 
 if you had possessed the glory of heaven but one year; 
 what pains would you take, rather than be deprived 
 of such incomparable glory!—Thus I have said 
 enough, if not to stir up the sinner to a serious work- 
 ing out his salvation, yet at least to silence him, and 
 leave him 1 e_judgment-of-God+-only . 
 as_we do by our friends. when they. are. dead.—and. our as 
 words and actions can do thé Comexe) 
 
 our affection for them we weep and mourn; so at 
 I also do for these unhappy souls.—It makes my 
 heart tremble, to think how they will stand before 
 ‘ the Lord, confounded and speechless! when he shall 
 say, “ Was the world, or Satan, a better friend to 
 you than I? or-had they done for you more than I 
 had done? Try now whether they will save you, or 
 ' recompense you for the loss of heaven, or be as 
 good to you as I would have been.” What will the 
 wretched sinner answer to any of this? But though | 
 man will not hear, we may hope in speaking’ to God. 
 «OQ thou that didst weep and groan in spirit over a 
 dead Lazarus, pity these dead and senseless souls, till _ 
 * they are able to weep and groan in pity to themselves! 
 
SEEKING THE SAINTS REST. 181 
 
 As thou hast bid thy servant speak, so speak now thy- 
 self; they will hear thy voice speaking to their hearts, 
 who will not hear mine speaking to their ears. Lord, 
 thou hast long knocked at these hearts in vain; now 
 break the doors, and enter in!” 
 
 § 17. Yet to show the godly why they, above all 
 men, should be laborious for heaven, I desire to ask 
 them, What manner of persons should those be,. 
 whom God hath chosen to be vessels of mercy? who 
 have felt the smart of their negligence in their new 
 birth, in their troubles of conscience, in their doubts 
 
 . and fears, and in their sharp afflictions? Who have 
 
 often confessed their sins of negligence to God in 
 prayer? who have bound themselves to God by so 
 many covenants? What manner of persons should 
 they be, who are near to God as the children of. his 
 family? who have tasted such sweetness in’ diligent 
 obedience? who are many of them so uncertain what 
 shall everlastingly become.of their souls? What man- - 
 ner of persons should they..bein.holiness, whose 
 
 ' sanctification isso imperfect ?_whose lives and duties 
 
 are so important to the saying or destroying a mul- 
 titude of souls? and on whom the glory of the great 
 God so much depends?—Since these things are so, I 
 charge thee, Christian, in thy Master’s name, to con- - 
 sider and resolve the question—What manner of per- 
 sons ought we to be in all holy conversation and god- 
 liness ? And let thy life answer the question as well 
 
 as 
 
 ° 
 
132 HOW TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 How to discern our Title to the Saint's Rest. 
 
 § 1. The folly of men in not inquiring after a title to the saint’s 
 rest; § 2. and their cause for terror as long as they are destitute 
 of a title. § 3. Self-examination is urged upon them; § 4.-(1) 
 
 from the possibility of arriving at a certainty; § 5—9. (2) from 
 the hinderances which will be thrown in our way by Satan, sin-- 
 ners, our own hearts, and many other causes; § 10. (3) from 
 considering how easy, common, and dangerous, it is to be mis- 
 taken; that trymg will not be so painful as the neglect; that 
 God will soon try us ; and that to try ourselves will be profitable: 
 § li. and therefore the reader is entreated no longer to delay 
 the trial. § 12. Then (4) directions are given how to try; 
 ‘§ 13. (5) marks for trial are added: particularly, § 14. Do 
 we make God our chief good? § 15. Do we heartily accept of 
 Christ for our Lord and Saviour? § 16, 17. ‘The chapter con- 
 clades with illustrating the great importance of these two marks. 
 
 § 1. Is there such a glorious rest so near at hand; 
 and shall none enjoy it but the people of God? 
 What mean most of the world then, to live so con- 
 tentedly without assurance of their mterest in this 
 rest, and neglect the trying of their title te it? When 
 the Lord hath so fully opened the blessedness of that 
 kingdom, which none but obedient believers shall - 
 possess ; and so fully expressed those torments, which~ 
 the rest of the, world must eternally suffer; methinks 
 they that believe this to be certainly true, should 
 never be at any quiet in themselves, till they were 
 fully assured _of their -being heirs of the kingdom. 
 Lord, what a strange madness is this, that men who 
 know they must presently enter upon unchangeable 
 joy or pain, should -yet.live as uncertain what shall be 
 their-doom, as_if_they.had_neyer heard of any such 
 state; yea,.and_live.as.quietlyand_merrly inthis un- 
 certainty..as.if all were made sure, and there were no 
 
 danger! Are these men alive or dead? Are they 
 
‘TO THE SAINT'S, REST... 133 
 
 awake or asleep? What do they think on? Where © 
 are their hearts? If they have but a weighty suit at 
 law, how careful are they to know whether it will 
 go for or against them! If they were to be tried for 
 their lives at an earthly bar, how careful would they 
 be to know whether they should be saved or con- 
 demned, especially if their care might surely save 
 them! If they be dangerously sick, they will inquire. 
 of the physician, What think you, sir, shall I escape 
 or not? But.in-the-business. oftheir. salvation,.. they 
 are..content..to..be.uncertain. If you ask..most..men 
 a-reason...of. the...hope..that..s..in...them,...they...waill say, 
 “ because. God..is merciful, and Christ died for sin- 
 ners,” and the like general reasons, which any man 
 in the world may give as well as they : but put them 
 to prove their interest in Christ, and in the saving 
 mercy of God, and they. can say nothing to the pur- 
 pose. If God or man should say to them, What 
 case_is thy.soul in, man? Is it regenerate, sanctified, 
 and_.pardoned,...or_not2....He. would. say,..as_Cain_ of 
 Abel, I know.not;..am-I.my.soul’s.keeper.?.I hope . 
 well; I trust, God. sath my,soul; J shall ‘speed. as well | 
 as ‘other. men. do.;..I_ thank. TRFABE ‘T..never..made. any 
 doubt..of my..salvation.”—Thou.hast.cause_to doubt, 
 because thou never didst doubt ;..and..yet.more,., “be- 
 cause thou hast. been. so,..careless in thy. confidence.— 
 What do thy expressions discover, but a wilful neg- 
 iect of thy own salvation? As a ship-master that 
 should. let his vessel alone, and say, “ I will venture 
 it among the rocks, and waves, and winds; I will 
 trust God with it; it will speed as well as other ves- 
 sels.” What horrible abuse of God is this, to pretend 
 to trust God, to cloke their own wilful negligence ! 
 If thou didst really trust God, thou wouldest. also be 
 ruled by him, and trust him in his own. appointed 
 way. He requires ‘thee.to give diligence to. make thy 
 calling, and election,.sure,(b).and.. so.ttust him... “He. hath 
 marked..thee. out..a..way..in...scripture,. by. syhich thou 
 art charged to search and- ny. ‘thyself, and mayest. 
 
 (b) 2 Pet, i. We 
 
134 HOW TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 arrive at certainty. Were he not a foolish traveller, 
 that_would_hold on_his way,..when he do 
 
 whether he be right or wrong? and say, ‘ I hope I 
 am right; 1 will go on, and. trust in God?” tere 
 
 not.guilty.of this folly in thy. travels to. eternity ? ?” Not 
 
 considering that a little serious. ee 
 thy_way_be.right,.might..save...the 
 labour, which thou bestowest in yain,., and 1 
 again, n, or-else. thou—wilt..miss. of salvation, an undo 
 thyself, 
 
 § 2. How canst thou think or speak of the great 
 
 God without terror, as. aaa as thou art uncenaun . 
 
 whether his blood hath maa thy soul; whether he 
 will condemn_or acquit. ‘thee in_judgment ; or whe- 
 ther he be the foundation of thy happiness, er a 
 stone of stumbling to break- thee and grind thee to 
 powder? How-canst thou open the Bible, and read a 
 chapter, but it should terrify thee? Methinks every 
 leaf should be to thee as Belshazzar’s writing on the 
 wall, except only that which draws thee to try and 
 reform. If -thou-readest..the_promises,. thou _knowest 
 
 not_whether.they-shall.-be-fulfilled. to thee. If thou 
 
 readest the threatenings, for any, thing thou. knowest, 
 thou.readest. thy.own.sentence. No wonder thou art 
 an enemy to plain preaching,.and.say.of..the minister, 
 as Ahab: of the prophet, I hate ine for he doth not 
 
 prophesy good concerning me, but evil. How canst 
 
 thou without terror join in prayer? When thou re~ 
 ceivest the sacrament, thou knowest not whether it 
 be thy bane or bliss. What comfort canst thou find 
 in thy friends, and honours, and houses, and lands, 
 till thou knowest thou hast the love of God with 
 
 them, and shalt have rest with him when thou leavest. 
 
 them. Offer a prisoner, before he knows his sentence, 
 either music, or clothes, or preferment; what are they 
 to him, till he knows’ he’ shall escape with his life ? 
 for if he knows he must die the next day, it will be 
 small comfort to die rich or honourable. Methinks 
 
 ~ 
 
TO THE SAINT'S REST. 133 
 
 it should be so with thee, till thou knowest thy eter- 
 nal state. When thou liest down to take thy rest, 
 methinks the—uncertainty..of—thy._salvation.should 
 keep thee waking,...or-amaze.thee.in thy.dreams, and _ 
 trouble.thy.sleep. Doth it.not..grieve thee.to see the 
 people of God so, comfortable in their way to glory, 
 when thou.hast no good hope of ever enjoying it thy-. _ 
 self? How.canst thou.think of thy.dying hour? Thou - 
 knowest it is near, and there is no avoiding it, nor 
 any medicine found out that can prevent it. If thou 
 shouldest die this day, (and who knows what a day 
 may bring forth?) thou_art not certain whether thou, 
 _ shalt.go to heaven or hell... And canst thou.be merry, 
 — till thou art got out of this.dangerous state? What 
 shift.dost thou make to preserve thy heart_from, hor- 
 ror, when thou rememberest. the great judgment-day, 
 and_everlasting flames? When thou hearest of it, dost 
 thou not tremble, as Felix? If the keepers shook, and 
 became as dead men, on seeing the angel roll back 
 the stone from Christ’s sepulchre; how canst. thou 
 think of living in hell with devils, till thou hast some 
 well-grounded assurance that thou shalt escape it ?-— 
 Thy bed ‘is very soft, or thy heart is very hard, if 
 thou canst sleep soundly in this uncertain case. 
 § 3. If this general uncertainty.of.the world about 
 their salvation were remediless, then must. it. be.borne 
 as_other unayoidable.miseries.But, alas! the com- 
 mon cause _is wilful negligence. Men will not be per-. 
 suaded to use the remedy. The great means to.con-. . 
 quer. this_uncertainty..is. self-examination,..or the. seri-, > 
 ous and diligent.trying.of..a man’s..heart.and state by 
 the_rule_of scripture. Either men understand not 
 the nature and use of this duty, or else they will not 
 be at the pains to try. Go through a congregation 
 of a thousand men, and how few of them shall you 
 meet with, that ever bestowed one hour in all their 
 lives in_a close examination of their title to heaven ! 
 Ask thy own conscience, Reader, when was the time, 
 and where was the place, that ever thou solemnly 
 tookest thy heart:to task, as in the sight of God, and 
 didst examine it by scripture, whether it be renewed 
 
136 HOW TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 or not? whether it be holy or not? whether it be’ 
 set most on God, or the creatures, on heaven or 
 earth? And when didst thou follow on this exami- 
 nation till thou hadst discovered thy condition, and: 
 passed sentence on thyself accordingly? But because. 
 this is a work of so high importance and so com-_ 
 monly neglected, | will therefore show,—that it is. 
 possible, by trying, to come to a certainty ;—what 
 hinders men from trying and knowing their state ;— 
 then offer motives to examine ;—and directions ;— 
 together with some marks out of scripture, by which 
 you may try and certainly know, whether you are the 
 _people of God or not. 
 
 § 4. (1) Scripture.shows,..that..the.certainty..ofsal- 
 vation. may, be attained, and. ought..to. -be..Jaboured 
 for, when it tells us so.. Seequentlja<fhittecth een saits 
 before. .us..have..known. their.justification an an 
 salvation : when it deelares, that whosoever believeth 
 in-Christ shall. not, perish, but have everlasting. 1 e; 
 which_ it. would. be .in. vain. to declare,. if..we,.cann 
 know ourselves to be believers.or not; when it makes. 
 such a wide difference between the children of God, 
 and the children of the devil: when it bids us give 
 diligence to make our calling and election sure; and 
 . earnestly urges us to examine, prove, know our own 
 selves, whether we be in the faith, and whether Jesus 
 Christ be in us, except we be reprobates: also when 
 its precepts require us to rejoice always, to call God 
 our Father, to live in his praises, to love Christ's ap- 
 pearing, to wish that he may come quickly, and to 
 _ comfort ourselves with the mention of it. But who 
 can do any of these heartily, that is not in some mea- 
 sure sure that he is the child of God ? 
 
 § 5, (2) Among the many_hinderances which kee 
 men_ from. ‘sell ce amingiicrt ute, ganna 
 Satan will do his. part. If all the power he hath, or 
 all the means and instruments.he .can.employ,.. 
 it, he will be sure above .all duties. to.keep. you. from. 
 this... He is loth the godly should have the joy, as- 
 surance, and advantage against corruption, which the 
 
 would pro- 
 
 1 
 
TO THE SAINT'S REST. 137 
 
 cure them. As for the ungodly, he knows if they 
 should once earnestly examine, they would find out 
 his deceits and their own danger, and so be very 
 likely to escape him. How could he get so many mil- 
 lions to hell willingly, if they knew they were going 
 thither? And how could they avoid knowing it, if 
 they did but thoroughly try: havingsuch_a_clear 
 light_and_sure.rule.in.the..scripture to.discover_it? If_ 
 the_snare-be-not.-hid,...the.bird..will. escape. it... Satan 
 knows_how..to..angle..for..souls, better. than to show 
 them the hook and line, or fright them away with a 
 noise, or with his own appearance, Therefore he 
 labours to keep them_from.a_searching..ministry ;_ or 
 to keep the minister..from.helping them to search; or 
 to take off the edge.of..the word, that it may not 
 pierce and divide; or to turn away their thoughts; 
 or to possess them with prejudice. Satan knows 
 when the minister has provided a searching sermon, 
 fitted to the state and necessity of a hearer; and there- 
 fore he will keep them away that day, if it be possi- 
 ble; or cast him into a sleep; or steal away the word 
 by the cares and talk of the world; or some way 
 prevent its operation. 
 
 § 6. Another great hinderance to. self-examina- 
 tion arises from wicked men. Their examples; their 
 merry company and discourse; their continually in- 
 sisting on worldly concerns ; their raillery and scoffs 
 at godly persons; also their persuasions, allurements, 
 and threats; are each of them exceeding great temp- 
 tations to security. God doth scarce ever open the 
 eyes of a poor sinner to see that his way is wrong, 
 but presently there is a multitude of Satan’s apostles 
 ready to deceive and settle him again in the quiet 
 possession of his former master. ‘‘ What!” say they, 
 “do you make a doubt of your salvation, who 
 have lived so well, and done nobody any harm? 
 God is merciful; and if such as you shall not be 
 saved, God help a great many! What do you think 
 of all your forefathers? And what will become of 
 all your friends and neighbours that live as you do? 
 Will they all be damned? Come, come, if you hearken 
 
 5. S 
 
138.* HOW TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 ‘to these preachers, they will drive you out of your 
 wits. Are not all men sinners? And did not Christ 
 die to save sinners? never trouble pac head with 
 these thoughts, and you shall do well.” - O how many 
 thousands have such charms kept asleep in deceit and 
 security, till death and hell have awakened them! 
 The Lord calls to the sinner, and tells him, The gate 
 is strait, the way is narrow, and few find it: Try 
 and examine, give diligence to make sure. The 
 ~-««« World cries, Never doubt, never trouble ourselves 
 .««With these thoughts. In this strait, Sinner, consider, 
 it is Christ, and not your forefathers, or neighbours, 
 or friends, that must judge you at last; and if Christ’ 
 condemn you, these cannot save you: therefore 
 common reason may tell you, that it is not from the 
 words of ignorant men, but from the word of God, 
 you must fetch your hopes of salvation. When 
 Ahab would inquire among the multitude of flatter- 
 ing prophets, it was his death. They can flatter men 
 into the snare, but they cannot tell how to bring 
 them out. Let no man deceive you with vain words ; 
 for because of these things cometh the wrath of God 
 upon the children of disobedience: be not therefore par- 
 takers with them.(c) 
 
 § 7. But the greatest hinderances are in men's 
 own hearts.—Some_are so ignorant, that they. know. 
 not_what. self-examination. is, nor what a minister 
 means,. when_he. per suadeth them, ‘to try themsel ves: 
 or they know. not.that.there is any necessi erty 
 but think every man is,bound.to_believe 1S Sins 
 
 "are pardoned, whether. it be true or false, and that 
 is a great fault to make any question of it: or they 
 do not think the assurance can be attained: or that 
 there is any great difference between one man and 
 another, but that we are all Christians, and therefore 
 need. not trouble ourselves any further; or at least 
 they know not wherein the difference lies. they have 
 as gross an idea of regeneration as Nicodemus had.— 
 Some will not believe that God will ever make such 
 
 (c) Ephes. v. 6, 7. 
 
TO THE SAINTS REST. 139 
 
 a difference betwixt men in the life to come, and 
 therefore will not search themselves whether they 
 differ here.—Some are so stupified, say what we can 
 to them, that they lay it not to heart, but give us the 
 hearing, and there is the end.—Some are so possessed 
 ‘with self-love and pride, that they will not so much 
 as suspect that they are in any danger. Like a proud 
 tradesman, who scorns the prudent advice of casting 
 up his books; as fond parents will not believe or 
 hear any evil of their children.—Some are so guilty, 
 that they dare not try; and yet they dare venture on 
 a more dreadful trial—-Some are so in love with sin, 
 and so dislike the way of God, that they dare. not 
 try their ways, lest they be forced from the course 
 they love, to that which they loathe.—Some are so 
 resolved never to change their present state, that they 
 neglect examination asa useless thing. Before they 
 will seek a new way when they have lived so long, 
 and gone so far, they will put their eternal state to 
 the venture, come of it what will. Many men are 
 so busy in the world, that they cannot set themselves 
 to the trying their title to heaven. Others are so 
 clogged with slothfulness of spirit, that they will not 
 be at the pains of an hour's examination of their own 
 hearts.—But the most common and dangerous im- 
 _ pediment is that false faith..and hope, commonly 
 called presumption, which bears up the hearts of the 
 “ greatest _part..of the world, and so keeps them from 
 suspecting. their.danger. ity 
 -§ 8. And if a man should break through all these 
 hinderances, and set upon the duty of self-examin- 
 ation, yet.assurance.js__not...presently.attained.— 
 Too...many..deceive..themselves..in_ their inquiries. after 
 it,..through..one...or...other...of...the..following causes : 
 There. is_such confision.and.darkness in the soul_of 
 man,....especially...of an. unregenerate man, that he 
 cam_scarcely tell what..hedoeth, or what.is_in him, 
 As ina house, where nothing is in its proper place, 
 it will be difficult to find what is wanted; so it is in 
 the heart, where all things are in disorder, Most men — 
 
140 Wow TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 accustom.themselves to be strangers at home, and too 
 little observe the temper and motions of their own 
 hearts.—Many are resolved what to judge before 
 they try; like a bribed judge, who examines as if 
 he would judge uprightly, when he is previously re- 
 solved which way the cause shall go.—Men are par- 
 tial in their own cause; ready to think their great 
 sins small, and their small sins none; their gifts of 
 nature to be the work of grace, and to say, All these 
 have I kept from my youth; I am rich; and increased 
 in goods, and have need of nothing. —Most men 
 search but by the halves. If it will not easily and 
 quickly be done, they are discouraged, and leave off. 
 They try themselves by false marks and rules; not 
 knowing wherein the truth of Christianity doth con- 
 sist, some looking beyond, and some short of, the 
 scripture standard. And frequently they miscarry in ~ 
 this work, by attempting it in their own strength. 
 As some expect the Spirit should do it without them, 
 so others attempt it thomselves without seeking or 
 , expecting the help of the Spirit. Both these will cer- 
 tainly miscarry in their assurance. 
 
 § 9. Some other hinderances keep even true Chris- 
 tians from comfortable certainty. As for instance :— 
 The. weakness. of grace. Small...things..are hardly 
 discerned... Most.Christians..content, themselves. with 
 a_small measure.of. gra 
 spiritual. strength..and. manhood. The chief remedy 
 for such would be, to follow on their duty, till their 
 grace be..increased. Wait. upon Godin. the use of 
 his_ prescribed. means,_and_ hes will undoubtedly bless 
 you.with.increase. O! that Christians would bestow 
 most—of.that.time.to.getting more grace,.which. they 
 bestow. in_anxious..doubtings whether they have.any 
 ar.none,! and lay out those serious affections in pray- 
 ing for more grace, which they bestow in fruitless 
 complaints! I beseech thee, Christian, take this advice 
 as from God; and then, when thou believest strongly, 
 and lovest fervently, thou canst no more doubt of thy 
 faith and love, than a man that is very hot can doubt 
 
 = 
 
“TO THE SAINT’S REST. 141 
 
 of his warmth, ora man that is strong and lusty can 
 doubt of his being alive. Christians hinder their 
 ‘own comfort by looking more at signs, which tell 
 them what they are, than at precepts, which tell 
 them what they should do. Asif their present case 
 must needs be their everlasting case; and if they be 
 now unpardoned, there were no remedy. Were he 
 not mad, that would lie weeping because he is not 
 pardoned, when his prince stands by all the while 
 offering him a pardon, and persuading him to accept 
 of it?—Justifying faith, Christian, is not thy per- 
 suasion of God’s special love to thee, but thy accept- 
 ing Christ to make thee lovely. It is far better to 
 accept Christ as offered, than spend so much time in 
 doubting whether we have Christ or not.—Another 
 cause of distress to Christians Is, i 
 . anies it. 
 As if _a_child should take himself for a_son no longer 
 than while he sees the smiles of his father's face, or 
 eae the comfortable Expressions of his mouth; 
 e_a father, whenever 
 ery those_smiles.and.speeches.—The trouble of 
 squls_is also increased by. their not. knowing the ordi- 
 hary..way...of. God's..conveying...comfort. They think 
 they have nothing to do but wait when God will- be- 
 stow it. But they must know, that the matter of 
 their comfort is in the promises, and thence the 
 must fetch it as often as they expect it, by daily me 
 diligently meditating upon the promises: and in this 
 ‘way they may expect the Spirit will communicate 
 comfort to their souls. The joy of the promises, and 
 the joy of the Holy Ghost, are one.—Add to this, 
 their expecting a greater measure of assurance than 
 ‘God usually bestows. As long as they have any doub- 
 ing, they think they have no assurance. They con- 
 sider not that_there_are many degrees of ~cortainty. 
 While_they are here, they shall know. 
 And also," their reir deriving their comfort. at. fi first, from 
 insufficient grounds. This_may_be..the.case.of.a_gra- 
 cious. soul who hath better grounds, but doth 1 not 
 
‘p42 HOW -£O DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 ‘see them. As an infant hath life before he knoweth 
 it, and many misapprehensions of himself and other 
 things, yet it. will not follow that he hath no life. 
 So-when..Christians.find-a-flaw.in.their.first.comforts, 
 they.are.not to_judge it a flaw in their safety... Many 
 continue under .doubting, _through....the exceeding 
 weakness.of. their natural parts. Many honest hearts 
 have weak heads, and know not how to perform the 
 work of self-trial. They will acknowledge the pre- 
 mises, and yet deny the apparent conclusion. If God 
 do net some other way supply the defect of their 
 reason, 1 see not how they should have clear and set- 
 tled peace. One great and too common cause of dis- 
 tress is, the secret maintaining some known sin.— 
 ‘This abates the degree of our graces. It obscureth 
 that which it destroyeth not; for if beareth such 
 sway, that grace is not in action, nor seems to Stir, 
 nor is scarce heard speak for the noise of this cor- 
 ruption. It puts out, or dimeth, the eye of the soul, 
 and stupifies it, that it can neither see nor feel its own 
 condition. But especially it provokes God to with- 
 draw himself, his comforts, and the assistance of his 
 Spirit, without which we may search long enough 
 before we have assurance. a. 
 
 tion between sin_and_peace,__As long _as_thou_dost 
 cherish thy pride, thy. love. of the world, the desires 
 of the flesh, or any..unchristian. practice, _X- 
 pectest comfort in. vain. If a man setteth up his 
 idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of 
 his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a minister, 
 or to God, to inquire for comfort, instead of com- 
 forting him, God will answer him that cometh according 
 to the multitude of his idols.d)—Another very great and 
 common cause of the want of comfort is, when grace 
 is not kept in constant and lively exercise. The way 
 of painful duty, is the way of fullest comfort.— Peace 
 and comfort are Christ's great encouragements to 
 faithfulness and obedience; and therefore, 
 
 our obedience does not. merit.them, yet they usnally 
 
 a 
 
 (d) Ezek. xiv. 3—9. 
 
Tl1TO HP BAINT'S! REST. 57: 143 
 fise and fall with our diligence in duty. As prayer 
 must have faith and fervency to procure its success, 
 besides the blood and intercession of Christ, so must 
 all other parts of our obedience. If thou growest sel- 
 dom, and customary, and cold m duty, especially in 
 thy secret prayers to God, and yet. findest no abate- 
 ment in thy joys, I cannot but fear thy joys are either 
 carnal or diabolical.: Besides, grace is never apparent 
 and sensible to the soul, but while it is in action; 
 therefore want of action must cause want of assurance, 
 And the action’of the soul upon such excellent ob- 
 jects naturally bringeth consolation with it. The very 
 act of loving God in Christ is inexpressibly sweet.— 
 The soul that is best furnished with grace, when it is 
 not in action, is like a lute well stringed and tuned, 
 which while it lieth still maketh no more music than 
 a common piece of wood; but when it is. handled by 
 a skilful musician, the melody is delightful. Some 
 degree of comfort follows every good action, as heat 
 accompanies fire, and as beams and influence. issue 
 from the sun. A man that is cold should labour till 
 heat be excited; so he that wants assurance, must not 
 stand still, but exercise his graces, till his doubts 
 vanish.—The want of consolation in the soul is also 
 very commonly owing to bodily melancholy. It is 
 no more wonder for a conscientious man, under me- 
 lancholy, to doubt, and fear, and despair, than: for a 
 sick man to. groan, or a child to cry when it is chas- 
 tised. Without the physician in this case, the labours 
 of the divine are usually in vain. You may silence; 
 but you cannot comfort them. You may make them 
 confess they have some grace, and yet cannot bring 
 them to the comfortable conclusion. All the good 
 thoughts of their state, which you can possibly help 
 them to, are seldom above a day or two old. The 
 ery out of,sin, and the wrath of God, when the chief 
 -cause is in their bodily distemper. E 
 
 § 10. (3) As for motives to persuade to the duty 
 of self-examination, I entreat you to consider the fol- 
 lowing.—To be deceived about your title to heaven 
 is very easy. Many are now in hell, that never sus- 
 
 Sharer: 
 
144. HOW TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 pected any falsehood in. their hearts, that excelled in 
 worldly wisdom, that lived in the clear light of the 
 gospel, and even preached against the negligence of 
 others. To be mistaken in this great poiht is also 
 very common. It is the case of most in the world. 
 In the old world, and in Sodom, we find none that 
 were in any fear of judgment. Almost all men 
 among us verily look to be saved: yet Christ tells us, 
 there be few that find the strait gate, and narrow way, 
 which leadeth unto life(e) And if such multitudes are 
 deceived, should we not search the more diligently, 
 lest we-should-be.deceived as well as they.?—Nothing 
 is more dangerous than to be thus mistaken. If the 
 godly judge their state worse than it is, the conse- 
 quences of this mistake will be sorrowful: but the 
 mischief flowing from the mistake of the ungodly is 
 - unspeakable. It will exceedingly confirm them in 
 the service of Satan. It will render ineffectual the 
 means that should do them good. It will keep a man 
 from compassionating his own soul. It isa case of 
 the greatest moment, where everlasting salvation or 
 damnation is to be determined. And if you mistake 
 till death, you are undone for ever. Seeing then the 
 danger is so great, what wise man would not follow 
 the search of his heart both day and night, till he 
 were assured of his safety ?—Consider how small the 
 labour of this duty is, in comparison of that sorrow 
 which followeth its neglect. You can endure to toil 
 and sweat from year to year, to prevent poverty; and 
 why not spend a little time in self-examination, to. 
 prevent eternal misery !—By neglecting this. duty, 
 you can scarce do Satan a greater pleasure, nor your- 
 selves.a greater injury. It is the grand design of the 
 devil, in all his temptations to deceive you, and keep 
 you ignorant of your danger, till you.feel the..ever-. 
 lasting flames! And will you join with him to deceive 
 yourself? If you do this for him, you do the greatest 
 part of his work. And hath he deserved so well of 
 
 (e) Matt. vii. 14. 
 
“TO THE SAINT'S REST. . 145 
 
 you, that you should assist him in such a design as 
 your damnation ?—The time is nigh when God, will 
 search you. If it be but in this life by affliction, it 
 will make you wish that you had tried and judged 
 yourselves,. that you might have escaped the judg- 
 ment of God. It was a terrible voice to Adam, 
 Where art thou? Hast thou eaten of the tree? 
 And to Cain, Where is thy brother? Men consider 
 not in their hearts, that I, saith the Lord, remember all 
 their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them 
 about ; they are before my face.(f)—Consider also, 
 what would be the sweet effects of this self-examina- 
 tion.—If thou be upright and godly, it will lead thee 
 straight towards assurance_of.God’s.love.; if thou. be _ 
 not,.though_it.will trouble..thee.atthe.present,...yet_it 
 will tend. to thy. happiness,.and..atlength lead thee: to | 
 the assurance. of that happiness, Is it nota. desir- 
 able thing to_ know. what.shall befall. us.hereafter.? es- 
 pecially what, shall befall our. souls?. and what place 
 and state. we must. bein for ever? : And as the very 
 
 . knowledge _itself_is. desirable, how much greater will 
 
 the comfort be.of that certainty of salvation! What 
 sweet thoughts wilt thou have of God!. All that 
 greatness and justice, which is the terror of others, 
 will be thy joy. How sweet may be thy thoughts 
 
 ‘of Christ, and the blood he hath shed, and the bene- 
 
 fits he hath procured! How welcome will the word 
 of God be to thee, and how beautiful the very feet 
 of those that bring it! How sweet will be the pro- 
 mises, when thou art sure they are thine own! The 
 very threatenings will occasion thy comfort, to re- 
 member that thou hast escaped them. What bold- 
 ness and comfort mayest thou then have in prayer, 
 when thou canst say, Our.Kather,i assurance ! 
 it will make the Lord’s supps efreshing feast.to 
 thy. soul... It wall multiply the sweetness of every 
 common merey. How comfortably mayest thou then 
 undergo all afflictions! How will it sweeten thy 
 
 fore-thoughts of death and judgment, of heaven and 
 
 (f) Hos. vii. 2. 
 5. “f T 
 
ll 
 
 -Tequest.thee, in behalf of 
 - longer,. but_take. thy. heart.to. 
 
 146 HOW TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 hell! How lively will it make thee in the work of 
 the Lord, and how profitable to all around thee! 
 What vigour will it infuse into all thy graces and af- 
 fections, kindle thy” repentance, inflame thy love, 
 quicken thy desires, and confirm thy faith; be a 
 fountain of continual rejoicing; overflow thy heart 
 with thankfulness, raise thee high in the delightful 
 
 work of praise, help thee to be heavenly-minded, 
 
 and render thee persevering in all! t 
 
 . effects of assurance.would make thy life a heaven 
 
 Pn ra 
 
 upon. earth. 
 
 § 1]. Though I am certain these motives have 
 weight of reason in them; yet 1am zealous, Reader, 
 lest thou lay aside the book, as if you had done, and 
 never set yourself to the practice of the duty.. The 
 case in hand is of the greatest moment, whether 
 thou_shalt everlastingly live in heaven or hell, I here 
 
 thy soul, nay, I charge 
 thee, in the name of the Lord, that” ih yu_ defer no 
 es 
 and~think.with.thyself, “Is it so easy, so common, 
 and so dangerous, to be mistaken? Are there so 
 many wrong ways? Is the heart so deceitful? Why 
 then do-1—not_search into every corner, till 1 know 
 my state? Must I so shortly undergo the trial at the” 
 bar—ofChrist? and do I not presen: ! 
 What case were I in, if I should then miscarry! 
 
 _May I know bya little diligent.inquiry now; and 
 
 do I stick at the labour ?”—But perhaps thou wilt 
 say, ‘I know not how to doit.” In that I am now 
 to give thee directions; but, alas! it will be in vain, 
 if thou art not resolved to practise them. Wilt 
 thou, therefore, before thou goest any further, here 
 
 ‘promise before the Lord, to set thyself upon the 
 
 speedy performance of the duty, according to the 
 directions I shall lay down from the word of God. 
 I demand nothing unreasonable or impossible. It as 
 but to bestow..a_few..hours,..to..know..what_sha, 
 come.of thee. for.eyer. Ifa neighbour or a fn 
 desire but an hour's. time.of thee..in conversation, oF 
 
 r 
 business, or_any..thing..inwhich.thou.mayest_be_o 
 
TO TRE SAINTS REST. - 147 
 
 service, surely thou wouldest not deny it; how much 
 less shouldest thou deny this to thyself in so great an 
 affair! I pray thee to take from me this request, as if, 
 in the name of Christ, I presented it to thee on my 
 knees; and I will betake me on my knees to Christ 
 again; to beg that he will persuade thy heart to the 
 duty. ; 
 
 . 12. (4) The directions how to examine thyself 
 are such as these :—Empty—thy—mind.of.all.other 
 cares_and thoughts, that.they.may.not.distract.or.di- 
 vide.thy mind. This work will be enough at once, 
 - withont joining others with it. Then.fall.down..be- 
 
 fore God in hearty prayer, desiring..the..assistance, of 
 his. Spirit, to discover..to...thee..the_plain.truth.of.thy 
 condition, and..to enlighten...thee...in...the..whole. pro- 
 egress of this work. Make choice of the most conve- 
 nient time and place. Let the place be the most pri- 
 vate; and the time,,when you have nothing to in- 
 terrupt you; and, if possible, let it be the present 
 time. Have in readiness, either in memory or writ- 
 ing, some scriptures, containing the descriptions of 
 the saints, and the gospel terms of salvation; and 
 convince thyself thoroughly of their infallible truth. 
 Proceed then te put the question to thyself. Let it 
 ‘not be, whether there be any good in thee at all? 
 nor, whether thou hast such or such a degree and 
 measure of grace? but, whether.such or such a 
 saying.grace be in thee in sincerity, or not—If thy 
 heart..draw.back. from the work, force it..on....Lay 
 thy...command upon_it, Let reason interpose, and 
 use_its authority. Yea, lay the comment ot God 
 ‘upon it, and charge it to obey upon pain of his dis- 
 pleasure. Let conscience also do its office, till thy 
 heart be excited to the work. Nor. let thy heart. 
 trifle away the time, when it should be diligently at 
 the work. Do as the psalmist, My spirit made dili- 
 gent search. He that can prevail with his own 
 heart, shall also prevail with God.—If after all thy 
 pains, thou art not resolved, then seek out for help. 
 - -=-Go to one that is godly, experienced, able, and 
 
 SPAT 
 
145 HOW TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 faithful, and tell him thy case, and desire his best ad- 
 vice. Use the judgment of such a one, as that of a 
 physician for thy body: though this can afford thee 
 no full certainty, yet it may be a great help to stay 
 and direct thee. But do not make it a preténce to 
 put off thy qwn self-examination, Only use it as 
 one of the last remedies, when thy own endeavours 
 will not serve.—When thou hast discovered thy true 
 state, pass sentence on thyself accordingly; either 
 that thou art a true Christian, or that thou art not. 
 Pass not this sentence rashly, nor with self-flattery, 
 nor with melancholy terrors; but deliberately, truly, 
 and according to thy conscience, conyinced by scrip- 
 ture. and reason. Labour to get thy heart affected 
 with its condition, according: to the, sentence. pass 
 onit.._If graceless, think of thy misery. If renewed 
 and sanctified, think what a blessed state the Lord 
 hath brought thee into. Pursue these thoughts till 
 they have left their impression on thy heart. Write 
 this sentence, at least in thy memory: “ At such a 
 time, upon thorough examination, I found my state 
 to be thus or thus.” Such a record will be very 
 useful to thee hereafter. Trust not to this one dis- 
 covery, so as to try no more; nor let it hinder thee 
 in the daily search of thy ways; neither be discou- 
 raged, if the trial must be often repeated. Espe- 
 cially take heed, if unregenerate, not to conclude of 
 thy future state by the present. Don't say, “ because 
 Tam ungodly, I shall die so; because I ama hypo- 
 crite, I shall continue so.” Do not despair. No- 
 thing but thy unwillingness can keep thee from 
 Christ, though thou hast hitherto abused him, and. 
 dissembled with him. be 
 
 § 13. (5) Now let me add some marks by which 
 you may try_your title to the saint's rest. I will only 
 mention these two,—taking God for thy chief good 
 —and heartily accepting Christ for thy only Saviour 
 and. Lord. 
 - § 14. Every soul that hath a title to.this rest, doth 
 place his chief happiness in God. This rest con- 
 
. TO THE SAINT'S REST. 149 
 
 sisteth in the full and glorious enjoyment.of God. He 
 that maketh not God his chief good and ultimate end, . 
 is in heart a pagan and a vile idolater. Let me ask 
 then, Dost thou truly account it thy chief happi. 
 ness to enjoy the Lord in glory, or dost thou not? 
 Canst thou say, The Lord is my portion? whom have 
 Tin heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth 
 that I desire besides thee? If thou be an heir of' 
 rest, it is thus with thee." Though the flesh’ will 
 be pleading for its own delights, and. the world will 
 be creeping into thine affections ; yet in thine ordinary, 
 settled, prevailing judgment and affections, thou pre- - 
 ferrest God before all things in the world.—Thou 
 makest him the very end of thy desires and endea- | 
 vours. The very reason why. thou. hearest,,.and. 
 prayest, and_desirest to live on earth, is chiefly this, 
 that_thou_mayest seek the Lord, and_1 1re_0 
 Though thou dost not seek it so zealously 
 as thou shouldest; yeti j desires 
 and_endeavours,.so.that nothing else is desired or 
 preferred before it. Thou wilt think no labour or 
 suffering too great to obtain it. And though the 
 flesh may sometimes shrink, yet thou art resolved and 
 contented to go through all. Thy esteem for it will 
 also be so high, and thy affection to it so great, that 
 thou wouldest not exchange thy title to it, and hopes 
 of it, for any worldly good whatsoever. If God should 
 set before thee an eternity of earthly pleasures on one 
 hand, and the saint’s rest on the other, and bid thee 
 take thy choice; thou wouldest refuse the world, and 
 choose this rest. But if thou art yet unsanctified, then 
 thou dost in thy heart prefer thy worldly happiness 
 before God; and though thy tongue may say, that. 
 God is thy chief good, yet thy heart doth not so 
 esteem him. For the world is the chief end of thy 
 desires and endeavours. Thy very heart is set upon 
 it. Thy greatest care and labour is to maintain thy 
 credit, or fleshly delights. But the life to come hath 
 little of thy care or labour. Thou didst never per- 
 ceive so much excellency in that unseen glory of 
 
150 HOW TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 another world, as to draw thy heart after it, and set 
 thee a labouring~heartily for it. The little pains 
 thou bestowest that way, is but in the second place. 
 God hath but the world’s leavings, only that time 
 -and labour which thou canst spare from the world, or 
 those few, cold, and careless thoughts, which law 
 thy constant, earnest, and delightful thoughts of 
 earthly things. Neither wouldest thou do any thing 
 at all for heaven, if thou knewest how to- keep the 
 world. But lest thou shouldest be turned into hell, 
 when thou canst keep the world no longer, therefore 
 thou wilt do something. For the same reason, thou 
 thinkest the way of God too strict, and wilt not be 
 » persuaded to the constant labour of walking accord- 
 ing to the gospel rule; and when it comes to the 
 trial, that thou must forsake Christ, or thy worldly 
 happiness, then thou wilt venture heaven rather than 
 earth, and so wilfully deny thy obedience to God. 
 . And certainly if God would but give thee leave to 
 live in health and wealth for ever on earth, thou 
 wouldest think it a better state than rest. Let them 
 seek for heaven that would, thou wouldest think this 
 thy chief happiness. This is thy case, if thou art yet 
 an unregenerate person, and.hast..no. 
 
 Saint's rest. 
 
 § 15. And as thou takest God for thy chief good,’ 
 so thou dost heartily accept of Christ for thy only 
 Saviour and Lord, to—bring thee to this rest. The 
 - former mark was the sum of the first and great com- 
 mand of the law, ‘‘ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart.” The second mark is the sum of 
 the command of the gospel, “ Believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” And the per- 
 formance of these two is the whole of godliness and . 
 Christianity. This mark is but the definition of faith. 
 Dost thou heartily consent that Christ alone shall 
 be thy Saviour? and no farther trust to thy duties 
 and works, than as means appointed in subordination 
 to him? and looking at them as not in the least mea- 
 sure able to satisfy the curse of the law, or as a legal 
 
TO THE SAINTS REST. 151 
 
 righteousness, or any part of it; but consent : to trust 
 thy-.salvation...on_th e_ redemption - made. by. Christ? 
 Art.thou..also..content..to. take him. for..thy.only. Lord. 
 and. King, to.govern andguide.thee by his laws:and 
 Spirit;..and.to.obey.him,.even. when he commandeth 
 the.-hardest..duties,, and..those_ which. most..cross_the 
 desires..of. the _ flesh ? Is it thy sorrow when thow 
 breakest thy resolution herein? and thy joy when 
 thou keepest close in obedience to him? Wouldest 
 thou not change thy Lord and Master for all the 
 world? Thus is it with every true Christian. But if 
 thou be a hypocrite, it is far otherwise. Thou mayest 
 call Christ. thy Lord and thy Saviour: but thou 
 never foundest thyself so lost without him, as to 
 drive thee to seek him, and trust him, and lay thy | 
 _ Salvation on him alone. At least thou didst never 
 heartily consent that he should govern thee as thy 
 Lord, nor resign up thy soul and life to be ruled by 
 him, nor take his word for the law of thy thoughts 
 and actions. It is likely thou art content to be saved 
 from hell by Christ when thou diest: but in the 
 ‘mean time he shall command thee no farther than 
 will stand with thy credit, or pleasure, or other 
 worldly ends. And if he would give thee leave, thou 
 hadst far rather live after the world and flesh, than 
 after the word and Spirit. And though thou mayest 
 now and then have a motion or purpose of the con- 
 trary; yet this that I have mentioned is the ordinary 
 desire and choice of thy heart. Thou art therefore 
 no true believer in Christ; for though thou confess 
 him in words, yet in works thou dost deny him, being 
 abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good 
 work reprobate. This is the case of those that shall 
 be shut out of the saint’s rest. 
 
 § 16. Observe, it is the consent of ‘your hearts, 
 or wills, ae I especially lay oe ig be inquired 
 after. I whethere- ssured...of 
 salvation? nor. whetherthou.. at Teles! that t 
 sins.are pardoned, and that. thou art | beloved of Go iy 
 Christ ? These_are_no Q.parts of | justifying faith, but 
 
——_ 
 
 ci 
 = tAdey ned 
 
 152 HOW TO DISCERN OUR TITLE 
 
 excellent fruits of.it, and. the that, receive..them,axe 
 comforted. by.them; but perhaps thou 1 ) 
 receive thegumrine! han tae Petters the be..a. 
 of.rest.. i 
 
 sins are_ pardoned, or_that Iam in I _.God’s favour;and 
 therefore J_am_notruebeliever.” This is a most mis- 
 taken conclusion.—The__question_is, whether. thou 
 dost_heartily accept of Christ, 
 
 inisanwicacere ion ie nee and_so..saved ? “Dost 
 
 “thou consent that he shall be thy Lord who hath 
 thee.to-heayen 
 
 _ bought thee, and that shall bring. 
 
 in_his..own way ? This 1s_justifyings saving fateh 
 and.the..mark..by..which. thou. must,.try.thyself. Yet 
 
 still observe, that atl this consent must be hearty and 
 real, not feigned or with reservations. It is not say- ° 
 ing, as that dissembling son, “ I go, sir;” and went 
 not. If any have more of the government of thee 
 than Christ, thou art not his disciple. I am sure 
 these two marks are such as every Christian hath, 
 and none but sincere Christians. O that the Lord 
 would now persuade thee to the close performance 
 
 ; that.thoumayest.not. tremble with 
 horror....of.... call ’ when. the. Judge of all the world 
 shall_ try. thee; but_be so able to prove thy title 
 
 _ to_rest, that_the prospect and approach of death and 
 
 ra 
 
 judgment..may. raise. thy. spirits, and fill thee with 
 jo 
 
 . 17. On ‘the whole, as ever Christians would 
 have comforts that will_not deceiye them, let them 
 make it the great labour of their lives to growin 
 grace, ..to_.strengthen.and advance..the. interest. of 
 Christ in their_souls, and_to.weaken. and. subdue. the 
 interest.of the flesh. Deceive not yourselyes with a 
 persuasion..that.Christ.hath done. all, lef 
 nothing. To..overcome...the. world, lesh, 
 and_the. devil ; and in order to that, to stand a ways 
 armed upon our watch, and valiantly and patiently 
 to fight it out; is is_of great importance to our assur- 
 ance and. salvation. Indeed it is so great a part 
 of ‘our baptismal vow, that he who perorie it 
 
TO THE SAINT'S REST. 153 
 
 not, is no more than a nominal Christian. Not to 
 every one that presumptuously believeth, but to him that 
 overcometh, will Christ give to eat of the hidden manna, 
 and will give him a white stone, and in the.stone a new 
 name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that 
 receiveth it: he shall eat of the tree of life, which is in 
 the midst of the paradise of God, and shall not be hurt 
 of the second death. Christ will confess his name before 
 his Father, and before his angels, and make him a pillar 
 
 in the temple of God, and he shall go no more out ; and © 
 
 will write upon him the name of his God, and the name 
 of the city of his God, which is New Jerusalem, which 
 cometh down out of heaven from his God, and will 
 write upon him his new name. Yea, he will grant to 
 him to sit with him on his throne, even -as he also over- 
 came, and is set down with his Father on his throne. 
 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith 
 unto the churches.(g) 
 
 (g) Rev. ii. 7, 11, 17—iii. 5, 12, 21, 22. 
 
 a yh 
 
154 THE DUTY OF GOD’s PEOPLE 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 The duty of the People of God to excite others to seek 
 this Rest. 
 
 § 1. The author laments that Christians do so little to help others 
 to obtain the saint’s rest. § 2 (1.) Shows the nature of this 
 duty; particularly, § 3. (1) In having our hearts affected with 
 the misery of our brethren’s souls; § 4, 6. (2) Im taking all 
 opportunities to-instruct them in the way of salvation; § 7. @) 
 In promoting their profit by public ordinances. § 8. (IL.) He 
 assigns various reasons why this duty is so much neglected, . 9. 
 and answers some objections against it: § 10, 13. Then (ILI.) 
 urges to the discharge of it, by several considerations: § 14. 
 Addressed. to such as have knowledge, learning, and utterance ; 
 § 15. Those that are acquainted with sinners; § 16. Physicians 
 that attend dying men; § 17. Persons of wealth and power; § 18. 
 Ministers; § 19. And those that are entrusted with the care of 
 children or servants. § 20. The chapter concludes with an ear- 
 nest request to-Christian parents to be faithful to their trust. 
 
 § 1. Hath God set before us such a glorious 
 prize as the saint’s rest, and made us capable of 
 such inconceivable happiness? Why.then do not 
 allthe..children of..this Kingdom _.¢xert_themselies 
 more._to.help..others to. the enjoyment.of it? Alas, 
 how little are poor souls about us beholden to most — 
 
 , of us! We see the glory of the kingdom, and 
 
 they do not: we see the misery of those that are 
 out of it, and they do not: we see some wander- — 
 ing quite out of the way, and know, if.they hold 
 on,..they..can never come..there> and they themselyes 
 
 - them their danger.and error, and help.to bring them 
 _into the way, that they may live. Alas, how few 
 Christians are there to be found, ‘that set themselves 
 
 1 discern, it Dob... Add Yh WENA Dot. SeMOUsTL SDA 
 * 
 
 with all their might to save souls! No thank to us, 
 if heaven be not empty, and if the souls of our 
 brethren perish not for ever. Considering how im- 
 portant this duty is, to the glory of God, and the 
 happiness of men, I| will show,—how it is to be per- 
 
TO EXCITE OTHERS, ETC. 155 
 
 formed,—why it is so much neglected, and then offer 
 some considerations to persuade to it. 
 
 § 2. (L) The duty of exciting and helping others 
 to obtain the saint’s rest, doth not mean, that every 
 man should turn a public preacher, or that any 
 should go beyond the bounds of their particular 
 callings; much less does it consist in promoting a 
 party spirit; and least of all in speaking against men’s 
 faults behind their backs, and be silent before their 
 faces. This duty is of another nature, and consists 
 of the following things ;—in having our hearts af- 
 fected with the misery of our brethren’s souls,—in 
 _ taking all opportunities to instruct them in the way 
 
 of salvation, —and in promoting their profit by public 
 ordinances. 
 
 § 3. U1) Our hearts must be affected with the 
 misery of our brethren’s souls. We must be com- 
 passionate towards them, and yearn after their reco- 
 very and salvation. If we earnestly longed after their 
 conversion, and our hearts were solicitous to do them 
 good, it would set us on work, and God would usually 
 bless it.: 
 
 § 4. @) We must take all opportunities we pos- 
 sibly can, to instruct them 
 If the person be ignorant, labour to make him un- 
 derstand the chief happiness of man} how far he 
 was once possessed of it; the covenant God then 
 made with him; how he broke it; what penalty he 
 incurred, and what misery he brought himself into; 
 teach him his need of a Redeemer; how Christ did 
 mercifully interpose, and bear the penalty; what the 
 new covenant is; how men are drawn. to Christ, and 
 what are the riches and privileges which. believers 
 have in him. If he is not moved by these things, 
 then show him the excellency of the glory he neg-§ 
 lects; the extremity and eternity of the torments of 
 the damned : the Re: of enduring them, for_wil- - 
 
 fully refusing grace; t 
 terrors, of errors, ot death ~and._judgment ; 3 the. Sanity all 
 
 oe Christ ; fie eeessity of faancrshert | faith, ‘and 
 
 © 
 
156 THE DUTY OF GOD’s PEOPLE 
 
 holiness; and the true nature of them. If, after all, 
 you find him entertaining false hopes, then urge him 
 to examine his state; show him the necessity of doing 
 so; help him in it; nor leave him till you have con- 
 vinced him of his misery and remedy. Show him 
 how vain and destructive it is, to join Christ and his 
 duties to compose his justifying righteousness. Yet 
 be sure to draw him to the use of all means; such 
 as hearing and reading the word, calling upon God 
 and associating with the godly: persuade him to 
 forsake sin, avoid all temptations to sin, especially evil 
 companions, and to wait patiently on God in the use 
 of means, as the way in which God will be found. 
 
 § 5. But because the manner of performing this 
 work is of great moment, observe therefore these 
 rules.—Enter upon it with right intentions. Aim at 
 the glory of God in the person’s salvation. Do it 
 not to get aname, or esteem to thyself, or to bring 
 men to depend upon thee, or to get thee followers ; 
 but in obedience to Christ in imitation of him, and 
 tender love to men’s souls. Do not as those who 
 labour to reform their children or servants from such 
 things as are against their own profit or humour, 
 but never seek to save their souls in the way which 
 God hath appointed. Do it speedily. As you would 
 not have them delay their return, don’t you delay to 
 seek their return. While you are purposing to teach 
 and help him, the man goes deeper in debt; wrath 
 
 ‘is heaping up; sin taking root; custom fastens him ; 
 
 temptations to sin multiply; conscience grows seared ; 
 the heart hardened; the devil rules; Christ is shut 
 Bieta Sauat 3 aied: Gadaa dain 1: 
 hislawxiolated ; he_is.without.aservant,.and_ that 
 
 service from him, which he should have; time runs 
 
 on; death and judgment are at the door: and what 
 
 if the man die, and drop into hell, while you are pur- 
 
 - posing to prevent it? If in the case of his bodily dis- 
 
 tress you must not say to him, Go, and come again, 
 and to-morrow I will give, when thou hast it by thee ;(h) 
 
 (h) Prov. iii. 28. 
 
TO EXCITE OTHERS, ETC. 157 
 
 how much less may you delay the succour of his 
 soul! that physician is no better than a murderer, 
 who negligently delayeth till his patient be dead or 
 past cure. Lay by excuses then, and all lesser busi- 
 ness, and exhort one another daily, while it is called to- 
 day ;(2) lest any be hardened through the deceitfulness of 
 sin. Let your exhortation proceed from compassion 
 and love. To jeer and scoff, to rail and vilify, is not 
 a likely way to reform men, or convert them to God. 
 
 Go to poor sinners with tears in your eyes, that they - 
 
 may see you believe them to be miserable, and that 
 you unfeignedly pity their case. Deal with them 
 with earnest humble entreaties. Let them perceive 
 it is the desire of your hearts to do them good: that 
 you have no other end but their everlasting happi- 
 ness; and that it is your sense of their danger, and 
 your love to their souls, that forceth you to speak; 
 even because you know the terrors of the Lord, and 
 for fear you should see them in eternal torments. Say 
 to them, “ Friend, you know I seek no advantage 
 of my own: the method to please you and keep 
 your friendship, were to sooth you in your way, or 
 let you alone ; but love will not suffer me to see you 
 - perish, and be silent. I seek nothing at your hands, 
 but that which is necessary to yout own happiness. 
 It is yourself that will have the gain and comfort, if 
 you come to Christ.” If we were thus to go to every 
 ignorant and wicked neighbour, what blessed fruit 
 should we quickly see!—Do it with all possible 
 plainness and faithfulness. Do not make their sins 
 less than they are,. nor encourage them in a false 
 hope. If you see the case dangerous, speak plainly ; 
 “Neighbour, I am afraid God hath not yet renewed 
 your soul; I doubt you are not yet recovered from 
 the power of Satan to God; I doubt you have no 
 chosen Christ above all, nor unfeignedly taken him’ 
 for your sovereign Lord. If you had, surely’ you 
 durst not so easily disobey him, nor neglect his wor- 
 ship in your family, and in public; you could not 
 
 @ Hebsai 13: te 
 
Z 
 
 158 THE DUTY OF GOD'S PEOPLE 
 so eagerly follow the world, and talk of nothing but 
 
 the things of the world. LUf-you were in Christ, you 
 would bea uld be a new creature: old things would be pas 
 
 away, and all things would become new : you would 
 have new thoughts, new talk, new compa new 
 endeavours, ‘and _ A_ New... “conversation... ; 
 without these you can never be sayed: you may 
 think otherwise, and hope otherwise as long as you 
 will, but your hopes will all deceive you, and perish 
 with you.” Thus must you deal faithfully with 
 men, if ever you intend to do them good. It is 
 not in curing men’s souls, as in curing their badies, 
 where they “must not know their, danger, lest it 
 hinder the cure. They are here agents in their 
 own cure; and if they know not their misery, they 
 will never bewail it, nor know their need of a Sa- 
 viour. Do it also seriously, zealously, and effectually. 
 Labour to make men know, that heaven and hell 
 are not matters to be played with, or passed over 
 with a few careless thoughts. <“‘ It is most certain 
 that one of ‘these days thou shalt be in everlasting 
 
 joy or torment: and doth it not awaken thee? Are 
 
 there so few that find the way of life? so many that 
 go the way of death? Is it so hard to escape? so ey 
 to miscarry? and yet thou do sit still, and trifle? 
 
 What do you mean? The world is passing away ; its 
 pleasures, honours, and profits, are fading, and leav- 
 ing you: eternity is a little before you: “God is just 
 
 - and jealous: his threatenings are true: the ‘great 
 
 day will be terrible: time runs on: your life is un- 
 certain: you are far behind-hand: your case is dan- 
 gerous: if you die to-morrow, how unready are 
 you! with what terror will your souls go out of your 
 bodies! And do you yet loiter ? Consider, God is all 
 his while waiting your leisure: his patience beareth : 
 
 is long-suffering forbeareth: his mercy -entreateth 
 ae Christ offereth you his blood and merits: the 
 Spirit is persuading: conscience is accusing: Satan 
 waits to have you. This is your time—now or 
 never. Had you rather burn in hell than repent 
 ongeaTth | ? have devils your tormentors, than Christ 
 
| Ha 
 TO EXCITE OTHERS, EFC. “ (69 
 
 your governor? Will you renounce your part in 
 
 God and glory, rather than renounce your sins? O 
 
 friends, what do you think of these things? God. 
 hath made you men: do not renounce your reason, 
 
 where you should chiefly use it:” Alas, it is not 
 
 a few dull words, between jest and earnest, between > 
 sleep and awake, that will rouse a dead hearted sin- 
 
 ner. If a house be on fire, you will not make a cold 
 
 oration on the nature and danger of fire; but will 
 
 run and cry, fire! fire! To tell a man of his sins, as 
 
 softly as Eli did his son; or to reprove him as gently 
 
 as Jehoshaphat did Ahab, Let not the king say so; 
 usually doth as much harm as good: lothness to dis- 
 
 please men, makes us undo them. 
 
 § 6. Yet lest you run into extremes, I advise you 
 to do it with prudence and discretion.—Choose the 
 fittest season. Deal not with men when they are in 
 a passion, or where they will take it for a disgrace. 
 When the earth is soft the plough will enter. Take 
 a man when he is under affliction, or néwly impress-' 
 ed under a sermon. Christian faithfulness requires 
 us, not only todo good when it falls in our way, but - 
 _to watch for opportunities.—Suit yourselves also to the 
 quality and temper of the person. You must deal 
 with the ingenious more by argument than. persua- 
 sion. , There is need of both to the ignorant. The 
 affections of the convinced should be’ chiefly excited. 
 The obstinate must be sharply reproved. The timor- 
 ous must be dealt with tenderly. Love, and plain-— 
 ness, and seriousness, take with all; ~but words of 
 terror some can scarce bear. Use also the aptest 
 expressions. Unseeming language makes the hearers: 
 loathe the food they should live by; especially if they 
 be men of curious ears, dnd carnal hearts.—Let all 
 your reproofs and exhortations hg backed with the 
 authority of God. Let sinners™Be convinced that 
 you speak not of your own head. Turn them! to'they 
 very chapter and verse where their sin is' condemned 
 and their duty commanded. The’ voice of gia 
 contemptible, but the voice of God is awful 
 rible. They may reject your words, that da 
 
* 
 
 16Q,.  “"ruBe DUTY OF GoD’s PEOPLE 
 
 reject the words’ of the Almighty.—Be frequent with 
 men in this duty of exhortation. If we are always 
 to pray; and mot to faint, because God will have 
 us importunaté with himself; the same course, no 
 doubt, will be most prevailing with men. Therefore 
 we are commanded to exhort one another daily ;(k) and 
 with all-longsuffering.(1) The fire is not always brought 
 out of the flint at one stroke; nor men’s affections 
 kindled at the first exhortation. And if they were, 
 yet if they be not followed, they will soon grow cold 
 again. Follow sinners with long, loving, and earnest 
 entreaties, and give thém no rest in their sin. This 
 is true charity, the way to save men’s souls, and will 
 afford you comfort upon review.—Strive to bring all 
 your exhortations to an issue. If we speak the most 
 convincing words, and all our care is over with our 
 speech, we shall seldom prosper in our labours: but 
 God usually blesses their labours, whose very heart is 
 set upon the conversion of their hearers, and who 
 are therefore inquiring after the success of their work. 
 If you reprove asin, cease not till the sinner promises 
 
 ‘you to leave it, and avoid the occasion of it. If you 
 
 are exhorting to a duty, urge for a promise to set 
 upon it presently. If you would draw men to Christ, 
 leave not till you have made them confess the misery 
 of their present unregenerate state; and the neces- 
 sity of Christ; and of a change, and have promised 
 you to fall close to the use of means. O that all Chris- 
 tians would take this course with all their neighbours 
 that are enslaved to sin, and strangers to Christ !— 
 Once more, be sure your example exhort as well as 
 
 your words. Let them see you constant in all the 
 
 duties you persuade them to. Let them see in your 
 lives that superiority to the world which your lips 
 recommend. Let them see, by your constant labours 
 a heaven, that indeed believe what you would 
 have them believe. A holy and heavenly life is a 
 al ‘pain to the consciences of sinners around 
 and continually solicits them to change their 
 
 Heb. eis: 
 
 (@ 2 Tim. iv. 2. 
 
TO EXCITE OTHERS; ETC. 161 
 
 § 7. (3) Besides the duty cf private admonition, 
 you must endeavour to help men to profit by the 
 public ordinances. In order to that,—endeavour to 
 procure for them faithful ministers where they are 
 wanting. ow shall they hear without a preacher ?(m) 
 Improve your interest and diligence to this end, till 
 you prevail. Extend your purses to the utmost. How 
 many souls may be saved by the ministry you have 
 procured! It is a higher and nobler charity than 
 relieving their bodies. What abundance of good 
 might great men do, if they would support, in aca- 
 demical education, such youth as they have first care- 
 fully chosen for their integrity and piety, till they 
 should be fit for the ministry!—And when a faithful 
 ministry is obtained, help poor souls to receive the 
 fruit of it. Draw them constantly to attend it. Re- 
 mind them often what they have heard; and if it be 
 possible, let them hear it repeated in their families, or 
 elsewhere. Promote their frequent’ meeting together, 
 besides publicly in the congregation; not as a separate 
 church, but as a part of the church, more diligent 
 than the rest in redeeming time, and helping the 
 souls of each other heaven-ward.—Labour also to 
 keep the ordinances and ministry in esteem. No 
 man will be much wrought on by that which he 
 despiseth. An apostle says, We beseech you, brethren, 
 to know them which labour among you; and are over you 
 in the Lord, and admonish you ; and to esteem them very 
 highly in love for their work's sake.(n) 
 
 gy 8. CII.) Let us now a little inquire, what may be 
 the causes of the gross neglect of this duty; that the 
 hinderances being discovered, may the more easily be 
 overcome.—One hinderance is, men’s own sin and 
 guilt. They have not themselves been ravished with 
 heavenly delights; how then should they draw 
 others so earnestly to seek them? They have not felt 
 their own lost condition, nor their need of Christ, 
 nor the renewing work of the Spirit; how then can 
 
 (m) Rom. x. 14, (n} 1 Thess. v. 12, 13. 
 x 
 
162 THE DUTY OF GOD'S PEOPLE 
 
 hey discover these to others? They are guilty of the 
 sins they should reprove, and this makes them 
 ashamed to reprove. Another is, a secret infidelity 
 prevailing in men’s hearts. Did we verily believe, 
 that all the unregenerate and unholy shall be eternally 
 tormented, how could we hold our tongues, or avoid 
 bursting into tears, when we look them in the face, 
 especially when they are our near and dear friends? 
 Thus doth secret unbelief consume the vigour of each 
 grace and duty. Oh Christians, if you did verily be- 
 lieve that your ungodly neighbours, wife, husband, 
 or child, should certainly lie for ever in hell, except 
 they be thoroughly changed before death shall snatch 
 them away, would not this make you address them 
 day and night till they were persuaded? Were it 
 not for this cursed unbelief, our own and our neigh- 
 bour’s souls would gain more by us than they do.— 
 These attempts are also much hindered by our want 
 of charity and compassion for men’s souls. We look 
 on miserable souls, and pass by, as the Priest and 
 Levite by the wounded man. What though the 
 sinner, wounded by sin, and captivated by Satan, do 
 not desire thy help himself; yet his misery cries 
 aloud. If God had not heard the cry of our miseries, 
 before he heard the cry of our prayers, and been 
 moved by his own pity, before he was moved by 
 our importunity, we might long have continued the 
 slaves of Satan. You will pray to God for them to 
 open their eyes, and turn their hearts; and why not 
 endeavour their conversion, if you desire it? And if 
 you do not desire it, why do you ask it?’ Why do you 
 not pray them to consider and return, as well as 
 pray to God to convert and turn them? If you should 
 see your neighbour fallen into a pit, and should pray 
 to God to help him out, but neither put forth your 
 hand to help him, nor once direct him to help him- 
 self, would not any man censure you for your cruelty 
 and hypocrisy? It is as true of the soul as the body. 
 If any man seeth his brother have need, and shutteth 
 up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth 
 the love of God in him? or what love hath he to his 
 
TO EXCITE OTHERS, ETC. 163 
 
 brother's soul?—-We are also hindered by a base 
 man-pleasing disposition. We are so desirous to 
 keep in credit and favour with men, that it makes 
 us most unconscionably neglect our own duty. He 
 is a foolish and unfaithful physician, that will let a 
 sick man die for fear of troubling him. If our friends 
 are distracted, we please them in nothing that tends 
 to their hurt. And yet when they are besides them- 
 selves in point of salvation, and in their madness 
 posting on to damnation, we will not stop them, for 
 fear of displeasing them. How can we be Christians, 
 that love the praise of men more than the praise of 
 God? For if we seek to please men, we shall not be 
 the servants of Christ.—It is common to be hindered 
 by sinful bashfulness. When we should shame men 
 out of their sins, we are ourselves ashamed of our 
 duties. May not these sinners condemn us when 
 they blush not to swear, be drunk, or neglect the 
 worship of God ; and we blush to tell them of it, and 
 persuade them from it? Bashfulness is unseemly in 
 ~ cases of necessity. It is not a work to be ashamed 
 of, to obey God in persuading men from their sins 
 to Christ. Reader, hath not thy conscience told 
 thee of thy duty many a time, and put thee on to 
 speak to poor sinners; and yet thou hast been 
 ashamed to open thy mouth, and so let them alone 
 to sink or swim? O read and tremble: Whosoever 
 shall be ashamed of me and my word, in this adulterous 
 and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man 
 be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, 
 with the holy angels.(0) An idle and impatient spirit 
 hindereth us. It is an ungrateful work, and some- 
 times makes men our enemies. Besides, it seldom suc- - 
 ceeds at the first, except it be followed on. You must 
 be long teaching the ignorant, and persuading the 
 obstinate. We consider not what patience God 
 used towards us, when we were in our sins. Woe 
 to us if God had been as impatient with us as we 
 are with others. Another hinderance is self-seeking ; 
 
 _ (0) Mark vin. 38. 
 
164 THE DUTY OF GOD’S PEOPLE 
 
 ——-‘‘ All seek their own, not! the things which are 
 Jesus Christ’s,” (p) and their . brethren’s:——With 
 many, pride is a great impediment. If it were to speak. 
 with a great man, and it would not displease him, 
 they would do it. But to go among the poor, and 
 take pains with them in their cottages; where is the 
 person that will do it! Many will rejoice in being 
 instrumental to convert a gentleman, (and they have 
 good reason;) but overlook the multitude, as if the 
 souls of all were not alike to God. Alas! these men 
 little consider how low Christ stooped to.us! Few 
 rich, and noble, and wise, are called. It is the poor 
 that receive the glad tidings of the gospel.—And 
 with some their ignorance of the duty hindereth 
 them from performing it. Either they know it not 
 to be a duty, or at least not to be their duty. If this 
 be thy case, Reader, 1 am in hope thou art now ac- 
 quainted with thy duty, and will set upon it. . 
 
 § 9. Do not object to this duty, that you are unable 
 to manage an exhortation; but either set those on 
 the work who are more able, or faithfully and 
 humbly use the small ability you have, and tell them 
 as a weak man may do, what God says in his word. 
 Decline not the duty, because it is your superior who 
 needs advice and exhortation. Order must be dis- 
 pensed with in cases of necessity. Though it be a 
 husband, a parent, a minister, you must teach him 
 in such a case. If parents are in want, children must 
 relieve them. If a husband be sick, the wife must 
 fill up his place in family affairs. If the rich are re- 
 duced to beggary, they must receive charity. If the 
 physician be sick, somebody must look to him. So 
 the meanest servant must admonish his master, 
 and the child his parent, and the wife her husband, 
 and the people their minister; so that it be done 
 when there is real need, and with all possible humi- 
 lity, modesty, and meekness.—Do not say, this will 
 make us all preachers; for every good Christian is a 
 teacher,. and hath a charge of his neighbour's soul, 
 
 (p) Phil. ii. 21. 
 
TO EXCITE OTHERS, ETC. 165 
 
 Every man is a physician, when a regular physician 
 cannot be had, and when the hurt is so small that 
 any man may relieve it; and in the same cases, every 
 man must be a teacher.—Do not despair of success. 
 Cannot God give it? And must it not be by means? 
 —Do not plead, it will only be casting pearls before 
 swine. When you are in danger to be torn in pieces, 
 Christ would have you forbear: but what is that to 
 you that are in no such danger? As long as they will 
 hear, you have encouragement to speak, and may not 
 cast them off as contemptible swine.—Say not, ‘It is 
 a friend on whom I much depend, and by telling him 
 his sin and misery, I may lose his love, and be un- 
 done.” Is his love more to be valued than his safety ? 
 or thy own benefit by him than the salvation of his 
 soul? or wilt thou connive at his damnation, because 
 he is thy friend? Is that thy best requital of his 
 friendship? Hadst thou rather he should burn in hell 
 for ever, than thou shouldest lose his favour, or the 
 maintenance thou hast from him ? 
 
 § 10. (1IT.) But that all who fear God may be ex- 
 cited to do their utmost to help others to this bless- 
 ed rest, let me intreat you to consider the follow- 
 ing motives. As for instance,—Not only nature, but 
 especially ¢ i the.soulto.be. communicative 
 of_good. Therefore to neglect this work is asin both 
 against nature and grace. Would _you not think him 
 unnatural, that would suffer his.children or.nei 
 to_starve.in-the.streets, while he has provision at hand? 
 And is not he more unnatural that will let them eter- 
 nally perish, and not open his mouth to save them ? 
 An unmerciful cruel man is a monster, to be abhor- 
 red of all. If God had bid you give them all your 
 estates or lay down your lives to save them, you 
 would surely have refused, when you will not be- 
 stow a little breath to save them. Is not the soul ofa 
 husband, or wife, or child, or neighbour, worth a few 
 words? Cruelty to men’s bodies is a most damnable 
 sin; but to their souls much more, as the soul is of 
 greater worth than the body, and eternity than time. 
 
166  § THE DUTY OF GOD'S PEOPLE 
 
 Little know you what many a soul may now be feeling 
 in hell, who died in their sins, for want of your faith- 
 ful admonition. 
 
 Consider what Christ did towards the saving of 
 souls. He thought them worth his blood; and shall 
 we not think them worth our breath! Will you not 
 do alittle, where Christ hath done so much ?—Consider 
 what fit objects of pity ungodly people are. They 
 are dead in trespasses and sins, have not hearts to 
 feel their miseries, nor to pity themselves. If others 
 do not pity them, they will have no pity: for it is the 
 nature of their disease to make them pitiless to them- 
 selves, yea, their own most cruel destroyers.—Consider 
 it was once thy own case. It was God’s argument 
 to the Israelites, to be kind to strangers, because 
 themselves had been strangers in the land of Egypt. 
 So should you pity them that are strangers to Christ, 
 and to the hopes and comforts of the saints, because 
 you were once strangers to them yourselves.—Con- 
 sider your relation to them. It is thy neighbour, 
 thy brother, whom thou art bound to love as thyself. 
 He that loveth not his brother whom he seeth daily, 
 doth not love God whom he never saw. And doth 
 he love his brother, that will see him go to hell, and 
 never hinder him ? 
 
 § 11. Consider what a load of guilt this neglect 
 lays upon thy own soul. Thou art guilty of the ~ 
 murder and damnation of all those souls whom thou 
 dost thus neglect; and of every sin they now commit, 
 and of all the dishonour done to God thereby; and 
 of all those judgments which their sims bring upon 
 the town or country where they live-—Consider what 
 it will be, to look upon your poor friends in eternal 
 flames, and to think that your neglect was a great 
 cause of it. If you should there perish with them, it 
 would be no small aggravation of your torment. If 
 you be in heaven, it would surely be a sad thought, 
 were it possible that any sorrow could dwell there, 
 to hear a multitude of poor souls cry out for ever, - 
 “QO, if you would but have told me plainly of my 
 
TO EXCITE OTHERS, ETC. 167 
 
 sin and danger, and set it home, » might have escap- 
 ed all this torment, and been now in rest!” What 
 a sad voice will this be !—Consider what a joy it will 
 be in heaven, to meet those there, whom you have 
 been the means to bring thither. To see their faces, 
 and join with them for ever in the praises of God,. 
 whom you were the happy instruments of bringing to 
 the knowledge and obedience of Jesus Christ !—Con- 
 sider how many souls you may have drawn into the 
 way of damnation, or hardened in it. We have had, 
 in the days of our ignorance, our companions in sin, 
 whom we incited or encouraged. And doth it not 
 become us, to do as much to save men, as we have 
 done to destroy them ?—Consider how diligent are 
 all the enemies of these poor souls to draw them 
 to hell. The devil is tempting them day and night: 
 their inward lusts are still working for their ruin: 
 the flesh is still pleading for its delights: their old 
 ‘companions are increasing their dislike of holiness. 
 And if nobody be diligent in helping them to heaven, 
 what is like to become of them. > 
 
 § 12. Consider how deep the neglect of this duty 
 will wound, when conscience is awakened.—When a 
 man comes to die, conscience will ask him, ‘‘ What 
 good hast thou done in thy life-time? The saving 
 of souls is the greatest good work: what: hast thou 
 done towards it? How many hast thou dealt faith- 
 fully with?” I have oft observed that the consciences 
 of dying men very much wound them for this 
 omission. For my own part, when I have been near 
 death, my conscience hath accused me more for this 
 than for any sin. It would bring every ignorant 
 profane neighbour to my remembrance, to whom | 
 never made known their danger. It would tell me, 
 “Thou shouldest have gone to them in private, and 
 told them plainly of their desperate danger, though 
 it had been when thou shouldest have eaten, or slept, 
 if thou hadst no other time.” Conscience would 
 remind me, how at such or such a time [ was in 
 company with the ignorant, or was riding by the 
 
168 THE DUTY OF GOD’s PEOPLE 
 
 way with a wilful sinner, and had a fit opportunity 
 to have dealt with him, but did not; or at least did 
 it to little purpose. The Lord grant I may better 
 obey conscience while I have time, that it may have 
 less to accuse me of at death?—Consider what a 
 seasonable time you now have for this work. There 
 are times in which it is not safe to speak; it may 
 cost you your liberties or your lives. Besides, your 
 neighbours will shortly die, and so will you. Speak 
 - to them therefore while you may.---Consider, though 
 this is a work of the greatest charity, yet every one 
 of you may perform it; the poorest, as well as the 
 rich. Every one hath a tongue to speak to a sinner. 
 ---Once more, consider the happy consequences of 
 this work where it is faithfully done. You may be 
 instrumental in saving souls, for which Christ came 
 down and died, and in which the angels of God 
 rejoice. Such souls will bless you here and hereafter. 
 God will have much glory by it. The church will 
 be multiplied and edified by it. Your own souls 
 will enjoy more improvement and vigour in a divine 
 life. more peace of conscience, more rejoicing in 
 spirit. Of all the personal mercies that I ever re- 
 ceived, next to the love of God in Christ to my own 
 soul, I must most joyfully bless him for the plentiful 
 success of my endeavours upon others. O what fruits 
 then might [ have seen, if I had been more faithful ? 
 _ I know we need to be very jealous of our deceitful 
 hearts in this point, lest our rejoicing should come 
 from our pride. Naturally we would have the praise 
 of every good work ascribed to ourselves. Yet to 
 imitate our Father in goodness and mercy, and to 
 rejoice in the degree of them we attain to, is the 
 duty of every child of God. I therefore tell you my 
 own experience, to persuade you, that if you did 
 but know what a joyful thing it is, you would fol- 
 low it night and day through the greatest discourage- 
 ments. ; 
 
 § 13. Up then, every man that hath a tongue, 
 and is a servant of Christ, and do something of your 
 
TO EXCITE OTHERS, ETC. 169 
 
 Master's work. Why hath he given you a tongue, 
 but toyspeak in his service? And how can you serve 
 . him more eminently, than im saving souls? He that 
 will pronounce you! blessed at the last day, and invite 
 you to the kingdom: prepared. for you, because you 
 fed him, and: clothed. him;,.and. visited. him, in his 
 poor members, will surely, pronounce you blessed: for 
 80 great’ a work as bringing souls. to, his. kingdom. 
 He that saith,:The poor you have always with you, — 
 hath left: the :ungodly always..with, you, that, you 
 might still have matter to! exercise ,your charity upon. 
 if' you have the hearts .of.Christians or of men, le 
 
 them yearn toward ‘your ignorant ungodly neigh- 
 bouts... Say; as the lepers of Samaria, We do_ not 
 well: this day is a day-of good: tidings, and, we hold. 
 eur peace.) Hath Ged, had so much, mercy om you, 
 and will you ‘have no mercy, op, your poor neighbours ? 
 But as this: duty, belongs. to, all Ohristians, so espe- 
 cially to some; aceording.as God hath called them to: 
 ityor qualified them for. it.,,.To, them. therefore I will 
 more particularly address,the' exhortation. ee aa 
 
 vi t4: God especially expects, this, duty at your 
 _ hrands,: to»;whom she hath given) more learning , and 
 knowledge, and endued,,with better utterance, than — 
 your ‘neighbours. ; The strong are made. to help the 
 
 weak; and those that see must direct the blind. God 
 
 looketh for ‘this: faithful improvement, of your parts. 
 and ‘gifts, \which, if} you neglect, it were better, you. 
 “hadnever received them ; for. they will but aggravate 
 
 your’ condemnation, and.be as,useless to your own 
 salvation as they were to others. as aa 
 
 101§ 152 All) sthose , that are. particularly acquainted 
 with some'ungodly men, and that have peculiar in- 
 terest in them, God looks for this duty at, your hands. 
 
 Christ ‘himself did ‘eat and,drink with publicans and 
 sinners ; but it was only to. be their physician, and 
 not! their companion. Who knows but God gave 
 you interest in them to this end, that you might be 
 the means of their recovery? They that. will not. 
 “iy bau the words of a stranget may regard,a bro- 
 
170 THE DUTY OF GOD’S PEOPLE 
 
 ther, or sister, or husband, or wife, or near friend; 
 besides that the bond of friendship engageth you) to 
 more kindness and compassion than ordinary.o%) © - 
 
 § 16. Physicians, that are much about dying men, 
 should in a special manner make conscience of this 
 duty. It is their peculiar advantage, that they are 
 at hand; that they are with men in sickness and 
 dangers, when the ear is more open, and the heart 
 less stubborn, than in time of health; and that men 
 look upon their physician as a person in whose hands 
 is their life; or at least who may do much to:save 
 them; and therefore they will the more regard his 
 advice. You that are of this honourable profession, 
 do not think this a work besides your calling, as: if 
 it belonged to none but ministers; except you think 
 it besides your calling to be compassionate, or to be 
 Christians. O help therefore to fit your patients ! for 
 heaven! And whether you see they are for life’ or 
 death, teach them both how to live and die, and give 
 them some physic for their souls, as you do for their 
 bodies. Blessed be God, that very many of the chief 
 physicians of this age, have, by their eminent’ piety, 
 vindicated their profession from the common imputa- 
 tion of atheism and profaneness. | Hons 
 
 § 17. Men of wealth and authority, and that have 
 many dependents, have excellent advantages for 
 thisduty. O what a world of good might lords and 
 gentlemen do, if they had but hearts to improve 
 their influence over others! Have you not all your 
 honour and riches from God? Doth not Christ:say, 
 Unto whomsoever much is give, of him much shall 
 be required? If you speak to your dependents for 
 God and their souls, you may be regarded, when 
 eyen a minister shall be despised. As you value the 
 
 _ honour of God, your own comfort, and the salvation 
 
 of souls, improve your influence over your. tenants 
 and neighbours : visit their houses ; see whether they 
 worship God in their families; and take all: oppor- 
 tunities to press them to their duty. Despise them 
 not. Remember, God is no respecter- of persons. 
 
TO EXCITE OTHERS, ETC. 171 
 
 Let men see that you excel others in piety, compas- 
 sion, and diligence in God’s work, as you do in the 
 riches and honours of the world. I confess you will 
 by this means be singular, but then you will be 
 singular in glory; for few of the mighty and noble 
 are called. 
 
 § 18. As for the ministers of the gospel, it is the 
 very work of their calling to help others to heaven. 
 —Be sure to make it the main end of your studies 
 and preaching. He is the able, skilful minister, that 
 is the best skilled in the art of instructing, convinc- 
 ing, persuading, and consequently of winning souls; 
 ‘and that is the best sermon that is best in these.— 
 When you seek not God, but yourselves, God will 
 make you the most contemptible of men. It is true 
 
 of your reputation, what Christ says of your life, He 
 that loveth it shall lose it—Let the vigour of your 
 persuasions show, that you are sensible on how 
 weighty a business you are sent. Preach with that 
 seriousness and fervour, as men that believe their 
 own doctrine, and that know their hearers must be 
 prevailed with, or be damned.—Think not that all 
 your work is in your studies and pulpit. You are 
 shepherds, and must know every sheep, and what is 
 their disease, and mark their strdyings, and help to 
 cure them and fetch them home: Learn of Paul, 
 not only to teach your people pubiicly, but from 
 house to house. Inquire how they grow in know- 
 ledge and holiness, and on what grounds they build 
 their hopes of salvation, and whether they walk up- 
 ' Tightly, and perform the duties of their several rela- 
 tions. See whether they worship God in their fa- 
 milies; and teach them how to do it. Be familiar 
 with them, that you may maintain your interest in 
 them, and improve it all for God.—Know of them 
 how they profit by public teaching. If any too little 
 savour the things of the Spirit, let them be pitied, 
 but not neglected: If any walk disorderly, recover 
 them with diligence and patience. If they be ig- 
 norant, it may be your fault, as much as theirs. Be 
 
172 TH DUTY OF GOD'S PEOPLE 
 
 not asleep while the wolf is waking. —-Deal notwlight: 
 ly with any. Some will not tell: their people. plainly 
 of their sins, because they are’ greatimen; and some, 
 because they are godly ; as if none but the peor; and 
 the wicked ‘should ‘be dealt 'plainly. withs:|,, Yet 
 labour to be skilful and discreet, that thé ihanner 
 may answer to ‘the’ excellency ‘of! the matter. Every 
 reasonable. soul’‘hath both judgment’ ‘and affection ; 
 and every rational, spiritual sermon, must have both. 
 Study and pray, and pray ‘and study, till you are 
 ‘become ‘workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly 
 dividing the word of truth ;°that' your people may 
 not be ashamed,‘ nor weary in hearing you—Let 
 your conversation be teaching; aswell as your: doé 
 trine. Be as forward in a holy and ‘heavenly life as 
 you are in pressing others to it. Let:your discourse be 
 _ edifying and spiritual. Suffer any thing, rather than 
 the gospel and’ men’s souls should’ suffer.—Let; 
 see that you ‘use not the ministry only fora trade te 
 live by; but that your hearts. are set upon the welfare 
 of souls: Whatsoever ‘meekness, humility,oconde- 
 scension, or self-denial, you teach them fronithe gos- 
 pel, teach it them also by your undissembled: example. 
 Study and strive after unity and peace. If everyou 
 would promote the kingdom ‘of Christ, sand -your 
 peoples salvation, do it in’a’way of peacevand love. 
 t is as hard a thing to maintain im yourpeople aisound 
 understanding, a tender ‘conscience, a lively, gracious, 
 heavenly frame of spirit, ‘and an upright’ lifes: amidst 
 contentions, as to keep’ your candle lighted inthe great- 
 est storms. Blessed is that servant, ‘whom his; Lord, 
 when he cometh, shall find him so'doing: 9 aun” 
 . | § 19. All you' whom ‘God ‘hath intrusted with’ ‘the 
 care of children and servants; I would also: 
 to this great work of helping others 'to'the heavenly 
 rest.—Consider, what plain’ and! pressing, commands 
 of God require this at ‘your’hands. These‘words thou 
 shalt teach diligently unto thy children; and: shalt tall 
 of them when thou sittest in the house, and when: thon 
 walkest by the way, and when thou'liest down, anil when 
 
TO EXCITE OTHERS, ETC, 178 
 
 thow risest upg). Lraim up a child in the way he, should 
 go; and when: hes old, he will not depart from tr) 
 Bring up: youn children in the nurture.and admonition of 
 the Lord.(s), Joshua resolved, that, he and_ his . house’ 
 would serve the Lord<t). And God» himself), says.of 
 Abraham, I know him; that he will command his children 
 and his household after him, and: they shall keep, the, way 
 of the Lord.(w)—Consider, it is aduty you’owe your 
 children in point of justice. | From you they received 
 the defilement and: misery of their natures, and there- 
 fore you owe them all possible help for their recovery, 
 —Consider. how near your children are to you, ,. They 
 are parts of yourselves. If they prosper when. you are 
 dead, you take it: as) if you lived'and prospered.in 
 them ; ‘and ‘should you not ‘be of the same. mind for 
 their everlasting rest ? Otherwise you will be; wit- 
 nesses against your own souls. »/Your care, and. pains, 
 and cost; for! their bodies,ywill:condemn you for. your 
 neglect of their precious souls!) Yea, all the, brute 
 creatures may’ condemn you:!:,Which of them is not 
 tender: of their young ?—Consider, »God) hath made 
 your children your charge, and ):your servants too, 
 Every ‘one will ‘confess they are the minister's charge, 
 And have not you'a greater charge of your own: fami- 
 
 - hes than any minister:can have:of them ?, Doubt- - 
 
 less at ‘your hands ‘God will require thei blood of their 
 souls.’ It/is the greatest charge you were ever intrusted 
 with ; and woe to you, if you suffer them to be igno- 
 rant or ‘wicked for want of your. instruction or correc-. 
 tion:—Consider’ what: work ithere’is for :you,: in their 
 dispositions and lives. «Theirs is' not one sin, but thou- 
 sands. They have: hereditary diseases, «bred: in their 
 natures. The things ‘you must; teach them are con- 
 trary to the interest ‘and desires of their flesh. . May 
 the Lord make’ you'sensible what’a work) and charge 
 lieth upon you!—Consider’ what sorrows you pre- 
 pare for yourselves by the neglect of your children. 
 (g) Deut. vi. 6,7. (7) Prov. xxii. 6. ‘(s) Ephes. vi. 4. | 
 @ Josh. xxiv. 15. ° (u) Gen. xviii. 19.5 
 
174 THE DUTY OF GOD’S PEOPLE 
 
 If they prove thorns in your eyes, they are of your 
 own planting. If you should repent and be saved, 
 is it nothing to think of their damnation; and your- 
 selves the occasion of it? But ifyou die in,your | 
 sins, how will they cry out against youin hell? * All 
 this ‘was long of you: you should have taught us 
 better, and did not; you should have restrained us 
 from sin’ and corrected us, but did not.” What an 
 addition will such outcries be to your misery! On 
 the other side, think what a comfort you may have, 
 if you be faithful in this duty. If you should not 
 succeed, you have freed your own souls, and. have 
 peace in ‘your own consciences. | If you do, the com-, 
 fortis nexpressible, in their love and obedience, their 
 supplying your wants, and delighting you in all your 
 remaining path to glory. Yea, all; your family may 
 fare the better for one pious child: or servant. But 
 the greatest joy will be, when you shall, say,.Lord, 
 here am I, and the children thou hast given mej, and 
 shall joyfully live ‘with them: for ever.—Consider 
 how much the welfare of \church and: state depends 
 on this duty. ‘Good laws will’ not, reform, us, if re- 
 formation begin not at;home. , This»is the cause, of 
 all our’ miseries in ochutch and) state, even the want 
 of'a holy education® of children.—I also »intreat pa- 
 rents ‘to considér,:;what excellent advantages; they 
 have for saving their children. ..They are with, you 
 while they are:tender and flexible; ., You,have,a twig 
 to bend; not an: oak. :»None in: the,world have such 
 interests. in ‘their affections as, you have. . You. have 
 also''the greatest authority,over them: Their whole 
 dependence:\is upon you :for.a,/maintenance. _ You 
 best know their temper and. inclinations. ; And. you 
 are ever with them, and. cam never, want opportuni, 
 ties.) Especially, you! mothers,;-remember this, who 
 are more with your children while young than their 
 fathers.» What pains\ are you, at -for their bodies! 
 What do you. suffer to bring them into the world. 
 And will, you not be at as much pains for the saying 
 of their souls! Your affections are tender; and will 
 
2 
 TO EXCITE OTHERS, ETC; 175 
 
 it not move you-to think of their perishing forever? 
 I beseech you, forthe sake of the children, of your 
 bowels, teach them, ‘admonish them, watch over them, 
 and’ give them norest, till you have, brought them 
 to Christ... 
 
 Ȥ 20. 1 shall pinched with this earnest request.to 
 all Christian: parents that read these lines; that they 
 isn have ars spe on ignten 3 
 
 jus "Gi them. ieee 
 them, yet do what you can. Both.church and _ state, 
 city__and | country, groan under the neglect of this 
 weighty dut our children know not God, nor his 
 tears ut take his namein«vain, and slight his worship, 
 and you neither instruct nor correct them; and there- 
 fore God corrects. both them and you. You are so 
 tender of them, that God is the less tender of both 
 them and you... Wonder not, if God make you smart 
 for your children’s sins; for you are guilty of all they 
 commit, by your neglect of your duty to reform them. 
 Will you resolve therefore to set upon this duty, and 
 neglect it no longer?) Remember Eli. Your children 
 are like Moses in the bulrushes, ready to perish if they 
 have not: help.. As ever you would. not. be charged 
 before God as murderers of ‘their souls, nor have them 
 cry out against you in everlasting fire, see that you 
 teach them how to escape it, and’bring them up in 
 holiness and the fear of God. I charge every one of 
 
 you, upon your allegiance to God, as you will very 
 
 shortly answer the contrary at your peril, that you will 
 neither refuse ror neglect this most necessary duty. 
 If you are not willing to do it, now you know it to,be 
 so great a duty, you are rebels,and no true subjects of 
 Jesus Christ. If you are willing, but know not how, 
 
 Twilladd a few words of direction to help you... Lead 
 
 them, by your own example, to prayer, reading, and 
 other religious duties. 
 
 ir_memories. --Reculy their walls, Quicken 
 
 their affecti Ke iences. Re- 
 
 ‘strain ‘their tolithes, and teach sie gracious speech. 
 
 Reform and watch over their outward conversation. 
 
‘ 3 
 176 THE! SAINT'S REST ¥s' NOT. 
 
 To these ends get them bibles and pious: books, and.see 
 
 that they read'them. ‘Examine:then y 
 learn; especially spend. the Lord’s:day in: this (work, 
 and suffer them not to spend it!it'in:sports:or idlenegs. 
 Show them the meaning of what they read or, learn. 
 Keep them out of evil company, and’ acquaintethem ~ 
 wie the godly. » And fail not to»make :them,|learn 
 
 their catechism. Especially show them:the necessity, 
 excellency, and pleasure, of serving! God;' and. labour 
 _ to fix'all upon their hearts:ci09 yoy 7! i ao tug 
 
 noy Isdw ob toy* eset 
 
 Vnt09 “bits Its 
 
 ion word astbiido iw08 ¥ ) vidorayw 
 iuile Dincygigpopgaisa cid ost tind wel 
 ay Ia91TI09 tom Joules 19 TSM por bey 
 
 “~The Saint's Rest ts’ wot’ to be expected on Barth 
 MU AO ASI i Od @! now Isa) soot Tasha 
 § 1. In order’ to ‘Show the ‘sm and folly of expecting est there, 
 “ § '2..(.) the reasonableness of present afflictions 1$:comsidered); 
 -§:3. (1): that they/ane the way to rest, §; 4.2) keep) us, from 
 mistaking outjrest,,§ 5. (3) from Losing, our, way to, it, § 6;(4) 
 uicken. our pace; towards it, § 7. (6) chiefly incommode our 
 esh, § 8, 9, and (6) under them the sweetest foretastes of rest 
 are often enjoyed. §'10. (113) How? uhreasonable to’ rest’in 
 present enjoyments:§'11! (1) that it is iddlatry 5) $112: @) 
 that it contradicts: God’s end in giving them; § 13) (3):i8 the 
 way to havethem refused,, withdrawn or mbittered; §,44,,(4) 
 that to ibe suffered, to, take wp, our, rest here; is, the, erate t 
 , earse ; § 15, (6). that it is secking rest where it is not; | “4 6. 
 _ (6) that the creatures, without'God, would aggravate ur mi- 
 _.-sery; § 17. (7) and’all this is confirmed by experience! -§18. 
 ‘The author laments that this'ig nevertheless 'a most Commonisin. 
 | §' 19+23. (HL) ‘How unreasonable our unwillingness) to; die 
 and possess the saint’s)rest,: is largely considered. ,§ 24.,The 
 
 » author apologizes for saying, so, much on this Jast head...” ._ 
 
 is Tov 
 
 L 100. wou wailtiw 94 r Al fOD ayesl 
 §.1. We are: not; yet,.come to our, resting place. 
 
 Doth:it remain?;.How great, then,is our prnaee fait 
 to. s¢ek ‘and:expect; it, here. Where shall we. find 
 thé Christian »that;| deserves not, this, reproof ?,,, We 
 ‘would all: have continual, prosperity, because . it is 
 easy jand » pleasing ‘to,| the; flesh ;, _ but, we. consider 
 not'the unreasonableness of such desires.,,And,when 
 
 ~ 
 
s 
 TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. 177 
 
 we enjoy convenient houses, goods, lands, and re- 
 venues; or the necessary means God hath appointed 
 for our spiritual: good ;; we_seek rest_in these enjoy- 
 ments.—Whether se are. in exceedingly stake. th 
 rous) state, 1b_Js.apparent. we.exceedin 
 
 creature our_rest. emerge recie 8 oy- 
 ments more vi tolentlyasw when we “want.them, than. an 
 we.desire God himself? Do we not delight more m 
 
 the possession of them, than in the enjoyment of God ? 
 And if we lose them, doth it not trouble us more- 
 than our loss of God? Is it not enough that they 
 are refreshing helps in our way to heaven, but they 
 must also be made our heaven itself? Christian Rea- 
 ‘der, I would as willingly make thee sensible of this 
 sin as of any sin in the world, if I could tell how 
 to do it; for the Lord’s greatest quarrel with us is in 
 this point. In order to this, I et setae beseech 
 thee to consider,—the treas¢ 1t_af 
 (eglieicaenid Ahcimatcccanchinmias chcreiant io-acece 
 enjoyments pot adaenucdlaindiedi. teat 
 ossess eternal rest. 
 
 § 2. (L.) To show the reasonableness of present 
 - afflictions, consider,—they are_the way to rest ;—. 
 they keep us from mistaking .our_rest;..and from. 
 losing our way to it ;—they quicken.our_pace-towards 
 it ;—they_chiefly_incommode.our flesh ;—-and_ under 
 them God’s people have often the sweetest foretastes 
 of their rest. 
 
 § 3. (1) Consider, that labour and trouble are the 
 common way to rest, both in the course of nature 
 and grace. Can there possibly be rest without 
 weariness ?._Do you not. travel and toil first, and rest 
 after?_.The day for labour_is. first, and. then. follows 
 the night for rest. . en ae Course 
 
 grace to be. pervertec any more than the course 
 of nature? It oe an established decree, ¢ that we must 
 thro’ much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.(w) 
 “And that if we suffer we shall also reign with Christ.(x) 
 
 (w)-Acts xiv! 22849 9s +(@)'2 Tim. in. 12. 
 6. Z 
 
178 ° THE SAINT’S REST IS NOT 
 
 And what are we, that God’s statutes should be re- 
 versed for our pleasure ? 
 
 § 4. (2) Afflictions are exceedingly useful to us 
 to keep us from mistaking our rest. A~Christian’s 
 motion tow » and_notcon- 
 strained. Those means therefore are most profitable, 
 which help his—understanding and will. The most 
 dangerous mistake of our souls.is,to_take the crea- 
 ture_for..God, and. earth. for heave: at 
 affectionate, eager thoughts, h the. we 
 till_afflictions cool and moderate. | Aff 
 speak.convincingly, and will be head alee oo. 
 ers cannot. Many a poor Christian is sometimes 
 bending his thoughts to wealth, or flesh-pleasing, 
 or applause, and so loses his relish of Christ, and 
 the joy above; till God break ae upon ied riches, 
 
 or-children,_or gonstience : 
 
 his bed with pining sickness, the world is nothing, and 
 heaven is something. If our dear Lord | did not: put 
 these thorns under our head, we should sleep out our 
 lives, and lose our glory. 
 
 § 5. (8) Afflictions are also es s “most effectual 
 
 Without this Gea of thorns on ei ‘ment and and 
 ' left, we should hardly keep the way oy > Be ven. If 
 there be but one gap open, how | ad y are we to 
 
 wa ton, 
 
 find it, ae turn out at it! When Be grow: 
 
 ters; and with David: may say, Before Fok was afflic 
 I went astray ; but now have I kept thy wordy) WV 
 thousand recovered sinners may ee: te — afi : 
 ‘sickness! O comfortable sorrows ! gainful losses ! 
 O ) enriching verty! O blessed day that ever - T was 
 afflicted !” or only the green p astures, an still 
 waters. but the rod and staff, they comfort us-~ ~ 
 
 (y) Psalm ecxix, 67. 
 
OT Lee 
 
 * 
 
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 Published ee yaa Ae Fisher, Caxton. London, 1622. 
 
 —, 
 
 SS 
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 <item ear\ane 
 
TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. £179 
 Though the Word and Spirit do the main work, yet 
 
 hat the 
 
 § 6. (4) Afflictions likewise serve to quicken our_ 
 
 pace in the way to our rest. It were well, if mere 
 love would prevail with us, and that we were rather 
 drawn to heaven, than driven. But seeing our hearts 
 are so bad, that mercy will not do it; it is better 
 to be put on with the sharpest scourge, than loi- 
 ter like the foolish virgins, till the door is shut. O 
 
 what a difference is there betwixt our prayers in. 
 
 health and in sickness; betwixt our repentings in 
 prosperity and adversity! Alas, if we did not some- 
 times feel the spur, what a slow pace would most of 
 us-hold toward heaven. Since our vile natures require 
 ‘it, why should we be unwilling that God should do 
 us good by sharp means? Judge, Christian, whether 
 thou dost not go more watchfully and speedily in the 
 way to heaven, in-thy sufferings, than in thy more 
 _ pleasing and prosperous state. ! 
 
 § 7. Consider further, it is but the flesh that is 
 chiefly troubled and grieved by afflictions. In mast 
 of ours i i _ unless we ourselves 
 wilfully afflict it. ‘“‘ Why then, O my soul, dost 
 thou side with this flesh, and complain, as it com- 
 plaineth? It should be thy work to keep it under, 
 and bring it into subjection; and if God do it for 
 thee, shouldest thou be discontented? Hath not the 
 pleasing of it been the cause of almost all thy spiritual. 
 sorrows? Why then may not the displeasing of it 
 further thy joy? Must not Paul and Silas sing, 
 because their feet are in the stocks ?—Their spirits 
 were not imprisoned. Ah, unworthy soul! is this 
 thy thanks to God for preferring thee so far before 
 thy body? When it is rotting in the grave, thou 
 
 shalt be a companion of the perfected spirits of the — 
 
 just; in the mean time, hast thou not consolation 
 which the flesh knows not of? Murmur not then at 
 God’s dealings with thy body; if it were for want 
 of love to thee, he would not have dealt so by all 
 
180 THE SAINTS REST IS _NOT 
 
 his saints. Never expect thy flesh should. troly... ex- 
 pound the meaning of the rod... It will. Os me, 
 
 hatred; and_say, oye le 
 aving. It is the suffers 
 
 S ing. party,..and.- 
 fit_to be the judge.”—Could we once. =. belied "God, 
 and judge of his dealings by. his. w blir 
 
 usefulness to. our souls, and_re ot 
 and_could we stop _our..ears.against.. 
 of_the flesh, then we should have a ter judgment of 
 - our afflictions. 
 
 § 8. (6) Once more consider, God seldom gives 
 his people so sweet a foretaste of their future rest, as 
 in their deep afflictions. He keeps his most precious 
 - cordials for the time of our greatest faintings and 
 dangers. He gives them when he knows they are 
 needed, and will be valued; and when he is sure 
 to be thanked for them, and his people rejoiced by 
 them. Especially when. our sufferings are more di- 
 rectly for his cause, then he seldom fails to sweeten 
 the bitter cup. The martyrs have possessed the 
 highest joys. When did Christ preach such comforts 
 to his disciples, as when their hearts were sorowful 
 at his departure? When did he appear among them, 
 and say, Peace be unto you, but when they were 
 shut up for fear of the Jews? When did Stephen see 
 heaven opened, but when he was giving up his life 
 for the testimony of Jesus? Is not that our best state 
 wherein we have most of God?) Whyelse do we de- 
 sire to come to heaven? If we look fora heaven of 
 fleshly delights, we shall find ourselves mistaken. 
 Conclude then, 
 
 that_affliction is not.so ot. 0. hae. a state 
 
 er than 
 
 aS Wesjpn.OF- ds.he. our good as. we 
 are,of, aaa Woe to sea he. ian ae 
 more so; and if he did_not.loxe.. 
 love either him or ourselves ! 
 
 § 9. (7) Say not, “‘ I could bear any other affliction 
 but this.” If God had afflicted thee i thou 
 
 canst bear it, thy idol would.neither have been dis- 
 
TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. 181 
 
 covered__norremoved, . Neither__say,._< If God. 
 _-would_deliver—me.out—of_it, I copia d_he_ content to 
 - bearit.” Is it nothing that he hath promised, it 
 shall work for thy good ? Is it not enough that thou 
 art sure to be delivered at death? Nor Tet it be said, 
 “If my affliction did not disable me from my duty,.I 
 could bear it.” It doth not disable thee for that duty 
 which tendeth to thy own. personal benefit, but -is 
 the greatest quickening help thou canst expect. 
 As for thy duty to others, it is not thy duty when 
 God disables thee. Perhaps thou wilt say, ‘ The 
 godly are my afflictions ; if it were ungodly men, 
 I could easily bear it.” Whoever is the instrument, 
 the affliction is from God, and the deserving cause 
 thyself; and is it not better to look more to God 
 than thyself? Didst thou not know that the best 
 men are still sinful in part? Do not plead, “If I had 
 but that consolation, which you say God reserveth 
 for suffering times, I should suffer more contentedly ; 
 but I do not.perceive any such thing.” The more 
 you suffer for righteousness’ sake, the more of this 
 blessing you may expect; and the more you suffer 
 for your own evil doing, the longer it will be before 
 that sweetness comes. -Are not the comforts you 
 _ desire neglected or resisted? Have your afflictions 
 wrought kindly with you, and fitted you for comfort ? 
 It is not mere suffering that prepares you for com- 
 fort, but the success and fruit of suffering upon your 
 " hearts. 
 
 § 10. CL.) To show the unreasonableness of rest- 
 ing—in. present. rape REE Me 
 
 without God, 
 would. ager: ravate “our misery ;—and_ to confirm all 
 this, we may consult our own experience, and that 
 of others. 
 
 § 11. (1) Itis gross idolatry to make any creature, _ 
 
182 THE SAINT'S REST IS NOT 
 
 or_means,_ our rest. 
 
 God's own.prerogative. As..it..is.apparent..idolatry 
 to_place_our.xest_in.riches,..or honours ;_ so it is but a 
 more.refined idolatry.to take up our rest. cellent 
 ae of grace. TE our, dear lod ake 
 it, when we e him cause to co 
 
 of our fe nee "My people annie been “ost pin 
 they have forgotten their resting place(z) And to say, 
 _ My people can find rest in any thing, rather than 
 in me. They can delight in one another, but not in 
 me. They can rejoice in my creatures and ordi- 
 nances, but not in me. . _Yea,.in. their. very..labours 
 and duties they seek for. rest,..but, not. i Ip i _..The 
 had_rather_ be. ‘any-where, _ than. be with oe re 
 these their ir gods? 2? Have these : redeemed them ? “Will 
 these be better to them than I have been, or than I 
 would be?” If yourselves have a wife, a husband, a 
 son, that had rather be any-where than in your com- 
 pany, and be never so merry as when furthest from 
 you, would you not take it ill? So-must our God 
 needs do. 
 
 ee 1 aed2) Von _contradict_the_end of Gad in_ giv 
 
 2 
 
 ing these _enjoyments. _-He_gave_them 1 to hel 
 to_him; and. dost thou ne 
 
 stead? He gave them to be refreshments in thy j jour- 
 ney ; and wouldest thou dwell in thy inn, and go no 
 further? It may be said of all our comforts and ordi- 
 nances, as it is said of the Israelites, Zhe ark of the 
 covenant of the Lord went before them, to search out a 
 resting-place for them.(a) Sodo all God’s mercies here. 
 SS at rest, as John professed he was not 
 the_Christ ;. but. they_are voices crying in this wilder- 
 ness, to bid _us_prepare,—for the kingdom of God, our 
 true_rest, is at. -band. Therefore to-rest_here, were 
 
 (z) Jer. 1. 6. (a) Numb. x. 33. 
 
TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. 183 
 
 § 13. (3) It is the way to cause God, either to 
 deny the mercies we ask, or to take from us those we 
 enjoy, or-at least embitter them to us. God is no- 
 where so jealous as here. If you had a servant whom 
 your wife loved better than yourself, would you not 
 take it ill of such a wife, and rid your house of such a 
 servant; so, if the Lord see you begin to settle in the 
 world, and say, Here J will rest, no wonder if he soon 
 in his i 1 inset If he love you,. no won- 
 der if he take that from you, with which he sees you 
 are destroying yourselves. It hath long been my 
 observation of many, that when they have attempted 
 great works, and have just finished them; or have 
 aimed at great things in the world, and have just ob- 
 tained them; or have lived in much trouble, and have 
 just overcome it; and began to look on their condi- 
 tion with content, and rest in it; they are then usually 
 near to. ~When.a man is once at this lan- 
 
 Soul, take thy ease ; the next news usually is, 
 .Thou fool, this night, or this month, or this year, thy 
 soul_shall be required; and then whose shall these 
 _be? What house is_there, where this_fool 
 - dwe t? Let you.and I consider,..whether. it 
 be_not our.own.case, Many a servant of God hath 
 been destroyed from the earth, by being over-valued, 
 and over-loved. I am persuaded, our discontents 
 and murmuring are not so provoking to God, nor so 
 destructive to the sinner, as our too sweet enjoy- 
 ing, and resting in, a pleasing state. If God hath 
 crossed you in wife, children, goods, friends, either 
 by taking them away, or the comfort of them; try 
 whether this be not the cause; for wheresoever your 
 desires stop, and _you_s ndi- 
 tion you nr_god, and engage. the jealousy of 
 God against it. Whether you be friends to God or 
 enemies, you can never expect that God should suf- 
 fer you quietly to enjoy your idols. | 
 § 14..(4) Should God suffer you to take up your 
 rest here, it is one of the greatest curses that could 
 
184 TUE SAINT'S REST IS NOT 
 
 befall you. Itswere better never to have a day of ease. 
 _ inthe world.,for then weariness might. make youseek 
 after the ire Test. Butif youatesuffened fo. sit down 
 
 ‘alLeternity. To have their portion in this life, is the 
 Jot of the most miserable perishing sinners. Doth it 
 become Cliristians, then, to expect so much here ? 
 Qur_zest_i 
 
 ren. And wouldest ine bays 
 but such a heaven as this? 2 
 
 ceed, your soul's -etemal test. tao. 
 
 ultimate end, ae that_is 
 Rta ks 2 € petted an this li life ;_ neither js.rest, there- 
 fore to be expected here. Is God to be enjoyed in 
 the best church here, as he is in heaven? How little of 
 God the saints enjoy under the best means, let their 
 own complainings testify. Poor comforters are the best 
 ordinances, without God. Should.a.traveller take up. 
 
 his rest.in.the.way? No, PTE eee 
 ney's_end.. When...yau-have..l._thial. scisalalss.. and L 
 means.can. afford, .have.you. that. ou behes 
 prayed,.suffered for? 1 think you thas ia say so. 
 are like little children Pape from home; and God is 
 
 se aang Taig te and_we, to. ° 
 
 We are also in the midst of our 
 7 aggre nel dangers ; and_is there anyresting here 
 
 What painful work doth. lie upon our hands! Look 
 to our brethren, to our souls, and to God; and whatia 
 deal of work, in respect of each of these, doth lie be- 
 fore us? And can we rest in the midst of all our la- 
 bours? Indeed we may rest on earth, as the ark is said 
 to have rested in the midst of Jordan; a short and small 
 rest. Oras Abraham desired ‘the angels to turn -in, 
 and rest themselves in his tent, where they would 
 have been loth to have taken up their dwelling 
 
TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. 185 
 
 Should Israel have fixed their rest in the wilderness, 
 among serpents, and enemies, and weariness, and 
 famine? Should Noah have made the ark his home, 
 and have been loth to come forth when the waters 
 were assuaged? Should the mariner choose his dwell- 
 ing on the sea, and settle his rest in the midst of 
 rocks, and sands, and raging tempests? Should a 
 soldier rest in the thickest of his enemies ?7—And are 
 not Christians such_travellers, omega rene 1 
 soldiers? Have. 
 
 without? Are we not in continual sers? We 
 cannot eat, drink, sleep, labour, pray, eel con- 
 verse, but in the mi sna sit 
 
 - down.and rest here ?—O. > any eer eae : 
 look 10 thy dangers, and_ hold. ; end;.win 
 the field. and come off he..ground,.before_ thou 
 . Whenever thou talkest of a 
 ae on earth, it is like Peter on the mount, thou 
 knowest not what thou sayest. If instead of telling 
 the converted thief, This day shalt thou be with me 
 in paradise, Christ had said, he should rest there 
 upon the cross; would he not have taken it for a 
 derision? Methinks it would be ill resting in. the 
 midst..of sickness and_pains, persecutions and_dis- 
 tresses... But_if_nothing—-else-.willconvince._us,...yet 
 sure the remainders_of sin, which do so easily beset 
 us, should quickly satisfy a believer, that here is not 
 his rest. I say therefore to every one that think- 
 eth of rest on earth, Arise ye, and depart, for this is 
 not your rest, because it is polluted. (b)—These things 
 cannotin_theirnature—he_a_tue 
 
 too low. to_raise 
 
 us_to_ happiness, too-e mpty.; _and_of 
 too_short a. continuance..to.be our eternal content. 
 
 If prosperity, and whatsoever we here desire, be too 
 base to make gods of, they are too base to be our 
 
 rest. ---The soul's rest. must be sufficient, to _ afford it 
 perpetual satisfaction... But the content which crea- 
 
 (8) Micah ii. 10. 
 6. Aa 
 
ine THE SAINTS REST IS NOT 
 
 If.-nov 
 no “earth. grow. dull. All ‘ereatures 
 are to us, as the flowers to the bee; there is but lit- 
 tle honey on any one, and therefore there must be a 
 superficial taste, and_so to the. next. next.—The.more. the 
 cveatnne is Jenown..the Jess. it. -satisfieth.... Those only 
 retaken with it, who see no. further than. its out- 
 reer -beanty,...without,. FTE eo inward vanity. 
 
 When we thoroughly know the condition of other 
 men, and have discovered the evil as well as the good, 
 and the defects as well as the perfections, we then 
 cease our admiration. 
 
 § 16. (6) To have creatures and means without 
 God, is an aggravation of our misery. If God should 
 say, “ Take my creatures, my word, my ‘servants, 
 my ordinances, but not myself;” would you take 
 this for happiness? If you had the word of God, 
 and not the Word which is God; or the bread of 
 the Lord, and not the Lord, which is the true bread; 
 or could cry with the Jews, The temple of the Lord, 
 and had not the Lord of the temple; this were a poor 
 happiness. Was Capernaum the more happy, or the 
 more miserable, for seeing the mighty works which 
 they had seen, and hearing the works of Christ which 
 they did hear? Surely that which aggravates our sin 
 and misery cannot be our rest. 
 
 § 17. (7) To confirm all this, let us consult our 
 own and others’ experience.—Millions have made 
 trial; but—did—any—ever- 
 saute. earth ? Delights. 4.deny not hush they Mats. 
 found,__but_rest_ and. satisfaction they mever found. 
 And_ shall we. think. to. find..that which never man 
 could find before_us? , Ahab’s kingdom is nothing 
 to him without Naboth’s vineyatd ; and did that 
 satisfy him when he obtained it? Were you, like 
 Noah’s dove, to look through the earth for a rest- 
 ing place, you would return confessing that you 
 could find none. Go ask honour, is there rest here ? 
 
TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. 187 
 
 You may as well rest on the top of tempestuous 
 mountains, or in Etna’s flames. Ask riches, is t} ere 
 rest here? Even such as is ina bed of thorns. If 
 you inguire for rest of worldly pleasure, it is such 
 as the fish hath in swallowing the bait: when the 
 pleasure is sweetest, death is nearest. Go to learn- 
 ing, and even to divine ordinances, and inquire 
 whether there.your souls. may rest? You might..in- 
 deed.receivefrom..these an olive branch of hope, .as 
 they_are_means...to. your. rest, _and_ have _ relation. to. 
 eternity.;..but_in.xregard of... any. satisfaction, ia them- 
 se uld_remain as restless. as, ever. ‘How 
 well might all these answer us, as Jacob did Rachel, 
 Am I in God's stead, that you come to me for soul- 
 rest? Not-all.the. states.of men. in.the..world; nei- 
 ther_court nor country,..towns nor, cities, shops. Nox 
 fields, treasures, . libraries, solitude pear 
 nor._pulpits,...can,..afford, any. such.thing as this, wrest. 
 If you would inquire of the dead of all generations, 
 or of the living through all dominions, they would all 
 tell you, “ Here..is.no rest. ”__Or if other_men’s ex- 
 perience. move you not, take a view. of your.own. 
 an_you._ remember... the state _that_did. fully. satisfy 
 you? anit yoy could, will it prove lasting? I be- 
 leve we may all say of our r earthly rest, 2 as Paul of 
 our hope, If it were in this life only, we are of all men 
 _the most miserable. 
 
 § 18. If then either scripture or reason, or the 
 experience of ourselves, and all the world, will sa- 
 tisfy us, we may see there is no resting here. And 
 yet how guilty are the generality of us of this sin? 
 
 ow many halts and stops do we make, before we 
 will make the Lord our rest! How must God even 
 drive 1 us, and fire us out of every condition, lest we 
 should sit down and rest there! If he gives us pros- 
 perity, riches, or honour, we do in our hearts dance 
 before them, as the Israelites before their calf, and 
 say, These are thy gods; and conclude it is good to 
 be here. If he imbitter all these to us, how. restless 
 are we till our condition be sweetened, that we may 
 
188 THE SAINTS REST IS NOT 
 
 sit down again, j ! If we’ pro- 
 ceed in the cure, and take the creature quite away, 
 then how do we labour, and cry, and pray, that God 
 would restore it, that we may make it our rest again! 
 And while we are our_former.idal, yet 
 
 rather than come to God, we. delight -pusedbead teste 
 hope.of..recovering..it,..and make. that.ve 
 rest: or search .about..from.creature..to. creature, to 
 find. out_something to supply the room; yea, if we 
 can find no supply, yet we will rather settle in this 
 misery, and make_a_rest.of a. wretched being, than 
 pik all Lie come to God. O the cursed averseness 
 of our souls from God? If-any—place_in_ hell were 
 tolerable, the soul.would-rather.take.up.its_rest_there, 
 than.come to God.Yea, when he is bringing us over 
 to_him, and hath convinced us_of- the worth of his 
 ways.and service, the last deceit of all is here, we will 
 rather settle upon those ways that lead to him, and 
 those ordinances that speak of him, and those gifts 
 which flow from him, than-we will come entirely over 
 to himself. Christians, marvel not that I speak so 
 much of resting in these; beware lest it prove thy own 
 case. I suppose thou art so far convinced of the va- 
 nity of riches, honour, and pleasure, that thou canst 
 more easily disclaim these; and it is well if it beso: 
 but the means. of. ‘grace. thou lookest :on with less sus- 
 
 picion, and thinkest thou canst, elight_1 hens 
 too much, es ecially seeing most. of. th 
 them,.or_delig! too... little. T know they 
 
 must be loved and valued, and he that delighteth in 
 any worldly thing more than in them, is not a 
 Christian. But when we are content with ordinances 
 without God, and had rather be at a sermon than in 
 heaven, and_a.member_of re than of 
 the_perfect church above, this is a, sad mistake. 
 
 far let. thy_soul.take.comfort—inordinances,..a: 
 doth..accompany..them; remembering... {hot 
 heaven, but the. first-fruits. While 6. -ore..present 
 in the body, wearea ; and 
 while we are absent from _him, we are absent from 
 
TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. 189 
 
 our rest. If God were as willing to be absent from 
 us, as we from him, and_as_ loth to be our_rest, as 
 we_to rest in him, we..should...be.left..to..an..eternal 
 eS separation Ina .vord,as.you are sensible 
 of the_sinfulness_of your earthly discontents, so be 
 you_also of your imegular_ satisfaction, and pray God 
 to_pardon..them..much..more. And above all’ the 
 plagues on this side hell, see that you watch and pray 
 
 against settling any-where short of heaven, or. reposing. 
 w.God. 
 
 your souls_on.any.thing belov 
 § 19. (Ill.) The next thing to be considered is, 
 our unreas li o..die,..that we nay, 
 
 possess the saint’s. rest. We linger, like Lot in 
 Sodom, till the Lord, being merciful. unto us, doth 
 pluck us away against our will. J confess that 
 death_.of_itself..isnot.desirable;_but.the..soul’s rest 
 with God.is,..to. which death. isthe common. passage. 
 
 : kar 
 
 Because we.are apt.to make light of this sin, let_me 
 set before you _its nature and remedy in_a variety of 
 considerations. As for instance:—It has in it much 
 infidelity. If we did but verily believe, that the 
 promise of this glory is the word of God, and that 
 God doth truly mean as he speaks, and is fully re- 
 solved to make it good; if we did verily believe, 
 that there is indeed such blessedness prepared for 
 believers ; surely we should be as impatient of living, 
 as we are now fearful of dying, and should think 
 every day a year till our last day should come. Is it 
 possible that we can truly believe, that death will 
 remove us from misery to such glory, and yet be loth 
 to die?—If the doubts of our own interest in that 
 glory make us fear, yet_a true belief of the certainty 
 and_excellency of this rest would make us restless 
 till our title to it be cleared.” Though there is much 
 faith and christianity in our..mouths,. yet...there is 
 much infidelity and paganism in our hearts, which 
 is the chief cause that we are so loth to die.—It is 
 also much owing to the coldness of our love. If 
 we love our friend, we love his company; his pre- 
 sence is comfortaple, his absence is painful: when 
 
190 THE SAINT'S REST IS NOT 
 
 he comes to us, we entertain him with gladness; 
 when’ he dies, we mourn, and usually over-mourn. 
 To be separated from a faithful friend, is like the 
 rending a member from our body. And would 
 not our desires after God be such, if we really loved 
 him? Nay, should it not be much more than such, 
 as he is above all friends most lovely? May the Lord 
 teach us to look closely to our hearts, and take heed 
 of self-deceit in this point! Whatever we pretend, 
 if we love either father, mother, husband, wife, 
 child, friend, wealth, or life itself, more than Christ, 
 we are yet none of his sincere disciples. When it 
 comes to the trial, the question will not be, Who 
 hath preached most, or heard most, or talked most ? 
 but Who hath loved most? Christ will not take 
 sermons, prayers, fastings;..n0,...n0r.the..giving..our * 
 goods, nor, the. burning our..bodies; instead. of love. 
 
 And..do...we..Joxe..him,..and.-yet.care_not..how.long..we 
 
 are.from.him? Was it such a joy to Jacob to see 
 the face of Joseph in Egypt? And shall we be con- 
 tented without the sight of Christ in glory, and yet 
 say we love him? I dare not conclude, that we 
 have no love at all, when we are so loth to die; 
 but I dare say, were our love more, we should die 
 more willingly. If this holy flame were thoroughly 
 kindled in our breasts, we should cry out with Dayid, 
 ‘** As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so. pant- 
 eth my soul after thee, OQ God, My soul thirsteth 
 for God, for the living God: when shall I come 
 and appear before God ?”—-By our unwillingness to 
 die, it appears we are little weary of sin. Did we 
 take sin for the greatest evil, we should not be will- 
 ing to have its company so long. ‘‘ O foolish, sinful 
 heart! Hast thou been so long a cage of all unclean 
 lusts, a fountain so incessantly streaming forth the 
 bitter waters of transgression, and art thou not yet 
 weary? Wretched soul! Hast thou been so long 
 wounded in all thy faculties, so grievously languish- 
 ing in all thy performances, so fruitful a soil of all. 
 iniquities, and art thou not yet more weary? Wouldest 
 
TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. 19t 
 
 thou still lie under thy imperfections? Hath thy sin 
 proved _ so profitable a commodity, so necessary a 
 companion, such a delightful employment, that thou 
 dost so much dread the parting day? May not God 
 justly grant thee thy wishes, and seal thee a lease of 
 thy desired distance from him, and nail thy ears to 
 these doors of misery, and exclude thee eternally 
 from his glory?” 1 s 
 
 the-vanityof the creature, when we. are_so loth. to 
 pene or think of a Temoval, ‘s re 
 
 ad dost, thou. alone ab 10r eliverance ? Doth. “the 
 sailor wish to see the land? Doth the husbandman 
 
 desire the ‘harvest, “and The labourer to receive his 
 pay? Doth the traveller long. to. to be at home, and 
 the—racer_to_.win. and..thesaldier 
 
 in—the—prize, to... Win 
 
 the.field ? And art thou loth to see thy labours 
 finished, and to receive the end of thy faith and 
 sufferings? Have thy griefs been only dreams? If 
 they were, yet methinks thou shouldest not be afraid 
 of waking. Or is it not rather the world’s delights, 
 that are all mere dreams and shadows? Or is the _ 
 world become of Jate more kind? We may at our 
 peril reconcile ourselves to the world, but it will never 
 reconcile itself to us. Oh unworthy soul! who hadst 
 rather dwell in this land of darkness, and wander in 
 this barren wilderness, than be at rest with Jesus 
 Christ! Who hadst rather stay among the wolves, and 
 daily suffer the scorpion’s stings, than ge gas the Lord 
 with the host of heaven !” 
 
 JERE! onr Tests our Sie ea our treasure, ake God 
 it_possible but we should desire to enjoy him? ft 
 moreover discovers some dissimulation, Would you 
 
192 THE SAINT'S REST IS NOT * 
 
 have any believe you, when they call the Lord your 
 only hope, and speak of Christ as all in all, and of the 
 joy that is inhis presence, and yet would endure the 
 hardest life, rather than die and enter into his pre- 
 sence? What self-contradiction is this to talk so hard- 
 ois the world and the flesh, to. nd_complai 
 
 ofsin_and suffering: and yet_fear_no day..more.1 
 that, which.we.expect RIBS 
 What hypocrisy is this, to profess to strive and fight 
 for heaven, which we are loth to come to! and spend 
 one hour after another in prayer, for that which we 
 would not have! Hereby we wrong the Lord and 
 his promises, and disgrace his ways in the eyes of the 
 world. As if we would persuade them to question 
 whether God be true to his word or not? whether 
 there be any such glory as the scripture mentions ? 
 When they see those so loth to leave their hold of 
 present things, who have professed to live by faith, 
 and have boasted their hopes in another world, and 
 spoken disgracefully of all things below in compari- 
 son of things above ; how doth this confirm the world 
 in their unbelief and sensuality? ‘‘ Sure,” say they, 
 ** if. these-professors-did--expeet-so-much—glory, and 
 make. so. light.of the..world.as.they.seem,...they..woald 
 not_themselves..be..so-loth..to. chase nd 
 
 we. ever able. to. repair the wrong which we do to God 
 and souls by ett And what an honour to 
 God, what a strengthening to believers, what a con- 
 viction to unbelievers, would it be, if Christians in 
 this did answer their profession, and cheerfully wel- 
 come the news of rest !—It also evidently shows that 
 we have spent much time to little purpose. Have 
 we not had all our life-time to prepare todie? So 
 many years to make ready for one hour, and are we 
 so unready and unwilling yet! What have we done? 
 Why have we lived? Had we any greater matters 
 to mind? Would we have wished for more frequent 
 warning? How oft hath death entered the habi- 
 tations of our neighbours! How oft hath it knocked 
 
: 
 
 : 
 : 
 | 
 
 TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. 193 
 
 at our own doors! How many distempers have vex- 
 ed our bodies, that we have been forced to receive 
 the sentence of death! And are we unready and 
 unwilling after all this? O careless dead-hearted 
 sinners! ‘unworthy neglecters of God’s warnings! 
 faithless betrayers of our own souls! 
 
 * $21. Consider, not to die, is never to be happy-— 
 
 To escape death is to_miss.of_blessedness ;. except 
 God should translate us, as Enoch and Elijah, which 
 
 he never did before or since. If in this life only we 
 have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 
 
 If you would not die, and go to heaven, what would 
 you have more than an Epicure, ora beast? Why do 
 we pray, aud fast, and mourn? Why do we suffer the 
 contempt of the world? 
 not_pagans and infidels, if we do not desire a life to. 
 come? Wouldst thon lose thy faith and labour, 
 Christian? —all_thy.. duties and_sufferings._all the end 
 of thy. nd be con- 
 tented with the portion of a _worldlin or Pa “brute? 
 Rather say as one did on his death- dg. when he was 
 asked whether he was willing to die or not, ‘Let 
 him be loth to die, who is_loth to be with Christ.” 
 —Is God willing by death to glorify us, and we are 
 unwilling to die, that we may be glorified’? Methinks 
 if a prince were willing to make you his heir, you 
 would scarce be unwilling to accept it; the refusing 
 such a kindness would discover ingratitude and un- 
 worthiness. As God hath resolved against them, who 
 make excuses when they should come to Christ, “* None 
 of those men, who were bidden, shall taste of my sup- 
 per;” so itis just with him to resolve against us, who 
 frame excuses when we should come to: glory. —The 
 Lord’ Jesus was willing to come from heaven to earth 
 3; and shall we ‘be unwilling to remove - from 
 earth to heaven, for ourselves and him? He might 
 _ have said, “* What is it to me if these sinners suffer ? 
 
 we ‘If they value their flesh above their spirits, and their 
 _ lusts above my Father's love ; if they will sell their 
 souls for nought; who is it fit should be the loser? 
 
194 THE SAINTS REST IS Nov 
 
 Should I, whom they have wronged? Must they 
 wilfully transgress my law, and I undergo their de- 
 served pain? Must I come down from heaven to 
 
 earth, and clothe myself with human flesh, be spit 
 
 upon and scorned by man, and fast, and weep, and 
 suffer, and bleed, and die a cursed death ; and all this 
 
 for wretched worms, who had rather hazard their | 
 
 souls, than forbear one forbidden morsel? Do they 
 cast away themselves so slightly, and must I redeem 
 
 them so dearly?” Thus we see Christ had reason _ 
 
 enough to have made him unwilling; and yet did 
 he voluntarily condescend. But we have no reason 
 against our coming to him; except we will reason 
 against our hopes, and plead for the perpetuity of 
 our own calamities. Christ came down to fetch us 
 up; and would we have him to lose his blood and 
 
 labour, and go again without us? Hath he bought. 
 
 our rest at so deararate ? Is our inheritance pur- 
 chased with his blood ? And are we, after all this, 
 loth to enter? Ah, sirs! it was Christ, and not we, 
 that had cause to be loth. May the Lord forgive, 
 and. heal this foolish ingratitude ! 
 
 § 22. Do we not combine with our most cruel foes, 
 in their most malicious designs, while we are Joth to 
 die, and go to heaven? What is the devil's daily bu- 
 siness ? Is it not to keep our souls from God? And 
 
 shall we be content with this ? Is it not the one half of ~ ! 
 
 hell which we wish to ourselves, whHe we desire to be 
 absent from heaven? What sport is this to Satan, that 
 his desires and thine, Christian, should so concur !— 
 
 that when he sees he cannot get thee to hell, he can ~ 
 
 so long keep thee out of heaven, and make thee the 
 earnest petitioner for it thyself! O gratify not the 
 devil no much to.thy own injury! Do not our daily 
 fears of death, make our lives a continual torment? 
 Those lives: “which _might be full of et ees ‘hes he ¢ 
 contemplations.at the life, to.come, and the swee 
 
TO BB EXPECTED ON EARTH. 195 
 
 lie down, and rise up, and walk abroad, with our hearts 
 full of the joys of God, we continually fill them with 
 perplexing fears. For he that fears dying, must be al- 
 ways fearing, because he has always reason to expect 
 it. And-how-can-that-man’s life be comfortable, who who 
 lives:in continual fear_oflosing.his comforts ?—Are 
 not these fears of death self-created sufferings? As if 
 God had not inflicted enough upon us, but we must 
 inflict more upon ourselves. “Is not death bitter enough - 
 to the flesh of itself, but we must double and treble its 
 bitterness?) The sufferings laid upon us by God, do all 
 lead to happy issues; the progress is from tribulation 
 to patience, from thence to experience, and so to hope, 
 and at last to glory. But the sufferings we make for 
 ourselves, are circular and endless, from sin te suffer- 
 ing, from suffering to, sin, and so to suffering again. 
 And not only so, but they multiply in their course; 
 every sin is greater than the former, and so every suf- 
 fering also: so that, except we think God hath made 
 us to be our own tormentors, we have small reason to 
 nourish our fears of death.—And are they not useless, 
 unprofitable fears? As-all our care cannot make one 
 hair white or black, nor add one cubit to our stature ; 
 so neithercan our fear prevent our sufferings, nor delay 
 our death one hour: willing or unwilling we must away. 
 Many aman’s fears have hastened his end, but noman’s 
 ever did avert it. “Tis true, a cautious fear concerning 
 the danger after death, hath profited many, and is very 
 useful to the preventing of that danger ; but for a mem- 
 ber of Christ, and an heir of leiven: to be afraid of en- 
 tering his own inheritance, is a sinful, useless fear.— 
 And do not our fears of dying insnare our souls, and 
 add strength to many temptations? What made 
 
 Peter deny his Lord? What: makes apostates, in 
 
 suffering times, forsake the truth? Why doth the 
 green blade of unrooted faith wither before the heat of 
 persecution ?—Fear of imprisonment and _ poverty 
 may do’much, but fear of death will do much more. 
 So much fear as we have of death, so much cowardice 
 we usually” have in the cause of God. Beside the 
 
‘196 THE SAINT’S REST IS NOT - 
 
 multitude. of unbelieving contrivances, and disecon- 
 tents at the wise disposal of God, and hard thoughts 
 of most of his providences, which this sin doth make 
 us guilty, of, 
 
 § 23. Let us further consider, what. a. competent 
 time-most of us have had. Why should not a man, that 
 would die atall; be as-willing at thirty or TOT if God 
 see fit, as at seventy or Ra: apa ? e doth 
 
 not.conquer.cotrupiian ; it. S 
 mea aonabe 
 as_well.as. time, oe natuaail. coe ae 
 
 soul, depart.in peace, As thou wouldst not desire an _ 
 unlimited state in wealth and honour, so desire. it. aot 
 
 in point of time. If thou wast sensible how little thou 
 deservest an hour of that patience which thou hast. en- 
 joyed, thou wouldst think thou hadst hadia large part. 
 Is it not divine wisdom that sets the bonnds? God. 
 will honour himself by various. persons, and. several 
 ages, and not by one person or age. Seeing thou hast 
 
 -acted thy own part and finished thy appointed course, 
 
 come down contentedly, that others may succeed, who 
 must have their turns as well as thyself. Much time 
 hath much nh Beg therefore for grace to improve it 
 better; ntent with thy s 
 
 Harise alee lea ‘competency..of the. comfarts.of life. 
 God. might. Hate puaiia. thy lice buaslons saa 
 been.as.weary.of possessing it, as thou art now. afraid. ot 
 losing it. He might have suffered thee to have con- 
 
 sumed thy days in ignorance, without the true know- 
 ledge of Christ; but he hath opened thy eyes in the 
 
 ‘morning of thy days, and acquainted thee. betiwes. 
 
 with the business of thy life. Hath thy heav enly Father 
 caused thy lot to fall in Europe; not in Asia, Africa,. 
 or America; in England, not in Spain or Italy? Hath 
 he filled up ail thy life with mercies, and dost thou-new. 
 think thy share too small? Whata multitude.of hours, 
 of consolation ; of. delightful sabbaths, of pleasant.stu- 
 dies, of precious companions, of wonderful deliver- 
 ances, of excellent opportunities, of fruitful labours, 
 of joyful tidings, of sweet experiences, of an nishin 
 
1 DS ee Se 
 
 TO BE EXPECTED ON EARTH. 197 
 
 providences, hath thy life partaken of! Hath thy life 
 been so sweet, that thou art loth to leave it? _Is this 
 thy thanks to him, who is thus drawing thee to his own 
 sweetness ? O foolish soul! would thou wast as covet- 
 ous. aftet eternity, as thou art fora fading perishing 
 life!. and. after the. presence of God in-glory, as_thou 
 art for continuance on earth! Then’ thou wouldest cry, 
 Why is his chariot so long in coming?) Why tarry the 
 wheels of his chariot? . How long, Lord, how long?” 
 —‘ What if God should let thee live many years, 
 but deny thee the mercies which thou hast hitherto 
 enjoyed? Might he not give thee life, as he gave the 
 murmuring Israelites quails? He might give thee life 
 till thou art weary of living, and as glad to be rid of it 
 as Judas, or Ahithophel; and make thee like many 
 miserable creatures in the world, who can hardly for- 
 bear laying, violent hands upon themselves. Be not 
 therefore so importunate for life, which may prove a 
 judgment, instead ofa blessing.” How many of the pre- 
 cious servants of God, of all ages and places, have gone 
 before thee! Thou art not to enter'an untrodden path, 
 nor appointed first to break the ice. Except Enoch 
 and Elijah, which of the saints have escaped death? 
 And art thou better than they ? There are many mil- 
 
 _ lions of saints dead; more than now remain on earth! 
 
 What a number of thine own bosom-friends, and com- 
 panions in duty, are now gone; and why shouldest 
 thon be so loth to follow? Nay hath not Jesus Christ 
 himself gone this way? Hath he not sanctified the’ 
 grave tous, and perfumed the dust with his own body; 
 and art thou loth to follow him too? Rather say as’ 
 Thomas, “ Let us-also go, that we may die with him.” 
 
 § 24. If what hath been said will not persuade, scrip- 
 
 _ ture and reason have little force. And I have satd the 
 
 more on this subject, findmg it so needful to myself 
 and others; finding among so many Christians, who 
 couldedo and suffer much for Christ, so few that can 
 willingly die; and of many, who have somewhat 
 subdued other corruptions, so few have got the con- 
 
 quest ofthis. I perswadenot the ungodly from fearing 
 
198 IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A 
 
 death. It is a wonder rather that they fear it nomore, 
 and spend not their days in continual horror. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 The Importance of leading a heavenly Life wpon Earth. 
 
 § 1 The reasonableness of delighting in the thoughts of the saint’s 
 rest. § 2, Christians exhorted to it, by considering, § 3. (1) 
 it will evidence their sincere piety ; § 4. )it is the highest 
 excellence of the Christian temper; § 5. (8) it leads to the 
 most comfortable life ; § 6—9. (4) it will be the best preserva- 
 tive from temptations to sin; § 10. (5) it will invigorate. their 
 graces and duties; § 11. (6) it will be their best cordial in all 
 afflictions; § 12. (7) it will render them most profitable to 
 others; § 13: (8) it will honour God; § 14. (9) without it, 
 we disobey the commands, and lose the most gracious and de- 
 lightful discoveries, of the word of God: § 15. (10) it is the 
 more reasonable to have our hearts with God, as his is so much 
 -on us; § 16, 17. and (11) in heaven, where we have so much 
 interest and relation; §18.(12) besides, there is nothing but 
 heaven worth setting our hearts upon. § 19. Transition to the 
 subject of the next chapter. * 
 
 § 1. Is there such a rest remaining for us? Why 
 then are our thoughts no more upon it? Why are not 
 our hearts continually there ? e 
 in-constant-contemplation ? Whatis the cause.of this 
 neglect ? Are we,reasonable in this, or are we not? 
 Hath the eternal God provided-us such a glory, and pro- 
 mised to take us to dwell with himself, and is not this 
 worth thinking on? Should not the strongest desires of 
 our hearts be after it? Do we believe this, and yet for- 
 get and neglect it! If God will not give us leave to ap- 
 proach this light; what mean all his earnest invitations? 
 Why doth he so condemn our earthly-mindedness, and 
 command us to set our affections on things above! Ah! 
 vile hearts! If God were against it, we were likelier to 
 be for it; but when he commands our hearts to heaven, 
 then they will not stir one inch. Like our predecessors, 
 the sinful Israelites, when God would have them march 
 for Canaan, then they mutiny, and will not stir; but 
 
“HEAVENLY LIFE UPON .EARTH. 199 
 
 when God bids them not go, then they will be pre- 
 sently marching. If God say, Love not the world, nor 
 the things of the world, we dote upon it. | How free- 
 ly, how frequently, can we think of our pleasures, our 
 friends, our labours, our flesh and its lusts, yea, our 
 wrongs and miseries, our fears and sufferings! But 
 where is the Christian, whose heart is on his rest ? 
 What is the matter? Are weso full of joy as to need 
 ‘ nomore? Or, is there nothing in heaven for our joy- ~ 
 ous thoughts? Or rather, are not our hearts carnal 
 and stupid? Let us humble these sensual hearts, that 
 have in them no more of Christ and glory. If.this 
 world was the only subject of our discourse, all would 
 count us ungodly; why then may we not call our 
 hearts ungodly, that have so little delight in Christ 
 and heaven? 
 § 2. But I am speaking only to those, whose po » portion 
 ‘isin heaven, whose_hopes_are there, and who. have’ 
 forsaken all to.enjoythis.glory.; and shall I be discou- 
 raged from persuading such to be heavenly-minded ? 
 Fellow-christians, if you will not hear and obey, who 
 will? Well may we discouraged to exhort the 
 blind ungodly world, and may say, as Moses did, Be- 
 hold the children of Israel have not hearkened unto 
 me, how then shall Pharaoh hear me ?—1 require thee, 
 Reader, as ever thou hopest for a part in this glory, 
 that thou presently take thy heart to task, chide it for 
 its wilful strangeness to God, turn thy thoughts from 
 the pursuit of vanity, 
 busy—it_about the life to come, habituate thyself. to 
 such..contemplations,and_let_not..those.thoughts_be 
 seldom and cursory, but. bathe thy soul in-beaven's de~ 
 ; and if thy backward soul begin to flag, and thy 
 thoughts to scatter, call them back, hold them to their 
 work, bear not with their laziness, nor connive at one 
 neglect. And when thou hast, in obedience to. God, 
 tried this work, got acquainted with it, and kept a 
 guard on thy thoughts till they are accustomed to 
 obey, thou wilt then find thyself in the suburbs of hea- 
 ven, ee that there is indeed a sweetness in the work 
 
 - 
 
‘200 $$IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A 
 
 and way of God, and that the life of Christianity jaa 
 life of joy. Thou wilt meet with those abundant cen- 
 -solations which thou hast prayed, panted, and. groaned 
 after, and which so few Christians do ever here ob- 
 tain, because they know not this way to them, or a 
 
 _ make not conscience of walking in it. 
 
 unable toset.ourown. hearts.on-keaveie pram 27 
 work.of God_only. Though.God.he...the..chiefidisposer 
 of your hearts, yet next under.him you-have.the.great- 
 est command. of them..yourselves. 
 Christ_you.can_do_nothing, yet_under him you may 
 do much, and_must,_or_else_it—will beundone, .and. 
 yourselves undone through. your_neglect. Christians, 
 if your souls were healthful and vigorous, they — 
 would perceive incomparibly more delight and sweet- 
 ness in the believing joyful thoughts of your future 
 blessedness, than the soundest stomach finds in its 
 food, or the strongest senses in the enjoyment of their 
 objects; so little painful would this work be to you. 
 But because I know, while we have flesh about us, and 
 any remains of that carnal mind, which is enmity to 
 God and to this noble work, that all motives are lit- 
 “tle enough, I will here lay down some considerations, 
 ~which if you will deliberately weigh, with an mapar- 
 tial judgment, I doubt not but they will prove effec- 
 tual with your hearts, and make you resolve on this 
 excellent duty. More particularly consider, it will evi- 
 dence your sincere piety; it is the highest excellence 
 of the Christian temper; it is the way to live most. 
 comfortably; it will be the best preservative from > 
 temptations to sin; it willenliven your graces and du- 
 ties ; it will be your best cordial in all afflictions ; it’ 
 will render you most profitable to others; it will 
 honour God: without it you will disobey the com- 
 mands, and lose the most gracious and delightful dis- 
 coveries of the word of God; it is also the more 
 
 ~ reasonable to have your hearts with God, as his is so 
 
 much on you; and in heaven, where you -have so 
 much interest and relation ; - besides, there is nothing 
 but heaven worth setting yourhearts upon. 
 
a 
 
 HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 201 
 
 § 3. (1) Consider, a heart set upon ‘heaven will be 
 one of the most unquestionable evidences of your.sin- 
 cerity,-and.a.clear_discovery.of.a true work of saving 
 
 our.souls. You are often.asking, How -~ } 
 
 grace..upon.. ¥\ 
 Shall.we.know that..we are truly sanctified? Here you 
 have a sign-infallible from_ the ‘mouth of Jesus Christ 
 himself; Where your treasure is,. there. unll your hearts be 
 also. (c). God.is the.saint’s treasure and happiness; hea- 
 ven is the place were they must-fully.enjoy him. A 
 heart therefore set upon heaven, is no more but a heart 
 set upon God: and surely a heart set upon God through 
 Christ, is the truest.evidence of saving grace. When 
 learning will be no proof of grace; when knowledge, 
 duties, eifts, will fail, when arguments from thy tongue 
 or hand may be confuted ; yet then will this, from ‘the 
 of thy heart, prove thee sincere. Take a poor 
 Christian, of a a weak pene a a feeble memory, 
 a stammering tongue ; yet 1€ 
 
 there! He fakes that aay fat a time our ies poate 
 in which he hath not had one refreshing view of eter- 
 nity. I had rather die in-this man’s cqndition, than in 
 the case of him who hath the most eminent gifts, and 
 is most admired for his performances, while ais heart 
 is not thus taken up with God. The man that Christ_ 
 will find out at the last day, and condemn for want of 
 a wedding-garment, will be one that wants this frame 
 of heart. = question will not then be, How much 
 have you k ed? but, how 
 much ceca Sued and w. eart ? 
 Christians, as you would have a 2 
 
 to. 7 Tf sin and 
 
 Satan keep not your affections from thence, they will 
 
 never be able to keep away your persons. 
 
 § 4. (2) A heart in heaven, is the highest excellence 
 of your Christian temper. As there is a common ex- 
 cellence, by which Christians differ from the world ; 
 so there is this peculiar dignity of spirit, by which the 
 
 (c) Matt. vi. 21 
 ft. Ce 
 
- 4 v 
 202. IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A 
 
 more ‘excellent differ from the rest. As the noblest 
 of creatures, vo the noblest of Christians, are they 
 whose faces are set most direct for heaven.” Such a 
 heavenly, saint, who hath been wrapt up to God in his | 
 contemplations, and is newly come down from the 
 views of Christ, what discoveries will he make of 
 those superior regions! how high and sacred is his dis- 
 course! enough to convince an understanding hearer, 
 that he hath seen the Lord, and that no man could 
 speak such words, except he hath been with God. 
 This, this: is the noble Christian. The most famous 
 mountains and trees are those that reach nearest to 
 heaven, and he is the choicest Christian whose heart 
 is most. fi 
 
 requently. and most delightfully there. Ifa 
 man have lived near the king, or_hath seen the sultan 
 of Persia, or or the e great, Turk 
 
 rk, he will be.thought.a.step 
 higher than his neighbours, What then shall we judge 
 of him that daily travels as far as heaven, and theré 
 hath seen the King of kings, hath frequent admittance 
 into the divine presence, and feasteth his soul upon the 
 tree’ of life? For my part, I value this man before the 
 noblest, the richest, the most learned, in the world. 
 § 5. (3) A.heavenly.. mind is the nearest and. trues 
 nae cee The countries ar nort 
 What keg hf | 
 but.-their. Tixingin6-tass Don bangs And what makes 
 others so warm in comforts, but their living higher, 
 and having nearer access to God? When the sun in 
 the spring draws nearer to our part of the earth, how de 
 ‘all things congratulate its approach! The earth looks 
 green, ‘the trees shoot forth, the plants revive, the birds 
 sing, and all things smile upon us. If we would but try 
 this hfe with God, and keep-these hearts above, what a— 
 spring of joy would be within us! How'should we for- 
 get our winter sorrows! How early should we rise to 
 sing the praise of our great Creator! O Christians, get 
 above. Those that have been there, have found it 
 warmer ;.and [ doubt not but thou hast sometime tried 
 it thyself. When have you largest comforts? Is it not 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 208. 
 
 when thou hast conversed with God, and talked with 
 the inhabitants of the higher world, and viewed their 
 mansions,, and filled thy soul with the fore-thoughts of 
 glory? If thou knowest by experience what this prac- 
 tice is, I dare say thou knowest what spiritual joy is. 
 If, as David professes, the light of God's countenance 
 more gladdens the heart then corn and wine, then 
 surely they that draw nearest, and most behold it, 
 must be fullest of these joys. Whom should we blame 
 then, that we are so void of consolation, but our own 
 negligent hearts? God hath provided us a crown of 
 glory, and promised to set it shortly on our heads, and 
 we will not so much as think of it. He bids us behold 
 and rejoice and we will not so muchas look atit; and yet 
 we complain for want of comfort. It is by believing we 
 are filled with joy and peace, and no longer than we 
 - continue believing. It is in hope the saints rejoice, 
 and no longer than they continue hoping. God’s 
 Spirit worketh our comforts, by setting our own spirits 
 on work upon the promises, and. raising our thoughts 
 ' to the place of our comforts. As you would delight a 
 covetous man by showing him gold; so God delights 
 his people by leading them, as it were, into heaven 
 and showing them himself, and their rest with him. 
 He does not cast in our.joys while we are idle, or taken 
 up with other things. He gives the fruits of the earth 
 while we plow, and sow, and weed, and water, and > 
 ‘dung, and dress, and with patience expect his bless- 
 ing; so doth he give the joys of the soul. I intreat 
 thee, Reader, in the name of the Lord, and as thou va~ 
 luest the life of constant joy, and that good conscience 
 which is a continual feast, to set upon this work se- 
 riously, and learn the art of heavenly-mindedness, 
 and thou shalt find the increase a hundred fold, and 
 the benefit abundantly exceed thy labour. _ But this. 
 is the misery of man’s nature; though every man 
 naturally hates sorrow, and loves the most merry 
 and joyful life, yet few love. the way to joy, or will 
 endure the pains by which it 1s obtained; they will 
 take the next that comes to hand, and content them- 
 
 ’ 
 
———————— 
 ; 
 
 204. IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A 
 selves with earthly pleasures, rather than they will 
 
 ascend to heaven to seek it; and yet when all is done, _ 
 
 they must have it there, or be withoutit. — 
 § 6. (4) A heart in heaven will be a most excellent 
 Vative agaipst...te in, It will keep 
 
 the heart well employed: When we are idle, we tempt 
 
 the devil to tempt us ; as careless persons make thieves. — 
 
 A heart in heaven can reply to the tempter, as_Nehe- 
 miah did, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot 
 come. It hath no leisure to be lustful or wanton, am- 
 bitious or worldly. If you were but busy in your law- 
 ful callings, you would not be so ready to hearken to 
 temptations; much less, if you were also busy above 
 with God. Would ajudge be persuaded to rise from 
 
 the bench, when he is sitting upon life and death, to’ 
 
 go and play with children in the streets? No more 
 
 _ with a Christian, when he is taking a survey of his 
 
 eternal rest, give ear to the alluring charms of Satan. 
 
 The children of that kingdom should never have time 
 
 for trifles, especially when they are employed in the 
 affairs of the kingdom; and this employment is one 
 of the saint’s chief preservatives from temptations. 
 
 § 7. A_heavenly life is the freest from sin, be- 
 
 cause it hath truer_and_ livelier apprehensions. of spi- 
 
 ritual. things...He_hath so deep an_insight. into. the 
 eviLof..sin, thevanity.of the creature,..the...brutishness 
 of fleshly,..s iF it: 
 
 tle.power.over him, In vain the net is spread, says 
 
 Solomon, in the sight of any bird. And usually in vain 
 doth Satan Jay his snares for the soul that plainly.sees 
 them. Earth isthe place for his temptations, and the 
 ordinary bait; and how shall these ensnare’ the Chris- 
 tian, who hath left the earth, and walks with God? 
 is converse with wise men the way to make one wise ; 
 much more is converse with God. If travellers re- 
 
 -. 
 
 turn home with wisdom and experience, how much ~ 
 
 more he that travels to heaven? If our bodies are suit- . 
 
 ed to the air and climate we most live in; his under- 
 standing must be fuller of light, who lives-with the Fa- 
 ther of lights. The men of the world that dwell below, 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 205 
 
 and know no other conversation but earthly, no won- 
 der if their understanding be darkened, and Satan 
 takes them captive at his will. How can worms and 
 
 moles see, whose dwelling is always in the earth? 
 While this dust is in their eyes, no wonder they mis- 
 take gain for godliness,*sin for grace, the world for 
 God, their own wills for the law of Christ, and, in.the 
 issue, hell for heaven. But when a Christian with- 
 draws himself from his worldly thoughts, and begins 
 to converse with God in heaven, methinks he is, as 
 Nebuchadnezzar, taken from the beasts of the field to 
 the throne, and his reason returneth unto him. When 
 he hath had a glimpse of eternity, and looks down on 
 the world again, how doth he charge with folly his 
 neglects of Christ, his fleshly pleasures, his earthly 
 cares! How doth he say to his laughter, it is mad! 
 and to his vain mirth, what doth it! How doth he 
 verily think there is no man in bedlam so truly mad 
 as wilful sinners, and unworthly slighters of Christ and 
 glory! This makes a dying man usually wiser than 
 
 eens peeanpe beclotii oe SleaieiA Saas 
 
 Yet let the same men recover, and lose ther appre- 
 hension of the life to come, and how quickly do they 
 lose their understandings with it! Tell a dying sin- 
 ner of the riches, honours, or pleasures of the world, 
 and would he not answer, ‘“‘ What is all this to me, 
 who must presently appear before God, and give an 
 account of all my life?” Christian, it the apprehend- 
 ed nearness of eternity will work such strange effects 
 upon the ungodly, and make them so much wiser ~ 
 than-before; O what rare effects would it produce 
 in thee, if thou couldest always dwell in the views of 
 God, and in lively thoughts of thy everlasting state! 
 Surely a believer, if-he improve his faith, may ordi- 
 narily have more quickening apprehensions of the life 
 
1 @ 
 
 206. IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A 
 
 to come, in the time of his health, than an unbeliéver 
 hath at the hour of his death. 
 
 § 8. A heavenly mind is also fortified against temp- 
 . tations, because the affections are thoroughly pre-— 
 possessed with the high deligh : 
 doth as sweetly relish goodness, as the understanding 
 doth truth; and here lies- much of a 
 strength. When thou hast had a fresh delightful 
 taste of heaven, thou wilt not be so easily persuaded 
 from it. You cannot persuade a child to part with 
 his sweetmeats, while the taste is in his mouth. O 
 that you would be much on feeding on the hidden 
 manna, and frequently tasting the delights of: heaven! 
 How would this confirm thy resolutions, and make 
 thee despise the fooleries of the world, and scorn to 
 be cheated with such childish toys. Had the devil set 
 upon Peter in the mount of transfiguration, when he 
 saw Moses and Elias talking with Christ, would he so 
 easily have been drawn to deny his Lord? What, with 
 all that glory in his eye? No. So, if he should set 
 upon a believing soul, when he is taken up in the mount 
 with Christ, what would such a soul say? “ Get thee _ 
 behind me, Satan: Wouldest thou persuade me hence 
 with trifling pleasures, and steal my heart from this 
 my rest? Wouldest thou have me sell these joys for 
 nothing? is any honour or delight like this? or ean that 
 be profit, for which I must lose this?” But Satan stays 
 till we are come down, and the taste of heaven is out 
 oi our mouths, and the glory we saw is even forgot- 
 ten, and then he easily deceives our hearts. Though 
 the Israelites below, eat, and drink, and rise up to 
 play, before their idol, Moses in the mount will not 
 do so. O, if we could keep the taste of our souls con- 
 tinually delighted with the sweetness above, with what 
 
 disdain should we spit out the baits of sin! 
 _ § 9. Besides, whilst the heart is set on heaven, a 
 man is under God’s protection. If Satan then assault 
 us, God is more engaged for our defence, and will 
 
“soar HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 207 
 
 doubtless stand by us, and say, My grace is sufficient 
 ‘for thee. Whena man is in the way of God’s blessing, 
 he is in the less danger of sin’s enticing. Amidst thy 
 temptations, Christian Reader, use much this power- 
 ful remedy—keep close with God by a heavenly mind; 
 follow your business above with Christ, and you will © 
 find this a surer help than any other. The-way of life 
 ts above to the wise, that he may depart from hell be- 
 neath. (d) Remember that Noah was a just man, and 
 perfect in his generation; for he walked with God: 
 and that God said to Abraham Walk beforé me, and 
 be thou perfect. 
 
 § 10. (5) The diligent keeping your hearts in hea- 
 ven, will maintain the vigour of all your graces, and 
 put life into all your duties. - The heavenly Christian 
 is the lively Christian. Itis ourstrangeness to heaven 
 that makes us so dull. How will the soldier hazard 
 his_life, andthe mariner_pass through, storms and 
 wayes, and no difficulty keep them. back, when they 
 think of an uncertain perishing treasure! What life 
 _ then would it, put into a Christian’s endeavours, if he 
 would frequently think of his everlasting treasure! We 
 run so slowly, and strive so lazily, because we so little 
 mind the prize. Observe but the man who is much in 
 heayen,.and you shall see he is not like other Christians : 
 there is something of what he hath seen above appear- 
 eth in all his duty and conversation. Ifa preacher, how 
 heavenly are his sermons! Ifa private Christian, what 
 heavenly converse, prayers, and deportment! - Set . 
 upon this employment, and others will see the face of 
 your conversation shine, and say, surely he hath been 
 with God on the mount. But if you lie conplainmg of 
 deadness and dulness ; that you cannot lové Christ, nor 
 rejoice im-his love; that you have no life in prayer, nor 
 any other duty, and yet neglect this quickening’ em- 
 ployment; you are the cause of your own complaints. 
 Is not, thy. life hid with Christ in God? Where must 
 thou go but to Christ for it? And where is that, but to 
 heaven; where Christ is?. Thou wilt not come to Christ, 
 (d) Prov. xv. 24. 
 
208 IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A 
 
 that thou mayest have life. If thou wouldest+ have 
 light and heat, why art thou no more in the sunshine ? 
 For want of this recourse to heaven, thy soul is as a 
 lamp not lighted, and thy duties as a sacrifice without 
 fire, Fetch one coal daily from this altar, and see if 
 thy offering will not burn. Light thy lamp at this 
 flame, and feed it daily with oil from hence, and see 
 if it will not gloriously shine. Keep close to this re- 
 viving fire, and see if thy affections will not be warm. 
 In thy want of love to God, lift up thy eye of faith 
 to heaven, behold his beauty, contemplate his excel- 
 lencies, and see if his amiableness and perfect goodness 
 will not ravish thy heart. As exercise gives appetite, 
 strength, and vigour, to the body; so these heavenly 
 exercises will quickly cause the increase of grace and ~ 
 spiritual life. Besides, it is not false or strange fire 
 which you fetch from heaven for your sacrifices. The 
 * zeal which is kindled by your meditations on heaven, 
 is most likely to be a heavenly zeal. Some men’s 
 fervency is only drawn from their books, some from | 
 the sharpness of affliction, some from the mouth ofa 
 moving minister, and some from the attention of an. 
 auditory ; but he that knows this way to heaven, and 
 derives it daily from the true fountain, shall have his soul 
 revived with the water of life, and enjoy that quick- 
 ening which is peculiar to the saints. By this faith thou 
 mayest offer Abel’s sacrifice, more excellent than that 
 of common men, and by it obtain witness that thou 
 art righteous, God testifying of thy gifts that they _ 
 -are sincere. When others are ready, like Baal’s priests, 
 to cut themselves, because their sacrifice will not 
 burn, thou mayest breathe the spirit of Elijah; and 
 in the chariot of contemplation soar aloft, till thy soul 
 and sacrifice gloriously flame, though the flesh and the 
 world should cast upon them all the water of their op- 
 osing enmity. Say not, how can mortals ascend to 
 eaven? Faith hath wings, and meditation is its cha- 
 riot. . Faith is a burning glass to thy sacrifice, and me- 
 ditation sets it to the face of the sun; only take it not 
 - away too soon, but hold it there awhile, and thy soul 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 209. 
 
 will feel the happy effect. Reader, art thou not think- 
 - ing, when thou seest a lively Christian, and hearest his 
 lively fervent prayers, and edifying discourse, “‘ O how. 
 happy a man is this! O that my soul were in this bless- 
 ed condition!” Why, I here advise thee from God, 
 set thy soul conscientiously to this work, wash thee fre- 
 quently in this Jordan, and thy leprous dead soyl will 
 revive, and thou shait know that there isa God in- 
 Israel, and that thou mayest live a vigorous and joyful 
 life, if thou dest not wilfully neglect thy own mercies. 
 § 11. (6) The frequent believing views of glory are 
 the most precious cordials in all afflictions. These cor- 
 dials, by cheering our spirits, render our sufferings far 
 more easy, enable us to bear them with patience and 
 joy, and to strengthen our resolutions, that we forsake 
 not Christ for fear of trouble. If the way be ever so 
 rough, can it be tedious ifit lead to heaven? Q_sweet 
 sickness,_reproaches, imprisonment,.or.death,.accom- 
 panied with these tastes.of our future.restl..This.keeps, 
 the suffering fromthe soul, so.that_it.can.only touch 
 the flesh. Had it not been for that little (alas, too lit- 
 tle) taste which I had forrest, my sufferings would have 
 been grievous, and death more terrible. I may say, 
 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the 
 Lord in the land of the living. Unless this promised rest 
 had been my delight, I should then have perished in mine 
 affliction. One thing have [desired of the Lord, that will 
 L seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all 
 the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to 
 inguire in his temple. or in the time of trouble he shali 
 hide me in his pavilion : in the secret of his tabernacle shall 
 he hide me; he shall set me upon a rock. And now shall 
 mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. 
 Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I 
 will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.(e) All suf- 
 ferings are nothing to us, so far as we have these sup- 
 porting joys. . When persecution and fear hath shut , 
 the doors, Christ can come in, and stand in the midst, 
 and say to his disciples, Peace be uato you. Pauland 
 
 (e) Psalm xxvii. 13. exix. 92. xxvii. 4, 6. 
 
910 _IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A 
 
 Silas can be in heaven, even when they are thrust into 
 the inner prison, their bodies scourged with many 
 stripes, and their feet fast in the stocks. The martyrs 
 find more rest in their flames, than their persécutors 
 in their pomp and tyranny, because they foresee the © 
 flames they escape, and the rest which their fiery cha- 
 riot is conveying them to. Ifthe Son of God will walk 
 with us, we are safe in the midst of those flames, which 
 shall devour them that cast us in. Abraham went out 
 of his country, not knowing whither he went, because 
 
 - he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose 
 
 builder and maker is God. Moses esteemed. the re- 
 proach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in 
 Egypt; because he had respect unto the recompence 
 
 of reward. He forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath 
 
 of the king; because he endured, as seeing him who is 
 
 _ Invisible. Others were tortured, not accepting deli- 
 
 verance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 
 Even Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, for the 
 joy that was set before him, endured thecross, despis- 
 ing the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the 
 throne of God. This is the noble advantage of faith, it 
 can look on the means andend together. This is the great 
 reason of our impatience, and censuring of God, be- 
 cause we gaze on the evil itself, but fix not our thoughts 
 on what is beyond it. They that saw Christ only on 
 the cross, or in the grave, do shake their heads, and 
 think him lost: but God saw him dying, buried, rising, 
 glorifying, and all this.at one view. Faith will in this 
 imitate God, so far as it hath the glass of a promise to 
 help it. We see God burying us under ground, but we 
 foresee not the spring, when we shall all revive. Could .. 
 we but clearly see heaven, as the end of all God’s deal- 
 ings with us, surely none of his dealings could be 
 grievous. If God would once raise us to this life, we 
 should find, that though heaven and sin are at a great 
 distance; yet heaven and a prison, or banishment, hea- 
 ven and the belly ofa whale, or a den of lions, heaven 
 
 - and consuming sickness, or invading death, are at no 
 
 such distance. But as Abraham saw Christ’s day and 
 rejoiced; so we in our most forlorn state, might see 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 211 
 
 that day when Christ shall give us rest, and therein 
 rejoice. I beseech thee, Christian, for the honour 
 of the gospel, and for thy soul’s comfort, be not to 
 learn this heavenly art, when in thy greatest extre- 
 mity thou hast most need to use it. He that with 
 Stephen, sees the glory of God, and Jesus standing 
 on the right hand of God, will comfortably bear the 
 shower of stones. The joy of the Lord is our strength, 
 and that joy must be fetched from the place of our 
 joy: and if we walk without our strength, how long 
 are we like to endure? 
 
 § 12. (7) He that hath his conversation in heaven, 
 is the profitable Christian to all about him. When.a. 
 man. isin a.strange.country, how glad is he of the com- 
 pany.of.one.of..his.own.nation.. How. delightful is it to 
 talk of their own country,.their..acquaintance,,.and af- 
 fairsathome. With what pleasure did Joseph talk with 
 his brethren, and inquire after his father, and his bro- 
 ther Benjamin! Is it not so toa Christian, to talk with 
 his brethren that have been above, and inquire after 
 his Father, and Christ his Lord ? When a worldly man - 
 will talk of nothing but the world, and a politician of 
 state affairs, and a mere scholar of human learning, and 
 acommon professor of his duties; the heavenly man 
 will be speaking of heaven, and the strange glory his 
 faith hath seen, and our speedy and blessed meeting 
 there. O how refreshing and useful are his expressions ! 
 How.his words pierce and melt the heart, and transform 
 _ the hearers into other men. How doth his doctrine 
 drop as the rain, and his speech distil as the dew, as the ~ 
 small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers 
 upon the grass, while his lips publish the name of the 
 Lord, and ascribe greatness unto his God. Is not his 
 sweet discourse of heaven like the box of precious 
 ointment, which being poured upon the head of Christ, 
 filled the house with odour? All that are near may be 
 refreshed by it. Happy the people that have a-.hea- 
 venly minister. Happy the children and servants that 
 have a heavenly father or master. Happy the man that 
 hath a heavenly companion, who will watch over thy. 
 
212 IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A 
 
 ‘ways, strengthen thee when thou art weak, cheer thee 
 when thou art drooping, and comfort thee with the 
 comfort wherewith he himself hath been so often com- 
 forted of God! This is he that will always be blowing 
 at the spark of thy spiritual life, and drawing thy soul 
 
 to God, and will say to thee, as the Samaritan woman, 
 
 “Come and see one that told me all that ever I 
 did ;” one that loved our souls to the death. Is 
 
 ~ notthis the Christ? Is not the knowledge of God and 
 
 him eternal life? Is it not the glory of the saints to 
 see his glory? Come to this man’s house, and sit at 
 his table, and he will feast thy soul with the dainties 
 of heaven; travel with him by the way, and he will di- 
 rect and quicken thee in thy journey to heaven; trade 
 with him in the world,and he will counsel thee to buy ~ 
 the pearl of great price. If thou wrong him, he can 
 pardon thee, remembering that Christ hath pardoned 
 
 his greater offences ; if thou be angry, he is meek, consi- » 
 dering the meekness of his heavenly Pattern; or, if he 
 
 fall out with you, he is soon reconciled, when he re- 
 
 collects that in heaven you must be everlasting friends. 
 
 This is the Christian of the right stamp, and all about 
 him are better for him. How unprofitable is the so- 
 ciety of all other sorts of Christians in comparison with 
 this! Ifaman should come from heaven, how would 
 men long to hear what reports he would make of the 
 other world, and what he had seen, and what the 
 blessed there enjoy! Would they not think this man 
 the best companion, and his discourses the most pro- 
 
 - fitable? Why then do you value the company of saints 
 
 no more, and inquire no more of them, and relish 
 their discourse no better? For every saint shall go to 
 heaven in person, and is frequently there in spirit, 
 and hath often viewed it in the glass of the gospel. 
 For my part, I had rather have the company of a hea- 
 venly-minded Christian, than of the most learned dis- 
 putants, or princely commanders. 
 
 § 13. (8) No man so highly honoureth God as he — 
 whose conversation is in heaven. Is not a parent dis- 
 graced, when his children feed on husks, are clothed 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 213 
 
 in tags, and keep company with none but rogues and 
 beggars? Is it not so to our heavenly Father, when 
 we who call ourselves his children feed on earth, and 
 the garb of our souls is like that of the naked world, 
 and our hearts familiarly converse with, and cleave to 
 the dust, rather than stand continually in our Father's 
 presence? Surely we live below the children of the 
 King, not according to the height of our hopes, nor 
 the provision of our Father's house, and the great pre- — 
 parations made for his saints. It is well we havea 
 Father of tender bowels, who will own his children in 
 rags. If he did not first challenge his interest in us, 
 _ neither ourselves not others could know us to be his 
 people. Butwhen a Christian can live above,. antes 
 joice his soul with the things.that are unseen, how 
 
 God honoured by sucha one! The Lord will testily 
 
 for him, *‘ This man believes me, and takes me at my 
 word; he rejoiceth in my promise, before he hath 
 possession; he can be thankful for what his bodily eyes 
 never saw; his rejoicing is not in the flesh, his heart 
 is with me; he loves my presence, and he shall surely 
 enjoy it in my kingdom for ever. Blessed are they 
 that have not seen, and yet have believed. Them that 
 honour me I will honour.” How did God esteem him- 
 self honoured by Caleb and Joshua, when they went 
 into the promised land, and brought back to their 
 brethren a taste of the fruits, and spake well of the 
 good land, and encouraged the people! What a pro- 
 mise and recompense did they receive! 
 
 § 14. (9) A soul that doth Tot set its affections on 
 things above, disobeys the commands, and loses the 
 most gracious and delightful discoveries, of the word of 
 God. The same God that hath commanded thee to 
 believe, and to be a Christian, hath commanded thee to 
 seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on 
 the right hand of God, and to set your affections on things 
 above, not on things on the earth. f) The same God that 
 hath forbidden thee to murder, steal, or commit adul- 
 etd hath forbidden thee the neglect of this great 
 
 (7) Col. m. 1, 2. 
 
214° IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A 
 
 duty, and darest thou wilfully disobey him? Why 
 not make consciéncé of one, a8 well as the other? 
 He hath made it thy duty, as well as the meatis of 
 thy comfort, that a double bond may érigage thee not 
 to forsake thy own mercies. Besides, what are all the 
 most glorious dés¢riptions of heaven, all those disco-— 
 veries of our future blessedness, and precios pro- 
 mises of our rést, but lost to thee? Ave not these the 
 stairs in the firmamént of scripturté, and the golden 
 lines in that book of God? Methinks thou shouldst 
 
 not part with one of these proiiiiSes,; no not for a . 
 
 world. As heaven is the perfection of all our mercies, » 
 so the promise of it in the gospel; are the very soul” 
 of the gospel. Is a comfortable wotd from the moiith 
 of God of such worth, that all the comforts in the 
 world are nothing to it? And dost thou neglect and 
 overlook so many of them? Why Should God reveal 
 so much of his counsel, and tell us beforehand of fhe 
 joys we shall possess, but to make us kitow it for ovr 
 joy? fit had not been to fill us with the delights of 
 our foreknown blessednéss, he might have kept his 
 purpose to himself, and never have let us kiiow 
 it till we came to enjoy it. Yea, when we had got 
 possession of our rest, hé might still have concealed its 
 eternity from us, and then the fears of losing it would 
 have diminished the swéétness of our joys. But it 
 hath pleased our Father to open his counsel, and let 
 us know the very intent of his heart, that our joy 
 might be full, and that we might live as the heirs of 
 such a kingdom. And shall we now overlook all? 
 
 Shall we live in earthly cares and sorrows, and rejoice - 
 
 no more in these discoveries, than if the Lord had 
 never wrote them? If thy prince had but sealed thee 
 a patent of some lordship, how oit wouldst thou cast 
 thine eyes upon it, and make it thy delightful study, 
 till thou shouldst come to possess the dignity itself! 
 And hath God sealed thee a patent of heaven, and 
 dost thou let it lie by thee, as if thou hadst forgot 
 it?—O that our hearts were as high as our hopes, 
 and our hopes as high as these infallible promises. _ 
 
 “4 
 
WEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 215 
 
 § 15. (10) It is but equal that our hearts should be 
 on God, when the heart of God is so much on us.— 
 If the Lord of glory can stoop so low, as ta set his 
 heart on sinful dust, methinks we should easily be 
 persuaded to set our hearts on Christ and glory, and 
 ascend to him in our daily affections, who so much con- 
 descends to us. Christian, dost thou not perceive that 
 the heart of God is set upon thee, and that he is still 
 minding thee with tender love, even when thou forget- 
 est both thyself and him? Is he not following thee 
 with daily mercies, moving upon thy soul, providing 
 for thy body, preserving both? Doth he not bear thee 
 continually in the arms of love, and promise that all 
 shall work together for thy good, and suit all his deal- 
 ings to thy greatest advantage, and give his angels 
 charge over thee? And canst thou be taken up with 
 the joys below, and forget thy Lord who forgets not 
 thee? Unkind ingratitude! When he speaks of his own 
 kindness, hear what he says, Zion said, the Lord hath 
 forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a 
 woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have 
 compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, she may for- 
 get, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven 
 thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are conti- 
 nually before meg) But when he speaks of our regards 
 to him, the case is otherwise. Cana maid for wet her 
 ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people hath for- 
 gotten me days without number.(h) As if he should say, 
 “ You will not rise one morning, but you will remem- 
 ber to cover your nakedness, nor forget your vanity of 
 dress; and are these of more worth than your God? of 
 more importance than your eternal life? And yet you 
 can forget these day after day.”—-Give not God cause 
 thus to expostulate with us. Rather let our souls get 
 up to God, and visit him every morning, and our hearts 
 be towards him eyery moment. 
 
 § 16. (11) Should not our interest in . heaven, and 
 our relation to it, continually keep our hearts upon it? 
 There our Father keeps his court. We call him, Our 
 Father, who art in heaven. Unworthy children! that 
 
 (o( Isaiah xtix. 14, 46. (h) Jer. ii. 32: 
 
216 IMPORTANCE OF LEADING A, 
 
 can be so taken up in their play, as to be mindless of 
 such a Father. There also is Christ our head, our 
 husband, our life; and shall we not look towards him, 
 and send to him as oft as we can, till we come to see 
 him face to face? Since the heavens must receive 
 him, until the times of restitution of all things; let 
 them also receive our hearts withhim. There also is 
 new Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all.¢) And 
 there are multitudes of our elder brethren. There are 
 our friends and old acquaintance, whose society in the 
 flesh we so much delighted in, and whose departure 
 
 - hence we so much lamented; and is this no attractive ~ 
 -to thy thoughts? If they were within thy reach on 
 
 earth, thou wouldest go and visit them, and why not 
 oftener visit them in spirit, and rejoice before-hand to 
 think of meeting them there? -‘‘ Socrates rejoiced 
 that he should die, because he believed he should see 
 Homer, Hesiod, and. other eminent persons. How 
 much more do I rejoice, said a pious old minister, 
 who am sure to see Christ my Saviour, the eternal 
 Son of God, in his assumed flesh; besides so many 
 wise, holy, and renowned patriarchs, prophets, apos- 
 tles,” &c. A believer should look to heayen, and 
 contemplate the blessed state of the saints, and think 
 with himself, «‘ Though I am not yet so happy as to 
 be with you, yetthis is my daily comfort, you are my 
 brethren and fellow-members in Christ, and therefore 
 your joys are my joys, and your glory, by this near 
 relation, is my glory; especially while 1 believe in the 
 same Christ, and hold fast the same faith and obedi- 
 ence, by which you were thus dignified, and rejoice in 
 spirit with you, and congratulate your happiness in 
 my daily meditations. 
 
 § 17. Moreover, our house and home is above. For 
 we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
 were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house 
 not made. with hands, eternal in the heavens. Why do 
 we then look no oftener towards it, and groan earnestly, 
 desiring to be clothed upon-with our house which is from 
 heaven.(k) If our home were far meaner, sure we 
 
 (2) Gal. iv. 26 (k) 2 Cor. v. 1, 2. 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 217 
 
 should remember it because it is our home. If you 
 were but banished into a strange land, how frequently 
 would your thoughts be at home? ~And why is it not 
 thus with us in respect of heaven? Is not that more 
 truly and properly our home, where we must take up 
 our everlasting abode, than’ this, which we are every 
 hour expecting tobe separated from, and to see no 
 more? We-are.strangers, and_that.is.our .country...We 
 -_ are_heirs, and. that is.our inheritance; even an inherit- 
 ance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, 
 reserved in heaven for us.(1) Weare here in continual 
 distress and want, and there lies our substance; even. 
 a betier.and_an enduring substance.(m) Yea, the very 
 hope_of.. our_souls.is there; all our. -hope..of. from 
 our.distresses;,.all our hope.of happiness,.when-here we_ 
 are miserable;. all this hope.is laid up forus.in heaven.(n) 
 Why, beloved Christians, have we so much interest, and 
 so few thoughts there? so near relation, and so little 
 affection? Doth it become us to be delighted in the 
 company of strangers, so as to forget our Father and 
 our Lord? or tobe so well pleased with those that hate 
 and grieve us, as to forget our best and dearest friends? 
 or to be so fond of borrowed trifles, as to forget our 
 own possession and treasure? or to be so much im- 
 pressed with tears and wants, as to forget. our eternal 
 joy and rest? God usually pleads our property inus: and 
 thence concludes he will do us good, even because-we 
 are his own people, whom he hath.chosen out ot ali the 
 world. Why then do we not plead our interest in him, 
 and so raise our hearts above, even because he is our 
 own God, and because the place is cur own possession ? 
 Men commonly over-love and over-value their own 
 things, and mind them too much. O that we could 
 mind our own mheritance, and value it half as much 
 as it deserves! 
 
 § 18. (12) Once more, consider there is nothing but 
 heaven worth setting our hearts upon. If God have 
 them not, who shall? If thou mind not thy zest, what 
 wilt thou mind? Hast thou found out some other god? 
 
 (2) 1 Pee 4, (m) Heb. x. 34. (n) Col. i. 5. 
 Ts Ee 
 
t 
 
 218 IMPORTANCE OF LEADIFG A 
 
 or something that will serve thee instead ofrest? Hast 
 thou found on earth an eternal happiness? Where is it? 
 What is it made of? Who was the man that found it 
 out? Who was he that last enjoyed it? Where dwelt’ 
 he? What was his name? Orart thou the first that ever 
 discovered heaven on earth? Ah, wretch! trust not 
 to thy discoveries, boast not of thy gain till experience 
 bid thee boast. Disquiet not thyself, in looking for that 
 which is not on earth: lest thou learn thy experience 
 with the loss of thy soul, which thou mightest have 
 learned on easier terms; even by the warnings of God ~ 
 in his word, and the loss of thousands of souls before 
 thee. If Satan should take thee up to the mountain of 
 temptation, and show thee all the kingdoms of the 
 world, and the glory of them; he could show thee no- 
 thing that is worthy thy thoughts, much less to be pre- 
 ferred before thy rest. Indeed, so far as duty and ne- 
 cessity require it, we must be content to mind the things - 
 below: but who is he that contains:himself within the 
 compass of those limits? And yet if we ever so dili- 
 gently contract our cares and thoughts, we shall find the 
 least to be bitter and burdensome. Christians, see the 
 emptiness of all these things, and the preciousness of 
 the things above. If thy thoughts should, like the la- 
 borious bee, go over the world from flower to flower, 
 from creature to creature, they would bring no honey 
 or sweetness home, save what they gathered from their 
 relations to eternity. Though every truth of God is pre-. 
 cious, and ought to bedefended; yet even-all our study 
 of truth should be still in reference to our rest: for the. 
 observation is too true, ‘* that the lovers of controver- 
 sies in religion, have never been warmed with one spark 
 of the love of God.” And as for minding the “ affairs 
 of church and state;” so far as they illustrate the pro- 
 vidence of God, and tend to the settling of the gospel, 
 and the government of Christ, and consequently to the 
 saving our own souls, and those of our posterity, they 
 
 . are well worth our diligent observation: but these are 
 
 only their relations to eternity. Even ail our dealings 
 in the world, our buying and selling, our eating and 
 drinking, our building and marrying, our peace and 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 219 
 
 war, so far as they relate not to the life to come, but 
 tend only to the pleasing of the flesh, are not worthy 
 the frequent thoughts of a Christian. And now doth 
 not thy conscience say, that there is nothing but hea- 
 ven, and the way to it, that is worth thy minding? 
 
 § 19. Now, Reader, are these considerations weigh- 
 ty, or not? Have I proved it thy duty to keep thy 
 heart on things above, or have I not? If thou say, 
 Not, I am confident thou contradictest thy own con- 
 science. Ifthou acknowledge thyself convinced of the 
 duty, that very tongue of thine shall condemn thee, 
 and that confession be pleaded against thee, if thou 
 wilfully negiect such a confessed duty. Be thorough- 
 ly willing, and the work is more than half done. I have 
 now a few plain directions to give you for your help 
 in this’great work ; but, alas, it is in vain to mention 
 them, except you be willing to put them into practice. 
 However, [ will propose them to thee, and may the 
 Lord persuade thy heart to the work! 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Directions how to lead a heavenly Life upon Earth. 
 
 § 1. C1.) Hinderances to a heavenly lifermust be avoided; such as’ 
 § 2. (1) Living in any known sin; § 3. (2) An earthly mind? 
 § 4. (8) Ungodly companions; § 5. (4) A notional religion; 
 § 6. (5) A haughty spint; § 7. (6) A slothful spint; § 8. (7) 
 Resting in preparatives for a heavenly life, without the thing it- 
 self. §9,(I1.) The duties which will promote a heavenly life 
 are these: § 10. (1) Be convinced that heaven is the only trea- 
 sure and happiness; § 11, 12. (2) Labour to know your interest 
 
 _ in it; § 13. (8) And how near it is; § 14. (4) Frequently and 
 seriously talk of it; § 15. (5) Endeavour in every duty to raise 
 your affections nearer to it: § 16. (6) To the same purpose im- 
 prove every object and event; § 17. 18..(7) Be muchin the an- 
 gelical work of praise; § 19. (8) Possess your souls with be- - 
 lieving thoughts ofthe infinite love of God; § 20. (9) Carefully 
 observe and cherish the motions of the Spirit of God; § 21. (10) 
 Nor even neglect the due care of your bodily health. 
 
 § 1. As thou valuest the comforts of heavenly con- 
 
 versation, I must here charge thee from God, to 
 avoid carefully some dangerous hinderances; and then 
 
220 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A> 
 faithfully and diligently to practise such duties as will 
 
 especially.assist thee in attaining to a heavenly life— 
 
 And (1.) the hinderances to be avoided with all possible 
 care, are,—living in any known sin,—an earthly mind, 
 —the company of the ungodly,—a notional religion, 
 —a proud and lofty spirit,—a slothful spirit,—and - 
 resting in mere preparations for this heavenly life, 
 without any anquaintance with the thing itself. 
 
 § 2. (1) Living in any known sin, is a grand impedi- 
 ment to a heavenly conversation. What havock will 
 this make in thy soul! O the joys that this hath destroy- 
 ed! the ruin it hath made amongst men’s graces! The 
 soul-strengthening duties it hath hindered! Christian 
 Reader, art thou one that hath used violence with thy 
 conscience? Art thou a wilful neglecter of known du- 
 ties, either public, private, or secret ? Art thoua slave 
 to thine appetite, or to any other commanding sense? 
 Art thou a proud seeker of thing own esteem ? Art thou 
 a peevish and passionate person, ready to take fire at 
 
 every word, or look, or supposedslight? Art thou a de- 
 
 ceiver of others in thy dealings, or one that will be rich, 
 right or wrong? If this be thy case, I dare say heaven 
 and thy soul are very great strangers. ‘These beams in 
 thine eyes will not suffer thee to look to heaven; they 
 will be a cloud between thee and thy God. When thou 
 dost but attempt to study eternity, and gather comforts 
 
 _ from the life to come, thy sin will presently look thee 
 
 in the face, and say, ‘‘ These things belong not to thee. 
 How shouldest thou take comfort from heayen, who 
 takest so much pleasure in the lust of the flesh?” How — 
 will this damp thy joys, and make the thoughts of that 
 day and state become thy trouble, and not thy delight. 
 Every wilful sin will be to thy comforts, as water to the 
 fire; when thou thinkest to quicken them, this will 
 quench them. It will utterly indispose and disable thee, 
 that thou canst no more ascend in divine meditation 
 than a bird can fly when its wings are clipped. Sin cuts 
 the very sinews of this heavenly life. Oman! whata 
 life dost thou lose! What daily delights dost thou sell 
 for a vile lust! If heaven and hell can meet together, 
 and God become a lover of sin, then mayest thou live 
 
 oe 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 991 
 
 in thy sin, and in-the tastes of glory; and have a con- 
 versation in heaven, though thou cherish thy corrup- 
 tion. And take heed lest it banish thee from heaven, 
 as it does thy heart. And though thou be not guilty, 
 and knowest no reigning sin in thy soul, think what 
 a sad thing it would be, if ever this should prove thy 
 case. Watch, therefore; especially resolve to keep 
 from the occasions of sin, and out of the way of temp- 
 tations. What need have we daily to pray, Lead us 
 not into temptation, but deliver us from evil! 
 
 § 3. (2) An earthly mind is another hinderance care - 
 fully to be avvided. God and mammon, earth and hea- 
 ven, cannot both have the delight of thy heart. When 
 the heavenly believer is blessing himself in his God, and 
 rejoicing in hope of the glory to come; perhaps thou 
 art blessing thyself in thy worldly prosperity, and rejoic- 
 ing in hope of thy thriving here. When he is comfort- 
 ing hissoul in the views of Christ, of angels and saints, 
 whom he shall live with for ever, then thou art com- 
 forting thyself with thy wealth, in looking over thy 
 bills and bonds, thy goods, thycattle, orthy buildings, 
 and in thinking of the favour of the great, or the plea- 
 sure of a plentiful estate, of larger provision for thy 
 children after thee, of the advancement of thy family, 
 or the increase of thy dependents. If Christ pronounced 
 him a fool, that said, Soul, take thy ease, thou hast 
 enough laid up for many years; how much more so art 
 
 thou, who knowingly speakest in thy heart the same 
 
 words! ‘Tell me, what difference between this fool’s 
 expressions and thy affections? Remember, thou hast 
 to do with the Searcher of hearts. Certainly, so much 
 as thou delightest, and takest up thy rest on earth, so 
 much of thy delight in God is abated. Thine earthly 
 mind may consist with thy outward profession and com- 
 
 - mon duties; but it cannot consist with this heavenly 
 
 duty. Thou thyself knowest how seldom and cold, 
 how cursory and reserved, thy thoughts have been of 
 the joys above, ever since thou didst trade so eagerly 
 for the world. Othe cursed madness of many that seem 
 to be religious! They thrust themselves into a multitude 
 
a 
 
 299 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A 
 
 of employments, till they are so loaded with labours, 
 and clogged with cares, that their souls are as unfit to 
 converse with God, as a man to walk with a mountain 
 on his back; and as unapt to soar in meditation, as - 
 their bodies to leap above the sun. And. when they 
 have lost that heaven upon earth, which they might 
 have had, they take up with a few rotten arguments 
 to prove it lawful; though indeed they cannot. I ad- 
 vise thee, Christian, who hast tasted the pleasures of a 
 heavenly life, as ever thou wouldst taste of them any 
 more, avoid this devouring gulf of an earthly mind. 
 If once thou come to this, that thou wilt be rich, thou 
 fallest into temptation, and a snare, and into many  fool- 
 ash and hurtful lusts.(o) Keep these things loose about 
 thee, like thy upper garments, that thoumayestlay them 
 by whenever there is need; but let God and glory be 
 next thy heart. Ever remember, that the friendship of 
 the world is enmity with God. Whosoever, therefore, 
 will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God.(p) 
 Love not the world, neither the’ things that are in the 
 world. If any man love the world, the love of the Fa- 
 ther is not in him.(g) This is plain dealings; and hap- 
 py he that faithfully receives it! 
 
 § 4. (3) Beware of the company of the ungodly. Not 
 that I would dissuade thee from necessary converse, _ 
 or from doing them any office of love; especially not 
 from endeavouring the good of their souls, as long as 
 thou hast any opportunity or hope: nor would I have 
 thee to conclude them to be dogs and swine, in order 
 to evade the duty of reproof: nor even to judge them 
 such at all, as long as there is any hope for the better: 
 much less can I approve of their practice, who conclude 
 men dogs or swine, before ever they faithfully and 
 lovingly admonish them, or perhaps. before they have 
 
 -known them, or spoke with them. But it is the unne- 
 
 cesssary society of ungodly men, and too much famili- 
 arity with unprofitable companions, that I dissuade you 
 from. Not only the open profane, the swearer, the. 
 drunkard, and the enemies of godliness, will prove hurt- 
 
 (0) 1 Tim. vi. 9. (p) James iv. 4. (q) 1 John ii. 15. 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 223 
 
 ful companions to us, though these indeed are chiefly 
 to be avoided: but too frequent society with persons 
 merely civil and moral, whose conversation is empty 
 and unedifying, may much divert our thoughts from 
 heaven. Our backwardness is such, that we need 
 the most constant and powerful helps. A stone, or a 
 clod, is as fit to rise and fly in the air, as our hearts 
 are naturally to move toward heaven. You need not 
 hinder the rocks from flying up to the sky; it is suffi- 
 cient that you do not help them: and surely if our spirits 
 have not greatassistance, they may easily be kept from. 
 soaring upward, though they should never meet with 
 the least impediment. O think of this in the choice 
 of your company! When your spirits are so disposed for 
 heaven, that you need no help to lift them up, but, as 
 flames, youare always mounting, and carrying with you 
 all that is in your way, then indeed you may be less 
 careful of your company; but till then, as you love the 
 delights of a heavenly life, be careful herein. What 
 will it advantage thee in a divine life, to hear how the 
 market goes, or what the weather is, or is like to be, 
 ‘or what news is stirring? This is the discourse of earth- 
 ly men. What will it conduce to the raising thy heart 
 God-ward, to hear that this is an able minister, or 
 that an eminent Christian, or this an excellent sermon, 
 or that an excellent book, or to hear some difficult, but 
 unimportant controversy? Yet this, for the most part, 
 is the sweetest discourse thou art like to have from a 
 formal, speculative, dead-hearted professor. Nay, if 
 thou hadst newly been warming thy heart in the con- 
 templation of the blessed joys above, would not this 
 discourse benumb thy affections, and quickly freeze ~ 
 thy heart again? I appeal to the judgment of any man 
 that hath tried it, and maketh observations on the frame 
 of his spirit. Men cannot well talk of one thing, and 
 mind another, especially things of such different na- 
 tures. You, young men, who are most liable to this 
 temptation, think seriously of what I say; can you 
 have your hearts in heaven, among your roaring com- 
 panions in an alehouse or tavern?” or when you 
 work in your shops with those, whose common lan- 
 
224 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A 
 
 guage is oaths, filthiness, or foolish talking, or jest- 
 ing? Nay, let me tell you if you choose such com- 
 pany when you might have better, and find most de- 
 light in such, you are so far from heavenly conver- 
 sation, that as yet you have no title to heaven at all, 
 and in that state shall never come there. If your trea- 
 sure was there, your heart could not be on things so 
 distant. In a word, our company will bea part of 
 our happiness in heaven, and it is a singular part of 
 our furtherance to it, or hinderance from it. 
 
 § 5. (4) Avoid frequent disputes about lesser truths, 
 and a religion that lies only in opinions. They are 
 usually least acquainted with a heavenly life, who are 
 violent disputers about the circumstantials of religion. - 
 He, whose religion is all in his opinions, will be most 
 frequently and zealously speaking his opinions; and he 
 whose religion lies in the knowledge and love of God 
 and Christ, will be most delightfully speaking of that 
 happy time when he shall enjoy them. He is a-rare 
 and precious Christian, who is skilful to improve well- 
 known truths. Therefore let me advise you who aspire 
 after a heavenly life, not to spend too much of your 
 thoughts, your time, your zeal, or your speech, upon 
 disputes that less concern your souls; but when hypo- 
 crites are feeding on husks or shells, do you feed 
 on the joys above. [ wish you were able to defend 
 every truth of God, and to this end would read and 
 study; but still I would have the chief truths to be 
 chiefly studied, and none to cast out your thoughts 
 of eternity. The least controverted points are usually 
 most weighty, and of most necessary frequent use to 
 our souls. ‘Therefore study well such scripture pre- 
 cepts as these: Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, 
 but not to doubtful disputations.(r) Foolish and unlearned 
 questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And 
 the servant of the Lord must not strive.(s) Avoid foolish 
 questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings 
 about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain.{t) If 
 any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome 
 words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to 
 
 (r) Rom. xiv, 1, (s) 2 Tim. u, 28, 24. (é) Tit. ii. 9 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 925 
 
 the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, . 
 knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes — 
 of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil sur- 
 mising, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, 
 and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain ts godli- 
 ness: from such withdraw thyself.(u) . ; 
 § 6. (5) Take heed of a proud and lofty spirit.— 
 There is such an antipathy between this sin and God, 
 that thou wilt never get thy heart near him, nor get 
 him near thy heart, as long as this prevaileth in it. Ifit 
 cast the angels out of heaven, it must needs keep thy 
 heart from heaven. If it cast our first parents out of pa- 
 radise, and separated between the Lord and us, and 
 brought his curse on all the creatures here below; it 
 will certainly keep our hearts from paradise, and in- 
 crease the cursed separation from our God. Intercourse 
 with God will keep men low, and that lowliness will 
 promote their intercourse. When a man is used to be 
 much with God, and taken up in the study of his glori- 
 ous attributes, he abhors himself in dust and ashes; , 
 and that self-abhorrenceis his best preparative toobtain ~ 
 admittance to God again.—Therefore, after a soul- 
 humbling day, or in times of trouble, when the soul is 
 lowest, it useth to have freest access to God, and savour ° 
 most of the life above. The delight of God is in him 
 that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth-at his 
 word ;(v) and the delight of such a soul is in God; and 
 where there is mutual delight, there will be freest ad- 
 mittance, heartiest welcome,and most frequent con- 
 verse. But God isso far from dwelling in the soul that 
 is proud, that he will not admit it to any near access. 
 The proud he knoweth afar off.(w) God resisteth the proud, 
 and giveth grace to the humble.(v) A proud man is high 
 in conceit, self-esteem, and carnal aspiring; a humble 
 mind is high indeed in God’s esteem, and in holy aspir- 
 ing. These two sorts of high-mindedness are most of all 
 opposite to each other, as we see most warsare between 
 princes and princes, and not between a prince and a 
 
 (u) 2 Tim: vi. 3, 5. (v) Isa. Ixvi. 2. 
 (w) Psalm cxxxyiii. 6. (x) 1 Pet. v. 5. 
 Ff 
 
2296 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A. 
 
 plougman. Well then, art thou a man of worth in 
 thine own eyes? Art thou delighted when thou hearest 
 of thy esteem with men, and much dejected when thou 
 hearest that they slight thee? Dost thou love those best 
 that honour thee, and think meanly of them that do 
 not, though they be otherwise men of godliness and 
 honesty? Must thou have thy humours fulfilled, and 
 thy judgment be a rule, and thy word a law, to all 
 about thee? Are thy passions kindled, if thy word or 
 will be crossed? Art thou ready to judge humility to be 
 sordid baseness, and knowest not how to submit to 
 humble confession, when thou hast sinned against God, 
 or injured thy brother? Art thou one that lookest 
 ‘strange at the godly poor, and art almost ashamed to 
 be their companion; Canst thou not serve God ina 
 low place as wellas ahigh? Are thy boastings restrained 
 more by prudence or artifice than humility? Dost thou 
 desire to have all men’s eyes upon thee, and to hear 
 them say, This is he? Art thou unacquainted withthe 
 deceitfulness and wickedness of thy heart? Art thou 
 more ready to defend thy innocence, than accuse thy- 
 self or confess thy fault? Canst thouhardly beara close 
 Teproof, or digest plain dealing If these symptoms be 
 undeniable in thy heart, thou art a proud person. There 
 ‘Is too much of hell abiding in thee, to have any acquaint- 
 ance with heaven: 'thy soul is too like the devil, to have 
 any familiarity with God. A proud man makes himself 
 his god, and sets up himself as his idol: how then can 
 his affections be set on God? How can he possibly have 
 his heart in heaven? Inventions and memory may pos- 
 ‘sibly furnish his tongue with humble and heavenly ex- 
 pressions, but in his spirit there is no more heaven than 
 there is humility. I speak the more ofit, because it is 
 the ‘most common and dangerous sin in morality, and 
 most promotes the great sin of infidelity. O Christian 
 if thou wouldst live continually in the presence of thy 
 Lord, lie inthe dust, and he will thence take thee up 
 Learn of him to be meek and lowly, and thou shalt find 
 rest unto thy soul.(y) -Otherwise thy soul will be dike 
 
 (y) Mat. xi, 29. 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 227 
 
 the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up 
 mire and dirt ;(=) and instead of these sweet delights in 
 God, thy pride will fill thee with perpetual disquiet. 
 As he that humbleth himself asa little child shall 
 hereafter be greatest in the kingdom of heaven,(a) so 
 shall he now be greatest in the foretastes of it. God 
 dwells with a contrite and humble spirit, to revive 
 the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of 
 the contrite ones.(6) Therefore humble yourselves 
 in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.(c) 
 And when others are cast down, then thou shalt 
 say, there is lifting up, and he shall save the humble 
 
 rson.(d) . 
 
 § 7.(6) A slothful spirit is another impediment to 
 this heavenly life. And I verily think, there is nothing 
 hinders it more than this in men ofa good understand- 
 ing. Ifit were only the exercise of the body, the mov- 
 ing of the lips, the bending of the knee, men would as 
 commonly step to heaven, as they go to visit a friend. 
 But to separate our thoughts and affections from the 
 world, to draw forth all our graces, and increase each 
 in its proper object, and hold them to it till the work 
 prospers in our hands, this, this is the difficulty. Rea- 
 der, heaven is above thee, and dost thou think to tra- 
 vel this steep ascent without labour and resolution? 
 Canst thou get that earthly heart to heaven, and bring 
 that backward mind to God, whilst thou liest still and 
 takest thine ease? If lying down at the foot of the hill, 
 and looking toward the top, and wishing we were 
 there, would serve the turn, then we should have daily 
 travellers for heaven. But the kingdom of heaven suffereth 
 violence, and the violent take it by force..(e) There must 
 be violence used to get these first fruits, as well as to 
 get the full possession. Dost thou not feel it so, though 
 I should not tell thee? Will thy heart get upwards ex- 
 cept thou drive it? Thou knowest that heaven is all thy 
 hope, that nothing below can yield thee rest; that a 
 heart, seldom thinking of heaven, can fetch but little 
 
 (2) Isa. lyn. 20. (a) Matt. xviii. 4 (8) Isa. lyn. 15 
 (c) James iv,, 10. (d) Job xxii. 29 (e) Matt. xi 13. 
 
298 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A 
 
 comfort thence; and yet dost thou not lose thy oppor- 
 tunities, and lie below, when thou shouldest walk above, 
 and live with God? Dost thou not commend the sweet- 
 ness ofa heavenly life, and judge those the best Chris- 
 tians that use it, and yet never try it thyself? As the 
 sluggard that stretches himself on his bed, and cries, O 
 that this were working! so dost thou talk, and trifle, 
 
 - and live at ease, and say, O that I could get my heart 
 
 to heaven! How many read books, and hear sermons 
 expecting to hear of some easier way, or to meet with 
 a shorter course to comfort, than they are ever like to 
 find in scripture! Or they ask for directions fora hea- 
 venly life, and if the hearing them will serve, they will 
 be heavenly Christians; but if we show them their 
 work, and tell them they cannot have these delights 
 on easier terms, then they leave us, as the young man 
 left Christ, sorrowful. If thou art convinced, Reader, 
 that this work is necessary to thy comfort, set upon it 
 resolutely: if thy heart draw back, force it on with the 
 command of reason; if thy reason begin to dispute, pro- 
 duce the command of God, and urge thy own necessity, 
 with the other considerations suggested in the former 
 chapter. Let not such an incomparable treasure lie be- 
 fore thee, with thy hand in thy bosom, nor thy life be- 
 a continual vexation, when it might be a continual feast, 
 only because thou wilt not exert thyself. Sit not still 
 with a disconsolate spirit, while comforts grow before 
 thine eyes, like a man in the midst of a garden"of 
 flowers, that will not rise to get them, and partake of 
 their sweetness. This I know, Christ is the fountain: 
 but the well is deep, and thou must get forth this water 
 before thou canst be refreshed with it. I know, so far as 
 you are spiritual, you need not all this striving and vio- 
 lence; butin part you are carnal, and as longas it is 
 so there is need of labour. It was a custom of the 
 Parthians, not to give their children any meat in the 
 morning before they saw the sweat on their faces with’ 
 some labour. And you shall find this to be God’s usual 
 course, not to give his children the tastes of his de- 
 lights till they begin to sweat in seeking after them:— 
 
 _ Judge, therefore, whether a heavenly life, or thy carnal 
 
~ 
 
 HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 229 
 
 ease, be better; and, as a wise man, make thy choice 
 accordingly. Yea, let me add for thy encouragement— 
 Thou needest not employ thy thoughts more than thou 
 now dost; it is only to fix them upon better and more 
 pleasant objects. Employ but asmany serious thoughts 
 every day upon the excellent glory of the life to come, 
 as thou now dost upon worldly affairs, yea, on vanities 
 and impertinences, and thy heart will soon be at hea- 
 ven. On the whole, it is the field of the slothful that is 
 all grown over with thorns and nettles ; and the desire of the 
 slothful killeth his joy, for his hands refuse to labour: and 
 it is the slothful man that saith, theres a lion in the way, a 
 lion is in the streets. As the door turneth upon its hinges, 
 So doth. the slothful upon his bed. The slothful hideth his 
 hand in his bosom ; it grieveth him to bring it again to his 
 mouth,( f) though it be to feed himself with the food 
 of life. What is this but throwing away our con- 
 solations, and consequently the precious blood that 
 bought them? for he that is slothful in his work is bro- 
 ther to him that is a great waster.(g¢) Apply this to thy 
 spiritual work, and study well the meaning of it. 
 
 § 8. (7) Contentment with the mere preparatives to 
 this heavenly life, while we are utter. strangers to the 
 life itself, is also a dangerous and secret hinderance. 
 When we take up with the mere study of heavenly 
 things, and the notions of them, or the talking with 
 one another about them; as if this were enough to 
 make us heavenly. None are in more danger of this 
 snare than those that are employed in leading the de- 
 votions of others, especially preachers of the gospel.— 
 O how easily may such be deceived! While they do 
 nothing so much as read, and study of heaven; preach 
 and pray, and talk of heaven; is not this the heavenly 
 life? Alas! all this is but mere preparation: this is but 
 collecting the materials, not erecting the building itself. 
 ‘It is but gathering the manna for others, and not eating 
 and digesting it ourseives. As he that sits at home 
 
 (f) Prov. xxiv. 30, 31. xxi, 25, xxvi. 13—15_ 
 (g) Prov. xviii. 9. 
 
230 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A 
 
 may draw exact maps of countries, and yet never see 
 them, nor travel toward them; so you may describe 
 to others the joys of heaven, and yet never come near 
 it in your own hearts. A blind man, by learning, may 
 dispute of light and colours; so may you set forth to 
 others that heavenly light, which never enlightened 
 your own souls, and bring that fire from the hearts of 
 your people, which never warmed your own hearts. — 
 What heavenly passages had Balaam m his prophecies, 
 yet how little of it in his spirit! Nay, we are under a 
 more subtle temptation, than any other men, to draw 
 us from this heavenly life. Studying and preaching of 
 heaven more resembles a heavenly life, than thinking 
 and talking of the world does; and the resemblance is 
 apt to deceive us. This is to die the most miserable 
 death, even to famish ourselves, because we have 
 bread on our tables; and to die for thirst, while we 
 draw “water for others, thinking it enough that we 
 have daily to do with it, though we never drink for 
 the refreshment of our own souls. 
 
 § 9. II.) Having thus showed thee what hinder- 
 ances will resist thee in the work, I expect that thou 
 resolve against them, consider them seriously, and avoid 
 them faithfully, or elsé thy labour will be in vain. I 
 must also tell thee, that I here expect thy promise, as 
 thou valuest the delights of these foretastes of heaven, 
 to make conscience of performing the following duties ; 
 the reading of which, without their constant practi¢e, 
 will not bring heaven unto thy heart. Particularly,—- 
 be convinced that heaven is the only treasure and hap- 
 piness ;—labour to know that it is thy own,—and how 
 near it is;—frequently and seriously talk of it;—en- 
 deavour to raise thy affections nearer to if in every 
 duty ;—to the same purpose improve every object and 
 event ;—be much in the angelical work of praise ;— 
 possess thy soul with believing thoughts of the infinite 
 ove of God ;—carefully observe and cherish the mo- 
 tions of the Spirit of God ;—nor even neglect the due 
 care of thy bodily health. 
 
 § 10. (1) Be convinced that heaven is the only trea- 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 231 
 
 sure and happiness, and labour to know what a trea- 
 sure and happiness it is. If thou do not believe it to be 
 the chief good, thou wilt never set thy heart upon it; 
 and this conviction must sink into thy affections; for 
 if it be only a notion, it will have little efficacy. If Eve 
 once supposes she sees more worth in the forbidden 
 fruit, than in the love and enjoyment of God, no 
 wonder if it have more of her heart than God. If your 
 judgment once prefer the delights of the flesh before ~ 
 the delights of the presence of God, it is impossible 
 your heart should be in heaven. As it is ignorance of 
 the emptiness of the things below that makes men so 
 overvalue them; so it is ignorance of the high delights 
 above, which is the cause that men so little mind them. 
 If you see a purse of gold, and believe it to be but 
 counters, it will not entice your affections to it. It is 
 
 not the real excellence ofa thing itself, but its known 
 
 excellence, that excites desire. If an ignorant man see 
 a book containing the secrets of arts or sciences, he 
 values it no more than a common piece, because he 
 knows not what is in it; but he that knows it, highly 
 values it, and can even forbear his meat, drink, and 
 sleep, to read it. As the Jews killed the Messiah, while 
 they waited for him, because they did not know him; 
 so the world cries out for rest, and busily seeks for 
 delight and happiness, because they know it not; for 
 did they thoroughly know what itis, they could not 
 so slight the everlasting treasure. | 
 
 § 11. (2) Labour also to know that heaven is thy 
 own happiness. We may confess heaven to be the best 
 condition, though we despair of enjoying it; and we 
 may desire and seek it, if we see the attainment but 
 probable; but we can never delightfully rejoice in it, 
 till we are in some measure persuaded of our title to it. 
 
 What comfort is it toa man:that is naked to see the 
 
 rich attire of others! What delight is it fora man that 
 hath not a house to put hishead in, to see the sumptu- 
 ous buildings of others! ‘Would not all this rather in- 
 crease his anguish, and make him more sensibie of his 
 own misery? So fora:man to know the excellencies of 
 heaven, and not ‘know whether ever he shall enjoy 
 
. 252 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A 
 
 them, may raise desire and urge pursuit, but he will 
 have little joy. Who will set his heart‘on another man’s 
 possessions? If your houses, your goods, your cattle 
 your children, were not your own, you would less mind 
 them, and less delight in them. O Christian! rest not, 
 therefore, till you can call this rest yourown: bring thy 
 heart to the bar of trial: set the qualifications of the 
 saints on one side, and of thy soul on the other, and 
 then judge how near they resemble. Thou hast the 
 same word to judge thyself by now, as thou must be 
 judged by at the greatday. Mistake not the scripture’s 
 description of a saint, that thou neither acquit nor con- 
 demn thyself upon mistakes. For as groundless hopes 
 tend to confusion, and are the greatest cause of most 
 men’s damnation; so groundless doubts tend to and are 
 the great cause of the saint’s perplexity and distress. 
 Therefere lay thy foundation for trial safely, and pro- 
 ceed in the work deliberately and resolutely, nor give 
 over till thou canst say, either thou hast, or hast not 
 yet, a title to thisrest. O! if men did truly know, that. 
 God is their own Father, and Christ their own Re- | 
 deemer and Head, and that those are their own ever- 
 lasting habitations, and that there they must abide and 
 be happy for ever; how could they choose but be trans- 
 ported with the fore-thoughts thereof! Ifa Christian 
 could but look upon sun, moon, or stars, and reckon 
 all his own in Christ and say, These are the blessings 
 that my Lord hath procured me, and things incompa- 
 rably greater than these, what holy raptures would 
 his spirit feel! ‘ 
 § 12. The more do they sin against their own com- 
 forts, as well as against the grace of the gospel, who 
 plead for their unbelief, and cherish distrustful thoughts 
 of God, and injurious thoughts of their Redeemer; who 
 represent the covenant, as if it were of works, and not 
 of grace; and Christ as an enemy, rather than a Sa- 
 viour; as if he were willing they shouid die in their 
 unbelief, when he hath invited them so often, and so 
 affectionately, and suffered the agonies that they 
 should suffer. Wretches that we are! to be keeping up 
 jealousies of our Lord, when we should be rejoicing 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 233 
 
 in his love. As if any man could choose Christ, be- 
 fore Christ hath chosen him; or any man were more 
 willing to be happy, than Christ is to make him hap- 
 py- Away with these injurious, if not blasphemous, 
 thoughts! If ever thouhast harboured such thoughts 
 in thy breast, cast them from thee, and take heed how. 
 thou ever entertainest them more. God hath written 
 the names of his people in heaven, as you use to write 
 your names or marks on your goods; and shall we 
 be attempting to raze them out, and to write our 
 names on the doors of hell? But blessed be God, whose 
 foundation standeth sure ;(h) and who. keepeth us by his 
 power through faith unto salvation.(t) 
 
 § 13. (3) Labour to apprehend how near thy rest is. 
 What we think near at hand, we are more sensible of 
 than that which we behold at a distance. When judg- 
 ments or mercies are afar off, we talk of them with 
 little concern, but when they draw close to us, we 
 tremble at or rejoice in them. This makes men think 
 on heaven so insensibly, because they conceit it at too 
 great a distance; they look on it as twenty, thirty, 
 
 _ or forty years off. How much better were it to re- 
 ceive the sentence of death in ourselves,(k) and to look on 
 eternity as near at hand! While I am thinking and 
 writing of it, it hasteth near, and I am even entering 
 into it before I am aware. While thou art reading 
 this, whoever thou art, time posteth on, and’ thy life 
 will be gone as a tale that is told. If you verily 
 believed you should die to-morrow, how seriously 
 would you think of heaven to-night! When Samuel 
 had told Saul, To-morrow shalt thou be with me; this 
 struck him to the heart. And if Christ should say to 
 a believing soul, To-morrow shalt thou be with me, 
 this would bring him in spirit to heaven before-hand. 
 Do but suppose that you are still entering into heaven, 
 and it will greatly help you more seriously to mind it. 
 
 § 14, (4) Let thy eternal rest be the subject of thy 
 frequent serious discourse; especially with those that 
 can-speak from their hearts, and are seasoned them- 
 
 (t) Timii19 1 Petri 5. «= BCori. 9. 
 8. Ge¢g 
 
934 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A. 
 
 selves with a heavenly nature. It is pity Christians 
 should ever meet together, without some talk of their 
 meeting in heaven, or of the way to it, before they 
 part.—lIt is pity so much time is spent in vain conver- 
 sation, and useless disputes, and not a serious word 
 ofheaven among them. Methinks we should meet to- 
 gether on purpose to warm our spirits with discours- 
 ing of our rest. To hear a Christian set forth that bless- 
 ed glorious state, with life and power, from the pro- 
 mises of the gospel, methinks should make us say, 
 Did not our hearts burn within us, while he opened to us the 
 scripture ?(1) Ifa Felix will tremble, when he hears his 
 judgment powerfully represented, why should not the - 
 believer be revived, when he hears his eternal rest de- 
 scribed? Wicked men can be delighted in talking to- 
 gether of their wickedness; and should not Christians 
 then be delighted in talking of Christ; and the heirs — 
 of heaven, in talking of their inheritance? This may 
 make our hearts revive, as it did Jacob’s to © hear the 
 message that called him to Goshen, and to see the cha- 
 riots that should bring him to Joseph. O that we were 
 furnished with skill and resolution, to turn the stream 
 of men’s common discourse to these more sublime and 
 precious things! and, when men begin to talk of things 
 unprofitable, that we could tell how to put in a word 
 for heaven, and say, as Peter of his bodily food, Not 
 so, for I have never eaten any thing that is common 
 or unclean! O the good that we might both do-and re- 
 ceive by this course! Had it not been to deter us from 
 unprofitable conversation, Christ would not have talked 
 of our giving an account of every idle word im the day of 
 judgment.(m) Say then as the Psalmist, when you are 
 in company, Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
 mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.(n) 
 Then you shall find it true, that a wholesome tongue is 
 a tree of life.{o) ‘ 
 
 § 15. (5) Endeavour in every duty to raise thy affec- 
 tions nearer to heaven. God’s end in the institution 
 of his ordinances, was, that they should be asso many 
 
 (2) Luke xxiv. 32. (m) Matt. xu. 36. 
 (n) Psalm. cxxxvii. 6. ° (0) Prov. xv. 4. 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 235 
 
 steps to advance us to our rest, and by which, in subor- 
 dination to Christ, we might daily ascend in our affec- 
 tions. Let this be thy end in using them, and doubt- 
 less they wil! not be unsuccessful. How have you been 
 rejoiced by a few lines from a friend, when you could 
 not see him face to face! And may we not have 
 intercourse with God in his ordinances, though our 
 persons be yet so far remote? May not our spirits re- 
 joice in reading those lines, which contain our legacy 
 and charter for heaven? With what gladness and tri- 
 umph may we read the expressions of divine love, and 
 hear of our celestial country, though we have not yet the 
 - happinessic beholdit! Men that are separated by sea 
 and land, can by letters carry on great and gainful trades; 
 and may not a Christian, in the wise improvement of 
 duties, drive on this happy trade for rest? Come, then, 
 renounce formality, custom, and applause, and kneel 
 down in secret or public prayer, with hope to get 
 thy heart nearer to God before thou risest up. When 
 thou openest thy Bible, or other book, hope to meet 
 with some passage of divine truth, and such blessing of 
 the Spirit with it, as will give thee a fuller taste of hea- 
 ven. When thou art going to the house of God, say, 
 “I hope to meet with somewhat from God, to raise my 
 affections, before I return; I hope the Spirit will give 
 me the meeting, and sweeten my heart with those ce- 
 lestial delights; I hope Christ will appear to me in that 
 way, and shine about me. with light from heaven; let 
 me hear his instructing and reviving voice, and cause 
 the scales to fall from my eyes, that I may see more of 
 that glory than I ever yet saw. L hope, before I return, 
 my Lord will bring my heart within the view of rest, 
 and set it before his Father's presence, that I may re- 
 turn, as the shepherds from the heavenly vision, glori- 
 fying and praising God for all the thingsI have heard 
 and seen.” When the Indians first-saw that the Eng- 
 lish could converse together by letters, they thought 
 there was some spirit enclosed in them. So would 
 by-standers. admire, when Christians have communion 
 with God in duties, what there is in those scriptures, 
 - in that sermon, in this prayer, that fills their hearts so 
 
\ 
 | 
 | 
 I. 
 | 
 
 236 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A 
 
 full of joy, and so transports them abeve themselves. 
 Certainly God would not fail us in our duties, if we 
 did not fail ourselves. Remember, therefore, always 
 
 to pray for your minister, that God would put some 
 
 divine message into his mouth, which may leave a 
 heavenly relish upon your spirit. testy 
 § 16. (6) Improve every object, and every event, t 
 mind thy soul of its approaching rest. As all provi- 
 dences and creatures are means to our rest, so they 
 point us to that, as their end. God’s sweetest dealings 
 with us at the present would not be half so sweet as they 
 are, if they did not intimate some farther sweetness. — 
 
 : Thou takest but the bare earnest, and overlookest the 
 
 thain sum, when thou receivest thy mercies, and forget- 
 ést thy crown. O that Christians were skilful in this 
 art! You can open your Bibles; learn to open the vo- 
 lumes of creation and providence, to read there also 
 of God and glory. Thus we might have a fuller taste 
 of Christ and heaven in every common meal, than most 
 men have ina sacrament. If thou prosper in the world, 
 let it make thee more sensible of thy perpetual pros- 
 perity. If thou art weary with labour, let it make the 
 thoughts of thy eternal rest more sweet. If things go 
 cross, let thy desires be more earnest to have sorrows 
 and sufferings for ever cease. Is thy body refreshed: 
 with food or sleep? remember the inconceivable re- 
 freshment with Christ. Dost thou hear any good news? 
 remember what glad tidings it will be to hear the trump - 
 of God, and the applauding sentence of Christ. Art 
 thou delighted with the society of the saints? remem- 
 
 _ber what the perfect society in heaven will be. Is God 
 
 communicating himself to thy spirit? remember the 
 time of thy highest advancement, when both thy edm- 
 muiion and joy shall be full. Dost thou hear the raging 
 noise of the wicked, and the confusions of the world? 
 think of the blessed harmony in heaven. Dost thou 
 hear the tempest of war? remember the day when thou 
 shalt be in perfect peace, under the wings of the Prince 
 of Peace for ever. Thus every condition, and creature, 
 affords: us advantages for a heavenly life, if we had 
 but hearts to improve them. 
 
HEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 237 
 
 § 17. (7) Be much in the evangelical work of praise. 
 The more heavenly the employment, the more it will 
 make the spirit heavenly. Praising God is the work 
 of angels and saints in heaven, and will be our own 
 everlasting work; and if we were more in it now, we 
 should be liker to what we shall be then. As desire, 
 faith, and hope, are of shorter continuance than love 
 and joy; so also preaching, prayer, and sacraments, 
 
 and all means for expressing and confirming our faith 
 _ and hope, shall cease, when our triumphant expres- 
 sions of love and joy shall abide for ever. The liveliest 
 emblem of heaven that I know upon earth, is, when 
 
 the people of God, in the deep sense of his excellency 
 and bounty, from hearts abounding with love and joy, 
 join together both in heart and voice, in the cheerful 
 and melodious singing of his praises. These delights, 
 like the testimony of the Spirit, witness themselves to 
 be of God, and bring the evidences of their heavenly 
 parentage along with them. 
 § 18. Little do we know how we wrong ourselves, ~ 
 by shutting out of our prayers the praises of God, or 
 allowing them so narrow a room as we usually do, 
 _while we are copious enough in our confessions and. 
 petitions. Reader, I entreat thee remember this; let 
 praises have a larger room in thy duties: keep matter 
 ready at hand to feed thy praise, as well as matter for 
 confession and petition. To this end, study the ex- 
 cellencies and goodness of the Lord, as frequently as 
 thy own wants and unworthiness; the mercies thou 
 hast received, and those which are promised, as often 
 as the sins thou hast committed. Praise is comely for 
 the upright. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth God. Praise 
 ye the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises unto his 
 name, for it is pleasant.(p) Let us offer the sacrifice of 
 praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, 
 giving thanks to his name.(g) Had not David a most 
 heavenly spirit, who was so much in this heavenly 
 work? Doth it not sometimes raise our hearts, when 
 we only read the song of Moses, and the psalms of 
 
 (p) Psalm xxxiii. 1, 1.23. cxxy.5. (g) Heb. xiii. 15. 
 
238 DIRECTIONS HOW: TO LEAD A 
 
 David? How much more would it raise’and refresh 
 us, to be skilful and frequent in the work ourselves! 
 O the madness of youth, that lay out their vigour of. 
 body and mind upon vain delights and fleshly lusts, 
 which is so unfit for the noblest work of man! And, — 
 O the sinful folly of many of the saints, who drench 
 their spirits in continual sadness, and waste their days 
 incomplaints and groans, and so make themselves both 
 in body and mind unfit for this sweet and heavenly 
 work! Instead of joining with the people of God in 
 his praises, they are questioning their worthiness, in 
 studying their miseries, and so rob God of his glory, 
 and themselves of their consolation. But the greatest 
 destroyer of our comfort in this duty, is our taking up 
 with the tune and melody, and suffering the heart to be 
 idle, which ought to perform the principal part of the 
 work, and use the melody to revive and exhilarate itself. 
 § 19. (8) Ever keep thy soul possessed with be- 
 lieving thoughts ofthe infinite love of God. Love 
 is.the attractive..of love.. Few so vile, but will-love 
 those that love them. No doubt it is the death of 
 our heavenly life, to have hard thoughts of God, to 
 conceive..of him.as.one.that.would rather damn.than 
 save.us,.....Lhis..is.ta.put.the blessed.God.into the. simi- 
 litude.of. Satan. When our, ignorance and unbelie 
 have drawn_the most deformed.picture.of-God in our 
 imaginations, then we complain that we cannot love 
 him, nor, delight in him. This is the case of many 
 thousand Christians. Alas, that we should thus blas- 
 pheme God, and blast our own joys! Scripture assures 
 us that God is love ;(r) that fury is not in him ;(s) that he 
 hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the 
 wicked turn from his way and live.(t) Much more hath 
 he testified his love to his chosen, and his full resolu- 
 tion to save them. QO that we could always think of 
 God, as we.do ofa friend! | as of one that unfeignedly 
 loves us, eyen_more than we do ourselyes; whose 
 very heart. is set upon us to do us good, and hath 
 therefore provided for us an everlasting dwelling with 
 
 (r) John iv. 16. (s) Isa. xxvil. 4. (t) Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 
 
WEAVENLY LIFE UPON EARTH. 289 
 
 himself! it would not then be so hard to have our 
 hearts ever with him! Where we love most heartily, 
 we shall think most sweetly, and most freely. I fear 
 most Christians think higher of the love of a hearty 
 friend than of the love of God; and what wonder then 
 if they love their friends better than God, and trust 
 them more tonfidently than God, and had rather live 
 with them than with God. 
 
 § 20. (9) Carefully observe and cherish the.motions 
 of the Spirit_of God. If ever thy..soul.get above.this 
 earth, and get. acquainted with this heavenly. life, the 
 Spirit of God must.be.to.thee,.asthe chariot, to. Elijah; 
 yea the very living principle by which thou must 
 move and ascend. O then grieve not thy guide, quench 
 not thy life, knock not off thy chariot wheels! You 
 little think how much the life of all-your graces, and 
 the happiness of your souls, depend upon your ready 
 and cordial obedience to the Spirit. When the Spirit 
 urges thee to secret prayer, or forbids thee thy known 
 transgressions, or points out to thee the way in which 
 thou shouldst go, and thou wilt not regard; no wonder 
 if heaven and thy soulbe strange. If. 
 follow..the..Spirit, whileit.would draw thee to Christ 
 and thy duty; how.should. its lead thee to heaven, and 
 
 ce of God? What. su- 
 pernatural help, what bold TN: shall the soul find 
 in its approaches to the Almighty, that constantly 
 obeys the Spirit! And how backward, how dull, how 
 ashamed, will he be in these advacues. who hath often 
 him!—Christian Reader, dost_thou not-feel-sometimes 
 a_strong impression.to retire from the world, and 
 draw _near_to.God? Do not disobey, but take the 
 offer, and hoist up thy sails while this blessed gale may 
 be had. The more.of the Spirit we resist, the deeper 
 will it wound; and the more we obey, the speedier 
 will be our pace. 
 
 § 21. (10) I advise thee, as a farther help to this 
 heavenly life, not to neglect the due care of thy bo- 
 dily health. Thy body is a useful servant, if thou 
 give it its due, and no more than its due; but it isa 
 
 / 
 
240 DIRECTIONS HOW, ETC. 
 
 most devouring tyrant, if thou suffer it to have what 
 it unreasonably desires; and it is as a blunted knife, 
 if thou unjustly deny it what is necessary to its sup- 
 port. When we consider how frequently men offend 
 on both extremes, and how few use their bodies aright, 
 we cannot wonder if they be much hindered in their - 
 converse with heaven. Most men are slaves to their 
 appetite, and can scarce deny any thing to the flesh, 
 and are therefore willingly carried by it to their sports, 
 or profits, or vain companions, when they should raise 
 their minds to God and heaven. As you love your 
 souls, “‘ make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the 
 lusts thereof ; (uw) but remember, “ to be carnally mind- 
 ed is death; because the carnal mind is enmity against 
 God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither 
 indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh can- 
 not please God. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, 
 not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live 
 after the flesh ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit 
 do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”(w) 
 There are a few, who much hinder their heavenly joy, 
 by denying the body its necessaries, and so making it 
 unable to serve them: if such wronged their flesh only, 
 it would be no great matter; but they wrong their 
 souls also; as he that spoils the house injures the 
 inhabitants. 'When the body is sick, and the spirits 
 - languish, how heavily do we move in the thoughts 
 and joys of heaven! 
 
 (u) Rom. xiii. 14. (w) Rom. viii 6—8, 12, 13. 
 
THE NATURE OF, ECT. 241 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 The Nature of heavenly Contemplation; with the Time, 
 Place, and Temper, fittest for it. 
 
 § 1. The duty of heavenly contemplation is recommended to the 
 reader, § 2, and defined. § 3-—6. (1.) The definition is illustrated _ 
 § 7, (I1.) The time fittest for it is represented, as § 8, (1) stated ; 
 § 9—12, (2) frequent; § 13, and (3) seasonable every day, par- 
 ticularly every Lord’s day; § 14—17, but more especially when 
 our hearts are warmed with a sense of divine things; or when we 
 are afflicted, or tempted; or when we are near death, § 18. (IIT) 
 The fittest place for it, is the most retired ; § 19, (1V.) And the 
 fittest temper for it is, § 23 (1) when our minds are most. clear 
 of the world, § 21 (2) and most solemn and serious, 
 
 §1. Oncz more IJ entreat thee, Reader, as thou 
 makest conscience of a revealed duty, and darest 
 not wilfully resist the spirit; as_thou valuest the 
 high delights of a saint, andthe soul-ravishir reise - 
 of heavenly contemplation. ;.that. thou. diligently..stu- 
 dy, and speedily. and. faithfully. practice...the.follow= 
 ing directions. If, by this means, thou dost not find 
 an increase of all thy graces, and dost not grow beyond 
 the stature of common Christians, and art not made 
 more serviceable in thy place, and more precious in the 
 eyes of all discerning persons, if thy soul enjoy not 
 more communion with God, and thy life be not fuller 
 of comfort, and hast it not readier by thee at a dying 
 hour; then cast away these directions, and exclaim 
 against me for ever as a deceiver, 
 
 § 2. The duty which I press upon thee so earnestly, 
 and in the practice of which I am now to direct thee, 
 is, The set and solemn acting of all the powers of thy soul 
 
 n meditation upon thy everlasting rest. More fully to 
 explain the nature of this duty, I will here illustrate a 
 little the description itself,—then point out the fittest 
 time, place, and temper of ate for it. 
 
 8, 
 
942 THE NATURE OF HEAVENLY 
 
  § 3.(1.) It is not improper to illustrate a little the 
 manner in which we have described this duty of me- 
 ditation, or the considering and contemplating of spi- 
 ritual things. It is confessed to be a duty by all, but 
 practically denied by most. Many that make con- 
 science of other duties, easily neglect this. They are 
 troubled if they omit a sermon, a fast, or a prayer in 
 public or private, yet were never troubled that they 
 
 have gmitted meditation, perhaps all their life-time to 
 this very day; though ite that duty gach 9 
 other. duties are improved, and by which the soul di- 
 
 gesteth truths for its nourishment and comfort. It was 
 God's command to Joshua, This book of the law shall not 
 depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day 
 and night, that thou mayest.observe to do according to all 
 that is written therein.(v) As digestion turns food into 
 chyle and blood, for vigorous health; so meditation 
 turns the truths received and remembered into warm 
 affection, firm resolution, and holy conversation, ‘ 
 
 § 4. This meditation is the acting of all the powers 
 of the soul. It is the work of the living, and not of 
 the dead. It.is a work of all others the most spiritual 
 and sublime, and therefore not to be well performed 
 by a heart that is merely carnal and earthly. ‘They 
 must necessarily have some relation to heaven, before 
 they can familiarly converse there. I suppose them to 
 
 be such as-have-atitleto-rest- 
 rejoice..in-the.meditation.ofiest And supposing.thee 
 to_be a_Christian, .am_now. ino t 
 
 active Christian. And’ it is the work of the soul IT am 
 setting thee to; for bodily exercise doth here profit but 
 little. And it must have a of the to 
 distinguish it from the common meditation of students: 
 for the understanding is not the whole soul, and there- 
 fore cannot do the whole work. As in the body, the 
 stomach must turn the food into chyle, and prepare for 
 the liver, the liver and spleen turn it into blood, and 
 prepare for the heart and brain ; so in the soul, the un- 
 derstanding must take in the truths, and prepare them for 
 
 (x) Joshuai. 8. 
 
CONTEMPLATION CONSIDERED. 943, 
 
 the will, and that for the affections. Christ and hea- 
 ven have various excellencies, and therefore God hath 
 formed.the soul with different powers for apprehending 
 those excellencies. What the better had we been for 
 odoriferous flowers, if we had no smell; or what good 
 would language or music have done us, if we could not 
 hear? or what pleasure should we have found in meats 
 and drinks, without the sense of taste? So what good 
 could ail the glory of heaven have done us, or what 
 pleasure should we have had in the perfection of God 
 himself, if we had been without the affections of love 
 and joy? And what strength or sweetness canst thou 
 possibly receive by thy meditations on eternity, while 
 thou dost not exercise those affections of the soul, by 
 which thou must be sensible of this sweetness and 
 strength: It is the mistake of Christians, to think 
 that meditation is only the work of the understanding 
 and memory ; when every school-boy can do this, or 
 persons that hate the things which they think on. So 
 that you see there is no more to be done, that barely to 
 remember and think of heaven: as some labours not 
 only stir a hand or a foot, but exercise the whole 
 body, so doth meditation the whole soul. As the af- 
 fections of sinners are set on the world, are. turned to 
 idols, and fallen from God, as well as their under- 
 standing; so must their affections be reduced to God, 
 as well as the understanding; and as their whole soul 
 was filled with sin before, so the whole must be filled 
 with God now. See David’s description of the blessed 
 man, His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his 
 law doth he meditate day and night.(y) 
 
 § 5. This meditation is set and solemn. . As there 
 is solemn prayer, when we set ourselves wholly to that 
 duty ; and ejaculatory prayer, when in the midst of 
 other business we send up some short request to God: 
 so also there is solemn meditation, when we apply our- 
 selves wholly to that work? and transcient meditation, 
 when in the midst of other business we have some 
 good thoughts of God in our minds. And as a solemn 
 
 (y) Psalm i. 2 
 
244 . THE NATURE OF HEAVENLY © 
 
 prayer, is either set, in a constant course of duty, or 
 occasional, at an extraordinary season; so also is 
 tieditation. Now, though I would persuade you to 
 that meditation which is mixed with your ¢éommon 
 labours, and also that which special oceasions direct 
 you to; yet I would have you likewise make ita con 
 stant_standing duty,.as you do by hearing, praying, 
 and reading. the scriptures ;..and_no..mote..intermix 
 other matters.with_it,.than you. would. .with..prayer,..or 
 
 other stated solemnities. 
 
 « 
 
 ae 
 
 but surely, as heaven bath the pesseminenee-to-fetlea 
 tion, it should have it_also_in our meditation. That 
 which will make us most happy when we possess it, 
 will make us most joyful when we meditate upon it. 
 Other meditations are as numerous as there are lines in 
 the Scripture, or creatures in the universe, or particular 
 providences in the government of the world. But this 
 is a walk to mount Sion; from the kingdoms of this 
 world to the kingdom of saints; from earth to hea- 
 ven ; from time to eternity: it is walking upon sun, 
 moon, and stats, in the garden and paradise of God. 
 It may seem far off; but spirits are quick; whether 
 in the body, or out of the body, their motion is swift. 
 You need not fear, like the men of the world, lest these 
 thoughts should make you mad. It is heaven, and not 
 hell, that I persuade you to walk in. It is joy, and 
 hot sorrow that I persuade you to exercise. T urge 
 _ you'to look on no deformed objects, but only upon the 
 tavishing glory of saints, and the unspeakable excel- 
 lencies of the God of glory, and the beams that stream 
 from the face of his son. Will it distract a man to 
 think of his only happiness? Will it distract the mise- 
 table to think of mercy, or the prisoner to foresee de- 
 liverance, or the poor to think of approaching riches 
 and honour? Methinks it should rather make a man 
 mad, to think of living in a world of woe, and abiding © 
 in poverty and sickness, among the rage of wicked’ 
 men, than to think of living with Christ in bliss. Bué 
 
 bh ee bot 
 
CONTEMPLATION CONSIDERED. 245 
 thisdom is justified of all her children. (z) Knowledge 
 hath no enemy but the ignorant. This heayenly course 
 weskennsessa Rea gail lie. any, tankEbaseat ak lovee 
 knew.it,.orneverused jt. Lfear.more the neglect of 
 men that approve it, than the opposition or arguments 
 
 § 7. (ID) As to the fittest time for this heavenly 
 contemplation, let me only advise, that it be—stated 
 —frequent-—and seasonable. , 
 
 § 8. (1) Give ita stated time. If thou suit thy time 
 to the advantage of the work, without placing any re- 
 ligion in the time itself, thou hast no need to fear super- 
 stition. Stated time is a hedge to duty and defends 
 it against many temptations to omission. Some have 
 not their time at command, and therefore cannot set 
 their hours ; and many are so poor that the necessities 
 of their families deny them this freedom. Such per- 
 sons should be watchful to redeem time as: much as 
 they can, and take their vacant opportunities as: they 
 fall, and especially join meditation and prayer as much 
 as they can, with the labours of their callings: Yet 
 those that have more time to spare from their worldly 
 necessities, and are masters of their time; I'still advise, 
 to keep this duty to a stated time. And indeed, if 
 every work of the day had its appointed time, we 
 should be better skilled both in redeeming time and 
 in performing duty. Are 
 
 § 9. (2) Let it be frequent, as well as stated. How 
 oft it should be, I cannot determine, because men’s 
 circumstances differ. But, in general scripture re- 
 quires it to be trang when it mentions meditating 
 day and night. For those, therefore, who can‘ conve- 
 niently omit other business, I advise that it be once a 
 day at least. Frequency in heavenly contemplation is 
 particularly important. 
 
 § 10. To prevent a shyness between God and‘ thy 
 soul. Frequent society breeds familiarity, and fami- 
 liarity increases love and delight, and makes us bold in 
 our addresses. The chief end of this duty is, to’ have 
 
 (z) Luke vii. 35. 
 
246 THE NATURE OF HEAVENLY. 
 
 acquaintance and fellowship with God, and therefore 
 
 if thou come but seldom to it, thou wilt keep thyself a, 
 stranger still. When a man feels his need of God, and 
 
 must seek his help in a time of necessity, then it is great 
 
 encouragement to go toa God we know, and. are ac- 
 
 quainted with. <‘O,” saith the heavenly Christian,“ 1 
 know both whither I go, and to whom, _ I have gone 
 
 this way many a time before now, It/is the same God 
 
 that I daily converse with, and the way has. been my 
 
 daily walk. God knows me well enough, and I have 
 
 some knowledge of him.” On the other side, what a 
 
 horror and discouragement will it be to the soul, when 
 
 it is forced to fly to God in straits, to think,“ Alas! I 
 know not whither to go, I never went the way before. L 
 have no acquaintance at the court of heaven. My soul 
 knows not that God that I must speak to, and I fear he 
 
 will not know my soul.” But especially when we come 
 
 to die, and must immediately appear before this God, 
 
 and expect to enter into his eternal rest, then the differ- 
 
 ence will plainly appear; then what a joy will it be to. 
 think, ‘‘ I am going to the place that I daily conversed 
 
 in; to the place from whence I tasted such frequent 
 
 delights; to that God whom I have met in my medita- 
 
 tion so often. My heart hath been at heaven before 
 
 now, and hath often tasted its reviving sweetness; and 
 
 if my eyes were so enlightened, and my spirits so re- 
 
 freshed, when I had but a taste, what will it be when 
 
 I shall feed on it freely ?” On the contrary, what a ter- 
 
 ror will it be to think,“ I must die, and go I know. not 
 
 whither ; from a place where I am acquainted, to a 
 
 place where I have no familiarity or knowledge!” It is 
 
 an inexpressible horror to a dying man, to have strange © 
 thoughts of God and heaven. Iam persuaded the neg- 
 lect of this duty so commonly makes death, even to 
 godly men, unwelcome and uncomfortable. There- 
 fore I persuade to frequency in this duty. And as it 
 will prevent shyness between thee and God, so also, 
 
 § 11., It will prevent unskilfulness in the duty 
 itself. How awkwardly do-men set their hands to a 
 work they are seldom employed in! Whereas fre- 
 ~ quency will habituate thy heart to the work, and make 
 
‘CONTEMPLATION CONSIDERED. I47 
 
 it more easy and delightful. The hill which made thee 
 pant and ‘blow at first going up, thou mayest easily 
 run up, when thou art once accustomed to it. 
 
 § 12. Thou’ wilt also prevent the loss of that heat 
 and life thou hast obtained. If thou eat but once 
 in two or three days, thou wilt lose thy strength as 
 fast as it comes. If in holy meditation thou get near 
 to Christ, and warm thy heart with the fire of love, 
 and then come but seldom, thy former coldness will 
 soon return; especially as the work is so spiritual, and 
 against the bent of depraved nature. It is true, the 
 intermixing of other duties, especially secret prayer, 
 may do much to the keeping thy heart above; but 
 meditation is the life of most other duties, and the 
 view of heaven is the life of meditation. 
 
 Ȥ 13. (3) Chuse also the most seasonable time. All 
 things are beautiful and excellent in their season.— 
 Unseasonableness may lose the fruit of thy labour, may 
 raise difficulties in the work, and may turn a duty to 
 asin. The same hour may be seasonable to one and 
 ‘unseasonable to another. Servants and labourers must 
 take that season which their business can best afford ; 
 either while at work, or in travelling; or when they lie 
 awake inthe night. Such as can choose what time of 
 the day they will, should observe when they find their 
 spirits most active and fit for contemplation, and fix 
 upon that as the stated time. I have always found that 
 the fittest time for myself is the evening, from sun set- 
 ‘ting to the twilight. 1 the rather mention this, because 
 it was the experience of a better and wiser man; for 
 ‘it is expressly said Isaac went out to meditate in the feld 
 at the even-tide. (a)—The Lord’s day is exceeding season- 
 able for this exercise. When should we more season- 
 ably contemplate our rest, than on that day of rest, 
 which typifies it tous? It being a day appropriated 
 to spiritual duties, methinks we should never exclude 
 this duty, which is so eminently spiritual. I verily 
 think this is the chief work of a Christian Sabbath, and 
 most agreeable to the design of its positive institution. 
 
 (a) Gen. xxiv. 63. 
 
 a” 
 
248 THE NATURE OF HEAVENLY 
 
 What fitter time to converse with our Lord, than ‘on 
 the Lord’s day? What fitter day to ascend to heaven; 
 than that on which he arose from earth, and fully 
 
 triumphed over death and hell. The fittest temper for 
 
 a true Christian is, like John, to be in the spirit on the 
 Lord's day. (b)—And what can bring us to this joy in 
 the Spirit, but the spiritual beholding of our approach- 
 ing glory? Take notice of this, you that spend the 
 Lord's day only in public worship; your allowing no 
 time to private duty, and therefore neglecting this spi- 
 ritual duty of meditation, is very hurtful to your souls, 
 You also that have time on the Lord’s Day for idleness 
 and vain discourse, were you but acquainted with this 
 duty of contemplation, you would need no other pas- 
 
 time ; you would think the longest day short enough, | - 
 
 and be sorry that the night had shortened your pleasure. 
 Christians, let heaven have more share in-your sabbaths, 
 where you must shortly keep your everlasting sabbath. 
 Use your sabbaths as steps to glory, till you have pass- 
 ed them all, and are there arrived. Especially you that 
 are poor, and cannot take time in the week as you de- 
 sire, see that youawell improve this day ; as your bodies 
 rest from their labours, let your spirits seek after rest 
 from God. 
 
 § 14, Besides the constant seasonableness of every 
 day, and particularly every Lord’s day, there are also 
 more peculiar seasons for heavenly contemplation.— 
 As for instance: ' 
 
 § 15. When God hath more abundantly warmed 
 thy spirit with fire from above, then thou mayest soar 
 with greater freedom. A little labour will set thy heart 
 a-going at such a time as this; whereas at another 
 time thou mayest take pains to little purpose. Observe 
 the gales of the spirit, and how the spirit of Christ doth 
 move thy spirit. Without Christ we can do nothing ; 
 and therefore let us be doing while he is domg; and 
 be sure not to be out of the way, nor asleep when he 
 comes. When the Spirit finds thy heart, like Peter in 
 
 prison, and in irons, and smites thee, and says, Arise 
 
 (0) Rev. i. 10. 
 
CONTEMPLATION CONSIDERED. 249 
 
 up quickly, and follow me; be sure thou then arise 
 and follow; and thou shalt find thy chains. fall off, and 
 all doors will open, and thou wilt be at heaven before 
 thou art aware. | deaths bi 
 
 - § 16. Another peculiar season for this duty, is, when 
 thou art in a suffering, distressed, or tempted state. 
 When should we take our cordials, but in time of faint- 
 ing? When is it more seasonable to walk to heaven, 
 than when we know not in what corner of earth to live 
 with comfort? Or when should our thoughts converse 
 more above, than when they have nothing but grief be- 
 low? Where should Noah’s dove be but in the ark, 
 when the waters cover all the earth, and she cannot find 
 rest for the sole of her foot? What should we think on, 
 but our Father's house, when we have not even the 
 husks of the world to feed upon? Surely God sends thy 
 afflictions to this very purpose. Happy art thou, poor 
 man, if thou make this use of thy poverty! and thou 
 that art sick, if thouso improve thy sickness! It is sea- 
 sonable to go to the promised land, when our burdens 
 -are increased in Egypt, and our straits in the wilder- 
 ness. Reader, if thou knewest what a cordial to thy 
 griefs the serious views of glory are, thou wouldest less 
 fear these harmless troubles, and more use that preserv- 
 ing, reviving remedy. ‘‘ Inthe multitude of my troubled 
 thoughts within me,” saith David, “thy comforts delight 
 mysoul.(c) Ireckon,” saith Paul, ‘‘ that the sufferings of 
 this present time, are not worthy to be compared with the 
 glory which shall be revealed in us.(d) For which cause 
 we faint not, butthough our outward man perish, yet the 
 inward man is renewed day by day. For our light afflic- 
 tion, whichis but fora moment, worketh for usafar more 
 exceeding and eternal weight ofglory ; while we look not 
 at the things which are seen, but at the things which are 
 not seen : for the things which areseen are temporal, but 
 the things which are not seen are eternal.” (e) 
 
 -§ 17. And another season peculiarly fit for this hea- 
 venly duty is, when the messengers of God summon 
 -us to die. - When should we more frequently sweeten 
 
 (6) Ps. xciv. 19. (d) Rom. vii. 18. (e) 2 Cor. iv. 16, 18, 
 8. li 
 
(950 THE NATURE OF HEAVENLY 
 
 our souls with the believing thoughts of another life, 
 than when we find that this is almost’ ended? No men 
 have greater need of supporting joys, than dying men; 
 and those joys must be fetched from our eternal joy.— 
 As heavenly delights are sweetest, when nothing earth- 
 ly is joined with them; so the delights of dying Chris- 
 tians are oftentimes the sweetest they ever had. What 
 a prophetic blessing had dying Isaac, and Jacob, for 
 their sons! With what a heavenly song, and divine be- 
 nediction, did Moses conclude his life!’ What heavenly 
 advice and prayer had the disciples from their Lord, 
 when he was about to leave them? When Paul was 
 réady to be offered up, what heavenly exhortation and 
 advice did he, give the Philippians, Timothy, and the 
 elders of Ephesus! How'near to heaven was John in 
 Patmos, but a little: before his translation thither! It 
 is the general temper of the saints, to be then most 
 heavenly when they are nearest to heaven. If itbe thy 
 @ase, Reader, to perceive thy dying time draw on, O 
 where should thy heart now be but with Christ? Me- 
 thinks thou shouldst even behold him standing by thee, 
 and ‘shouldst bespeak him as thy father, thy husband, 
 thy physician, thy friend. Methinks thou shouldst, as 
 it were, see the angels about thee, waiting to perform 
 their last office to thy soul; even those angels, which 
 disdain not to catry into Abraham’s bosom the soul 
 of Lazarus, nor will think much to conduct thee thi- 
 ther. Look upon thy pain and sickness; as Jacob did 
 on Joseph’s chariots, and let thy spirit revive within 
 thee, and say, Jt is enough, Christ is yet alive : because he 
 liveth, I shall live also.(f ) Dost thou need the choicest 
 cordials? Here are choicer than the world can afford ; 
 here are all the joys of heaven, even the vision of God 
 and Christ, and whatsoever the blessed here possess ; 
 these dainties are offered thee by the hand of Christ ; 
 he hath written'the receipt in the promises of the gos- 
 pel; he hath prepared the ingredients in heaven: only 
 put forth the hand of. faith, and feed upon them, and 
 rejoice and live. The Lord saith to thee, as to Elijah, 
 
 (f) John xiv. 19. 
 
CONTEMPLATION CONSIDERED. 25] 
 
 Arise ;and eat, because, the journey. is too, great. for 
 thee, Though it,,be not long, yet the way is miry ; 
 therefote obey his voice, arise and eat,,and. in the 
 strength of that, meat, thou,mayest go to the mount.of 
 God:; and; like Moses, die in ,the mount, whither. thou 
 goest. up;.and say, as Simeon, Lord, now lettest. thou 
 thy servant depart in peace; for my eye of faith hath 
 seen thy salvation.(g). Lporsic.Jdaae docthe waa 
 - § 18. (IE.) Concerning the fittest place for heavenly 
 contemplation, itis sufficient to say, thatthe most con- 
 venient is some private retirement.. |Our spirits need 
 every help, and to be freed from every{hinderance in 
 the work.» If in private, prayer )Christ, directs, us .to 
 enter into our: closet, and shut the, door,that our Father 
 may see us in secret,(h), so) should;we.doithis in; medita- 
 tion: How oftendid Christ;himself retire to some moun- 
 tain, or wildemess, or other solitary place! give not 
 this advice for occasional meditation, but for that which 
 is set‘and solemn. Therefore Withdraw thyself from 
 all society, even that of godly men, that,ithou, mayest 
 awhile enjoy the society of ‘thy Lord.” If a.student 
 cannot’ study ina crowd, who exerciseth only his inven- 
 tion and memory; much less shouldest. thou be) inia 
 crowd; who art to exercise all the powers of thyssvul, 
 and'upon.an object'so far aboye nature: We are flédiso 
 far from superstitious solitude, that we have even! cast 
 off the solitude of contemplative devotion., We:seldom 
 read of God’s'appearing, by himself or by his angels, to 
 any of his prophets or saints in a. crowd ; but frequently 
 when they were alone. «But observe: for thyself, what 
 place’ best agrees with thy spirit, »within doors: or 
 without.‘ Isaac’s' example,’ in going out'to meditate 
 in the field, will,l am\persuaded, best suit:with most. 
 Our Lord so much used a solitary garden, that even 
 . Judas; when he came to betray him, knew where to 
 find him: and though he took his disciples thither with 
 him, yet he was withdrawn from them for more. secret 
 devotions.(?)' And though ‘his meditation be not di- 
 rectly named, but only his praying, yet it is very clearly 
 
 (g) Luke ii. 29, 30. (4) Matt. vi. (®) John xviii. 1, 2. Luke xxii. 41 
 
252 ‘THR ‘NATURE OF HEAVENLY > 
 
 implied ; for his soul is first made sorrowful with the 
 bitter meditations on his sufferings and death, and then 
 he poureth it out in prayer.(k) So that Christ had his 
 accustomed place, and consequently accustomed duty , 
 and so must we: hehatha place thatis solitary, whither 
 he retireth himself, even from his own disciples; and so 
 must we: his meditations go further than his thoughts, 
 they affect and pierce his heart and soul; and so must 
 ours. Only there is a wide difference in the object : 
 Christ meditates on the sufferings that our sins had de- 
 served, so that the wrath of his Father passed through 
 all his soul; but we are to meditate on ‘the glory he 
 hath purchased, that the love of the Father, and the 
 joy of the Spirit, may enter at our thoughts, and re- 
 vive our affections, and overflow our souls. 
 
 ‘$19. IV.) Iam next to advise thee concerning the 
 _ preparations of thy heart for this heavenly contempla- 
 tion. The success of the work much depends on: the 
 frame of thy heart. When man’s heart had nothing in 
 it to grieve the Spirit, it was then the delightful. habi- 
 tation of his Maker. God did not quit his residence 
 there till man expelled him by unworthy provocations. 
 There was no shyness or reserve till the heart grew sin- 
 ful, and too loathsome a dungeon for God to delight.in, 
 And was this soul reduced to its former innoceucy, 
 God would quickly return to his former habitation ; 
 yea, so far as it is renewed and repaired by the Spirit, 
 and purged from its lusts, and beautified with his image, 
 the Lord will yet acknowledge. it. as -his own: Christ 
 ‘will manifest himself unto) it, and the Spirit will take it 
 for chis temple and residence. So far as the heart is qua, 
 lified for conversing with God, so far. it usually enjoys — 
 him: Therefore, with all diligence keep thy heart, for 
 out of it are the issues of life.(l) More particularly,, 
 
 §:20.,(1) Get. thy heart as clear from the world. as 
 thou canst. Wholly lay by the thoughts of thy bu- 
 siness, troubles, enjoyments, and every thing that may 
 take up any room in thy soul. Get it as empty as thoy 
 possibly canst, that it may be the more capable of being 
 
 meeps 
 
 Yn) 
 
 (ky Mark xiv. 34,.35.. |. | ..(Q Prov. iy,.23. 5, 
 
CONTEMPLATION CONSIDERED. 253 
 
 filled with God. If thou couldest perform some out- 
 ward duty with a piece of thy heart, while the other is 
 absent, yet this duty above all I am sure thou canst not. 
 When thou shalt go into the mount of contemplation, 
 thou wilt be like the covetous man at the heap of gold, 
 who, when he might take as much as he could, la- 
 mented that he was able to carry no more; so thou 
 wilt find so much of God and glory as thy narrow heart 
 is able to contain, and almost nothing to hinder thy 
 full possession, but the incapacity of thy own spirit. 
 Then thou wilt think, “'O that this understanding, 
 and these affections, could contain more! Itis more 
 my unfitness than any thing else, that even this place 
 is not my heayen. God is in this place, and I know 
 it not. This mountain is full of chariots of fire, but 
 mine eyes are shut, and I cannot see them. O the 
 words of love Christ hath to speak, and wonders of 
 love he hath to show, but I cannot bear them yet! 
 Heaven is ready for me, but my heart is unready for 
 heaven.” Therefore, Reader, seeing thy enjoyment of 
 God in this contemplation much depends on the ca- 
 pacity and disposition of thy heart, seek him here, if 
 ever, with all thy soul. Thrust not Christ into the 
 stable and the manger, as if thou hadst better guests 
 for the chief rooms. Say to all thy worldly business 
 and thoughts, as Christ to his disciples, Sit ye here, 
 while I go and pray yonder. Oras Abraham to his 
 servants when he went to offer Isaac, Abide ye here 
 and I will go yonder and worship, and come again to 
 you. Even as the priests thrust king Uzziah out of 
 the temple where he presumed to burn incense, when 
 they saw the leprosy upon him; so do thou thrust 
 those thoughts from the temple of thy heart, which 
 have the badge of God’s prohibition upon them. 
 
 _§ 21. (2) Be sure to set upon this work with the 
 greatest solemnity of heart and mind. There is no tri- 
 fling in holy things. God will be sanctified in them that 
 comenigh him.(m) These spiritual, excellent, soul-raising 
 duties, are, if well used, most profitable ; but when used 
 
 (m) ee xo; 
 
Q5A. (THE NATURE OF HEAVENLY. 
 
 unfaithfully,: most dangerous. Labour, therefore, : to 
 have the deepest apprehensions of the presence of God, 
 and his comprehensible greatness. If queen Esther 
 must not draw near, till the king hold out the sceptre; 
 think then with what reverence thou shouldest ap- 
 proach him, who made the worlds with the word of his 
 mouth, who upholds the earth) as in the palm of his 
 hand, who keeps the sun, moon, and stars, in their 
 
 ‘courses, and who sets bounds to the raging sea. Thou _ 
 art going to converse with him, before whom the earth , 
 
 will quake, and devils. do tremble, and at whose bar 
 thou and‘ all the world must shortly stand, and be 
 finally judged. O think, “ I shall then have lively ap- 
 prehensions of his majesty. My drowsy, spirits wil 
 then be awakened, and my irreverence be laid aside. ; 
 
 and why should I not now be roused with the sense. of 
 his greatness, and the dread of his, mame possess my 
 soul 2”, Labour also to apprehend the greatness of the 
 
 work which thou attemptest, and to be dee ly sensible 
 both.of its importance and | excelleney,. If thou wast. 
 pleading, for thy life atthe bar ofan earthly judge, 
 thou wouldest be serious ; and yet that would bea trifle 
 to this. If thou wast engaged in such a work.as David 
 against Goliath; on which the welfare of a kingdom de- 
 
 pended ; in itself considered, it were nothing to‘ this, — 
 
 Suppose thou wast going to sucha wrestling as Jacob's, 
 or|to\see the sight which the three disciples saw in the 
 mount; how seriously, how reverently, wouldest thou 
 both approach and behold! If but.an angel from heayen 
 
 ‘should appoint to meet thee, at the same time and 
 
 place of thy contemplation ; with what dread wouldest 
 thou be,filled!, Censider then, with what a spirit thou 
 shouldest. meet the Lord, and. with what seriousness 
 and awe, thou shouldest daily converse with him. Con- 
 sider also the blessed issue of the work: if it succeed, 
 it will be thy admission into the presence of God, - 
 and the beginning of thy eternal glory on earth; a 
 means to make thee live above the rate of other men, 
 and fix thee in the next room to the angels themselves, 
 that thou mayest both live and die joyfully. The prize 
 being so great, thy preparations should be answerable. 
 
 ’ 
 
CONTEMPLATION !CONSIDERED. 955 
 
 There isnone 6n earth live such a life of joy and bless- 
 edness, as those that are acquainted with this hea- 
 venly conversation. The joys of all other men are but 
 like a child’s plaything, a fool’s laughter, ora sick man’s 
 dream of health. He that trades for heaven is the 
 only gainer, and he that neglects it is the only loser. 
 How seriously, therefore, should this ‘work be done! 
 
 Uj 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 What use heavenly Contemplation makes of Consideration, 
 Affections, Soliloquy, and Prayer. 
 
 § 1. The reader is invited to engage in heavenly contemplation ; 
 § 2. and to that end is, (I.) direct in the use of consideration ; 
 §3—8. the great influence of which over the heart is represented in 
 several instances: § 9. Then (II.) it is shown how heavenly con- 
 
 templation is promoted by the affections ; particularly, § 10—12. 
 (1) by love, § 13. (2) desire, § 14. (3) hope, '§ 15. (4) con- 
 rage or boldness, § 16—18. and (5) joy. § 19. A caution is 
 added concerning this exercise of the affections. § 20—22. (IIL.) 
 The chapter concludes with some account of the usefulness of 
 soliloquy and prayer, in heavenly contemplation. 
 
 § 1. Havine set thy heart in tune, we now come 
 to the music itself. Having got an appetite, now 
 approach to the feast, and delight thy soul as with 
 marrow and fatness. Come, for all things are now 
 ready. Heaven and Christ, and the exceeding weight 
 of glory, are before you. Do not make light of this 
 invitation, nor begin to make excuses; whatever thou 
 art, rich or poor, though in alms-houses or hospitals, 
 though in highways and hedges, my commission is, 
 if possible, to compel you to come in; and blessed is 
 he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God! The 
 manna lieth about your tents; walk out, gather it up, 
 take it home and feed upon it. In order to this I am 
 only to direct you—how to use your consideration— 
 and affections—your soliloquy and prayer. 
 
 § 2. (I.) Consideration is the .great instrument 
 by which this heavenly work is carried on. This 
 
256 CONTEMPLATION CARRIED ON 
 
 must be voluntary, and not forced. Some men con- 
 sider unwillingly: so God will make the wicked con- 
 sider their sins, when he shall set them in order before 
 their eyes ;(n) so shall the damned consider of the ex- 
 cellency of Christ, whom they once despised, and of 
 ' the eternal joys’ which they have foolishly lost. Great 
 is the power which consideration hath for moving the 
 affections, and impressing things on the heart; as will 
 appear by the following particulars. 
 
 § 3. (1) Consideration, as it were, opens the door be- 
 tween the head and the heart. The understanding hav- 
 ing received truths, lays them up in the memory, and 
 consideration conveys them from thence to the affec- 
 tions. What excellency would there be in much learn- 
 ing and knowledge, if the obstructions between the 
 head and the heart were but opened, and the affections 
 did but correspond to the understanding ! He is usually 
 the best scholar whose apprehension is quick, clear, 
 and tenacious;, but he is usually the best Christian, 
 whose apprehension is the deepest and most affection- 
 ate, and who has the readiest passages, not so much 
 from the ear to the brain, as from that to the heart. 
 And though the Spirit be the principle cause, yet on 
 - our part this passage must be opened by consideration. 
 
 § 4. (2) Consideration presents to the affections 
 those things which are most important. The most de- 
 lightful object does not entertain where it is not seen, 
 nor the most joyful news affect him that does not hear 
 it: but consideration presents to our view those things 
 which were as absent, and brings them to the eye and 
 ear of the soul. Are not Christ and glory affecting 
 objects? Would they not work wonders upon the 
 soul, if they were but clearly discovered, and our ap- 
 prehensions of them were in some measure answerable 
 to their worth? It is consideration that presents them 
 tous. This is the Christian’s perspective, by which 
 he can see from earth to heaven. 
 
 ’ § 5. (3) Consideration also presents the most impor- 
 tant things in the most affecting way. Consideration 
 reasons the case with a man’s own heart. When a be- 
 
 (n) Psalm 1. 21, 22. 
 
BY CONSIDERATION. 257 
 
 lever would reason his heart'to heavenly’ contempla- 
 tion, how many arguments offer themselves from God 
 and Christ, from each of the divine perfections, from. 
 our former and present’ state, from promises, front 
 present sufferings and enjoyments, from hell and: hea: 
 ven !—Every thing offers itself to promote our joy, 
 and consideration is the hand to draw them all out.;: 
 it’adds one reason to another, till the seale turn... This. 
 it does when persuading to joy, till it hath silenced all 
 our distrust and ‘sorrows, and your case for rejoicing 
 lies plain before you. If another’s. reasoning is power-) 
 ful with us, though we are not certain whether he m- 
 tends to inform or-deceive us; how mueh more should. 
 our own reasoning prevail with us, when )we are so 
 well acquainted with our own intentions |; Nay, how 
 much more. should God's. reasomng work upon us, 
 which we are sure cannot deceive, or be deceived ! 
 Now, consideration is but the reading overand re- 
 peéating God’s reasons to our hearts. As the prodigal. 
 had many and strong reasons to plead with himself, 
 why he should return to his father’s house ;) so have - 
 we’ to plead with our affections, to persuade them to 
 our Father's everlasting mansion. ' 
 
 § 6. (4) Consideration exalts reason to its just au- 
 thority. It helps to deliver it from its captivity to the 
 senses, and sets it again on the throne of the. soul, 
 When reason is silent, it is usually subject ; for when 
 it is asleep, the senses domineer. But consideration 
 awakens our reason, till like Samson, it rouses up 
 itself, and breaks the bonds. of sensuality, and bears 
 down the delusions of the flesh. What strength can 
 the lion exert while asleep ? What isa king, when de- 
 posed from his throne, more than another man ? Spi- 
 ritual reason, excited by meditation, and not fancy or 
 fleshly sense, must judge of heavenly joys. Considera- 
 tion exalts the objects of faith, and comparatively dis- 
 graces the objects of sense. The most inconsiderate 
 men are most sensual. It is too easy and common to 
 sin against knowledge ; but against sober, strong per- 
 severing consideration, men seldom offend. 
 
 G: i: . Kk 
 
a : i ja = oe ee 
 * 
 258 CONTEMPLATION CARRIED ON 
 
 § 7. (5) Consideration makes reason strong. and 
 active. Before it was as standing water, but now 
 as a stream, which violently bears down all before it. 
 Before it' was as the stones in the brook, but now like 
 that out of David’s sling, which smites the Goliath of 
 our unbelief in the forehead. As wicked men con- 
 tinue wicked, because they bring not reason into act 
 and exercise ; so godly men are uncomfortable, be- 
 cause they let their reason and faith lie asleep, and 
 do not stir them up to action by this work of medi- 
 tation. What fears, sorrows, and joys, will our very 
 creams excite! How much more then would serious 
 meditation affect us ! ) t ° 
 
 § 8. (6) Consideration can continue and preserve in 
 this rational employment. Meditation holds reason and 
 
 - faith to their work, and blows the fire till it thoroughly 
 
 burns. To run a few steps will not get a man heat, 
 but walking an hour may; and though.a sudden occa- 
 sional thought of heaven will not raise our affections to 
 any spiritual heat, yet meditation can continue our 
 thoughts till our hearts grow warm. Thus you see the 
 powerful tendency of consideration to produce this great 
 elevation of the soul in heavenly contemplation. 
 
 § 9. IL.) Let us next see how this heavenly work is 
 promoted by the particular exercise of the affections. — 
 It is by consideration that we first have recourse to, the 
 memory, and from these'take those heavenly doctrines, 
 which we intend to make the subject of our meditation ; 
 such as promises of eternal life, description of the saints’ 
 glory, the resurrection, &c. &c. We then present them, 
 to our judgment, that it may deliberately view them, 
 over, and takean exact survey, and determine uprightly 
 concerning the prefection of our celestial happiness, 
 against all the dictates of flesh and sense, and so as to 
 magnify the Lord in our hearts, till we are filled with 
 a holy admiration. But the principal thing is to ex- 
 ercise not merely our judgment, but our faith, in the 
 truth of our everlasting rest; by which I mean, both 
 the truth of the promises, and of our own personal 
 interest in them, and title to them. If we did really 
 and firmly believe, that there is such a glory, and that 
 
BY CONSIDERATION. 259 
 
 within a few days our eyes shall behold it, O what pas- 
 sions would it raise within us! What astonishing ap- 
 prehensions of that life would it produce !' What love, 
 what longing, would it excite within us! O how it 
 would actuate every affection! How it would transport 
 us with joy upon the least assurance of our title! Never 
 expect to have love and joy move, when faith stands 
 still, which must lead the way. Therefore daily ex- 
 ercise faith, and set before it the freeness of the pro- 
 mise, God’s urging all to accept it, Christ's gracious 
 disposition, all the evidences of the love of Christ, his 
 faithfulness to his engagements, and the evidences of 
 his love in ourselves ; lay all these together, and think 
 whether they do not testify the good-will of the Lord 
 concerning our salvation, and may not properly be 
 pleaded against our unbelief.—Thus when the judg- 
 ment hath determined, and faith hath apprehended 
 the truth of our happiness, then may our meditation 
 proceed to raise our affections, and particularly,—love, 
 —desire,—hope,—courage or boldness,—and joy. 
 
 - § 10. (1) Love is the first affection to be excited in 
 heavenly contemplation. The object of itis goodness. 
 Here, Christian, is the soul-reviving part of thy work. 
 Go to thy memory, thy judgment, and thy faith, and 
 from them produce the excellencies of thy rest ; present 
 these to thy affection of love, and thou wilt find thyself 
 as it were in another world. Speak out, and love can 
 hear. Do but reveal these things, and love can see. 
 It is the brutish love of the world that is blind: divine 
 love is exceeding quick-sighted. Let thy faith take 
 hold of thy heart, and show it the sumptuous buildings 
 of thy eternal habitation, and the glorious ornaments 
 of thy Father's house, even the mansions Christ is pre- 
 _ paring, and the honours of his kingdom; let thy faith 
 lead thy heart into the presence of God, and as near as 
 thou possibly canst, and say to it, “‘ Behold the Ancient 
 of Days, the Lord Jehovah, whose name is, I AM. 
 This is he who made all the worlds with his word, 
 who. upholds the earth, who rules the nations, whvu 
 disposes of all events, who subdues his foes, who con- 
 
~~ nify! Thus do thou expatiate on the prai 
 
 So Seer ee Clase = 
 = = rt ae 
 
 ' = 
 N PROMOTED: 
 
 trols the swelling waves of the : sea, who ‘governs the 
 winds, and causes the sun to. run its race, and the stars 
 to know their courses. This is he who pt neg 
 everlasting, formed thee in the womb, gave the 
 
 soul, brought thee forth, showed thee the light and 
 ranked thee with the chief of his earthly. 
 who endued thee with, thy understanding, and 
 fied thee with his gifts; who maintains th 
 its comforts, and distinguishes thee from the 
 serable and vilest of men.” O here is an obj 
 thy love! Here shouldest thou even pour 
 in love! Here it is impossible for thee to] ] 
 This is the lord who hath blessed thee with is, ne- 
 fits, spread thy table in the sight of thine enemi 
 and made thy cup overflow! This is ay P 
 and saints praise, and the heavenly ho 
 
 260 CONTEMPLATS 
 
 and open his excellencies to thine heart, 
 fire of love begins to kindle in thy breas 
 $11, If thou feelest thy love not ye 
 heart farther, and show it the Son 0 
 whose name is Wonderful, Couns 
 God, the everlasting Father, the Prin 
 it the King of saints on the throne : 
 First and the Last, who is, and 2 a iT 
 come; who liveth, and was dead, and oho 
 _ for evermore ; who hath made thy. 
 
 ‘ Nat his ¢ross, cad. hath. prepared thee wi 
 
 i 
 
 _ habitation of peace, Hisofficeis t 
 . His kingdom is the kingdom of 
 _ the tidings of peace ; His voi 
 voice of peace! Draw near. and | 
 psa not Bree his voi 
 
 less, but faba Pen be unto t 
 is I.” Look well upon him. Dost thou not. ! 
 Itis he that brought thee up from the pit of hell, re. 
 
 _ versed the sentence of thy damnation, bone the. curse 
 
 = “ 
 ® ™ 
 
s , 
 “ 
 <4 
 “N 
 Ss 
 Y 
 N 
 Nee 
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 ww 
 é< 
 qe ~ 
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 N ‘y 
 eS er 
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 X Se 
 OS 4g 
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 NN 
 QOL 
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 A ss 
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m 
 BY RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS. 261 
 
 which thou shouldest have borne, restored thee to the 
 blessing thou hadst forfeited, and purchased the ad- 
 vancement which thou must inherit for ever. And dost 
 thou not yet know him? his hands were pierced, his 
 head, his side, his heart were pierced, that by these 
 marks thou mightest always know him. Dost thou not 
 remember when he found thee lying in thy blood, and 
 took pity onthee, and dressed thy wounds, and brought 
 thee home, and said unto thee, live? Hast thou forgot- 
 ten since he wounded himself to cure thy wounds, and 
 let out his own blood to stop thy bleeding? If thou 
 knowest him not by the face, the voice, the hands, thou 
 mayest know him by that heart; thatsoul-pitying heart 
 is his; it can be none but his; love and compassion are 
 its certain signatures. This is he, who chose thy life 
 before his own; who pleads his blood before his Fa- 
 ther, and makes continual intercession for thee. If he 
 had not suffered, what hadst thou suffered? There was 
 - but a step between thee and hell, when he stepped in 
 and bore the stroke. Andis not here fuel enough for 
 thy love to feed on? Doth not thy throbbing heart stop 
 here to ease itself, and, like Joseph, seek for a place to 
 weep in? Or do not the tears of thy love bedew these 
 lines? Go on, then, for the field of love is large; it 
 will be thy eternal work to behold and love; nor 
 needest thou want work for thy present meditation. — 
 § 12. How often hath thy Lord found thee like Ha-. 
 gar, sitting and weeping, and giving up thy soul for 
 lost, and he opened to thee a well of consolation, and 
 also opened thine eyes to see it! How often, in the pos- 
 ture of Elijah, desiring to die out of thy misery, and he 
 hath spread thee a table of unexpected relief, and sent 
 thee on his work refreshed and encouraged ! How often 
 in the case of the prophet’s servants, crying out, Alas! 
 what shall we do, for a host doth encompass us? and 
 he hath opened thine eyes to see more for thee than 
 against thee ! How often, like Jonah, peevish and weary 
 of thy life, and he hath mildly said, Dost thou well to 
 be angry with me, or murmur against me? How often 
 hath he set thee on watching and praying, repenting 
 
 * 
 
 - s - 
 
- ‘ ba 
 
 . . . 
 262 CONTEMPLATION PROMOTED 
 
 and believing, and when he hath returned, hath Rtidind 
 thee asleep, and yet he hath covered thy neglect’ witha 
 mantle of love, and gently pleaded for thee, that ‘the 
 spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak! Can thy heart 
 be cold, when thou thinkest of this? Can it contain, 
 when thou rememberest those boundless compassions? 
 Thus, ‘Reader, hold forth the goodness of Christ to thy 
 heart; plead thus with thy frozen soul, till with Da- 
 vid thoucanst say, My heart was hot within me ; while 
 I was musing the fire burned. If this will not rouse 
 up thy love, thou hast all Christ’s personal excellencies 
 to add, all his particular mercies to thyself, all his 
 sweet and near relations to thee, and the happiness of 
 thy everlasting abode with him. Only follow them 
 close to thy heart. Deal with it as Christ did with 
 Peter, when he thrice asked him, Lovest thou me? 
 till he was grieved, and answers, Lord, thou knowest 
 that I love thee: So grieve and shame thy heart out of 
 its stupidity, till thou canst truly say, J know, and my 
 Lord knows, that I love him. 
 
 § 13. (2) The next affection to be exercised in hea- 
 venly contemplation, is desire—The object of it is 
 goodness considered as absent, or not yet attained. If 
 love be hot, desire will not be cold. Think with thyself 
 «« What have I seen? O the incomprehensible glory ! 
 O the transcendent beauty! O blessed souls that now 
 enjoy it! who see a thousand times more clearly, what 
 I have seen at adistance, and through dark interposing 
 clouds. What a difference between my state and theirs ! 
 { am sighing, and they are singing ; lam offending, and 
 they are pleasing God. I am a spectacle of pity, like 
 a Job or a Lazarus, but they are perfect and without 
 blemish. I am here entangled in the love of the world, 
 while they are swallowed up in the love of God. They 
 have none of my cares and fears; they weep not in 
 secret; they languish not in sorrows; these tears are 
 wiped | away from their eyes. O happy, a thousand 
 times, happy souls! Alas, that I must dwell in sinful 
 flesh, when my brethren and companions dwell with 
 God ! How farout of sight and reach of their high enjoy- 
 
BY RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS. 263 
 
 ment do I here live! What poor feeble thoughts have I 
 of God! What cold affections towards him! How little 
 have I of that life, that love, that joy, in which they 
 continually live! How soon doth that little depart, and 
 leave mein thicker darkness ! Now and then a spark 
 falls upon my heart, and while I gaze upon it, it dies, 
 or rather my cold heart quenches it. But they have 
 their light in his light, and drink continually at the 
 spring of joys. Here we are vexing each other with 
 quarrels, when they are of one heart and voice, and 
 daily sound forth the hallelujahs of heaven with perfect 
 harmony. O what a feast hath my faith beheld. and 
 what a famine is yet in my spirit! O blessed. souls! I 
 may not, I dare not, envy your happiness ; I rather re- 
 joice in my brethren’s prosperity, and am glad to think 
 of the day when I shall be admitted into your fellow- 
 ship. I wish not to displace you, but to be so happy as 
 to be with you. Why must [ stay, and weep, and wait ? 
 My Lord is gone, he hath left this earth, and is enter- 
 ed into his glory; my brethren are gone; my friends 
 are there ; my house, my hope, nty all, is there. When 
 I am so far distant from my God, wonder not what 
 aileth'me if I now complain: anignorant Micah will 
 do so for his idol, and shall not my soul do so for the 
 living God? Had I no hope of enjoyment, I would go 
 hide myself in the deserts, and lie and howl in some ob- 
 scure wilderness, and spend my days in fruitless wishes ; 
 but since it is the land of my promised rest, and the 
 state I must myself be advanced to, and my soul draws 
 near, and is almost at it, I will love and long, I will 
 look and desire, I will be breathing, ‘ How long, Lord! 
 how long wilt thou suffer this soul to pant and groan, 
 and not open to him who waits, and longs to be with 
 thee!” Thus, Christian Reader, let thy thoughts aspire, 
 till thy.soul longs, as David, O that one would give me 
 to drink of the wells of salvation! And till thou canst say 
 -as he did; I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord.(o) 
 And as the mother and brethren of Christ, when they 
 could not come at him, because of the multitude, sent 
 
 (o),Psalm cxix. 174. 
 
¢ + 
 264. CONTEMPLATION PROMOTED. 
 
 to him, saying, Thy mother and brethren stand without, 
 desiring to see thee, so let thy message to him be, and | 
 he will own thee; for he hath said, They that hear my 
 word, and do it, are my mother and my brethren(p) 
 
 § 14. (3) Another affection to be exercised in hea- 
 venly contemplation, is hope. This helps to support the 
 soul under sufferings, animates it to the greatest’ diffi- 
 culties, gives it firmness in the most shaking trials, en- 
 livens it in duties, and is the very spring that sets all the 
 wells a-going.’ Who would believe or strive for hea- 
 ven, if it were not for the hope that he hath to obtain 
 it?) Who would pray, but for the hope to prevail with 
 God? If your hope dies, your duties die, your endea- 
 vours die, your joys die, and your soul dies. And if 
 your hope be not in exercise, but asleep, it is next to 
 ‘dead. Therefore, Christian Reader, when thowart wind- 
 ing up thy affections to heaven, forget not to give one 
 lift to thy hope. Think thus, and reason thus with thy 
 own heart: Why should I not confidently and comfort- 
 ably hope, when my soul is in the hands of so compas- 
 sionate a Saviour, and when the kingdom is at the’ dis- 
 posal of so bountiful a God ?: Did he ever discover the. 
 least backwardness to my good, or inclination to my 
 ruin? Hath he not sworn, that He delights not in the 
 death of him that dieth, but rather that he should repent 
 and live? Have not all his dealings witnessed the same? 
 Did he not mind me of my danger, when I never feared 
 it, because he would have me escape it? Did he not 
 mind me of my happiness, when I had no thought of 
 it, because he would have me enjoy it? How often hath 
 he drawn me to himself, and his Christ, when I have 
 drawn backward! how hath his Spirit incessantly so- 
 licted my heart! And would he have done all this if 
 he had been willing that I should perish? Should I not 
 hope if an honest man had promised me something in 
 his power? And shall I not hope when I have the co- 
 venant and oath of God? It is true, the glory is out of 
 sight; we have not beheld the mansions of the saints ; 
 but is not the promise of God more certain than our 
 
 (p) Luke ‘viii. 20, 21. 
 
BY RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS. 265 
 
 sight We must not be saved by sight, but by hope, and 
 hope that ts seen is not hope ; for what a man seeth, why 
 doth he yet hope for? Butifwe hope for that we see not, 
 then do we with patience wait for it.g) 1 have been 
 ashamed of my hope in an arm of flesh, but hope in the 
 promise of God maketh not ashamed.(r) In my greatest 
 sufferings [ will say, The Lord is my portion, therefore 
 will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait 
 Sor him, to the soul that seeketh him. Itis good that a man 
 Should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the 
 Lord. For the Lord will not cast off for ever. But though 
 he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the 
 multitude of his mercies.(s) Though I languish and die, 
 yet willl hope; for the righteous hath hope in his death.(t) 
 Though I must lie down in dust and darkness, yet there 
 my flesh shall rest in hope(u) And when my flesh hath 
 nothing to rejoice in, yet will I hold fust the rejoicing 
 of the hope firm unto, the end ;(v) for the hope of the 
 righteous shall be gladness.w) Indeed, if | was myself 
 to satisfy divine justice, then there had been no hope; 
 bat Christ hath brought in a better hope, by the which 
 we draw nigh unto God.(x) Or, if Lhad to do with a 
 feeble creature, there were small hope ;. for how could 
 he raise this body from the dust, and lift me above the 
 sun? But what is this to the Almighty power, which 
 made the heavens and the earth out of nothing ? 
 Cannot that power which raised Christ from the dead, 
 raise me? and that which hath glorified the Head, 
 glorify also the members? Doubtless by the blood of 
 his covenant, God will send forth his prisoners out of 
 the pit wherein is no water; therefore will J turn to 
 the strong as a prisoner of hope.( y ) . 
 
 § 15. (4) Courage or boldness is another affection to 
 be exercised in heavenly contemplation. It leadeth to 
 resolution, and concludeth in action. When you have 
 raised your love, desire, and hope, go on and think 
 thus with yourself: ‘* Will God indeed dwell with 
 
 (qg) Rom. viii. 24,25. (r) Rom. v. 5. (s) Lam. iii. 24—26, 31, 
 32. ( Prov. xiv. 32. (u) Psalm xvi. 9. (v) Heb. iii. 6. 
 (w) Prov. x. 28. (7) Heb. vii. 19. (y) Zech. ix. 11, 12, 
 
 >: Ll 
 
266 CONTEMPLATION PROMOTED | . 
 
 men? And is there such a glory within the reach of 
 hope ? Why then do I not lay hold upon it? Where is 
 the cheerful vigour of my spirit? Why do I not gird up 
 the loins of my mind 2(z) Why dont I set upon my ene- 
 mies on every side, and valiantly break through all re- 
 sistance? What should stop me, or intimidate me? 
 Is God with me or against me in the work? Will Christ 
 stand by me, or will he not? If God and Christ be for 
 me, who can be against me (a) In the work of sin, almost 
 all things are ready to help us, and only God and his 
 servants are against us; yet how doth that work pros- 
 per in our hands! But in my course to heaven, almost 
 all things are against me, but God is for me; and 
 therefore how happily doth the work succeed! Dol 
 set upon this work in my own strength, or rather in the 
 strength of Christ my Lord? And cannot I do all-things 
 through him that strengthens me ?(b) Was he ever foiled 
 
 . by anenemy? He hath indeed been assaulted, but was 
 
 he ever conquered ? Why then doth my flesh urge me 
 with the difficulties of the work ? Is any thing too hard 
 for Omnipotence? -May not Peter boldly walk on the 
 sea, if Christ give the word of command f If he begin to 
 sink, is it from the weakness of Christ, or the smallness 
 of his faiths Do I not well deserve to be turned into 
 hell, if mortal threats can drive me thither? Do Inct 
 weil deserve to be shut out of heaven, if1 will be 
 frighted from thence with the reproach of tongues? 
 What if it were father, or mother, or husband, or wife, 
 or the nearest friend I have in the world, if they may 
 be called friends, that would draw me to damnation, 
 should I not forsake all that will keep me from Christ? 
 Will their friendship countervail the enmity of God, 
 or be any comfort to my condemned soul? Shall Ibe 
 yielding to the desires of men, and only harden myself 
 against the Lord? Let them beseech me upon their 
 
 knees, I will scorn to stop my course to behold them ; 
 
 I will shut my eyes to their cries: Let them flatter or 
 frown, let them draw out tonguesor swords against me; 
 I am resolved in the strength of Christ to break through 
 and look upon them as dust: If they would entice me 
 
 (z) 1 Pet.i. 13. (a) Rom. viii. 31. (6) Phil. iv, 13. 
 
BY RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS. 267 
 
 with preferment, even with the kingdomis of the world, 
 I will no more regard them than the dung of the earth. 
 O blessed rest! O glorious state! Who would sell thee 
 for dreams and shadows? Who would be enticed or 
 affrighted from thee? Who would not strive, and fight, 
 and watch, and run, and that with violence, evento the 
 last breath, in order to obtain thee ? Surely none, but 
 those that know thee not, and believe not thy glory.” 
 
 § 16. (5) The last affection to be exercised in hea- 
 venly contemplation, is joy. Love, desire, hope, and 
 courage, all tend to raise our joy. This isso desirable 
 to every man by nature, and so essentially necessary te 
 constitute our happiness, that, I hope, I need not say 
 much to persuade you to any thing that would make 
 your life delightful. Supposing you therefore already 
 convinced, that the pleasures of the flesh are brutish 
 and perishing, and that your solid and lasting joy must 
 befrom heaven, instead of persuading, I shall proceedin 
 directing. Reader, if thou hast managed well the former 
 work, thouart got within sightef thy rest; thou believest 
 the truth of it; thou art convinced of its excellencies; 
 thou art falleninlove with it ; thou longest after it; thou 
 hopest for it; and thou art resolved to venture courage- 
 ously for obtaining it. But is here any work for joy in 
 this ? We delight im the good we possess ; it is present 
 good that is the object of joy; and thou wilt say, Alas! 
 Lam yet without it. “But think a little farther with 
 thyself. Is it nothing to have a deed of gift from 
 God? Are his infallible promises no ground of joy? 
 Is it nothing to live in daily expectations of entering 
 into the kingdom? Is not my assurance of being 
 hereafter glorified a sufficient ground for inexpres- 
 sible joy? Is it not a delight to the heir of a king- 
 dom to think of what he must soon possess, though 
 at present he little differ from a servant? Have we 
 not both command and example, for rejezcing in hope 
 of the glory of God ?(c) 
 
 § 17. Here then, Reader, take thy heart once more 
 and carry it to the top of the highest mount; show it 
 the kingdom of Christ, and the glory of it, and say to 
 
 (c) Rom. v. 2. xn. 12. 
 
268 CUNTEMPLATION. PROMOTED 
 
 it, “ All this will thy Lord give thee, who hast believed 
 
 in him and been a worshipper of him. Jt is the father’s 
 good pleasure to give thee this kingdom.(d) Seest thou this 
 astonishing glory which is above thee? All this is thy 
 own inheritance. This crown is thine, these pleasures 
 are thine; this company, this beautiful place, are all 
 thine ; because thou art Christ’s, and Christ is thine ; 
 when thou wast united to him, thou hadst all these with 
 him.” Thus take thy heart into the land of promise ; 
 show it the pleasant hills, and fruitful valley ; show it 
 
 , the clusters of grapes which thou hast gathered, to con- 
 
 vince it that it isa blessed land, flowing with better 
 than milk and honey: “‘ Enter the gates ofthe holy city; 
 walk through the streets of the New Jerusalem : Walk 
 about Sion, and go round about her; tell the towers 
 thereof, mark well her bulwarks ; consider her palaces; 
 that thou mayest tellit to thy soul.(e) Hath it not the glo- 
 ry of God, and is not herlight like unto a stone most pre- 
 cious, even like a jasper-stone, clear as crystal? See the 
 twelve foundations of her walls, and in them the names 
 of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the building 
 of the walls of it are of jasper; and the city is pure gold 
 like unto clear glass, and the foundations are garnished 
 with all manner of precious stones. And the twelve 
 gates are twelve pearls, every several gate is of one 
 pearl; and the street. of the city is pure gold, as it 
 were transparent glass. There is no temple in it; for 
 the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple 
 of it. Ithath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, 
 init; for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the 
 Lamb is the light thereof; and the nations of them 
 which are saved shall walk in the light of it. These 
 sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of. 
 the holy prophets sent his angels and his own Son, to 
 show unto his servants the things which must shortly 
 bedone.” (/) Say now toall this, ‘ This is thy rest, O my 
 soul! And this must be the place of thy everlasting ha- 
 bitation!’ Let all the sons of Sion rejoice, let. the 
 daughters of Jerusalem be glad ; for great is the Lord, 
 and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the 
 
 (d) Luke xii. 32. (¢) Ps. xviii. 12, 13. (f) Rev. xxi. 11, 24. xxi. 6. 
 
BY RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS. 269 
 
 mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the 
 joy of the whole earth, is Mount Sion, God is known 
 in her palaces for a refuge.”(¢) 
 
 § 18. Yet proceed on. The soul that loves, ascends 
 frequently, andruns familiarly through the streets of the 
 heavenly Jerusalem, visiting the patriarchs and pro- 
 phets, saluting the apostles, and admiring the armies of 
 martyrs. Sodothou lead on thy heart as from street to 
 street; bring it into the palace of the great King; lead 
 it, as it were, from chamber to chamber. Say to it, 
 “Here must I lodge; here must I live; here must I 
 praise; here must I love and be beloved: I must shortly 
 be oneof this heavenly choir, and be better skilledin the 
 music. Among this blessed company must I takeup my 
 place; my voice must join to make up the melody. My 
 tears will thenbe wipedaway ; my groans be turned to 
 anothertune; mycottageof clay be changed to this pa- 
 lace ; my prison rags to these splendid robes; and my 
 sordid flesh shall be put off, and such a sun-like spiri- 
 tual body be put on: < For the former things are here 
 passed away.(/) Glorious things are spoken of thee, O 
 city of God ! (¢) When I look upon this glorious place, 
 what a dunghill and dungeon methinks is earth! O 
 what difference betwixt a man, feeble, pained, groan- 
 ing, dying, rotting in the grave, and one of these tri- 
 umphant shining saints ; ‘ Here shall I drink of the river 
 of pleasures, the stream whereof make glad the city of 
 God.(k) Must Israel, under the bondage of the law, . 
 serve the Lord with joyfulness, and with gladness of 
 heart, for the abundance of all things ?’(/) Surely I shall 
 serve him with joyfulness and gladness of heart, for the 
 abundance of glory. Did persecuted saints take joyfully 
 the spoiling of their goods ?(m) And shall not I take joy- 
 - fully such a full reparation of all my losses ? Was ita 
 celebrated day wherein the Jews rested from their ene- 
 mies, because it was turned’ unto them from sorrow to 
 joy, and from mourning unto agood day ?(7) Whata day 
 then will that be to my soul, whose rest and change 
 (g) Ps. xlvii. 1, 2, 3. (A) Rev. xxi. 4. (2) Ps. lxxxyii. 3 
 (k) Ps. xxxvi. 8. (2) Deut. xxviii. 47. (m) Heb. x. 34 
 (n) Esther ix. 22 y = 
 
ts ll Rs — a ge A ic 
 
 270 CONTEMPLATION PROMOTED 
 
 will be inconceivably greater! When the wise men saw 
 the star that led to Christ, they rejoiced with exceeding ~ 
 great joy ;(0) but I shall shortly see him, who is himself 
 the bright and morning Star.( p ) Ifthe disciples departed 
 from the sepulchre with great joy, when they had but 
 
 | heard that the Lord was risen from the dead ;(g) what 
 
 will be my joy, when I shali see him reigning in glory, 
 and myself raised to a blessed communion with him! 
 Then shall I indeed have beauty for ashes, the oil of joy 
 for mourning, and the garments of praise for the spirit 
 
 of heaviness; and Sion shall be made aneternal excel- — 
 
 ‘ leney, a joy of many generations.(7) Why then doI not 
 
 arise from the dust, and cease my complaints ? Why do 
 1 not trample on vain delights, and feed on the foreseen 
 delights of glory ? Why is not my life a continual joy, 
 and the savour of heaven perpetually upon my spirit?” 
 § 19. Let me here observe, that there is no neces- 
 sity to exercise these affections, either exactly in this 
 order, or ail at one time. Sometimes one of thy affec- 
 tions may need more exciting, or may be more lively 
 
 . than the rest; or, if thy time be short, one may be ex- 
 
 ercised one day, and another upon the next; all which 
 must be left to thy prudence to determine. Thou hast 
 also an. opportunity, if inclined to makeuse of it, to 
 exercise opposite and more mixed affections; such as 
 —hatred of sin, which would deprive thy soul of these 
 immortal joys ;—godly fear, lest thou should abuse thy 
 mercy ;—godly shame and grief, for having abused it; 
 —unfeigned repentance ;—self-indignation ;—jealousy 
 over thy heart ;—and pity for those who are in dan- 
 ger of losing these immortal joys. 
 
 § 20. (III.) We are also totake notice, how heavenly 
 contemplation is promoted by soliloquy and prayer. 
 Though consideration be the chief instrament in this 
 work, yet, by itself, it is not so likely toaffect the heart. 
 In this respect contemplation is like preaching, where 
 the mere explaining of truths and duties is seldom at- 
 tended with such success, as the lively application of 
 
 (0) Matt. u. 10. ‘(p) Rev. xxii. 16. 
 (q) Matt. xxviii. 7, 8. (r) Isa. lxi. 3. Ix. 15. 
 
 ¢ 
 
BX SOLILOQUY AND PRAYER. 271 
 
 them tc the conscience; and especially when a divine 
 blessing is earnestly sought for to accompany such 
 application. ; 
 § 21. (1) By soliloquy or, pleading the case with 
 thyself, thou must in thy meditation guicken thy own 
 heart. Enter into a serious debate with it. Plead with 
 it in the most moving and affecting language, and 
 urge it with the most powerful and weighty arguments. 
 . It is what holy men of God have practised in all ages. 
 Thus David, “‘ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and 
 why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, 
 for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my coun- — 
 tenance, and my God.(s) And again, Bless the Lord, O 
 my soul! and all that is within me bless his holy name. 
 Bless the Lord, O my soul! and forget not all his bene- 
 fits,” &c.(¢) This soliloquy is to be made use of according 
 to the several affections of the soul, and according to its 
 several necessities. It is a preaching to one’s self; for as 
 every good master or father of a family is a good preach- 
 er to his own family ; so every good Christian isa good 
 preacher to his own soul. Therefore the very same me- 
 thod which a minister should use in his preaching to 
 others, every Christian should endeavourafter in speak- 
 ing to himself. Observe the matter and manner of the 
 most heart-affecting minister ; let him be as a pattern 
 for your imitation; and the same way that he takes 
 with the hearts of his people,do thoualso take with thy 
 own heart.—Do this in thy heavenly contemplation ; 
 explain to thyself the things which thou dost medi- 
 tate ; confirm thy faith in them from scripture; and 
 then apply them to thyself, according to their nature, 
 and thy own necessity. There is no need to object 
 against this, froma sense of thy owninability. Doth not 
 God command thee “ to teach the scriptures diligently 
 unto thy children, and talk of them when thou sittest 
 in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and 
 when thou liest down, and when thou risest ?’(w) And 
 if thou must have some ability to teach thy: children, 
 much more to teach thyself; and if thou canst talk of 
 divine things to others, why not also to thy own heart? 
 
 is) Pein, b1.* (2). Ps.citt. 1, 5. (ua) Deut. vi. 7. 
 
272 CONTEMPLATION PROMOTED. 
 
 § 22. (2) Heavenly contemplation is also promoted 
 by speaking to God in prayer, as well as by speaking 
 to ourselves in soliloquy. Ejaculatory prayer may very 
 properly be intermixed with meditation, asa part.of the 
 duty. How often do we find David, in the same psalm, 
 sometimes pleading with his soul, and sometimes with 
 God? The apostle bids us speak to ourselves in psalms, 
 and hymns, and spiritual songs ;(v) andnodoubt we may 
 also speak to God in them. This keeps the soul sensible 
 of the divine presence, and tends greatly to quicken 
 and raiseit. As God is the highest object of our 
 thonghts, so our viewing of him, speaking to him, and 
 pleading with him, more elevates the soul, and excites 
 the affections, than any other part of meditation.— 
 Though we remain unaffected, while we plead the case 
 with ourselves ; yet when we turn our speech to God, 
 it may strike us with awe; and the holiness and ma- 
 jesty of him whom we speak to, may cause both the. 
 matter and words to pierce the deeper. When we 
 read, that Isaac went out to meditate in the field, the 
 margin says to pray: for.the Hebrew word signifies 
 both. Thus in our meditations, to intermix soliloquy 
 and prayer, (sometimes speaking to our own hearts, 
 and sometimes to God,) is, I apprebend, the highest 
 step we can advance to in this heavenly work. Nor 
 should we imagine it wili be as well to take up with, 
 prayer alone, and lay aside meditation. For they are- 
 distinct duties, and must both of them be performed.. 
 We need one, as well as the other, and therefore shall, 
 wrong ourselves, by neglecting either. Besides, the 
 mixture of them, like music, will be more engaging ;. 
 as the one serves to put life into the other. And our, 
 speaking to ourselves in meditation, should go before. - 
 our speaking to God in prayer. For want of attend-, 
 ing to this due order, men speak to God with far less 
 reverence and affection than they would speak to an 
 angel, if he should appear to them; or to a judge, if 
 they were speaking for their lives. Speaking to the 
 God of heaven in prayer, isa weightier duty than 
 most are aware of. 
 
 ww) Ephes. v. 19. 
 
 - 
 
HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION 273 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 Heavenly Contemplation assisted by sensible Objects, 
 and guarded against.a treacherous Heart. 
 
 § 1. Asit is difficult. to maintain a lively impression of heavenly 
 
 _ things, therefore § 2. (I.) heavenly contemplation may he as- 
 sisted by sensible objects; § 3. (1) if we draw strong supposi- © 
 tions from sense ; and § 4—11. (2) if we compare the objects of 
 sense with the objects of faith, several instances of whielvare 
 produced. §12.(I1.) Heavenly contemplation may also bé 
 guarded against.a treacherous heart, by considering, § 13, 14, 
 (1) the great backwardness of the heart to this duty, § 12, 
 (2) its trifling in it, § 16. (8) its wandering from it, § 17. 
 (4) its too abrubtly putting an end to it., 
 
 § 1. THE most difficult part of heavenly contemplation 
 is to maintain a lively sense of heavenly things upon 
 our hearts. It is easier, merely to think of heaven a 
 whole day, than to be lively and affectionate in those 
 thoughts a quarter of an hour. Faith is imperfect, for 
 we are renewed but in part; and goes against a world 
 of resistance; and being supernatural, is prone to de- 
 cline and languish, unless it be continually excited. 
 Sense is strong, according to the strength of the flesh ; 
 and being natural, continues while nature continues. 
 The objects of faith are far off; but those of sense are 
 nigh. We must go as far as heaven for our joys. To 
 rejoice in what we never saw, nor ever knew the man 
 that did see, and thisupon a mere promisein the Bible, 
 is not so easy as to rejoice in what we see and possess. 
 It must therefore be a point of spiritual prudence, to 
 call in sense to the assistance of faith. It will be a good 
 work, if we can make friends of these usual enemies, 
 and make them instruments for raising us to God, which 
 are so often the means of drawing us from him. Why 
 hath God given us either our senses, or their common 
 objects, if they might not be serviceable to his praise ? 
 Why doth the Holy Spirit describe the glory of the 
 New Jerusalem, in oa that are even grateful 
 
 9. m 
 
274 HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION 
 
 to the flesh? Is it that we might think heaven to be 
 made of gold and pearl? or that saints and angels eat 
 and drink? No, but to help us to conceive of them as 
 
 -we are able, and to use these borrowed phrases as a 
 
 glass, in which we must see the things themselvés im 
 perfectly represented, till we come to an immediate 
 and perfect sight.—And besides showing how heaven- 
 ly contemplation may be assistéd by sensible objects, 
 —this chapter will also show how it may be preserved 
 from a wandering heart. iil iene 
 
 2. (1.) In order that heavenly contemplation may 
 be assisted by sensible objects, let me only advise—to 
 draw strong suppositions from sense, and to compare 
 the objects of sense with the objects of faith. 
 
 § 3. (1) For the helping of thy affections in heavenly 
 contemplation, draw as strong suppositions as possible 
 from thy sense. Think on the joys above, as boldly as 
 scripture hath expressed them. Bring down thy con- 
 ceptions to the reach of sense. Both love and joy are 
 promoted by familiar acquaintance. When we attempt 
 to think of God and glory without the scripture manner 
 of representing them, we are lost, and have nothing to 
 fix our thoughts upon; we set them so far from us that 
 our thoughts are strange, and we are ready to say what 
 is above us, is nothing tous. To conceive of God and 
 glory, only as above our conception, will beget but lit- 
 tle love; or as above our love, will produce little joy. 
 Therefore put Christ no farther from you than he hath 
 put himself, lest the divine nature be again inaccessible. 
 Think of Christ as in our own glorified nature. Think 
 of glorified saints, as men made perfect. Suppose thy- 
 self a companion with John, in his survey of the New 
 Jerusalem, and viewing the thrones, the majesty, the 
 heavenly hosts, the shining splendour which he saw. 
 Suppose thyself his fellow-traveller into the celestial 
 kingdom ; and that thou hadstseen all the saints in their 
 whits robes, with palms in their hands: and that thou 
 hadst heard those songs of Moses, and of the Lamb. 
 If thou hadst really seen and heard these things, in what 
 3 rapture wouldst thou have been! And the more seri- 
 
~ 
 
 ASSISTED BY SENSIBLE OBJECTS. 275 
 
 ously thou puttest this supposition to thyself, the more 
 will thy meditation elevate thy heart. Do not, like the 
 papists, draw them in pictures; but get the liveliest 
 picture of them in thy mind that thou possibly canst, by 
 contemplating the scripture account of them, till thou 
 canst say, “ Methinks I see a glimpse of glory! Me- 
 thinks I hear the shouts of joy and praise, and even 
 - stand by Abraham and David, Peter and Paul, and other 
 triumphant souls ! Methinks I even see the Son of God 
 appearing in the clouds, and the world standing at his 
 bar to receive their doom; and hear him say, Come, ye 
 blessed of my Father; and see them go rejoicing into 
 the joy of their Lord! My very dreams of these things 
 have sometimes greatly affected me; and should not 
 these just suppositions much more affect me? What if 
 Thad seen, with Paul, those unutterable things? Or, 
 with Stephen, had seen heaven opened, and Christ sit- 
 ting at the right hand of God? Surely that one sight 
 was worth his storm of stones. What if I had seen as 
 Micaiah did, the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all 
 the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on 
 his left? Such things did these men of God see; and 
 I shall shortly see far more than ever they saw till they 
 were loosed from the flesh, as I must be.” Thus you see 
 how it excites our affections in this heavenly work, if 
 we make strong and familiar suppositions from our bo- 
 dily senses, concerning the state of blessedness, as the 
 Spirit hath, in condescending language, expressed it. 
 
 _ § 4. (2) The other way in which our senses may pro- 
 mote this heavenly work, is, by comparing the objects 
 of sense with the objects of faith. As for instance,— 
 You may strongly argue with your hearts, from the 
 corrupt delights of sensual men, to the joys above.— 
 Think with yourselves, ‘‘ Is it such a delight to a sin- 
 ner to do wickedly? And will it not be delightful in- 
 deed to live with God? Hath the drunkard such de- 
 lights in his cups, that the fears of damnation will not 
 make him.forsake them? Will the whoremaster rather 
 part with his credit, estate and salvation, than with 
 his brutish delights ? If the way to hell can afford such 
 
276 HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION © 
 
 “pleasure, what then are the pleasures of the saints in 
 
 heaven! If the covetous man hath so much pleasure in 
 his wealth, and the ambitious man in places of power 
 and titles of honour ; what then have the saints in ever- 
 lasting treasures, and in heaverly honours, where we 
 shall be set above principalities and powers, and be 
 made the glorious spouse of Christ! How delightfully 
 ‘will the voluptuous follow their recreations from morn- 
 ing to night, or sit at their cards and dice, nights and 
 days together | O the delight we shall have when we 
 come to our rest, in beholding the face of the living 
 God, and singing forth praises unto him, and the 
 Lamb!” Compare also the delights above, with the 
 lawful and. moderate delights of sense. Think with 
 
 ‘thyself, “‘ How sweet is food to my taste when I am 
 
 hungry ! especially if it be, as Isaac said, such as I love, 
 which my temperance and appetite incline to! What 
 delight then must my soul have in feeding upon Christ,, 
 the ‘living bread, and in eating with him at his table 
 in his kindom! Was a mess of pottage so sweet to 
 Eseu in his hunger, that he would buy it at so deara 
 rate as his birthright ? How highly then should I value 
 
 this never perishing food! How pleasant is drink in the 
 
 extremity of thirst, scarcely to be expressed; enough 
 to make the strength of Samson revive! O how delight- 
 ful it will be to my soul to drink of that fountain of liy-. 
 ing water, which whoso drinketh it shall thirst no aot ! 
 How delightful. are grateful: odours to the smell; 
 music to the ear; or beautiful sights to the eye! What 
 fragrance then hath the precious ointment, which is, 
 poured on the head of our glorified Saviour, and which 
 must be poured.on the head of all his saints, and will 
 fill all heaven with its odour! How delightful i is the 
 musicof the heavenly host! How pleasing will be those 
 real beauties above! How glorious the building not 
 made with hands, the house that God himself dwells 
 in, the walks and prospects in the city of God, and 
 the celestial paradise !” 
 
 § 5. Compare also the delights above, with those 
 we find in natural knowledge. These are far beyond 
 
ASSISTED BY SENSIBLE OBJECTS. 277 
 
 the delights of sense; but how much farther are the 
 delights of heaven! Think then, ‘‘ Can an Archimedes 
 be so taken up with his mathematical invention, that 
 the threats of death cannot disengage him, but he will 
 die in the midst of his contemplations? Should not I be 
 much more taken up with the delights of glory, and die 
 with these contemplations fresh upon my soul; espe- 
 cially when my death will perfect. my delights, while 
 those of Archimedes die with him! What exquisite 
 pleasure is it to drive into the secrets of nature, and find 
 out the mysteries of arts and sciences ; especially if we 
 make a new discovery in any one of them! What 
 high delights are there then in the knowledge of God 
 and Christ! If the face of human learning be so beauti- 
 ful, as to make sensual pleasures appear bane and bru- 
 tish ; how: beautiful then is the face of God! When we 
 meet with some choice book, how could we read it 
 day and night, almost forgetful of meat, drink, or sleep! 
 What delights are there then at God’s right hand where 
 we shall know in a moment all that is to be known!” 
 Compare also the delights above, with the delights of 
 morality, and of the natural affections. What delight 
 had many sober heathens in the rules and practice of 
 moral duties, so that they taok him alone for an honest 
 man who did well through the love of virtue, and not 
 merely for fearof punishment ; yea,somuch valued was 
 this moral virtue, that they thought man’s chief happi- 
 ness consisted in it! Think then, ‘‘ What excellency 
 will there be in ,our heavenly perfection, and in that 
 uncreated perfection of God, which we shall behold! 
 What sweetness is there in the exercise of natural love, 
 whether to children, parents, yoke fellows, or intimaté 
 friends! Does David say of Jonathan, Thy love to me 
 was wonderful; passing the love of women? Did the 
 soul of Jonathan cleave to David: Had Christ himself 
 one disciple whom he ¢specially loved, and who was 
 wont to lean onhis breast? If then the delights of close 
 and cordial friendship be so great, what delight shall we 
 have in the friendship of the Most. High, and in our 
 mutual intimacy with Jesus Christ, and in the dearest 
 
278 HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION * 
 Jove to the saints! Surely this will bea stricter friend- 
 ship, and these more lively ‘and desirable friends, than 
 ever the sun’ beheld ; and both our affections to our 
 Father and Saviour, and especially theirs to us, will be 
 such as we never knew here. If one angel could de- 
 stroy an host, the affections of spirits must also be pro- 
 portionablystronger, so that we shall then love a thou- 
 sand times more ardently than we can now. As all 
 the attributes and works of God are incomprehensible, 
 so is this of love ; he will love us infinitely beyond our 
 most perfect love to him. What then will there be in 
 this mutual love !” oh Bett 
 § 6. Compare also the excellencies of heaven, with 
 those glorious works of creation, which our eyes now 
 behold. What wisdom, power, and goodness, are mani- 
 fested therein! How does the majesty of the Creator 
 shine in this fabric of the world! His works are great, 
 sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.— 
 What divineskillin forming the bodies of men or beasts! 
 What excellency in every plant! What beauty in flow- 
 ers! What variety and usefulnessin herbs, plants, fruits, 
 and minerals! What wonders are contained in the earth 
 and its inhabitants; the ocean of waters, with its mo- 
 tions and dimensions; and the constant succession of 
 spring and autumn, of summerand winter; Think then, 
 of these things, which are but servants to sinful man, 
 are so fullofmysterious worth, what is that place where 
 God himself dwells, and which is prepared for just men 
 made perfect with Christ! What glory is there in the 
 least of yonder stars! What a vast resplendent body is 
 yonder moon, and every planet! What an inconceiy- 
 able glory hath the sun! But all this is nothing to the 
 glory of heaven. Yonder sun must there be laidaside 
 as useless. Yonder is but darkness to the lustre of my 
 Father’s house. I shall myself be as glorious as that 
 sun. This whole earth is but'‘my Father's foot-stool. 
 This thunder is nothing to his dreadful voice. These 
 winds are nothing to the breath of his mouth. If the 
 sending rain, and making the sun to rise on the just 
 and on the unjust, be so wonderful, how much more 
 
 2 
 
ASSISTED BY SENSIBLE OBJECTS. 279 
 
 wonderful and glorious will that sun be, which must 
 shine on none but saints and angels!) Compare also 
 the enjoyments above, with the wonders of providence 
 in the church and world. Would it not be anastonish- 
 ing sight, tosee the sea stand as a wall on theright hand 
 and no the left, and the dry land appear in the midst, 
 and the people of Israel pass safely through, and Pha- 
 raoh and his host drowned? or to have seen the ten 
 plagues of Egypt? or the rock gushing forth streams? 
 or manna and quails rained from heaven? or the earth 
 opening and swallowing up the wicked? But we shall 
 see far greater things than these; not only sights more 
 wonderful, but more delightful. There shall be no 
 blood, nor wrath, intermingled ; nor shall we cry out, 
 as the men of Beth-shemesh, Who is able to stand before 
 this holy Lord God? Wow astonishing to see the sun 
 stand still in the firmament; or the dial of Ahaz go 
 back ten degrees! But we shall see when there shall be 
 no sun; or rathershall behold forever a sun of infinitely 
 greater brightness. What a life should we have, if we 
 could have drought or rain at our prayers; or have’ fire 
 from heaven to destroy our enemies, as Elijah had ; ot 
 raised the dead, as Elisha ; or miraculously cure diseases, 
 and speak all languages, as the apostles! Alas, these 
 are nothing tothe wonders we shall see and possess with 
 God ; and all of them wonders of goodness and love. 
 We shall ourselves be the subjects of more wonderful 
 mercies than any of these. Jonah was raised but from 
 athree days’ burial in the belly of a fish ; but we shall be 
 raised from a many years rottenness and dust; and that 
 dust exalted to the glory of the sun; and that glory per- 
 petuated through eternity. Surely, if we observe but 
 common providences; as the motions of the sun; the 
 tides of the sea; the standing of the earth; the water- 
 " ing it with rain, asa garden; the keeping in ordera 
 wicked confused world ; with many others, they are 
 all admirable. But what are these to the Sion of God, 
 the vision of the divine Majesty, and the order of the 
 heavenly hosts? Add to these, those particular provi- 
 dences which thou hast thyself enjoyed and recorded 
 
280 HEAVENLY. CONTEMPLATION ***— 
 
 throuch thy life, and compare them with the’ mercies’ 
 thou shalt have above. Look over the mercies of thy 
 youth and riperage, of thy prosperity and adversity, of 
 thy several places and relations: are they not:excellent: 
 and innumerable, rich and engaging ? How sweet was: 
 itto thee, when God resolved thy doubts ; scattered thy 
 fears; prevented the inconveniences into which thy. 
 own counsel would have cast thee; eased thy pains; 
 healed thy sickness ; and raised thee up as from death 
 and the grave! Think then, ‘* Are all these so sweet 
 and precious, that without them my life would have 
 beena perpetual misery  Hathhis providenceson earth: 
 lifted me high, and his gentleness made me so great? 
 How sweet then will his glorious presence be! How 
 high will his eternal love exalt me! And how great 
 shall I be made in communion with his greatness! . If 
 my pilgrimage and wartare have such mercies, what 
 
 - shall 1 find inmy home, and in my triumph? If God 
 
 communicates so much to me, while I remain a sinner, 
 what will he bestow when I am a perfect saint? IfI 
 
 ‘ have had so much at such a distance from him, what 
 
 shall I have in his immediate presence, where I shall 
 ever stand before his throne?” 
 
 § 7. Compare the joys above, with the comforts 
 thou hast here received in ordinances. Hath not the 
 Bible been to thee as an open fountain, flowing with 
 comforts day and night? What suitable promises have 
 come into thy mind; so that, with David, thou mayest 
 say, Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then 
 have perished in mine affliction? Think then, “ If his 
 word be so full of consolations, whatoyverflowing springs 
 shall we find in God himself! If his letters are so com- 
 fortable, what will the glories of his presence be! If 
 the promise is so sweet, what will the performance be! 
 If the testament of our Lord, and our charter for the 
 kingdom, be so comfortable, what willbe our possession 
 of the kingdom itself! Think farther, ‘What delights 
 have I also found in the word preached? When I have . 
 sat under a heavenly heart-searching teacher, how hath 
 my heart been warmed! Methinks I have felt myself 
 
ASSISTED BY SENSIBLE OBJECTS. 282 
 
 almost in heaven. How often have I gone to the con- 
 eregation troubled in spirit, and returned joyful ! How 
 often have I gone doubting, and God’ hath sent me 
 home persuaded of his love in Christ! What cordials 
 have I met with to animate mein every conflict! Ifbut 
 the face of Mosesshineso gloriously, what glory is there 
 in the face of God! Ifthe feet of them that publish 
 peace, that bring good tidings of salvation, be beautiful, 
 how beautiful is the face of the Prince of peace!- If 
 this treasure be so precious in earthen vessels, what'is 
 that treasure laid up in heaven! Blessed are the eyes that 
 see what is seen there, and the ears that hear the things 
 that are heard there. There shall I hear Elijah, Isaiah, 
 
 Jeremiah, John, Peter, Paul, not preaching to gainsay- 
 érs, in imprisonment, persecution, and reproach; but 
 triumphing in the praises of him that hath raised them 
 to honour and glory.”—Think also, ‘* What joy is it te 
 have access and acceptance in prayer; that I may al- 
 ways go to God, and open my case, and unbosom mv 
 soul to him, as to my most faithful friend! But it wiil bé 
 amore unspeakable j joy when [shall receive all bless ngs 
 without asking, and all my necessities and miseries will 
 be removed, and when God himself will be the portion 
 and inheritance of my soul. As for the Lord’s supper 
 
 what a privilege is it to be admitted to sit at his table! 
 
 to have his covenant sealed to me there! But all the 
 life and comfort there, is to assure me of the comforts 
 hereafter. O the difference between the last supper of 
 Christ on earth, and the marriage supper of the Lamb 
 at the great day! Then his room will be the glorious 
 heavens; his attendants, all the hosts of angels and 
 saints; no Judas, no unfurnished guest, comes there, 
 but the humble believers must sit down by him, and 
 their feasts will be their mutual loving and rejoicing.” — 
 Concerning the communion of saints, think with thy- 
 sem," What apleasure is it to live with intelligent and 
 heavenly Christians! David says of such, they were all 
 his delight. O what a delightful society then shall f 
 have aboye! Had I but seen Job on the dunghill; what 
 a mirror of patience! and what will it be to see’ him 
 
 No 
 
282 HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION. 
 
 in glory! How delightful to have heard Paul and Silas 
 singing in the stocks! How much more to hear them 
 sing praises in heaven! What melody did David make 
 on his harp! But how much more melodious to hear 
 that sweet singer in the heavenly choir! What would 
 I have given for an houn’s free converse with Paul when 
 he was.just come down from the third heaven! But I 
 must shortly see these things myself, and possess what I 
 see.”—Once more, think of praising God, in concert 
 with his saints: ‘‘ What if I had been in the place of 
 those shepherds, who saw, and heard the heavenly 
 hosts singing, Glory to God in the highest, andon earth 
 peace, good-will towards men! But I shall see and hear 
 more glorious things. How blessed should I have 
 thought myself, had Lheard Christ in his thanksgivings 
 to his Father! How much more, when I shall hear him 
 pronounce me blessed! If there was such a joy at bring- 
 ing back the ark, or at rebuilding the temple, what 
 will there be in the New Jerusalem! If the earth rent, 
 when the people rejoiced at Solomon’s coronation, 
 what a joyful shout will there be at the appearing of 
 the King of the church! If, when the foundations of 
 the earth were laid, the morning stars sang together, and 
 all the sons of God shouted for joy, what a joyful song 
 will there be, when the world of glory is both founded 
 and finished, when the top-stone is laid, and when the 
 holy city is adorned as the bride, the Lamb’s wife ! 
 
 » ,§ 8. Compare the joys thou shalt have in heaven, with 
 what the saints have found in the way toit, and in the 
 foretastes of it.. When did God ever reveal the least 
 of himself to any of his saints, but the joy of their heart | 
 was answerable to the revelation? In what an ecstacy 
 was Peter on the, mount of transfiguration !—Master, 
 says he, it is good for us tobe here: let us make three 
 tabernacles? one for thee, and one for Moses, and one 
 for Elias. As it he had said, ‘« O let us not go down 
 - again to yonder persecuting rabble; let us not return to © 
 our. mean and suffering state. , Is it not better to stay 
 here now we,are here? Is not here better company, 
 and sweeter pleasure ?”.. How was Paul lifted up with 
 
ASSISTED BY SENSIBLE OBJECTS. 2838 
 
 what he saw! How did the face of Moses shine, when 
 he had been talking with God! These were: all-ex- 
 traordinary foretastes; but little to the full beatifical 
 vision. How often have we read-and heard of dying 
 saints, who have beenas full of joy astheir hearts: could 
 hold, and when their bodies have felt the extermity:of 
 sickness and pain, have had so much of heaven. in their 
 spirits, that their joy hath far exceeded their sorrows? 
 Ifa spark of this fire be so glorious, even amidst: thé 
 sea of adversity, what then is glory itself?. O the joy 
 that the martyrs have felt in the flames!, They wene 
 flesh and blood as well as we: it must therefore be 
 some excellent thing that filled their spirits with joy, 
 while their bodies were burning. Think, Reader, in 
 thy meditations, “* Sure it must be some wonderful 
 foretaste of glory, that made the flames of fire easy, and 
 the king of terrors welcome. What then is glory itself? 
 What a blessed rest, when the thoughts of it made 
 Paul desire to depart and be with Christ; and makes 
 the saints never think themselves well, till they, are 
 dead! Shall Saunders embrace the -stake, and cry, 
 Welcome cross? And shall not I more delightfully.em- 
 brace my blessedness, and cry, Welcome crown? Shall 
 Bradford kiss the faggot; and shall not I kiss the. Sa, 
 viour? Shall another poor martyr rejoice to have, her 
 foot in the same hole of the stocks in which Mr. Phii- 
 pot’s had been before her? And shall not I, rejoice, 
 that my soul shall live in the same place of glory, where 
 Christ and his apostles are gone before me? Shall fire 
 and faggot, prisons and banishment, cruel mockings 
 and scourgings, be more welcome to others than Christ 
 and glory tome? God forbid.” 
 § 9. Compare the glory of the heavenly kingdom, 
 with the glory of the church on earth, and of Christ in 
 his state of humiliation. If Christ’s suffering in the room 
 of sinners had such excellency, what is Christ at his 
 Father’s right hand? If the church under her sins and 
 enemies have so much beauty, what will she have at 
 the marriage of the Lamb? How wonderful was the 
 Son of God in the form of a servant! When he is born 
 
284 | HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION - 
 
 aaew star must appear, and conduct the strangers to 
 worship him ina manger; heavenly hosts with their 
 songs must celebrate his nativity ; while a child, he must 
 dispute with doctors; when he enters upon his office, 
 he turns water into wine; feeds thousands witha few 
 loaves and fishes ; cleanses the lepers, heals the sick, 
 restores the lame, gives sight to the blind, and raises 
 the dead. \: How wonderful then is his celestial glory ! 
 If there: be: such cutting down of boughs, and spreading 
 of garments, and crying, Hosanna, for one that comes 
 into’ Jerusalem riding on an ass; what will there be 
 when he comes with his angels in his glory ?), If they 
 that heard him preach the gospel of the kingdom con- 
 _ fess, Never man spake like this man; they then, that 
 
 behold his majesty in his kingdom, will say, There was 
 never glory like this glory. If, when his enemies came 
 toapprehend him, they fell to the ground; if, when 
 he is dying, the earth quakes, the vail of the temple is 
 rént, the sun is eclipsed, the dead bodies of the saints 
 afise; and the standers by acknowledge, Verily this was 
 the’Son of God ; ‘O what a day will it be, when the 
 déad must all arise and stand before him; when» he 
 will once more shake, not the ¢arth only, but the hea- 
 vens also; when the sun shall be taken out of the fir- 
 mament, and be everlastingly darkened with his glory, 
 and when every tongue shall confess him to: be Lord 
 and King! If, whenhe rose again, death and the grave 
 lost their power; if angels must roll away the stone, 
 terrify the keepers till they are as dead men, and send 
 the tidings to his disciples ; if he ascend to heaveman 
 their sight ; what power, dominion, and glory, is he now 
 possessed of, and which we must for ever possess with 
 him! When he‘is gone, cana few poor fishermen and 
 tent-makers curethelame, blind, and sick, open prisons, 
 destroy the disobedient, raise the dead, and astonish 
 their adversaries? What a world will that be where 
 every one can do greater works than these! If the 
 preaching of the gospel be accompanied with ‘such 
 power as to discover the secrets of the heart, humble 
 thé proud sinner, and make the most obdurate tremble; 
 
ASSISTED BY SENSIBLE OBJECTS. 285 
 
 if it can make men burn their books, sell their lands, 
 bring in the price, and lay it down at the preacher's 
 feet; if it can convert thousands, and turn the world 
 upside down; if its doctrine, from the prisoner at the 
 bar, can make the judge on the bench tremble; if Christ 
 and his saints have this power and honour in the day 
 of their abasement, and in the time appointed for their 
 suffering and disgrace; what then will they have in 
 their absolute dominion, and full advancement in their . 
 kingdom of glory ! 
 
 § 10. Compare the glorious change thou shalt have 
 at last, with the gracious change which the Spirit hath 
 here wrought on thy heart. There is not the smallest 
 sincere grace in thee, but is of greater worth than the 
 riches of the Indies ; not a hearty desire and groan after 
 Christ, but is more to be valued than the kingdom of 
 the world. A renewed nature is the very image of 
 God ; Christ dwelling in us, and the Spirit of God 
 abiding in us! it is a beam from the face of God, the 
 seed of God remaining in us, the only inherent beauty 
 of the rational soul. It ennobles man above all nobility ; 
 fits him to understand his Maker's pleasure, do his will, 
 and receive his glory. If this grain of mustard-seed be 
 so precious, what is the tree of life in the midst of the 
 paradise of God! Ifa spark of life, which will but 
 strive against corruptions, and flame out a few desires 
 and groans, be of so much worth; how glorious then 
 is the fountain of this life! If we are said to be like 
 God, when we are pressed down with a body of sin; 
 sure we shall be much more like God, when we have 
 no such thing as sin within us. Is the desire after, 
 and love of heaven, so excellent ; what thenis the thing 
 itself! Is our joy in foreseeing and believing so sweet; 
 what will be the joy of full possession! How glad isa 
 Christian when he feels his heart begins to melt, and be 
 dissolved with the thoughts of sinful unkindness! Even 
 this sorrow yields himjoy. O what then will it be 
 when we shall know, and love, and rejoice, and praise 
 in the highest perfection! Think with thyself, «« What 
 a change was it, to be taken from that state whereir 
 
286 HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION. 
 
 I was born, and in which I was riveted by custom, 
 when thousands of sins lay upon my score, and if I 
 had so died I had been damned for ever! What an 
 astonishing change, to be justified from all these enor- 
 
 mous crimes, and freed from all these fearful plagues, — 
 and made an heir of heaven! How often, when I have 
 thought of my regeneration, have 1 eried out, O blessed 
 day! and blessed be the Lord that ever I saw it! How 
 then shall I cry out in heaven, O blessed etérnity ! and 
 blessed be the Lord that brought me to it!—Did the 
 angels of God rejoice to see my conversion? Surely 
 they will congratulate my felicity in my salvation.— 
 Grace is but a spark raked up in the ashes, covered 
 with flesh from the sight of the world, and sometimes 
 covered with corruption from my own sight; but my 
 
 ‘everlasting glory will not be so clouded, nor my light 
 ‘be under a bushel, but upon a hill, even upon mount 
 
 Sion, the mount of God.” ) 
 § 11. Once more, compare the joys which thou 
 shalt have above, with those foretastes of it which the 
 Spirit hath given thee here. Hath not God sometimes 
 revealed himself extraordinarily to thy soul, and let a 
 drop of glory fall upon it? Hast thou not been ready to 
 say, O that it might be thus with my soul continually? 
 Didst thou never cry out with the martyr, after thy 
 long and mournful expectations, He is come, he ws 
 come? Didst thou never, under a lively sermon of hea~ 
 ven, or in thy retired contemplations on that blessed 
 state, perceive thy drooping spirits revive, and thy de- 
 jected heart lift up thy head, and the light of heaven 
 dawn on thy soul? Think with thyself, what is this 
 earnest to the full inheritance! Alas, all this light that 
 so amazeth and rejoiceth me, is but a candle lighted 
 from heaven, to lead me thither through this world of 
 darkness. Ifsome godly men have been overwhelmed 
 with joy, till they have cried out, Hold, Lord, stay thy 
 hand ; I can bear no more! what then will be my joys 
 in heaven, when my soul shall be so capable of seeing 
 and enjoying God, that though the light be ten thousand 
 times greater than the sun, yet my eyes shall be able 
 
CONTEMPLATION GUARDED. 287 
 
 for ever to behold it! Or if thou hast not yet felt these 
 sweet foretastes (for every believer hath not felt them) 
 then make use of such delights as thou hast felt, in order 
 the better to discern what thou shalt hereafter feel. 
 
 § 12. (II.) 1am now to show how heavenly contem- 
 plation may be preserved from a wandering heart.— 
 Our chief work is here to discover the danger, and that 
 will direct to the fittest remedy. The heart will prove 
 the greatest hinderance in this heavenly employment ; 
 either,—by backwardness to it;—or, by trifling in it; 
 —or, by frequent excursions to other objects ;—or, by 
 abruptly ending the work before it is well begun. - As 
 you value the comfort of this work, these dangerous 
 evils must be faithfully resisted. 
 
 § 13. (1) Thou wilt find thy heart as backward to 
 this, I think, as to any work in the world. O what ex- 
 cuses will it make! What evasions will it find out! 
 What delays and demurs, when it is ever somuch con- 
 vinced! Either it will question whether it be a duty or 
 not; or, if it be so to others, whether to thyself. It will 
 teli thee, Zhis 1s a work for ministers that have nothing 
 else to study ; or for persons that have more leisure than 
 thou hast. If thou bea minister, it will tell thee, Zhzs 
 is the duty of the people; it is enough for thee to medi- 
 tate for their instruction, and let them meditate on what 
 they have heard. As if it was thy duty only to cook 
 the meat, and serve it up, and they alone must eat it, 
 digest it, and live upon it. If all this will not do, thy 
 heart will tell thee of other business, or set thee upon 
 some other duty, for it had rather go to any duty than 
 this. Perhaps it will tell thee, Other duties are greater, 
 and therefore this must give place to them, because thou 
 hast no time for both. Public business is more impor- 
 tant: to study and preach for the saving of souls must 
 be. preferred before these private contemplations. As if 
 thou hadst not time to care for thy own salvation, for 
 looking after that of others. Or thy charity to others 
 were so great, thatit obliges thee to neglect thy own 
 eternal welfare. Oras if there were any better way 
 to fit us to be useful to others, than making this proof 
 of our doctrine ourselves. Certainly heaven is the best — 
 
288 CONTEMPLATION! GUARDED, 
 
 fire to light our candle at, and the best book for a 
 preacher to study ; and if we'would be persuaded to 
 study that more, the church would be provided with 
 more heavenly lights; and when our studies are di- 
 vine, and our spirits divine, our preaching will also be 
 divine, and we may be called divines indeed. Or if 
 thy heart have nothing to say against the work, it will 
 trifle away the time in delays, and promise this day, 
 sand the next, but still keep off from the business, 
 Or it will give thee a flat denial; and oppose its own 
 unwillingness to thy reason. All this I speak of the 
 heart; so far as it is still carnal: for I know, so far as 
 it is spiritual, it will judge this the sweetest work’ in 
 the world. 
 
 § 14. What is now to be done? Wilt thou do it, if I 
 tell thee ? Wouldest thou not say ina like case, What 
 should I do with a servant that will not work? or with 
 a horse that will not travel? Shall I keep them to look 
 at? Then faithfully deal thus with thy heart; persuade 
 it to the work, take no denial, chide it for its back- 
 wardness, use violence with it. Hast thou no com- 
 mand of thy own thoughts? | Is not the subject of thy 
 meditations a matter of choice, especially under this 
 conduct of thy judgment? Surely God gave thee, with 
 thy new nature, some’ power to govern thy thoughts. 
 Art thou again become aslaveto thy depraved nature? 
 Resume thy authority. Call in the Spirit of Christ: to 
 thine assistance, who is never backward to so’ good a 
 work, nor will deny his help in so just a cause. Say 
 to him, ‘‘ Lord, thou gavest my reason the command of 
 my. thoughts and affections ; ; the authority I have re- 
 ceived over them is from thee; and now, behold, they: 
 refuse to obey thine authority. Thou commandest me 
 to set them to the work. of heavenly meditation,. but 
 they rebel, and stubbornly refuse the duty. _ Wilt thou 
 not assist me to exercise that authority which thou 
 hast given me? O send down thy Spirit, that I may 
 enforce thy commands, and effectually compel them to 
 obey thy will!” Thus thou shalt see thy heart willsub-~ 
 mit, its resistance be overcome, and. its backwandness 
 be turned into cheerful compliance. 0b w9 to 
 
CONTEMPLATION GUARDED. 289 
 
 § 15. (2) Thy heart will also be likely to betray thee 
 by trifling, when it should be effectually meditating. — 
 Perhaps when thou hast an hour for meditation, the 
 time will be spent before thy heart will be serious. 
 This doing of duty, as if he did it not, ruins as many as 
 the omission of it. Here let thine eye be always upon 
 thy heart. Look not so much to the time it spends in the 
 duty, as to the quantity and quality of the work that is 
 done. You can tell by his work, whether a servant hath 
 been diligent. Ask yourselves, What affections have yet 
 been exercised? How much am I yet got nearer to hea- 
 ven? Think not, since thy heart is so trifling, it is bet- 
 ter to let it alone: for by this means thou wilt certainly 
 banish all spiritual obedience ; because the best 
 hearts, being but sanctified in part, will resist, so far as 
 they are carnal. But rather consider well the corrup- 
 tion of thy nature; and that its sinful indispositions will 
 not supersede the commands of God ; nor one sin ex- 
 cuse for another; and that God has appointed means 
 to excite our affections. This self-reasoning, self-consi- 
 dering duty of heavenly meditation, is the most singular 
 ‘means both to excite and increase love. Therefore stay 
 not from the duty till thou feelest tiry love constrain thee, 
 any more than thou wouldest stay from the fire till thou 
 feelest thyself warm; but engage in the work till love is 
 excited, and then love will constrain thee to furtherduty. 
 
 § 16. (3) Thy heart will also be making excursions 
 from thy heavenly meditation to other objects. It will 
 be turning aside, like a careless servant, to talk with 
 every one that. passeth by. Where there should be no- 
 thing in thy mind but heaven, it will be thmking of thy 
 calling, or thy afflictions, or of every bird, or tree, or 
 place thou seest. The cure is here the same as before, 
 —use watchfulness and violence. Say to thy heart, 
 «¢ What! did I come hither to think of my worldly bu- 
 siness, of persons, places, news, or vanity, or of any 
 thing but heaven, be it ever so good? Canst thou not 
 watch. one hour? Wouldest thou leave this world, and 
 dwell for ever with Christ in heaven, and not leave it one 
 hour to dwell with Christ in meditation? Is this thy 
 Jove to thy friend? Dost hou love Christ, and the place 
 
 10,; ° se ) : 
 
290 CONTEMPLATION GUARDED. — 
 of thy eternal blessed abode, no more than this?” If the 
 rayening fowls of wandering thoughts devour the medi- 
 tations intended for heaven, they devour the life and 
 joy of thy thoughts ; therefore drive them away from 
 thy‘sacrifice, and strictly keep thy heart to the work. 
 § 17. (4) Abruptly ending thy meditation before it — 
 is well begun, is another ‘way in which thy heart will — 
 deceive thee. Thou mayest easily perceive this in other 
 duties. In secret prayer, is not thy heart urging thee 
 to cut it short, and frequently making a motion to have 
 done? So in heavenly contemplation thy heart will be | 
 weary of the work, and will stop thy heavenly walk be- 
 fore thou art well warm. But charge it in the name of 
 God to stay, and-not do so great a work by halves. Say 
 to it, “ Foolish ‘heart’ if thou beg awhile, and goest 
 away before thou hast thy alms, is not thy begging a lost 
 labour? If thou stoppest before the end of thy journey, 
 is not thy travel lost? Thou camest hither in hope to 
 
 _. havea sight of the glory which thou must inherit; and 
 
 wilt thou stop when thou art almost at the top of the 
 hill, and turn back before thou hast taken thy survey? 
 Thou camest, hither in hope to speak with God, and 
 -wilt thou go before thou hast seen him? Thou camest 
 to bathe thyself in the streams of consolation, and to 
 that end didst unclothe thyself of thy earthly theughts ; 
 and wilt thou only touch the bank, and return? Thou 
 camest to spy out the land of promise; go not back 
 without one cluster of grapes, to show thy brethren for 
 their encouragement. Letthem see that thou hast tasted 
 _of the wine, by the gladness of thy heart; and that thou 
 -hast been anointed with the oil, by the cheerfulness of 
 thy countenance ; and hast fed of the milk and honey, 
 by the mildness of thy disposition, and the sweetness of 
 thy conversation. This heavenly fire would melt thy 
 frozen heart, and refine and spiritualize it, but it must 
 have time to operate. Thus pursue the work till some- 
 thing be done, tiil thy graces be in exercise, thy affec- 
 _tions raised, and thy soul refreshed with the delights 
 above; or if thou canst not attain these ends at once, 
 _ be the more earnest at another time. Blessed is that ser- 
 vant whomhis Lord, when he cometh, shall find sodoing. 
 
AN EXAMPLE OF, ETE. } 291 
 
 CHAP. XVI. one a 3 
 
 Heavenly Contemplation exemplified, and the whole 
 Work concluded. lod “nek 
 
 § 1. The Reader’s attention‘excited to the following example of me- 
 . ditation. § 2. The excellencies of heavenly rest ; § 3.itsnear- 
 ness; § 4. dreadful to sinners, §.5..and joyful to saints ; § 6. its 
 dear purchase ; oe its difference from earth. § 8. The heart 
 pleaded with. § 9. Unbelief banished. § 10: A ‘careless world 
 pitied. § F1—13. Heavenly rest the object of love, § 14—21. 
 and joy. §22. The heart’s backwardness to heavenly joy lament- 
 ed. § 23—27. Heavenly rest the object of desire. §28.Such 
 meditation as this urged upon the reader :. § 29. The mischief of 
 neglecting it; § 30. The happiness of pursuing it. § 31. The 
 
 _ author’s coneluding prayer for the success of his work. — 
 
 _§1.Anp now, Reader, according to the above di- 
 rections, make conscience of daily exercising thy 
 graces in meditation, as well as prayer. Retire into 
 some secret place, at a time the most convenient to . 
 thyself, and, laying aside all worldly thoughts, with 
 all possible seriousness and reverence look up toward 
 heayen, remember there is thine everlasting rest, study 
 
 th_thy. till baying pleaded 
 the case reverently with God, and seriously with thy 
 own_heart, thou hast_pleaded thyself from a clod_to 
 a_flame;.from a forgetful sinner, and a lover of the 
 world, to an ardent lover of God ; from a fearful coward 
 to a resolved Christian; from an unfruitful sadness 
 to a joyful life: in a word, till thou hast pleaded thy 
 heart from earth to heaven, from conversing below 
 to walking with God, and till thou canst lay thy 
 heart to rest, as in the bosom of Christ, by some such 
 meditation of thy everlasting rest, as is here added for 
 thy assistance. eee 
 
 § 2. “ Rest! How sweet the sound! It ismelody to 
 my ears! It lies as a reviving cordial at my heart, and 
 
202 AN EXAMPLE OF 
 
 from thence sends forth lively spirits, which beat diet 
 all the pulses of my soul! Rest, not as_ the stone that 
 rests_on the earth, nor as this flesh shall rest in the 
 grave, nor such.arest-as_the. Re PE 
 bisesed nest subien ten est_no: — oht.sz 
 
 oy nt ‘When shall rest.in know 
 
 j raising! When my 
 
 shall 0g eT eae. enjoy the. most.perfect God ! 
 God. who is love itself, shall perfes y loye me, 
 
 ind ‘tain bit Jove to me, as I shall rest in. ny love to 
 
 him; and rejoice over me with joy, and joy over.:me 
 
 with sin ing, as I shall rejoice in him! — 
 
 § 3. “ How near is that most blessed, joyful day! It 
 comes apace. He that shall come will come, and will 
 not tarry, Though my Lord seems to ‘dela ae coming, 
 yet a little while and he will be here. at isa few 
 hundred years, when they are over? How’'surely will 
 his sign appear! How suddenly will he seize on'the 
 careless world, even as the lightning cometh out of ie 
 east, and shineth ‘unto. the. west! He who’ is’ 
 hence. shal so come, Methinks ‘1 hear his ‘tra pe t 
 sound! Methinks I see him coming in ean ‘with 
 his attending angels, in majesty and in Sea 
 
 § 4. “ O Secure sinners! what now will you’ if 
 - where will you hide yourselves? what shall cover’ 
 Mountains are gone; the heavens and the earth wl ich 
 were, are passed away; the devouring fire ie con- 
 - sumed. all, except yourselves, who must be the ‘fuel for 
 ever. that you could consume as soon as the earth, 
 and melt away as did the heavens! Ah, these- wishes 
 are now but vain! The Lamb himself would have been 
 your friend ; he would have loved you, and ruled you, 
 and now have saved you; but you would not then, and 
 now it is too late. Never cry, Lord, Lord, too late, 
 too late, man, Why dost thou look about ? ? Can ; any 
 save thee? Whither dost thourun? Can any hide 
 thee? O wretch, that has brought thyself to this! ae 
 
A HEAVENLY MEDITATION. 293 
 
 ___§,5. “ Now blessed saints, that have believed and 
 
 obeyed! This is the end of faith and patience. This 
 is it for which you prayed and waited. Do you now 
 repent your sufferings and sorrows, your self-denying 
 and holy walking? Are your tears of repentance now 
 bitter or sweet? See how the Judge.smiles.upon you ; 
 there is love in his looks; the.titles of Redeemer, Hus- 
 band, Head, are.written-in-his.amiable...shining face.— 
 Hark, he calls you ; he bids you stand here on his right 
 hand; fear not, for there he sets his sheep. O joyful 
 sentence, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world! He takes you by the hand, the door is open, 
 the kingdom is his, and therefore yours: there is your 
 place before his throne; the Father receives you as the 
 spouse of his Son, and bids you welcome to the crown 
 of glory. Ever so unworthy, you must be crowned. 
 This was the project of free redeeming grace, the pur- 
 pose of eternal love. O blessed grace! O blessed Jove! 
 O how.love and joy will rise! But I cannot express. 
 it, I cannot conceive it. ) 
 
 _ §6. This is that joy which was procured by sotrow, 
 that. crown which was procured by the cross. My Lord 
 wept, that now my tears might be wiped away; he 
 bled, that I might now fejoice; he was forsaken, that I 
 might not now be forsook; he then died, that f might 
 nowlive. O free mercy, that can exalt so vile a wretch ! 
 Free to me, though dear to Christ ; free grace that hath 
 chosen me, when thousands were forsaken! When my 
 companions in sin must burn in hell, I must ‘here re- 
 _ joice in rest! Here must I live with all these - saints! 
 O comfortable meeting of my old acquaintance, 
 with whom I prayed, and wept, and suffered; and 
 spoke often of this day and place! I see the grave 
 - could not detain you! the same love hath redeemed 
 
 and saved you also. ; 
 
 § 7. “ This is not like our cottages of clay, our pri- 
 sons, our earthly dwellings. . This voice of joy is not 
 like our .old complaints, our impatient groans and 
 sighS ; nor this melodious praise like the scoffs and re- 
 vilings, or the oaths and curses, which we heard on 
 
294 AN EXAMPLE OF — a 
 earth. This body is not like that we had, nor this souk 
 like the soul we had, nor this life like the life we lived. 
 We have changed our place and state, our clothes and 
 thoughts, our looks, language, and company. Before 
 a saint was weak and despised; but now how happy 
 and glorious a thing is a saint! Where is now their 
 body of sin, which wearied themselves and those 
 about them ?. Where are now our different judgments, 
 reproachful names, divided spirits, exasperated’ pas- 
 sions, strange looks, uncharitable censures*? Now we 
 are all of one judgment, of one name, of one heart, 
 house, and glory. O sweet reconciliation! Happy 
 union! Now the gospel shall no more be dishonoured 
 through our folly. No more, my soul, shalt thou la- 
 ment the sufferings of the saints, or the church’s ruins, 
 nor mourn thy suffering friends, nor weep over their 
 dying beds, or their graves. Thou shalt never suffer 
 thy old temptations from Satan, the world, or thy own 
 flesh. Thy pains and sickness are all cured; thy body 
 shall no more hurthen thee with weakness and weari- 
 ness; thy aching head and heart,thy hunger and thirst, 
 thy sleep and labour, are all. gone. O what a mighty 
 change is this! From the dunghill to the throne! From 
 persecuting sinners, to praising saints! Froma vile body 
 to this which shines as the brightnéss of the firmament! 
 
 Erom . | , to the perfect ‘en- 
 joyment of him in love! From ‘doubts and fears, 
 to_this possession, which.puts.me. abt From 
 all my. fearful..tl f death. to this joyful life’! 
 
 Blessed change ! Farewell sin and sorrow for ever; fare- 
 well my rocky, proud, unbelieving heart; my worldly 
 sensual, carnal heart: and welcome my most holy, hea- 
 venly nature. Farewell repentance, faith, and hope ; and 
 welcome love, and joy, and praise. I shall now have 
 my harvest, without ploughing or sowing; my joy, with- 
 out a preacher, or a promise; even all from the face of 
 
 God himself. Whatever mixture is in the streams, there 
 
 is nothing but pure joy in the fountain. Here shall I 
 he encircled with eternity, and ever live, and ever, 
 ever, praise the Lord. My face will not wrinkle, nor 
 
 my hair be gray; for this corruptible shall have put 
 
HEAVENLY MEDITATION. 295 
 
 on Mmecorruption, and this mortal, immortality, and 
 death shall be swallowed up in victory ! O death, where 
 is now thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The 
 date of my lease will no more expire, nor shall 1 trouble 
 myself with thoughts of death, nor lose my joys 
 through fear of losing them. When millions of ages are 
 passed, my glory is but beginning; and when millions 
 more are passed, it isno nearer ending. Every day 
 is all noon, every month is harvest, every yearis a - 
 jubilee, every age is full manhood, and all this is one 
 eternity. O blessed eternity! the glory of my glory! 
 the perfection of my perfection ! 7 Bik 
 
 - §8. << Ah, drowsy earthly heart! how coldly dost 
 thou think of this reviving day! Hadst thou rather sit 
 down in dirt, than walk in the palace of God? Art 
 thou now remembering thy worldly business, or think- 
 ing of thy lusts, earthly delights, and merry company ?. 
 Is it better to be here, than above with God? Is the 
 company better? are the pleasures greater? Come 
 away ; make no excuse, nor delay; God commands, 
 and I command thee; gird up thy loins; ascend the 
 mount; look about thee with faith and seriousness. 
 Look not back upon the way of the wilderness, except 
 it be to compare the kingdom with that howling desert, 
 more sensibly to perceive the wide difference. Yonder 
 is thy Father's glory; yonder, O my soul, must thou 
 remove, when thou departest from this body; and 
 when the power of thy Lord hath raised it again, and, 
 joined thee to it, yonder must thou live with God 
 for ever. There is the glorious New Jerusalem, the 
 gates of pearl, the foundation of pearl, the streets and 
 pavements of transparent gold. That sun, which 
 lighteth all this world, will be useless there ; even 
 thyself shall be as bright as yonder shining sun: God 
 will be the sun, and Christ the light, and in his light 
 shalt thou have light. 
 
 § 9.“ O my soul! dost thou stagger at the promise 
 of God through unbelief? I much suspect thee. Didst 
 thou believe indeed, thou wouldst be more affected with 
 it. Is it not under the hand, and seal, and oath, of God? 
 Can God lie? Can he that is truth itself be false?— 
 
296 AN EXAMPLE OF | 
 
 . What need hath God to flatter or deceive thee? — Why 7 
 
 should he promise thee, more than, he will |p 
 Dare not to charge the wise, almighty, faithful Gn, 
 with this. How many of the promises have been pet- 
 formed to thee in thy conversion? Would God,so pow- 
 erfully concur with a feigned word? O wretched heart 
 of unbelief! Hath God made thee a promise of rest, 
 and wilt thou come short of it? Thine eyes, thine ears, 
 and all thy senses, may prove delusions, sooner than a 
 promise of God can delude thee. Thou mayest be surer 
 of that which is written in the word, than if thou see it 
 with thine eyes, or feel it with thine hands. Art thou 
 sure thou art alive, or that this is earth thou standest on, ~ 
 or that thine eyes see the sun? As sure is all that glory 
 to'the-saints; as sure shall I be higher than yonder 
 stars, and live for ever in the holy city, and joyfully 
 sound forth the praises of my Redeemer; if I be not 
 shut out by this evil heart of unbelief, causing me to 
 depart from the living’God. 
 
 §.10. ‘And is this rest so sweet and so sure ?. Then 
 what means the careless world? -Know they what they 
 neglect? Didtheyever hear of it, or are they yet asleep, 
 or are they.dead? Do they certainly know that the 
 crown is before them, while they thus sit still, or follow 
 trifles? Undoubtedly they are beside themselves, to 
 mind so much their provision by: the way, when they 
 are hasting so fast to another world, and their eternal 
 happiness lies at stake. Were there left one spark of 
 reason they would never sell theirrest for toil, nor ‘their 
 glory for worldly vanities, nor venture heaven for sin- 
 
 ’ ful: pleasures. Poor men!,O that you would once consi- 
 
 der what you hazard, and then you would seorn these 
 tempting baits! Blessed for ever,be that love, which 
 hath rescued me from this bewitching darkness! 
 
 _ § 1 Draw ye near, O my soul! with. thy most 
 fervent love. Here is matter for it to work upon, some- 
 thing worth thy loving. O see’ what beauty presents 
 itself! Is not all the beauty.in the world: united, here? 
 Is not all other beauty but deformity? Dost thou now 
 
 ‘ need to be persuaded to love? Here is a feast for thine 
 
 eyes, and all the powers.of thy soul: dost! thou need 
 
 | ‘ 
 
NEAVENLY MEDITATION. 297 
 
 entreaties to feed upon it? Canst thou love a little shin- ~ 
 ing earth, a walking piece of clay? And canst thou 
 not love that God; that Christ, that glory, which is so 
 truly and unmeasurably lovely? Thou canst love thy 
 - friend, because he loves thee: and is the love of a friend 
 like the love of Christ. Their weeping or bleeding for 
 thee does not ease thee, nor stay the course of thy tears 
 or blood; but the tears and blood that fell from thy 
 Lord have a sovereign healing virtue-——O my soul! 
 if love deserves, and should beget love, what incom- 
 prehensible love is here before thee! Pour out all the 
 store of thy affections here, and all is too little. O that 
 it were more! O that it were many thousand times 
 more! Let him be first served that served thee first. 
 . Let him have the first-born, and strength of thy soul, 
 who parted with strength, and life, and love, for thee.— 
 O my soul! dost thou love for excellency? Yonder is 
 the region of light: this is a land of darkness... Yonder 
 twinkling stars, that shining moon, and radiant sun, are 
 all ourlanterns hung out of thy Father's house, to light 
 thee while thou-walkest in this dark world: But how 
 little dost thou know the glory and blessedness that is 
 within ?—Dost thou love for suitableness? What person 
 more suitable than Christ? His godhead and humanity, 
 his fullness,and freeness, his willingness and constancy, 
 all proclaim him thy most suitable friend. What state 
 more suitable to thy misery than mercy? Or to thy sin 
 and pollution, than honour and perfection ?, What place 
 more suitable to thee than heaven? Does this world 
 agree with thy desires? Hast thou not had a sufficient 
 trial of it? Or dost thou love for,interest and near re- 
 lation? | Where hast thou better interest than in hea- 
 ven, or nearer relation than there ? 
 
 § 12. “ Dost thou. love for acquaintance and famili- 
 arity? Though thine eyes have never seen thy Lord, 
 yet thou hast heard his voice, received his benefits, and 
 lived in his bosom: he taught thee to know thyself and 
 him : he opened thee that first window through which 
 - thou sawest into heaven. Hast thou forgotten since thy 
 heart was careless, and he awakened it; hard, and he 
 
 10. FaDias ¥ : 
 
208 AN EXAMPLE OF 
 
 softened it ; stubborn, and he made it yield; at peace, 
 and he troubled it; whole,and he broke it; and broken, 
 till he healed it again? Hast thou forgotten the times 
 when he found thee in tears; when he heard thy secret 
 sighs and groans, and left all to come and comfort thee ? 
 when he took thee, as it were, in his arms, and asked 
 
 _ thee, Poor soul, what ails thee? Dost thou weep, when 
 
 I have wept so much? Be of good cheer; thy wounds 
 are saving, and not deadly; for I have made them, 
 who mean thee no hurt: though I let out thy Blood, 
 I will not let out thy life.—I remember his voice. How 
 
 _ gently did he take me up! How carefully did he dress 
 
 my wounds! Methinks I hear him still saying to me, 
 Poor sinner, though thou hast dealt unkindly with me, 
 and cast me off; yet I will not do so by thee, Though 
 thou hast set light by me, and all my mercies; yet they 
 and myself are all thine. What wouldst thou have, 
 that I can give thee? And what dost thou-want, that 
 I cannot give thee? If any thing I have will give thee 
 pleasure, thou shalt have it. Wouldst thou have par- 
 don? I freely forgive thee all the debt. Wouldst thou 
 have grace and peace?. Thou shalt have them both. 
 Wouldst thou have myself? Behold I am thine, thy 
 Friend, thy Lord, thy Brother, Husband, and Head. 
 Wouldst thou have the Father? I will bring theetohim, - 
 and thou shalt have him, in and by me. These were 
 my Lord’s reviving words.—After all, when I was 
 doubtful of his love, methinks I yet remember his over- 
 coming arguments. Have I done so much, sinner, to 
 testify my love, and yet dost thou doubt? Have I: 
 offered thee myself and love so long, and yet dost thou’ 
 question my willingness to be thine? At what dearer 
 rate should J tell thee that I love thee? Wilt thou not 
 believe my bitter passion proceeded from lover Have 
 I made myself in the gospel a lion to thine enemies, 
 and a lamb to thee; and dost thou overlook my lamb- 
 like nature? Had I been willing to let thee perish, 
 what need I have done and suffered so much? What 
 need I follow thee with such patience and importunity ? 
 Why dost thou tell me of thy wants? have I not enough 
 
 . 
 
HEAVENLY MEDITATION. ~— 299 
 
 for mé and thee? Or of thy unworthiness? for if thou: 
 - wast thyself worthy, what shouldst thou do with my 
 worthiness? Did 1 ever invite, or save, the worthy and 
 _ the righteous; or is there any such upon earth? Hast 
 thou nothing? art thou lost and miserable, helpless and ~ 
 forlorn? Dostthou believe I am an all-sufficient Saviour; 
 and wouldst thou have me? Lo, I am thine, take me 
 if thou art willing, I am; and neither sin, nor Satan, 
 shall break the match.”—These, O these, were the bless- ° 
 ed words which his Spirit from his gospel spoke unto 
 me, till he made me cast myself at his feet, and cry out, 
 “* My Saviour and my Lord, thou hast broke, thou 
 hast revived my heart; thou hast overcome, thou hast 
 won my heart; take it, it is thine: if such a heart can 
 please thee, take it; if-it cannot, make it such as thou 
 wouldst have it.”. Thus, O my soul, mayest thou re- 
 member the sweet familiarity thou hast had with Christ; 
 therefore if acquaintance will cause affection, let out 
 thy heart unto him. It is he that hath stood by thy bed of 
 sickness, hath eased thy pains, refreshed thy weariness, 
 and removed thy fears. He hath been always ready, 
 when thou hast earnestly sought him ; hath met thee in 
 public and private; hath been found of thee in the con- 
 gregation, in thy house, in thy closet, in the field, in . 
 thy waking nights, in thy deepest dangers. . 
 § 13. ‘If bounty and compassion be an attractive of 
 love, how unmeasurably then am I bound to love him! 
 All the mercies that have filled up my life, all the places 
 that ever I abode in, all the societies and persons 
 have been conversant with, all my employments and 
 relations, every condition I have been in, and every 
 change I have passed through, all tell me that the foun- 
 tain is overfiowing goodness. Lord, what a sum of love 
 am I indebted to thee! And how does my debt conti- 
 hually increase! How should I love again for so much 
 lévé? But shall I dare to think of requiting thee, or of 
 recompensing all thy love with mine? Will my mite re- 
 quite thee for thy golden mines ; my seldom wishes for 
 thy constant bouwaty; mine which is nothing, or not 
 Amine, for thine which is infinite and thine own? Shall 
 
 ~ 
 
300 AN EXAMPLE OF 
 
 I dare to contend in love with thee; or set my borrowed 
 languid spark against the sun of love? Can I loye as 
 high, as deep, as broad, as long, as Love itself? as much 
 as he that made me, and that made me love, and gave 
 me all that little which I have? As I cannot match thee 
 in the works of power, nor make, nor preserve, nor 
 rule, the worlds; no more can I match thee in love. No, 
 Lord, I yield, Iam overcome, O blessed conquest ! 
 Go on victoriously, and still prevail, and triumph in thy 
 love. The captive of love shall proclaim thy victory ; 
 when thou leadest me in triumph from earth to heaven, 
 from death to life, from the tribunal to the throne; my- 
 self, and all that see it, shall acknowledge thou hast pre- 
 vailed, and all shall say, Behold how he loved him! Yet 
 let me love in subjection to thy love; as thy redeemed 
 captive, though not thy peer. Shall I not love at all, be- 
 cause I cannot reach thy measure? O that I could feel- 
 ingly say, I love thee, even as I love my friend, and ~ 
 myself! Though I cannot say, as the apostle, Thou 
 knowest that I love thee! yet I can say, Lord, thou 
 knowest that I would love thee! I am angry with my 
 heart, that it doth not love thee; I chide it, yet it doth 
 not mend; I reason with it, and would fain persuade 
 it, yet 1 do not perceive it stir; I rub and chafe it in the 
 use of ordinances, and yet I feel it not warm within 
 me. Unworthy soul! Is not thine eye now upon the 
 only lovely cbject? art thou not beholding the ravish- 
 ing glory of the saints? And dost thou not love? Art 
 thou_not.a.rational soul, and.shouldnot-reason tell thee 
 
 > 
 
 leve.so.much.thy.perishing..« : 
 heavenly glory? Shalt thou love when thoucomest there? 
 When the Lord shall take thy carcase from the grave, and 
 make thee shine as the sun in glory for ever and ever; 
 shalt thou then love, or shalt thou not? Is not the place 
 a meeting of lovers? Is not the life a state of love? Is it 
 not the great marriage-day of the Lamb? Is not the 
 ' employment there the work of love, were the souls 
 
HEAVENLY MEDITATION. 301 
 
 with Christ take their fill? O then, my soul, begin it 
 here! Be sick with love now, that thou mayest be well 
 with love there. Keep thyself now in the love of God, 
 and let neither life, nor death, nor any thing, separate 
 thee from it; and thou shalt be kept in the fullness of 
 love for ever, and nothing shall imbitter or abate thy 
 pleasure: for the Lord hath prepared a city of love, a 
 place for communicating love to his chosen, and they. 
 that love his name shall dwell therein. 
 
 § 14. «« Awake then, O my drowsy soul! To sleep un- 
 der the light of grace is unreasonable, much more in the 
 approach of the light of glory. Come forth, my dull con- 
 gealed spirit; thy Lord bids thee rejoice, and again re- 
 joice. Thou hast lain long enough in thy prison of flesh, 
 where Satan hath been thy jailor; cares have been thy 
 irons, fears thy scourges, and thy food the bread and wa-_ 
 ter of affliction; where sorrows have been thy lodging, 
 and thy sins and foes have made thy bed, and an un- 
 believing heart hath been the gates and bars that have 
 kept thee in: the angel of the covenant now calls thee, . 
 and bids thee arise and follow him. Up, O my soul! 
 and. cheerfully obey, and thy bolts and bars shall all 
 fly open; follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. 
 Shouldst thou fear to follow such a guide? Can the 
 sun lead thee to a state of darkness? Will he lead thee 
 to death, who died to save thee from it? Follow 
 him, and he will show thee the paradise of God; he 
 will give thee a sight of the New Jerusalem, and a taste 
 of the tree of life-—Come forth, my drooping soul, and 
 lay aside thy winter dress: let it be seen, by thy gar- 
 ments of joy and praise, that the spring is come: .as 
 thou now seest thy comforts: green, thou shalt shortly 
 see them white and ripe for harvest, and then thou 
 shalt be called to reap, and gather, and take posses- 
 sion. Should I suspend and delay my joys till then? 
 Should not the joys of the spring go before the joys of 
 harvest? Is title nothing before possession? Is the heir 
 in no better a state than a slave? My Lord hath taught 
 me to rejoice in hope of his glory; and how to see it 
 through the bars of a prison: for when persecuted for 
 righteousness’ sake, he commands me to rejoice, and 
 
302 AN, EXAMPLE OF 
 
 be exceeding glad, because my reward in heaven is 
 great. I know he would have my joys exceed my sor- 
 rows; and as much as he delights in the humble and 
 contrite, he yet more delights in the soul that delights 
 in him. Hath my Lord spread me a table in this wil- 
 derness, and furnished it with the promises of ever-— 
 lasting glory, and set before me angels’ food? Doth 
 he frequently arid importunately invite me to sit down 
 and feed, and spare not? Hath he, to that end, fur- 
 nished me with reason, and faith, and a joyful dispo- 
 sition? And is it possible that he should be unwilling 
 to have me rejoice? Is it not his command to delight 
 thyself in the Lord; and his promise, to give thee 
 the desires of thine heart? Art thou not charged to 
 rejoice evermore? yea, to sing aloud, and shout for 
 joy? Why should I then be discouraged? My God 
 is willing, if I were but willing. He is delighted with 
 my delights. He would have it my constant frame, 
 and daily business, to be near himin my believing 
 meditations, and to live in the sweetest thoughts df 
 his goodness. O blessed employment, fit for the sons 
 of God! But thy feast, my Lord, is nothing to me 
 without an appetite: Thou hast set the dainties of 
 heaven before me; but, alas! I am blind, and cantiot 
 see them; I am sick, and cannot relish them; I am 
 so behumbed, that I cannot put forth a hand to take 
 them. I therefore humbly beg this grace, that as 
 thou last opened heaven to me-in thy word, so 
 thou wouldst open mine eyes to see it, and my heart 
 to delight in it ; else heaven will be no heaven to me. 
 OQ thou Spirit of life, breathe upon thy graces in me; 
 take me by the hand, and lift me from earth, that I 
 may seé what glory thou hast ptepared for them that 
 love thee. 
 
 § 15. “ Away then, ye soul-tormenting cares and 
 fears, ye heart-vexing sorrows! At least forbear a little 
 . while ; stand by; stay here below, till 1 go up and see 
 my rest. The way is strange to me, but not to Christ. 
 There was the eternal abode of his glorious Deityj and 
 thither hath he also brought his glorified flesh. It was 
 his work fo purchase‘it; it is his to prepare it, and ‘pre- 
 
HEAVENLY MEDITATION. 303 
 
 pare me for it, and bring me to it. The eternal God of 
 truth hath given me his promise, his seal and oath, that 
 believing in Christ, I shall not perish, but have everlast- 
 ing life. Thither shall my soul be speedily removed, 
 and my body very shortly follow. And can my tongue 
 say, that I shall shortly and surely live with God; and 
 _ yet my heart not leap within me? Can I say it with faith, 
 and not joy? Ah! faith, how sensibly do I now per- 
 ceive thy weakness! But though unbelief darken my 
 light, and dull my life, and suppress my joys, it shall 
 not be able to conquer and destroy:me; though it envy 
 _alimy comforts, yet some in spite of it I shall even here 
 recejve ; and if that did not hinder, what abundance 
 might I have! The light of heaven would shine into my 
 heart; and I might be almost as familiar there, as I am 
 on earth. Come away then, my soul; stop thine ears 
 to the ignorant language of infidelity ; thou art able to 
 answer all its arguments ; or if thou art not, yet tread 
 them under thy feet. Come away; stand not looking 
 on that grave, nor turning those bones, nor reading thy | 
 lesson now in the dust ; those lines will soon be wiped 
 out. But lift up thy head and look to heaven, and see 
 thy name written in the book of life of the Lamb that 
 was slain. What if an angel should tell thee, that there 
 is a mansion in heaven prepared for thee, that it shall 
 certainly be thine for ever; would not such a message 
 make thee glad? And dost thou make light of the infal- 
 lible word of promise, which was delivered by the Spi- 
 rit, and even by the Son himself! Suppose thou hadst 
 ~ seen a fiery chariot come for thee, and fetch thee up 
 to- heaven, like Elijah, would not this rejoice thee ? 
 but thy Lord assures thee that the soul of Lazarus 
 hath a eonvoy of angels to carry it into Abraham’s 
 bosom. Shall a drunkard be so merry among his cups, 
 or the glutton in his delicious fare; and shall not 
 T rejoice, who must shortly be in heaven? Can'meat 
 and drink delight me when I hunger and thirst? Can 
 I find pleasure in walks, and gardens, and conve- 
 nient dwellings? Can beautiful objects delight mine 
 eyes; or grateful odours my smell; or melody my 
 ears? And shall not the forethought of celestial 
 
804 “AW. EXAMPLE OF — 
 
 bliss delight me? Methinks among my books I could 
 employ myself in sweet content, and bid the world , 
 farewell, and pity the rich and great that know not this 
 happiness; what then will my happiness in heaven be, 
 where my knowledge will be perfect! If the queen of 
 Sheba came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear: 
 the wisdom of Solomon, and see his glory ; how cheer- 
 fully should I pass from earth to heaven, to see the 
 glory of the eternal Majesty, and attain the height of 
 wisdom ; compared with, which the most learned on 
 earth are but fools and idiots! What if God had made 
 me commander of the earth; what if I could remove 
 mountains, heal diseases with a word or a touch, or cast 
 out devils ; should I not rejoice in such privileges and 
 honours as these? And shall I not much more rejoice 
 that my name is written in heaven? I cannot here-en- 
 joy my parents, or my near and beloved friends, with- 
 out some delight: especially when I did freely let out 
 my affection to my friend, how sweet was that exercise 
 of my love! O what will it then be to live in the per- 
 petual love of God? For brethren to dwell together in 
 unity here, how good and how pleasant it is! To see a 
 family live in love, husband and wife, parents, children, 
 and servants, doing all in love to one another; to see a 
 town live together in love, without any envying, brawl- 
 ings or contentions, law-suits, factions or divisions, 
 but every man loving his neighbour as himself, think- 
 ing they can never do too much for one another, but 
 striving to go beyond each other’s love; how happy, 
 how delightful a sight is this! O then, what a blessed 
 society will the family of heaven be, and those peaceful 
 
 > 
 _stran ss, no d riendship, no, not one unkin 
 
 expression, nor an angry look or thought; but all are 
 one_in Christ, who.is.one with the Father, and all live 
 
 in the love of him, who is love itself! The soul is not. 
 more where it lives, than where it loves. How near 
 then wiil my soul be united to God, when I shall so 
 heartily, strongly, and in¢essantly, love him! , Ah, 
 wretched unbelieving heart, that can think of such a 
 
HEAVENLY MEDITATION. | 305 
 
 day, and werk, and life as this, with such low and feeble 
 joys! But my future enjoyments will be mere lively. 
 
 § 16. “How delightful is it to me to behold and study 
 these.inferior works of creation! What a beautiful ‘fa- 
 bric do we here dwell in! the floor so dressed with 
 herbs, and flowers, and trees, and watered with springs 
 and rivers! the roof so widely expanded, so admirably 
 adorned! What wonders.do sun, moon, and stars, seas, 
 and winds, contain! And hath God prepared such a 
 house for corruptible flesh, for a soul imprisoned ? and 
 doth he bestow so many millions of wonders upon his 
 enemies ? O what a dwelling must that be which he 
 prepares for his dearly beloved children; and how will 
 the glory of the New Jerusalem exceed all the present 
 glory ofthe creatures! Arise, then, O my soul, in thy 
 contemplation ; and let thy thoughts of that glory as 
 far exceed in sweetness thy thoughts of the.excellencies 
 below. Fear not to go out of this body, and this 
 world, when thou must make so happy a change ; but 
 say, as one did when he was dying, ‘1 am glad, and. 
 even leap for joy, that the time is come in which that 
 mighty Jehovah, whose majesty in my search of nature 
 I have admired, whose goodness I have adored, whom 
 by faith I have desired and panted after, will now 
 show himself to me face to face.” 
 
 § 17. “« How wonderful also are the works of Provi- 
 dence! How delightful to see the great God interest 
 himself in the safety and advancement of a few hum- 
 ble, praying, but despised, persons; and to review 
 those special mercies with which my own life hath 
 been adorned and sweetened! How often have 
 my prayers been heard, my tears regarded, my trou- 
 bled soul relieved! How often hath my Lord bid me 
 be of good cheer! Whata support are these experi- 
 ences, these clear testimonies of my Father's love, to 
 
 my fearful unbelieving heart! O then what a blessed 
 day will that be, when I shall have all mercy, perfection 
 of mercy, and fully enjoy the Lord of mercy; when I 
 shall stand.on the shore, and look back on the raging 
 Wr one et bene 5 tah Ishall review my pains 
 “10 3 Qq gare 
 
306 AN EXAMPLE OF. 
 
 and sorrows, my fears and tears, and possess the glory 
 which was the end ofall! If one drop of lively faith 
 was mixed with these considerations, what a heaven- 
 ravishing heart should I carry within me! Fain would 
 I believe: Lord, help my unbelief. 
 
 § 18. <« Howsweet, O my soul, iave ordinances been 
 to thee! ‘What delight hast thou had in prayer, and 
 thanksgiving, under heavenly sermons, and in the so- 
 ciety of saints, and to see the Lord adding to the Church 
 such as should be saved! How then can my heart con- 
 ceive the joy, which I shall haveto see the perfected 
 church in heaven, and to be admitted into the celestial 
 temple, and with the heavenly host praise the Lord for 
 ever? Ifthe word of God was sweeter to' Job than his 
 necessary food; and to David, than honey and the ho- 
 ney-comb ; ‘and ‘was the joy and rejoicing of Jere- 
 miah’s heart’: how blessed a day will that be, when we 
 
 ‘shall fully enjoy the Lord ofthis word, and shall no more 
 
 need these written precepts and promises, nor read any 
 book but the face of the glorious God! If they that 
 heard Christ speak on earth were astonished at his 
 ‘wisdom and answers, and wondered at the gracious 
 words that proceeded out of his mouth; how shall I 
 then be affected to behold him in his majesty ! ! 
 
 § 19. “ Can the prospect of this glory make others 
 ‘welcome the cross, and even refuse deliverance ; and 
 cannot it make thee cheerful under “lesser sufferings? 
 Can it sweeten the flames of martyrdom; and not 
 sweeten thy life, or thy sickness, or thy natural death? 
 Is it not the same heaven which they and I must live 
 in? Is not their God, their Christ, their crown,’ and 
 mine, the same? And shall I look upon it with an eye 
 so dim, a heart so dull, a countenance so: dejected? 
 
 “Some small foretastes of it have I myself had; and 
 
 how much more delightful have they been, than any. 
 earthly things ever were ; and what then: will the full - 
 enjoyment be. 
 
 ‘§ 20. “What a piney is there here i in the imperfect 
 graces of the Spirit! Alas, how small are these; to what 
 we shall enjoyin our perfect state! © What a-happy life 
 should I here live, could I‘but love God as muchias I 
 
HEAVENLY MEDITATION. 307. 
 
 would ; could I be all love, and always loving !;O0 my 
 soul ! what wouldest thou give for such alife? Had I 
 such apprehensions of God, such knowledge. of. his 
 word asI desire; could I fully trust him in alli my. 
 straits; could I be as lively as I would in every duty ; 
 could I make God my constant desire. and delight; 1 
 would not envy the world their honours, or pleasures. 
 What a blessed state, O my soul! wilt thou shortly be 
 in, when thou shalt have far more of these than thou 
 canst now desire, and shalt exercise thy. perfected 
 graces in the immediate vision of God, and not in the 
 dark, and at a distance, as now. 
 
 § 21. “Is the sinning, afflicted, persecuted church 
 of Christ, so much more ‘excellent than any particular 
 gracious soul? What-then will the church be, when it 
 is fully gathered and glorified; when it is ascended 
 from the the valley of hears tomount Sion; when it shall 
 sin and suffer no more! The glory of the ‘old Jerusalem 
 will be darkness and deformity to the glory of the new. 
 What cause shall we have then to shout for joy, when . 
 we shall see how glorious the heavenly temple is, and 
 remember the meanness of the church on earth! 
 
 § 22. “ But, alas! what aloss amI atin the midst 
 of my contemplations! | thought my heart had all the 
 while attended, but I seé it doth not. What life is 
 there in empty thoughts and words, without affec- 
 tions? Neither God, nor I, find pleasure in them. 
 Where hast thou been, unworthy heart, while I was 
 opening to thee the everlasting treasures? Art thou 
 not ashamed to complain so much of an uncomfortable 
 life, and tomurmur at God for filling thee with sor- 
 rows; when he in vain offers thee the delights of an- 
 gels? Hadst thou now but followed me close, it would 
 have made thee revive and leap for joy, and forget thy 
 pains and sorrows.—Did I think my heart had been 
 so backward to rejoice! 
 
 § 23. “ Lord, thou hast reserved my perfect joys for 
 heaven, therefore help me to desire till I may possess, 
 and let me long, when I cannot (asf would) rejoice. 
 O my soul, thou knowest, to thy sorrow, that thou art 
 not yet at thy rest. When shall I arrive at that safe 
 
308 AN EXAMPLE OF ©” 
 
 and quiet harbour where there are none of these ‘stotms, 
 waves, and dangers, when I shall never moré have a 
 weaty restless night or day? Then my life will not be 
 _ such @ mixture of hope and fear, of joy and sorrow; 
 nor shall flesh and spirit be combating within me; 
 nor faith and unbelief, humility and pride, maintain a 
 continual conflict. O when shall I be past these soul- 
 tormenting fears, and cares, and griefs? When shall 
 I be out of this soul-contradicting, insnaring, deceit- 
 fal flesti; this corruptible body, this vain vexatious 
 world? Alas, that I must stand and see the church and 
 cause of Christ tossed about in contention, and made 
 subservient to private interests, or deluded fancies! 
 
 ef this-disorder. - 
 salem ;_there I shall find an harn r- 
 feeted spirits, in obeying and _praisi verlasting 
 King. O how. much. better 10.be-2-MOGhGeEDe IES 
 . than the.commander.of.this.tumultuous. world ! y 
 am I no more weary_of this weariness? y.do I so 
 forget_my resting place?Up.then,.Omy.soul, 3 3 
 most raised_and fervent desires! Stay not till this flesh 
 can desire with thee; expect not that sense should ap- 
 préhend thy blessed object, and tell thee-when and © 
 what to desire. Doth not the dulness of thy desires 
 after rest, accuse thee of most detestable gratitude and 
 folly? Must thy Lord procure thee.a rest at sodear a 
 rate, and dost thou no more value it? Must he go be- 
 fore to prepare so glorious a mansion for such a wretch, 
 and art thou toth to go and possess it? Shall the Lord 
 of glory be desirous of thy company, and thou not de- 
 sirous of his ? Must earth become a very hell to thee, 
 before thou art willing to be with God? Behold the 
 most lovely creature, or the most desirable state, and 
 tell me, where wouldest thou be, if not with God? Po- 
 verty is a burden} riches a snare; sickness. unpleas- 
 ing; health unsafe; the frowning world bruises thy 
 heel; the smiling world stings thee to the heart: so 
 much as the world is loved and delighted in, it hurts 
 and endangers the lover; and.if it may not be loved, 
 why should it be desired? If thou art applauded, it 
 proves the most contagious breath ; if thou art vilified, 
 
HEAVENLY MEDITATION. 309 
 
 or unkindly used, methinks this should not entice thy 
 love. If thy successful labours, and thy godly friends, 
 seem better to thee than a life with God, it is time for 
 God to take them from thee. If thy studies have been 
 sweet, have they not also been bitter? And at best, - 
 what are they to the everlasting views of the God of 
 truth? Thy friends here have been'thy delight; and 
 have they not also been thy vexation and grief? . They 
 are gracious; and are they not also sinful? They are 
 kind ; are they not soon displeased? They are humble; 
 but, alas! how proud also! Their graces are sweet, and 
 their gifts helpful ; but are not their corruptions bitter, 
 and their imperfections hurtful? And art thou so loth 
 to go from them to thy God ? 
 : §.24. “ O my soul, look above this world of sorrows! 
 Hast thou so long felt the smarting rod of affliction, 
 and no better understood its meaning? Is not every 
 stroke to drive thee hence? Is not its voice like that 
 to Elijah, What dost thou here? Dost thou forget thy 
 Lord’s prediction, In the world ye shall have tribula- 
 tion ; in me ye may have peace?’ Ah! my dear Lord, I- 
 feel thy meaning; it is written in my flesh, engraved 
 in my bones.—My heart thot aimest at; thyrod drives, 
 thy silken cord of love draws; and all to bring it to 
 thyself. Lord, can such a heart be worth. thy having? 
 Make it worthy, and then it is thine; take it to thy- 
 self, and then take me.—This clod hath life to. stir, 
 but not to rise. As the feeble child to the tender 
 _mother, it looketh up to thee, and stretcheth out the 
 hands, and fain would have thee take it up. Though 
 Icannot say, my soul longeth after thee; yet I can 
 say, I long for such a longing heart. The spirit. is 
 willing, the flesh is weak. My spirit cries, Let thy 
 kingdom.come, or let me come to thy kingdom; but 
 the flesh is afraid thou shouldest hear my prayer, and 
 take me atmy word. O blessed be thy grace, which . 
 makes use of my corruptions to kill themselves; for I 
 fear my fears, and sorrow for my sorrows, and long for 
 greater longings ; and thus the painful means of attain- 
 ing my desires increase my weariness, and, that makes 
 ‘me groan to be at rest. 
 
uty 
 
 510. . 0 (ANI EXAMPLE OP {37 5 
 
 § 25.‘ Indeed, Lord, my soul. itself is ina strait, 
 and what to choose L-know!\not; but thou knowest 
 what to give. To depart, and be with thee, is far,bet- 
 ter. But'to abide, in the flesh:seems needful. .., Thow 
 knowest I am not weary: of thy: work, but.sorrow.and 
 sin; I am willing to :stay while: thou. wilt-employ me, 
 _ and dispatch the work thou hast! put into my hands: 
 but, I ‘beseech ‘thee, stay no: longer when ‘this.is 
 done; and while I must be’) here, let; me be. still 
 amending ‘and ‘ascending; make me still, better, and 
 take me’at the best. I. dare: not: be so impatient;as 
 to’ importunate thee to cut off) my: time, and snatch 
 me hence unready’; because 1.know my everlasting 
 state so much depends on the improvement of this life. 
 Nor would I stay when my work is done; and remain 
 here sinning while my brethren are triumphing. Thy 
 footsteps bruise this worm, while those stars shine 
 in the firmament of glory. Yet I am thy child.as 
 well asthey; Christ is my head as well as theirs: why 
 is there then so great a distance? But I acknowledge 
 the equity of thy ways; though we are all children, 
 yet I am the prodigal, and therefore more fit in this re- 
 mote country to feed on husks, while they are always 
 with thee, and possess thy glory. They were once 
 themselves in my condition, and I shall shortly be in 
 theirs. They were of the lowest form, before they 
 came to the highest ; they suffered, before they reigned; 
 they came out of great tribulation, who are now before 
 thy throne: and shall I not be content to come to the 
 crown as they did; and to drink of their cup heforel 
 Sit with them in the kingdom? Lord, I am content to 
 stay thy time, and, go thy way, so thou wilt exalt me 
 also in thy season, and take me into thy barn when 
 thou seest me ripe. In the mean time I may desire, 
 though Tam not to repine; I may believe and wish, 
 though not make any sinful haste ; Iam willing to wait 
 for thee, but not to lose thee ; and when thou seest me 
 too content with thine absence, then quicken my lan- 
 guid desires, and blow up the dying spark of love; and 
 leave me not till I am able unfeignedly tocry out, As 
 the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my 
 
HEAVENLY MEDITATION. $11 
 
 youl after thee, God.’ My soul thirsteth for God: for * 
 ‘the living God :: when shall I. come and appear before 
 *God1i: My conversation is in heaven; from whence! 
 ‘look for'a Saviour. My affections are set on things 
 ‘above,’ where Christ sitteth, and my life is hid. I walk 
 by faith, and:not by sight; willing rather to. be. absent 
 - from the body, and present with the Lord. 
 $26. « What interest hath this empty world in me? 
 -and what is there in it that may seem so lovely as to en- 
 tice my desires from my God, or make me loth to come 
 ‘away? Methinks, when I look upon ‘it with a delibe- 
 “rate eye, it isa howling wilderness, and too many of its 
 ‘inhabitants are untamed. monsters. .I can view all its 
 ‘beauty as deformity; and drown all its pleasures in a 
 «few penitent tears ; ‘or the wind of a sigh will scatter 
 ‘them away. .O let not this flesh seduce my. soul, 
 ‘as:to make it prefer this weary Jife before the joys 
 othat are about thy throne!; And though death. itself 
 ‘be unwelcome to nature, yet let thy grace make thy | 
 oglory appear to me so desirable, that the king of ter- - 
 orers may be the messenger of my joy! Let not my 
 soul be ejected by violence and dispossessed of its 
 vhabitation against its will; but draw it to thyself by 
 - the secret power of thy ‘love; as the sunshine in the 
 spring draws forth the creatures from their winter 
 -eells; meet it half way, and entice it to thee, as 
 ithe loadstone doth the iron, and as the greater flame 
 ‘attracts the less! Dispel therefore the clouds that 
 hide thy love from me! or remove the scales that 
 ‘hinder mine eyes from beholding thee! For the beams - 
 that stream from thy face, and the foretastes of thy 
 -gteat salvation, and nothing else, can make a soul 
 -unfeignedly say, Now,let thy servant depart in peace! 
 But it is not thy ordinary discoveries that will here 
 suffice: as the work is greater, so must thy help be... 
 _O turn these fears into strong desires, and this. loth- 
 mess to die into longings after thee !While I must 
 be absent from thee, let my soul as heartily , groan, as 
 my body doth under its want of health ! ! if I have any 
 /maore time to spend on earth, k 
 the world im thee, as I have sometimes lived as Without 
 
$12 AN EXAMPLE OF). = 
 
 thee in the world!, While I have a thought 4o think, 
 let me not forget thee; or a tongue to move, let me 
 mention thee with delight ; or a breath to ‘breathe, let 
 it be after thee and for thee; or a knee to*bendy let it 
 daily bow iat thy footstool! and when by sickness thou 
 confinest me, do thou make my bed, number my pains, 
 and put all my tears into thy bottle! rd cal 
 § 27. «* As my flesh desired what myspirit abhorred, 
 so now let my spirit desire that day which my flesh ab- 
 horreth ; that my friends may not with so much sorrow 
 
 _ wait forthe departure of my soul, as_my soul, with 
 jox-shall await. for its own depaxtute lu Uhenlet mantis 
 the death of the righteous, and] | 
 
 his;even.a_removal to that glory which 's shall never 
 end! Then let thy convoy of a bring my departing 
 soul among the perfected spirits of the just, and Jet — 
 me follow my dear friends that have died in Christ 
 before me; and while my sorrowing friends are 
 weeping over my grave, let my ‘spirit be reposed 
 with thee in rest; and while my corpse shall lie 
 rotting in the dark, let my soul be in the inheritance 
 of the saints in light! O thou that numberest the very 
 hairs of my head, number all the days that my body 
 lies m the-dust; and ‘thou that writest all my mem- 
 bers in thy book, keep an account of my scattered 
 bones! O my Saviour, hasten the time of thy return : 
 send. forth thy. angels, and let that dreadful joyful 
 trumpet sound! Delay not, lest the living give w 
 
 their hopes ; delay not, lest earth should grow like 
 hell, and thy church by division be all crumbled to 
 dust; delay not, lest thy enemies get advantage of thy 
 flock, and lest pride, hypocrisy, sensuality, and unbe- 
 lief, prevail against thy little remnant, and share among 
 them thy whole theritance, and when thou comest 
 
 thou find not faith on the earth; delay not, lest the . 
 grave should boast of victory, and havmg learned re- ~ 
 
 bellion of its guest, should refuse to deliver thee up thy 
 _due! O hasten that great resurrection-day, when thy 
 command shall go forth, and none ‘disobey; when the 
 sea and earth shall yield-up their hostages, and all that 
 sleep in the grave shall awake, and the dead in ‘Christ 
 
HEAVENLY MEDITATION. 318 
 shall rise first; when the seéd which thou sowest cor- 
 ruptible, shall come forth incorruptible; and graves © 
 that received rottenness and dust, shall return thee glo- 
 rious stars and suns! Therefore dare I lay down my 
 earease in the dust, intrusting it, not toa grave, but 
 to thee: and therefore my flesh shall rest in hope, till 
 thou shalt raise it to the possession of everlasting rest. 
 Return, O Lord how long? O let thy kingdom come! 
 Thy desolate bride saith, Come; for thy Spirit within 
 her saith, Come; and teacheth her thus to pray with 
 groanings which cannot be uttered. Yea, the whole 
 creation saith, Come, waiting to be delivered from the 
 bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the 
 children of God. Thou thyself hath said, Surely I come 
 quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” 
 
 =m iia-= 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 § 28. Tous, Reader, I have given thee my best 
 advice for maintaining a heavenly conversation. _ If. 
 thou canst not thus meditate methodically and fully, 
 yet do it as thou canst; only be sure to do it seri- 
 ously and frequently. Be acquainted with this hea- 
 venly work, and thou wilt, in some degree, be ac- 
 quainted with God; thy joys will be spiritual, pre- 
 valent, and lasting, according to the nature of. their 
 blessed, object; thou wilt have comfort in life and 
 death: When thou hast neither wealth, nor health, 
 nor tne pleasures of this world, yet wilt thou have 
 comfort. Without the presence or help of any friend, 
 without a minister, without a book, when all means 
 are denied thee, or taken from thee, yet mayest thou 
 have vigorous, real comfort. Thy graces will be 
 mighty, active, and victorious; and the daily joy 
 which is thus fetched from heaven, will be thy strength. 
 Thou, wilt be as one that stands on the top of an ex- 
 ceeding high mountain; he looks down on the world 
 as if it were quite below him; fields and woods, cities 
 anil Avene, seem to him ~ little spots. Thus des- 
 P P ° : ) > 
 
314 HEAVENLY MEDITATION — 
 
 picably wilt thou look on things here below. ‘The 
 greatest princes will seem but as grasshoppers; the 
 busy, contentious, covetous world, but asa heap of 
 ants. Men’s threatenings will be no terror to thee; 
 nor the honours of this world any strong enticement ; 
 
 temptations will be more harmless, as having lost, their 
 strength; and afflictions less grievous, as having 
 lost their sting; and every mercy will be better 
 known and relished. It is now, under God, in thy 
 own choice, whether thou wilt live this blessed life or 
 not; and whether all this pains I have taken for thee 
 shall prosper or be lost. If it be lost through thy 
 laziness, thou thyself wilt prove the greatest loser: .O 
 man! what hast thou to mind but God and heaven? 
 Art thou not almost out of this world already? | Dost. 
 thou not look every day, when one disease or other 
 will let out thy soul? Does not the grave wait to be 
 thine house; and worms to feed upon thy face and 
 heart? What if thy pulse must beat a few strokes 
 
 -more? what if thou hast a little longer to breathe, 
 
 before thou breathe out thy last? a few more nights 
 to sleep, before thou sleepest in the dust? Alas! what 
 
 _ will this be, when it is gone? And is it not almost 
 
 gone already ! ? Very shortly thou wilt see thy glass run 
 out, and say to thyself, Ady life is done! My time is 
 gone! It is past recalling! There is nothing: now but 
 heaven or hell before me ! ” Where thenshould thy ‘heart 
 be now but in heaven? - Didst thou: know what a 
 dreadful thing it is..to have a doubt of heaven’ when’a 
 man is dying, it would rouse thee up. And what‘else’ 
 but doubt can that man then do, tee never» sap 
 thought of heaven before? , 
 
 § 29. Some there be that say, “ It is not worth 
 so much time and trouble, to think of the greatness 
 of the joys above: so that we can make sure they are’ 
 
 ours, we know they are great.” But as these men” 
 
 obey not the command of God, which requires them 
 
 ~to have their conversation in heaven; and to set their 
 
 affections on things above; so they wilfully make their 
 own lives miserable, by refusing the delights which 
 God hath set before them. And if this were all, ‘it 
 
URGED UPON THE READER. 315 
 
 ‘were a small matter; but see what abundance of other 
 mischiefs follow the neglect of these heavenly delights. 
 This neglect—will damp, if not destroy, their love to 
 God, —-will make it unpleasant to them to think or 
 speak. of God, or engage in his service,—it tends to per- 
 vert their judgment concerning the ways and ordinan- 
 ces of God,;—it’ makes them sensual and voluptuous, 
 —it leaves them under the power of every affliction 
 and temptation, and is a preparative to total apostacy, 
 —it will also make them fearful and unwilling to die. 
 For who would go to a God or a place he hath no de- 
 light in ?’ Who would leave his pleasure here, if he had 
 not better to go' to? Had I only proposed a course of 
 mélancholy, and fear, and sorrow, you might reason- 
 
 ably have objected. ‘But you must-have-heavenly de- 
 hghts, or. none that are lasting. God_is.willing you 
 
 ily walk with him, and fetch in consolations 
 ror the. everlasting fountain; if you~ are unwilling, 
 even.bear the loss : and when - "you. are dying, seek for 
 comfort where you can get it, and_see whether fleshly 
 delighis will remain .withyou; then conscience will 
 remember, in spite of you, that you was once persuad- 
 ed to a way for more excellent pleasures; ‘pleasures 
 that would have followed you through death, and 
 have lasted to eternity. 
 
 § 30. As for you, whose hearts God hath’ weaned 
 from all things here below, I hope you will value this 
 heavenly life, and take one walk every day in the New 
 Jerusalem.’ \God is ‘your love, and your desire: you 
 would fain be more acquainted with your. Saviour ; 
 and I know it is your grief that your hearts are not 
 nearer to him, and that they do not more feelingly 
 love him, and delight in him.’ O-try this life of me-\ 
 n on your rest! Here is the mount, 
 on which'the fluctuating ark of your souls may rest. 
 Let the world'see, by your heavenly lives, that religion 
 is something’ more’ than opinions and. disputes, or a 
 talk of ‘outward duties. If ever a Christian is like 
 himself; and’ answerable to his ‘principles and’ profes- 
 sion, it is when he is most serious and lively m this 
 duty.” As Moses, before he died, went up into mount 
 
‘ 
 
 . a 
 316 - HEAVENLY MEDITATION © 
 
 Nebo, to take a survey of the land of Canaan; so the 
 Christian ascends the-mount_of emplation,...an 
 
 by_faith surveys.his.rest. He looks.upon.the.glorious 
 mansions, and says, Glorious things. .are..deservedly 
 spoken of thee, thou city. of God! He hears, as, it were, 
 the melody of the heavenly choir, and says, Happy. is 
 the people that are in such a case! Yea, happy is that 
 people whose, Godis the Lord! He looks upon the; glo- 
 rified inhabitants, and says, Happy art thou, O. Israel: 
 Who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Lord, the 
 
 shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thine excel- © 
 
 lency! When he looks upon the Lord himself, who is 
 their glory, he is ready with the rest to, fall down 
 and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and say, 
 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and 
 
 is, and is to come! Thou art worthy, O Lord, to re: 
 
 ceive glory, and honour, and power! When he looks. 
 on the glorified Saviour, he is ready to say, Asnen. to 
 that new song, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and 
 power, be unto him that. sitteth upon the throne, and 
 unto the Lamb, for ever and ever: For thou wast slain, 
 
 ‘and hast. redeemed. us to God by thy blood, out of every 
 
 kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast, 
 made us unto eur God, kings and priests! When, he 
 looks back on the wilderness of this world, he blesses 
 the believing, patient, despised saints; he pities the 
 ignorant, obstinate, miserable world,; and for himself}, 
 he says, as Peter, Jt 2s good tobe here; or as. Asaph, 
 
 ft is good for me to draw near to God; for, lo! they 
 
 that are far from thee shall perish. Thus, as Daniel, 
 in his captivity daily opened his. window, towards Jeru-, 
 salem, though far out of sight, when he went to, God, 
 in his devotions; so may the believing soul in, this,cap-, 
 tivity, of the -flesh look; towards Jerusalem, which. is, 
 above. And as Paul was to the Colossians, so may, the, 
 
 ? 
 
 believer be with the glorified spirit, though absent in, 
 the flesh, yet. with them in the spirit, joying and be-: 
 holding their heavenly ordet, And,as the lark,sweetly, 
 sings, while she soars on high, but is suddenly silenced 
 when she falls to the earth; so,is, the, frame of the. 
 soul, most, delightful.and divine, while it keeps, in the. 
 
 . 
 . 
 
URGED UPON THE READER. 317 
 
 views of God by-contemplation. Alas, we make 
 there too short a stay; fall down again, and lay by our 
 music! ° 
 § 31. But, “©O thou, the merciful Father of spirits, 
 the-attractive_of love, and.ocean of delights, draw up 
 these drossy, hearts unto thyself, and keep them there 
 till they are spiritualized and refined ; and second thy 
 servant’s weak endeavours, and persuade those that 
 _Tead these lines to the practice of this delightful, hea- 
 venly work! O suffer not the soul of thy most unwor- 
 thy servant to be a stranger to those joys, which he 
 describes to others; but keep me, while I remain on 
 earth, in daily breathings after thee ; and ina believing 
 affectionate walking with thee! And when thou com- 
 est let me be found so doing; not serving my flesh, 
 nor asleep with my lamp unfurnished ; but waiting and 
 longing for my Lord’s return! Let those who shall 
 read these heavenly. Directions, not’ merely read the 
 fruit of my studies, but the breathing’ of my active 
 hope and love: that if my heart were open to their | 
 view, they might there read the same most deeply en- 
 graven with a beam from the face of the Son of God ; 
 and not find vanity, or-lust, or pride within, when the 
 words of life appear without; that. so these lines may 
 not witness. against me; but, proceeding from the 
 heart of the writer, may be effectual, through thy 
 grace upon the heart of the reader, and so be, the sa- 
 vour of life to both! Amen.” sis 
 
 Glory be ‘to God in the highest; on earth peace; 
 good-will towards men. pee ae 
 
° 
 
 _ Through thee, who all our sins, hast he a 40D 
 
 HYMN. . 
 ta 2 em - 
 
 Leaver of faithful souls, and Guide 
 + Of all that travel to the sky, | 
 
 | Come, and with: us, ev’n us, abide, :! 
 
 «Who would on: le 2 ois yoru! Ha 
 
 + On thee alone, our spirits stay, 1 \ae Ww @ taovise 
 Whale, held i in rink Ss uneven apne, oat geod re 
 
 This PIONS ‘we know is not. our place, 
 
 _ But hasten through. the vale.of woe, 
 
 And restless to behold thy f. at bi ti x. whe 
 Swift to our heavenly country, Oe tt 
 
 Our everlasting home. above. , 
 
 We have nobiding city here). ) wl garmadl 
 But seek, a,city-out of sight; i s29ds-bess 
 
 ‘Thither our, steady. course we steer, 9.4 > 
 
 Aspiring to.the plains of light ; 
 
 | Jerusalem,.the Saints’ abede, .. 
 |. Whose founder isthe living God. 
 
 Patient th’ appomted race to run, 
 
 ~ This weary world we cast behind’; 
 From strength to strength we ap of. 
 ' The New Jerusalem to find: 
 
 » Our labour this, our only aim, ' 
 
 To find the New Jerusalem... 
 
 Freely and graciously forgiy’n, 
 With songs to Zion we return, — 
 
 Contending for our native ae 
 That palace of our glorious King: 
 We find it nearer, while we sing. 
 
 Rais’d: by the breath of love divine, 
 We urge our way with strength renewd; 
 The church of the first-born to join, - 
 We travel to the mount of God: | 
 With joy upon our heads arise, 
 And meet our Captain in the skies- 
 
 qT} . - 
 OF IHW: bi HS? 
 
A 
 
 CALL 
 
 TO THE 
 
 UNCONVERTED 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 : 
 
 DIRECTIONS anv PERSUASIONS 
 : eee 
 SOUND CONVERSION; 
 oR, A | 
 SEASONABLE ANTIDOTE — a 
 | AGAINST | 
 t Religious Delusion : 
 : DESIGNED AS 
 
 AN APPENDIX TO THE SAINT’S REST, 
 
 BY MR. RICHARD BAXTER. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 . PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY HENRY FISHER, 
 
 SPRINTER IN ORDINARY TO, HIS MAJESTY.) 
 
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 Ps ms . ee rab: 
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 eho TIM 
 
 2 With sta aH, On. 
 
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 ae Bh KL GAR TS v 
 
, THE PREFACE. 
 
 It is a weight so inconceivable that dependeth on 
 the soundness of our conversion and sanctification; 
 that our care and diligence cannot be too great to 
 make itsure. As the professed atheists, heathens, and 
 infidels without; sothe seli-deceiving hypocrites within 
 the church, do wilfully castaway themselves for ever, by, 
 neglecting such a business of everlasting consequence; 
 ~ when they have time, and warnings, and assistance, to 
 dispatch it. Multitudes live like brutes or atheists, for- 
 getting that they are born in sin and misery, and settled 
 in it by wilful custom, and must be converted or con- 
 demned. These know not (many of them) what need 
 they have of conversion, nor what conversion or sanc- 
 tification is. And some that have been preachers of 
 the gospel, have been lamentably ignorant in so great 
 a matter that they have persuaded the poor deluded 
 people, it is only the gross and heinous sinners that 
 need conversion, branding them with the name of. Pu- 
 ritans that will not take a dead profession, joined with 
 civility, for true sanctification ; and promise salvation to 
 those that Christ hath with many asseverations professed 
 shall not enter into the kingdom of God. Others, that 
 confess that a thorough sanctification is a necessary 
 thing, do delude their souls with something that is like 
 it. Hence is the misery and dishonour of the church. 
 Holiness itself is disgraced by the sins of them that are 
 unholy, because they pretend to that which they have 
 not. Hence it is that we have thousands, that call 
 themselves Christians, that live a worldly, fleshly life, 
 and some of them hating the way of godliness, and yet 
 think they are converted, because they are sorry when 
 they have sinned, and wish, when it is past, that they 
 had not done it, and cry to God for mercy, and con- — 
 Meee Ss 
 
* 322 PREFACE. 
 
 fess that they are sinners; and this they take for true 
 
 repentance,—when sin was never mortified in their 
 souls, nor their hearts ever brought to hate it, and 
 forsake it. But when they have had the profit and. 
 pleasure of sin, they are sorry for the danger; but 
 never regenerated and madenew creatures by the Spirit 
 of Christ. Hence also it is, that we have such abun- 
 dance of mere opimionists, that take themselves for re- 
 ligious people. Because they have changed their 
 opinions, and their parties, and can prate contentiously 
 against those that are not of their mind; and joining 
 themselves with those that seem to be the strictest, 
 they take themselves to be truly sanctified: and 
 this makes such gadding from one opinion to ano- 
 ther, and such censuring, reviling, and divisions, upon 
 the account; because their religion is most in their 
 Opinions, and hath not mortitied their carnal selfish 
 inclinations and passions, nor brought them to a holy 
 heavenly mind. Hence also it is that we have so 
 many sensual scandalous professors, that seem to be 
 religious, but bridle not their tongue, their appetites, 
 or their lusts; but are railers, or backbiters, or tip- 
 lers, or gluttons, or filthy and lascivious, or some 
 way scandalous to their holy profession ; because they 
 are strangers to a thorough conversion, but take up 
 with the counterfeit of a superficial change. Hence 
 also we have so many worldlings, that think them- 
 selves religious men; that make Christ. but a servant 
 to their worldly interests, and seek heaven but for a_ 
 | reserve, when earth forsakes them; and have some- 
 , thing in this world that is so dear to them, that they 
 cannot forsake it for the hopes of glory; but give up 
 themselves to Christ, with secret exceptions and re- 
 serves, for their prosperity in -the world: and all, be- 
 cause they never know a sound conversion, which 
 should have rooted off their hearts this worldly in- 
 
 terest, and delivered them up entirely and absolutely 
 to Christ. Hence also it is that we have so few pro- 
 
 fessors that can lay by their pride, and bear disesteem 
 or injury, and love their enemies, and bless them that 
 curse them, yea, or love their godly friends that cross 
 
i 
 
 PREFACE. 323 | 
 
 them, or dishonour them. And so few that can deny 
 themselves in their honour, or any, considerable thing 
 for the sake of Christ, and in obedience and copfor- 
 mity to his will. And all because they never had that 
 saying change that takes down self, and sets up Christ 
 as sovereign in the soul. And hence also it is, that 
 we have inthis age so many dreadful instances of 
 apostasy; so many reproaching the scripture, that once 
 they thought had converted them; and the way of 
 holiness, that once they did profess; and denying the 
 Lord himself that bought them; and all because they 
 formerly took up with a superficial, counterfeit conver- 
 sion. O how commonly, and how lamentably, doth 
 
 this misery appear among professors in their unsavoury | 
 
 discourse, their strife and envy on religious pretences, 
 
 their dead formality, their passionate divisions, or their ~ 
 selfish, proud, and earthly minds!——A thorough con- 
 
 version would have cured all this, at least as to the 
 
 dominion. of it. 
 
 I shall therefore, in the ensuing treatise, first endea- 
 vour to awaken careless sinners, and persuade the ob- 
 stinate to turn and live; and, secondly, speak to those 
 that seem to be about the work; and give them some 
 directions and persuasions, to prevent their perishing in 
 the birth, and so to prevent that hypocrisy which else 
 they are like to be formed into, and the deceit of their 
 hearts, the error of their lives, and the misery at their 
 death which is like to follow. That they live not as 
 those that flatter God with their mouth, and lie unto.him 
 with their tongues, because their heart was not right 
 with him, neither are they steadfast in his covenant— 
 Lest denying deep entertainment and rooting to the 
 seed of life, or choking it by the radicated predomi- 
 nant love and cares of the world, they wither when 
 the heat of percecution shall break forth; and lest, 
 building on the sands, they fall when the winds and 
 storms arise, and their fall be great. And so they go 
 out from us, that they may be made manifest that they 
 were not of us: for if they had been of us, they 
 would no doubt have continued with us. Look there- 
 fore to this great, important business, and give all di- 
 
324 PREFACE. 
 
 ligence to make your calling and election sure. - And 
 trust not your hearts too easily, or too confidently. 
 But turn to the Lord with all your hearts. Cleave to 
 him resolvedly, or with purpose of heart. And see that 
 you sell all, and buy the pearl. And stick not at the 
 price, but absolutely resign yourselves to Christ, and 
 turn to him, as Zaccheus and other primitive converts 
 did, surrendering all that you have unto his will. Leave - 
 not any root of bitterness behind; make no excep- 
 tions or reserves, but deny yourselves; forsake all, and 
 follow him that hath led you this self-denying way ; 
 and trust to his blood, and merits, and promise, for a 
 treasure in heaven—and then you are his disciples, and 
 true Christians indeed. Reader, if thou heartily make 
 this covenant, and keep it, thou shalt find that Christ 
 will not deceive thee, when the world deceiveth them 
 
 ‘that choose it, in their greatest extremity. But if thou 
 
 draw back, and think these terms too hard, remember 
 that everlasting life was offered thee, and remember 
 why and for what thou didst reject it. And if in this 
 life-time thou wilt have thy good things, expect to be 
 tormented, when the believing, self-denying souls, are ‘ 
 comforted. . 
 
 R. BAXTER. 
 
DIRECTIONS, 
 &e. &e. 
 <<< <> 8 > 
 Ezek. xxxiil. 11. 
 
 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have 
 no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that the 
 wicked turn from-his way and live: turn ye, turn ye 
 from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of. 
 Israel? i S 
 
 IT has been the wonder of many, to read in the holy 
 scripture how few will be saved ; and:that the great- 
 est part even of. those that are called, will be shut out 
 of heaven, and tormented with the: devils in eternal 
 fire. Infidels believe not this, and therefore must feel 
 it. Those that do believe it, are forced to cry out with 
 St. Paul, O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and 
 knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, 
 and his ways past finding out!(a) But nature itself 
 teaches us all to lay the blame of evil works upon the 
 _ doers; and therefore when we see any heinous thing 
 committed, a principle of justice provokes us to inquire 
 after him that did it. If we saw a mankilled and cut 
 in pieces by the way, we should presently ask, O who 
 did this cruel deed? Ifa town were set on fire, you 
 would ask, What wicked wretch did this? So when we 
 read that the most will be fire-brands of hell for ever, 
 we must needs think with ourselves, How comes this 
 to pass ? Who is it that is so cruel as to be the cause of 
 such a thing as this?) And we can meet with few that 
 will own the guilt ; it is indeed confessed by all that Sa- 
 tan is the cause : but that resolves not the doubt, because 
 he isnot the principal cause. He does not force men to 
 sin, but tempts them to it, and leaves it to their own 
 wills, whether they will do it or not. It lies therefore 
 
 * Rom. x1. 33. 
 
$26 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 between God himself and the sinner ; one of them must 
 be the principal cause of all this misery; for there is 
 no other to cast it upon: and God disclaims it; he will 
 not take it upon him: and the wicked disclaim it usu- 
 ally, and they will not take it upon them. And thisis 
 the controversy which is here carried on in my text. 
 The Lord complains of the people; and the peonle 
 think it is the fault of God. They say, ver. 10. If our 
 transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine 
 away inthem, how shall we thenlive? Asif they should 
 say, If we must die, how can we helpit ? Asif it were 
 not their fault, but God’s. But God, in my text, clears 
 himself of it, and tells them how they may help it if 
 they will, and persuades them to use the means; and 
 if they will not be persuaded, he lets them know thatit 
 is their own fault; and if this will not satisfy them, he 
 will not therefore forbear to punish them. It is he that 
 will be the judge ; and he will judge them according to 
 their ways: they are nojudges of him or of themselves, 
 as wanting authority, and wisdom, and impartiality : 
 nor is it the cavilling with God, that shall serve their 
 turn, or save them from the execution of justice. _ 
 The words of this verse contain, 1. God’s clearing of 
 himself from the blame of their destruction. This he 
 does not by disowning his law, that the wicked shall 
 die; nor by disowning his execution according to that 
 law, or giving them any hope that the law shall not be 
 executed ; but by professing that it is not their death 
 that he takes pleasure in, but their returning rather, 
 that they may live: and this he confirms to them by his 
 oath.—2. An express exhortation to the wicked to re- 
 turn ; wherein God does not only command, but per- 
 suade, and condescend also to reason the case with 
 them. Why will they die? The direct end of this ex- 
 hortation is, That they may turn, and live. The secon- 
 dary ends, upon supposition that this is not attained, 
 are these two: First, to convince them, that it is not 
 the fault of God if they be miserable. Secondly, to 
 convince them, from their manifest wilfulness in reject- 
 ing all his commands and persuasions, that it is their 
 own fault ; and they die, even because they will die. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 327 
 
 The substance of the text lies in these observations 
 following : 
 
 Doct. 1. It is the unchangeable law of God, that 
 wicked men must turn or die. 
 
 Doct. 2. It is the promise of God, that the wicked 
 shall live if they will turn. 
 
 Doct. 3. God takes a pleasure in men’s conversion 
 and salvation, but not im their death and damnation : 
 he had rather they would turn and live, than goon 
 and die. 
 
 Doct. 4. This is a most certain truth, which, be- 
 cause God would not have men to question, he has 
 confirmed to them solemnly by his oath. 
 
 Doct. 5. The Lord redoubles his commands and 
 persuasions to the wicked to turn. 
 
 Doct. 6. The Lord condescends to reason the case 
 with them, and asks the wicked why they will die? 
 
 Doct. 7. If after all this the wicked will not turn, 
 it is not the fault of God that they perish, but of them- 
 selves; their own wilfulness is the cause of their dam- 
 nation: they therefore die because they will die. 
 
 Having laid the text open before your eyes in these 
 plain propositions, I shall next speak somewhat of 
 each of them in order, though very briefly. 
 
 =—o-— 
 DOCTRINE I. 
 
 It is the unchangeable law of God, that wicked men 
 must turn or die. 
 
 Ir you will believe God, believe this: there is but 
 one of these two ways for every wicked man, either 
 conversion or damnation. I know the wicked will 
 hardly be persuaded either of the truth or equity of 
 this. No wonder if the guilty quarrel with the law.— 
 Few men are apt to believe that, which they would not 
 haye to be true; and fewer would have that to be 
 true, which they apprehend to be against them.— 
 But it is not quarrelling with the law, or with the 
 judge, that will save the malefactor. Believing and 
 regarding the law might have prevented his death: but 
 
ee z vars 
 
 328 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 denying and accusing it, will but hasten it. If it were 
 
 not so, a hundred would bring their reasons against 
 the law, for one that would bring his reason to the law ; 
 and men would rather choose to give their reasons why 
 they should not be punished, than to hear the com- 
 mands and reasons of their governors, which require 
 them to obey. The law was not made for you to judge, 
 but that you might be ruled and judged by it. 
 
 ‘But if there be any so blind as to questioneither the 
 truth or the justice of the law of God, [ shall briefly 
 give you evidence of both. 
 
 And, first, If you doubt whether ‘hide be the word of 
 God or not, besides a hundred other texts, you may, 
 be satisfied by these few : Verily I say unto you, Except ye 
 be converted, and become as little children, ye. cannot enter 
 
 » into the kingdom of heaven.(b) Verily, verily, £ say unto 
 
 thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king- 
 
 dom of God.(c) Ifany man be in Christ, he is a new 
 creature: old thing are past away; behold, all things 
 are become new.(. d) ) Without holiness no man shall see 
 God.(e) They that are in the flesh cannot please God. 
 Now if any man-hath not the Sprit of Christ, he is none 
 of his.(f) The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all 
 the nations that forget God.(g) The Lord trieth the 
 righteous, but the wicked his soul. hateth.(h) 
 
 I need not add any more of that multitude which 
 speak the like : if thou be a man that believest the word 
 of God, here is already enough to satisfy thee, that the 
 wicked mustbe converted or condemned. You must 
 either confess that this is true, or say plainly, you will 
 not believe the word of God. And if once you be come 
 to that pass, it is likely you will not be long out of hell. 
 But if you tell God plainly you will not believe him, 
 blame him not if he never warn you more: for to what 
 purpose should he warn you, if you will not believe 
 him? Should he send an angel from heaven to you, 
 it seems you would not believe. For an angel can 
 speak but the word of God: and if an angel should 
 
 (b) Matt. xviii. 3. (c) John ui. 3. (d) 2 Cor. v. 17. (e) Heb. 
 
 ’ xi. 14 (f') Rom. viii. 8,9. (g) Psal.ix 17. (A) Psal, x1. 5 
 
 ™ 
 * 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 329 
 
 bring you any other gospel, you are not to receive it, 
 but to hold him accursed. And surely there is no 
 angel to be believed before the Son of God, who came 
 from the Father to bring us this doctrine. And if you 
 stand on these terms with God, I shall leave you till 
 he deal with you in a more convincing way. God has 
 a voice that will make you hear. Though he entreat 
 you to hear the voice of his gospel, he will make you 
 hear the voice of his condemning sentence. We cannot 
 make you believe against your wills; but God will 
 make you feel against your wills. 
 
 But why will you not believe this word of God, 
 which tells us that the wicked must be converted, or 
 condemned? It is because you judge it unlikely that 
 God should be so unmerciful ; you think it cruelty to 
 damn men everlastingly for so small a thing asa sinful 
 life. Ard this leads us to the second thing; which is, to 
 justify the equity of God in his.laws and judgments. 
 
 And, first, I think you will not deny, that it is most 
 suitable to an immortal soul, to be ruled by laws which 
 promise ar immortal reward, and threaten an endless 
 punishment. Otherwise the law would not be suited to 
 the nature of the subject, who will not be fully ruled by 
 any lower means, than the hopes or fears of everlasting 
 things: as it is in the case ef temporal punishment, if 
 a law were now made that the most henious crimes 
 should be punished with a hundred years’ captivity, this 
 might be of some efficacy, it being equal to our lives. 
 But if there had been no other penalties before the 
 flood, when men lived eight or nine hundred years, it 
 would not have been sufficient, because men would 
 know that they might have so many hundred years’ im- 
 punity afterwards. So it is in our present case. 
 
 2. When you find in the word of God that so it is, 
 and so it will be, do you think yourself fit to contra- 
 dict this word? Will you call your Maker to the bar; 
 and examine his word? Will you sit upon him, and 
 judge him by the law of your conceits? Are you wiser 
 and better than he? Must the God of heaven come to 
 school to you to learn wisdom? Must infinite Wisdom 
 
 11. Tt 
 
 - 
 
330 DIRECTIONS AND’ PERSUASIONS 
 
 learn of folly? Must the Almighty stand at the bar of a 
 worm? O horrid arrogancy of senseless dust! Shall 
 every mole, or clod, or dunghill, accuse the sun of dark- 
 ness, and undertake to illuminate the world? Where 
 were you when the Almighty made the laws,. that he 
 did not call you to his council? Surely he made them 
 before you were born, without desiring your advice ; 
 and you came into the world too late to reverse them : 
 if you could have done so great a work, you should ~ 
 have stept out of nothing, and have contradicted Christ 
 when he was on earth, or Moses before him, or have 
 saved Adam and his sinful progeny from the threat- 
 ened death, that so there might have been no need 
 of Christ. 
 
 3. If sin be such an evil that it requires the death 
 of Christ for its expiation, no wonder if it deserve our 
 everlasting misery. 
 
 4. And methinks you should perceive, that it is not 
 possible for the best of men, much less for the wicked, 
 to be competent judges of the desert of sin. Alas! we 
 are all both blind and partial. You can never know 
 fully the desert of sin, till you fully know the evil of 
 sin: and you can never fully know the evil of sin, till 
 you fully know the excellency of the soul which it de- 
 forms ; no, nor till you know the infinite excellency, 
 almightiness, and holiness, of that God, against whom 
 it is committed. When you fully know these, you 
 shall fully know the desert of sin. You know that the 
 offender is too partial to judge the law, or the proceed- 
 ing of his judge. 
 
 5. Can you think that unholy souls are fit for heaven? 
 Alas! they cannot love God here, nor do him any ser- 
 vice which he can accept. They are contrary to God, 
 they loath that which he most loves; and love that 
 which he abhors: they are incapable of that imperfect 
 communion with him, which his saints here partake of.’ 
 How then can they live in that most perfect love of 
 him, and full delight and communion with him, 
 which is the blessedness of heaven ? | 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 331 
 
 USE. 
 
 I BESEECH you now, all that love your souls, that in- 
 stead of quarrelling with God and his word, you will 
 presently stoop to it, and use it for your good. You 
 must ere long be converted or condemned ; there is no 
 other way, ‘but turn or die. When God, who cannot 
 lie, has told you this, when you hear it from the Maker 
 and Judge of the world; it is time for him that has ears, 
 to hear. By this time you may see what you have to 
 trust to. You are but dead and damned men, except 
 you will be converted. Should I tell you otherwise, I 
 should deceive you with a lie. Should I hide this from 
 you, I should undo you, and be guilty of your blood. 
 You see then, though this be a rough unwelcome doc- 
 trine, it is such as we must preach, and you must hear. 
 It is easier to hear of hell than feel it. Hell would not 
 be so full, if people were but willing to know their 
 case, and to hear and think of it. The reason why so. 
 few escape it, is, because they strive not to enter in at 
 the strait gate of conversion, and to go the narrow way 
 of holiness, while they have time: and they strive not, 
 because they are not awakened to a lively feeling of the 
 danger that they are in; and they are not awakened, 
 because they are loth to hear or think of it: and that 
 is partly through foolish tenderness, and carnal self- 
 love ; and partly because they do not well believe the 
 word that threatens it. If you will not thoroughly 
 believe this truth, methinks the weight of it should 
 force you to remember it; and it should follow you, . 
 and give you no rest, till you were converted. If you 
 had but once heard this word, by the voice of an angel, 
 ‘Thou must be converted or condemned: turn or die: 
 would it not fasten on your mind, and haunt you night 
 and day? so that in your sinning you would remember ~ 
 it; as if the voice were still in your ears, Turn or die! 
 O happy were your souls, if it might thus work upon 
 you and never be forgotten, or let you alone, till it 
 have driven home your hearts to God. But if you 
 will cast it out by forgetfulness, or unbelief, how can 
 
532 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASTONS 
 
 it work to your conversion and salvation? But take 
 this with you to your sorrow,—though you may put it — 
 out of your minds, you cannot put it out of the Bible; 
 but there it will stand as a sealed truth, which you 
 shall expeiimentally know for ever, that there is no- 
 other way but turn or die. 
 
 O what is the reason then that the hearts of sinners 
 are not pierced with such a weighty truth. Believe it, 
 this drowsy careless temper will not last long. Con- 
 version and condemnation are both of them awaken- 
 ing things; and one of them will make you feel ere 
 long. I can foretell it as truly as if I saw it with my 
 eyes, that either grace or hell will shortly bring these 
 matters to the quick, and make you say, What have I 
 done! What a foolish wicked course have I taken! 
 The scornful and the stupid state of sinners will last 
 but a little while. As soon as they either turn or die, 
 the presumptuous dream will be at an’end; and then 
 their wits and feelings will return. 
 
 But there are two things which are like to harden the 
 unconverted, except they can be taken out of the way; 
 and that is, the misunderstanding of these two words, 
 the wicked, and turn. Some think it is true, the wick- 
 ed must turn or die; but what is thatto me? J am 
 not wicked, though I am a sinner, as all men are. 
 Others think, it is true that we must turn from our evil 
 ways; but I am turned long ago. And thus, while 
 wicked men think they are not wicked, but are already 
 converted, we lose all our labour in persuading them 
 to turn. I shall therefore, before 1 go any farther, tell 
 you who are meant by the wicked, and who they are 
 that must turn or die; and also what is meant by tarn- 
 ing, and who they are that are truly converted. 
 
 You may observe, no man is a wicked man that is 
 converted; and no man is a converted man that 1s 
 
 ‘ wicked: so that to be a wicked man, and to be an 
 
 unconverted man, is all one. And therefore in open- 
 ing one, we shall open both. 
 
 Before I can tell you what either wickednesss or 
 conversion is, I must go to the bottom, and fetch up 
 the matter from the beginning. 
 
-TO A, SOUND CONVERSION. 333 
 
 It pleased the great Creator of the world, to make 
 three sorts of living creatures ; angels he made pure 
 spirits without flesh, and therefore he made them only 
 for heaven and not to dwell on earth. Brutes were 
 made flesh ; and therefore they were made only for earth, 
 and not for heaven. Man is of a middle nature, be- 
 tween both ; as partaking of both flesh and spirit, and 
 therefore he was made both for heaven and. earth. 
 But as his flesh is made to be but a servant to his spirit, 
 so is he made for earth but as his way to heaven; and 
 not that earth should be his home, or happiness. The 
 blessed state which man was made for, was to behold 
 the glorious majesty of the Lord, and to praise him 
 among his holy angels; and to love him, and be filled 
 with his love for ever. And as this was the end which 
 man was made for, so God gave him means fitted to at- 
 tain it. These means were principally two. First, the 
 right inclination and disposition of the mind of man. 
 Secondly, the right ordering of his life and practice. 
 For the first, God suited the disposition of man to his 
 end; giving him such knowledge of God as was fit for 
 his present state, and a heart inclined to God in holy 
 love. But yet he did not confirm him in this condi- 
 tion; but having made him a free agent, he left him in 
 the hands of his own free will. For the second, God 
 did that which belonged to him; that is, he gave man 
 a perfect law, requiring him to continue in the love of 
 God, and perfectly to obey him. By the wilful breach 
 of this law, man did not only forfeit his hopes of ever- 
 lasting life, but also turned his heart from God, and fix- 
 ed it on these lower things; and hereby blotted out 
 the spiritual image of God from his soul. So that 
 man did both fall short of the glory of God which 
 was his end, and put himself out of the way by which 
 he should have attained it; and this both as to the 
 frame of his heart and of his life. The holy inclina- 
 tion of his soul to God, he lost; and instead of it he 
 contracted an inclination to the pleasing of his flesh’ 
 by earthly things ; growing strange to God, and ac- 
 quainted with the creature: and the course of his life 
 was suited to the inclination of his heart; he lived to 
 
334 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 his own will, and not to God; he sought the creature 
 for the pleasing of his flesh, and instead of seeking to 
 please the Lord. With this nature or corrupt incli- 
 nation, we are all now born into the world; for, who 
 can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?(i) As a lion 
 has a fierce and cruel nature, before he does devour; 
 and as an adder has a venomous nature, before she 
 stings ; so in our very infancy we have those sinful na- 
 tures, or inclinations, before we think, or speak, or do 
 amiss. And hence springs all the sin of our lives. 
 And not only so, but when God has, of his mercy, pro- 
 vided us a remedy, even the Lord Jesus Christ, to be 
 the Saviour of our souls, and bring us back to God, 
 we naturally love our present state, and are loth to 
 be brought out of it, and therefore are set against the 
 means of our recovery; and though custom has taught 
 us to thank Christ for his good-wiil, yet we refuse his 
 remedies, and desire to be excused, when we are 
 commanded to take the medicines which he offers, 
 and are called to forsake all, and follow him to God 
 and glory. 
 
 In these few words you have a true description of 
 our natural state ; and consequently of a wicked man. 
 For every man that is in this state of corrupted nature, 
 is a wicked man, and in a state of death. 
 
 By this you may understand what it is to be converted: 
 to which end you must further knew, that the mercy of 
 God, not willing that man should perish in his sin, pro- 
 vided a remedy, by causing his Son to take our nature 
 upon him; and, being in one person. God and man, 
 to become a mediator between God and man; and by 
 dying for our sius on the cross, to ransom us from the 
 curse of God, and the power of the devil. And having 
 thus redeemed us, the Father hath delivered us into his 
 hand, as his own. Hereupon the Father and the Me- 
 diator make a new law and covenant for man: not like 
 the first, which gave life to none but the perfectly obe- 
 dient, and condemned man for every sin; but Christ has 
 made a law of grace, or a promise of pardon and ever- 
 
 (2) Job xiv. 4. 
 
TO A SOUND .CONVERSION: 335 
 
 lasting life to all that by true repentance, and by faith in 
 Christ, are converted unto God. Like an act. of obli- 
 vion, which is made by a prince to a company of rebels, 
 on condition they will lay down their arms, and come 
 in and be loyal subjects for the time tocome. 
 
 But, because the Lord knows that the heart of man is 
 grown so wicked, that men will not accept of the re- 
 medy if they be left to themselves, therefore the Holy 
 Ghost has undertaken it as his. office to inspire the 
 apostles, and seal the scripture by miracles; and to 
 illuminate and convert the souls of men. 
 
 So that you see, as there are three persons in the 
 Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; 
 so each of these persons have their several works, — 
 which are eminently ascribed to them. 
 
 The Father’s works were, to create us, to rule us as _ 
 his rational creatures, by the law of nature; and judge 
 us thereby: and in mercy to provide us a Redeemer 
 when we were lost; and to send his Son, and accept 
 his ransom. 
 
 The works of the Son, for us, were these: to ransom 
 and redeem us by his sufferings and righteousness ;_ to 
 give out the promise or law of grace; and rule and judge 
 the world as their Redeemer, on terms of grace; and 
 to make intercession for us, that the benefits of his 
 death may be communicated; and to send the Holy 
 Ghost, which the Father also does by the Son. 
 
 The works of the Holy Ghost, for us, are these: to 
 indite the holy scriptures, by inspiring and guiding the 
 prophets and apostles; and sealing the word by his mi- 
 raculous gifts and works; and the illuminating and. 
 exciting the ordinary ministers of the gospel, and so ent 
 abling them and helping them to publish that word ; 
 and by the same word illuminating and converting the 
 souls of men. So that as you could not have been rea- 
 sonable creatures, if the Father had not created you ; 
 
 _- nor have had any access to God, if the Son had not re- 
 
 deemed you ; so neither can you be saved except the 
 Holy Ghost do sanctify you. 
 
 So you may see the several causes of this work. The 
 Father sends the Son: the Son redeems us, and makes 
 
336 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 the promise of grace: the Holy Ghost indites and seals 
 this gospel: the apostles are the secretaries of the Spirit 
 to write it: the preachers of the gospel proclaim it, 
 and persuade men to obey it: and the Holy Ghost makes 
 their preaching effectual, by opening the hearts of men 
 to entertain it. And all this to repair the image of God 
 upon the soul ; and to set the heart upon God again, 
 and take it off the creature, to which it is revolted : 
 and so to turn the current of the life into a heavenly 
 course, which before was earthly ; and all this by the 
 entertainment of Christ by faith, who is the physician 
 of the soul. 
 
 By this you may see what it is to be wicked, and 
 what it is to be converted. Which I think will yet be 
 
 plainer, if I describe them as consisting of their several 
 parts ; and for the first, a wicked man may be known 
 
 by these three things. 
 
 First, He is one who places his chief content on 
 earth, and loves the creature more than God, and his 
 fleshly prosperity above heavenly felicity ; he savours 
 the things of the flesh, but neither discerns nor savours 
 the things of the Spirit: though he will say that heaven 
 is better than’earth, yet does he not really so esteem it. 
 
 If he might be sure of earth, he would let go heaven ; 
 
 and had rather stay here, than be removed thither. A 
 life of perfect holiness in the sight of God, and im his 
 love and praises for ever in heaven, do not find such 
 
 liking with his heart, as a life of health, and wealth, © 
 
 and honour upon earth. And though he falsely pro- 
 fess that he loves God above all, yet indeed he never 
 felt the power of divine love, but his mind is more set 
 on the world, or fleshly pleasures, than on God. In 
 a word, whoever loves earth above heaven, and flesh- 
 ly prosperity more than God, is a wicked wunconvert- 
 ed man. “ 
 
 ' On the other side, a converted man is enlightened to 
 discern the loveliness of God; and so believes the glory 
 that is to be had with God, that his heart is set more 
 upon it than on any thing in this world. He had ra- 
 ther see the face of God, and live in his everlasting love, 
 than have all the wealth or pleasure of this world. He 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. Mf OOM 
 
 sees that all things else are: vanity ; and nothing but 
 God can fill the soul: and therefore let the world 
 go which way it will, he lays up his treasures and 
 hopes in heaven ; and for that he is resolved to let go 
 all. As the fire mounts upward, and the needle that 
 is touched with the loadstone turns to the north; so 
 the converted soul is inclined to God. Nothing else 
 can satisfy him; nor can he find any content and rest 
 but in his love. In a word, all that are converted, 
 esteem and love God better than all the world; and 
 the heavenly felicity is dearer to them than their fleshly 
 prosperity. 
 
 Secondly, A wicked man is one that makes it the 
 principal business of his life, to prosper in the world, 
 and attain his fleshlv ends. And though he may read, 
 and hear, and do much in the cutward duties of religion, 
 and forbear disgraceful sins; yet this is but by the by, 
 and he never makes it the business of his life to please 
 God, and attain everlasting glory. He puts off Ged 
 with the leavings of the world, and gives him no more » 
 service than the flesh can spare. 
 
 On the contrary, a converted man is one that makes 
 the principal business of his life to please God, and to be 
 _ saved ; and takes all the blessings of this life, but as ac- 
 commodations in his journey towards another life, and 
 uses the creature in subordination to God: he loves a 
 holy life, and longs to be more holy; be has no sin but 
 what he hates, and longs, and prays, and strives to be 
 rid of. The bent of his life is for God; and if he sin, 
 it is contrary to the bentof his heart and life, and there- 
 fore he rises again, and laments it, and dares not wil- 
 fully live in any known sin. There is nothing in this 
 world so dear to him, but he can give it up to God, 
 and forsake it for the‘hopes of glory. 
 
 Thirdly, The soul of a wicked man did never truly 
 discernand relish the mystery of redemption, nor thank- 
 fully entertain an offered Saviour, nor is he taken up 
 with the love of the Redeemer, nor willing to be ruled 
 by him, that he may be saved from the guilt and power 
 of his sins, and recovered unto God: but his heart is in- 
 sensible of this unspeakable benefit, and is quite against 
 
 IF. Uu 
 
338 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS - 
 
 the healing means by which he should be recovered. 
 He never resigns up his soul to Christ, and to the mo- 
 tions and conduct of his word and Spirit. 
 
 On the contrary, theconverted soul, having felt him- 
 self undone by sin, and perceiving that he has lost his 
 peace with God, and hopes of heaven, and is in danger 
 of everlasting misery, does thankfully entertain the tid- 
 ings of redemption ;.and believing in the Lord Jesus 
 as his only Saviour, resigns up himself to him for wis- 
 dom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.— 
 He takes Christ as the life of his soul, and lives by him, 
 and uses him as a slave for every sore, admiring the 
 wisdom and love of Godin this wonderful work of man’s 
 redemption. Ina word, Christ does even dwell in his 
 heart by faith, and the life which he now lives is by 
 faith in the Son of God, who has loved him, and given 
 himself for him. Yea,, it is not so much he that lives 
 as Christ in him. 
 
 You see now, who are the whole and who are the 
 converted. Ignorant people think, that if a man be 
 no swearer, or curser, or railer, or dreamland: or fornica- 
 tor, or extortioner, nor wrong any body in his dealings, 
 and if he go to church, and say his prayers, he cannot 
 bea wicked man. Or if aman who has been guilty of - 
 drunkenness, swearing, or the like vices, do but foroear 
 them, they think that this is a converted man. Others 
 think, if a man who has been an enemy and scorner of 
 religion, do but approve it, and join himself with good. 
 men, and be hated for it by the wicked, this must needs 
 be a converted man. And some are so foolish as to 
 think they are converted, by taking up some new opi- 
 nion; or by falling into some party, as Anabaptists, 
 Quakers, Papists, or such like. -And some think, if 
 they have but been affrighted by the fears of hell, and 
 thereupon have purposed and promised amendment, 
 and taken up a life of civil behaviour and outward 
 religion, this must needs be true conversion. And 
 these are the poor deluded souls that are like to lose 
 the benefit of all our persuasions: and when they hear 
 that the wicked must turn or die, they think that this 
 is not spoken to them; for they are not wicked, but 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. . 838 
 
 are turned already. And therefore it is that Christ 
 told some of the rulers of the Jews, who were more 
 moral and civil than the common people, that pub- 
 licans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before 
 them.(i) Not that a harlot or gross sinner can be saved 
 without conversion; but because it was easier to make 
 those gross sinners perceive their sin, and the neces- 
 sity of a change. 
 
 O sirs, conversion is another kind of work than 
 most are aware of: it is nota small matter to show man 
 the amiable excellencies of God, till he be taken up 
 with such love to him as cannot easily be quenched; to 
 break the heart for sin, and make him fly for refuge to 
 Christ, and thankfully embrace him as the life of his 
 soul; to have the very bent ofthe heart and life changed ; 
 so that he renouncess that which he took for his felicity, 
 and places his felicity where he never did before; and 
 lives not to 43° same end, and drives-‘not on the same 
 design in the world, as he formerly did. He that is in 
 Christ is a new creature : old things are past away ; behold, 
 all things are become new.(k.) He has a new understand- 
 ing, anew will and resolution, new sorrows, and de- 
 sires, and love, and delight; new thoughts, new speeches, 
 new company (if possible), anda new conversation. Sin, 
 which before was a jesting matter with him, is now so 
 odious, that he flies from it, as from death. The world, 
 which was so lovely in his eyes, does now appear but 
 as vanity and vexation: God, who was before neglect- 
 ed, is now the only happines of his soul: before he 
 was forgotten; but now he is set next the heart, and 
 all things must give place to him; and the heart is taken 
 
 up in the attendance and observance of him; and is 
 
 grieved when he hides his face, and never thinks itself 
 well without him. Christ himself, who was wont to be 
 slightly thought of, is now his only hope and: refuge, 
 and he lives upon him, as on his daily bread ; he cannot 
 pray without him, nor rejoice without him, nor think, - 
 nor speak, nor live, without him. Heaven itself, which 
 before was looked upon butas a tolerable reserve, which 
 
 (2) Matt. xxi. 31. (k) 2.Cor.v. 17. 
 
340 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 he hoped might serve better than hell when he could 
 not stay any longer in the world, is now taken for ‘his 
 home, the place ‘of his only hope and rest, where lie 
 shall see. and love, and praise that God, who has: his 
 heart already. The Bible, which was before to him 
 but as common book, is now as the law of God, as 
 aletter written to him from heaven, and subscribed 
 with the name of the eternal Majesty ; it is the rule of 
 his thoughts, and words, and deeds; the commands 
 are binding, and the promises of it speak life to his 
 soul. In short, he has a new end in his thoughts, and 
 anew way in his endeavours, and therefore his heart 
 and life are new. So that this is not a change in one, 
 or two, or twenty points; but in the whole soul and 
 conversation. 
 
 Do you believe this, sirs, or do you not? Surely you 
 dare not say you do not. These are not controversies, 
 where one pious man is of one mind, aid another of 
 another ; all Christians are agreed in this; and if you 
 will not believe the God of truth, and that in a case 
 where every sect and party believe him, you are utter- 
 ly inexcuseable. 
 
 But if you do believe this, how comes it to pass that 
 you live so quietly in an unconverted state? Do you 
 know that you are converted ? Can you find this won- 
 derful change upon your souls? Have you been thus 
 born again, “and made anew? If you cannot tell the 
 day or week of your change, do you find that the 
 work is done? and that you have such hearts'as are 
 before described? Alas! the most follow their worldly 
 business, and little trouble their mind with such 
 thoughts. And if they be but restrained from seand- 
 alous sins, and can say, I am no whoremonger, or 
 thief, or curser, or swearer, or tipler, or extortioner, I 
 go to church and say my prayers; they think this true 
 conversion, and they shall be saved as well as any. 
 Alas! this is a foolish cheating of yourselves.. Thisis 
 too gross neglect of your immortal souls. Can you 
 make so light of heaven and hell? Your corpses will 
 shortly lie in the dust, and angels or devils will pre- 
 sently seize upon your souls, and every man and woman 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 341 
 
 of you all will shortly be among other company, and 
 in another case than now you are: you will dwell in 
 those houses but a little Jonger; you will work in your 
 shops, and fields, but a little longer; you will sit in 
 these seats, and dwell on this earth, but a little 
 longer; you will see with these eyes, and hear with 
 those ears, and speak with those tongues, but a little 
 longer: and can you forget this? O what a place will 
 _you be shortly in of joy or torment! O what a sight 
 will you shortly seein heaven or hell! O what thoughts 
 will shortly fill your hearts with unspeakable delight 
 or horror !—What work will you be employed in? To 
 praise the Lord with saints and angels, or to cry out 
 in fire unquenchable with devils? And should all this 
 be forgotten? And all this will be endless, and sealed 
 up by an unchangeable decree. Eternity, eternity, will 
 be the the measure of your Joys or sorrows ; and can this 
 be forgotten? And all this is true, most certainly true; 
 when you have gone up and down a little longer, and 
 slept and awaked a few times more, you will be dead 
 and gone, and find all true which now [| tell you. And 
 can you now forget it? You shall then remember, that 
 you heard this sermon, and that on this day, and‘ in 
 this place, you were remembered of these things : and 
 yet shall they now be so much forgotten ? 
 
 Beloved, if the Lord had not awakened me to believe 
 and lay to heart these things myself, I should have pe- 
 rished for ever: butif he has made me sensible of them, 
 it will constrain me to compassionate you. If your eyes 
 were so far opened as tosee hell, and you saw your 
 neighbours, that were unconverted, dragged thither 
 with hideous cries, though they were such as you ac- 
 counted honest people on earth; such a sight’ would 
 make you warn allabout you, lest they should go to that 
 place of torment. Why, faith is a kind of sight; it is the 
 eye of the soul, the evidence of things not seen: if I 
 believe-God, itis next to seeidg ; and therefore I beseech 
 you excuse me, if I be as earnest with you about these 
 matters, as if | had seenthem. If I were to die to-mor- 
 row, and it were in my power to come again from 
 another world, and tell you what I had seen; would 
 
342 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASLONS 
 
 you not be willing to hearme; And would you not 
 believe and regard what I should tell you? If I might 
 preach one sermon to you after I am dead, and have 
 seen what is done in the world to come, would you 
 not have me plainly speak the truth, and would you 
 not crowd to hear me? And would you not lay it .to 
 heart? But this must not be; God has his appointed 
 way of teaching you; and he will not humour unbe- 
 lievers so far as to send men from the dead to them, 
 and to alter his established way: if any man quarrel 
 with the sun, God will not humour him so far as to set 
 him up a clearer light. Friends, I beseech you regard 
 me now, as you would do if | should come from the 
 dead to you; for I can give you as full assurance of 
 the truth of what I say to you, as if I had been there, 
 and seen it with mine eyes, for it is possible for one 
 from the dead to deceive you; but Jesus. Christ can 
 never deceive you: the word of God delivered in scrip- 
 ture, and sealed up by the miracles and holy workings 
 of the Spirit, can never deceive you. Believe this, or 
 believe nothing. Believe, and obey this, or you are 
 undone: now as ever you believe the word of God, and 
 as ever you care for the salvation of your souls, let me 
 beg of you this reasonable request; that you would 
 without further delay, when you are gone hence, remem- 
 ber what you heard, and enter into an earnest search 
 of your hearts, and say to yourselves,—lIs it so indeed ? 
 Must I turn or die? Must I be converted or condemn- 
 ed? It istime for me then to look about me, before it 
 be too late. O why did I not look after this till now? 
 Why did I venturously put off so great ‘a business ? 
 Was I awake? O blessed God, what a mercy is it thou 
 didst not cut off my life all this while? Well, God for- 
 bid that I should neglect this work any longer. What 
 state is my soul in? Am I converted, or amI not? 
 Was ever such a work done upon my soul? Have I 
 been illuminated by the word and Spirit of the Lord, to 
 see the odiousness of sin, the need of a Saviour, the love 
 of Christ, and the excellencies of God and glory ? Is my 
 heart broken, or humbled within me, for my former life ? 
 Have I thankfully entertained my Saviour and Lord, 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. ~ 343. 
 
 who offered himself with pardon and life to my soul?. 
 Do I hate my former sinful life, and the remnant of 
 every sin thatisinme? Dol fly from them as my 
 deadly enemies? Do I give up myself to a life of holi- 
 ness? Do I love it and delight in it? Can I truly say 
 that I am dead to the world,-and that I live for God, 
 and the glory which he has promised? Has heaven 
 more of my estimation than earth? And is God the 
 dearest and highest in my soul? Once, I am sure, I 
 lived principally to the world and the flesh, and God 
 had nothing but some heartless services, which the 
 world could spare, and which were the leavings of 
 the flesh. Is my heart now turned another way? Have 
 I a new design, and a new end, and a new train of holy 
 affections? Have I set my hopes and heart on heaven ? 
 And is it the design of my heart and life, to get well 
 to heaven, and see the glorious face of God, and live 
 in his everlasting love and praise? Do I conquer all 
 gross sins, and am 1 weary, and willing to be rid of 
 mine infirmities? This is the state of a converted soul. 
 And thus it must be with me, or I must perish. Is it 
 thus with me indeed, or is it not? It is time to get this 
 doubt resolved before the dreadful Judge resolve it. I 
 
 am not such a stranger to my own heart and life, but I 
 
 may perceive whether I am thus converted or not; if 
 I be not, it will do me no good to flatter my soul with 
 false hopes. Iam resolved no more to deceive myself, ~ 
 but endeavour to know truly, whether I am converted; 
 that if l be, I may rejoicein it, and glorify my gracious 
 Lord, and comfortably go on till 1 reach the crown: 
 but if I be not, I may beg and seek after the grace 
 that will convert me, and turn without any more de- 
 lay; for if I find in time that I am out of the way, by 
 the help of Christ I may turn and be recovered; but 
 if I stay till either my heart be forsaken of God in 
 blindness and hardness, or till I be caught away by 
 death, it is then too late. There is no place for re- 
 pentance and conversion then: I know it must be now 
 or never. 
 
 Sirs, this is my request to you, that you will but 
 take your hearts to task, and thus examine them till 
 
 » 
 
 « 
 
‘ 
 
 344 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 you see, if it may be whether you are converted or not ? 
 It undoes many thousands, that they think they are 
 in the way to salvation, when they are not; and that 
 they are converted, when it is no such thing. And 
 then, when we call to them daily to turn, they think 
 this concerns not them; for they are turned already, 
 and hope they shall do well enough in the way that 
 they arein, when, alas! all this while they live to the 
 world and flesh, and are strangers to God and eternal 
 life. And all this, because we cannot persuade them 
 to spend a few hours in the examining of their states. 
 Are there not many self-deceiving wretches that hear 
 me this day, who never bestowed one hour in all their 
 lives, to examine their souls, and try whether they 
 were truly converted or not? O merciful God, who 
 will care for such wretches, that care no more for them- 
 selves? Ifall that are in the state of damnation did 
 but know it, they durst not continue in it. The great- 
 est hope that the devil has of bringing you’to damna- 
 tion without a rescue, is by keeping you blindfold, and 
 making you believe that you may do well enough in 
 the way that you arein. If you knew that you were 
 lost for ever, if you should die as youare; durst you 
 sleep another night in the state that you are in? Durst 
 you live another day init? Could you laugh, or be 
 merry, in sucha state? What! and not known but 
 you may be snatched away to hell in an hour! Sure 
 it would constrain you to forsake your former company 
 and courses, and to betake yourselves to the ways of 
 holiness. Sure it would drive you to cry to God for 
 a new heart, and to seek help of those who are fit to 
 counsel you. There is none of you, sure, that cares 
 not for being damned. Well then, I beseech you, 
 ‘ presently makeinquiry into your hearts, and give them 
 no rest, till you find out your condition; that if it be 
 good, you may rejoice in it, and go on; and if it be 
 bad, you may presently look about you for recovery, 
 as men that believe they must turn or die. What say 
 -you? Will you resolve, and promise to be at so much 
 labour for your own souls! Will you fall upon this 
 self-examination when you go home? Is my request - 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 345 
 
 unreasonable? Your consciences know, it is not; 
 resolve on it then, before you stir: knowing how 
 much it concerns your souls. I beseech you, for the 
 sake of that God who does command you, at whose 
 bar you will shortly all appear, that you will not 
 deny me this reasonable request. For the sake of 
 those souls that must turn or die, I beseech you deny 
 me not; make it your business to understand your 
 own conditions, and build upon sure ground, and 
 know for certainty, whether you are converted or 
 not; and venture not your own souls on negligent 
 security. 
 
 But perhaps you will say, What if we should find 
 ourselves yet unconverted, what shall we do then? 
 Tiis question leads me to my second doctrine. 
 
 DOCTRINE II. 
 
 It ts the promise of God, that the wicked shall live, of 
 they will turn to him. 
 
 Tue Lord here professes that this is what he takes 
 pleasure in, that the wicked turn and live. Turn 
 and live, is as certain a truth as turn or die. Sinners, 
 there are none of you who shall have cause to go home, 
 and say I preach despair to you. Are we used to 
 shut up the door of mercy against you? O that you 
 would not shut it up against yourselves! Are we used 
 to tell you that God will have no mercy on you though 
 you turn? When did you hear a preacher say such a 
 
 word? You that bark at the preachers of the gospel 
 for desiring to keep you out of hell, and say that they 
 preach despair; tell me, when did you ever hear any 
 sober man say, that there is no hope for you, though 
 you repent and be converted? No, it is quite the con- 
 trary which we daily proclaim from the Lord; that 
 whoever is born again, shall be saved: so far are we 
 from persuading you to despair of this, that we per- 
 suade you not to make any doubt of it. It is life, and 
 bi BY. XX 
 
346 DIRECTIONS AND PEESUASIONS 
 
 not death, which is the first part of our message to you ; 
 our commission is to offer salvation, a speedy, glorious, 
 everlasting salvation, to every one of you: to the poor- 
 est beggar as well as to the greatest lord; to the worst 
 of you, even to drunkards, swearers, thieves, yea, to 
 the despisers and reproachers of the holy way of sal- 
 vation: we are commanded by the Lord our Master 
 to offer you a pardon for all that is past, if you will 
 now at last return and live; we are commanded to 
 beseech and entreat you to accept the offer, and to 
 tell you what preparation is made by Christ, what 
 mercy stays for you, what patience waiteth on you, 
 what thoughts of kindness God has towards you, and 
 how happy, how certainly and unspeakably happy, 
 you may be if you will. We have indeed also a mes- 
 sage of wrath and death, yea, of a two-fold wrath and 
 death ; but neither of them is our principal message : 
 we must tell you of the wrath that is on you already, 
 and the death that you are born under; but this is only 
 to show you the need of mercy. For who will seek 
 out for physic, that knows not he is sick? Our telling 
 you of your misery, is not that which makes you mi- 
 serable, but that which drives you to seek for mercy. 
 It is you that have brought this deathupon yourselves. 
 We tell you also of another death, and much greater 
 torment, which will fall on those who will not be 
 converted. But as this is true, so it is but the last 
 and saddest part of our message. We are first to offer 
 you mercy, if you will turn: and it is only those that 
 will not turn, nor hear the voice of mercy, to whom 
 we must foretel damnation., If you will cast away 
 your transgressions, and come at the call of Christ, 
 and be converted, we have not a word of damning 
 wrath, or death, to speak against you. Ido here in 
 the name of the Lord of life proclaim to you all, to 
 the worst of you, to the greatest, to the oldest sinner, 
 that you may have mercy and salvation if you will 
 but turn. ‘There is mercy in God; there is sufficiency 
 in the satisfaction of Christ; the promise is free, and. 
 full, and universal; you may have life, if you will but 
 turn. But then, as you love your souls, remember 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 347 
 
 what turning it is which the scripture speaks of. It 
 is not to mend the old house, but to pull down all, 
 and build anew, on Christ, the rock and sure foun- 
 dation. — 
 
 Yourselves are witnesses now, that it is salyation, 
 and not damnation, which is the great doctrine I preach 
 to you; and the first part of my message to you. Ac- 
 cept of this, and we shall go no farther; for we would 
 not trouble you with the name of damnation, without 
 necessity. 
 
 But if you will not be saved, there is no remedy, 
 but damnation must take place. For there is no middle 
 place between the two: you must have either life or 
 death. 
 
 And we are not only to offer you life, but to show 
 you the grounds on which we do it, and call you to 
 believe that God does mean, indeed, as he speaks; 
 that the promise is true, and extends conditionally to 
 you as well as others. 
 
 If you ask, where is our commission.for this offer? ~ 
 among a hundred texts of scripture, 1 will show it 
 to you in these few. 
 
 First, you see it here in my text, and the following 
 verses, and in the 18th of Ezekiel, as plain as can be 
 spoken. And in2 Cor. v. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, you 
 have the very sum of our commission: Jf any man be 
 in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away ; 
 behold, all things are become new. And all things are 
 of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, 
 and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation ; to wit, 
 that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto him- 
 self ; not imputing their trespasses unio them; and hath 
 committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then 
 we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did 
 beseech you byus: we pray you in Christ's stead be ye 
 reconciled unto God: for he hath made him to be sin 
 Sor us who knew no sin, that we might be made the 
 righteousness of God in him. 
 
 You see that we are commanded to offer life unto 
 you all, and to tell you from God, that-if you will 
 turn you may live. ; 
 
348 IRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 Here you may safely trust your souls; for the love 
 of God is the fountain of this offer,(7) and the blood of - 
 the Son of God has purchased it; the faithfulness and 
 truth of God are engaged to make the promise good; 
 miracles have sealed the truth of it; preachers are sent 
 through the world to proclaim it; the sacraments are 
 instituted for the solemn delivery of the mercy offered 
 to them that will accept it; and the Spirit opens the 
 heart to entertain it, and is itself the earnest of the full 
 possession. So that the truth of it is past controversy, 
 that the worst of you all, and every one of you, if you 
 will but be converted, may be saved. 
 
 - Indeed, if you believe that you shall be saved with- 
 out conversion, then you believe a-falsehood ; and if I 
 should preach that to you, I should preach a lie: this 
 were not to believe God, but the devil and your own 
 deceitful hearts. God has his promise of life, and the 
 devil has his promise of life. God’s promise is, return 
 and live; the devil’s promise is, you shall live whe- 
 ther you turn or not. The words of God are as I have © 
 showed you, Except you be converted, and become as lit- 
 tle children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of hea- 
 ven.(m) Except aman be born again, he cannot enter 
 into the kingdom of God.(n) Without holiness none 
 shall see God.(o) The devil’s word, ‘ You may be saved 
 without being born again or converted; you may do 
 well enough without being holy: God does but frighten 
 you, he is more merciful than to do as he says, he will 
 be better to you than his word.’ And, alas! the great- 
 est part of the world believes this word of the devil, 
 before the word of God; just as our first sin and 
 misery came into the world. God said to our first pa- 
 rents, If ye eat, ye shall die. And the devil con- 
 tradicts him, and says, Ye shall not die: and the wo- 
 man believed him before God. So now the Lord 
 saith, Turn or die: and the devil, says, You shall not 
 die, if you do but cry to God for mercy at last. And 
 this.is the word which the world believes. O heinous 
 wickedness, to believe the devil before God! 
 
 (i) John iii. 16. ¢m) Matt. xviii.3.(x) Johniii.3, 5. (0) Heb. xii. 14. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 349 
 
 And yet, that is not the worst; but blasphemously 
 they call this a believing and trusting God, when 
 they put him in the shape of Satan, who was a liar 
 from the beginning; and when they believe that the 
 word of-God is a lie, they call this a trusting God, and 
 say they believe in him, and trust in him for salvation. 
 Where did ever God say, that the unconverted shall 
 be saved? Show me such a word in scripture. I 
 challenge you if you can. Why, this is the devil’s 
 word, and to believe it, is to believe the devil. And 
 do you call this believing, and trusting God ? There is 
 enough in the word of God to comfort and strength- 
 én the hearts of the sanctified: but not a word to 
 strengthen the hands of wickedness, or to give men 
 the least hope of being saved, though they be never 
 sanctified. ; 
 
 But if you will turn, and come into the way of 
 mercy, the mercy of the Lord is ready to entertain 
 you. Then trust God for salvation, boldly and con- 
 fidently: for he is engaged by his word to save you. 
 He will bea father to none but his children, and he - 
 will save none but those that forsake the world, the 
 devil, and the flesh, and come into his family to be 
 members of his Son, and have communion with his 
 saints. But if they will not come in, it is their own ~ 
 fault: his doors are open. He keeps none back: he 
 it still ready to receive you, if you were but ready 
 unfeignedly, and with all your hearts, to éurn. 
 And the fulness of this truth will yet more appear in 
 the two following doctrines. 
 
350 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS ~ 
 
 DOCTRINE III. 
 
 God takes pleasure in men’s conversion, and salvation; 
 but not in their death or damnation: he had rather 
 they would turn and live, than go on and die. 
 
 For the proof of this point, I shall be very brief, 
 because I suppose you believe it already. 
 
 1. The gracious nature of God has proclaimed and 
 frequently assured you of this; that he has no plea- 
 sure in your death. 
 
 2. If God had more pleasure in thy death, ‘than i in 
 thy conversion and life, he would not have so frequent- 
 ly commanded thee in his word to turn; he would not 
 have made thee such promises of life, if thou wilt turn ; 5 
 would not have persuaded thee to it by so many rea- 
 sons. The tenor of his gospel proves the point. 
 
 3. And his commission, which he has given to the 
 ministers of the gospel, does fully prove it. If God 
 had taken more pleasure in thy damnation, than in thy 
 conversion and salvation, he would never have charg- 
 ed us to offer you mercy, and to teach you the way of 
 life, both publicly and privately ; and to entreat, and 
 beseech you to turn and live: to acquaint you with 
 your sins, and tell you of your danger; and to do all 
 that possibly we can for your conversion, and to con- 
 tinue patiently so doing,-though you should hate or 
 abuse us for our pains. Would God have done this, 
 if he had taken pleasure in your death? 
 
 4. It is proved also by the course of his providence 
 If God had rather you were damned, than saved, he 
 would not second his word with his works, and entice 
 you by his daily kindness, and give you all the mercies 
 of this life, which are means to lead you to repentance, 
 (2) and bring you so often under his rod, to force you 
 into your wits: he would not set so many examples 
 before your eyes, no, nor wait on you so patiently as 
 he does from day to day, and year to year. These are 
 
 (a2) Rom. u. 4, 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 351 
 
 not'signs of one that takes pleasure in your death. If 
 ‘this had been his delight, how easily could he have 
 had thee long ago in hell! How oft before this 
 could he have snatched thee away in the midst of thy 
 sins, with a curse, or oath, or lie in thy mouth! When 
 thou wast last in thy drunkenness, or deriding the 
 ways of’ God; how easily could he have stopt thy 
 breath, and made thee sober in another world! Alas! 
 how small a matter is it for the Almighty to rule the 
 tongue of the profanest railer, and tie the hands of the 
 most malicious persecutor, or calm the fury of the 
 bitterest of his enemies, and make them know they are 
 but worms! If he did but frown upon thee, thou 
 wouldst drop into the grave. Ifhe gave commission 
 to one of his angels to go and destroy ten thousand 
 sinners, how quickly would it be done! How easily 
 can he lay thee upon the bed of languishing, and 
 make thee lie roaring there in pain, aid eat the words 
 of reproach which thou hast spoken against his ser- 
 
 vants, his word, his worship, and his holy ways! How — 
 
 easily can he lay that flesh, under groans, and make it 
 more loathsome than the dung of the earth! That 
 flesh, which now must have what it loves, and must 
 not be displeased, tho’ God be displeased! and must 
 be humoured in meat and drink, and clothed, what- 
 ever God say to the contrary. How quickly would 
 the frown of God consume it! When thou wast 
 passionately defending thy sin, and quatrelling with 
 them that would have drawn thee from it, and plead- 
 ing for the works of darkness; how easily could God 
 have snatched thee away ina moment, and set thee 
 before his dreadful majesty, (where thou shouldst see 
 ten thousand times ten thousand glorious angels 
 waiting on his throne,) and have asked thee, What 
 hast thou now to say against thy Creator, his truth, 
 his servants, or his holy ways? Now plead thy cause, 
 and make the best of it thou canst. Now what canst 
 thou say in excuse for thy sins? Now give an account 
 
 of thy time, and of all the mercies thou hast had. O © 
 
 how thy stubborn heart would have melted, and thy 
 
\ 
 
 352 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 countenance have been appalled, and thy stout words 
 turned into speechless silence, or dreadful cries, if 
 God had but set thee thus at his bar, and pleaded his 
 own cause with thee! How easily can he at any time 
 say to thy guilty soul, Come away, and live in. that 
 flesh no more, till the resurrection! And it cannot 
 resist. A word of his mouth would take off the poise 
 of thy present life, and then all thy parts and powers 
 would stand still. And ifhe were to say to thee, 
 Live no longer, or live in hell; thou couldst. not 
 disobey. , 
 
 ‘But God has done none of this, but has patiently 
 forborn thee, and mercifully upheld thee, and given 
 thee that breath which thou didst breathe out against 
 him, and given thee those mercies which thou didst 
 sacrifice to thy flesh, and afforded thee that provision 
 
 which thou spentest to satisfy thy greedy appetite : he 
 
 gave thee every minute of that time which thou didst 
 waste in idleness or drunkenness. And does not all 
 this patience and mercy show that he desires not thy 
 damnation? Can the candle burn without the oil? 
 Can your houses stand without the earth to bear 
 them ?—as well as you can live an hour without the 
 support of God. And why did he so long support 
 thy life, but to see when thou wouldst bethink thee of 
 the folly of thy ways, and return and live? Will 
 any man purposely put arms into his enemies’ hands to 
 resist him? or hold a candle to a murderer who is 
 killing his children? Surely it is to see whether thou 
 wilt at last return and live, that God has so long 
 waited on thee. 
 
 5. It is further proved by the sufferings of his Son, 
 that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wick- 
 ed. Would he have ransomed them from death at so 
 dear arate? Would he have astonished angels and 
 men at his condescension? Would God have dwelt 
 in flesh, and have come in the form of a servant, and 
 have lived a life of suffering, and died a cursed death 
 for sinners, if he had taken pleasure in their death ? 
 Suppose you saw him praying with the drops of blood 
 
TO A. SOUND CONVERSION... 353, 
 
 trickling from him instead of sweat, or suffering a 
 cursed death upon the cross, and pouring out his soul 
 as a sacrifice for our sins; would you have thought 
 these the signs of one that delights in the death of the 
 wicked? If you had seen and heard him weeping and 
 bemoaning the state of disobedience in impenitent 
 people, or complaining of their stubbornness, as Matt. 
 xxiii. 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have 
 gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth 
 her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Or if 
 you had seen apd heard him on the cross, praying for 
 his persecutors, Father forgive them, for they know not 
 what they do; would you have suspected that he had 
 delighted in the death of the wicked ; even of those that 
 perish by their wilful unbelief? When God hath so 
 loved, (not only loved, but so loved,) as to give his 
 only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life; he has 
 proved against the malice of men and devils, that he 
 takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but had 
 rather that they would turn and Jive. 
 
 6. Lastly, If all this will not satisfy you, take his 
 own word, who knows best his own mind, or at least 
 believe his oath: but this leads me to the fourth doc- 
 trine. | 
 
 -3-@-s— 
 DOCTRINE IV. 
 
 The Lord has confirmed to us by his oath, that he has 
 no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but had rather 
 that he should turn and live: that he may leave man 
 no pretence to question the truth of it. 
 
 Ir you dare question his word, I hope you dare 
 not question his oath. As Christ has solemnly pro- 
 tested that the unconverted cannot enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven; so God has sworn that his vlea- 
 
 12. Yy 
 
A 
 
 354 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 sure is not in their death, but in their conversion and. 
 life. And as the Apostle says, Because he could swear 
 by no greater, he sware by himself. For men verily 
 swear by the greater ; and an oath for confirmation 2s 
 to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing 
 more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the 
 ammutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; 
 that by two immutable things, mm which it was impos- 
 sible for ‘God to lie, we might have a strong consola- 
 tion, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope 
 set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the 
 soul, both sure and stedfast.(q) If there be any man who 
 cannot reconcile this truth, with the damnation of the 
 wicked, that is owing to his own ignorance; he has 
 no pretence left to deny or question therefore the truth 
 of the point in hand ; for this is confirmed by the oath 
 of God, and therefore must not be.distorted to reduce 
 it to other points ; but doubtful points must rather be 
 reduced to it, and certain truths must be believed to 
 agree with it, though our shallow brains hardly discern 
 the agreement. 
 
 —amlolr 
 USE. 
 
 I po now entreat thee, if thou be an unconverted 
 sinner, who hearest these words, that thou wouldest 
 bethink thyself awhile, who it is that takes pleasure 
 in thy sin and damnation. Certainly it is not God ; 
 he has sworn for his part, that he takes no pleasure in 
 it. And I know it is not the pleasure of him that 
 you. intend in it. You dare not say, that you drink, 
 and swear, and neglect holy duties, and quench the 
 motions of the Spirit,.to please God. That were as © 
 if you should reproach the prince, and break his laws, 
 and seek his death, and say, You did all this to please 
 him. 4°; : . 
 
 - Who is it then that takes pleasure in your sin and 
 death? Not any that bear the image of God, for they 
 
 (q Heb. vi. 13—16, 17, 18, 19. 
 
- TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 355 
 
 must be like-minded to him. God knows, it is small 
 pleasure to your teachers to see you wilfully run into 
 the flames of hell. Alas! to foresee your everlasting 
 torments, and know not how to prevent them, is to see 
 how near you are to hell, and we cannot make you 
 believe it and consider it :—to see how easily, how 
 
 certainly, you might escape, if we knew but how to. ° 
 
 make you willing how fair you are for everlasting 
 salvation, if you would but turn and do your best, and 
 make it the care and business of our lives! but you 
 will not do it! Do you think that this is a pleasant 
 thing to us ? 
 
 Again, it is none of your godly friends. Alas! it 
 is the grief of their souls to see your misery, and they 
 lament for.you many a time when you give them little 
 thanks for it, and when you have not hearts to lament 
 for yourselves. 
 
 Who is it then that takes pleasure in your sin? It 
 is none but three great enemies of God, whom you 
 renounced in your baptism. 
 
 1. The devil takes pleasure in your sin and death ; 
 for this is the end of all his temptations. You can- 
 not please him better then to go on in sin: how glad is | 
 he when he sees thee go to the aleshouse, and when 
 he. hears thee curse, or swear, or rail! ° These are his 
 delights. 
 
 2. The wicked are also delighted in it; for it is 
 agreeable to their nature. 
 
 3. But I know, for all this, that it is not the pleas- 
 ing of the devil that you intend ; but it-is your own 
 flesh, the greatest and most dangerous enemy. It is 
 the flesh that would be pleased in meat and drink, 
 and clothing; that would be pleased in company, and — 
 in applause and credit with the world; and this is the 
 gulph that devours all. This is the very god you 
 serve. For the scripture says of such, ther belly is 
 their god.(r ) 
 
 But I beseech you stay a little, and consider. the 
 business. 
 
 _ (r) Phil. iii. 19. 
 
‘ 
 
 356 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASTOXS 
 
 Your flesh is pleased with your sins: but is your con- 
 science pleased: Does it not tell you sometimes, that 
 all is not well, and that your case is not so safe as you 
 make it to be? And should not your soul and con: 
 science be pleased before that corruptible flesh ? 
 Again, is not your flesh preparing for its own displea- 
 sure also? It loves the bait; but does it love the hook? 
 It loves the strong drink and sweet morsels; it loves 
 its ease, and sports, and merriment; it loves to be 
 rich, and well spoken of by men, and to be somebody 
 in the world: but does it love the curse of God? Does 
 it love to stand- trembling before his bar, and to be 
 judged to everlasting fire? Does it love to be tor- 
 mented with devils for ever? Take all together; for 
 there is no separating sin and hell: if you will keep 
 one, you must have the other. If death and hell be 
 pleasant to you, no wonder then if you go on in sin: 
 but if they be not, then what if sin were ever so plea- 
 sant, is it worth the loss of life eternal? Is a little 
 drink, or meat, or ease, is the good word of sinners, 
 or the riches of the world, to be valued above the joys 
 of heaven? Or are they worth the sufferings of eternal 
 fire? These questions should be considered before 
 you go any further,.by every man that hath reason to 
 consider, and believes he has a soul to save or lose. 
 
 Well, the Lord here swears that he has no pleasure 
 in your death, but had rather that you would turn and 
 live. If yet you will go on, and die rather than turn, 
 remember, it was not to please God that you did it: it 
 was to please the world, and to please yourselves. And 
 if men will damn themselves to please themselves, 
 and run into endless torments for delights ; what re- 
 medy but they must take what they get by it, and re- 
 pent in another manner, when it is too late! 
 
‘ 
 
 TO A SOUND CONVERSION. i tf 
 
 DOCTRINE VI. 
 
 So earnest is.God for the conversion of sinners, that he 
 doubles his commands and exhortations with vehe- 
 mency,—Turn ye, turn ye; why will you die? 
 
 Is there ever an unconverted sinner thaf hears these 
 vehement words of Ged? Is there ever a man or 
 woman that is yet a stranger to the renewing, sancti- 
 fying work, of the Holy Ghost? Hearken then to the 
 voice of your Maker, and turn to him by Christ with- 
 out delay. Would you know the will of God? Why 
 this is his will, that you presently turn. Shall the 
 living God send -so earnest a message to his creatures, 
 and should they not obey ? Hearken then, all ye that 
 live after the flesh: the Lord that gave thee thy breath, 
 hath sent a messenger to thee from heaven; and this is 
 his message, Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die? He 
 that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Shall the voice 
 of the eternal Majesty be neglected? If he do but 
 terribly thunder, thou art afraid. O, but this voice 
 does more nearly concern thee. If he did but tell 
 thee, thou shalt die to-morrow, thou wouldest not 
 make light of it. O but this word concerns thy life, 
 or death everlasting. It is both a command and an 
 exhortation. Asif he had said to thee, ‘‘I charge thee 
 upon the allegiance which thou owest to me thy Crea- 
 tor and Redeemer, that thou renounce the flesh, the 
 world, and the devil, and turn to me, that thou mayest 
 live. I condescend to entreat thee, as thou either 
 lovest or fearest him that made thee; as thou lovest 
 thine own life, even thine everlasting life, Turn and 
 live; as ever thou wouldest escape eternal misery, 
 Turn, turn; for why wilt thou die?” And is there a 
 heart in man, in a reasonable creature, that can refuse 
 such a message, such a command, such an exhortation 
 as this? O what a thing then is the heart of man! 
 
 Hearken then, all that love yourselves, and all that 
 regard your own salvation: here is the joyfullest mes- | 
 
358 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 sage that ever was sent to the ears of man, Turn ye, 
 turn ye; why will ye die? You are not yet shut up 
 under desperation. Here is mercy offered you; turn, 
 and you shall have it. With what joy should you 
 receive these tidings! I know this is not the first 
 time that you have heard them: but how have you 
 regarded them, or how do you regard them now? Hear, 
 all ye ignorant, careless sinners, the word of the Lord! 
 Hear, all Ye gluttons, drunkards, whoremongers and 
 swearers, railers and backbiters, slanderers and liars, 
 —Turn ye, turn ye; why will ve die? 
 
 Hear, all ye cold, and outside professors, all that 
 are strangers to the life of Christ, and never knew 
 the power of his resurrection, never felt your hearts 
 warmed with his love,—Turn ye ; why will ye die? 
 
 Hear, all that are void of the love of God, whose 
 hearts are not towards him, nor taken up with the 
 hopes of glory, but set more on earthly prosperity and 
 delights than on the joys of heaven; all you that are 
 religious but by-the-by, and give God no more than 
 the flesh can spare; that have not denied yourselves, 
 and forsaken all that you have for Christ; but have 
 some one thing in the world so dear to you, that you 
 cannot spare it for him, but will rather venture on his 
 displeasure than forsake it,—Turn ye, turn ye; why 
 will ye die? - 
 
 ‘If you never heard it, or observed it before, remem- 
 ber that you were told from the word of God this day, 
 that if you will but turn you may live; and if you 
 will not turn, you shall surely die. 
 
 What now will you do? What is your resolution ? 
 Will you turn, or will you not? Halt no longer be- 
 tween two opinions: If the Lord be God, follow him: 
 if your flesh be God, then serve it still. If heaven be 
 better than earth, come away and seek a better coun- ~ 
 try, and lay up your treasure where rust and moth do 
 not.corrupt, or-thieves break through and steal; and, 
 with all your might, seek the kingdom that cannot be 
 ‘moved: employ your lives on a higher design, and 
 turn the stream of your cares and labours another 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 359 
 
 way than formerly you have done. But if earth be 
 better than heaven, then keep it, and make your best 
 of it, and follow it still. Are you resolved what to do? 
 If you be not, I will set a few more considerations 
 before you. 
 
 Consider, first, what preparations mercy has made 
 for your salvation ; and what pity it is that any man 
 should be damned after all this! God has made to 
 thee a free act of oblivion, and a free deed of gift of 
 Christ and life, and offers it to thee, and entreats thee 
 to accept it; and it may be thine if thou wilt. For 
 he was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, 
 and hath committed unto us the word of reconcilia- 
 tion. Sinners, we are commanded to deliver this mes- 
 sage to you all, as from the Lord, Come, for all things 
 are now ready.(s) Are all things ready, and are you 
 unready? God is ready to pardon all that you have 
 done against him, if you will but come. As long as 
 you have sinned, as wilfully as you have sinned, as 
 heinously as you have sinned, he is ready to cast all 
 behind his back, if you will but come. Though you 
 have -been prodigals, and run away from God, and - 
 have staid so long, he is ready to meet you, and em- 
 brace you in his arms, if you will but turn.. Even 
 the swinish drunkards may find God ready to bid 
 them welcome, if they will but come. Does not this 
 turn thy heart within thee? O sinner, if thou have 
 a heart of flesh, and not of stone, methinks this 
 should melt it. Shall the dreadful infinite: Majesty of 
 heaven wait for thy returning, and be ready to receive 
 thee, who hast abused him, and forgotten him so 
 long? Shall he delight in thy conversion, who might 
 at any time glorify his justice in thy damnation: and 
 yet does it not melt thy heart within thee, and art 
 thou not yet ready to come in? Hast thou not as 
 much reason to be ready to come, as God has to invite 
 thee and bid thee welcome ? 
 
 Christ has done his part upon the cross, and made 
 such way for thee to the Father, that on his account 
 
 (s) Luke xiv. 17. 
 
560 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 thou mayest be welcome if thou wilt come. And yet. 
 art thou not ready ? MAPS HY 
 
 A pardon is already expressly granted, and offered 
 thee in the gospel. And yet art thou not ready ? 
 
 The ministers of the gospel are ready to assist thee, 
 to instruct thee, and pronounce peace to thy soul; they 
 are ready to pray for thee, and to seal thy pardon by 
 the administration of the holy sacrament. And yet art 
 thou not ready ? . 
 
 Yea, heaven itself is ready: the Lord will receive 
 thee into the glory of the saints, as vile a beast as thou 
 hast been, if thou wilt be but cleansed: thou mayest 
 have a place before his throne, his angels will be ready 
 to guard thy soul to the place of joy, if thou do but 
 unfeignedly come in. And is God ready, the sacri- 
 fice of Christ ready, and pardon ready? Are minis- 
 ters ready, and heaven itself ready, and angels ready, 
 _and all these waiting for thy conversion ;, and yet art 
 thou not ready? What! not ready to live, when thou 
 hast been dead so long? Not ‘ready to come to thy 
 right understanding, when thou hast been beside thy- 
 self so long? Art thou not-ready to lay hold on 
 Christ, who would deliver thee, when thou art even 
 ready to drown, and sink into damnation? Art thou 
 not ready to be saved from hell, when thou art ready 
 to be cast into it? Alas, man! dost thou not know 
 what thou dost? If thou die unconverted, there is 
 no doubt to be made of thy damnation; and thou art 
 not sure to live an hour: and yet art thou not ready 
 to turn, and to come in? O miserable wretch! hast 
 thou not served the flesh and the devil long enough ? 
 Hast thou not yet enough of sin? Is it so good to 
 thee, or so profitable for thee? Dost thou know 
 what it is, that thou wouldest yet have more of it? 
 Hast thou had so many calls, and so many mercies, 
 and so many blows, and so many examples; hast 
 thou seen so many laid in the grave; and yet art thou 
 not ready to let go thy sins,and come to Christ? 
 What! after so many convictions and gripes of con- 
 seience, after so many purposes and promises, art — 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 361 
 
 thou not yet ready to turn and live? O that thy eyes, 
 thy heart, were opened to know how fair an offer isnow 
 made to thee! and what a joyful message it is that we 
 are sent on, to bid thee come, for-all things are ready! 
 
 2. Consider also what calls thou hast to turn and 
 live. How many, how loud, how earnest, how dread- 
 ful, and yet what encouraging joyful calls! 
 
 For the principal inviter, it is God himself. He that 
 commands heaven and earth, commands thee to turn, 
 and now without delay to turn: he commands the sun 
 to run its course, and to rise upon thee every morn- 
 ing; and though it so glorious a creature, yet it 
 obeys him, and fails not one minute of its appointed 
 time. He commands all the planets and orbs of hea- 
 ven, and they obey: he commands the sea to ebb and 
 flow, and the whole creation to keep its course, and all 
 obey him: the angels of heaven obey his will, when he 
 sends them to minister to such silly worms as we on 
 earth. And yet if he commands but a sinner to turn, 
 he will not obey him: he only thinks himself wiser 
 than God, and he cavils and will not obey. 
 
 If thou hadst any love in thee, thou wouldst know 
 the voice, and say, O this is my Father's call! how can 
 I find in my heart to disobey ? If thou hadst any sense 
 in thee, at least thou wouldst say, This call is the 
 dreadful voice of God, and who dare disobey? God 
 is not a man, that thou shouldst trifle and play with 
 him: wilt thou yet go on and despise his word, and 
 resist his Spirit, and stop thine ear against his call? 
 Who is it that will have the worst of this? Dost thou 
 know whom thou disobeyest .and contendest with ; 
 and what art thou doing? It were a far wiser and 
 easier task for thee to contend with the thorns, and 
 spurn them with thy bare feet, and beat them with thy 
 bare hands, or put thy head into the burning fire. Be 
 not deceived, God will not be mocked. Whoever else 
 be mocked, God will not: you had better play with 
 the fire in your thatch, than with the fire of his burn- 
 ing wrath; for our God is a consuming fire.(t) O how 
 
 (t) Heb. xii. 29. 
 12. wz 
 
362 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 unmeet a match art thou forGod! Jtzs a fearful thing 
 to fall into his hands ;(v) and therefore it is a fearfal 
 thing to contend with him, or to resist him. As you 
 love your own souls, take heed what you do. What 
 will you say, if he begin in wrath to plead with you? 
 What will you do, if he take you once in hand? Will 
 you then strive against his judgment, as now ye do 
 against his grace? ‘“‘ Who would set the briars and 
 thorns against me in battle? I would go through 
 them, I would burn them together. Or let him take 
 hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me, 
 and he shall make peace with me.” It is an unequal 
 combat for the briars and stubble to make war with 
 the fire. 
 
 You see who it is that calls you. Consider also 
 by what instruments, and how often and how earnest- 
 _ ly_he does it. / 
 
 1, Every leaf of the blessed book of God has. as it 
 were a voice, and calls out, Turn and live: turn, or 
 thou wilt die. How canst thou open it, or read a leaf, 
 or hear a chapter, and not perceive God bids thee turn ? 
 
 2. The voice of many a motion of the Spirit secret- 
 ly urges thee to turn. 
 
 3. The voice of conscience. Art thou not some- 
 times convinced that all is not well with thee? and 
 does not thy conscience tell thee, that thou must be a 
 new man, and take a new course? 
 
 4, The voice of all the works of God. For they 
 also are God’s books, that teach thee this lesson, by 
 showing thee this greatness, and wisdom, and good- 
 ness, and calling thee to observe them, and admire. 
 the Creator. The heavens declare the glory of God, 
 and the firmament showeth his handy-work. Day unto 
 day utiereth speech, and night unto nght showeth know- 
 ledge.(w) Every time the sun rises upon thee, it calls 
 thee to turn; as if it should say, What do I travel 
 and compass the world for, but to declare to men 
 the glory of their Maker, and to light them to do his 
 work? And do I still find thee doing the work of sin, 
 
 (v) Heb. x. 31. (w) Psal. xix. 1, 2. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. - 363 
 
 and sleeping out thy life in negligence? Awake, thou 
 that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ 
 shall give thee light. 
 
 5. The voice of every mercy thou dost possess. If 
 thou couldst but hear and understand them, they all 
 ery unto thee, Turn. Why does the earth bear thee, 
 but to seek and serve the Lord?) Why does it afford 
 thee its fruit, but to serve him? Why does the air 
 afford thee breath, but to serve him? Why do all 
 the creatures serve thee with their labours and their 
 lives;, but that thou mightest serve the Lord of them 
 and thee? Why does he give thee time, and health, 
 and strength, but to serve him? Why hast thou meat, 
 and drink, and clothes, but for his service? Hast thou 
 any thing which thou hast not receivéd? And if thou 
 didst receive them, it is reason thou shouldst bethink 
 thee, from whom, and to what end, and use, thou 
 didst receive them. Didst thou never cry to him for 
 help in thy distress? And didst thou not then under- 
 stand that it was thy part to turn and serve him, if He 
 -would deliver thee ? He has done his part, and spared 
 thee yet longer, and tried thee another and another 
 year; and yet dost thou not turn. How many years 
 has God looked for the fruits of love and holiness 
 from thee, and has found none ?—and yet he has spar- 
 ed thee. How many atime by thy wilful ignorance, 
 and carelessness, and disobedience, hast thou pro- 
 voked justice to say, Cut-him down, why cumbereth 
 -he the ground? And yet mercy has prevailed, and 
 patience has forborn the killing, damning blow, to this 
 day. If thou hadst the understanding of a man within’ 
 thee, thou wouldst know that all this calls thee to turn. 
 
 6. Moreover the voice of every affliction calls thee 
 to make hast and turn. Sickness and pain cry Turn: 
 and poverty, and loss of friends, and every chastising 
 rod, cry Turn; and yet wilt thou not hearken to the 
 call? : 
 
 7. Yea, thine own engagements by promise to the 
 Lord, call upon thee to turn and serve him. Thou 
 hast bound thyself to him by a baptismal covenant 
 
364 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 and renounced the world, the flesh, and the devil: 
 ’ this thou hast confirmed by the profession of Christia- 
 
 nity, and renewed it at sacraments, and in times of — 
 
 affliction: and wilt thou promise and vow, and never 
 perform and turn to God? 
 
 Lay all these together now. The holy scripture 
 calls upon thee to turn: the Spirit criesTurn : thy con- 
 science cries Turn: the whole world, and all the crea- 
 tures therein, cry Turn: the patient forbearing of God 
 cries Turn: all the mercies thou receivest ery Turn: 
 the rod of God’s chastisements cries Turn: and so do 
 all thy promises to God; and yet art thou not resolved 
 to turn? 
 
 8. Moreover, poor hard-hearted sinner, didst thou 
 ever consider upon what terms thou standest all this 
 while with him who calls on thee to turn? Thou art 
 his own, and owest him thyself, and all thou hast ; 
 and may he not command his own? Thou art his ab- 
 solute servant, and shouldst serve no other master. 
 Thou standest at his mercy, and thy life is in his 
 hand, and he is resolved to save thee upon no other 
 terms: thou hast many malicious spiritual enemies, 
 who would be glad if God would but forsake thee, 
 and let them alone with thee, and leave thee to their 
 will: how quickly would they deal with thee in ano- 
 ther manner! And thou canst not be delivered from, 
 them, but by turning unto God. Thou art fallen 
 under his wrath by thy sin already: and thou know- 
 est not how long his patience will yet wait. Perhaps 
 this is the last year; perhaps the last day: his sword 
 is even at thy heart, while the word is in thine ear; 
 and if thou turn not thou art a dead man. Where thy 
 eyes but open to see where thou standest, even upon 
 the brink of hell, and to see how many thousands are 
 there already, thou wouldst see that it is time to look 
 about thee. 
 
 O what glad tidings would it be to those that are 
 now in hell, if they had but such a message from God ! 
 what ajoyful word it would be to hear this, Turn and 
 live: yea, what a welcome word would it be to thy- 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 365 
 
 self,-if thou hadst felt that wrath of God but an hour! 
 or, if after a thousand, or ten thousand years’ tor- 
 ment, thou couldst but hear such a word from God as, © 
 Turn and live! And yet wilt thou now neglect it, 
 and suffer us to return without our errand ? 
 
 Behold, sinners, we are sent here as the messengers 
 of the Lord, to set before you life and death: what 
 say you? which of them will you choose? Christ 
 stands as it were by thee, with heaven in one hand, 
 and hell in the other, and offers thee thy choice: which 
 wilt thou choose? The voice of the Lord maketh 
 the rocks to tremble. But it is nothing to hear him 
 threaten thee, if thou wilt not turn. Dost thou not 
 understand and feel this voice, Turn ye, turn ye; why 
 will ye die? Why, it is the voice of love, of infinite 
 love, of thy best and kindest Friend: and yet canst 
 thou neglect it? It is the voice of pity and compas- 
 sion. ‘The Lord sees whither thou art going better 
 than thou dost, which makes him call after thee, Turn, 
 turn: he sees what will become of thee, if thou turn 
 not: he thinks with himself—Ah, this poor sinner 
 will cast himself into endless torments if he do not 
 turn; I must in justice deal with him according to 
 my righteous law. And therefore he calls after thee, 
 Turn, turn, O sinner! If you did but know the 
 thousandth part, as well as God does, of the danger 
 that is near you, and the misery you are running 
 into, we should have no more need to call after you 
 to turn. 
 
 Well, are you yet resolved, or are you not? Do 
 I need to say any more to you? What will you 
 do? Will you turn or not? Speak man in thy heart 
 to God: speak, lest he take thy silence for denial. 
 Speak quickly, lest he never make thee the like offer 
 more. Speak resolvedly, and not waveringly ; for he 
 will have no indifferents to be his followers. Say in 
 thy heart now, without any more delay, even before 
 thou stir hence, By the grace of God I am resolved 
 presently to turn. And because I know mine own in- 
 sufficiency, I am resolved to wait on God for his grace, 
 
366 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS  - 
 
 and to follow him in his ways, and forsake my former 
 companions, and give up myself to the guidance of the 
 Lord. , 
 
 =m ier 
 DOCTRINE VI. 
 
 The Lord condescends to reason the case with unconverted ~ 
 sinners, and to ask them why they will die? 
 
 A sTRANGE disputation it is, both as to the contro- 
 versy, and as to the disputants. 
 
 1. The controversy or question propounded, Why 
 wicked men will damn themselves? Or, Why they 
 will rather die than turn? Whether they have any 
 sufficient reason for so doing ? 
 
 2. The disputants are God and man: the most holy 
 God, and wicked unconverted sinners. 
 
 Is it nota strange thing, that any man should be 
 willing to die, and be damned? yea, that this should 
 be the case of the greatest part of the world? But you 
 will say, This cannot be; for nature desires the pre- 
 servation of itself. 
 
 I answer, 1. It is a certain truth, that no man can 
 will any evil as evil, but only as it has some appearance 
 of good. Misery, as such, is desired by none. 2. 
 But yet it is most true, that the cause why the wicked 
 die and are damned, is because they will die and be 
 damned. And this is true in several respects. 
 
 1. They will go the way which leads to hell, though 
 they are told by God and man whither it leads; and 
 though God has so often professed in his word, that if 
 they hold on in that way, they shall be condemned ; 
 and that they shall not be saved, unless they turn.— 
 They have the word, and the oath, of the living God 
 for it, that if they will not turn, they shall not enter 
 into his rest. And yet, wicked they are, and wicked 
 they will be, let God and man say what they will. So 
 that consequently these men are willing to be damn- 
 
‘ 
 
 TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 367 
 
 -ed, though not directly: they chuse the way to hell, 
 and love the certain cause of their torments; though 
 they do not will hell itself, and do not love the pain 
 which they must endure. 
 
 - Is not this the truth of your case? You would not 
 burn in hell, but you will cast yourselves into it. You 
 would not be tormented with devils for ever, but you 
 will do that which will certainly procure it. It is as if 
 you will say, I will drink this ratsbane; but I will 
 not die: I will cast myself. headlong from the top of a 
 steeple ; but yet I will not kill myself: I will thrust this 
 knife into my breast ; but I will not take away my life. 
 Just so it is with wicked men; they will be wicked, 
 and yet they would not be damned. But do you not 
 know that God has by his righteous law concluded that 
 you must repent or perish? He that will take poison, 
 may as well say plainly, I will kill myself, for it will 
 prove no better in the end; though perhaps he loved 
 it for the sweetness of the sugar that was mixt with 
 it, and would not be persuaded that it was poison: 
 but it is not his conceit and confidence that will save 
 his life. So if you will be drunkards, or fornicators, 
 or worldlings, or live after the flesh, you may as well 
 say plainly, we will be damned: for so you shall be 
 unless you turn.—Would you not rebuke the folly 
 of a thief or murderer, that would say, I will steal or 
 kill, but I will not be hanged; when he knows that if 
 he do the one, the judge will see that the other be 
 done r. If he say, I will steai and murder, he may as 
 well say plainly, I will be hanged ; and if you will go 
 on in a carnal life, you may as well say plainly, we 
 will go to hell. 
 
 2: Moreover, the wicked will not use those means, 
 without which there is no hope of their salvation. He 
 
 _that will not eat, may as well say plainly, he will not. 
 _live; unless he can tell how to live without meat. He 
 that will not go his journey, may as well say plainly, 
 he will not come to the end of it. He that falls inte 
 
 _ the water, and will not come out, or suffer another to 
 help him out, may as well say plainly, he will be 
 drowned. ‘So if you be ungodly, and will not be con- 
 
368 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 verted, or use the means by which you should be con- 
 verted, you may as well say plainly, you will be damn- 
 ed. For if you have found out a way to be saved 
 without conversion, you have done that which was 
 never done before. 
 
 So that you may see on what ground it is that God 
 supposes that the wicked will their own destruction : 
 they will not turn, though they must turn or die; they 
 will rather venture on certain misery, than be convert- 
 ed; and then, to quiet themselves in their sins, they - 
 make themselves believe that they shall nevertheless 
 escape. 
 
 3. And as this controversy is matter of wonder, so 
 are the disputants too ;—that God should stoop so low 
 as thus to plead the case with man! and that men 
 ‘should be so strangely blind, and obstinate, as to need 
 all this in so plain a case, yea, and to resist all this, 
 when their own salvation lies upon the issue! 
 
 No wonder if they will not hear us who are men, 
 when they will not hear the Lord himself: as God 
 says, when he sent the prophet tothe Israelites, Zhe 
 house of Israel will not hearken unto thee ; ‘for they 
 will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel 
 are impudent and hard-hearted.(x) But, woe unto him 
 (saith the Lord) that striveth with his Maker! Let 
 the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. - 
 Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, What 
 makest thou? (y) 
 
 =i N= 
 USE. 
 
 Wuat sayest thou, unconverted wretch? Dar- 
 est thou venture upon a dispute with God? Art 
 thou able to confute him? Art thou ready to enter 
 the lists? God asks thee, Why wilt thou die? 
 ‘Art thou furnished with a sufficient answer? - Wilt 
 thou undertake to prove that God is mistaken? O 
 what an undertaking is that! Why, either he or you 
 
 (x) Exek. iii. 7, (y) Isa. xlv. 9. 
 
 \ 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 869 
 
 is mistaken, when he is for your conversion, and you 
 are against it; he calls upon you to turn, and you will 
 not ; he bids you do it presently, even to-day while it 
 is called to-day, and you delay, and think it time 
 enough hereafter. He says it must be a total change, 
 and you must be holy and new creatures; and you 
 think it is enough to patch up the old man, without be- 
 ‘coming new. Who is in the right now? God or you? 
 God calls on you to turn, and to live a holy life, and 
 you will not: by your disobedient lives, it appears you 
 will not. If you will, why do you not? Why have 
 you not done it all this while? And why do you not 
 fall upon it yet? Your wills have the command of 
 your lives. We may certainly conclude that you are 
 unwilling to turn, when you do not turn. And why 
 will you not? Can you give any reason for it, that is 
 worthy to be called a reason. 
 
 It can be no good reason which is against the God 
 of truth. That cannot be light which is contrary to 
 the sun. There is no knowledge in any creature, but 
 what it had from God; and therefore none can be 
 wiser than God. It were damnable presumption for 
 the highest angel to compare with his Creator: what 
 is it then for a lump of dirt, an ignorant sot, that knows 
 not himself, nor his own soul, that knows but little 
 of the things which he sees, to set himself against 
 the wisdom of the Lord? It is one of the fullest dis- 
 coveries of the horrible wickedness, and the stark 
 madness of sinners, that so silly a mole dare contra- 
 dict his Maker, and call in question the word of God. 
 
 And as I know that God must needs be in the right, 
 so I know the case is so palpable which he pleads 
 against, that no man can have reason for it. Is it 
 possible that a man can have any reason to break his 
 master’s laws? reason to dishonour the Lord of glory? 
 reason to abuse the Lord that bought him? Is it 
 possible that a man can have any good reason to damn 
 his own immortal soul? Mark the Lord’s question; 
 Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die? Is eternal death 
 athing to be desired?’ Are you in love: -with hell? 
 
 12 3 A 
 
870 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 What reason have you wilfully to perish? If you 
 think you have some reason to sin, should you not 
 remember, that death is the wages of sin? And think 
 whether you have any reason to undo yourselves, 
 body and soul, for ever. You should not only ask 
 whether you love the adder, but whether you love 
 the sting? It is such a thing for a man to cast away 
 his everlasting happiness, that no good: reason can 
 be given for it; but the more any one pleads for it, 
 the madder he shows himself to be. Had you a lord- 
 ship, or a kingdom, offered you for every sin that you 
 commit, it were not reason, but madness, to accept it. 
 Could you by every sin obtain the highest thing on 
 earth that flesh desires, it were of no considerable 
 value to persuade you to commit it. If it were to 
 please your greatest or dearest friends, or to obey 
 the greatest prince on earth, or to save your lives, 
 or to escape the greatest earthly misery; all these are 
 of no consideration, to. draw a man'to the committing 
 of one sin. If it were a right hand, ora right eye, 
 that would hinder your salvation, it is the gainfullest 
 way to cut it off, or pluck it out. ‘For there is no 
 saving a part where you lose the whole. So exceed- 
 ing great are the matters of eternity, that nothing in 
 this world deserves to be named in comparison with 
 them; nor can any earthly thing, though it were life, 
 or crowns, or kingdoms, be a reasonable excuse for 
 the neglect of matters of everlasting consequence. 
 Heaven is such a thing, that if you lose it, nothing can 
 supply.the want, or make up your loss; and hell is 
 such a thing, that if you suffer it, nothing can remove 
 your misery, or give you ease and comfort. And 
 therefore nothing can be a valuable consideration to 
 excuse you for neglecting your own salvation: What 
 shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose 
 his own soul ? 
 O that you did but know what matters they are 
 which we are now speaking of! There is never a soul 
 in hell but knows, by this time, that it was a mad 
 exchange to let go heaven for fleshly pleasure; and 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 371 
 
 that it is not a little mirth, or pleasure, or worldly 
 riches, or honour, that will make hima saver that 
 loses his soul. : 
 
 If you see a man put his hand into the fire till it 
 burn off, you will marvel at it: but this is a thing 
 which a man may have reason for; as Bishop Cranmer 
 had, when he burnt off his hand for subscribing to 
 popery. If you see a man cut off a leg, or an arm, 
 it isa sad sight: but this is athing that a man may 
 have good reason for; as many a man does, to save 
 his life. If you see a man give his body to be burnt 
 to ashes, and refuse deliverance when it is offered; 
 this is a hard case to flesh and blood: but this a man 
 may have gdod reason for; as many hundred martyrs 
 have done. But for a man to run into the fire of 
 hell; this is a thing which can have no reason im the 
 world to justify it. For heaven will pay for the loss 
 of any thing we can lose to get it, or for any labour 
 which we bestow for it. But nothing can pay for the 
 loss of heaven. 
 
 I beseech you now, let his word come nearer to 
 your hearts. As you are convinced that you have no 
 reason to destroy yourselves, tell me what reason have 
 you torefuse to turn, and live to God? What reason 
 has the most ignorant careless sinner of you all, why 
 he should not be as careful of his soul as any other? 
 Will not hell be as hot to you as to others? Should 
 not your own souls be as dear to you, as theirs to 
 them? Has not God as much authority over you? 
 Why then will you not become:a sanctified people, as 
 well as they ? 
 
 And now either you have reason for what you do, 
 or you have not. Ifnot, will you go on against reason 
 itself? But if you think you have, reason the case a 
 little with me, your fellow creature, which is- far easier 
 than to reason the case with God. Tell me, man, 
 here before the Lord, as if thou wert to die this hour, 
 why shouldst thou not resolve to turn this day, before 
 thou stir from the place thou standestin? What rea- 
 son hast thou to deny, or to delay? Hast thou any 
 
3872 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 reason that satisfies thine own conscience for it? Or 
 any that thou darest plead at the bar of God? If thou 
 hast, let us hear them, bring them forth. But, alas! 
 what nonsense, instead of reasons, do we daily hear 
 from ungodly men! 
 
 1. One says, If none shall be saved but such sane- 
 tified ones as you talk of, heaven wili be but empty : 
 God help a great many. 
 
 -What! It seems you think that God does not know, 
 or else that he is not to be believed! Measure not all 
 by yourselves: God has thousands and millions of his 
 sanctified ones; but yet they are few in comparison of 
 the world. It better becomes you to make that use of 
 this truth which Christ teaches you: Strive to enter in ~ 
 at the strait gate: for strait is the gate, and narrow is 
 the way, that leadeth unto life, and few there be that 
 find it; but wide is the gate, and broad is the way, 
 that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that 
 go in thereat. 
 
 Object. 2. I am sure if such as I go to hell, we 
 shall have store of company. 
 
 Ans. And will that be any ease orecomfort to you ? 
 or do you think you may not have company enough 
 in heaven? Will you be undone for company? Or 
 will you not believe that God will execute his threat- 
 enings, because there are so many that are guilty ? 
 
 Object. 3. But Iam no whoremonger, nor drunk- 
 ard, nor oppressor; and therefore why should you call 
 upon me to be converted ? 
 
 Ans. As if you were not bornafter the flesh, and 
 not lived after the flesh, as well as others! Is it 
 not as great a sin as any of these, for a man to have an ~ 
 earthly mind, and to love the world above God, and 
 to have an unbelieving, unhumbled heart? Nay, let 
 me tell you more, that many personas who avoid dis- 
 graceful sins, are as fast glued to the world, and as 
 much slaves to the flesh, and as great strangers to God, 
 and averse to heaven, as others are in “their more 
 shameful notorious sins. | 
 
 Object. 4. But I mean nobody any harm, nor 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 373 
 
 do any harm; and why then should: God condemn 
 me? ; 
 
 Ans. Is it no harm to neglect the Lord that 
 made thee, and the work for which thou camest in- 
 to the world, and to prefer the creature before the 
 Creator, and to neglect grace, which is daily offered 
 thee? It is the depth of thy sinfulness to be so insen- 
 sible of it: the dead feel not that they are dead. If 
 once thou wert alive, thou wouldst see enough amiss 
 in thyself, and marvel at thyself for making so light 
 of it. 
 
 Object. 5. I think you would make men mad, un- 
 der pretence of converting them. 
 
 Ans. 1. Can you be madder than you are already ? 
 or, at least, can there be a more dangerous madness, 
 than to neglect your everlasting welfare, and wilfully 
 undo yourselves ? 
 
 A man is never well in his wits till he be convert- 
 ed; he never knows God, nor knows sin, nor knows 
 Christ, nor knows the world, nor himself, nor what his 
 business is on earth, so as to set himself about it. Is it 
 a wise world, when men will run into hell for fear of 
 being out of their wits? | 
 
 2. What is there in the work which Christ calls you 
 to, that should drive a man out of his senses? Is it 
 the loving God, and calling upon him, and thinking 
 of glory to come, and the forsaking our sins, and 
 loving one another, and delighting ourselves in the 
 service of God? Are these such things as make men 
 mad? 
 
 3. And whereas you say that these matters are too 
 high for us; are the matters which we are made for, 
 and which we live for, too high for us to meddle with? 
 This is plainly to unman us, and to make beasts of 
 us, as if we were like them that must meddle with no 
 higher matters than what belong to flesh and earth. If 
 heaven be too high for you to think on, it will be too 
 high for you ever to possess. 
 
 4. lf God should sometimes suffer any weak-head- 
 ed persons to be distracted by thinking of eternal 
 
¢ 
 
 374 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 things ; this is because they misunderstand them, and 
 run without a guide. But of‘the two, I had rather be 
 in the case of such a one, than in that of the mad un- 
 converted world, who take their distraction to be theit 
 wisdom. 
 
 Object. 6. [do not see that it goes any better with 
 those that are so godly, than with other men. ‘They 
 are as poor, and in as much trouble, as others. 
 
 Ans. And perhaps in much more, when God sees 
 ‘it meet. They take not earthly prosperity for their 
 wages. They have laid up their treasures in another 
 world, or else they are not Christians. ~The less they 
 have, the more is behind; and they are content to. 
 wait till then. 
 
 Object. 7. When you have said all that you can, [ 
 am resolved to hope well, and trust in God, and do 
 as well as I can, and not make so much ado. 
 
 Ans. 1. Is that doing as well as you can, when you 
 will not turn to God, but your heart is against his holy 
 service? ft is as well as you will, indeed : but that is 
 your misery. 
 
 2. My desire is that you should hope in God: but 
 for what is it that you will hope? Is it to be saved, if 
 you turn and be sanctified? For this you have God's 
 ' promise ; and therefore hope for it, and spare not.— 
 But if you hope to be saved without conversion ; this 
 is not to hope in God, but in Satan. For God has given 
 you no such promise, but told you the ‘contrary: but 
 it is Satan that made you such promises, and raised 
 you to such hopes. 
 
 What say you, Unconverted Sinners? Have you 
 any good reason to give, why you should not turn, 
 and presently turn, with all your hearts? Or will you 
 go to hell in spite of reason itself? Consider what 
 you do in time, for it will shortly be too late to con- 
 sider. Can you find any fault with God, or his work, 
 or wages? Is he a bad master? Is the devil, we hotii 
 you serve, a better? Is there any harm in a holy life? 
 Ts a life of ungodliness better? Do you think in your 
 ‘conscience that it would do you any harm to be con- 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 375 
 
 verted, and live a holy life? What harm can it do you? 
 Ts it harm to you to have the Spirit of Christ within 
 your and to have a purified heart? Is it evil to be | 
 hke God?. Is it not said that God made man in his 
 image? Why, this holiness is his image: this Adam 
 lost, and this Christ by his word and Spirit would re- 
 store to you, as he does to all that will be saved. Tell 
 me truly, as before the Lord; though you are loth to 
 live a holy life, had you not rather die in the case -of 
 those that do so, than of others? If you were to die 
 this day, had you not rather die in the case of a con- 
 verted man, than of the unconverted? of a holy and 
 heavenly man, than of a carnal earthly man? And 
 would you not say as Balaam, Let me die the death of 
 the righteous, and let my last end be like his'(z) And 
 why will you not now be of the mind which you will 
 be of then? First or last, you must come to this ; either 
 to be converted, or to wish you had been, when it is 
 too late. 
 
 But what is that you are afraid of losing, if you 
 turn? Is it your friends? You will but change them : 
 God will be your friend, and Christ and the Spirit 
 will be your friend, and every Christian will be your 
 friend. You will get one Friend that will stand you 
 in more stead than all the friends in the world could 
 have done. The friends you lose would but have en- 
 ticed you to hell, but could not have delivered you: 
 but the Friend you get will save you from hell, and 
 bring you to eternal rest. 
 
 Is it your pleasures that you are afraid of losing? 
 You think you shall never have a merry day again, if 
 once you be converted. Alas, that you should think 
 it a g eater pleasure to live in foolish sports, and merri- 
 ments, than live in the love of God, and in righteous- 
 ness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. If it be 
 a greater pleasure to you to think of your lands and 
 inheritance, (if you were lord of all the country,) than 
 it is to a child to play for pins; why shouldit not be a 
 greater joy for you to think of the kingdom of heaven 
 
 (z) Numb. xxii. 10. 
 
“7 
 
 376 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 being yours, than of all the riches or pleasures of the 
 world? I have had myself but a little taste of the hea- 
 venly pleasures in the fore-thoughts of the blessed day, 
 and in the present persuasion of the love of God in 
 Christ ; but I have taken too deep a draught of earth- 
 ly pleasures: and yet I must profess, from that little ex- 
 perience, that there is no comparison: there is more 
 joy to be had inaday (ifthe Sun of life shine clear 
 upon us) in the state of holiness, than in a whole life 
 of sinful pleasures. It is but your unsanctified nature, 
 that makes a holy life seems grievous to you. If you 
 . will but turn, the Holy Ghost will give you another 
 nature, and then it would be more pleasant to you to 
 be rid of your sin, than now it is to keep it: and you 
 wil] then say, that you knew not what a comfortable 
 life was till now, and that it was never well with you 
 till God and holiness were your delight. 
 
 ~<a-@-s— 
 DOCTRINE VII. 
 
 Tf, after all this, men will not turn, it is not the fault 
 of God that they are condemned, but of themselves, 
 even their own wilfuiness. They die because they will 
 die; thatis, because they will not turn. 
 
 Ir you will goto hell, what remedy! God here 
 acquits himself of your blood: it shall not le on 
 him, if you be lost. A negligent minister may draw 
 it upon himself; and those that encourage you, or 
 hinder you not in sin, may draw it upon themselves: 
 but be sure of it, it shall not lie upon God. The Lord 
 says concerning his unprofitable vineyard, Judge, I 
 pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have 
 been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in 
 
 it (a) What could he have done more? He has made - 
 
 you men, and endued you with reason: he has fur- 
 nished you with all external necessaries, all creatures 
 
 (a) Isa. v. 3, 4. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 377 © 
 
 are at your service; he has given you a righteous, . 
 perfect Jaw. When you had broken it, and undone ~ 
 yourselves, he had pity on you, and sent his Son, by 
 a miracle of condescending mercy, to die for you and 
 be a sacrifice for your sins, and he was in Christ recon- 
 ciling the world unto himself. The Lord Jesus has 
 made you a deed of gift of himself, and eternal life 
 with him, on the condition you will but accept it and 
 return. He has on this reasonable condition offered 
 you the free pardon of all your sins; he has written 
 this in his word, and sealed it by his Spirit, and sent 
 it you by his ministers: they have made the offer to 
 youa hundred, and a hundred times, and called you 
 to accept it, and turn to God. They have in his 
 name entreated you, and reasoned the case with you, 
 and answered all your frivolous objections. He has 
 long waited on you, and staid your leisure, and suffer- 
 ed you to abuse him to his face. He has mercifully 
 sustained you in the midst of your sins: he has com- 
 passed you about with all sorts of mercies; he has 
 also intermixed afflictions to remind you of your folly, 
 and call you to your senses: and his Spirit has been 
 often striving with your hearts, and saying, ‘‘ Turn, 
 sinner, turn to him that calls thee? Whither art thou 
 going? What art thou doing? Dost thou know 
 what will be the end? How long wilt thou hate thy © 
 friends, and love thine enemies? When wilt thou let 
 go all, and turn, and deliver up thyself to God, and 
 give thy Redeemer the possession of thy soul?’ When 
 shallit once be?” These pleadings have been used 
 with thee. And when thou hast delayed, thou hast 
 been urged to make haste and God has called to thee, 
 To-day, while it is called to-day, harden not your 
 heart: Why not now, without any more delay? Life 
 has been set before you, the joys of heaven have 
 been opened to you in the gospel ; the certainty of 
 them has been manifested ; the certainty of the ever- 
 lasting torments of the damned has been declared -to 
 you. Unless you would have hada sight of heaven 
 and hell, what could you have desired more? Christ 
 ~ 18. be 
 
378. DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 has been, as it were, set forth crucified before your 
 eyes. you have been a hundred times told, that you 
 are but lost men till you come to him: as often you 
 have been told of the evil of sin, of the vanity of sin 
 the world, and all the pleasures and wealth it can af- 
 ford; of the shortness and uncertainty of you lives, 
 and the endless duration of the joy or torment of the 
 life to come. All this, and more than this, have you 
 been told, and told again ; and though all this has not 
 converted you, yet you are alive, and might have mercy, 
 this day, if you had but hearts to entertain it. And 
 now let reason itself be judge—whether it be the 
 fault of God or you, if after all this you will be uncon- 
 verted and be damned? If you die now, it is because 
 you will die. What could be said more to you? or 
 what course can be taken that is likelier to prevail ? 
 Are you able'to say, and make it good, We would 
 fain have been converted,.and become now creatures, 
 but we could not; we would fain have forsaken our 
 sins, but we could not; we would have changed our 
 company, and our thoughts, and our discourse, but 
 we could not.? Why could you not, if you would ? 
 What hindered you, but the wickedness of your 
 hearts? Whoforced you to sinf or who held you 
 back from duty? Did God put in any exceptions 
 against youin his word, when he invited sinners to 
 return; and when he promised mercy to those who do 
 return? Did he say, I will pardon all that repent, 
 except thee? Did he shut you out from the liberty 
 of his holy worship? Did he forbid you to pray to 
 him any more than others? You know he did not. 
 God did not drive you away from him, but you ran 
 away yourselves. And when he called you to him, 
 you would not come. If God had excepted you out 
 of the general promise and offer of mercy; or had 
 said to you, Stand off, I will have nothing to do with 
 such as you; pray not to me, for I will not hear you; 
 if you repent ever so much, I will not regard you ; 
 then you had had a fair excuse. You might have 
 said, To what end should I repent and turn, when 
 it will do no good? But this was not your case. You 
 
 4 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 379 
 
 might have had Christ to be your Lord and Saviour, 
 your Head and Husband, as well as others, and you 
 would not, because you felt not yourself sick enough 
 for the physician; because you could not spare your 
 disease. In your hearts you said as those rebels, We 
 will not have this man to reign over us.(b) Christ would 
 have gathered you under the wings of his salvation, 
 and you would not. What desires of your welfare 
 did the Lord express in his holy word! With what 
 compassion did he stand over you, and say, O that my 
 people had hearkened unto me, and that they had 
 walked in my ways! O that there were such a heart 
 in this people, that they would fear me, and keep all 
 my commandments always, that it might be well with 
 them, and with their children for ever! O that they 
 were wise, that they understood this! and that they 
 . would consider their latter end! He would have been 
 your God, and done all for you that your souls could 
 “desire: but you loved the world and your flesh above 
 ~him, and therefore you would not hearken to him: 
 though you complimented with him, and gave him 
 high titles, yet when it came to the closing you would. 
 have none of him. No marvel then if he gave you up 
 to your own hearts’ lusts, and you walked in your 
 owncounsels. He condescends to reason, and pleads 
 the case with you, and asks you, ‘“‘ What is there in. 
 me, or my service, that you should be so much against 
 me? Whatharm have I done thee, sinner? Have I 
 deserved this unkind dealing at thy hand? Many 
 mercies have I showed thee: for which of them dost 
 thou thus despise me? Is it I, or is it Satan, that is 
 thy enemy? IsitI, or isit thyself, that would undo 
 thee? Isita holy life, or a life of sin, which thow 
 hast cause to fly from? If thou be undone, thou pro- 
 -curest this to thyself, by forsaking me, the Lord, that 
 would have saved thee.” Do ye thus requite the Lord,. 
 O foolish people, and unwise? Is. not he thy father, 
 that hath bought thee? Hath he not made thee, and 
 established thee? (c) When he saw that you. forsook 
 
 (A) Luke xix..14. (c) Deut..xxxil. 6.. 
 
380 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 him, even for nothing, and turned away from the Lord, 
 to hunt after the chaff and feathers of the world, he 
 told you your folly, and called you to a more profit- 
 able employment.— Wherefore do ye spend money for 
 that which is not bread, and your labour for that which 
 satisfeth not? Hearken diligently unto me,.and eat ye 
 that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in 
 fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and 
 ‘your soul shall live ; and I will make an everlasting co- 
 venant with you, even the sure mercies of David(d) And 
 when ye would not hear, what complaints have you 
 put him to, charging it on you as your wilfulness and 
 stubborness ? Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, 
 and be horribly afraid. For my people have com- 
 mitted two evils: they have forsaken me, the Foun- 
 tain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, 
 broken cisterns that can hold no water. Many a time, 
 has Christ proclaimed that free invitation to you— 
 Let him that is athirst come; and whesoever will, let 
 him take of the water of life freely.(e) But you oblige 
 him to complain, after all his offers. They wall not 
 come to me, that they may have life. f ) He has invited 
 you to a feast with him in the kingdom of his grace: 
 and you have had excuses, from your grounds, and your 
 cattle, and your worldly business ; and when you would 
 not come, you said you could not; and provoked him 
 to resolve, that you should never taste of his supper. 
 And whose fault is it now but your own? And what 
 can you say. is the chief cause of your damnation, but 
 your own wills? You would be damned. 
 
 <3-6-s 
 USE. 
 
 1. From hence you may see, not only what blas- 
 phemy and impiety it is, to lay the blame of men’s 
 destruction upon God; but also how unfit these 
 wicked wretches are to bring in such a charge against 
 their Maker. They cry out against God, and say, He 
 
 (d) Isa. lv. 2,3. (e) Rev. xxii..17. (f) John v. 40. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. S81 
 
 gives them not grace, and his threatenings are severe, 
 and God forbid that all should be damned that are 
 not converted : and they think it hard measure that a 
 short sin should have an endless suffering; and if they 
 be damned, they say they cannot help it: when, in the 
 mean time, they are busy about their own destruction, 
 even cutting the throat of their own souls, and will 
 not be persuaded to hold their hands. They think 
 God would be cruel if he should damn them : and yet 
 they are so cruel to themselves, that they will run into 
 the fire of hell, when God has told them it is a little 
 before them ; and neither entreaties nor threatenings, 
 nor any thing that can be said, will stop them. We 
 see them almost undone; their careless worldly lives 
 tell us that they are in the power of the devil; we . 
 know, if they die before they are converted, all the 
 world cannot save them ; and knowing the uncertain- 
 ty of their lives, we are afraid every day lest they drop 
 into the fire. And therefore we entreat them to pity 
 their own souls, and not to undo themselves when 
 mercy is at hand: and they will not hear us. We 
 entreat them to cast away their sin, and come to 
 Christ without delay, and to have some mercy on 
 themselves ; but they will have none. And yet they 
 think that God must be cruel, if he condemn them. 
 O wilful, wretched sinners! It is not God that is 
 cruel to you; it is you that are cruel to yourselves. 
 You are told, that you must turn or burn; and yet 
 you turn not. You are told, that if you will keep 
 your sins, you shall keep the-curse of God with them ; 
 and yet you will keep them. Youare told, that there 
 is no way to happiness, but by holiness; and yet you 
 will not be holy. What would you have God say 
 more to you? What would you have him do with his 
 mercy? He offers it you, and you will not have it. 
 You arein the ditch of sin and misery, and he would 
 give you his hand to help you out, and you refuse his. 
 help: he would cleanse you from your sins, and you 
 would rather keep them. Would you have him bring 
 - you to heaven whether you will or no? or would 
 you have him bring you and your sins to heaven 
 
382 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 together? Why, that is an impossibility ; you may as 
 well expect that he should turn the sun into dark- 
 ness. What! an unsanctified heart to be in heaven! 
 It cannot be: There nothing entereth that is unclean. 
 All the day long hath he stretched out his hand to a 
 disobedient and gainsaying people. What will you 
 do now? Will you cry to God for merey? Why, 
 God calls upon you to have mercy upon yourselves, 
 and you will not. Ministers see the poisoned cup in 
 the drunkard’s hands, and tell him, There is poison 
 in it, and desire him to have mercy on his soul, and - 
 forbear ; and he will not hear us: drink it he must 
 and will, he loves it: and therefore, though hell comes 
 next, he.says he cannot help it. What should one 
 say to such men as these? We tell the ungodly, “It 
 is not sucha life that will serve the turn, or ever bring 
 you to heaven. Ifa bear was at your back, you 
 would mend your pace; and when the curse of God 
 is at your back, and Satan and hell are at your back, 
 will you not stir, but ask, what needs all this ado? 
 Is an immortal soul of no more worth? O have mercy 
 upon yourselves!” But they will have no mercy 
 on themselves. We tell them, the end will be bitter. 
 ““ Who can dwell with everlasting firer” And yet 
 they will have no mercy upon themselves. And will 
 these shameless wretches say, that God is more mer- 
 ciful than to condemn them, when it is themselves 
 that cruelly run upon condemnation, and we cannot 
 stop them? If we fall down on our knees to them, 
 we cannot stop them: but to hell they will go, and 
 yet will not believe that they are going thither. If we 
 beg of them, for the sake of God that made them, and - 
 preserves them; for the sake of Christ who died for 
 them; for the sake of their own poor souls, to pity 
 themselves, and to go no further in the way to hell, 
 but come to Christ while his arms are open, and enter 
 into the state of life while the door stands open, and 
 now take mercy, while mercy may be had; they will 
 not be persuaded. And yet they say, I hope God 
 will be merciful. Did you. never consider what he 
 says, Jt is a people of no understanding: therefore he 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION 383 
 
 that made them will not have mercy on them ; and he 
 that formed them will show them no favour.(g) If ano- 
 ther man will not clothe you when you are naked, 
 and feed you when you are hungry, you will say he 
 is unmerciful. If he should cast you.into prison, or 
 beat and torment you, you would say he is unmerci- 
 ful. And yet you will do a thousand times more 
 against yourselves, and even cast away both soul and 
 body for ever, and never complain of your own un- 
 mercifulness. Yea, and God who waited upon you 
 all the while with his mercy, must be taken to be 
 unmerciful, if he punish you after all this. Unless 
 the holy God of heaven will give these wretches leave 
 to trample upon his Son’s blood, and do despite to 
 the Spirit of grace, and set more lightly by saving 
 mercy, than by the filth of their fleshly pleasures ; 
 and unless after all this he will save them by the 
 mercy which they cast away, God himself must be 
 called unmerciful. But he will be justified when he 
 judgeth: and he will not stand or fall at the bar of 
 a sinful worm. 
 
 2. From hence you may observe, 1. What a subtle 
 tempter Satan is. 2. What a deceitful thing sin is. 
 3. What a foolish creature corrupted man is.—A subtle 
 tempter indeed, that can persuade the greatest part of 
 the world to go wilfully into everlasting fire, when they 
 have so many warnings and dissuasive; A deceitful 
 thing is sin indeed, that can bewitch so many thou- 
 sands to part with everlasting life, for a thing so base 
 and utterly unworthy! A foolish creature is man, that 
 will be cheated of his salvation for nothing, yea, for a 
 known nothing; and that by an enemy, and a known 
 enemy! You would think it impossible that any man 
 - should be persuaded for a little to cast himself into the 
 fire, or water, to the destruction of his life: and yet 
 men will be enticed to ‘cast themselves into hell. If 
 your natural lives were in your own hands, so that you 
 should not die till you would kil! yourselves, how long 
 would most of you live! and yet when your everlast- 
 
 (g) Isa. xxvii. 11. 
 
384 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 ing life is so far in your hands under God, that 
 you cannot be undone till you undo yourselves, how 
 few of you will forbear your undoing! Ah, what a 
 silly thing is man! and what a bewitching and be- 
 fooling thing is sin ! " 
 
 Lastly, You may hence learn, that the greatest ene- 
 my to man, is himself; and the greatest judgment in 
 this life that can befal him, is to be left to himself; and 
 that the great work which Christ has to do, is to save 
 us from ourselves ; and the greatest complaints of men 
 should be against themselves; and that the greatest 
 work that we have to ourselves, is to resist ourselves ; 
 and the greatest enemy which we should daily pray, 
 and watch, and strive against, is our own hearts and 
 wills ; and the greatest part of your work, if you would 
 do good to others, and help them to heaven, is to save 
 them from themselves, even from their own blind un- 
 derstanding, and corrupt wills, and preverse affections, | 
 and violent passions, and unruly senses: I only name 
 all these for brevity’s sake, and leave them to your 
 further consideration. q 
 
 Well, now we have found out the great murderer 
 of souls, (even men’s selves, their own wills,) what re- 
 mains but that you confess this great iniquity before 
 the Lord, and be humbled for it, and do so no more? 
 To these three ends distinctly, I shall add a few words 
 more. 1. Further to convince you. 2. To humble 
 _you. And, 3. To reform you. 
 
 1. We know so much of the exceeding gracious na- 
 ture of God, who is willing to do good, and delights 
 to show mercy, that we have no reason to suspect him 
 of being the cause of our death, or to call him cruel. 
 He made all good, and he preserves and maintains all; 
 the eyes of all things wait upon him, and he gives them. 
 their meat in good season; he opens his hand, and 
 satisfies the desires of all the living. He is not only 
 righteous in all his ways (and therefore will deal justly,) 
 and holy in all his works (and therefore not the author 
 of sin,) but he is also good to all; and his tender mer- 
 cies are over all his works. ; 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 385 
 
 But as for man, we know his mind is dark, his will 
 is preverse, his affections carry him so headlong, that 
 he is fitted by his folly and corruption to such a work 
 as the destroying of himself. Let no man say when 
 heis tempted, that he is tempted of God; for God 
 cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any 
 man, (to draw him to sin,) but every man is tempted, 
 when he is drawn away of his own lust, and. enticed. 
 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin ; 
 and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. You 
 see here that sin is the brat of your own concupiscence, 
 and that death is the offspring of your own sin, and 
 the fruit which it will yield you as soon as it is ripe.— 
 - You havea treasure of evil in yourselves, as a spider 
 hath of poison, from whence you are bringing forth 
 hurt to. yourselves, and spinning such webs as en- 
 tangle your own souls. 
 
 2. It is evident that you are your own destroyers, 
 in that you are so ready to entertain any temptation 
 that is offered. Satanis scarce readier to move you 
 to any evil, than you are ready to doas he would 
 have you. If he would tempt your understanding 
 to’error and prejudice, you yield. If he would hin- 
 der you from good resolutions, it is soon done. If 
 he would kindle any vile affection or desire in you, 
 itis soon done. If he.would drive you on to evil 
 thoughts, or deeds, you are so free, that he needs no 
 spur. If he would keep you from holy thoughts, and 
 words, and ways, a little does it, you need no curb. 
 You examine not his suggestions, nor resist them 
 with any resolution, nor cast them out as he. casts 
 them in, nor quench the sparks which he endeavours 
 to kindle; but set in with him, and meet him half 
 way; and embrace his motions, and tempt him to 
 _ tempt you. 
 
 3. Your destruction is evidently owing to yourselves, 
 in that you. resist all who would help to save you. 
 God would help and save you by his word, and you 
 resist it; it is too strict for you. He would sanctify 
 you by his Spirit, but you spel and quench it. If 
 
 13. 3 
 
386 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 any man reprove you for your sin, you fly in his face ; 
 if he tell you of your danger, you give him little thanks, — 
 but either bid him look to himself, or, at best, put 
 him off with heartless thanks. ' 
 
 4. Moreover, it is apparent that you are self-de- 
 stroyers, in that you draw the matter of your sin and 
 destruction even from the blessed God himself. You 
 like not the contrivances of his wisdom: you like not 
 his justice, but take it for cruelty: you like not his 
 holiness, but are ready to think he is such a one as 
 yourselves,(Z) and makes as light of sin as you: you 
 like not his truth, but would have his threatenings, 
 even his peremptory threatenings, prove false. And 
 his goodness, which you seem most highly to approve, 
 you partly resist, asit would lead you to repentance ; 
 and partly abuse, to the strengthening of your sin, as 
 if you might the more freely sin, because God is 
 merciful. 
 
 5. Yea, you fetch destruction from the blessed Re- 
 deemer, and death from the Lord of life himself. No- 
 thing more emboldens you in sin, than that Christ has 
 died for you: as if now the danger of death were 
 over, and you might boldly venture; as if Christ 
 were become a servant to Satan, and must wait upon 
 you while you are abusing him. And because he is 
 become the Physician of souls, and is able to save to - 
 the uttermost all that come to God by him; you think 
 he must save you whether you will come to God by 
 him or no. So that a great part of your sins are occa- 
 sioned, by your bold presumption upon the death of 
 Christ. 
 
 6. He gives them to you as the tokens of his love, 
 and furniture for his service, and you turn them 
 against him to the pleasing of your flesh. You eat 
 and drink to please your appetite, and not for the 
 glory ofGod. Your clothes you abuse to pride. Your 
 riches draw your hearts from heaven. Your honours 
 and applause puff you up. If you have health and 
 strength, it makes you more secure. Yea, other men’s 
 mercies are abused by you to your hurt. If you see 
 
 (4) Psalm. 1. 21. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 387 
 
 their honours and dignity, you are provoked to envy 
 them. If-you see their riches, your are ready to covet 
 them. Ifyou look upon beauty, you are stirred up 
 tolust. And it is well if godliness be not an eye-sore 
 to you. 
 
 7. The very gifts which God bestows on you, and 
 the ordinances of grace, you turn to sin. If you have 
 better parts than others, you grow proud and self- 
 conceited. You take the bare hearing of your duty 
 for so good a work, as will excuse you for not obeying 
 it.—Your prayers are turned into sin, because you 
 regard imquity in your hearts,(i) and depart not from 
 wmgquity when you call on the name of the Lord. Your 
 prayers are abonunable, because you turn away your 
 ear from hearing the law ;(k) and are more ready 
 to offer the sacrifice of fools, (thinking you do God 
 some special service,) than to hear his word, and 
 obey it.(/) 
 
 And thus I might show you, in many other cases, 
 how you turn all that comes near you to your own de- 
 struction? So clear is it, that the ungodly are self-de- 
 stroyers, and that their predition is of themselves. 
 
 Methinks now, upon the consideration of what is 
 said, and the review of your own ways, you should 
 consider what you have done, and be ashamed, and 
 deeply humbled. Ifyou be not, I pray you consider 
 these following truths. 
 
 1. To be your own destroyers, is to sin against the 
 deepest principle in your natures, even the principle 
 of self-preservation. Every thing naturally desires its 
 own welfare or preservation. And will you set your- 
 selves to your own destruction. When you are com- 
 manded to love your neighbours as yourselves, it is 
 supposed that you naturally love yourselves: but. if 
 you love your neighbours no better than yourselves, it 
 seems you would have all the world damned. 
 
 _ 2. How extremely do you cross your own inten- 
 tions! I know you intend not your own damnation, 
 even when you are procuring it; you think you are 
 but doing good to yourselves, by gratifying the desires 
 
 (2) Psal. Ixvi. 18. (@) Prov. xxviii. 9. Hiccles. v. 1. 
 
388 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 of your flesh.—But, alas, it is as a draught of cold 
 water in a burning fever, which increases the disease. 
 Tf indeed you would have pleasure, profit, or hoxour, 
 ae ~si where they are to be found, not in the way 
 to hell. : es, Gk 
 _ 3, What pity it is that’ you should do that against 
 yourselves, which none else in earth or hell can do.— 
 Ifall the world were combined against you, or all the 
 devils in hell, they could not destroy you without 
 yourselves. And will you do that against yourselves 
 which no one else can do? You have hateful thoughts 
 of the devil, because he is your enemy, and endea- 
 ‘vours your destruction. And will you be worse than 
 devils to yourselves? But thus it is with you when 
 you run into sin, and refuse to turn at the call of God ; 
 you do more against your own souls, than men or de- 
 vils could do beside. And if you should set yourselves 
 to do yourselves the greatest mischief, you could not 
 devise a greater. 
 
 ~ 4. It will everlastingly make you your own ‘or- 
 ‘mentors in hell, to think that you brought yourselves 
 wilfully to that misery. O what a griping thought 
 will it be, to think with yourselves, That this was your 
 own doing! that you were warned-of this day, and 
 warned again, but it would not do: that you wilfully- 
 ‘sinned, and wilfully turned away from God: you. had 
 time as well as others, but you abused it: you had 
 teachers as well as others, but you refused their \in- 
 _ structions: you had holy examples, but you did not 
 - Imitate them: you were offered Christ, and grace, and 
 : glory, as well as others, but you preferred your fleshly 
 ‘pleasure: you had a price in your hands, but you 
 : had not a heart to lay it out! Can it choose but tor- 
 - ment you to think of this your folly? O that, your 
 eyes were opened to see what you have done.in the 
 wilful wronging of your own souls! and that you 
 better understood these words of God : ‘Hear imstruc- ~ 
 _ tion and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man 
 that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, ;waiting 
 atthe posts ofmy doors. For whoso findeth me findeth 
 life, and shall obtain the favour of the Lord —But-he 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 389 
 
 ‘that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: All 
 they that hate me love death.” (m) 
 
 Dear friends, I am so loth you should lie im 
 everlasting fire, that I once more ask what you. re- 
 solve on? Will you turn or die? As far as you are 
 gone in sin, do but now turn and come to Christ, 
 and your souls shall live. If it were your bodies 
 which we had to deal with, we might know what to do 
 for you. Though you would not consent, you might 
 be held or bound, while the medicine was poured 
 down your throats, and hurtful things might ibe 
 kept from you. But about your souls it cgnnot be 
 ‘SO: we cannot convert you against your wills. There 
 is no carrying madmen to heaven in fetters. You 
 ‘may be condemned against your wills; because you 
 ‘sinned with your wills; but you cannot be saved 
 against your wills. 
 
 The wisdom of God has thought meet to lay man’s 
 ‘salvation or destruction exceeding much upon the 
 choice of his own will; that no man shall go to. hea- 
 ven who chooses not the way to heaven: and no man 
 ‘shall go:to hell, but shall be forced to say, ‘‘ Ihave 
 the thing I chose; my own will did bring me here. 
 ’ Now if [could but get you to be willing, to be tho- 
 ‘roughly and resolutely willing, the work were more 
 than half done. And, alas! must we lose our friends, 
 and must they lose their God, their happiness, their 
 souls, for want of this? I do again beseech you, as.if 
 it were on my bended knees, that you would hearken 
 to your Redeemer, and turn, that you may live. All 
 you that have lived in ignorance, and carelessness, 
 and presumption, to this day; all you that have been 
 drowned in the cares of the world, and have no de- 
 sire after God, and eternal glory; all you that are 
 ‘enslaved to your fleshly desires of meats and drinks, 
 ‘sports and lusts; and all you that know not the ne- 
 cessity of holiness, and never. were acquainted with 
 the sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost upon .your 
 ‘souls; that never embraced your blessed. Redeemer 
 by a lively faith, and with admiring and thankful 
 
 (m) Prov. ‘viii. 33,34, 35, 36 
 
590 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 apprehensions of his love, and that never felt a higher 
 estimation of God and heaven, and a heartier love to 
 them, than to the things below :—I earnestly beseech 
 you, not only for my sake, but for the Lord’s sake, 
 and for your souls’ sake, that you go not one day 
 longer in your present condition ; but look about you, 
 and cry to God for converting grace, that you may 
 escape the plagues which are before you. Deny me 
 any thing that ever I shall ask you for myself, if you 
 will but grant me this. Nay, as ever you will do any 
 thing at the request of the Lord that made you and 
 redeemed you, deny him not this; for if you deny 
 him this, he cares for nothing that you shall grant 
 him. As ever you would have him hear your prayers, 
 and grant your requests, and bless you at the hour 
 of death, and day of judgment, deny not his request 
 now in the day of your prosperity. O believe it, 
 death and judgment, and heaven and hell, are other 
 matters when you come near them, than they seem 
 afar off. 
 
 Well, I hope that some of you are by this time pur- 
 posing to turn and live: and that you are ready to 
 ask me, as the Jews did Peter, when they were prick- 
 ed in their hearts, What shall we do? How may we 
 come to be truly converted? We are willing, if we 
 did but know our duty. God forbid that we should 
 choose destruction, by refusing conversion, as hitherto 
 we have done. 
 
 If these be the purposes of your hearts, I say of 
 you, as God did of a promising people, They have 
 well said all that they have spoken. O that there were 
 such a heart’in them, that they would fear me, and 
 Keep all my commandments always! (n) Your purposes 
 are good : O that there were but such a heart in you 
 to perform these purposes! And, in hope thereof, I 
 shall gladly give you direction what to do; and that 
 but briefly, that you may the easier remember it for 
 your practice. : 
 
 Direction I.——If you would be converted and 
 
 (n) Deut. v. 28, 29. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 391 
 
 saved, labour to understand the necessity and nature 
 of conversion. Concsider what a lamentable con- 
 dition you are in till your conversion, that you may 
 see it is not a state to be rested in. You are under 
 the guilt of all the sins that ever you committed, - 
 and under the wrath of God, and the curse of his law; 
 you are bond-slaves to the devil, and daily employed 
 in his work, against the Lord, yourselves, and others ; 
 you are spiritualy dead, as being void of the holy life, 
 and nature and image, of the Lord. You are unfit 
 for any holy work, and do nothing that is truly pleas- 
 ing toGod. You are without any promise or assur- 
 ance of his protection, and live in continual danger of 
 his justice, not knowing what hour you may be snatch- 
 ed away to hell; and most certain to be damned, if 
 youdie in that condition; and nothing short of con- 
 version can prevent it. Whatever amendments are 
 short of true conversion, will never procure the sav- 
 ing of your souls. Keep the true sense of this natural 
 misery, and of the necessity of conversion, on your 
 hearts. And then you must understand what it is to 
 be converted : it is to have a new heart or disposition, 
 and a new conversation. 
 
 Quest. ]. For what must we turn ? 
 
 Ans. For these ends following, which you may 
 attain: You shall hereby be made living members of 
 Christ, and have an interest in him; and be renewed 
 after the image of God, quickened with a new and 
 heavenly life, andsaved from the tyranny of Satan, 
 and the dominion of sin; and be justified from the 
 curse of the law, and have the pardon of all the sins 
 of your whole lives; and be accepted of God, and 
 _ made his sons, and have liberty with boldness to call 
 
 him Father, and go to him by prayer in all your 
 wants, with a promise of acceptance ; you shall have 
 the Holy Ghost to dwellin you, to sanctify and guide 
 you; you shall have part in the communion and pray- 
 ers of the saints: you shall be fitted for God’s ser- 
 vice ; and shall have the promise ofthis life, and that 
 which is to come. | 
 
392 ovIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 And, at death, your souls shall go to Christ ;; and. 
 at the day of judgment, both soul and body shall. 
 be justified and glorified, and enter into your Master’s. 
 
 Joy; | 
 All this the poorest beggar of you that is converted. 
 shall certainly and endlessly enjoy . 
 Il. If you will be converted and saved, be much 
 im secret, serious consideration. Inconsiderateness 
 undoes the world. Withdraw yourselves often into 
 secrecy, and meditate on the end for which you were. 
 made ; on the life you have lived; the time you 
 have lost; the sins you have committed; on the love, 
 and sufferings, and fulness, of Christ ; on the danger 
 you arein; on the nearness of death and judgment ; 
 and on the certainty and excellency of the joys of hea- 
 ven; and on the certainty and terror of the torments 
 of hell, and eternity of both; and on the necessity of 
 conversion and a holy life. L 
 Ili, If you would be converted and saved, attend 
 upon the word of God, which is the ordinary: means. 
 Read the scripture, or hear it read, and other hol 
 writings, which do apply to it constantly; and attend 
 on the public preaching of the word. As God will 
 lighten the world by the sun, and not by himself alone 
 without it ; so will he convert and save men by his 
 ministers, who are the lights of the world. When he 
 has miraculously humbled Paul, he sends Ananias to 
 him; and when he has sent an angel to Cornelius, it 
 is but to bid him send for Peter, who must tell him 
 what he is to believe and do. : A bis 
 »oKV. Betake yourselves to God in a.course of earn- 
 ést. and constant prayer. Confess and lament your 
 former lives, and beg his grace to illuminate and eon- 
 yertyyou. Beseech him to pardon what is past, and 
 to give you his Spirit, and. change your hearts and 
 lives, and lead you in his ways, and saye you from 
 temptation. And ply this work daily, and be not 
 weary of it. Te PEE 
 toN.. Presently give over your known and wilful 
 sins. Make a stand, and go that way no farther, . Be 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 393 
 
 drunk no more ; but ayoid the place and occasion of 
 it. Cast away your lusts and sinful pleasures with de- 
 testation. Curse and swear and rail no more: and if 
 you have wronged any, restore as Zaccheus did. If 
 you will commit again your old sins, what blessing 
 can you expect on the means for conversion ? 
 
 Vi. Presently, if possible, change your company,— 
 Not by forsaking your necessary relations, but your 
 unnecessary sinful companions; and join yourselves 
 with those that fear the Lord. 
 
 Vil. Deliver up yourselves to the Lord. Jesus as 
 the Physician of your souls, that he may pardon you 
 by his blood, and sanctify you by his. Spirit ; by his 
 word. and ministers, the instruments of his Spirit. He 
 as the Way, the Truth and the Life; there is no com- 
 ing to the Father but by him.o) Nor is there any 
 other name under heaven by which you can be saved. (p) 
 Study therefore his person and nature, and what he 
 has done and suffered for you, and what he is to you; 
 and what he will be; and how he is fitted to the full 
 supply of all your necessities. 
 
 VIII. If you mean indeed to turn and live, do it, 
 without delay. If you be not willing to turn to-day, 
 you are not willing to do it at all. Remember, you are 
 all this while in your blood; under the guilt of many 
 thousand sins, and under God’s wrath, and you stand 
 at the very brink of hell ; there is but a step between 
 you and death. And this is not a case for a man to be 
 quiet in. Up therefore presently, and fly for your 
 lives ; as you would be gone out of your house, if it 
 were all on fire over your head. O, if you did but 
 know what danger you live in, and what daily un- 
 speakable loss you do sustain, and what a safer and 
 sweeter life you might live, you would not stand tri- 
 fling, but presently turn. Multitudes miscarry who 
 wilfully delay, when they are convinced that it must 
 be done. Your lives are short and uncertain; and 
 what a case are you in, if you die before you thorough- 
 ly turn? You have staid too long already, and 
 
 (0) John xiv. 6. (p) Acts iv. 12. 
 13, 3D 
 
- 
 
 ~ 
 
 7 8 4 Oe 
 
 304 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 1) fi : 7 . : 3 y os ii A A hoge 
 wronged God too long; sin gets strength and rooting 
 
 ipl you delay. Your, conversion will grow more 
 
 ‘hard and doubtful, You have much to do, and there- 
 fore put not all off to the last, lest God forsake you, and 
 “give you.up to yourselves, and then you are undone 
 “DOR Cie re Haft 
 
 Bi ‘TX. ff you wall turn and live, do it unreservedly, 
 ‘absolutely, and, universally. ‘Think ‘not to capitulate 
 “with Christ, and divide your heart betwixt him and 
 
 the world 5 and, to part with some sins, and keep. the. 
 
 “(will ‘not take'\God and heaven for Hout ion, and 
 ‘ay all'below at the feet of Christ, but must néeds Algo 
 “have your. 00d ‘things here, and have an eatthly por- 
 “tion, and God’and glory is not enough for you,—it ‘is 
 an ‘vain to diéam of salvation on these terms ; for it 
 ‘Will ‘not be. Tf you séem ever'so religious, if yet it be 
 _ but outside rightéoustess, this is as certain a way to 
 “death, 4s open profanéhéss though it'be plausible. ~ 
 . X. If you will turn and ‘live, do it resol ape 
 stand not still deliberating,’ as if it'were'a doubtfal case. 
 ‘Stand not wavering, ‘as if'you ‘were ‘yet uncertain ‘whe- 
 ‘ther God or the flesh be the’ better master; ‘or Whether 
 ‘héaven or hell’ be the betterénd'; ‘or’ whether sin ‘or ho- 
 Hiness' be the ‘better ‘way. But’away ‘with ‘your former 
 ‘Tusts, and presently, habitually; fixedly resolve: be!ndt 
 °onte day'of one find, andthe next of another; ‘but ‘be 
 ‘At Ya ‘pout ‘with"all the wofld, ‘and Tesolvedly ‘give ‘up 
 ‘yourselves atid ‘all’ you have “to God. ‘Now, ‘while 
 
 “you have, or else you carinot be his disciples. @) If you 
 
 ‘you ‘ate Wédritig: or reading this, resolve. “Before you — 
 
 -kleep dndthernight; résolve. “Béfore'you stir from the 
 “place, résélvé.. ’ Beéfore''Satan have ‘time’ to take’you 
 Of, Yesolve!’ "You wever turn indced! till “you do 
 peSolvé!; aid flat! With ‘a firm ‘and 'wiehangéable ‘re- 
 solution! br : efeitos 
 
 > SAnd now T'have ‘done: my ‘part ‘inthis work, ‘that 
 
 ‘youmady turn At the eall of’ God, ‘and live, “What will 
 ty tu 
 
 'béconie of it, P ¢anndt’ tell.’ 1 have cast the ‘seed at — 
 God’s command, but it is not in my power so give the ~ 
 
 gq) Luke xiv. 26, 35. 
 
 5 LS ee 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSLON,, 399 
 
 increase. I can go no farther with my message ; I can- 
 not bring it to your heart, or make it work ; T cannot 
 do your parts for you, to entertain it. _I cannot do 
 God's part, by opening your heart to cause you to en- 
 tertain it: norcan I show you heaven or hell to your 
 eye-sicht, nor give you new. and tender‘hearts.._\."! 
 
 But, O thou that art the gracious. Father of spi- 
 rits, thou hast sworn thou delighest not in the death 
 _ of the wicked, but rather that they turn and live ; 
 - deny not thy blessing to these persuasions and direc- 
 tions, and suffer not thine’ enemies to triumph inithy 
 sight, and ‘the great deceiver of souls to prewail) against 
 thy’ Son, thy Spirit, and thy Word. :: O. 'pity'peor, 
 unconverted sinners, that: have no hearts to pity or 
 help themselves : command ‘he blind to see, the deaf 
 to hear, andthe dead to live, and let not) sin:and 
 death be able to resist thee. Awake the secure, ire- 
 slove the unresolved, confirm the wavering }.and let the 
 eyes of sinners that tead these lines, be next employed 
 in weeping over their sins; and bring them to them- 
 selves, and to thy Son, before their sins have brought 
 them to perdition. If thou say but the word, these 
 poor endeavours shall prosper, to the winning of many 
 a soul to their everlasting joy, and thine pave ig 
 glory. panier. 
 
 — — 
 
396 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO SINNERS, 
 
 That are purposed to turn, and are under the work of 
 
 Conversion, that it miscarry not. 
 
 <2-6-E 
 
 The first and greatest matter in the seeking after 
 the salvation of your souls, is to be sure that we lay 
 the foundation well, and that the work of. conver- 
 sion be thoroughly wrought. To this end I have al- 
 ready used many persuasions with the unconverted to 
 return, thinking all other directions vain, till we have 
 persuaded men to a consent and willingness to practise 
 them.—And in the end of that discourse, I added a 
 few directions for the use of such as are willing to be 
 converted. But because I know that this is a matter 
 of exceeding consequence, I dare not thus leave it, 
 before I have added some further directions, to prevent 
 
 the miscarrying of this work where it is begun. And — 
 
 lest I should lose my labour, through the unprepared- 
 ness of the reader, I shall give you first some prepar- 
 ing considerations, which may awaken you to the prac- 
 tice of the directions which I shall give you. 
 Consider first, That haif-conversions are the undo- 
 . ing of many thousand souls. If you are but like 
 Agrippa, (7) almost persuaded to be Christians, you 
 will be but almost saved. Many a thousand that are 
 now past help, have had the word come near them and 
 cast them into a fear, and made some stir and trouble 
 in their souls, awakening their consciences, and forcing 
 them to some good purposes and promises; yea, and 
 bringing them to the performance of a half-reforma- 
 tion: but this is not it that will serve your turn. Many 
 have been so much changed, as not to be far from 
 the kingdom of God, and yet came short of it.(s) There 
 
 (r) Acts xxvi. 28. (s) Mark xii. 34. 
 
 : 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. SOF 
 
 is nO promise in scripture that you should be pardoned, 
 if you almost repent and believe; or be saved, if you 
 be almost sanctified and obedient : but on the contra- 
 ry, the Lord hath plainly resolved, that you must turn 
 or die, though you almost turn; and repent or perish, 
 ' though you almost repent; and that you shall not en- 
 ter the kingdom of heaven, without conversion and a 
 new birth, though you come ever so near it. God 
 hath resolved upon the terms of your salvation ; and it 
 is in vain to hope for salvation upon any other terms. 
 God will not change nor come down to your terms. 
 It is you that must change and come quite over to his 
 terms, or you are lost for ever. If you come ever 
 so near them, you are but lost men if you come not up 
 tothem. The Lord well knew what he did, when he 
 made his covenenant and law, and he imposed nothing 
 on the sons of men but what his infinite wisdom told 
 him it was fit for him to impose ; and he will not now 
 compound with sinners, and take less than he requir- 
 eth; thatis, less than the preeminency in their hearts ; 
 nor will he ever come down to any lower terms with 
 you, than those which he propounded to you in his 
 gospel. And therefore, poor sinners, as you love your 
 souls, do not stand dodging and halving with God ; 
 but give up yourselves entirely to him; and do not 
 stop at the beginning of conversion, but go through 
 with it, till you are become new creatures indeed ; or 
 you are undone when you have done all. A half 
 unsound convert will as certainly perish as a drunkard 
 or a whoremonger? though his torment may not be 
 so great. iZ 
 _ 2. Consider also, That if you do not go through 
 with the work when you are upon it, you may per- 
 haps make it more difficult than it was ever before 
 you meddled with it, and make it a very doubtful case 
 whether ever it will be done. As it is with a wound 
 or other sore ; if you tamper with it with salves that 
 are not agreeable to it, or are disorderly applied, or 
 if you skin it over before it be searched to the bottom, 
 it must be opened again, and will cost you double 
 pain before it be cured. Or as I have seen it with 
 
 : 
 : 
 : 
 : 
 
398 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 some that have a bone broken, or out of joint, and. it 
 hath been set amiss at first; O what torments ine 
 poor creatures fain to undergo, in having. it broken 
 or stretched and set again !; which might have been — 
 spared, if it had ‘been thoroughly done at first... So 
 if you will be shrinking and drawing back, and fa, 
 vouring your flesh, and. will not go to the, quick, you 
 will make your conversion much more difficult; you 
 must be brought to it again, and fetch your. groans 
 yet deeper than before, and weep. over all., your 
 former tears; your doubts will be multiplied|;, your 
 fears and sorrows will be increased; and all will 
 go sorer with you than at first. O.what, a-case,qwill 
 you be in, when your sores must be: lanced.g second 
 time, and your bones, as’ it were, | broken ,again ! 
 Then you will wish you had ‘gone through with it, at 
 the first. lo anoa gett ato | 
 Yea, perhaps you may put’ God to it to fetch you 
 in by some sharp affliction, and send out so boisterous 
 and churlish a messenger to call you home,.as may 
 make you wish you had hearkened to a,mere.gentle — 
 call : when the sheep will straggle, the dog. must be 
 sent’ to affright him home. Many a foolish \sinner 
 makes light of the gentle invitations of grace, and they 
 stand hovering between their sins and Christ; and 
 sometimes they have a mind to turn, and the next 
 temptation they are off again, and then they come, on 
 again coldly with half a heart: and thus they, stand 
 trifling with the God of heaven, till he is fain to take 
 another course with them, and resolve to use, some 
 sharper means: and when he layeth them under his 
 rod, and they can neither fly from him, nor resist him, 
 but see that their lives and souls ,ave at his merey, 
 then they begin to look about them and see their fol- 
 ly, and change their minds. You can tarry, and delay 
 daily with the dreadful God, in’ the time of your jpros- 
 perity; and we may ask you over and oyer, whe- 
 ther you will turn, before we can havea hearty answer: — 
 but what will you do when God shall begin to frown, 
 and when he takes you in his hand by his unresistible — 
 power, and lets loose upon you the terrors of his © 
 
 4 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 399 
 
 wrath? Will you then make as light of his mercy as 
 you do now? Have you not read, Dan. v. 6. how 
 small an apparition of his anger did make‘a carousing 
 king look pale, and ‘his jomts to tremble m the midst 
 of ‘his jovialty ? A Manasseh will bethink thimself, 
 and come in when he is laid in irons, though he could 
 set light by God before, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 13. If Jonah 
 will run ‘away from God, he can send a boisterous 
 messenger to arrest him, aud cast him as it were inthe 
 belly of hell, and make him ery for mercy to him ‘that 
 he disobeyed. ‘So, if you will stand trifling with God, 
 ~ ‘and will not by fair means ‘be persuaded to yield and 
 - ‘come away, you may shortly look ‘to hearfrom him 
 ‘in another manner : ‘for ‘he ‘hath’a voice that will make 
 the proudest face look pale, and 'the:stubbornest -heart 
 ‘that is to tremble. | Ifan idle stubborn child will’ mot 
 
 - learn ‘nor be ‘ruled, 'the master ‘or. parent will teach 
 ‘him ‘with the rod, and give’him the lash, andiask him, 
 Will you'yet learn? andask ‘him again, Whatisay you 
 ‘now, will you yéet'obey? ‘So willGod do ‘by you, if 
 ‘he love you, and mean ‘to save ‘you: when he -hath 
 ‘taken away your ‘wealth, your friends, your children, 
 ‘Will you then’ hearken ‘to‘him, or will you not! When 
 ‘you lie groaning “on -your ‘couch, and ‘all -your parts 
 ‘dite overwhelmed ‘with’ pains,'and death begins tolay 
 ‘Hands tpoh' you; an@bids younow come iand answenfor 
 “your rébellions “dtid delays ‘before ithe ‘living’ God, 
 ‘wat ‘will ‘you do “then? “Willcyou:turnsorimot:? O 
 ‘the Jamentable folly of'simmers,’that put :themsel ves \to 
 ~*8o much‘sorrow and great calamity for themselves ! 
 “Witen ‘si¢knéss cémes,and deathidraws mear;youcbeg, 
 ‘and “ery, and groan ‘and -promise. ..’ When ryou feel 
 “the rod, what*Christians will Syou then tel! /Andowhy 
 ‘net without so‘muth- ado? WY outhen! think! Godideals 
 ‘Soméwhatihardly with: yous Aad: why owiil spou) mot 
 ‘then’ turn’ by eentlér dieadns' ?)OYouomight spareiyour- 
 selves much’ of this'‘iiiseryaf you svould; and yourwill 
 “nét! STs'Sti'a seéinlyp thing efor va oman ytobe driven to 
 Heaven “byscourges ?) fs (God: so “bado'a master, rand 
 
 ' heaven so bad a place, that you will not turn te them, 
 
ry 
 400 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 and mind them, and seek them, till there be no reme- 
 dy, and. you are as it were driven to it against your 
 will? Is the world such an inheritance, and sin so 
 good a thing, and the flesh or devil so good a master, 
 that you will not leave them till you are whipt away ? 
 What a shameful unreasonable course is this! 
 
 Well, sirs, the case is plain before you. Turn you 
 must at one time or other, or be the firebrands of hell. 
 And seeing it is a thing that must be done, were it not 
 best. for you to take the easiest and the surest way to 
 do it; even to strike while the iron is hot, before it 
 cool again ; and to go through with it when God doth 
 move you and persuade you. If you love your flesh 
 itself, do not put him to take up the rod, and fetch you 
 home by stripes and terrors. . 
 
 But that is not the worst: for it will sorely hazard 
 the work itself, and consequently your salvation, if 
 you do not go through with it at the first attempt. I 
 know there is many a one that hath been converted 
 and saved after many purposes, and promises, and 
 half-conversions. But yet. I must tell you, that this 
 is a very dangerous course. For you do not know, 
 when you grieve the Spirit of grace, and set so light 
 by mercy when it is offered, you, and leave you to your 
 own ungodly wills, and let you take your lusts and 
 pleasures, and say, Let this wretch be filthy still: Let 
 him keep his drunkenness, his companions, his world- 
 liness, and thecurse of God with them, till he have tried 
 what it is that they will do for him: Let him follow 
 his own conceits, and the pride and obstinacy of his. 
 own heart, till he find whither they will bring: him: 
 Let him serve the flesh and the world, till he under- 
 stand whether God or they be the better master. See- 
 ing he will not be wise on earth, let him learn in hell; 
 and let torments teach him, seeing mercy might not 
 teach him. O poor soul!, what a case art thou in, if 
 this should once be the resolution of God. 
 
 Moreover, you may easily, know that the longer you 
 stay, the more leisure you give the devil to assault you, 
 
_ 
 TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 401 
 
 and to try one way when he cannot prevail by another, 
 and to strengthen his temptations: like a foolish sol- 
 dier, who will stand to be shot at, rather than assault 
 the enemy. 
 
 And the longer you delay, the more sin gets strength 
 and rooting. If you cannot bend a twig, how will 
 you beable to bend it when it is atree? if you can- 
 not pluck up a tender plant, are you likely to pluck 
 up a sturdy oak? Custom gives strength and root to: 
 vice. A blackmoor may as well change his skin, or @ 
 leopard his spots, as those who are accustomed to do evil 
 can learn to dowell.(t) 
 
 If you stick at conversion as a difficult matter to- 
 day, it will be more difficult to-morrow, or the next 
 month, and the next year, than it is now. 
 
 Yea, the very fesistance of the Spirit doth harden 
 the heart, and the delays and triflings of the soul do 
 bring it to an imsensibility and boldness m sin, and 
 drive away the fear of God from the heart. Now it 
 may be you are somewhat awakened, and begin to 
 seethat you must turn or die: but if you trifle or 
 delay, this light may be gone, and leave you in 
 greater darkness than before; and the voice that now 
 awakeneth you, may be silent, and leave you to fall 
 asleep again. 
 
 Moreover, you know that you.are uncertain of the 
 countenance of the gospel. You know not whether 
 you shall have such lively serious preachers as you 
 have now; nor you know not whether you shall 
 have such godly neighbours and company to encou- 
 rage you and help you in the work. God will re- 
 move them one after another to himself, and then you 
 will have the fewer prayers for you, and fewer warn- 
 ings and good examples, and perhaps be left wholly 
 to the company of deceived ungodly fools, that will 
 do nothing but discourage and hinder you from con- 
 ‘version. And you are not sure that religion will con- 
 tinue in that reputation as now it is in. The times 
 ~may turn, before you turn; and godliness may become 
 
 (t) Jer. xi. 23. 
 13. 3 E 
 
= 
 
 402 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 a scorn again, and it may be a matter of suffering, and 
 may cost you your lives tolive as the servants of Christ 
 must do. And therefore, if you stop at it now asa 
 difficult thing, when you have all the helps and en- 
 couragements that you can expect, and the way to 
 heaven is made so fair; and when the magistrates, and 
 ministers, and neighbours, are ready to encourage and 
 help you; what will you do in times of persecution 
 and discouragement? If you cannot turn when you 
 have all these helps and means, what will you do 
 when they are taken from you? If you cannot row 
 with the stream, how will you row against it? Ifyou | 
 dare not set to sea when you have wind, and tide, and 
 sunshine ? what will you do in storms and tempest, 
 when all is against you? O what would some of your 
 forefathers have given, to have seen the days that 
 you see! How glad would many a thousand in other 
 countries of the world be, to have but the help to 
 heaven that you have! Never look to have the wa 
 fairer and easier while you live. If you think heaven 
 is offered you at too dear a rate now, you may een 
 let it go, and try whether hell be better, for the next 
 offer is like to be upon harder terms, rather than 
 easier. If you cannot now find in your hearts to 
 turn and live a holy life, what would you have 
 done in Spain or Italy, where it would have cost you 
 your lives? He that will not be converted now, but 
 thinks the terms of grace too hard, is so impious a 
 despiser of Christ and heaven, that it is no wonder 
 if God resolve, that he shall never taste of the salva- 
 tion that was offered him.(u) - . 
 Moreover, you know upon what uncertainties you 
 hold your lives, you have no assurance of them for an 
 hour; but you are sure that they are passing away 
 while you delay. And will you trifle then in a work 
 that must be done? What a caseare you in, if death 
 find you unconverted! The heart of man is not able 
 now to conceive the misery of your case. How dare 
 you venture to live another day in an unconverted 
 
 (w) Luke xiv. 24. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 403 
 
 state, lest death should find you so? Are you not 
 afraid when you lie down at night, and afraid when 
 you go out of your doors in the morning, lest death 
 surprise you? Are you converted? if you be not, it 
 is long of your deadness and presumption. 
 
 And I would fain hear what it is that should thus 
 stop you. What are you afraid of? Is God an ene- 
 my, that you are so loth to come to him? Is the devil 
 a friend, that you are so loth to leave him? Issina 
 paradise? Is holinessa misery ? Isit a pleasanter life 
 to love your money, or your lands, or your meat 
 and drink, and lusts, than to love the most blessed 
 God, the Creator of the world, the life of our souls, 
 and our eternal felicity ? Is it better to pamper a car- 
 case that must shortly stink as the dung, than to pro- 
 vide for a living immortal soul? Whether do you 
 think that earth or heaven will be the more glorious 
 and durable felicity ? 
 
 What is it, sirs, that you stick at, that you make so 
 many delays before you will turn? Is there any diffi- 
 cult in the point? Do you think it a hard question, 
 whether you shall turn or not? Why, how can you 
 be so blind? Do you stand pausing upon the business, 
 as if it were a doubt, whether God or the world 
 were better? and whether sin or holiness, Christ or 
 death, heaven or hell, were to be preferred? I pray 
 you consider: can you reasonably think, that con- 
 version will do you any harm? Can it bring you 
 into a worse condition than you are in? Sure you 
 cannot fear such a thing. You are in your blood: 
 you are dead in sin: you are children of wrath, while 
 you are unconverted. You are under the curse of 
 the law of God; you are the slaves of the devil, you 
 are the heirs of hell, and under the guilt of all your 
 sins; your life is a continued rebellion against God ; 
 you are employed every day in the destroying of 
 yourselves, in kindling the flames that must ever- 
 lastingly torment you, and laying in fuel for the per- 
 petuating of your misery; and fighting against your 
 friends that would deliver you, and unthankfully 
 
404° DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS * 
 
 abusing Christ, and grace, and ministers, and friends, 
 that would save your souls, This is the condition 
 that every one of you is in, till you are converted, 
 And can you fear lest conversion would bring you 
 into a worse condition than this? Sirs, these truths 
 are sure and plain; and if you stick at it, your error 
 is so palpably gross, that, unless you are madmen, I 
 may be bold to say, it is a wilful error, And if you 
 love to be deceived, and wilfully choose a lie, you 
 must take that you get by it. 
 
 8. Consider further, That halfconversions do often 
 prove an occasion of deluding men’s souls, and. mak- 
 ing them quiet in a miserable state, and so of keeping 
 them from being converted to the last. If you had 
 never done any thing in it, you would more easily 
 be persuaded that your case is bad, and that there is 
 still a necessity of your change. But when you have 
 had some convictions and troubles of mind, and fears 
 and sorrows, and so have failen into an outside par- 
 tial reformation, and now are persuaded that you 
 are truly converted, when it is no such matter, what 
 a dangerous impediment to your conversion may this 
 prove! And all because you slumber over the work, 
 and cut it off before it reacheth to sincerity, and strive 
 against the workings of the Spirit, and break away 
 from your Physician before he hath done the gure,, 
 
 and would not follow it unto the end, .I know that 
 
 a half-conversion, if it be known to be no more, is 
 
 much better than none, and doth often prepare men — 
 
 for a saving work. But when this half-conyersion is 
 taken for a true and saving change, as too commonly it 
 is, it proves one of the greatest impediments of salva- 
 tion. Whenever Christ shall afterwards knock at your 
 door, you will not know him, as thinking that. he 
 dwells with you already. If you read any books that 
 callon you to be conyerted, or hear any preachers that 
 call on you to turn, you have this at hand to cozen 
 yourselves with, and frustrate all—you will think, 
 This is not spoken to me; for I am conyerted al- 
 
 ready. O how quietly do such poor deluded sinners 
 
 —--~. 2 bs 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 405 
 
 daily read and hear their own doom and misery, and 
 never once dream that they are the men that are meant, 
 and therefore are never dismayed at the matter! This 
 formeth you into a state of hypocrisy, and makes the 
 course of your duties and your lives to be hypocritical. 
 If another man, that knows himself to be still uncon- 
 verted, do but read the threatenings of the word against 
 such, or hear of the terrors of the Lord from a minis- 
 ter, he may be brought to confess that this is his own 
 case, and so to perceive the misery of his condition. — 
 But when such as you read and hear these things, they 
 never trouble you, for you think that they do not touch 
 you: You are scripture proof, and sermon proof; and 
 all by the delusion of your half-conversion. O how 
 zealously will such a man cry out against the sins of 
 others! and tell them of their misery, and persuade 
 them to turn, and show them the danger that is near 
 them, if they do not; and, in the mean time, little 
 thinks that this is his own case, and that he speaks 
 all this against his own soul! How will such men 
 applaud a sermon that drives at the conversion ofa 
 sinner, and that tells them their misery while they 
 are unconverted! QO, thinks he, this touched such 
 and such; | am glad that such a man and sucha 
 man heard it: and he little thinks that it as nearly 
 touched himself. How smoothly will he go on in any 
 discourse against wicked unregenerate men, as David 
 . heard the parable of Nathan; and it never once enter- 
 eth into their thoughts, that they speak all this against 
 themselves ; till the Judge shall tell them, when it is 
 too late, Thou art the man! It will turn not only 
 the stream of your thoughts into hypocrisy and self- 
 deceit, but also the stream of your speeches to others; 
 yea, and the current of your prayers, and all the rest 
 of your religious performances. When in confession 
 you should acknowledge and lament an unregenerate 
 earnal state, you will only confess that you have the 
 infirmities of the saints, and that you have this or that 
 sin, which yet you think is mortified. When you 
 should importunately beg for renewing grace, you will 
 beg only for strengthening grace, or assurance: when 
 
406 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS sf 
 
 you should be labouring to break your hearts, you 
 will be studying to heal them;’ and will be hearken- 
 ing after present comforts, when you | 
 of godly sorrow. It will fill your 
 with pharisaical thanksgivings for 
 neration, justification, adoption, sanc 
 you never received. Little doth ma 
 what sanctification and the several graces of tl 
 are, that use to give God thanks for fl 
 is many and many a one, that must for ¢ 
 hell, that were used to give God thanks for the: 
 hopes of glory. And the common cause of all this 
 deceit and misery is, that men do run from und 
 the hands of their Physician, before he ever went 
 the bottom of their sore, and go away with a half-con- 
 version; and so spend all the rest of their Tl 
 mere delusion, as verily thinking they are convert 
 when they are not. How confidently will such re- 
 ceive the Lord’s supper, and thrust themselves into 
 the communion of the saints, as if they had as good 
 right as others to be there! Till the Lord of the 
 feast shall take them to task, and say, Friend, how 
 camest thou in hither, not having a wed 
 ment? And then they will be speechless.(a 
 many false deceiving comforts, and per 
 seeming raptures and assurances, may the 
 themselves, as verily thinking their case 
 when, alas, they never yet laid the foundati 
 and it is to be observed, that Satan is a frien 
 comforts of this kind of men, and therefore ‘ 
 all that he canto promote them. or he wo 
 lingly keep his garrison in peace(v) And, theret 
 he may possibly be a comforting spirit to —him- 
 self, and imitate the Holy Ghost, the comforter of the 
 saints; and, itmay be, give them such raptures as 
 seem higher than those which the Spirit of holiness 
 doth give. He envieth the saints their peace and 
 comfort, because he foresees how durable they will 
 prove: but he can be content that deluded hypocrites 
 may have joy, because their comforts do not weaken, 
 
 (w) Matt. xxii. 12. (r) Luke xi. 21. 
 
oped 
 
 ofthe feat tell the 
 
 /, 
 
 Gp: 
 
 Caxton. Landon, 1825. 
 
 isher 
 
 bished by Henry 
 
 — 
 
” TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 407 
 
 but strengthen his kingdom within them, and he 
 knows that they are like to endure but for a while. 
 
 And thus you may perceive, how hard it is to con- 
 vert one of > keep ahete men, that have stran- 
 gled the new creature as it were in the birth, and that 
 are fortified against all the means of grace, by a false 
 conceit that they are sanctified already. See therefore 
 that you make sure work, and take not up in the 
 middle, and with halves; but take your present time, 
 and give up your souls to a total change. 
 
 3. Consider; if you take up short of a thorough 
 conversion, you lose all your labour, and sufferings, 
 and hopes as to the matter of your salvation. 
 
 _ And what a pity is it that so much shouldbe lost! 
 
 Alas, to see many of our hearers touched at a sermon, 
 and come to a minister and bewail their sin, and seem 
 to be humble, and promise to be new men, and yet 
 all this to be lost! How sad a case is this to think of ! 
 To see them leave their company and former course 
 of life, and come among the professors of holiness, 
 and all men take them for real converts; and yet all 
 this to be lost, and their souls lost after all: how sad 
 a caseis this! If you grow up to the greatest parts of 
 outward duty, and be able to discourse, or pray, or 
 preach, even to the admiration of the hearers ; yet if 
 you do not ground this on a thorough conversion, 
 all is but lost, as to your own salvation. If you keep 
 up the highest strain of profession, and get the high- 
 est esteem to the church, so that others depend upon 
 you as oracles; yea, if the pope with all his infalli- 
 bility should cannonize you for saints; it were all but 
 loss. If you should keep up the most confident 
 persuasions of your salvation, and hope to go to hea- 
 ven, to the last hour of your lives; it were all but 
 lost, if you build not all on a thorough conversion. 
 Yea, if you should be taken by persecutors for one of 
 the party to which you join, and should suffer for the 
 cause of religion among them; all were but lost, with- 
 out @ sound conversion. y ) 
 
 (y) 1 Cor. xu. 1, 2, 3. 
 
408 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 It is a pitiful case to see some poor unsanetified 
 souls how they wander and change from one opinion 
 
 to another, and from party to patty, to find out that 
 which they want within. They Si this party 
 first, and that party next, and then to another, and 
 then think they are sure in the way to heaven; 
 when they never thoroughly turned to God by Jesus 
 Christ; and therefore are certainly out of the way, 
 whatever party it be that they join with. Some go 
 to the giddy sects that make the highest pretences to. 
 strictness: and some go to Rome, because they think 
 that there they shall have more company, and hear 
 the deluding sound of unity, universality, antiquity, 
 succession, miracles, and such like: and then the 
 
 think they have hit the way. Alas, poor souls! If 
 _ God were but nearest and dearest to your hearts, 
 and Christ and his righteousness exalted within you, 
 and your souls unfeignedly turned from your sins, you 
 would be in the certain way to heaven, m what coun- 
 try, or company, or church, soever you wefe; sup- 
 posing that you believe, and do nothing there which 
 is inconsistent with this life of grace. (Though yet 
 every Christian should choose that particular society, 
 ifhe can, where he may not only be saved, but most 
 
 certainly saved, and find the greatest helps and least 
 
 hinderances, or else where he may do God the great- 
 est service.) But choose what company you will in 
 
 all the world, the strictest, the most reformed, the 
 
 most splendid in outward pomp and glory, or of 
 whatsoever excellency else you can imagine, you will 
 never be saved in it yourselves, as long as your hearts 
 are unconverted. I know the papists have found out 
 many devices, by sacraments, and ceremonies, and 
 the merits of the saints, to patch up the defect of 
 thorough conversion ; but all are mere deluders that 
 pretend to such a thing. , 
 
 O then, think of this, poor sinner: Hast thou gone 
 so far, and done so much, and shall all be lost because’ 
 thou wilt not follow it tothe end? Hast thou groan- 
 ed, and wept, and confessed, and bemoaned thine own 
 
 ’ 
 
 OE —— re 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION,., 409 
 
 ‘condition? Hast thou prayed, and read, and heard, 
 ‘and fasted, and changed thy company, and much.of 
 thy course of life? and shall all this be lost, for want 
 of going to the bottom, and making a thorough work 
 of it? What a loss will this be! 
 
 4., Consider also, what an admirable help and ad- 
 vantage it will be to you, through the whole course of 
 syour lives, if the work of conversion be once thoroughly 
 ewrought. J will show you this in some particulars. 
 
 First, It will be an excellent help to your. under- 
 Standings, against the grosser errors of the world, and 
 willestablish you in the truth much more than mere 
 arguments can do ; for you will be able to speak for 
 -the truth from feeling and experience: he that hath 
 the law written both in his Bible and in his heart, is 
 likely to hold it faster than he that hath it in his Bible 
 alone. | . 
 
 Secondly, If you be but thoroughly converted, you 
 will have a continual help against temptations: you have 
 not only experience of the mischief of sinning, and the 
 folly of those reasons which are brought for its defence; 
 but you have also a new nature which is against the 
 temptation, as life is against poison: and as it is a great 
 disadvantage to the law of Christ, that it speaks against 
 the nature of the ungodly ; so it isa disadvantage to 
 the temptations of the devil, that they weuld drawa 
 Christian against his new nature. You have that with- 
 in you that will plead more effectually against sensua- 
 lity, uncharitableness, pride, or worldliness, or any the 
 dike sins, than reason or Jearning alone can. 
 
 Thirdly, If couversion be thoroughly wrought, you 
 
 will have within you a continual helper of your graces, 
 and aremembrance to put you in mind of duty, anda 
 _|spur to put you on to the performance, and a furtherer 
 of your souls in the performance itself: it is out of this 
 spark and principle within you, that the Holy Ghost 
 doth raise the arts of grace. That is it that the word, 
 and prayer, and conference, and sacraments, and all 
 the means of grace must work upon. If we see you 
 do amiss, we have hopes that you will hear us; if we 
 14. 3 F 
 
4.10 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASION 
 
 plainly reprove you, we may look you should take 
 it* in good part; for you have that within you that 
 saith as we say, and is at deadly enmity with the sin 
 which we reprove. If we provoke you to-love and 
 to good works, we dare almost promise ourselves 
 that you will obey ; for you have that within you that 
 disposeth you to the duty, and preacheth our sermons 
 to you over again. O what an.advantage it is to our 
 teaching, when you are all taught of God within, as 
 well-as by his messengers -without! But when we 
 speak to the unconverted, we have little to work 
 upon: “we give physic to the dead, we speak all 
 against the bent:of their souls ; and every reproof and 
 ~ exhortation to holiness goes against their very natures: 
 and therefore what wonder if we have smaller hopes 
 to prevail. 
 
 Fourthly, If the work be thoroughly done at first, it 
 will help to resolve many doubts that may be after- 
 wards cast into your minds. You need not be still at 
 a loss, and looking behind you, and questioning your 
 foundation, but may go cheerfully and boldlyon. O 
 what an excellent encouragement is this ! to know that 
 you have hitherto made good your ground, and left all 
 safe and sure behind you, and have nothing to do but 
 to look before you, and press on towards the mark, till 
 you lay hold upon the prize! whereas if you be in any — 
 great doubt of your conversion, it will be stopping — 
 you and discouraging you in all your work: you will © 
 be still looking behind you and saying, What if I 
 should yet be unconverted? When you should cheer- 1 
 fully address yourselves to prayer or sacraments, how 
 sadly will vou go, as being utterly uncertain whether ~ 
 you have a saving right to them, or whether God will — 
 accept a sacrifice at your hand? When you should © 
 grow and go forward, you will have little heart to it, 
 because you know not whether you are yet in the way; ~ 
 and this will damp your life and comfort in every duty, — 
 when you must say, I know not whether yet I be ~ 
 thoroughly converted. O therefore stop not the work — 
 
 at first. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. All 
 
 Fifthly, If the work be thoroughly done at first, you 
 will persevere, when others fallaway. You will have 
 rooting in yourselves, entertaining the seed as into 
 depth of earth ; and you will have the Holy Ghost 
 within you, and (more than so) engaged for your 
 pteservation, and the perfecting of your salvation: 
 when they that received the word as seed upon a rock, 
 and never gave it deep entertainment, will wither and 
 fall away in the time of trial; and from them that have 
 not saving grace, shall be taken away even that which 
 they seemed to have. (z) 
 
 Sixthly, and lastly, consider, If you fall short ofa 
 true conversion at the first. the devil will take occa- 
 sion by it to tempt you at last to utter despair. When 
 you have made many essays and trials, and been about 
 the work again and again, he will persuade you that 
 there is no possibility of accomplishing it. If we con- 
 vince an open profane person that is unconverted, he 
 may easier see that there is hopes of it: but if a man 
 have been half converted, and lived long in a formal 
 self-deceiving profession of religion, and been taken 
 by himself and others for a godly man, as it is very 
 hard to convince this man that he is unconverted, so 
 when he is convinced of it, he will easily fall into des- 
 peration.—For Satan will tell him, If thou be yet un- 
 converted after so many confessions and prayers, and 
 after so long a course of religion, what hope canst 
 thou have that yet it should be done? Thou wilt 
 never have better opportnnities than thou hast had. 
 If such sermons as thou hast heard could not do it, 
 what hope is there of it? If such books and such 
 company, and such mercies, and such afflictions, have 
 not done it, what hope canst thou have? Canst thou 
 hear any livelier teaching than thou hast heard? or 
 speak any holier words than thou hast spoken? If 
 yet the work be qulie undone, it is not forsaking 
 another sin, nor go:ng a step further, that will do it: 
 and therefore never think of it; for there is no hope. 
 Dost thou not know how oft thou hast tried in vain ? 
 
 (z) Matt. xiii. 12. xxv. 29. 
 
412 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 And what canst thou do more? “And ‘thus you give 
 advantages to the tempter by your first delays, and 
 taking up in ‘mere preparatories. And therefore T 
 beseech you, ‘as you love your souls, take heed of 
 resisting the Spirit of grace, and breaking off the work 
 before it is thoroughly done ; but go to the’ bottom, 
 and ‘follow it on till it be accomplished in sincerity: 
 And now hoping, that upon these considerations yoti 
 are resolved to do your best, T shall come to’ the 
 thing which I principally intended: whieh i 1s, to give 
 you certain, directions, which if you ‘Wik sie Om ye 
 mee be converts and saints indeed! | 
 Direction 1. Lest the work of conversion ahbiita mis- 
 carry, where it seemeth to be begun, or in a hopeful 
 way, I first advise you to labour after a right under- 
 standing of the true nature of Christianity, and the 
 meaning of the gospel which is sent to convert you. 
 You are naturally slaves to the prince of darkness, and’ 
 live ina state of darkness, and do the work of dark-+ 
 ness, and are hasting apace to utter’ darkness.’ And 
 it is the light of saving knowledge that must recover 
 you, or ‘there is no recovery. God is the father of 
 light, and dwelleth in light; Christ is the light of the 
 world ; ‘his ministers are also the hghts of the world, as 
 under him, and are sent to turn men from darkness to 
 light by the gospel, which is the light to our feet: and 
 this is to make us children of light, that we may no 
 more do the works of darkness, but may be partakers 
 ofthe inheritance of the saints in light.’ Believe it, 
 darkness is not the way to the celestial! glory. ‘Ignor- 
 ance is your disease, and knowledge must be’ your cure. 
 I know the ignorant have’ many “excilses, ‘and are apt | 
 to think that the case is not so bad with them as we 
 make it to be; and that there is no such need of know- 
 ledge, but a man may be saved without it. But this is 
 because they want that knowledge that should show 
 them the mercy of their ignorance, and’ the worth of 
 knowledge. Hath not the. scripture plainly told you, 
 ‘That if the gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are . 
 lust, whose minds the God of this world hath blinded, — 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 413 
 
 lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the 
 “image of God, should shine unto them. I know that 
 many that have much knowledge are ungodly. But 
 what ofthat ? Can any man therefore be godly, or be 
 saved, without knowledge? You may have a bad ser- 
 vant, that yet is skilful enough in his work :: but yet 
 you will not mend the matter, by taking one that hath 
 no skill at all. You may send aman on your errand 
 that knows the way, and yet will not go it, but loiter 
 and deceive you: but what of that? Will you think 
 to mend the matter, by sending one that knoweth not 
 astep of the way, nor will not learn it?. Though a 
 man of knowledge may be a servant of the devil, yet 
 no man without knowledge (that hath the use of his 
 reason) can be the servant of God. A man may go 
 to hell with knowledge; but he certainly shall go to 
 hell without it. I do not say that you must all be men 
 of Jearning, and skilled in the arts and sciences, and 
 languages; but you must have the knowledge of a 
 Christian, though not of a scholar. Can you love or 
 serve a God. that you know not? Can you let go 
 friends, and goods, and life, for a glory which you 
 have no knowledge of? Can you make it the princi 
 pal business of your lives, to seek fora heaven whose 
 excellencies you know not of? Can you lament your 
 sin and misery when you are unacquainted with it? 
 or will you strive against sin, as the greatest evil, when 
 you know not the evil of it? Will you believe in-a 
 Christ whom you do not know, and trust your souls 
 and all upon him? Will you rest upon a promise, or 
 fear a threatening, or be ruled by a law, whsch you 
 do not understand? It is not possible to be Chris- 
 tians, without knowing the substance of Christianity; 
 mor is it possible for you to be saved, without knowing 
 the way of salvation. 
 
 ‘Labour therefore to be well acquainted with the 
 grounds, and reasons, and: nature, of your religion. 
 The clearer your light ‘is, the ‘warmer and livelier 
 ‘your’ hearts will‘be.°; [lumination is the first part of 
 
414 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASION 
 
 sanctification. The head is the passage to the heart. 
 O, if you did but thoroughly know what sin is, and 
 what alifeit is to serve the flesh, and what the end 
 of this will prove, with what detestation would you 
 cast itaway! If you did thoroughly know what a life 
 of holiness is, how speedily would you choose it! If 
 you did truly know what God is, how infiniteiy power- — 
 ful, and wise, and good how holy, and just, and true; 
 and what title he hath to you, and authority over you, 
 and what an eternal portion he would be to you; how 
 is it possible that vou could prefer the dirt of the world 
 before him, or delay any longer to return unto him! If 
 vou did but truly know what Christ is, and what he 
 hath done and suffered for you, and what that pardon, 
 and grace, and glory, are which he hath purchased for — 
 you, and offered to you, and how sure his promise is 
 by which it is offered ; it is not possible that you should 
 refuse to entertain him, or delay to give up your souls 
 unto him. Do you think a man that truly knows 
 what heaven is, and what hell is, can still be in doubt 
 whether he should turn or not? Alas, sirs! if God 
 would but open your eyes, to see where you are, and 
 what you are doing, you would run as if for your lives; 
 and quickly change your minds and ways. You would 
 no more stay in your carnal state, than you would stay 
 in a house that was falling down on your heads, or ina 
 ship that you perceive sinking under you, or on the 
 sands when you see the tide coming towards you. If 
 your house or chamber were all in flames about you, 
 you would not stand to ask whether you should be 
 gone’: ‘and sure then, if you knew how the devils are 
 about you, how they deceive you, and rule you, and 
 wait to drag you to hell, you would never stay a 
 . night Jonger ‘willingly in such a. state. While men 
 understand not what the gospel means, nor what a 
 minister saith unto them, no wonder if they regard 
 them not, but continue in their sin. If you see a bear 
 or amad dog making towards a man, and tell him of 
 it, and call hitn to be gone, if he be a man of another 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 415 
 
 language. and do not understand you, he will make 
 never the more haste: but if he understand and be- 
 lieve you, he will away. If people think that minis- 
 ters are in jest with them, or that they are uncertain of 
 what they say, no marvel if they hear us in jest, or.as 
 men that believe not what they hear : but if you knew 
 that your lives Jay on it, yea, your everlasting life, 
 would you not regard it, and look about you? Now 
 you stand deliberating, and questioning the business, 
 whether you should turn, and let go sin, or not ; but 
 if you knew that you must certainly have hell with 
 it if you keep it, methinks your doubt should quickly 
 be resolved, and you should be loth to give another 
 night's lodging to so chargeable and dangerous a 
 guest. 
 
 Now when we persuade you to holiness of life, and 
 will demur on it, as if there were some doubtfuiness 
 in the matter: but if you knew the nature and end 
 . of holiness, you would soon be out of doubt; and if 
 you knew but how much happier you might be with 
 God, you would never stick at the parting with 
 your most delightful sins. As the Jews rejected 
 Christ, and preferred a murderer before him, and 
 eried out, Crucify him! and all because they did not 
 know him; so you Jet Christ knock and call, and 
 offer you salvation, and you stand questioning whe- 
 ther you should obey his call, and whether you 
 should not prefer your lusts before him: and all be- 
 cause you know him not, nor the grace and glory 
 which he tendereth to you. When men understand 
 not the reasons of God that should prevail with them, 
 no wonder if they part not with that which is as dear 
 to them as their lives. But when once they know 
 the reasons of Christianity, (those moving, weighty, 
 undeniable reasons, that are fetched from God, and 
 heaven, and hell,) they will then stand questioning the 
 matter no longer; but they will resign up all, even 
 life itself. All this I speak of a spiritual, powerful, and 
 a practical knowledge; and not of every swimming 
 opinion and conceit. ; 
 
416 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASTONS 
 
 '» Study, therefore, what God is, and what he i 
 and what he would be to you! Stud 
 what the damnation is which it deserveth. meee 
 Christ is, and hath done and. suffered for you, and 
 
 what he is willing to do if you neglect him not. Study 
 
 what the world is, and what is the utmost that,sin will 
 do for you. Study what the everlasting glory is, which 
 
 you may have with God, if you lose it not: by your i 
 
 folly: And study what faith is, and what 
 
 is, and what love, and joy, anda holyand heavenly life 
 is, and how little reason you have'to be afraid of — 
 If this understanding have but ‘deeply possessed. yo 
 
 it will bias your hearts, and make: yom panckon) seitled : 
 
 converts. mnebeb olga 
 
 Direction I]. If you would net have tls work of — 
 your. conversion miscarry, when you understand what — 
 
 is offered you, then search the scriptures daily to see 
 whether those things be so or not. 
 
 So did the Bereans. (a) And the text saith, that hehe. . 
 
 fore they believed. We come not:to cheat and: deceive 
 you ; and therefore we desire not that you should take 
 any thing from us, but what we can prove to youfrom 
 the word of God to be certainiy true. We desire not 
 to lead you in the dark, but bythe light to. dead you 
 out of darkness ; and therefore we refuse not to submit 
 all our doctrine to an equal tial. Though we would 
 an have you wrong your souls by an unjust distrust of 
 
 ; yet would we not desire you ‘to take these great 
 and weighty things merely upon our words: for then 
 your faith will be in man; and then no marvel if it be 
 weak and ineffectual, and quickly shaken. -If you 
 trust aman to day, you may distrust him to morrow; 
 and if one man be of the greatest credit with you this 
 year, another, of a contrary mind, may be of more 
 credit with you the next year. And therefore we de- 
 sire no further to be believed by you, than isnecessary 
 to lead you up to God, and to help you to under- 
 stand that word which you must believe : our desire 
 therefore is, that you search ‘the scripture; and try 
 
 (a) Acts xvn. 1i. 
 
TO -A SOUND CONVERSION... 417. 
 
 whether the: things. which. we tell you be the truth. 
 The. word will never work on you to purpose, till you 
 hear and see God in it, and. perceive that it is he, and 
 not man only, that speaks to you. When you hear 
 ‘none speaking to you but the minister, no marvel if 
 you dare despise him, for he is a frail and silly man 
 like yourselves; when you think that the doctrine 
 which we preach unto you is, merely of our own de- 
 yising, and the conjecture of our own brain, no ;marvel 
 if you set light by it, and will not let go all that you 
 have, at the persuasion of a preacher... But when you 
 have searched the scripture, and find that itis the word 
 of the God of heaven, dare you despise it then? When 
 you there find that we said no more than we were com- 
 manded, and God that hath spoken this word. will 
 stand to it; then surely it will go nearer you, and 
 you will consider of it, and make light of it no more. 
 If we offered you bad wares, we should desire a dark 
 shop, and if our gold were light or bad, we should 
 not, call for the balance and the touchstone. But 
 when we are sure the things that we speak are true, we - 
 desire nothing more than trial. Beauty and comeli- 
 ness have no advantage of loathsome ners when 
 they are both together in the dark: but the light will 
 show the difference.—Error may be a loser by the 
 light, and therefore shuns it. But truth is a gainer 
 by it and therefore seeks it. Let Papists hide the scrip- 
 tures from the people, and forbid the reading of them 
 in a tongue which they understand, and teach them to 
 speak to God they know not what; we dare not do so, 
 nor do we desire it : our doctrine will not go off well 
 in the dark ; and therefore we call you to the law and 
 to the testimony, and desire you to take our words 
 into the light, and see whether they are according to 
 the word of the Lord. Nothing troubleth us more 
 than that we cannot persuade our hearers to this trial. 
 Some of them are so hardened in their sin and misery, 
 that they will not be at so much labour as to open 
 their Bibles, and try whether we say true or not. 
 Some of them will not trouble their minds with the 
 14. 3G 
 
418 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 thoughts of it : God is not in all their thoughts.(b) An 
 some are already too wise to learn ; they’will not so 
 long abate their confidence of their former opinions; 
 though, poor souls, their ignorance do threaten their 
 damnation. And some are so engaged in a sinful 
 party, that their companions will not give them 
 leave to make so much question of the way that 
 they are in; and some will scarce take the scripture 
 for the rulé by which they musttry and be tried; 
 but look more to custom, and the will of those in 
 power over them. And most are unwilling to try, 
 because they are unwilling to know the truth, and 
 cannot endure to find themselves miserable, nor see 
 the sin which they would not leave, nor see the duty, 
 which they love not to practise. And thus we cannot 
 get them to try whether the things that we teach them 
 be so. 
 
 For want of this it is, that men deceive themselves, 
 and think their case to be safe when it is miserable, 
 
 . because they will not try it by the word. This makes 
 
 them rage and be confident in their folly, and laugh 
 and sing at the brink of hell, and swimas merrily down 
 the stream to the devouring gulph, as if no evil were 
 near them. This makes them in the depth of misery 
 to have no pity on themselves, and to do so little to 
 escape it: though they have time and means, and helps 
 at hand, yet there are not hearts in them to make use 
 of them ; yea, they run themselves daily further on the 
 score ; and all because we cannot get them to search 
 the scripture, and try whether sin be so small a matter 
 and whether this will not be bitterness in the end.— 
 Hence it is, that they are so easily drawn by a tempta- 
 tion, and that they'dislike a holy life; and have base 
 thoughts of them that are most diigent for salvation, 
 and are most precious in the eyes of God; and that 
 they can even deride the way that they should walk in; 
 because they will not search the scripture, to see what 
 it saith to these matters. The word is a light, and 
 would do much to open their eyes, and win them over 
 to God. if they would but come to it with a desire to 
 
 (6) Psalm. x. 4. 
 
TO A’SOUND CONVERSION: ' 419 
 
 know the truth. You think that the ungodly that are 
 rich and great, are in a better condition than a godly 
 man that is poor and despised. And why is this, 
 but because you will not go into the sanctuary, and. 
 seein what a slippery place they stand, and what will 
 bethe end of these men? In a word, this is the un- 
 doing of millions of souls. They are all their life-time 
 out of the way to heaven, and yet will not be per- 
 suaded to ask the way; but they run and wink, and 
 putit tothe venture. Many a thousand are gone out 
 of the world, before they ever spent the quantity of 
 one day in trying, by the scripture, whether their state 
 were good, and their way were right. Nay, let their 
 teachers tell them that they must be sanctified, and 
 take another course, they will differ from their teach- 
 ers, though they be ever so wise and learned; and 
 they will contradict them, and not believe nor regard 
 them. And yet we cannot get them to come to us, 
 and put the case to the trial, and let the scripture be 
 the judge. Would-they but do this, they could ne- 
 ver sure have such hard thoughts of their teachers, 
 and be offended at their plainest, closest dealing. 
 You would then say, ‘I see now the minister says 
 not this of himself; he speaks but that which God, 
 commandeth him: and if he would not deliver the mes- 
 sage of the Lord, he were unworthy and unfit to be 
 his ambassador: he were cruel to me, if he would not 
 pull me out of the fire, by the plainest, closest means. 
 He hiated me, if he would not rebuke me, but suffer 
 sin upon me. If he would please men, he should 
 
 not be the servant of Christ. I know itis no pleasure 
 to him to trouble me, or to provoke me: but it would 
 be his own destruction if he tell me not of my dan- 
 ger. And.JI have no reason to wish him to damn his 
 own soul, and suffer me to do the like by mine, and 
 all for fear of displeasing me in my sin.” These would 
 be your thoughts, if you would but try our words by 
 the scripture, and see whether we speak not the mind 
 of God. 
 
 And sure it would go somewhat deeper in your 
 hearts, and it would stick by you, and be more before 
 
- 
 
 420 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 your: éyes when you once pram that it is’the 
 word of God.: > deorpibnan ten 
 . This then is my request to you, sirs, that the work’ 
 of your conversion may not miscarry, That you would 
 carry all that you hear to the: scripture, and search 
 there, and see whether it be so or not, that so you may 
 be put out of doubt, and may beat a certainty, and not 
 stand wavering ; and that your faith’ may be: resolved 
 
 into the authority of God ; and so the work may be di- 
 
 vine. and consequently powerful and prevailing,» when: 
 
 the ground and motive is divine. If you be not-satis-. 
 fied in the doctrine which the minister delivered to. 
 
 you, first search the scripture yourselves; and if that 
 
 will not do, go to him, and desire him to show you, 
 
 his grounds for it in the word of God, and join with 
 you in prayer for a right understanding of it. Do you 
 question whether there be so severe a judgment, and a 
 heaven and a hell, as ministers tell you? Search the 
 scripture, in Matt. xxv. and 2 Thess. 1. 8; 9,/10. John 
 v. 29. Matt. xiii. Do you question whether a man 
 
 may not be saved without conversion, regeneration, | 
 
 and holiness?’ Open your Bibles, and see what God 
 
 saith, John i. 6. Matt. xviii. 3. 2. Cor. v.'17. Rom: 
 
 vill. 9. Heb. xii 14. Do you think a man may be 
 saved without knowledge? Let scripture judge, 2 Cor. 
 iv. 3,4. John>xvii. 3. Hos. iv. 6. Do youthink a 
 man may be saved that doeth as the most do, and 
 goeth in the common way of the worldr Search the 
 scripture and see, Matt. vii. 13, and xx. 16. and xxii. 
 
 14, Luke xii. 32. Do you think an unhumbled soul. 
 may be saved, that never was contrite and broken-. 
 
 hearted a a Try by Isaiah lvii. 15. and ixvi. 2. 
 
 Psalm li. 17. Luke iv. 18. Matthew xi. 28.. Do you, 
 
 think a man can be a servant of God, that. liveth, a 
 
 fleshly life, and will keep his sin? Try by Rom: viii. 
 13: John iii. 12. Eph. v...5, 6; 1 Johm, iii. 9, 10.. 
 Do you doubt whether it is necessary to make so: 
 
 much ado to be saved, and to be so strict, and make 
 
 religion your chiefest business? Try by Psalm i Pe 
 
 a fl Deteca iv. 18. Hebrews xii. 14. . Luke x. 42. and 
 
 xiii. 24. Eph. v. 15, 16. Do you think a man can 1 ; 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 421 
 
 saved that is a worldling? whose heart is more on 
 earth than heaven? Try by 1 Jobn ii. 15. Phil. ui. 19. 
 Col. iii. 1. Luke xiv. 26, 33. Do you doubt whether 
 you should serve God with yeur families? and instruct 
 ' them, and pray with them? Try by Josh. xxlv. 15. 
 Deut. vi. 7. Dan. vi. 10, 11. Exod. xx. 10. 
 + Thus, if you will in all these weighty matters but 
 go to the scripture, and see whether it says as your 
 teachers say, you might soon be resolved, and that by 
 the surest authority im the world. If you think that 
 your ministers may be deceived, I hope you will con- 
 fess that God cannot be deceived. If you think that 
 your ministers are passionate, or self-conceited, or 
 speak out of ill-will to you, I hope you dare not say 
 so by the Lord: he owes you no ill-will, nor speaksa 
 word but what is most sure. If you think us partial, 
 sure God is impartial! What better judge can you 
 have now, than he that is infallible, and must judge 
 you all at the last? The law is made to: judge. you, 
 and not to be judged by you. None can be the pro- 
 per judges of the sense of the law, but the maker of it ; 
 though others must judge their case' by the law. 
 Your work is to discern it, and understand and obey 
 it; and our work is to help you to understand: it ; but 
 it is neither our work) nor yours, to be the proper or 
 absolute judges of it. At least where it speaks plain, 
 it needs no judge. 
 Come then to the word in meekness and humility, 
 with a teachable frame of spirit,.and a willingness to 
 know the truth, anda resolution to stand to it, and 
 _ yield to what shall be revealed to you; and beg of 
 - God to show. you his will, and lead you into the truth, 
 and you will find that he will be found of them that 
 seek him. 
 * Direction TIl. Ifyou’ would not have the work 
 of your conversion miscarry, my next advice is 
 this : i. * 
 ‘See that ycu be much in the serious consideration 
 of the truths which you understand, between God and 
 you in secret. 
 
422 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 I have often spoken of this heretofore ; but because’ 
 
 I apprehend it to be a point of exceeding great 
 ~ concernment, I shall be longer on it againi thems on 
 the rest. 
 
 The greatest matters in the world will not wrens 
 much upon him that will not think of them. Consi- 
 Geration opens the ears that are stopt, and the heart 
 that was shut up; it sets the powers of the soul to 
 work, and awakeneth it from the sleep of incogitancy 
 and security. The thoughts are the first actings 
 of the soul, that set a-work the rest. Thinking 
 on the matters that must make us wise, and do 
 the work of God on the heart, is that which lieth 
 on us to do in order to our conversion. By con- 
 sideration a sinner makes use of the truth, which be- 
 fore lay by, and therefore could do nothing. By 
 
 consideration he taketh the medicine to his soul,-. 
 
 which before stood by, and could not work. By 
 consideration a man makes use of his reason, which 
 before was laid asleep, and therefore could not do 
 his: work. When the master is from home, the scho- 
 lars will be at ‘play. When the coachman is asleep, 
 the horses may miss the way, and possibly break 
 his neck and their own. If the ploughman go his 
 way, the oxen will stand still, or make but bad un- 
 handsome work.—So when reason, laid asleep, is out 
 of the way, what may not the appetite do? and what 
 may not the passions do? and what may not tempta- 
 tions do with the soul? A wise man, when he is 
 asleep, hath as little use of his wisdom as a fool. 
 A learned man, when he is asleep, can hardly dispute 
 with an wnlearned man that is awake. A strong 
 man that is ever so skilful at his: weapons, is scarce 
 able in his sleep, to deal with the weakest child that 
 is awake. Why, all the powers:of your soul are as it 
 
 were asleep, till consideration awake them, and set . 
 
 -hem at work. And what the better are you for be~ 
 ing men, and having reason, if you have not the use/of 
 your reason when you need it? As men are inconsi- 
 derate because they are wicked, so they are the more 
 
‘TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 425 
 
 wicked ‘because they are inconsiderate. | The keenest 
 sword, the greatest cannon, will’do no execution 
 against an enemy while they lie by, and are not 
 used, There isa mighty power in the word of God, 
 and the example of Christ, to pull down strong holds, 
 and conquer the strongest lusts and corruptions. 
 But they will not do this while they are forgotten 
 and neglected. Will heaven entice the man that 
 thinks not of it? Will hell deter the man that thinks 
 not of it? Why is it that all the reasoning in the 
 world will do no more to a good man that is deaf, 
 than if you said nothing? But because the passage 
 to his thoughts and understanding is stopt up. And 
 if you have eyes and see not, and ears and hear not, 
 and wilfully cast it out of your thought, what good 
 can any thing do to you that is spoken? It is not, 
 ‘holding your meat to your mouth that will nourish 
 
 you, if you will not let it down; nor taking it into’ 
 
 your stomach, if you will not keep it, but presently 
 cast it up again: but it must be kept till it is digested 
 and distributed. So it is not the most excellent 
 truths in the world that will change your hearts; if 
 you let them not down to your hearts, and keep them 
 not there by meditation till they are digested and 
 turned into spiritual life. The plaister. must be laid 
 upon the sore, if you would be cured.—The wound 
 and sickness is at your heart; and if you will not 
 take in the word to your heart, where the sickness 
 is, I know not how you should expect a cure, 
 The soul will not be charmed into holiness, by the 
 bare hearing or saying over a few: good words, as 
 wizards used to cure diseases, or seemed to cure them, 
 It must be truth at the heart that must change the 
 heart.—And if you will not think on, and think on it 
 again, how can you expect it should ever come to 
 your heart? 
 
 You say you,would gladly have Christ and grace, , 
 
 and are ready to lay the blame on God, because he 
 doth not give it you, and say, We cannot convert our- 
 selves: but would you have the. spirit come in, while 
 you hold the door against him? He knocks, and de- 
 
 * 
 
424, DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 sires you to open and let him in, and you wish him 
 to come in; but you bolt the door, and no entreaty 
 will procure you to open it. It is consideration of 
 the saving doctrine of the gospel, that openeth the 
 heart, ‘and giveth it entertainment. Set yourselves 
 therefore on purpose to this work, and open the doors 
 
 of your heart, which are now shut, and let the Kingof 
 
 glory come in. Who will believe that you love the 
 light when you shut the windows, and draw the cur- 
 tains? If you will set yourselves to consider of the 
 truth, the windows of your'soul will be set open; and. 
 then the light will certainly come in. Now you read 
 over whole chapters, and hear sermon) after sermon, 
 and either they never stir you, or at least it is butia 
 little for a fit; like a man that hath a little warmed 
 him at a firein the winter, and: when he’ goes from it 
 is colder than before: but if you would but set your- 
 selves to consider of what you hear or read, one line 
 of a chapter, or one sentence of a sermon, would lay 
 you in tears, or make you groan, or at least do more 
 than now is done. Satan hath garrisoned the, heart 
 of every carnal man: and consideration is the prin- 
 cipal means to. cast him out. If by considering of 
 
 the terrible threatenings of the word, you would dis- ~ 
 
 charge the cannons of ‘God against them, what a bat- 
 tery would it make in the corruptions of your souls! 
 Our God is a consuming fire, and the’ fire of hell is 
 threatened by his law as the wages of sin: by serious 
 consideration you may as it were fetch fire from! God 
 and from his word, and set to the very gates of Sa- 
 tan’s garrison, and fire him out of nee of his” 
 holds. 
 
 But because this is so needful a pomt, if ‘shall be 
 *so large upon it, as, 1. To tell you some of ‘those 
 things” that you should consider of ; 2: To:tell you in 
 what manner you should do it: and 3. To give you 
 some motives to put you on. 
 
 1. The first thing that I would have you often to 
 think on, is, the nature of that God with whom you 
 have to do. Consider, that if he be the most wise, itis 
 all the reason in the world that he should rule you. 
 
 ¥ 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 425 
 
 If he be good, and infinitely good, there is all the rea- 
 son in the world that you should love him; and there 
 is no show of reason, that you should love the world, 
 or sin before him. If he be faithful and true, his 
 threatenings must be feared, and his promises must 
 not be distrusted: and there is no reason that you 
 should make any question of his word. If he be holy, 
 then holiness must needs be most excellent, and those 
 that are the holiest must needs be the best, because 
 they are most like to God; and then he must be an 
 enemy to sin, and to all that are unholy, because they 
 are contrary to his nature. Consider that he is al- 
 mighty, and there is no resisting him, or standing out 
 against him; in the twinkling of an eye can he snach 
 thy guilty soul from thy body, and cast it where sin is 
 better known. A word of his mouth can set all the 
 world against thee; and. set thine own conscience 
 against thee too. A frown of his face can turn thee 
 into hell. And if he be thine enemy, it is no matter 
 who is thy friend; for all the world cannot save thee, 
 if he do but condemn thee. They are blessed whom 
 he blesseth, and they are cursed indeed whom he curs- 
 eth. Ile was from eternity, and thou art but as it were 
 of yesterday ; thy being is from him ; thy life is always 
 in his hands ; thou canst not live an hour without lim, 
 thou canst not fetch a breath without him; nor think 
 a thought, nor speak a word, nor stir a foot or hand, 
 without him: thou mayest better live without bread, 
 or drink, or fire, or air, or earth, or water, than with- 
 out him. All the world is, before him, but as the drop 
 of a bucket, or a little sand or dust, that should be 
 laid in balance with all the earth. Hadst thou but 
 compassed about this lower world, and seen all the 
 nations of it, and its wonderful furniture, and seen the 
 great depts:of the mighty ocean, and the abundance 
 of creatures that be in ail; O what thoughts then 
 wouldst thou have of God! But if thou hadst been 
 above the stars, and seen the sun in all its glory, and 
 seen the frame and course of those higher orbs, and 
 seen the blessed glorious angels, and all the imhabi- 
 14. 3H 
 
426 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS | 
 
 tants of the higher world, O then what thoughts of God’ 
 wouldst thou entertain! O but if it were possible that 
 thou hadst seen his glory, or seen but his back parts, 
 as Moses did, or seen him in Christ, the now glorified 
 Redeemer, what apprehensions wouldst thou have of 
 him then! Then how wouldst thou abhor the name of 
 sin ; and how weary wouldst thou be of the pleasant~ 
 est life that sensuality could afford thee! Then thow 
 wouldst quickly know, that no love can, be great 
 enough, and no praise can be high enough, and no 
 service can be holy and good enough, for such a God 5 
 then you would soon know, that this is net a God to 
 be neglected, or dallied with; nor a God to be re- 
 sisted, nor provoked by the wilful breaking of his. 
 laws. It is eternal life to. know this God; and for want 
 of knowing him, it is that sin aboundeth in the world. 
 This maketh holiness so scarce and lean: Men wor- 
 ship they care not how, because they worship they 
 know not whom. O therefore dwell on the medita- 
 tioas of the Almighty. So far as he doth possess thy 
 mind, there will be no place for sin and vanity.—One 
 would think, If f should set you no farther task, and 
 tell you of no other matter for your meditation, this 
 - one should be enough; for this one is in a manner all: 
 What will not the due knowledge of God do upon the 
 soul? That is the best Christian, and the most happy 
 man, that knoweth most of him ; and that is the most 
 vile and miserable wretch that is furthest from him, 
 and strangest to him: it is, the character of che fool of — 
 fools to have a heart whose disposition and practice 
 saith, there is no God, (c) that is, to be so affected:and — 
 employed in their hearts, as if there were no God; and 
 when God is not in all their thoughts. It was better 
 with man, when he had less knowledge of himself, and 
 fewer thoughts for himself, and more of God. And 
 there is no way to restore us to sound understanding, — 
 and to perfect our knowledge, but to turn our eye upon 
 God again; for in knowing him, we know all that is © 
 worth the hee ine Take hold pik: of the Sait 
 
 ©) Psaim Mv. He 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 4.27 
 
 God in thy meditations, and fill thy thoughts with 
 him, and dwell upon those thoughts. Remember he 
 is always with thee: and wherever thou art, or what- 
 ever thou art doing, most certainly he seeth thee.— 
 As sure as thou art there, the Lord is there. He 
 knows thy thoughts; he hears thy words, he sees all 
 thy ways. And is such a God as this is, to be provoked 
 and despised * Were it not better to provoke and 
 despise all the world? Is his favour to be slighted? 
 Were it not better to lose the favour of all the world? 
 Consider of this. 
 
 2. Another thing that I would have you often 
 think of, is, what end you were made for, and what 
 business it is that you came for into thé world. You 
 may weil think that God made you not in vait: 
 and that he made you for no lower end, than for him- 
 self: and that he would never have made, nor so Jong 
 preserved you, if he had not eared what youdo. He 
 would never have endued you with a reasonable and 
 immortal sou], but for some high, and noble, and 
 immortal end. Surely it was, that you might be hap- 
 
 in knowing him, that he made you capable of 
 knowing him; for he made nothing in vain. It is 
 useful to a horse to know his pasture, and proven- 
 der, and work, and perhaps his master; but he needs 
 not know whether there be a God: and accordingly 
 he is qualified. But it is sure man’s chief concern- 
 ment to know that there is a God, and what he is, 
 and how to serve him, and what he is and will be 
 _to us; or else we should never have been capable 
 of such things. And he would never have made 
 you capable of loving him, but that you should be 
 éxercised and made happy in that love. The frame, 
 and faculties, and capacity, of your souls, and the 
 scope of scripture, do all declare, that you were sent 
 into this world to seek after God, and to love him, and 
 obey him, and rejoice in him, in your measure; and 
 to prepare for a life of nearer communion, where you 
 may enjoy him and please him in the highest perfec- 
 tion. Consider with yourselves, whether a life of sin 
 be that which you were made for? Or whether God 
 
428 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASTONS 
 
 ‘sent you hither to break his laws, and follow your 
 -own lusts? And whether, the satisfying of yeur flesh, 
 and the gathering of a little worldly: wealth, and the 
 feathering of a nest which you must quickly leave, 
 to be like to the business that you were sent about 
 into the world? ry 7 
 
 3. The next thing that I would have you consider 
 of, is, how you have answered the ends of your crea- 
 tion, and how you have done the business that you 
 came into the world to do. Look back upon the drift 
 of your hearts and lives; read over the most ancient 
 records of your conscience; and see what you have 
 been, and «vhat you have been doing in the world tili 
 now.—Have you spent your days in seeking after 
 -God? and your estates and strength in faithfully sery- 
 ing him? Have you lived all this time in the admira- 
 _tion of his excellencies, and the fervent love of him, 
 ‘and delightful remembrance of him, and the zealous 
 worship-.of him? If you had done this, you had not 
 need of a conversion. But consider; have you not 
 forgotten what business you had in the world, and lit- 
 tle minded the world that you should have prepared 
 for, and lived as if you knew not him that made you, 
 or why he made you? Was sport and merriment the 
 end that you were created for? Was ease and idle- 
 ness, or eating or drinking, or vain discourses, or re- 
 creation, the business that you came into the world 
 about? Was living to the flesh, and scraping up 
 riches, or gaping after the esteem of men, the work 
 that God sent you hither todo? Was this it that he 
 preserved you for, and daily gave you in provision for? 
 What, was it it to forget him, and slight him, and turn 
 
 him out of your hearts, and rob him of his service and — 
 
 honour; and set up your flesh in his stead, and give — 
 
 that to it that was due to him? Bethink you what you ~ 
 
 have done, and whether you have done the work that 
 you were sent to do, or not. 
 
 4, The next thing you should use to consider of, is, 
 how grievously you have sinned, and what a case it is 
 that your sin hath brought you into. If you take but 
 an imperial view of your lives, you may see how far 
 
 a 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION 429 
 
 you have missed your marks, and how far you have 
 been from what you should have been, and how little 
 you have done of that which was your business; and 
 O what abundance of aggravations have your sinsj 
 (which I shall pass over now, because I must mention 
 them under another head.) It is not only some actual 
 out-breakings against the bent of your heart and life; 
 but your very heart was false, and gone from God, and 
 set in you to do evil. 
 
 O the time that you have lost; the means and 
 help that you have neglected ; the motions that you 
 have resisted; and swarms of evil thoughts that have 
 filled your imaginations ; the streams of vain and evil 
 words that have flowed from your mouth; the works 
 of darkness, in public and in secret, that God hath 
 seen you in! And all this while, how empty were . 
 you in inward holiness, and how barren of good 
 works, to God or men? What have you done with 
 all your talents! and how little or nothing hath God 
 had of all! : 
 
 And now consider what a case you are in, while 
 you remain unconverted: you have made yourselves 
 the sinks of sin, the slaves of Satan, and the flesh; 
 and are skilful in nothing but doing evil’ ; if you be call- 
 ed to prayer or holy meditation, your hearts are against 
 it, and youare not used to it, and therefore you know not 
 how to do it, to any purpose: but to think the thoughts 
 of lust or covetousness, or hatred or malice, or re- 
 venge, this you can do without any toil ; to speak of 
 the world, or of your sports and pleasures, or against 
 those that you bear ill will to, this you can do without 
 any study: you are such asare spoken of, My people 
 is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish 
 children, and they have no understanding: they are uise 
 to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. (d) 
 ‘You are grown strangers to the God that made you, m 
 whose love and service you should live and find your 
 chief delights. Your hearts are hardened, and you are 
 
 (d) Jer. iv. 22. 
 
430 TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 
 
 dead in your sins; the guilt of the sins of your lives 
 is still upon you; you can neither look imto your 
 hearts or lives, no not one day of your livés, or the best 
 hour that you have spent, but you must see the ugly 
 face of sin which deserveth condemnation. Yon have 
 made God your enemy, that should have been your 
 ‘only felicity; and yet you are always at his merey, and 
 ‘in hishands. Little do you know how long his pa- 
 tience will yet endure you; or what hour he will call 
 away your souls: and if death come, alas, what a case 
 will it find you in! How lamentably unready are you 
 to meet him! How unready to appear before the 
 dreadful God whom you have offended; and what a 
 terrible appearance do you think that will he to you! 
 Most certamly if you die before you are converted, the 
 imevitable consequence will be everlasting misery and 
 despair. The law hath cursed you already; and the 
 execution will be answerable, if you die in your sins. 
 And thus you may see the gain of sin, and what it is 
 that you have been doing all this while for your own 
 souls; and what a case it is that you have brought 
 yourselves into; and what need you have speedily to 
 look about you. 
 5. The next step of your consideration should be 
 this : bethink yourselves what a blessed condition you 
 might be in, if by conversion you were recovered from 
 this misery, and brought home to God. This moved 
 the heart of the prodigal son to return. When he 
 came to himself he said, How many hired servants of 
 
 my father’s have bread cnough, and to spare, and I 
 
 perish with hunger. He that had not husks to feed on 
 with the swine, considered the plenty that he had for- 
 saken at home. The poorest member of the house- 
 hold of Christ is ina better condition than the greatest 
 king on earth that is unconverted. You might have 
 
 lived another kind of life than you have done, for 
 
 safety, and benefit, and true content, if you would 
 have turned your minds and life to God. Were you 
 but converted, you would be living members of Christ, 
 and his precious benefits would be yours; his blood 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 431 
 
 would cleanse you from all your sin, and they would 
 be all freely forgiven you: God would be reconciled 
 to you, and become your friend, yea, your Father 
 and your God; and will take you for his adopted 
 children: the Holy Ghost would dwell in you, and 
 guide your understandings, and show you that which 
 flesh and blood cannot reveal, and bring you into ac- 
 quaintance with the mysteries of God. He will bea 
 Spirit of life and light within you, and work your 
 hearts yet more to God, and give you yet. stronger 
 inclinations and affections to the things above. He 
 will help you when you are weak, and quicken you 
 when you are dull, and be your remembrancer when 
 you are forgetful of necessary things. He will help 
 you in prayer, both for matter and for manner, and 
 help you in meditation, and conference, and other 
 duties; he will warn you of your danger, and strength- 
 en you against temptations, and help you to over- 
 come; and if you fall, he will enable you to rise 
 again. He will be an indwelling comforter to you, 
 and so effectually speak peace to you in the midst of 
 your disquietness, that by speaking it, he will cre- 
 ate it in you; and in the multitude of your thoughts 
 within you, his comforts will delight your souls. O 
 what a life, might you live, if Christ by his Spirit 
 did once live in you! You may easily conjecture haw 
 tender Christ would be of his own members, how 
 dearly he would love them, how constantly he would 
 watch over them, how plentifully he would provide 
 for them, and how safely he would preserve them! 
 And if you should come into a rougher way, he would 
 lead you out. Afflictions should never be laid on you 
 but for your good ; and continue no longer than your 
 need continueth them, and be taken off at last to your 
 satisfaction and contentment. Indeed your life would 
 be a life of mercies: and that which is but a common 
 merey to common men, would be a special mercy to 
 you as coming from your Father's love, and furthering 
 your salvation, and hinting out to you your everlasting 
 mercies. You could not open your eyes, but you 
 would see that which may encourage and comfort you; 
 
432 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 all the works of God which you behold, would: show 
 you his majesty, his love and power, and lead you to 
 himself. You could not open your Bible, but you 
 would find in it the blessed lines of love: O what 
 good it would do you to read there the blessed attri-. 
 butes of your God! to look upon his name! to peruse 
 the description of his most perfect nature! What good 
 would it do you to read of the nature, and incar- 
 nation, and life, and death, and resurrection, and 
 ascension, and intercession, and return of your bless- 
 ed Redeemer! What good would it do to you to find 
 those holy rules which your new nature is agreeable 
 to, and to read over the law that is written in your 
 hearts, and read the curse from which you are de- 
 livered! What life and joy would your souls receive 
 from the many, and full, and free promises of grace! 
 Were you once but truly sanctified and made new, 
 your condition would be often comfortable, and al- 
 ways safe: and when you were in the greatest fears 
 and perplexities, you would still be fast in the arms 
 of Christ! And what a life would that be, to have 
 daily access to God in prayer ; to have leave, in all 
 your wants and dangers, to seek him with a promise 
 of hearing and success! that you may be sure of 
 much more from him, than a child can from the 
 tenderest father, or a wife from the most loving hus- 
 band upon earth! What a life would it be, when you 
 may always think on God as your felicity, and. fetch 
 your highest delights from whom the ungodly have 
 their greatest terrors! And it is no contemptible 
 part of your benefits, that you may live among his 
 people, and in their special love; and have,a special 
 communion with them, and interest in their prayers, — 
 and. may possess among them the privileges of the 
 saints, and the ordinances of God: that instead of 
 idle talk, and the unprofitable fellowship of the chil- 
 dren and works of darkness, you may join with the 
 ‘church of God in his praises, and feed with them at — 
 his table on the body and blood of Christ, and ther — 
 have conveyances of renewed grace, and a renewed par- 
 don sealed to yoursouls. But how long should I stay 
 
TO A SOUND GONVERSION. 433. 
 
 if 1 showld tell you but one balf the blessings of a 
 sanctified and spiritual:state? In a word, God would 
 be yours, Christ would be yours, the Holy, Ghost 
 would be yours, all things would be yours; the whole 
 world would have some relation to your welfare; 
 devils would be subdued to: you, and cast out. of 
 your souls; sin would be both pardoned and over- 
 come; angels would be ministering spirits unto you 
 for your good; the promises, of scripture would. be 
 yours; and everlasting glory would at last be, yours: 
 and while you staid on earth, you might, comfort 
 yourselves as often as you would, with the believing 
 foresight of that inconceivable, unspeakable, endless 
 felicity. 
 
 O sirs, what a treasure have I here expressed in a 
 few words! What hearts would you have, if you were 
 but possessed, lively and sensibly, of all that is, con- 
 tained in this leaf or two! You would not envy the 
 greatest prince on earth his glory, nor change states 
 with any man that was a stranger to these, things. — 
 Did you but use to consider of the state of the saints, 
 how could you keep off, and stay with sin,.and make 
 so many delays in turning unto God!—Sure this.con- 
 sideration might turn the scales. 
 
 The next part of your meditation should be of the 
 
 gracious and wonderful work of your redemption ; 
 and the means and remedies which are provided for 
 your souls, and the terms on which salvation,may he 
 obtained. 
 - For all the sins which you have committed, you 
 are not given over to despair; the Lord hath not left 
 you without a remedy. Your conversion and salva- 
 ‘tion is not a thing impossible. Nay,.so much is done 
 by Christ already, that it is brought upon reasonable 
 terms evento your hands. A new and living way is 
 consecrated for us by Christ, through the vail of his 
 flesh, and by his blood we may have boldness to en- | 
 ter into the holiest. f) He hath borne your burden 
 
 (f) Heb. x. 19, 20. 
 14, ee 
 
434 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 and offereth you, instead of it, his burden, *which, is 
 light.(g¢) He hath removed the impossibility, and nailed 
 to his cross the hand-writing that avas against you,(h.) 
 and instead of it offereth you his easy yoke. He 
 hath spoiled the: principalities and, powers that had 
 captivated you, and openly triumphed over them on 
 the cross.’ You are not left:under the care of making 
 satisfaction to God for your own sins, but only of 
 accepting the Redeemer, that hath satisfied. It will 
 be for want of faith in you, and not for want of. satis- 
 faction by the Redeemer, if any of you perish... And 
 how free are his offers! how full are his promises! 
 You are conditionally all pardoned and justified ,al- 
 ready, as is legible under the hand of God. And the 
 condition which is imposed upon you, is: not some 
 meritorious or mercenary work, but the accepting:of 
 the benefit freely given, according to its nature, use, 
 and end. This is the faith by which you must, be 
 justified. These are the terms on which you may be 
 saved. And which is more, the Lord hath. provided 
 means, even excellent, and plentiful, and powerful 
 means, for the furthering of your souls in the per- 
 formance of this condition, and helping you to be- 
 lieve and repent, that -you may live: and if the Spi- 
 rit make not these means effectual, and adjoin not his 
 special grace, and after this you remain unconverted, 
 it will not be long of him, but of yourselves. So 
 that you may perceive how hopeful a case you are yet 
 in, by the blood of your Redeemer, if you destroy — 
 not your own hopes, and make not your case despe- — 
 rate by wilful impenitency, and refusal of free grace. — 
 How fair are you yet for heaven! and what happy 
 advantages have you for salvation! It is brought even 
 to your doors; itis thrust as it were into’ your hands: 
 - the Redeemer hath done so much for youall, as) to — 
 bring your salvation to the choice of your own wills. — 
 You have precepts to believe, you are threatened if 
 you will not believe; you have promise upon promise, 
 and Christ himself offers you pardon, and life, and sal- — 
 
 (g) Matt. xi. 30. (A) Col. ii. 14,15. +! 
 
“To A SOUND CONVERSION. 435 
 
 vation with him, if you are but truly: and, heartily 
 willing. You have God himself condescending’ to be- 
 seech you to accept them: and ambassadors entreat- 
 ing you in his name and stead. : You have ordinances 
 fitted to your necessities, both reading and preaching, 
 and sacraments and prayer... You ‘have store of plain 
 and powerful ‘books: you have the! godly! about: you, 
 most desirous to assist you, that would: be glad to 
 see or hear of your conversion: ‘you have the sight of 
 the wicked, that are wallowing’ in their dwn: dung, 
 and the dirt of the world, to make you hate’ such 
 beastly ways. You have reason and conscience with- 
 in you, to consider of these matters, and set them 
 home and apply them to yourselves; you have time 
 and strength to do all this, if yow will not abuse it, 
 and provoke God to take it from you for your negli- 
 gence. You have mercies of many sorts, outward 
 _and inward, to win upon you’ and encourage you in 
 
 the work; and sometimes afflictions to remember'you, 
 and awaken you, and spur youon., The devil and 
 ail your enemies are so far disabled, they: cannot de- 
 stroy you against your wills, nor keep you from:Christ, 
 but by your own consents. The angels of heaven are 
 ready to help you, and would even rejoice: at your 
 conversion. This is your case,» and these: are. ‘your 
 helps and encouragements; you are not shut up 
 under desperation. | God never told you: it is in vain 
 to think of conversion; itis too late. Ifany have told 
 you so, it was the devil, and not God: and one would 
 think, that such considerations as these should drive 
 the nail to the head, and be effectual to move you to 
 resolve and turn. x 
 
 7. The last thing that I would set before you to be 
 considered, is, whatis like to be the end of it, if after 
 allthis you should die unconverted. 
 
 O sirs, your hearts are not able now to conceive of 
 it, nor the tongue of any mortal man to utter it. _ But 
 so much of it we can certainly utter, as one would 
 think should: make your hearts tremble. » You have 
 seen, it may be,-a dying man, in what pangs and ago- 
 
436 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 ‘nies he parteth with his soul: and you have iseen, its 
 Tike, the corpse that was left there behind; 4nd seen it 
 Jaid in the common earth. But) yow see mot what 
 became of the soul, nor what an appearance it made 
 in another world, nor what company-did attend it, nor 
 what a place or state it passed into. ,O sirs, when 'the 
 hour is at hand, that this must be your own case, it 
 will awaken you to other kind of,affections than you 
 have, or can have at the reading of these words.:  Itis 
 wonderful, that a little distance should make us so in- 
 sensible of that change which we are all certain will 
 come to pass: and yet through the folly and deafness 
 of our hearts it is so; but they are other kind of 
 thoughts of these weighty matters, which we shall have 
 
 the next hour after death, than the liveliest affections - 
 
 beforehand can afford us. 
 
 The misery was great that the Redeemer did. find 
 you in, and which you deserved by your sin against 
 the law of the Creator. But if you be found uncon- 
 verted at last, your punishment will be much sorer, 
 and your case far worse than it was before. The Re- 
 deemer's law or gospel hath its peculiar threatening, 
 which differeth from the law of the mere Creator in 
 several respects: Even, 1. in the nature of the punish- 
 ment, which will be torments of conscience for the 
 neglect of a Redeemer and recovering grace, which 
 you should never have left if you never had been re- 
 deemed. 2. And in the degree of the. punishment, 
 which will be far sorer.. And, 3. in the remedilessness 
 of it, the sentence being irreversible and peremptory; 
 the first law indeed provided no remedy, butit did not 
 exclude remedy, nor make it impossible; but the law 
 of Christ doth positively and expressly exclude all re- 
 medy, and leaveth the soul, that goeth unconverted out 
 ofthe body, to utter desperation and misery, without 
 help or hope of end. 
 
 II. Having told you what should be tne matter of — 
 
 your consideration, I shall next tell you. (but briefly) 
 m what manner you should perform it. And here I 
 shall not stand to prescribe to you any long or exact 
 
 - 
 
 ——— se ST 
 
 es 
 . 
 
 fae >. 
 
TO A/SOUND CONVERSION. | A437 
 
 method for meditation, both because it agreeth not 
 with my present resolved brevity, and because the 
 persons that I now’ deal with, are not capable of ob- 
 serving such rules; and if any desire’ such helps, they 
 may transfer the directions which are given on another 
 em in my book of Rest, to the subject now in 
 hand. wT 
 ~~ 1. Do not stay tillsuch thoughts willcome ofthem- - 
 Selves into your minds, but set yourselves purposely to 
 consider of these matters. Take some time to ‘call 
 your souls toan account concerning their present state, 
 and their preparations for eternity. Ifa heaten Se- 
 neca could call himself every night to an account, for 
 the evil committed: and the good on,itted in the day 
 past, as he professed that he ordinarily did; why may 
 not even an unconverted man, that hath the helps that 
 are now among us, bethink himself of the state of» his 
 soul?’ But I know that a carnal heart is exceeding 
 backward to serious consideration, and is loth to be 
 troubled with such thoughts as these; and the devil 
 will do what he can to hinder it, by himself and others; 
 but yet) if men would do what they may do, it might 
 be better with them than it is. Will you but now and 
 then purposely withdraw yourselves from company 
 _ Into some secret place, and there set the Lord before 
 
 your-eyes, and call your souls toa strict account about 
 the matters that I have mentioned even now, and make 
 it your business to exercise your reason upon them; 
 and as you purposely go to church to hear, so pur- 
 posely set yourselves to this duty of consideration, as 
 a necessary thing? ; , 
 
 3. When you are upon it, labour to waken your 
 souls, and to be very serious in all your thoughts; and 
 do not think of the matters of salvation, as you would 
 of an ordinary trivial business, which you do not much 
 regard or care how it goes. But remember that your 
 life lieth on it, even your everlasting life: and there- 
 fore call up the most earnest of your thoughts, and 
 rouse up all the powers of your souls, and suffer them 
 not to draw back, but command them to the work: 
 and then set the seven points that I mentioned even 
 
 ¢ 
 
438 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 now before you; and as you think of! them, Jabour to 
 be: affected with them, in somé measure »according ito 
 their exceeding weight;. as’ Mosesysaid/ to Israel, Set 
 your hearts to all the words which I testify among you 
 this day; which ye shall command your: children; ito do, 
 &c.For it is nota vain thing for you, ‘because it is 
 your life. (7) And as Christ said, Let these sayings sink 
 anto your ears.(k)y So I say to you, let the matters 
 which you think of go to: your hearts, and sink: down 
 to the quick of your affections.) to tobi 
 
 « And if your hearts would slip away from the work, 
 and other thoughts would creep into your. mind, and 
 you are weary of these'considerations before they have 
 done their work, see that you give not way to this lazi- 
 ness, or unwillingness; but remember it,is a work that 
 must be done, and therefore hold your thoughts upon 
 it, till your hearts are stitred and warned within you. 
 And if after all you cannot awake them to seriousness 
 and sensibility, put two or three ouch waleretis qhen: 
 tions as these to yourselves. © 1!) 
 
 1: Quest. What if it were but the case of! my body, 
 or state or name, should I not’ earnestly consider 
 of it. Ifone do but wrong me, how easily I can think 
 of it, and how tenderly do I feel it; and can ;scarce 
 forget it? If my good name: be blemished, and I be 
 but disgraced, I can think of it night and day::if I 
 lose but a beast, or have any cross in the world, or 
 decay in my estate, I can think of it; with ‘sensibility: 
 if I lose a child or a friend, I can feel it:as well as 
 think of it. Ifmy health be decayed, and my life in — 
 danger, I am in good earnest in! thinking of this. © 
 And should I not be as serious in the matters of ever- — 
 lasting life? Should I not think of it, and soberly and — 
 earnestly think of it, when body and soul do lie at 
 the stake, and when it concerneth my cveniaating | joy 
 or eorinieht? & 
 
 2. Quest. What if I had but heard the Son of God 
 himself calling on me to repent, and be converted, 
 and seconding his commands with that earnest ex- 
 
 @) Deut. xxii. 46. (A) Luke ix. 44. | 
 
TO A’ SOUND CONVERSION. 439 
 
 pression, He that hath-an ear to hear let him hear; 
 would it not have brought me to some serious thoughts 
 of my state? Why, this he hath done in his word, 
 and doth it by his ambassadors, and. why then should 
 [not consider it? ©: iw] “ 
 
 /S. Quest. If I did,but know that death were at my 
 back, and ready to arrest me, and,that I should be in 
 another world before this day seven-night, I should 
 then begin to bethink me in good sadness: and 
 why do I not so now, when I have no hold of my life 
 an hour, and when I am sure that shortly that time 
 will come? 
 
 4, Quest. If my eyes were but open to. see that 
 which I pretend to: believe, and which is certainly 
 true; even to see a glimpse of the majesty of the 
 Lord, to see the saints in joy and glory; and to see 
 the damned souls in misery, and if I heard their la- 
 mentations; would not even this force my heart, to 
 consideration?, O then how earnestly should I think 
 of these things! And why should I not do so now, 
 when they are as sure as if I saw them, and when 
 I must see them ere it be long? | 
 
 Many more such awakening questions are at hand, 
 but I give you but these brief touches onthe things 
 that are most common and obvious, that the most 
 ignorant may be able to make some use'of them, With 
 such thoughts as these, you must bring on your back 
 wardshearts, and shake them out of their insensibili 
 ty, andawaken them tothe work. © 
 
 Iif., When you have’ brought your hearts; to. be 
 _ serious, be sure that you drive on your considera- 
 ‘tions toa resolution.’ Break not off in the middle, 
 or before. you bring the matter to an issue: but let,all 
 -be done in. order)to. practice. When you have, been 
 thinking of the excellencies of God. and the world to 
 ‘come, and comparing them with all the delights on 
 ‘earth; put the) question then to. your, hearts, and 
 ‘say, What sayest ‘thou, O my soul! which’ of, these 
 is‘ the better for thee? which is the more desirable? 
 and which of them shouldst thou)prefer? Resolve then, 
 
440 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS. 
 
 and make thy ‘choice according’ to the! light and con- 
 victions which thou hast received. When you’ are 
 thinking of the reasons that should move you'to be 
 converted, ask yourselves, Whether these reasons be 
 not clear, and what you have to say against them? 
 And whether any thing that can be said to. the 
 contrary, can prove it better for you to be as you 
 
 are, and to remain ‘unconverted? Ask yourselves, — 
 
 Is my judgment resolved, or is it not? And if it be, 
 (as sure it must be, if you be not beside yourselves,) 
 then write it down under your hands, or at least 
 in your hearts: ‘Ido here confess before the Lord, 
 that his commands are just, his motions are reasona- 
 ble, his offers are exceeding merciful: I am satisfied 
 that it is best for me to turn to him speedily, and: with 
 all. my heart: I confess before him, that I have no 
 reason to the contrary that deserves to be owned 
 and called reason: this is my own judgment; of thisI 
 am convinced. If I turn not after this, the light that 
 is in me, and the judgment that I now possess, must 
 needs be'a-witness against my soul.’ If you would 
 but thus drive on the case to a resolution of your 
 judgments, you would have a great advantage for the 
 resolving of your wills; which is the next thing that 
 you must proceed to. And therefore next ask your- 
 ‘selves, Why should I not now resolve, and fixedly 
 resolve, to turn without any more delay?» Is not 
 the case plain before me? What reason have’ I to 
 stand questioning the matter any longer, and to be 
 unwilling to be happy? Shall I provoke God by 
 
 dallying with him, and hazard my soul by lingering - 
 
 out my time, in such a miserable state? No: by the 
 grace of God I will return even this hour, without 
 ‘any more delay. Thus. drive on all your: considera- 
 ‘tion to resolution. 
 
 ~ By this time you may see of what necessity this duty 
 of consideration is, and how it:must be performed, that 
 it may further your conversion: /but because it isa 
 matter of so great necessity,/I 4m loth to leave it thus, 
 till I have done what: I can to persuade you to the 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 P 
 
 nites 
 
 OO 
 
 ‘ 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 441 
 
 “practice of it. To which end I -entreat you to think 
 of these following motives. 
 
 1. Consideration is a duty that you may perform if 
 you will. You cannot say that it is wholly out of 
 your power; so that you are left inexcusable, if you 
 will not be persuaded to it. You say, you cannot con- 
 vert yourselves: but cannot you set yourselves to 
 consider of your ways, and bethink you of those 
 truths that must be the instruments of your conver- 
 sion? Your thoughts are partly at the command of 
 your will: you can turn them up and down from 
 one thing to another. Even an unsanctified minister, 
 that hath no saving relish of spiritual things, can think 
 of them, that he may preach them to others: and 
 why cannot you then turn your thoughts to them for 
 yourselves? You can think of house and land, and 
 friends and trading, and of any thing that aileth you, 
 or any thing that you want, or any thing that you 
 Jove, or think would do you good: and why cannot 
 you think of your sin and danger, of God, and of his 
 word and works, of the state of your souls, and of ever- 
 lasting life? Are you not able to go sometimes by 
 yourselves, and consider of these matters? Are you 
 not able, when you are alone in your beds, or as you 
 travel in the way, or at-your labour, to bethink you 
 how things stand with your souls? Why are you 
 not able? What is it that could hinder you, if you 
 were but willing? ; 
 
 2. Yea, further, consideration is so cheap a remedy, 
 that if you will not use this, you despise your souls ; 
 yea, and you despise the Lord himself, and the ever- 
 lasting things which you are called to consider of. 
 A man that is in danger of losing his estate, or health, 
 or life, and will not so much as bethink him of a re- 
 medy, doth sure set light by them, and lose them by 
 his contempt. A man that had but his house on fire, 
 and would not so much as think how to quench it, 
 doth deserve that it should be burnt. If your parents, 
 or children, or ffiends, were in distress, if you would 
 not so much as think of pa it were a sign that you 
 
 15. 3 
 
442 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 did not set much by them. Why, sirs, are not your 
 souls worth the thinking on? Is not God, is not your 
 Redeemer worth the thinking on? And yet you will 
 hypocritically pretend that you love God above all, 
 when you will not so much as seriously think of him. — 
 How can you show greater contempt of any thing, 
 than to cast it out of your minds as unworthy to be 
 thought on? And how can you more plainly shew 
 that you despise God and heaven, than by such a — 
 course as this? If it be not worth thinking on, it is 
 worth nothing. : 
 
 3. Consider that God doth not set so lightly by 
 your salvation. He thought it worth a great deal 
 more. Must Christ think it worth his bloody suffer- 
 ings, and worth such a life of labour and sorrow; and 
 will you not judge it worth your serious consider- 
 ation? If he had not thought on it, and thought — 
 again how miserable should we have remained! Mi- 
 nisters also must think on it, and study how to save 
 your souls. And should you not study how to save 
 
 our own? Must another man make it the business 
 of his life to think how to do you good, that you may 
 be saved; and are you not as much bound to do good 
 to yourselves? Yea, all that fear God about you 
 are bound to study to do you good; and should you 
 not bethink you then of the things that concern your 
 own good? 
 
 4. Moreover, what have you your reason for, but 
 to consider? And wherein do you differ from the 
 beasts, so much as in your reason? If you have 
 reason, and will not use it, you brutify yourselves ; 
 you live like madmen: for what is madness, but a 
 loss of the use of reason? And do you think it a 
 small thing to deface so noble a creature as man, and 
 to turn yourselves ito beasts, and madmen? Do 
 you think that God will not call you to account for 
 your reason, how you have used it? Doubtless he 
 gave it you for a higher employment, than to enable 
 you to plow and sow, and follow your trades, and 
 provide for your flesh. If this were all that a man did 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. . 443 
 
 exceed a beast in, what a silly wretched wight -were 
 man! Yea, so much more miserable than the beasts 
 as his knowledge begets more care, and sorrow, and 
 fear, than theirs. What matter is it for having reason 
 at all, if it be not that we may use it for the matters of 
 God, and eternal life? . 
 
 5. Moreover, your soul is an active principle, 
 which will be working one way or other; your 
 thoughts will be going on one thing or other; and 
 _ therefore the bare consideration is no great labour to 
 you. And if you must lay out your thoughts on 
 something, is it not better to lay them out on these 
 things than on any other? Have you any better mat- 
 ters to think on than these? Have you any greater 
 matters, or matters of greater necessity, to think of ? 
 You cannot sure imagine it; at least you will not say 
 so, for shame. This makes your inconsiderateness an 
 inexcusable sin. If thinking were a toil to you, it 
 were another matter. But when you must think of 
 something, why not of God, and your eternal state, 
 
 and the way to heaven, as well as of other matters ? 
 Will you rather throw away your thoughts than God 
 shall have them? If a man command his servant that 
 is lame to go on his business, the refuser hath a good 
 excuse: I cannot go, or not without great pain and 
 danger. But if he have a son, or a servant, that is so 
 wanton that he cannot stand on his legs, but spends 
 his time in running up and down, and dancing, and leap- 
 ing; this person hath no excuse, if he will refuse to go 
 on his master’s or his father’s errand, but will gad 
 about on his pleasure all day, and will not go a few 
 steps when he is bidden; especially if it were for his 
 own life or welfare. So, when you have thoughts that 
 will not be kept idle, but will be gadding abroad 
 through the world, and yet you will not think of God, 
 and the matters of your peace, what wilfulness is 
 this! If you should ask one that hath it not, for 
 meat or drink,.or money, they might well deny you. 
 But if you ask these of one that hath abundance, and 
 knows not what to do with them, but would throw 
 
444 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS = 
 
 them down the channel rather than you should haye 
 them, what would you think of such a one? espe- 
 cially if it were your servant or your child, that owed 
 you much more?—Thus do you by God and your 
 own souls. You have thoughts enough and to spare, 
 you know not what to do with them; and yet rather 
 than you will spend one hour in a day or a week, in 
 serious thoughts of the state of your souls, and the 
 life to come, you will cast them away upon news and 
 tales, and other people’s business, that do not concern 
 you; yea, you will cast them down the sink of covet- 
 ousness, and malice, and lust, and wantonness, 
 
 and make them servants to the devil and the flesh._— 
 
 If you have a brook running by your land, you will 
 endeavour to turn it over your ground, that seeing it 
 must run, it may as well run that way where it may 
 ‘do good, as run in vain. So when your thoughts 
 must run, is it not better that you turn them to your 
 own hearts and states, to prepare for the world that 
 you are ready to step into, than to let them run in 
 vain? If you see a man go into a wine cellar, (though 
 it be his own,) and pull out all the spiggots, and let 
 all the wine run about the cellar, and suffer nobody 
 to catch it, or be the better for it, what would you 
 conceive of the wisdom and charity of that man ?— 
 Your thoughts are a thing more precious than wine, 
 
 and such a thing as should not be spilt. And yet is © 
 
 not this your every day’s practice? You are before 
 Him that knows your thoughts: deny it if you can. 
 What hour of the day can a man come to you, and 
 find your thoughts altogether idle? What minute of 
 an hour can a man come and ask you, What are you 
 now thinking on? And can you truly say, Nothing? 
 I know, as long as you are awake, you are always 
 thinking of somewhat; and perhaps when you are 
 asleep. And what is iton? This body shall have a 
 thought, and that body a thought; every word you 
 hear, and every wrong that is done you, and almost 
 every thing you look upon, shall have a thought: but 
 
 God and your own salvation shall have none; that is, — 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. A445 
 
 you will lose them, and let them run in waste; but 
 you will do no good with them, nor take in any profit 
 by them to yourselves.. 
 
 6. Have you any thing that better deserves your 
 consideration than God and your salvation? Certainly 
 God hath more right to your thoughts, than any 
 thing else you can place them on. Your flesh, your 
 friends, your worldly business, are neither so honour- 
 able, so necessary, or so profitable subjects, as God 
 and heaven are. As there is more profit to be got by 
 
 _the tillage of fruitful land, than barren heath; or by 
 digging in a mine of gold, than in a clay-pit: so is 
 there more pleasure and profit to be gotten in one 
 hour's serious thoughts of your salvation, than in 
 thinking all your life-time of the world. 
 
 7. At least methinks you should consider, how 
 disproportionably and unequally you lay out your 
 thoughts. Cannot you spare God the tenths? no, 
 nor the hundredth part of them? Look back upon 
 your lives, and trace your thoughts from day to day, 
 and tell me how many hours in a week, in a month, in 
 a year, you have spent in serious thoughts of the state 
 of your souls, and of the life to come? Is it one hour 
 of a hundred, of a thousand, of ten thousand, with 
 some of you, that is thus spent? Nay, I have very 
 great cause tc fear, that there are some, yea, that there 
 are many, yea, that there is far the greatest number, 
 that never spent one hour since they were born in 
 withdrawing themselves purposely from all other busi- 
 ness, and soberly, and in good sadness, bethinking 
 themselves what case they are in, what evidence they 
 have of their title to salvation, or how they must be 
 justified at the bar of God; no, nor what business they 
 have in the world, and to what end they were made, 
 and how they have done the work that they were 
 made for. Ah, sirs, doth conscience justify you in 
 this? or, rather, will it not torment you one day to 
 remember it? Did thy land, and livings, and worldly 
 matters, deserve all thy thoughts; and did not the 
 saving of thy soul deserve some of them? Did thy 
 lusts, and Eure and wantonness, deserve all; and did 
 
446 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 not God deserve some of them? Was it not worth: 
 
 now and then an hour's time, no, not one hour’s study 
 in all thy life, to bethink thee in good sadness how to 
 make sure of a life of endless joy and glory, and how 
 to escape the flames of hell? This is not an equal dis- 
 tribution of thy thoughts, as thou wilt confess at last 
 in the horror of thy soul. ; 
 
 8. It is the end of your present time and warnings, 
 that you may consider, and prepare for your everlast- 
 ing state. What have you to do on earth, but to con- 
 sider how to get well to heaven? O that you did but 
 
 know what a mercy it is, before you enter upon an— 
 
 endless life, to have but time to bethink you of it, and 
 
 to make your election sure! If yon were to be called — 
 
 away suddenly this night, and the angel of the Lord 
 should say to any of you, Prepare; for within this 
 hour thou must die, and appear before the living God: 
 then would you not cry out, O not so suddenly, 
 Lord? Let me have a little more time to consider of 
 my condition: Let me have one month longer, to 
 
 bethink me of the case of my soul, and to make sure — 
 
 that I am justified from the guilt of my sins: Let me 
 have one day more at least to prepare for my everlast- 
 ing state; for, alas, I am yet unready! Would not 
 these be your cries, if God should call you presently 
 away? And yet now you have time, you will not con- 
 sider of these matters, and prepare. 
 
 9. Moreover, is it not time for you to consider your 
 
 ways, when God doth consider them? If he would — 
 forget them, or did not regard them, you might regard — 
 
 them the less yourselves: but be sure of it, he doth 
 observe them whether you do or not, and he remem- 
 bereth them though you forget them. Dost thou not 
 know that all the sins of thy life are still on record be- 
 fore the Lord? Thou numberest my steps: dost thou not 
 watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a 
 bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.) Do you think 
 that God forgets your sins as you forget them? Saith 
 the Lord by the prophet Hosea, They consider not in 
 
 (2) Job xiv. 16, 17. 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION: 447 
 
 their hearts, that I remember all their wickedness : 
 now their doings have beset them about, they are 
 before my face. But you will say, What if God do 
 consider our ways? Why surely then it is not for 
 nothing, but evil is near if not prevented. As the Lord 
 saith, Is this not laid up in store with me, and sealed 
 up among my treasures? To me belongeth ven- 
 geance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due 
 time. For the day of their calamity is at hand; and 
 the things that shall come upon them make haste. If 
 God be registering up thy sins, thou hast cause to 
 tremble to think what that portends; for in this 
 hardness and impenitency of thy heart, thou art 
 treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath, and re- 
 velation of the righteous judgment of God. As grace 
 is the seed of glory, so sin is the seed of shame, and 
 trouble, and everlasting torment: and though it may 
 seem long before the harvest, you will taste the bitter 
 fruit at last; and whatsoever you have sowed, that 
 shall you reap. 
 10. Moreover, if any thing ailed you, you look that 
 God should presently consider you; or if you want 
 any thing, you think he should consider your wants: 
 and yet will you not consider of him, and of your own 
 wants? When you are in trouble, you will cry to 
 God, Have mercy upon me, O Lord, consider my 
 trouble: Consider and hear me, O God. When you 
 lie in pain and sickness, you will then cry to God, 
 Consider mine affliction, and deliver me. If you be 
 oppressed or abused, you will groan as the Israelites 
 under their task-masters, and perhaps cry to God, as 
 the captive people, See, O Lord and consider; for I 
 am become vile: Remember, O Lord, what is come 
 upon us: Consider and behold our reproach. And 
 must God consider of you, that will not consider of 
 him or your own souls? Or may you not rather expect 
 that dreadful answer which he gives to such regard- 
 less sinners,(m) and hear your cries as you hear his 
 counsel, and think of you as you thought of him? 
 (m) Prov. 1. 24—30. 
 
448 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 Nay, more than so; even while you forget him, the 
 Lord doth daily consider you, and supply your wants, 
 and ‘save you from dangers; and should you then 
 cast him out of your thoughts? If he did not think 
 on you, you would quickly feel it to your cost and 
 sorrow. | 
 
 11. Moreover, the nature of the matter is such, as 
 one would think should force a. reasonable creature 
 to consider of it, and often and earnestly to consider. 
 When all these things concur in the matter, he must 
 be a block or a madman that will not consider. 1. 
 When they are the most excellent, or the greatest” 
 things in all the world. 2. When they are our own 
 matters, or nearly concern us. 3. When they are the 
 most necessary, and profitable, and delightful things. 
 And, 4. When there is much difficulty in getting them, 
 and danger of losing them. And all these go together ~ 
 in the matter of your salvation. 3 
 
 1. If you will not think of God, and your souls, of ' 
 heaven and hell, what then will you think of? All ~ 
 other things in the world are but toys and jesting mat- ; 
 ters to these. Crowns and kingdoms, lands and lord- — 
 ships, are but chaff and baubles, dirt and dung, to 
 these everlasting things. The acts of renowned kings 
 and conquerors, are but as puppet-plays in comparison 
 of the working out of your salvation. And yet will you 
 not be drawn to the consideration of such astonishing © 
 things as these? One would think that the exceeding © 
 greatness of the matter should force you to consider — 
 it, whether you will or no: when smaller objects ~ 
 affect not the senses, yet greater will even enforce their — 
 way.. He that hath so hard a skin that he cannot feel — 
 a feather, methinks should feel the weight of a mill-— 
 stone; snd if he feel not the prick of a pin, methinks © 
 he should feel a dagger. He that cannot hear one 
 whisper, methinks should hear a cannon, or a clap 
 of thunder, if he has any such thing as hearing left — 
 to him. He hath bad eyes that cannot see the sun. 
 One would think that so glorious an object as God, 
 should so entice the eyes of men, that they should not 
 
 ——— 
 
TO. A SOUND CONVERSION. 449 
 
 look off lim. One would think that such matters as 
 heaven and hell should follow thy thoughts which way 
 ever thou goest, so that thou shouldst not be able to 
 look» beside them, or to think almost of any thing 
 else, unless with great neglect and disesteem. O what 
 a thing is a stony heart, that can forget not only the 
 God that he liveth by, but also the place where he 
 must live for ever: yea,. that will not be persuaded 
 to the sober consideration of it for one hour! 
 
 2. And as these are the greatest matters, so they 
 are your own matters; and therefore one would think 
 you should not need so much ado to bring you to con- 
 sider them. If it were only other men’s matters, I 
 should not wonder at it. But self-love should make 
 you regard your own. In outward matters all seek 
 their own things. And have they not more reason to 
 seek their own salvation? It is your own souls, your 
 own danger, your own sin, your own duty, that I per- 
 suade you to consider of. It is that God and Christ, 
 that would be your own: it is that heaven, that bless- 
 edness, that may be your own, if you lose it not by 
 neglect: it is that hell and torment, that will cer- 
 tainly be your own if you prevent it not. And should 
 not these be thought on? You will think of your 
 own goods, lands, or riches; of your own families, 
 your own business, your own lives: and why not also 
 of your own salvation? 
 
 3. Especially, when it is not only your own, but it 
 is the one thing needful :—It is that which your life 
 or death, your everlasting joy or torment, lieth on; 
 and therefore must be considered of, or you are 
 utterly undone for ever. Necessity lieth upon you; 
 and woe be to you if you consider not these things.— 
 It is not so necessary that you eat or drink, or sleep, 
 or live, as it is necessary that you make sure your 
 everlasting life-—And the profit also doth answer,the 
 necessity. Buy but this one pearl, and you will be 
 infinite gainers, though you sell all that you have in the 
 world to buy it. Get God, and get all: make sure of 
 
 15. 3.1L 
 
450 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS. . 
 
 heaven, and then fear no loss, nor want, nor sorrow. 
 If you count not all the world as dung, for the win- 
 ing of Christ, that you may be found im him,  pos- 
 sessed of his righteousness, it is because you know 
 neither the world nor Christ.—Yea, the delight also 
 - will answer the commodity: for in the presence of 
 God is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are plea- 
 sures for evermore. And the fore-thoughts of them 
 may well make glad our hearts, and cause our glory 
 to rejoice. For goodness and. mercy shall follow us 
 all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the 
 house of the Lord for ever. He shall guide us with 
 his counsel, and afterward receive us into glory. And 
 
 lest you yet should suspect any lack of comfort, he ~ 
 
 tells you, you shall enter into the joy of your Lord ; 
 and that you shall be with him where he is, to behold 
 his glory. 
 
 4. And yet if all this might be had with a wet fin- 
 ger; if heaven were the portion of worldlings and 
 sluggards, that trouble not their thoughts much about 
 it; then you might have some excuse for your incon- 
 siderateness. But it isnot so: there are difficulties in 
 your way; and they are many and great. What a dark 
 understanding have you to inform! What a dull and 
 backward nature to spuron! What an unreasonable 
 appetite! What raging passions! What violent re- 
 
 bellious senses to contend with, to master, and torule! — 
 
 Abundance of adversaries on every hand: a subtle 
 devil, and as malicious as subtle, and as furious and 
 able to do you a mischief, if God restrain him not.— 
 A world of wicked men about you; each one more 
 stiff in error than you in the truth; and more fast to 
 the devil than you are to God, if his grace do not 
 hold you faster than you will hold yourselves: and 
 therefore they are more able to deceive you, than you 
 are to undeceive them: many of them are crafty, and 
 can puzzle such ignorant beginners as you, and put a 
 face of reverence and truth upon damnable errors, 
 and pernicious ways: and those that have not wit, 
 have foolish violence, and scorn, and passion, and can 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 45] 
 
 drive you towards hell, if they cannot draw you. Al 
 these enemies you must conquer, or you are lost— 
 And is it not time for a man, in so much danger, to 
 consider of them, that he may know how to escape ?— 
 and for one that is compassed about with such diffi- 
 culties, to consider how he may well go through them? 
 What abundance of things have you to consider of! 
 Of all your life past: of the relations you have borne 
 and how you have performed the duties of those rela- 
 tions : of the time you have had, and how you have 
 spent it: of the means you have had, and what you 
 have received by them: of the present state of your 
 souls, your sins, your miseries, your hopes, and the 
 duties that are incumbent on you, in order to your re- 
 covery: of the temptations to be encountered with, 
 and the graces that are daily to be exercised and con- 
 firmed. Should not a man bethink himself with all pos- 
 sible caré, and consider, and a hundred times con- 
 sider, that hath all this to do, or be undone for ever? 
 You have much to know, and much to do, receive, 
 and suffer, that hath difficulty joined with necessity. 
 Were it necessary, and not hard, the facility might 
 draw you to make light of it; and were it hard, and 
 not necessary, the difficulty might more discourage 
 you than the matter might excite you: but it must be 
 done, or you must be shut out of heaven, and lie in 
 hell for it world without end. And yet there are so 
 many difficulties in the way, I think it is time to look 
 about you, and seriously consider. 
 
 12. To conclude; Consideration would prevent a 
 world of misery, which else wil] make you consider 
 when it is too late. It must be a principal means of 
 your salvation, if ever you be saved. If God. have so 
 much mercy for you, he will make you consider, and 
 set your sins in order before you. He will set before 
 you a crucified Christ, and tell you, that this your sins 
 have done ; and make you think of the reason of his 
 sufferings, and what there is in sin that could require 
 it; and what it is to rebel against the Lord, and run 
 yourselves into the consuming fire. Now your thoughts 
 
452 DIRECTIONS AND! PERSUASIONS 
 
 are gadding abroad the world, and straggling after 
 every trifle, and going away from God; but if ever God 
 save you, he will overtake your hearts and fetch them 
 home, and show them that they have somewhat else to 
 think on. If commands: will not serve, he will send out 
 his threatenings, and terrors shall come upon you, and 
 pursue your soul as the wind(n) If you are taken up 
 with the cares of the world, he will show y 
 have somewhat else to care for, and drown 
 in greater cares.. If you have such giddy, unsettled, 
 vagrant minds, that you cannot call in your thoughts 
 to God, nor hold them with him; he. will lay 1 hose 
 clogs and bolts upon them at first, that shall * restrai 
 them from their idle vagaries; and then he wil 
 upon them such bias as shall better order them, ane 
 them for the time tocome. Men dor 
 to heaven, and never think of it; and : 
 plague of sin, and the curse of the law, a 
 of God, and the rage of Satan, and never tk 
 And now, before I dismiss this dire 
 question and a request to make to thee 
 art, that readest these lines. My quest 0 
 Hast thou ever soberly considered of thy ways, 
 laid these greatest matters to heart, or hast hea ite} 
 Dost thou ever use to retire into thyself, and spend 
 any time in this needful work? If thou’dost not, my 
 request to thee is, that now at last thou wouldst do it 
 without delay. Shall the Lord that made thee, that 
 bought thee, that preserveth thee, request this 
 that thou wouldst sometimes betake thyself into some 
 
 = 
 
 ewe 
 
 a i i i i 
 
 r 
 
 secret place, and set thyself purposely to this work of — 
 
 consideration, and follow it earnestly, and close with 
 thy heart, till thou hast made something of it, and 
 brought it to a resolution? Wilt thou hen spend a 
 little time, in reasoning the case with thyself, and 
 
 calling thy heart to a strict account, and ask thyself, — 
 What is it that was made for? And what business was ~ 
 
 I sent into the world about? And how have I dis- 
 
 (n) Job xxxii. 15. 
 
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 ou 
 
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 x DY 
 
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 ) 
 
 tA, 
 
 AH 
 
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 - Ao 
 
 CHUL Mie 
 
 7 
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 speek. pe ees iehaw Be 4* Eimer! Vir Wt. 
 
 ees = 
 
‘TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 453 
 
 patched it? How have I spent my time, my thoughts, 
 my words: and how shall I answer for them? Am I 
 ready to die, were it this hour? Am I sure of my 
 salvation? Is my soul converted, and truly sanctified 
 by the Holy Ghost? If not, what reason have I to 
 delay? Why do I not set about it, and speedily resolve ? 
 Shall I linger till death come and find me unconverted? 
 Oh then what a sad appearance shall I make before the 
 ' Lord! And thus follow on the discourse with your 
 hearts. What say you, sirs? Will you here promise 
 me to bestow but some few hours, if it be but on the 
 Lord’s day, or when you are private on the way, or in 
 your beds, or in your shops, in these considerations? I 
 ‘beseech you, as ever you will do any thing at my re- 
 quest, deny me not this request. It is nothing that is 
 unreasonable. If I desired one of you to spend an hour 
 in talking with me, you would grant it; yea, orif it were 
 to ride or go for me: and will you not be entreated to 
 spend now and then a little time in thinking of the 
 matters of your own salvation? Deny not this much 
 to yourselves ; deny it not to God, if you will deny it 
 me. Should you not bethink you a few hours, of the 
 place and state that,.you must live in for ever? Men 
 will build strong, whiere they think to live long; but 
 a tent or a hut will serve a soldier for a few nights.— 
 Oh sirs, everlasting is a long day. In the name of God, 
 let not conscience have such a charge as this against 
 you hereafter: Thou art come to thy long home, to thy 
 endless state, before ever thou spentest the space of an 
 hour, in deep, and sad, and serious considerations of 
 it, or in trying thy title to it. O what a confounding 
 charge would this be! I am confident I have the wit- 
 ness of your consciences going along with me, and 
 telling you, it is but reasonable, yea, and needful, 
 which I say. If yet you will not do it, and I cannot 
 beg one hour's sober discourse in secret, between you 
 and your-hearts, about these things, then what remedy, 
 but even to leave you to your misery? But I shall tell 
 you in the conclusion, that I have no hope of that 
 soul that will not be persuaded to this duty of con- 
 
454 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 sideration; but if I could persuade you to this 
 
 able, this cheap, this necessary work, and to follow it 1 
 
 close, I should have exceeding great hopes of the sal- 
 vation of you all. I have told the truth: consider 
 what I say, and the Lord give you understanding !— 
 
 Or if you put me to conclude in harsher terms, they — 
 shall still be the oracles of God. Now consider this, 
 ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there — 
 
 be none to deliver you.—Psalm 1. 22. 
 
 The next direction which I shall give you, that the © 
 
 work of your conversion may not miscarry, is this: See 
 that the work of humiliation be thoroughly done, and 
 break not away from the Spirit of contrition, before he 
 have done with you: and yet see that you mistake 
 
 Mint 
 
 not the nature and the ends of the work, and that you — 
 
 drive it not on further than God requireth you. 
 
 Here I shall, 1. Show you the true nature of hu- — 
 miliation. And, 2. The use and ends of it. And, © 
 
 3. The mistakes about it that you must avoid. And 
 
 lastly, I shall press on the substance of the direction, — 
 
 and show you the necessity of it. . 
 
 1. There is a preparatory humiliation that goes be- — 
 fore a saving change, which yet is not to be despised, — 
 because there is a drawing somewhat nearer unto God, — 
 
 though it be not a faithful closure with him. This pre- 
 paratory humiliation, which many have that perish, 
 
 doth chiefly consist in these things following: 1. It heth — 
 
 most in the fear of being damned; as it is most in the 
 passions, so most in this of fear. 2. It consisteth also. 
 
 in some apprehension of the greatness of our sins, and — 
 
 the wrath of God that hangs over our heads, and the 
 
 danger that we are in of being damned for ever. 3. It — 
 
 consisteth also in some apprehensions of the folly that — 
 
 we are guilty of in sinning, and of some repentings 
 
 that ever we did it, and some remorse of conscience 
 
 for it. 4..Hereto may be joined some passions of sor- 
 row, and this expressed by groans and tears. 5, And 
 all this may be accompanied with confessions of sin to 
 God and man, and lamentations for our misery, and 
 
 in some measure it proceedeth to desperation itself, — 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 455 
 
 6. And lastly, It may proceed to an indignation against 
 ourselves, and to the taking a severe revenge of our- 
 selves; yea, more than God would have men take; 
 as Judas did by self-destroying. This desperation of 
 ‘self-execution, are no parts of the preparatory humilia- 
 tion ; but the excess and error of it, and the entrance 
 upon hell. ) 
 
 See that you close with the Lord Jesus Christ un- 
 derstandingly, heartily, and entirely, as he is revealed 
 _ and offered to you in the gospel.- In this your Christia- 
 nity doth consist; upon this your justification and sal- 
 vation lie. This is the sum of your conversion, and 
 the very heart of your new creature. The rest is all but 
 the preparatives to this, or the fruits of this. Christ is 
 the end and the fulfilling of the law; the substance of 
 the gospel; the way to the Father; the life, the help, 
 the hope, of the believer. If you know not him, you 
 know nothing ; if you possess not him, you have no- 
 - thing; and if you are out of him, you can do nothing 
 that hath a promise of salvation. 
 
 I beseech you therefore remember what it is to be 
 truly converted: Itis to be called from things com- 
 mon and unclean, and separated to God; it is to be 
 brought nigh to him, as the children of his household, 
 that are themselves, and all that they have, in his hands ; 
 it is to be taken off yourselves, and your own, and to 
 lose yourselves, and all you have, in God, by the most 
 gainful loss ; Jest indeed you lose yourselves, and all 
 the while you persuade yourselves you save or gain. 
 It isa taking God in Christ for your all, and so being 
 content to have nothing but him, and for him. Itisa 
 changing of your old master, self, for God, a better 
 master; and your old work, which was self-seeking 
 and self-pleasing, to self-denial, and to the seeking 
 and pleasing of God. See now that this be done, and 
 that your treacherous hearts hide nothing for them- 
 selves, as Rachel, under pretence of necessity, hid her 
 idols; but say, Here I am, to be- thine, O Lord, and to 
 do thy will. . 
 
 My next advice, that the work of conversion may 
 
 ‘ 
 
‘456 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 not miscarry, is this: Take heed, lest you mistake ‘a 
 
 mere change of your opinions, and outward profession ’ 
 
 ‘and behaviour, for a true saving change: ©) 7)» 94) 
 
 Wicked opinions must be changed, and so must evil { 
 professions and outward practices: ‘but if no more’ be © 
 changed, you are wicked still. | have great cause to 
 
 fear that this is the most common damning deceit’ that 
 
 befalleth professors of godliness, and that it is the case © 
 
 of most hypocrites in the church. A man may ‘be 
 brought to hold any truth in scripture as an‘ opinion, 
 
 and so far be sound and orthodox; and yet never ‘be — 
 
 indeed a sound ‘believer, nor have lis heart possessed 
 
 with the life and power of those sacred truths. “It:is" 
 
 one thing to have a man’s opinion changed, and ano- 
 ther thing to have his heart renewed by the change 
 of his practical estimation, resolutions, and disposi- 
 tions. It is one thing to turn from loose profane opi- 
 nions to strict opinions; and think the godly are 
 indeed in the right, and that their case and way is 
 safest and best; and it is another thing to be made 
 one of them in newness and spirituality of heart and 
 life. A lively faith differs much from opinion; and 
 that which is in unholy men, which we: call «faith, 
 and is a kind of faith indeed, is but a mere: opinion- 
 ative faith. I call it an opinionative faith, because it 
 differs from saving faith, much like as opinion | doth 
 from knowledge. Merely speculative. it: is not ;»for 
 some intention of practice there is: But the. practical 
 intention of such persons ‘differs from the predominant 
 
 intention of the sanctified, even as their w engpemionei: 
 
 faith differs*from the saving faith. ‘ay 
 
 a 
 
 O what abundance of poor reighbours would go. 
 to heaven, that are now in the way to hell, if an opi- — 
 
 nion that godliness is the wisest course would serve the 
 turn! If instead-of conversion, God would take up 
 
 with an opinion that they ought to turn; and if instead — 
 of a holy, heavenly life, God would accept of an opi- | 
 
 % 
 
 ¥ 
 
 nion, that such are the happiest men that live such a life; — 
 
 and if instead of temperance, and meekness, and self 
 
 denial, and forgiving wrongs, God would accept of an 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 457 
 
 opinion and confession, that they should be temperate 
 and meek, and self-denying, and should forbear others, 
 and forgive them; then O what abundance would be 
 saved, that are now in little hope of salvation! If 
 instead of a diligent life of holiness, and good works, 
 it would serve the turn to lie still, and be of a good 
 opinion, that men should strive and labour for sal- 
 vation, and lay out all they have for God: how happy 
 then were our towns and countries, in comparison of 
 what they are! 
 
 I am afraid this deceit will be the undoing of many, 
 that they take a change of their opinions for a true 
 conversion. Have not some of you been formerly of 
 the mind, that the best way is to eat and drink, and 
 be merry, and venture your souls, and follow your 
 worldly business, and never trouble yourselves with 
 any deep and searching thoughts about your spiritual 
 state, or your salvation? Have you not thought 
 that this diligent godliness is but a needless strict- 
 ness and preciseness? And have you not since been 
 convinced of your,error, and perceived that this is 
 the wisest course, which you before thought to be 
 needless, and thereupon have betaken you to the com- 
 pany of the godly, and set upon a course of outward 
 duties? And now you think that you are made new 
 creatures, and that this is regeneration, and the work 
 is done.—lI fear lest this be all the conversion that 
 many forward professors are acquainted with: but 
 woe to them that have no more! 
 
 And because the face of our present times doth 
 plainly show the commonness and the prevalency of 
 this disease, and because it is a matter of so great 
 concernment to you, I shall here give you (but as 
 briefly as I well can) some signs by which a true con- 
 version may be known, from this mere opinionative 
 change. 
 
 1. The true convert is brought to an unfeigned 
 hatred of the whole body of sin; and especially of 
 those secret or beloved sins, that did most powerfully 
 captivate him before. But the opinionative convert 
 + wD. 3 
 
458 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 is still carnal and unfructified, and inwardly, at the 
 heart, the interest of the flesh is habitually predomi- 
 nant. He is not brought to an itreconcileable hatred — 
 to the great master-sins that ruled him, and lay deepest; 
 but only hath eased the top of his stomach, and cr 
 
 off some of the branches of the tree of death. The 
 thorns of worldly desires and cares, are still rooted 
 in his heart; and therefore no wonder if they choke 
 the seed of wholesome truth, and there be a greater 
 harvest for the devil than for God. 
 
 2. Another sign that follows upon this, is, that the 
 sound convert doth carry on the course of his obe-— 
 dience in a way of self-denial, as living in a continual — 
 conflict with his own flesh, and expecting his comfort 
 and salvation. to come in upon the conquest; and 
 therefore he can suffer for Christ, as well as be found — 
 in cheaper obedience, and he dare not ordinarily re-— 
 fuse the most costly service. For the spoils of his 
 fleshly desires are his prey, and crown of glorying in | 
 the Lord. | 
 
 But the opinionative convert still liveth in his car- 
 nal self; and therefore secretly, at least, seeks himself, — 
 and layeth hold on present thing's, as a true convert 
 layeth hold on eternal life. The truths of God being 
 received but into his opinion, do not go deep enough 
 to conquer self, and to take down his great idol, nor 
 make him go through fire and water, and to serve Ged — 
 with the best, seid honour him with his substance, | ; 
 much less with his sufferings and death. 
 
 3. The sound convert hath taken God for his por- 
 tion, and heaven for that sure and full felicity, which — 
 he is resolved to venture upon; that is it that he hath — 
 set his heart and hopes upon, and thither tends the” 
 drift of his life. . 
 
 But he that is changed only in his opinions, had 
 never such sure apprehensions of the life to come, ~ 
 nor so full a confidence in the promises of God, as 
 to set his heart unfeignedly upon God, and make him 
 truly heavenly-mmded. He may have a heavenly 
 tongue, but he hath an earthly heart. A bare opinion, 
 be it ever so true, will not raise men’s hearts so high, 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. - ASO 
 
 as to make their affections, and the very design and 
 business of their lives, to.be heavenly. Pale ei 
 
 4. The sound convert hath seen the vileness of him- 
 self, in the sinfulness of his heart and life, and the mi- 
 sery thereby deserved ; and so is a sincerely humbled 
 selfaccusing man. ) 
 
 But the opinionist is commonly unhumbled, and 
 well conceited of himself, and a self-justifying phari- 
 see; unless it be that self-accusing will cost him no - 
 disgrace, and he take it up as a custom, or that 
 which may bring him into the repute of being hum- 
 bled and sincere. For his opinion’will not search 
 and pierce his heart, nor batter down his self-ex- 
 alting thoughts, nor root up the master-sin of pride, 
 These are-too great works for an opinion to perform, 
 And therefore you shall hear him more in the ex- 
 cusing of his sin, the magnifying of himself, or the 
 stiff maintaining of his own conceits, than an unfeigned 
 self-abasing. . 
 
 5. The sound convert is so acquainted with the de- 
 fects, and sins, and necessities, of his own soul, that he 
 is much taken up at home, in his studies, and cares, and 
 censures, and his daily work: the acting and strength- 
 ening of grace, the subduing of corruption, and his daily 
 walking with God, are much of his employment :— 
 Above all keeping, he keeps his heart, as knowing that 
 from thence are the issues of life. He cannot have time 
 to spy out the faults of others, or meddle with their 
 affairs, where duty bids him not, as others can do; 
 because he hath so much to do at home. 
 
 But the opinionist is ‘most employed abroad, and 
 about mere notions and opinions; but he is little em- 
 ployed ‘in such heart-searching or heart-observing 
 work. His light doth not pierce so deep, as to show 
 him his heart, and the work that is there to be neces- 
 sarily done. As the change is little upon his heart, so 
 his employment is little there. He is little in bewail- 
 ing his secret defects and corruptions, and little in 
 keeping his soul’s accounts, and little in secret striving 
 with his heart, to work it into communion with God, 
 
460 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 and into a spiritual lively fruitful frame. He is for- 
 ward to aggravate the sins of others, and oft-times 
 severe enough in censuring them: but he is a ve 
 gentle censurer of himself, and a patient man wit 
 his own corruptions, and puts the best construction 
 upon all that is his own. He hath much labour _per- 
 haps in shaping his opinions, but little for the hum- 
 bling and sanctifying his heart, by the power of the 
 truth. 
 
 6. And as the difference lieth thus constantly in the 
 heart, so it is usually manifested by the tongue. The 
 sound convert is most desirous to discourse of those 
 great and saving truths, which his very heart hath taken 
 in, aud which he hath found to be the seed of God for 
 his regeneration, and the instruments of that holy and 
 happy change that is made upon him: he feeleth 
 most savour, and life, in these great and most neces- 
 sary points. Read John xvii. 3. 1 Cor. xv. 1, 2, 
 3, 4, 5; 6. 1 Cor. 11.2. Phil nis oa ae 
 1 Tim. iii. 16. Acts xxxvi. 22, 23. In these scrip- 
 tures you may find what points they were that the 
 greatest saints did study and live upon. But the opi- 
 nionist is most forward to discourse of mere opinions, 
 and to feed upon the air of notions, and controversies 
 of lesser moment. 
 
 A serious Christian, even when he is necessitated to 
 speak of lower controverted points, yet doth it ina 
 spiritual manner, as one that more savoureth higher 
 truths, and makes a holy and heavenly life his end, 
 even in these lower matters; and deals about such 
 controversies in a practical manner, and in order to 
 the growth of holiness. 
 
 Lastly, true converts are stedfast, but opinionists 
 are usually mutable and unconstant. The sound con- 
 vert receiveth the greatest truths, and receives the good- 
 ness as well as the truth; and takes it not only into 
 
 the head, but into the heart, and giveth it deep root- 
 
 ing: he closeth with God as his own felicity, and with 
 Christ as his only refuge and redeemer, and with 
 heaven as the sure everlasting glory, to which the 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 461 
 
 world is but a mole-hill or a dungeon. No wonder 
 then if this man be stedfast, and immoveable, always 
 abounding in the work of the Lord. 
 
 To which end I further desire you, 1. To consider, 
 that it is a higher matter that Christ came into the 
 world for, than to change men’s bare opinions; and 
 it is a higher matter that the gospel is intended for, 
 and that ministers are sent to you: for it is more than 
 a corruption of men’s opinions, that sin hath brought 
 upon you; and therefore it is a deeper disease that 
 must be cured. The work of Christ by his gospel, is 
 no less than to fetch you off all that which flesh and 
 blood accounts your happiness, and to unite you to 
 himself, and make you holy, as God is holy, and to 
 give you a new nature, and make you as the dwellers 
 or citizens of heaven, while you walk on earth.— 
 And these are greater matters than the changing of a 
 party, or opinion. The Holy Spirit himself must 
 dwell in you, and work in you, and employ your 
 soul and life for God, that you may study him, and 
 love him, and live to him here, and live with him for 
 ever. Do but think well of the ends and meaning of 
 the Gospel, and how much greater matters it drives 
 at; and then you will see that there is no taking up 
 with any opinionative religion. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 And now I have given you directions in the most 
 great and necessary business in the world: they are 
 such as I received of God, and, faithfully practised, 
 will put your salvation past all hazard. But what 
 they have done, or what they will do, I cannot tell; 
 but must leave the issue to God and you. It’s pity 
 eternal glory should be lost for want of yielding to 
 so holy, and sweet, and reasonable a course. It is 
 lamentable to observe, what ignorant, base, unworthy 
 thoughts, the most have of the very office of the Holy 
 Ghost, who is the sanctifier of all that God will save. 
 The very name of regeneration, and sanctification is 
 not understood by some, and is but matter of derision 
 
462 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 to others; and the most think that it is another kind 
 of matter than indeed it is. To be baptized; and 
 come to church, and to say some cold and heartless 
 prayers, and to forbear some gross disgraceful sins, is 
 all the sanctification that most are acquainted with ; 
 
 (and all have not this.) And thus they debase the work — 
 of the Holy Ghost. Ifa prince have built asumptuous — 
 palace, and you will show men a swine-sty, and say, — 
 
 There is the palace that the prince hath been so long 
 a building ; were not this to abuse him by contempt? 
 Remember what it is to believe in the name of the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: and remember that 
 you were baptized into the name of the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost. And do you not yet know why? 
 nor know the meaning of your baptismal covenant? 
 _ Itis not only to believe that there are three persons in 
 the Trinity, but to consent to the relations and duty 
 to them, in respect to their several relations and work. 
 If the Father had not created you, how could you 
 have been men? The Lord of nature must be ac- 
 
 knowledged as the end and governor of nature, and 
 
 accordingly obeyed. And this is to believe, and be 
 baptized in the name of God the Father. If the Son 
 
 had not redeemed you, you had been as the devils 
 
 were, forsaken and given over to despair. The pur- 
 chaser, procurer, and author of grace, of pardon, 
 and salvation, must be acknowledged to be such, him- 
 self and his salvation accordingly accepted, and 
 his terms submitted to, And this is to believe in the 
 name of the Son; and in baptism we make profession 
 hereof. And certainly the work of the Holy Ghost is 
 as necessary to your salvation. Without the sanctify- 
 ing work of the Spirit, you could never be delivered 
 
 from sin and Satan, nor restored to God’s image, and ~ 
 
 consequently could never be the members of Christ, 
 
 nor have any saving benefit by his sufferings. Would — 
 
 you not think him unworthy to live, that would 
 
 reproach the Father’s work of nature, and say, that the — 
 
 whole creation is but some poor contemptible work ? 
 
 es. 
 ei 
 
 ae 
 
 And would you not think him unworthy the name of © 
 
 a Christian, that had contemptible thoughts of the — 
 
TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 463 
 
 Son’s redemption, as if we could be saved as well 
 without a Saviour, or as if it were but some poor 
 and trivial commodity that Christ had purchased us? 
 I know you would confess the misery of that man, 
 that believed no better in the Father and the Son. 
 And how comes it to pass that you think not of your 
 own misery, that believe no better in the Holy Ghost? 
 Do you not debase the sanctifying office of the Holy 
 Spirit, when you show us your knowledge, and parts, 
 and outward duties, and civility, and tell us that these 
 are the work of sanctification : what is sanctification 
 but such a thing as this? Why, holiness is a new life 
 and spirit in us; and these that you talk of are but as 
 a few flowers that are stuck upon a corpse, to keep it 
 awhile from stinking among men, till death convey it 
 to a burial in hell: O sirs, sanctification is another 
 kind of matter than the forsaking of some of your 
 fouler vices, and speaking well of a godly life. It is 
 not the patching up of the old man, but the creating 
 of a new man. I will give you warning therefore 
 from God, that you think not basely of the work of the 
 Holy Ghost ; and that you think no more to be saved 
 without the sanctifying work of the Spirit, than with- 
 out the redeeming work of the Son, or creation, go- 
 vernment, or love of the Father. Sanctification must 
 turn the very bent and stream of heart and life to God, 
 to Christ, to heaven: it must mortify carnal] self and 
 the world to you: it must make you a people devoted, 
 consecrated, and resigned up to God, with all that you 
 have: it must make all sin odious to you, and make 
 God the love and desire of your souls: so that it must 
 give you a new heart, a newend, a new master, a new 
 law, and anew conversation. This is that noble hea- 
 venly work which the holy Ghost hath vouchsafed to 
 make the business of his office: to slight and despise 
 this, is to slight and despise the Holy Ghost, and not. 
 to believe in him: to be without this work, is to be 
 without the Holy Ghost: and 7f any man have not the 
 Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.(o) The holy catholic 
 
 Gy Rome ile 
 
464 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 church is composed of all through the world that have — 
 this work upon them, and therefore it is called holy. 
 
 The communion of saints, is the blessed vital fellow- 
 ship of the sanctified ones: for these only is the resur- 
 rection unto blessedness, and the life everlasting with 
 the Lord of life; for all others is the resurrection of 
 condemnation, and the everlasting punishment. ‘ 
 
 But if the other two articles of our faith have been 
 so denied by the blind, it is less wonder if this be so. 
 Some heretics denied God to be the Creator of the 
 world: and because they saw so much evil in the world, 
 they said it was made by devils or evil angels, (who 
 indeed made the sin, but not the world.) So dealt 
 the Jews by the Son, and the second article of our 
 faith. The sacrifice of bulls and goats, and such 
 beasts, was ali the sacrifice for sin that they believed 
 in. And thus deal the multitude of the ungodly by 
 
 the Spirit. Indeed they know not themselves suffi- — 
 
 ciently to know the need and worth of sanctification. 
 They are too whole to value the skill and care of 
 Christ or the Holy Ghost. The insensibility of spiri- 
 tual death and misery, and thinking too lightly of 
 original corruption, and too well of our depraved na- 
 ture, is both the cause of many of the heresies of the 
 learned, and of the common contempt of Christ, 
 and the Spirit, and recovering grace, in all the unre- 
 generate. For it is not possible that. men should 
 have any deeper sense of the need or worth of the 
 remedy, than they have of the greatness of their sin 
 and misery. ; 
 
 Oh sirs, did we not come upon this great disadvan- 
 tage to you, that we speak to dead men, that have in- 
 deed a natural life, which doth but take pleasure in 
 their spiritual death; how confidently should we ex- 
 pect to prevail with you all! But while you think 
 lightly of your disease, we can expect no better but 
 that you think as lightly of Christ and holiness, and 
 all the means that tend to your recovery; and think of 
 the new man, as the poets fabled of the Promethean 
 race, that it grows out of the earth (of your own poor 
 sorry purposes and performances) like ordinary plants! 
 
| 
 
 TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 465 
 
 * Truly, sirs, I have Jed you even as far as I can: and 
 what more to say to you, or what more to do for you, 
 to procure your conversion, I do not know. ~ If it had 
 been in my power to have shown you heaven and hell 
 itself, that you might better have known the matters 
 that we speak of, I think I should have done it. But 
 God will not have men live by sense in this hfe, but 
 by faith. If I could but help you all to such a know- 
 ledge and apprehension of these invisible things, as the 
 worst of you shall have as soon as you are dead, then I 
 should make but little doubt of your conversion and 
 salvation. Sure if you had but such a sight, the force of 
 it would so work upon you, that you would all cry out 
 that you are resolved to be new creatures. But though 
 this be beyond my power, and though I cannot show 
 you the great and wonderful things that every eye must 
 shortly see; yet 1 come not to you without a glass of 
 God’s own making, and in that glass you may see them. 
 There, if you have but an eye of faith, you may see 
 that God you have so long offended, and that now so- 
 earnestly mviteth you to return: there you may see 
 that crucified Christ, that hath opened you a way for 
 repentance by his blood, and pleadeth that blood with 
 you. for the melting of your impenitent obstinate 
 hearts. There you may see the odious face of sin, and 
 the amiable face of holiness, which is the image of 
 God. There you may see both heaven and hell, 
 
 _ although they are invisible, and may know what will 
 
 be, and that to all eternity, as well as what is. 
 And will not such a sight, in the glass of God’s word, 
 serve to move thee presently to give up the trade of 
 sinning, and to resolve, before thou stir, for God? Fam 
 now come to the end of this part of my work; if the 
 reading of it have brought thee to the end of thy un- 
 godly careless life, it will be happy for thee, and I shail 
 so far attain the end of my labour. I have purposely 
 put this direction of the necessity of resolution in the 
 last place, that I might leave upon thy spirit the reasons . 
 for resolution that here I have laid down.—And now 
 I beseech thee, reader, whoever thou art, with all the 
 16. 3 N 
 
466 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS 
 
 earnestness that I am able to use with thee, as ever thou. 
 
 wouldst escape the fruits of all thy sin; as ever thou 
 wouldst see the face of God with comfort, and have him 
 thy reconciled Father in Christ ;—as ever thou wouldst 
 have a saving part in Christ, and have him stand thy 
 friend in thy extremities ;—as ever thou wouldst have 
 hope in thy death, and stand on the right hand, and be 
 justified at judgment ;—as ever thou wouldst escape the 
 day of vengeance prepared for the unconverted, and 
 the endless misery that will fall upon all unsanctified 
 souls, as sure as the heaven is over thy head—see that 
 thou resolve and turn to God, and trifle with him no 
 more. Away with thy old transgressions ;—away with 
 thy careless worldly life;—away with thy ungodly com- 
 pany; and set thyself presently to seek after thy salva- 
 tion with all thy heart, and mind, and might. I tell 
 thee once more, that heaven and hell are not matters 
 to be jested with ; nor to be carelessly thought of, or 
 spoken, or regarded, The God of heaven stands over 
 thee now while thou art reading these words, and he 
 seeth thy heart, whether thou art resolved to turn or 
 not. Shall he see thee read such urgent reasons, and 
 
 yet wilt thou not resolve ? Shall he see thee read these. 
 
 earnest requests, and yet not resolve? What! not come 
 home to thy God, to thy Father, to thy Saviour, to thy- 
 self, after so long and wilful sinning? What! not to 
 accept of mercy, now it is even thrust into thy hands; 
 when thou hast neglected and abused mercy so long ? 
 O let not the just and jealous God stand over thee, and 
 see thee guilty of such wickedness. If thou be a Chris- 
 tian, show thyself a Christian, and use thy belief, and 
 come to God. If thou be a man, show thyself aman, 
 and use thy reason, and come away to God. I beseech 
 thee to read over and over again the reasons that I have 
 here offered: thee, and judge whether a reasonable man 
 should resist them, and delay an hour tocome unto God. 
 I that am now writing these lines of exhortation to thee, 
 must shortly meet thee at the bar of Christ. I donow 
 adjure thee, and charge thee in the name of the living 
 God, that thou do not thyself and me that wrong, as to 
 
ne tne 
 
 TO A SOUND CONVERSION. - (hee 
 
 make me lose this labour with thee, and that thou put 
 me not to.come in asa witness against thee to thy con- 
 fusion and condemnation. Resolve therefore presently 
 in the strength of Christ, and strike an unchangeable 
 covenant with him. Get thee to thy kness, and bewail 
 with tears thy former life, and deliver up thyself wholly 
 now to Christ; and never break this covenant more... 
 
 If thou lay by the book, and go away the same, and 
 no persuasion will do thee any good, but unholy thou 
 wilt still be, and sensual, and worldly ; I call thy con- 
 science to witness, that thou wast warned of the evil 
 that is near thee, and conscience shall obey this call, 
 and bear me witness whether thou wilt or not: and 
 this book, which thou hast read, ‘which I intended for 
 thy conversion and salvation, shall be a witness against 
 thee: though age or fire consume the leaves and lines 
 of it, yet God and conscience shall bring it to thy me- 
 mory, and thou shalt then be the more confounded to 
 think what reasons and earnest persuasions thou didst 
 reject, in so plain, so great, and necessary a case. 
 
 But if the Holy Ghost will now become thy tutor, 
 and at once both put this book into thy hand, and his 
 heavenly light into thy understanding, and his life into 
 thy heart, and effectually persuade thee to resolve and 
 turn, how happy wilt thou be to all eternity! Make 
 no more words of it; but answer my request, as thou 
 wouldst do if thou wert in a burning fire, and I en- 
 treated thee to come out. Thou hast long enough 
 grieved Christ and his Spirit, and long enough grieved 
 thy friends and teachers: resolve this hour, and rejoice: 
 then that thou hast grieved ; and now grieve the devil, 
 whom thou hast hitherto rejoiced; and hereafter grieve 
 the wicked, and thy own deceitful flesh, whose sinful 
 desires thou hast hitherto followed ; and if thou also 
 grieve thyself a little while, by that moderate sorrow 
 that thy sin hath made necessary for thee, it will be but 
 a preparative to thy endless joys ; and the day is pro- 
 mised, and coming apace, when Satan that thou turnest 
 from shall trouble thee no more, and God that thou 
 turnest to shall wipe away all tears from thy eyes. And 
 
468 DIRECTIONS, ETC. 
 
 if the reading of this book may be but a means of so 
 blessed an end, as God shall have the glory, so when 
 Christ. cometh to be glorified in his saints, and ad- 
 mired in all them that do believe, (2 Thes. i. 10.) both 
 thou and [I shall then partake of the communication - 
 of his glory ; if so be that I be sincere in writing, and 
 thou and I sincere in obeying the doctrine of this 
 book. Amen. 
 
A 
 
 SERIOUS ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 TRUE PENITENT, 
 
 WHO INQUIRES, 
 “ WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED.” 
 
 CONTAINING, 
 
 I. Reflections on the Nature and Depth of penitential Sorrow. 
 
 II. Directions proper for a half-awakened Sinner, who desires to be 
 truly convinced of his Guilt and Danger. 
 
 III. Cautions against many false Ways of Healing a Conscience 
 wounded by Sin. 
 
 IV. The Evangelical Method of a sound Cure. 
 
 V. A Scriptural Testimony of God’s Children concerning the 
 Excellency of this Method. 
 
 VI. Scriptural Invitations and Exhortations, to encourage a despond- . 
 ing Penitent to try this never-failing Method. 
 
 AND 
 VII. The happy Effect of such a Trial. 
 
 —= hi 
 BY THE REV. JOHN FLETCHER. 
 
 ——_ hi 
 
 “Ys there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there? Why then is not the 
 health of the daughter of my people recovered?” Jer. vili. 22. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY HENRY FISHER, 
 
 (PRINTER IN ORDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY.) 
 
 PUBLISHED AT 38, NEWGATE STREET; AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 
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 SERIOUS. ADDRESS, 
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 —-9-— 
 
 LEAVING the thoughtless and the gay, who too 
 often regard an appeal to their reason as little as 
 they do the warnings of conscience, let me address 
 myself to thee, serious and well-disposed Reader, 
 and endeavour to show thee the way to the king- 
 dom of heaven, by testifying to thee repentance to- 
 wards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Thou art happily weary of feeding upon the husks 
 - of earthly vanities. I have a right therefore, as a 
 steward of the mysteries of God, to bring out of the 
 divine treasury the pearls of evangelical truth: and 
 I gladly cast them before thee, persuaded, that far 
 from awakening thy anger, they will excite thy desires, 
 and animate thy languid hopes. ) 
 
 Instead of ridiculing or dreading a heart-felt con-' 
 viction of thy lost estate, thou now seest it is a de-' 
 sirable privilege, an invaluable blessing. Ready to 
 mourn because thou canst not mourn, thou com- 
 plainest, that thou hast only a confused view of thy 
 total depravity. Thou wantest the feelings of the 
 royal penitent, when he said, ‘“‘ Behold, I was shapen 
 in iniquity,” &c.—* I acknowledge my transgression, 
 and my sin is ever before me ;”——but conscious thou 
 canst not raise them in thy heart by natural powers, 
 thou desirest some scriptural directions suitable to thy’ 
 case. Give me leave to introduce them bya few - 
 
 I. Pretiminary ReEFiections on the Nature and’ 
 Depth of penitential. Sorrow.—Thou knowest that 
 except thou truly repentest, thou shalt surely perish, 
 and that there is no true repentance, where there is 
 not true sorrow for sin. “I rejoice (says St. Paul to 
 the Corinthians) that ye were made sorry after a godly 
 manner: for godly sorrow worketh repentance to sal- 
 vation not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the 
 
472 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 world worketh death.” Hence it appears, that there 
 are two softs of sorrow springing from opposite 
 sources, God and the world; the one a godly sorrow, 
 and the other the sorrow of the world. Learn to dis- 
 tinguish them by their various causes and effects; so 
 shalt thou avoid the danger of mistaking one for the 
 other. 
 
 The sorrow of the world, which many ‘cover with 
 the cloak of religion, arises from fear of contempt, 
 dread of poverty, secret jealousy, revenge dissatisfied, 
 love disappoimted, bafiled schemes, losses in. business, 
 unkindness of friends, provocation of enemies, or the 
 death of some idolized relative. Nay, this sorrow may 
 sometimes spring from a mixture of self-righteous 
 pride and slavish fear. Some cannot bear to be 
 robbed of their fond hopes of meriting. heaven by 
 their imaginary good works: they lose all patience, 
 when: they see their best righteousness, brought: to. 
 light, and exposed as filthy rags: they are cut to the 
 heart when they hear, that their apparent good deeds 
 deserve punishment as well,as' their black enormities.: 
 or like condemned. malefactors, they dread the con- 
 sequences) of their crimes, while they feel little or no 
 horror for the crimes' themselves. 
 
 Exceeding fatal are the effects of this. sorrow, in 
 the person whom it overcomes: their indignant hearts, 
 “unable to bear either disappointment, contradiction, 
 - or condemnation, rise against second causes, or against. 
 the decrees of Providence; fret at the strictness of the 
 law, or holiness of the Lawgiver; and pine away 
 with uninterrupted discontent. Henee, spurning at. 
 advice, direction, and consolation, they wring their 
 hands, or gnaw their tongues with anguish; impatience 
 works them up into stupid sullenness, or noisy mur- 
 muring: they complain, that their punishment is 
 greater than they can bear; and, imagining they are 
 more severely dealt with than others, they hastily con- 
 clude, “‘ Behold, this evil is from the Lord; why should 
 I wait for him any longer?” Thus black despair 
 seizes upon their spirits: and, if grace does not inter- 
 pose, they either live on to fill up the measure of their 
 
 ee Eee 
 
 i matt Sa 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 473 
 
 iniquities, as Cain, Pharaoh, and Haman; or madly 
 lay violent hands upon themselves, as Ahithophel and 
 Judas. 
 
 This sorrow cannot be too much guarded against, 
 as it not only destroys many persons, but does immense 
 hurt to religion. For those who are glad of any pre- 
 tence to pour contempt upon godliness, taking occa- 
 sion from the instances of this sorrow, harden their 
 own hearts, and prejudice all around them against the 
 blessed godly sorrow, which every minister of the 
 gospel endeavours to excite; maliciously representing 
 it as one and the same with the mischievous sorrow 
 of the world. 
 
 Their mistake will be evident, if we trace godly 
 sorrow back to itssource. It does not spring merely 
 from fear of punishment; but chiefly from humbling 
 views of God’s holiness, the impurity of the human 
 nature, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the tran- 
 scendant excellency of the law, which condemns the 
 sinner. 
 
 And this happy sorrow differs not less from the 
 other in its effects, than it does in its cause. The per- 
 sons who are blessed with it, far from murmuring, or 
 fretting at the divine commandment, see it to be holy, 
 just, and good, both in its preceptive and penal part. 
 They so absolutely acquiesce in it, that they would 
 not alter it if they could. They clear God, accuse 
 themselves, subscribe their own sentence, and acknow- 
 ledge, ‘‘ It is of the Lord’s mercies, that we are not 
 consumed.” Each of them can say, ‘‘ Wherefore 
 should a living man complain, a man for the punish- 
 ment of his sins? It is good that he should both hope, 
 and quietly wait for God's salvation: I will therefore 
 watch to see what he will say unto me; for he will 
 speak peace unto his people.” Thus, in a constant 
 use of all the ordinances of God, they meekly wait, 
 wrestling with their unbelieving fears, till victorious 
 faith comes by hearing of the matchless love of Jesus _ 
 Christ; and then, fearing the Lord and his goodness, 
 
 16. 3 0 
 
474 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 they sing the song of the Lamb, and run his delightful 
 errands. . 
 
 And as thou seest, serious Reader, the nature, 
 necessity, and excellence, of godly sorrow, thou art 
 propably desirous of being informed, how deep thine 
 must be, to constitute thee a true penitent. Know, 
 then, that it must be deep enough to imbitter thy most 
 
 pleasing, profitable, and habitual sins, and to prevent 
 
 thy resting without a clear sense of thy peculiar 
 interest in Christ.—It must be profound enough to 
 make him and his gospel infinitely precious to thee, 
 and to produce, under God, the blessed effects here- 
 after to be mentioned. 
 
 To be more particular; a true penitent may cer- 
 tainly, without despair or madness, go as far in godly 
 
 sorrow, as David does in his penitential plalms, or our. 
 
 church in the first of the homily on fasting: “‘ When 
 good men, says she, feel in themselves the heavy bur- 
 den of sin, see damnation to be the reward of it, and 
 behold with the eye of their mind the horror of hell, 
 they tremble, they quake, they are inwardly touched 
 with sorrowfulness of heart for their offences, and 
 
 a 
 
 cannot but accuse themselves, and open their grief — 
 
 unto almighty God, and call on him for mercy. This 
 being done seriously, their mind is so occupied, partly 
 with sorrow and heaviness, partly with an earnest 
 desire to be delivered from the danger of hell and 
 damnation, and all desire of meat and drink is laid 
 aside, and loathing of all worldly things and pleasures 
 come in place, so that they like nothing better than to 
 weep, to Jament, to mourn, and, both with words and be- 
 haviour of body, do show themselves weary of this life.” 
 
 Nevertheless it must be observed, that godly sorrow 
 needs not be equal either in degree or duration, in all 
 penitents. Those whose hearts through divine grace 
 open as readily and gently as that of Lydia, happily 
 avoid many of David’s pangs and Job’s terrors. The 
 powerful and instantaneous, or the gentle and gradual 
 manner, in which souls are awakened ; the difference 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 475. - 
 
 of constitutions; the peculiar services that a few are — 
 called to, and for which they are prepared by peculiar 
 exercises; the horrid aggravations that have attended 
 the sins of some; and the severe correction which 
 the Lord is obliged to give others, for their stout 
 resistance against his grace—all this may help us to 
 account for the various depths of distress, through 
 which different penitents pass in their way to Christ 
 and salvation. é 
 
 The Lord does not needlessly afflict the children of 
 men, any more than a tender father unnecessarily 
 corrects his disobedient children; he only wants us 
 to forsake our sins, renounce our own imaginary righ- 
 teousness, and come to Christ to be made partakers of 
 his merits, holiness, and felicity. The sorrow, which 
 answers these ends, is quite sufficient; though it 
 should be ever so light, and of ever so short a dura- 
 tion. On the contrary, a distress as heavy as that of 
 Judas is unavailable, if, instead of driving us from sin 
 to Jesus Christ, it only drives us from profaneness to — 
 hypocrisy, or from presumption to despair. 
 
 If, still perplexed, thou askest what thou must do, 
 to get a sense of thy depravity, productive of a true re- 
 
 _ pentence; I answer, that an affecting discovery of the 
 
 guilt, nature, and danger of sin, is only attamed by 
 the assistance of God’s Spirit, who alone effectually 
 convinces the world of sin, John xvi. 8. But the 
 Lord has graciously appointed means, in the right use 
 of which he never denies a sinner the convincing and 
 converting power of his blessed Spirit; and what they 
 are, thou art informed in the following— 
 
 II. Directions, proper for a half-awakened sinner, 
 desirous of being duly convinced of his corrupt and 
 lost estate.—Beware of fools, that make a mock at 
 sorrow for sin, and sin itself. Beware of those blind 
 leaders of the blind, who having a form of godliness, 
 deny the power thereof: instead of pointing thee to 
 the throne of grace, and bidding thee to “ behold the 
 Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world,” 
 
476 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 they will only direct thee to the church-walls and 
 communion-table ; and perhaps, if they see thee under 
 dejection of spirit for thy sins, they will recommend 
 the play-house, the card-table, or what they call 
 “‘a cheerful glass.” From such turn away, or they 
 will persuade thee that repentance is melancholy ; 
 conviction of sin, despair; and the love of God, en- 
 thusiasm, 2 Tim. iii. 5. 
 
 That they may not be able to laugh or frown thee 
 
 out of the way of salvation, dwell in thy thoughts on 
 God's awful perfections. ‘‘ Justice and judgment are 
 the habitation of his throne.” The unspotted re- 
 splendent holiness beaming forth from him, as from 
 an immensely glorious Sun of righteousness, will show 
 thee thy sins, as innumerable as the flying motes dis- 
 covered in a dusty room, where the natural sun can 
 penetrate. ‘Consider, that they are committed by a 
 worm of earth, against the Majesty of heaven, and 
 they will all appear to thee infinitely great; especially 
 if thou measurest them and thyself by the true rule, 
 the oracles of God; casting away the three false 
 
 standards which self-deceivers measure themselves by, 
 
 namely, the good opinion of their worldly-minded 
 neighbours, the defective examples of their fellow 
 sinners, and the flattering suggestions of their own 
 blind self-iove. 
 
 Follow the example of the noble Bereans: ‘* Search 
 the scriptures daily, whether these things are so,” 
 Acts xvii. 11. View, in that faithful mirror, the pic- 
 ture both of the natural and of the regenerate man, 
 and ask thy conscience which thou resemblest most. 
 If, imitating the godly man described in the first 
 Psalm, thou “ meditatest in the law of the Lord day 
 and night;” the straitness of the heavenly rule will 
 soon show thee how very far gone thy thoughts, 
 words, actions, tempers, and nature are from original 
 righteousness. 9 
 
 To this meditation, add a frequent survey of the 
 follies of thy childhood, the vanity of thy youth, the 
 worldly-mindedness of thy riper years, the capital trans- 
 
 4 
 
 —— se 
 
 —— se 
 
 i 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. Ss QT 
 
 gressions which conscience accuses thee of, and the 
 hardness of heart, and alienation from the life of God, 
 that the scriptures charge thee with. Confess all to 
 the Lord as thou art able, remembering that the wages 
 of sin is death, who flies fast upon thee with the 
 wings of time:—death, who often gives no warning, 
 and ushers in judgment, with all the horrors of hell, 
 or the joys of heaven. And pray that these awful 
 realities may affect thee now, as they will in thy last 
 moments. - 
 
 Frequently reflect, how total must be our loss of 
 spiritual life, which cannot be repaired but by a 
 resurrection, a new birth, or a new creation, Col. iui. 1. 
 John iii 7. Gal. vi. 5. And how desperate the dis- 
 ease of our fallen nature, which cannot be healed but 
 with the blood of a divine Physician. Consider, 
 attentively consider him, whose piercing look softened 
 the obdurate heart of cursing Peter, whose amazing 
 sufferings brought a hardened thief under the-deepest 
 concern for his salvation, and whose dying groans rent 
 the rocks, shook the earth, and opened the graves. 
 The tender flower of evangelical sorrow grows best in 
 the shade of his cross: a believing view of him, as 
 
 suffering for thee, will melt thee into penitential tears, 
 
 and seal upon thy relenting heart the gracious promise, 
 *“« They shall look upon him whom they have pierced, 
 and mourn.” Zech. xii. 10. 
 + In the mean time, improve the daily opportunities, 
 which thou hast of studying human corruption in the 
 life and tempers of all around thee, but chiefly in thy 
 own careless and deceitful heart: take notice of its 
 pride and self-seeking, of its risings and secret work- 
 ings especially when unexpected temptations trouble 
 thy imaginary peace of mind: for, at such a time, 
 thy corruption, like the sediment in the bottom of 
 a vial that is shaken, will show its loathsomeness and 
 strength. 
 Converse frequently, if thou canst, with persons 
 deeply convinced of sin. Attend a plain, heart- 
 searching ministry, as often as possible; and when 
 the sword of the Spirit the word of God, pierces 
 
478 -A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 thy soul, beware of fretful impatience. Instead of 
 rising with indignation against the preacher, and 
 saying, as proud Ahab did to the man of God, Hast 
 thou found me, O mine enemy? account him thy best 
 friend that wounds thee deepest, provided he brings 
 thee to Christ for a cure; and when the arrows of the 
 word fly abroad, drop the shield of unbelief, make 
 bare thy breast, welcome the blessed shaft, and remem- 
 ber, that the only way of conquering sin, is to fall 
 wounded and helpless at the Redeemer’s feet. 
 
 Nevertheless, the impressions of the word will soon 
 wear off, if thou dost not importunately intreat the 
 Searcher of hearts, to light the candle of his grace in 
 thy soul, that thou mayest clearly see whether thy 
 inward parts are holiness to the Lord, as thou fondly 
 supposedst; or very wickedness, as the scripture tes- 
 tifies. Itis only in God’s light that we can clearly dis- 
 cover our blindness. : 
 
 This light, it is true, shineth in darkness; but fre- 
 quently the darkness comprehendeth it not. That this 
 be not thy dreadful case, do not grieve and quench 
 the convincing Spirit, by persisting im the wilful 
 omission of any duty, or deliberate commission of any 
 sin: nothing darkens the mind, and hardens the 
 heart more than this obstinate unbelief. Therefore 
 instead of burying thy one talent with the slothful ser- 
 vant, earnestly pray the Lord to make thee faithful to 
 thy convictions, and to deepen them daily till they 
 end in a sound conversion. 
 
 In order to this, do not slightly heal the wound in 
 thy conscience: it is better to keep it open, than to 
 skin it over by improper means: many, through a 
 natural forwardness and impatience, have recourse to 
 them: and ruin is the consequence of their mistake. 
 ‘That thou mayest avoid it, serious Reader, I entreat 
 thee to pay a due regard to the following— 
 
 III. Cautions, proper for a penitent, who desires 
 to make his calling and election sure.—When thou ~ 
 hast affecting views of thy lost estate, beware of rest- 
 ing like Felix in some pangs of fear, fits of trembling; 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. | 479 
 
 and resolutions of turning to God by and by, when 
 thou shalt have a convenient season. Neither give 
 place to desponding thoughts, as if there was no 
 appeal from the tribunal of justice to the throne of. 
 mkaees.-, ; 
 
 : Run not for ease to vain company, bodily indul- 
 gence, entangling affections, immoderate sleep, ex- 
 cessive drinking, or hurry of business. Cain built a 
 city to divert his trouble of mind; and multitudes like 
 him, by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness 
 of riches, or the desire of other things, daily choke 
 the good seed, the precious word of conviction, Mark 
 iv. 19. 
 
 Be not satisfied with faint desires of living the life 
 of the righteous, or idle wishes of dying their death. ~ 
 Remember, that the desire of the slothful kills him: 
 and if thou hast experienced some drawings of grace, 
 meltings of heart, or breathings after God, sit not 
 down at last as the Laodiceans, in a careless state, 
 neither hot nor cold. Itis far better to go on thy way 
 weeping, and. seeking the pearl of great price till thow ' 
 really find it, than to rest contented, with a hasty con- 
 ceit that thou art possessed of it, when thou art not. 
 
 Stop not in an outward reformation, and a form 
 of godliness, like many who mistake the means or 
 doctrines of grace for grace itself; and because they 
 say their heartless prayers both in public and private, 
 or go far and often to hear.the gospel preached in its 
 purity, fondly hope that they are the favourites of God, 
 and in the high way to heaven. 
 
 Under pretence of increasing thy convictions, do 
 not bury them in heaps of religious books. Some 
 read till their heads are confused, or their hearts past 
 feeling. Thus, though ever learning, they are never 
 able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Hear 
 then, as well as read the word of life; but think not 
 thyself converted when thou hast received.it with joy : 
 the stony-ground, hearers went as far as this; Herod 
 himself heard John gladly, honoured him, did many 
 things, but left the most important undone; for he 
 
ASO A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO. 
 
 never dismissed the incestuous woman he lived with, 
 and at last sacrificed to her revenge the honest 
 preacher he once admired. 
 
 Do not confound the covenant of works made with 
 innocent Adam before the fall, and the covenant of 
 grace made with sinful Adam after the fall, Gen. 
 ii. 17, and iii. 15. and Rom. v. 11, 21. They are 
 excellent in their place; but when they are mixed 
 together, they destroy each others efficacy. The 
 dreadful thunders heard in Paradise Lost, and the 
 
 melodious songs uttered in Paradise Regained, do not. 
 
 strike at once the same spiritual ear. The galling 
 yoke of the law of works, and the heavy load of its 
 condemnation, are dropt, when we take upon us 
 Christ's easy yoke, and submit to his light burden. 
 In a word, the first Adam gives place to the second, 
 when we find rest unto our souls. Let then the curse 
 of the law of innocence, be swallowed by the blessing 
 of the gospel; or rather, let it make way for the grace 
 of Christ in thy soul, as an emetic makes way for a 
 
 cordial in a disordered stomach. If thou takest. them’ 
 
 together, their respective use is prevented. The first 
 covenant loses its humbling efficacy, and the second 
 
 its restorative power. Therefore, if thou hast really 
 
 received the sentence of death in thyself, leave the 
 curse of the first covenant in the grave of Christ, 
 crucified for thy sins; and welcome the pardoning, 
 renovating grace of Christ, risen again for thy justifi- 
 cation. 
 On the other hand, rest not contented with specu- 
 lative knowledge, and unaffecting, though clear, ideas 
 of the gospel way of salvation. Light in an unre- 
 newed understanding, mistaken for the mystery of 
 faith in a pure heart, like an ignis fatuus, or false light, 
 leads thousands through the bogs of sin, into the pit of 
 destruction, Acts viii. 13. 
 Pacify not thy conscience by activity in outward 
 services, and a warmth in God’s cause: party spirit, 
 ‘or natural steadiness in carrying on a favourite scheme, 
 yea, or seeking thy own glory, may be the springs 
 
 ‘ 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. A81 
 
 that set thee on work. Jehu faithfully destroyed 
 Baal and Jezebel, but his zeal. for the Lord covered 
 the secret desire of acrown. Take care also, not to © 
 mistake gifts for graces; fluency of speech for con- 
 verting power; the warmth of natural affection for 
 divine love; or any impulse of God’s Spirit, on some 
 particular occasion, for an evidence of spiritual. rege- 
 neration. Balaam spoke and prophesied like a child 
 of God; and many will one day say to Christ, Lord, 
 have we not prophesied, spoke all mysteries, cast out 
 devils, and done many wondrous works in thy 
 name? to whom he will answer, “‘ Depart from me, L 
 know you not.” 
 
 Avoid the self-conceit of many, who feed on the 
 corrupted manna of their past experiences, and con- 
 fidently appeal to the wasted streams of those consola- 
 tions, which once refreshed their hearts; when, alas! 
 it is evident, they have now forsaken the fountain of 
 living water, and hewn to themselves broken cisterns 
 that hold no water; unless the mire of evil tempers, 
 selfish views, and heartless professions of faith, may 
 pass for the streams which gladden the city of God. 
 
 Neither do thou heal thyself by touches of sorrow, 
 by tears, good desires, or outward marks of humilia- 
 tion for sin, as king Ahab. Nor by excessive fasting, 
 retiring from business, or hard usage of the body, as 
 many Roman Catholics: nor yet by misapplying the 
 doctrine of predestination, and setting down notions 
 of election for evidences of salvation, as many Protes- 
 tants: no, nor by doating about questions, strifes 
 of words, and perverse disputings, which eat as a 
 canker, as some in St. Paul's days, and too many in 
 ours, | Tim, vi. 4. 
 
 To conclude; think not thou art absolutely made 
 whole when the power of outward sin is weakened 
 or suspended, when thou hast learned the language of 
 Canaan, canst speak or write well on spiritual subjects, 
 art intimately acquainted with the best ministers of 
 Christ, and hast cast thy lot among the despised chil- 
 dren of God, taken their part, shared in their reproach, 
 
 16. 3 P 
 
482 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 and secured their esteem and prayers. Judas did so 
 for years: Saul was once also among the prophets: 
 Ananias and Sapphira were supposed to be good 
 believers for, a time: the foolish virgins joined in 
 society with the wise, and were perhaps unsuspected - 
 to the last: and Peter himself stood in need of con- 
 version, long after he had outwardly left all to follow 
 Christ, Luke xxii. 32. So important is that charge 
 of our Lord, ‘‘ Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for 
 many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” 
 ‘To these cautions against the various ways by 
 which the generality of penitents skin over the wound 
 of sin in their conscience, permit me to add an 
 
 IV. Evanceticat Exuorration, pointing out 
 the divine method of a sound cure, which, though 
 least regarded, and last tried, by most sinners, is not 
 only effectual in some, but infallible in all cases.— 
 Wouldst thou, serious Reader, be made whole in an - 
 evangelical manner? ‘To thy convictions of original 
 and actual sin must be added, a conviction of unbelief. 
 Feel then, that thou hast neglected Christ's great sal- 
 vation: own thou didst never ask, or never persevere 
 in asking, the unfeigned, saving, powerful faith, by 
 which the atonement is received and enjoyed, Rom. 
 v. 11. Acknowledge, that the faith thou hast hitherto 
 rested in, was. not the gift of God, that grace of his 
 own operation, wrought in thee according to the- 
 working of his mighty power, and mentioned, Eph. 
 ii. 8. Col. ii. 12. Eph. i. 9. And confess it was not 
 the right Christian faith; because it chiefly grew from 
 the seed of prejudice and education, as the faith of . 
 Jews and Turks; and not from the seed of divine 
 grace and power, as the faith of St. Paul, Gal. i. 14; 
 and because it never yielded the heavenly fruits which 
 gospel faith infallibly produces: such as—a_ vital 
 union with Christ, Gal. ii. 20.—the pardon of sins, 
 Col. i. 14. Acts xii. 30.—peace with God, Rom. vy. 
 1.—dominion over sin, Rom. vi. 14.—victory over 
 the world, 1 John v. 4.—the crucifixion of the 
 flesh, Gal. v.—power to quench the fiery darts of 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT: 483 
 
 the wicked, Eph. vi. 15.—joy unspeakable, 1 Pet. 
 i. 8.—and the salvation of the soul, I Pet. i. 9. 
 Heb. x. 39. 
 
 Be not afraid of this conviction of unbelief, for it 
 generally goes before divine faith, as the fermentation 
 of a grain of corn in the earth is previous to its shoot- 
 ing its stalk towards heaven. God concludes, shuts 
 up in unbelief, says St. Paul, that he may have merey 
 upon us, Rom. xi. 32. When the Comforter is come, 
 says our Lord, he will convince the world of sin, be- 
 cause they believe not in me. This is the transgression, 
 which peculiarly deserves the name of sin, as being 
 the damning sin, according to the gospel, Mark xvi. 16, 
 the sin that binds upon us the guilt of all our other 
 iniquities, and keeps up the power of all our corrup- 
 tions. Its immediate effect is to harden the heart, 
 Mark xvi. 14, and make it depart from the living God, 
 Heb. iii. 12; and this hardness and departure are the 
 genuine parents of all our actual sins, the number and 
 blackness of which increases and decreases, as the 
 strength of unbelief grows or decays. 
 
 A conviction of this sin is of the utmost importance, 
 as nothing but an affecting sense of its heinousness 
 and power, can make us entirely weary of ourselves— 
 nothing but a sight of its destructive nature can pre- 
 vent our resting without a complete cure. 
 
 But when thou art once convinced of unbelief, do 
 not increase the difficulty of believing, by imagining 
 true faith at an immense distance. Consider it as 
 very near thy heart. That. which convinces thee of 
 sin and unbelief can in a moment, and with the great- 
 est ease, convince thee of righteousness, and reveal in 
 thee Christ the hope of glory. How quickly can the 
 Spint take of the things that belong to him, and show 
 them unto thee! Say not then in thy heart, Who shall 
 ascend into heaven, or descend into the deep, to get 
 the seed of faith? But let St. Paul show thee the new 
 and living way. ‘‘ The word is nigh thee, says he, 
 even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is, the word 
 of faith which we preach; that if thou shalt confess 
 
484 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and: shalt believe in 
 thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, 
 thou shalt be saved: for we are saved by faith.~ Faith 
 cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 
 Hear then the word of the Lord.” 
 
 Are thy sins really grievous to thee? Is the burden 
 of them intolerable? Wouldst thou part with it at any 
 rate? Dost thou fully renounce thy speculative and 
 barren faith? Hast thou received the sentence of 
 eternal death in thy conscience, acknowledging thy 
 case (for any thing thou canst do without Christ) help- 
 less, hopeless, desperate? And art thou truly brought © 
 to the grand inquiry, What must I do to be saved ? 
 See, feel, confess, that thou standest in absolute need 
 of a divine Physician, an almighty Redeemer; and 
 that the God-man, Jesus Christ, joms both these ex- 
 traordinary characters in his wonderful person. Sub- 
 mit to be saved by grace, by free grace through his 
 infinite merits, and not thy wretched deserts; and, 
 instead of opposing, continually study God’s wonder- 
 ful method of saving sinners, the worst of sinners, by 
 faith in his blood. 
 
 There is no name but his under heaven, whereby 
 we must be saved; neither is there cure or salvation 
 in any other, Acts iv. 12. As by him all things were 
 created, so by him they subsist, and by him they must 
 be restored. The power of his word and breath, made 
 man a living soul; and now that we are dead to God, 
 the same power, applying his blood and righteousness, 
 must create in us clean hearts, and renew right spirits 
 within us. This, and this only, heals wounded con- 
 sciences, washes polluted souls, and raises the dead 
 in trespasses and sins. 
 
 Wouldst thou then be made whole? Determine, 
 as St. Paul, to know nothing but Christ, and him cru- 
 cified: aim at believing, realizing, applicatory views 
 of what he is, and what he has done and suffered for 
 thee. Through all the clouds of thy guilt and unbelief, 
 which will vanish before our Sun of Righteousness, as - 
 mists before the material sun, behold him as the Lamb 
 
HE TRUE PENITENT. 485 
 
 of God that taketh away the sin of the world, and 
 thine. See the immense dignity of his person: he is 
 God over all, blessed for ever; and yet he condescends 
 to be Emanuel, God with us, flesh of our flesh, and 
 bone of our bone. 
 
 Consider the inexpressible value, and inconceiv- 
 able efficacy, of his precious, all-atoning blood. It 
 is the blood of the sacred. body, assumed by the 
 eternal Logos, when he appeared in the likeness of 
 sinful flesh, both as a victim and a priest, to suffer 
 the penalty of his own righteous law for us, and to put 
 away sin by the sacrifice of himself—the blood of the 
 Lamb of God slain to sprinkle many nations—the 
 blood of that mysterious Being, who fills the bosom 
 of the Father, and the everlasting throne; at whose 
 feet all the heavenly powers cast their crowns; and 
 to whom, in the midst of the acclamations and adora- 
 tions of innumerable companies of angels, in the midst 
 of sounding trumpets, thunderings, lightnings, and 
 voices, the spirits of just men made perfect ascribe 
 salvation; free, full, immensely dear bought salvation; 
 and, to say all in one word, it is the blood of God 
 made manifest in the flesh, Acts xx. 28. 1 Tim. 
 ii. 16. For JEnovan our righteousness, is the Seed 
 of the woman, and the Son of man; the Godhead and | 
 the Manhood are wonderfully joined in him: and in 
 consequence of this mysterious union, he is not only a 
 proper mediator between God and man, but the sole 
 medium of reconciliation and union between. the 
 offended Majesty of Heaven and the rebellious sons of 
 Adam. As the brazen serpent lifted up in the wil- 
 derness, when viewed by the wounded Israelites, was 
 the only means by which the poison of the fiery ser- 
 pents could be expelled, and health restored to their 
 tortured, dying bodies; so Jesus, lifted up on the 
 cross, when beheld by the eye of faith, as bleeding 
 and dying in our stead, is the only way by which sin, 
 the sting of death, can be extracted out of our guilty, 
 perishing souls ; the only antidote that can restore us 
 to saving health and eternal life, John ii. 14. Apply 
 
A86 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 whatever we will, besides this sovereign remedy, we 
 may poison, but can never heal, the envenomed mor- 
 tal wound. 
 But, remember, sinner, that faith alone can make 
 the blessed application. Adam fell by rejecting in 
 unbelief the word of threatening, and thou canst never 
 rise, but by receiving in faith the word of reconcilia- 
 _ tion, Gen. 1. 17. 2 Cor. v.19. Instead then of con- 
 fusing thy thoughts, and scattering thy desires, by the 
 pursuit of a variety of objects; remember that one 
 thing is needful for thee—Christ and his salvation, 
 received by faith: for to as manyas receive him, he 
 gives power to become the sons of God, even to them 
 that believe on his name. Beseech him, therefore, to 
 manifest himself to thee by his word and Spirit. He 
 is the author and finisher of faith, the giver of every 
 good and perfect gift; ask of him a heartfelt confi 
 dence, that God so loved thee, as to give his only 
 begotten Son, that thou shouldst not perish, but have 
 everlasting life; a firm confidence, that as the first 
 Adam wilfully ruined thee, so he, the second Adam, 
 freely loved thee, and gave himself for thee; and that 
 thou hast redemption through his blood, the forgive- 
 ness of sins, not according to thy merits, but the riches 
 of his grace. 
 The least degree of this divinely wrought confi- 
 dence, will begin to attract and unite thy soul to him, 
 who is our life and peace, our strength and righteous- 
 ness. The everlasting gospel will then be music in 
 thine ears, and power in thy heart. Its cheerful, 
 solemn sound, will raise thy drooping spirits, and 
 make thee fix the eye of thy mind on the sign of the 
 Son of man, the uplifted banner of the cross: and O} 
 while the self-righteous see nothing there but the de- 
 spised, rejected, man of sorrow, what wilt thou dis- 
 cover?—-God in Christ reconciling the world unto © 
 himself! God manifest in the flesh, to destroy the 
 works of the devil! Jehovah, Jesus, the captain of 
 our salvation, treading the wine-press of the fierceness 
 of the wrath of the Almighty! Of the people there 
 
JHE TRUE PENITENT. A87 
 
 was none with him, therefore his own arm brought 
 salvation unto him. 
 
 While the gospel trumpet is blown in Sion, and. the 
 self-hardened, scoffing infidel, hears it with disdain 
 and ridicule, what joy will ‘the awful declarations 
 convey to thy penitent and listening soul! With what 
 rapturous delight wilt thou hang upon the lips of the 
 messengers of peace, the sons of consolation, who 
 preach free salvation by the blood of Jesus! While 
 he himself, confirming the word of his servants, says 
 to the melting heart, with his still, small, and yet 
 powerful, renovating voice,—Behold, I sit upon my 
 throne making all things new—The words that I speak 
 are spirit and life—Ido not condemn thee, thy sins 
 are forgiven—Be thou clean—Thy faith hath saved 
 thee—Go in peace, and sin no more. Rey. xxi. 5. 
 John vi. 68. ‘Luke vii. 48, 50. Matt. viii. 3. John 
 vili. 11. 
 
 And O! what will thy believing peed heart 
 experience in that day of God’s power, and thy spi- 
 ritual birth !—Christ, the true light of the world, the 
 eternal life of men, coming suddenly to his temple, 
 and filling it with the light of his countenance, and 
 the power of his resurrection!—Christ shedding abroad 
 in thy ravished soul, the love of thy heavenly Father, 
 of thy bitterest enemies, and al] mankind !—In a word, 
 the Holy Ghost given unto thee! Or, Christ dwelling 
 in thy heart by faith! Johni. 4. 1 John v.12. Rom. 
 viii. 15. and v..5. Gal. i. 16. Eph. i. 13. and ii. 17. 
 
 Being thus made partaker of Christ, and of the 
 Holy Ghost, Heb. iti. 14. and vi. 4, thy loving: heart, 
 thy praising lips, thy blameless life, will agree to 
 testify, that the Son of man hath power on earth to 
 forgive sins; and that if any man is in Christ he is a 
 new ereature ; old things are passed away, behold all 
 things are become new. Matt. ix. 6: 2 Cor. v. 17. 
 
 Till this is thy happy experience, pray (as the 
 drawings of the Father, and convictions of the Spirit 
 will enable thee,) earnestly pray for living faith, for a 
 faith that may be to thee the substance of the pardon 
 thou hopest for, and the evidence of the great sacrifice 
 
- 488 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 thou dost not see, but which our divine Surety really 
 offered upon the cross for thee. Consider how de- 
 plorable a thing it is, that thou shouldst be prevented 
 from claiming, receiving, enjoying, the delightful 
 knowledge of thy interest in the Redeemer’s death; 
 when his pardoning love, and the word of his grace, 
 
 ‘ae 
 uae ee,» le ee 
 
 offer it thee without money and without price, and — 
 
 absolutely nothing but infatuating unbelief or spiritual 
 sloth keeps thee from the invaluable blessing! Be not 
 satisfied idly to wait in the divine ordinances, till thou 
 seest the kingdom of God come with power; but, as 
 the violent, take it by force. 
 
 Prisoner of hope, be strong, be bold, 
 Cast off thy doubts, disdain to fear; 
 
 Dare to believe, on Christ lay hold; 
 Wrestle with Christ i mighty prayer : 
 
 Tell him I will not let thee go, 
 
 Till I thy name, thy nature know. 
 
 Be attentive to the calls of the Spirit, and follow 
 the drawings of the Father, till they bring thee to the 
 Son; and keep thine eye upon the dawning light of 
 the gospel, till the morning-star arise in thy heart. 
 Venture, confidently venture, upon the boundless 
 mercy of God in Jesus Christ. If a spirit of infir- 
 mity bows thee down, yield not to it: seventy times 
 
 seven times try to arise, and look up, calling aloud 
 
 for help against it. Say, if possible, with tears, as 
 the distrest. father in the gospel, Lord, I believe; or, 
 Lord, I would believe, help thou my unbelief: or 
 with tempted Job, “Though thou slay me, yet will I 
 trust in thee.” ‘he 
 
 'In this manner knock with the earnestness of the 
 importunate widow, till the door of faith open, and 
 thou begin to see the salvation of God, But stop not 
 here at the threshold of Christianity. Have boldness 
 to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Goon 
 from faith to faith, till thy day of Pentecost is fully 
 come, till thou art endued with power from on high, 
 baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and sealed 
 with that Holy Spirit of promise, which Christ received 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 489 
 
 ef the Father, and abundantly shed on his servants 
 and handmaids, when he was glorified. Compare 
 Matt. iii. 11. Eph.i. 13. John vii. 39. Acts i. 5, 8. 
 and ii. 33, 39. and viii. 15. and’ xix. 2. John vii. 39. 
 Tit. ii. 6. 
 
 In the mean time, use all the means of grace with 
 an eye to their end: stir up the gift of hope that is in 
 thee; and, to raise thy drooping expectation, receive 
 the encouraging testimony of God’s redeemed praising 
 people, whose hearts and tongues are ready to testify 
 to thy ears what the following lines declare to thine 
 eyes. . . 
 
 Ny. That which we have seen and heard declare we 
 unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; 
 and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with 
 his Son Jesus Christ. For the life was manifested, 
 . and we have seen it, and bear witness and show unto 
 you that eternal life, which was with.the Father, and 
 is manifested unto us. Yes, we have found him, of 
 whom Moses and the prophets did write. From 
 blessed experience we declare, that the Messiah is — 
 come, that his essence is love incarnate, his name 
 free salvation, and his delight the eternal happiness of 
 the children of men. He is the chief among ten thou- 
 sand prophets, priests, kings, and saviours; he is _ 
 altogether love. We staked our souls upon his eter- 
 nal truth, and it was done to us, both according to his 
 word and our faith: therefore with humble joy we 
 declare, that he answers the prayers, and delivers the 
 souls, of perishing sinners, as graciously as he did in 
 the days of his flesh. 
 
 _ Upon trials, a thousand times successfully repeated, 
 we proclaim him the help of the helpless, the hope of 
 the hopeless, the health of the sick, the strength of the 
 weak, the riches of the poor, the peace of the dis- 
 quieted, the comfort of the afflicted, the light of those 
 that sit in darkness, the companion of the desolate, 
 the friend of the friendless, the way of the bewildered, 
 the wisdom of the foolish, the righteousness of the 
 ungodly, the sanctification of the unholy, the re- 
 a hG. 3Q 
 
490 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 demption of captives, the joy of mourners, the glory 
 
 of the infamous, and, in a word, the salvation of 
 
 the lost. 
 
 Though he was the Creator of men and angels, | 
 
 he vouchsafed to be born of a woman, that we, the 
 
 wretched offspring of degenerate Adam, might be 
 born again, born of God. Though he had stretched 
 forth the heavens like a curtain, and bespangled 
 them with stars innumerable; he wrapped himself 
 in the scanty fading garment of our flesh, and put 
 on the vail of our miserable humanity, that we might 
 be invested with the glory and communicable per- 
 fections of the divine nature. Though he was the 
 King of kings, and Lord of lords, he did not disdain 
 to take upon him the form and office of a servant, 
 that we might be delivered from the slavery of Satan, 
 and that angels might be sent forth to minister for 
 
 us, who are the heirs of salvation. Though he was - 
 
 the fulness of him who fills all in all, he worked that 
 we might not want; and toiled, that we might rest; 
 and endured hunger and thirst, that we might taste 
 the hidden manna, eat the bread of life, and drink 
 with him the mystic wine of his Fathers kingdom. 
 His omnipotent word covers a thousand hills with 
 verdure, and clothes millions of creatures with rich 
 furs, glittering scales, and shining plumage; but O 
 
 infinite condescension! he submitted to be stript of — 
 
 his plain raiment, that our shame might not appear; 
 he became naked, that we might be adorned with 
 robes of righteousness, and garments of salvation. 
 Though his riches were immense and unsearchable 
 like himself, though heaven was his throne, and earth 
 his footstool, he became poor, and was destitute of 
 a place where to lay his head, that we might be rich 
 in faith here, and heirs of the kingdom hereafter. 
 Though he was, is now, and ever shall be, the joy 
 of the heavenly powers, and the object of their 
 deepest adoration; he was voluntarily despised of 
 -men, that we might be honoured of God: he was 
 acquainted too with griefs, that we might rejoice with 
 joy unspeakable, and full of glory. Though supreme 
 
 * 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 491 
 
 Lawgiver and Judge of all, matchless love made him 
 _ yield to be judged, and unjustly condemned at Pilate’s 
 bar, that we might be honourably acquitted, and glo- 
 riously rewarded, before his awful tribunal. Though 
 archangels laid their crowns at his feet, and seraphims 
 vailed their faces before him, unable to stand the 
 dazzling effulgence of his glory, he suffered himself 
 to be derided, scoffed, spit upon, scourged, and crown- 
 ed with thorns; that we might be acknowledged, ap- 
 plauded, embraced, and presented with never-fading 
 crowns of righteousness and glory. The Lord of Hosts 
 is his name; he is deservedly called, Wonderful, Coun- 
 sellor, the everlasting Father, the mighty God, the 
 Prince of peace. Cherubic regions fly at his nod: and 
 yet, astonishing humiliation! his shoulders, on which 
 is laid the government of the world, felt the infamous 
 load of a malefactor’s cross; and barbarous soldiers, fol- 
 lowed by an enraged mob, led him asa lamb to the 
 slaughter, that we might be delivered from the heavy 
 curse of the law, and gently conveyed by celestial 
 powers into Abraham’s bosom. Let all the angels of © 
 God worship him, is the great decree, to which the 
 heavenly hierarchy submits with incessant transports 
 of the most ardent devotion; and yet he was cru- 
 cified as an execrable wretch, guilty of treason and 
 blasphemy, that we, daring rebels and abominable 
 sinners, might be made kings and priests unto God, 
 partaking of his highest glory, as he partook of our 
 deepest shame: and, to crown his loving-kindness, he 
 expired in the midst of.rending rocks, and a super- 
 natural darkness; that we might feel his tender mer- 
 cies, and be indulged with the light of heaven, when 
 we go through the dreary valley of the shadow of 
 death, to reap the joys of eternal life. 
 
 Survey this wondrous cure : 
 
 And at each step let higher wonder rise ! 
 Pardon for infinite offence! and pardon 
 Through means that speak its value infinite ! 
 
 A pardon bought with blood! with blood divine, 
 With blood divine of him we made our foe! 
 Persisted to provoke! though woo’d and aw’d. 
 
492 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO a 
 
 Bless’d and chastis’d, bold, flagrant rebels still ! - 
 Bold rebels ’midst the thanders of his theonaty 
 Nor we alone! a rebel Universe! 
 
 Yet for the foulest of the foul he dies. 
 
 But this is not all: having through the grace of 
 God tasted death for every man, and perfumed the 
 grave for believers, 
 
 He rose! He rose! He broke the bars of death! 
 Oh the burst gates, crush’d sting, demolish’d throne, 
 Last gasp of vanquish’d death! Shout, earth and heav’n, 
 This sum of geod to man; whose nature, then, 
 Took wing, and mounted with him from the tomb : 
 Then, then, we rose; then first humanity, 
 Triamphant, pass’d the chrystal gates of light.— 
 Youne. 
 
 ~ O the depth of the mystery of faith! O the breadth, ~ 
 the length, the height, of the love of Christ! All his- 
 stupendous humiliation, from his Father's bosom, 
 through the virgin’s womb, to the accursed tree: all 
 his astonishing exaltation, from the dust of the grave, 
 and the sorrows of hell, to the joys of heaven, and the 
 highest throne of glory: all this immense progress 
 of incarnate love—all, all is ours! His mysterious 
 incarnation re-unites and endears us to God; his na- 
 tural birth procures our spiritual regeneration; his 
 unspotted life restores us to a blissful immortality ; his 
 bitter agony gives us calm repose; his bloody sweat 
 washes away our manifold pollutions; his deep wounds 
 distil the balm that heals our envenomed sores; his 
 perfect obedience is our first title to endless felicity ; 
 his full atonement purchases our free justification; his 
 cruel death is the spring of immortal life; his grave, 
 the gate of heaven; his resurrection, the pledge of 
 glory ; his ascension, the triumph of our souls; his 
 sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the 
 earnest of our future coronation and exalted felicity ; 
 and his prevailing intercession, the inexhaustible foun- 
 tain of all blessings. 
 
 Come then, conscious sinner, come to the hace of 
 pardoning love; taste with us, that the Lord is gra- 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 493 
 
 cious. Let not a false humanity detain thee, under 
 _ pretence, that ‘‘ thou art not yet humbled and broken 
 enough for sin.” Alas! who can humble thee, but 
 Jesus, that says, “‘ Without me ye can do nothing?” 
 And how canst thou be broken, but by falling upon 
 the chief corner stone? If humiliation and contrition 
 are parts of the salvation which he merited for thee, is 
 is not the quintessence of self-righteousness, to attempt 
 to attain them without him? Away then, for ever 
 away with such a dangerous excuse. 
 
 Nor let the remembrance of thy sins keep thee from 
 the speediest application to Jesus for grace and par- 
 don. What! though thy crimes are of the deepest 
 dye, and most enormous magnitude; though they are 
 innumerable as the sand on the sea-shore, and aggra- 
 vated by the most uncommon and horrid circum- 
 stances, yet thou needest not despair: he has opened 
 a fountain for sin of every kind, and uncleanness of 
 every degree: his blood cleanses from all sin. 
 
 He is a Redeemer most eminently fitted, a Saviour 
 most completely qualified to restore corrupt, guilty, — 
 apostate, undone mankind; the vilest of the vile, the 
 foulest of the foul, not excepted. He is almighty, and 
 therefore perfectly able to restore lapsed powers, root 
 up inveterate habits, and implant heavenly tempers. 
 He is love itself: compassionate, merciful, pardoning 
 Love, became incarnate for thee. And shall he, that 
 spared not his own life, but delivered himself up for 
 us all—shall he not, with his own blood, also freely 
 give us all things? 
 
 Behold, O behold him with the eye of thy faith: 
 cruelly torn with various instruments of torture, he 
 hangs aloft on the accursed tree, between two of the 
 most execrable malefactors; and there, insulted more 
 than they, he bears our infamous load of guilt. He 
 knows no sin, and yet he is made sin for us: he be- 
 comes a curse, to redeem us from the curse of the 
 jaw: his own self bears our sins in his own body on 
 the tree: he is wounded for our transgressions, and 
 bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our 
 
494, A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO | 5 8 
 
 peace is upon him. God hath laid on him the ini- 
 quity of us all, and with his stripes we are healed. 
 
 See, Parpon ror Lost SINNERS, is written with 
 pointed steel and streaming blood on his pierced hands 
 and feet: the double flood issuing from his wounded 
 -side, more than seals the dear-bought blessing: the 
 hand-writing against us is nailed in his cross, and 
 blotted out with his precious blood: his open arms 
 invite, draw, and welcome, returning prodigals: and 
 there encircled, the worst of sinners may find. a safe 
 and delightful retreat, a real and present heayen. _ 
 
 O sinner, let thy heart fly thither on the wings of 
 eager expectation, and impetuous desire—By all that 
 is near, dear, and sacred to thee, fly—-Fly from eternal ; 
 death—Fly for eternal life. The law, violated by ten 
 thousand transgressions, pursues thee with ten thou- 
 sand curses: the sword of divine yengeance flames 
 over thy devoted head: sin, the sting of death, has 
 been a thousand times shot into thy wretched breast; 
 its subtle and dire poison continually works in thy 
 hardened, or distressed heart: guilt, the sting of sin— 
 
 tions, goes about as a roaring lion, seeking to ens 
 his careless votary, or devour his desperate worshipper : 
 death levels his pointed spear at thy thoughtless or 
 throbbing heart: hell itself is moved from beneath, 
 to meet thee at thy coming: and the grave gapes at 
 thy feet, ready to close her hideous mouth upon her 
 accursed prey. ae 
 
 Fly then, miserable sinner—If thy flesh is not brass, 
 and thou canst not dwell with everlasting burnings, 
 fly for shelter to the bloody cross of Jesus. There 
 thou wilt meet him, who was and is, and is to come: 
 
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THE TRUE PENITENT. - 495 
 
 Emanuel; God with us, who appeared as the son 
 of man, to make his soul an offering for sin, for thy 
 sin; and saved thy life from destruction, by losing his 
 own in pangs, which made the sun turn pale, shook — 
 the earth, and caused the scattered graves to give up 
 their dead. . 
 
 He is even now near to thy heart; he stands at the 
 door, and gently knocks by the word of his grace. If 
 thou hearest his voice, and openest by believing, he 
 will come in; the word of reconciliation shall be 
 powerfully ingrafted in thy heart; thou shalt know, 
 experimentally know, the truth, and the truth shall 
 make thee free. Assured that he hath by himself 
 purged thy sins, abolished death, and brought life 
 and immortality to light through the gospel, _ thou 
 shalt sup with him and he with thee; thou shalt eat 
 the bread of God, which came down from heaven, to 
 give life to a perishing world. Evangelical truth, re- 
 ceived by faith, will heal, nourish, comfort, and sanc- 
 tify the soul. 
 
 But perhaps thy guilty heart receives no conso- 
 lation from these lines. Thou still considerest Christ 
 only as a severe Lawgiver, or as an inflexible Judge; 
 and not as the propitiation for thy sins, and thy gra- 
 cious all-prevailing Advocate with the Father. O! 
 how dost thou wrong both him and thyself, by such 
 false conceptions! And how soon would thy gloomy 
 fears give place to triumphant joy, if thy thoughts of 
 him corresponded with his gracious designs concern- 
 ing thee ! ror 
 - Wouldest thou know him better? behold him 
 through the glass of his word, and not through the 
 mist of thy fears; and thou wilt see that, far from 
 watching over thee for evil, he fixes upon thee the 
 pits eye of his redeeming love; waits that he may 
 
 e gracious to thy soul, and calls, continually calls, for 
 thee. O! if thou hast an ear, listen; and as thou 
 listenest, wonder at the kind reviving words, which 
 proceed out of his mouth. | 
 
 VI. “ Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, says the 
 
- ‘al 
 
 496 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 Lord; ‘speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and ery 
 unto her, That her warfare is accomplished, and her 
 . iniquity is pardoned;* for, in me, she hath received of 
 the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. He is well 
 pleased for my righteousness’ sake, I have magnified 
 the law, and made it honourable: I have been lifted 
 up, and now [I draw all men unto me. My delights 
 are with the sons of men, and therefore am I exalted, 
 that I may have mercy upon them. Behold, I come 
 with a strong hand; my reward is with me, and my 
 work before me. Every valley shall be exalted, every 
 mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked ‘shall 
 be made straight, and the rough places plain: my glory 
 shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. 
 
 «‘ Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far 
 from righteousness ; | bring near my righteousness, it 
 shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry. 
 Seek ye me while I may be found, call upon me while 
 I am near: return unto me, and I will have mercy 
 upon you; and though ye have only done evil before 
 me from your youth, I will abundantly pardon: for my 
 thoughts are not revengeful as your thoughts, nor my 
 ways unloving as your ways: in me ye shall be saved 
 with an everlasting salvation. 
 
 - Come therefore unto me, all ye that travail and 
 are heavy laden, and [ will give you rest: my yoke is 
 easy, my burden light, and my rest glorious. Ho! 
 
 5 
 
 * This part of the address is almost literally transcribed from the ‘ 
 scripture, and it is designed for none but Mourners in Sion, dejected 
 sinners, who are backward to come to Christ that they may have 
 life. These want line upon line, and invitation upon invitation ; 
 and it is well if, after all, they are encouraged to come. As for full 
 souls, I know they will loath this honey-comb. But while they 
 complain it has too many cells, and they are filled with the same 
 thing; some poor hungry hearts will say, ‘ One thing is needful 
 for us, We cannot have too much virgin honey ; its sweets makes 
 amends for the want of variety. If the manna falls abundantly 
 round our tents, it will stir us up to praise, and not to murmur. 
 Fulness of the bread of life will not make us wax fat and-kick like 
 Jeshurun, but bless God for his rich profusion, With the disciples, 
 we shall even gather the fragments, that nothing be lost.’ Hy 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 407 
 
 every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and 
 he that hath no money: come ye, buy and eat all that 
 ean revive, strengthen, and delight your souls; yea, 
 come, bity wine and milk without money and without 
 price. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that 
 which is not bread, and your labour for that which 
 satisfieth not? Hearken. diligently unto me, eat that 
 which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fat- 
 ness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and 
 your soul shall live; I will make an everlasting cove- 
 nant with you, even the sure mercies of David, and 
 ye shall all know me, from the least to the greatest: 
 for I will forgive your iniquity, and remember your 
 sin no more. ? | 
 
 * Oh, if thou knewest the gift of God, wretched 
 simer, and who it is that saith unto thee, If any man 
 thirst, let him come to me and drink, thou wouldst 
 have asked of him, and he would have given thee liv- 
 ing water; a well, a fountain of it, would have sprung 
 up in thee unto everlasting life; yea, out of thy belly, . 
 thy inmost soul, rivers of living water, the greatest 
 abundance of the purest joy, would have flowed for 
 éver. I, even I, am he, that blotteth out thy trans- 
 gressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy 
 sins: I will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy 
 soul in drought; and thou shalt be like a watered 
 garden, or like a spring of water, whose waters do 
 not fail. 
 
 * © how often would I have gathered thee in years 
 past, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings! 
 How often would I have led thee, as an eagle flutter 
 eth over her young, spreading abroad her wings 
 taketh them, and beareth them! but thou woulds 
 not. Nevertheless, this is still the day of my power 
 merey, and love: I pardon those whom I reserve, and 
 I will yet be pacified towards thee, for all that thou 
 hast done. I was angry with thee, but mine anger is 
 
 -turned away ; my thoughts towards thee are thoughts 
 of peace, and I am become thy salvation. Come then, 
 “igh 4 now reason together, and though thy sins be as 
 
 : 3 R 
 
498 A. SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 scarlet, they shall: be as white as snow; tren ‘they 
 be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Hedy ad 
 
 Why does: not thy drooping heart, O sinner, leap 
 for joy, or melt with gratitude, at these tender inyita- 
 tions of thy. Samourt Thinkest thou, they do not 
 belong to thee? Dost thou suppose, that Jesus, who 
 is all purity and holiness, must turn away with 
 abhorrence from such a guilty, polluted, and abo- 
 minable creature, as thou art ?—one~so- void of all 
 good, so. full of all evil, so completely lost and.un- 
 done, as thou seest thyself? ? Art thou afraid that,thy 
 relapses into sin have been so frequent, and thy back- 
 slidings so multiplied, that hope, which comes to) all, 
 can no more come .to thee? Or does the enemy of 
 thy ‘soul suggest thou art ‘careless, hardened, or sunk 
 in stupid unbelief?—Does he: insinuate, thou hast 
 so long trifled with divine grace, art gone such 
 lengths in horrid wickedness, or hast contracted 
 such unconquerable habits of indulging thy carnal 
 mind, or following thy vain imaginations, that. infi- 
 nite mercy can no. longer pardon thy sins, or infinite 
 power change thy nature? Art thou even tempted to 
 believe thou hast committed the sin against. the Holy 
 Ghost, and art almost, if not altogether, given up to.a 
 reprobate mind? O check those gloomy, desparing 
 thoughts; resist the devil; and give place to’ ean 
 true and honourable sentiments of Jesus. 
 
 Wherefore dost thou doubt, O thou of little faith ? 
 _ Is any thing too hard for the Lord? Are not-all things 
 
 possible with God? Can the Almighty, who became 
 incarnate to die, as man in thy place, want either 
 abilily or willingness to help thee, be thy case ever, so 
 deplorable and desperate? Are not darkness or, light, 
 sickness or death, all one to him, who is the light of 
 the world, and the Prince of. life ; -and who witha. 
 word or touch raised the- dead, whether they were 
 yet warm ona bed,-or cold in a coffin, or alrnacty pe 
 trified in a grave ? 
 
 Confine not then, poor dejected sinner, ‘thy Sarieutis 
 oT mercy within the narrow limits a thy un- 
 
THE TRUE. PENITENT. 499 
 
 believing thoughts. Get scriptural views of his par- 
 doning love, and true discoveries of his redeeming 
 power. To guess aright at the prodigious extent of 
 his mercy, lift up the dim eyes of thy struggling faith, 
 and behold a great multitude, which no man can 
 number, standing before the throne, with their robes 
 washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. — - 
 _ . Among-those countless monuments of divine mercy, - 
 those illustrious trophies of free grace, see David, 
 who, after having been admitted to close communion ~ 
 with God, plunged for ten months in the horrible guilt 
 of adultery, treachery, hypocrisy, and murder !—See 
 Paul, once so fierce an enemy to the truth, so fiery 2 
 blasphemer of Jesus, so raging a persecutor of: the 
 saints, that his very breath was threatenings and 
 slaughter against them!—See, Peter, who after a 
 great profession of faithfulness, and-upon an appa- 
 rently slight temptation, denied three times his Mas- 
 ter, his Saviour, and his God, in his very presence— 
 Peter, guilty of lying, cursing, and perjury; immedi- 
 ately after he had been apprised of the imminent temp- 
 tation, and armed against it, both by receiving the 
 holy sacrament at our Lord’s own hand, and being 
 admitted to see his wonderful agony, and glorious 
 miracles! These and thousands more agree to tell 
 thee, For this cause we obtained mercy, that in us 
 ‘first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, | 
 for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe 
 on him to life everlasting. 
 
 If all these witnesses do not silence thy doubts, and 
 encourage thy hopes, Jesus himself, the faithful and 
 true witness, will yet plead the cause of his dying 
 love, against thy unbelieving fears: thy gracious Ad- 
 vocate with God, will yet be God’s condescending 
 Advocate with thee. O let thy clamorous conscience 
 keep silence, while he preaches to thee the everlasting . 
 gospel of his grace. And if to-day thou hearest his 
 voice, harden not your hearts, come out of the cave of 
 unbelief, wrap thyself in the mantle of divine mercy, 
 and worship the pardoning God, the God of never- 
 failing truth and everlasting love. 
 
500 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 Gracious Saviour! make thine own words spirit 
 and life to the soul thou hast. formed by thy breath, 
 * and purchased with thy blood.—Blessed Comforter! 
 while thy precious sayings strike the eyes of this hope- 
 less Reader, let the love which thou sheddest abroad, 
 soften, melt, and revive, his poor oppressed heart, and 
 let salvation come this day to the house of ason or 
 daughter of Abraham! A touch, a breath from thee, 
 will brake the bars of iron, burst the gates of brass, 
 and make the everlasting doors lift up their heads, that 
 the King of Glory may come in. 
 
 Who is this King of Glory? Who is this, that com- 
 eth from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? 
 this, that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in 1 the 
 greatness of his strength? - 
 
 «« J, that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. I 
 have trodden the wine-press alone, mine own arm hath 
 brought salvation unto me, salvation for the lost.: it is 
 gone forth; my righteousness is near; the isles shall 
 wait on me, and on my arm shall they trust. The 
 Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: he hath anointed 
 me. to preach good tidings to the meek; he hath sent 
 me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty 
 to the captives, andthe opening of the prison to them 
 that are bound, to comfort all that mourn, and by the 
 ‘blood of the covenant to send forth the prisoners out 
 ‘of the pit where there is no water. 
 
 ‘‘ Fear not therefore, thou worm Jacob; Iam the 
 first and the last, he that liveth and was dead, and, 
 behold, I am alive for evermore. Yes, I ever live to 
 make intercession for thee; and because I live, thou 
 shalt liye also. All power is given, all judgment is 
 committed to me in heaven and earth: I have the 
 keys of death and hell: a Jonah, who cries toe me out 
 of the very belly of hell, is not out of the reach of my 
 gracious and omnipotent arm, 
 
 «Who art thou that hast, feared continually every 
 day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he 
 were ready to destroy? J, even I, am he that com 
 forteth thee. I bring glad tidings of great joy, which 
 
 shall be to all people. I have triumphed over all 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 501 
 
 thine enemies on the cross. I have led amp cap- 
 tive; and received gifts for men, even the promise 
 of the Father, that the Lord God the Spirit may 
 dwell in them. At my command, great, the 
 evangelical trumpet, is blown, and they that are- ready 
 to perish in the land of Assyria, and. the outcasts m 
 the land of Egypt, do come, and are welcome to 
 Mount Sion, Hasten with them, thou captive exile, 
 hasten to me, that thou mayest be loosed, and that 
 thou shouldest not die in the horrible pit of thy na- 
 tural state. 
 
 ** Thy helplessness is no hinderance to my loving- 
 kindness: I break not the bruised reed, 1 queneh 
 not the smoking flax: I uphold all that fall, 1 raise 
 up all those that are bowed down: I say to the 
 prisoners, Go erie and to them that are in darkness, 
 Show yourselves: I strengthen the weak hands, and 
 confirm the feeble knees: I say to them, that are of 
 a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not; behold, I will 
 come with vengeance and a recompence, I will come 
 and save you. 
 
 «« My tender mercies are over all my works. When 
 the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and 
 
 ' their tongue faileth for thirst; I the Lord will hear 
 
 them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I 
 will open rivers in high places. I will make the wil- 
 derness a pool, and the dry lands springs of water. * 
 
 « It is true, thou hast sinned with a high hand, both 
 
 _ against thy light, and against my love; but how shall 
 
 I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, 
 sinner? How: shall I make thee as Admah, and set 
 thee as Zeboim, those rebellious cities on which I 
 poured my flaming vengeance? My heart is turned 
 within me, my repentings are kindled together. I 
 will not destroy thee; for I am God, and not man. 
 I have seen thy ways, and will heal and lead thee; 
 and restore comfort to thee; for I create the fruit of 
 the lips. Peace! peace to him that is afar off, and to 
 him that is near, I will heal him. 
 
 -“ Thou hast not chosen me, but I have chosen 
 thee; thou art my servant; fear not, for I am with 
 
 é 
 
502 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 thee; be ‘not dismayed, for I am ‘thy God. My 
 strength i is sufficient for thee; I will help*thee; yea, 
 I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righ~ 
 teousness. dey that war against. thee shall be as - 
 nothing; for 1 the Lord thy God will hold thy right 
 hand, and make my ‘strength perfect in'thy*weak- — 
 ness. I. will bring thee by a way thou hast not 
 known. I will make darkness light before thee, and 
 crooked paths straight: when thou passest through 
 the waters, I will be-with thee, and when thou walk- 
 est through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither 
 shall the flame kindle upon thee; for 1 am the Lord, 
 thy Saviour, and thy God. I have carried thee from 
 the womb, and even .to hoary hairs will I bear and 
 deliver thee. 
 
 . “ Therefore’ hear’ now this, thou afflicted. wil 
 drunken, but not with wine; 1 will not contend for 
 ever, neither will I be always wroth; lest the spirit: 
 should fail before me, and the soul which I have made. 
 I turn the water of affliction into the wine of con- 
 solation. Behold, I take out of thy hand the cup of 
 trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou - 
 shalt no more drink it.again; I will put it into the 
 hand of them that afflict thy soul: and, in the room of ~ 
 it, I.give thee the cup of the new testament in my 
 blood, shed for the remission of sins: it is now ready, 
 draw near, drink thou of it, and taste that I am 
 gracious. © 
 
 . Come near, that I may speak a word in season to 
 thy weary spirit. Why standest thou afar off? Come 
 near, I say, that my soul may bless thee. Let me 
 show thee my glory, and proclaim my soul-reviving 
 name: ‘“ The Lord! the Lord God! merciful: and 
 gracious, long-suffermg and abundant in goodness 
 and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving 
 iniquity, transgression, and sin!” Let me wash thy 
 heart from iniquity, guilty sinner; for unless 1 wash 
 thee, thou hast no part with me. Unless thou art 
 born again of water and of the Spirit, thou. canst not 
 see the kingdom of God. , But this is the covenant of 
 promise, which I make with thee: 1. will sprinkle 
 
THE TRUE) PENITENT. 503 
 
 clean water upon thee, and thou shalt be clean: a new 
 heart will I give thee, and a new spirit, even my own 
 Spirit will I put within thee, and thou shalt. be com- 
 pletely born: of God: .and at that day thou shalt 
 know that I am in the Rather; and thou 1 in me, and I 
 in thee. : 
 
 «Who is “a that sp deere ty It j is s I, who died 
 for thy sins, yea, rather, who rose again for ‘thy justifi- 
 - eation; whoam even at the right hand of God, who 
 also makes intercession for thee. The ‘same com- 
 passionate love, that made me weep over ungrateful: 
 Jerusalem, and groan over dead Lazarus, made me 
 bleed and die for thee. O that in this thy day, thou 
 mayest know the things that belong unto thy peace, 
 ‘and the efficacy of that sacrifice, by which I have for 
 ever perfected them that are sanctified! O that un- 
 belief, so injurious to me, and so pernicious to thee, 
 may no longer hide my love from thine eyes! . 
 
 “ What! afraid of my purity! Art thou ready to cry 
 out as my apostle, ‘‘ Depart from me, O Lord, for L 
 am a sinful man?” And dost thou tremble, at my 
 words as a criminal at the sentence of his judge? .O, 
 be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. Am not I thy 
 light and. strength, thy shield and buckler, thy tower 
 and resting place, thy strong hold whereunto. thou 
 mayest always resort, thy castle and fortress, the horn 
 also of thy salvation, and thy refuge? As for thy sins, 
 if thou desirest to part with them, they will no more 
 hinder me from visiting thee, than the sickness of a 
 patient prevents a physician from giving him. his 
 attendance. 
 
 “1 know thou art a sinner—a great sinner; for 
 this cause I came down from heaven to Bethlehem— 
 to Gethsemane—to Calvary. I know thine iniquities 
 are more in number than the hairs of thy head; like a 
 sore burden, they are too heavy for thee to bear; and 
 therefore have I borne them for thee in my own body 
 on the tree. I came not to call the righteous, but 
 simners, to repentance: I am the man that receiveth 
 sinners, and eateth with them; I am the friend of re- 
 turning publicans and harlots: all manner of sins and 
 
504 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 blasphemies shall be fogiven them through faith in 
 my blood: God was in me reconciling the world unto 
 himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them: and 
 how, I beseech thee, be thou (for one) reconciled to 
 God; for in me God is reconciled to thee, thy sin is 
 covered, and thine iniquity forgiven. : 
 
 ‘*¢ Great as thy crimes are, poor mourner in Zion, 
 _} wpbraid thee not with them; my.- infinitely meri- 
 torious sacrifice hath long ago atoned for their hein- 
 ousness, and I now cast the mantle of my pardoning 
 love over their multitude: thou art ashamed of them, 
 and shall I be ashamed of thee ;—Far be the thought 
 from thee—I glory in extending my boundless mercy 
 to such miserable objects as thou art: This is a 
 faithful saying, and worthy of all men to be received,” 
 that I came into the world to save sinners: and if, with 
 my servant Paul, thou seest thyself the chief of them, 
 let me do the chief part of the errand on which 1 
 came; look unto me—partake with him of my richest 
 salvation—lose thy cares in the bosom of my merey—~ 
 and teceive the atonement I made for thee; but 
 receive it now: for I have’ heard thee in a time 
 accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succour- 
 ed thee: behold, mow is the accepted time ; behold, 
 now is the day of salvation, the day in which I bind 
 up the breach of my people, and heal the stroke of 
 their wound.— 
 
 “Whence arise, O poor sinner, thy backwardness 
 and misgivings? I have ransomed thee from the power — 
 of the grave, and thou art mine: I come to heal thee, © 
 and reveal to thee the abundance of peace and truth: 
 I bring thee a cure for thy wounded conscience, and 
 saving health for thy sin-distempered soul! 
 
 ‘* In a little wrath, and for a small moment, I have 
 hid my face ftom thee; but with everlasting kindness 
 will I have mercy on thee: for I am the Lord the 
 Redeemer. . Believe it, and faith will work by)love, 
 and love will cast out fear: thus shalt thou take hold 
 of my strength, that thou mayest make peace with 
 me; and thou shalt make peace with me; and 1 am 
 strength to the needy in his distress, a hiding-place 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 505 
 
 from the wind, a covert from the tempest, as rivers of 
 water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock 
 in a weary land. : : 
 
 “© Come then, be not of them that draw back from 
 me to perdition, but of them who believe to the saving 
 of the soul. Far from casting away thy little confi- 
 dence, which hath great recompence of reward, hold 
 it fast; resist even unto blood, striving against the 
 damning sin of unbelief; trust in me for ever, for in 
 mé, Jehovah thy righteousness, is everlasting strength; 
 and let me no lenger complain, that thou (one of my’ 
 oppressed people in spiritual Egypt) wilt have none of 
 me, and wilt not even come to me, that thou mightest 
 have life more abundantly. 
 * “Not by works of righteousnéss which thou hast 
 done, but according to my mercy, I saved thee. I am 
 _ the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.’ 
 What my gracious purpose planned before time, I 
 have executed in time. My hfe and death have com- 
 pleted the wonderful bridge, by which thou canst go 
 over the great deep fixed between a holy God and 
 thy sinful soul. Concerning a main archof this mighty 
 work, with one of my last breaths I said, Jt is finished ; 
 and I now confirm the glad tidings with regard tothe 
 whole. With my right hand, and with my holy arm, 
 I have gotten myself the victory, and parted for thee, 
 not the waves of the Red Sea, but the dreadful billows 
 of the fiery gulph. And now I return to see thee safe 
 over. Leave only the world and sin behind, and, 
 walking by faith, follow me through the regeneration 
 to a throne of glory. : 
 
 « Whence arises, sinner, this backwardness to trust 
 _in my promise, and venture after me? Dost thou sus-' 
 pect the sincerity of my tenders of grace? And by 
 thinking, that I secretly except thee from my mercy, 
 when I offer it thee openly, dost thou still make me a 
 dissembler, a liar?’ O wrong me not so far. fam the 
 Truth itself; I abhor dissimulation in my creatures: 
 and I, that say a man should not use deceit, shall I use 
 deceit? shall I have concord with Belial? Shall there — 
 
 17. 358 
 
506 A SERIOUS-ADDRESS TO 
 
 be an agreement between the faithful Witness, and the 
 father of lies? Shall I sentence him, that loveth a lie, 
 to the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, and 
 be guilty of making one myself? Horrible to suppose! 
 Reject the blasphemous thought, Sinner; it wounds 
 me in the tenderest part. 
 
 «« No, no, I do not put on a mask of pretended love, 
 to hide a rancorous unforgiving temper: the general . 
 invitation that formerly passed my lips, is still the very 
 language of my heart, ‘‘ Whosoever will, let him come 
 and take of the water of life freely ;” and the promise, 
 which I formerly made, is still firmer than the pillars 
 of heaven, “ Him that cometh unto me, I will in no 
 wise cast out.” Let these words, like uncorruptible 
 seed, beget thee again to a lively hope, and help thee. 
 to stir thyself up to lay hold on me, and my great 
 salvation. 
 
 _ “J grant that.no man cometh unto me, except the 
 
 Father draw him: but does he not say, I have loved 
 thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving- 
 kindness, with the cords of a man, with the bands of 
 love, have I drawn thee? Does he not draw thee even 
 now? Who stirs thee up to repentance? Who raises 
 in thee a desire of coming unto me by prayer?’ Who 
 indulges thee at times with sweet hopes and alluring 
 joys, to encourage thee tocome? Is it not my Father, 
 and thine, thou poor starving prodigal? And that 
 nothing may be wanting on his part to make thee 
 come, to drawing.does he not add driving? Does he 
 not obstruct all thy prospects of creature-happiness, 
 and blast all thy worldly, yea, and all thy self-righteous, 
 schemes? And while he touches thy heart with the 
 rod of distress, does not he lay the scourge of affliction 
 on thy back, and put this gracious invitation in thy hand? 
 Away then with thy hard thoughts of my Father: he and 
 are the-flame of eternallove: I and the Father are one. 
 
 «« Neither say thou in thy heart, This is a day of 
 trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy ; the children are come 
 to the birth, and there 1s not strength to bring forth. 
 Shall 1 bring to the birth, and not give strength ac- 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 507 
 
 cording to the day? Dost thou fear that my zeal, my 
 strength, and the sounding of my bowels towards thee, 
 are restrained? Am not I Jesus still? Is my love 
 waxed cold that it cannot pity? Is my hand shorten- 
 ed at all that it cannot save? Is mine ear heavy that 
 it cannot hear? ‘Or have I no power to deliver? 
 Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I clothe the 
 - heavens with blackness; and if in the greatest storm 
 I say to the raging billows, Be still! there is a great 
 calm: fear not then: the zeal of the Lord of hosts— 
 my zeal, will do this and more for thy soul ; yea, I will - 
 do for thee exceeding abundantly above all that thou 
 canst ask or think. , 
 “«T see what passes in thy heart, O thou unwise and 
 » slow of heart to believe all that I and my prophets 
 have spoken; I read the new excuses. Thou sayest | 
 thou dost not suspect me, my faithfulness, and my 
 power; but thyself, thy helplessness, and the treachery 
 of thy own desperately wicked heart.—What, shall 
 this sore evil hinder thee from coming to me, who, 
 alone can remedy it? Wilt thou pray to be excused 
 from believing, on such an account as this? O drop 
 this last, this most absurd plea; and walk in the steps 
 of the faith of thy father Abraham, Rom. iv. 16. 
 Consider not the deadness and hardness of thy heart, 
 but the reviving softening love of mine; not thy want 
 of power, but my omnipotence; not the suggestion of 
 Satan, but the declarations of my gospel. Wrestle 
 not only against flesh and blood, but against the 
 powers of internal darkness, and the spiritual wicked- 
 ness of an unbelieving thought. Strive to enter in 
 at the strait gate of faith. Against hope believe in 
 hope, that I quicken the dead, and eall the things 
 which are not as though they were. Stagger no 
 more at my promises through unbelief; but be strong 
 in faith, and give glory to God, but being fully per- 
 suaded that what I promise, I am able and willing to 
 perform. 
 “In me thou mayest find the richest and readiest 
 supply of all thy wants: Iam both the Resurrection 
 
508 © A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 -of. the dead, and the Life of the living: he-that be- 
 Tieveth in me, though he were dead, yet. he shall live; 
 and he that liveth al believeth in me, shall never die. 
 Believe then, and thou shalt not come into condemna- _ 
 tion.—Believe, and thou shalt receive power, thou — 
 
 shalt see the glory of God; thou shalt be established ; 
 yea, and sealed with the Holy Spirit of.promise.—Be- 
 lieve, and thou hast everlasting life, and shalt not come 
 into condemnation.—Believe, anda grain of faith will 
 remove mountains of guilt and unbelief.—Believe 
 with all thy heart—All things are possible to him that 
 believeth, and he shall inherit all promises: for to him 
 that overcometh (and faith is the victory) will L give 
 to eat of the hidden manna, and to sit with me on my 
 throne; as I also overcame, and am set down with my. 
 Father on his throne.—Only believe then, and through 
 
 faith thou shalt subdue the kingdom of darkness, work 
 
 righteousness, obtain promises, stop the mouth of the 
 
 roaring lion, quench the-violence of temptation’s fire, 
 
 escape the flaming point of Satan’s darts, out of weak- 
 
 -ness be made strong,’ wax vahant in fight, turn to 
 
 flight the armies of thy spiritual adversaries,-and re- 
 
 ceive thy dead soul raised to life again. 
 
 ‘Thou hast played with the fiery serpents, they 
 have bitten thy heart; but I have already sucked the 
 -worst of the mortal poison. In the perilous attempt 
 my soul was seized with sorrow even unto death, and 
 an unheard-of agony, attended with a bloody sweat, 
 came upon my body. A racking cross was the bed I 
 was stretched upon; sharp thorns proved the pillow 
 on which I rested my fainting head. The bitterest 
 Sarcasms were my consolations; vinegar and gall my 
 cordials : a band of bloody soldiers the cruel wretches 
 appointed to tear open my veins; whips, nails, ham- 
 mers, and a spear, the inaioumaenia allowed them to do 
 the dreadful operation. For hours I bled under their 
 merciless hands: and thy fearful curse, O. Sinner, 
 flowed together with my blood. In the mean time, 
 noon-day light was turned into the gloom of night, 
 a dire emblem of the darkness that overspread. "my 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 509 > 
 
 agonizing soul: and at last, while earthquakes rock- 
 ed me into the sleep of death, I gave up the ghost, 
 with cries that astonished my bitterest enemies, and 
 made them smite their breasts in pangs of involun- 
 tary sympathy. Thus, to make thee partaker of my 
 saving health, I took the shameful and painful. conse- 
 quences of thy mortal distemper upon me. And now, 
 Sinner, despise no more such amazing love, requite it 
 with a. believing look. Consider my wounds, till thy 
 conscience feels their wonderful effect. Behold my 
 atoning blood, till thou canst witness it heals thy in- 
 firmities. 
 
 “* Knowing the terrors of the Lord, I persuade men. 
 Come, thou poor prisoner of hope, turn by faith to 
 the strong hold of my protection.—Up! for God will 
 destroy this Sodom, the wicked world where thou lin- 
 gerest.—Up! for the great and terrible day of the 
 Lord approaches. As I live, there is but one. step 
 between thee and death, and another between death 
 and. hell. 
 
 *“« Let my love even constrain thee to arise, and to’ 
 follow me; that I may receive thee unto myself, and 
 complain no longer, that, with respect to thee, I have 
 . laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought. 
 Surely, Sinner, I deserve thy grateful love, for I have 
 fought thy fiercest enemies. Dreadful was the battle! 
 my flesh was-torn, my blood spilt, my life lost, in the 
 obstinate combat: but I have slain the lion and the 
 bear, I have vanquished death and the grave, and 
 rescued thy poor helpless soul: and now let thy good 
 Shepherd rejoice over his lost. sheep: let gratitude 
 compel thee to come into the fold of my church, 
 and joi the little flock of my faithful followers. 
 And if thou canst not come, do but look wishfully at 
 me,.and I will lay thee on my shoulders rejoicing, 
 and carry thee in triumph into the richest ‘alain of 
 my grace. 
 
 «Once more I turn supplicant: once more I stand 
 at the door and knock.—Saul! Saul! it is hard for thee 
 to*kick against the sharp goads of my love. —Martha! 
 Martha! one thing is needful ; chuse,.the good -part, 
 
510 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 chuse me.—O, Absalom, my son! my son! give me 
 thy heart; I have died for thee, do not crucify me 
 afresh—Lay down the spear of unbelief, and thine is 
 my grace, my glory, my kingdom, the kingdom of 
 heaven. 
 
 “ Be not afraid to surrender; rebellious as thou art, 
 I love thee still—Can a woman forget her sucking 
 child, that she should not have compassion on the son 
 of her womb? Yea, she may forget, yet will I not for- 
 get thee. If thou wilt not take my word, believe my 
 oath: because I can swear by no greater, I swear by 
 myself: ‘* As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of 
 the wicked,” but that the wicked turn from his way 
 and live: turn then, turn unto me, for I have redeem- 
 ed thee, I have cast all thy sins into the depth of the 
 sea, and will subdue all thine iniquities. 
 
 ** And if thou canst not believe my oath, credit 
 these scars.—See! I have graven thee upon the 
 palms of my hands. Long, too long, have 1 waited 
 for thy return, thou poor, wandering, weary prodigal. 
 Let me see in thee the travail of my soul, and be 
 satisfied. By the mystery of my holy incarnation 
 and dreadful temptation, by my agony and bloody 
 sweat, by my infamous death and glorious resurrec- 
 tion, I beseech thee come to the pardoning God 
 by me. If thou hast nothing to pay, I forgive thee all- 
 the debt: whether it be fifty or five hundred pence, 
 or ten thousand talents, I frankly forgive thee all. 
 Only let me heal thy backslidings; and leve thee 
 freely ; let my left hand be under thy head, and let 
 my right hand embrace thee. See the wounds which 
 I have received for thee in the house of my friends! | 
 Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and 
 reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; — 
 and be not faithless, but believing. Cleave to me 
 with full purpose of heart, follow me through the 
 regeneration; and thou shalt not only be one of my 
 jewels, but a crown of glory, and a royal diadem 
 in the hand of thy God: yea, as the bridegroom re- 
 joiceth over the bride, so will I rejoice over thee, and 
 give thee a name better than that of son and daughter, 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. Shk 
 
 —I, the Holy One of Israel, will be thy life and glory 
 —I, thy Maker, will be thy husband, and thy all.” 
 
 And are these, O Sinner, the gracious sayings of 
 God to thee? The compassionate expostulations of 
 God become incarnate for thee? Did God so love. 
 thee, as to set forth his only begotten Son, asa propi- 
 tiation, through faith in his blood, thus to declare his. 
 righteousness for the remission of sins that are past? 
 May the Almighty now be just, and yet the justifier 
 of him that believeth in Jesus? Is there no difference, 
 no respect of persons with him? And is the same Lord 
 over all, rich unto all that callon him? Then shout, ye 
 heavens! triumph, thou earth! and thou, happy Sin- 
 ner, know the day of thy visitation; be wise, ponder 
 these things, and thou shalt understand the loving- 
 kindness of the Lord. 
 
 Be no longer afraid that it will be presumption in 
 thee to believe, and that God will be offended with 
 thee if thou makest so free with Jesus, as to wash in= 
 stantly in the fountain of his atoning blood. He not 
 only gives thee J/eave to believe, but he invites. thee to 
 -do it freely. Nay, he commands thee to believe, for, 
 «« This is his commandment, that we should believe on 
 the name of his Son Jesus Christ.” He even, enforees 
 his precept by a double promise, that if thou believest, 
 thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life. And. 
 that nothing may be wanting to stir thee up to this 
 important business, he is gracious enough to. threaten 
 the neglect of it with the most dreadful punishment ; 
 for “ he that. believeth not, shall not enter into his rest, 
 
 _ and shall be damned ;” and he that to the end remains 
 fearful and unbelieving, shall be cast into, the lake that 
 burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second 
 death. How canst thou doubt, then, whether thou 
 art welcome to receive the Son given, by believing on 
 his name ? 
 
 Come to him just as thou art, and he will make . 
 thee what thou shouldst be. When he counsels thee 
 to buy of him the gold of faith, and the garment of 
 salvation, take him at his gospel-word : come without 
 
512 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 regarding thy stuff; the poorer thou art the better: 
 the oil of his grace flows most abundantly into empty 
 vessels: his charity is most glorified in the relief of the © 
 most miserable objects : his royal bounty scorns the 
 vile compensation of thy wretched merits: he sells 
 like a king, like the King of kings, without money 
 and without price. Ask and have, and, Take freely, 
 are the encouraging mottos written upon all the un- 
 searchable treasures of his grace. 
 
 Be of good comfort then, rise, he calleth thee : 
 stretch out thy withered hand, and he will restore it : 
 open thy mouth wide, and he will fill it: bring an 
 empty vessel, a poor hungry heart, and he will give 
 into thy bosom good measure, pressed down, shaken 
 together, and running over. 
 
 And now what meanest thou, sleeper? Why tar- 
 riest thou? Arise, and wash away thy sins, calling on 
 the name of the Lord. Lose not time in conferring 
 with flesh and blood; much less in parleying with Sa- 
 tan, or consulting thy unbelieving heart: here delays 
 lead to ruin: the Philistines are upon thee, instantly 
 shake thyself. If thou art not altogether blinded by 
 the god of this world, and led captive by him at his 
 will: this moment, in the powerful name of JzEsus, 
 burst the bonds of spiritual sloth—Break, like a des- 
 perate soul, out of the prison of unbelief—escape for 
 _ thy lifelook not behind thee—stay not in all the 
 plain. This one thing do; leaving the things that are 
 behind, Sodom, and her ways, press forwards towards - 
 Zoar, and escape to the mount of God, lest thou be 
 consumed. By the new and living way consecrated for 
 us, in full assurance of faith, fly to the Father of mer- 
 cies—pass through the crowd of Laodicean professors 
 —press through the opening door of hope—take the 
 kingdom of heaven by violence. 
 
 With halting, yet wrestling Jacob, say to the Friend 
 of sinners, I will not let thee go unless thou bless me. 
 If he makes as if he would go farther, with the two 
 mournful disciples constrain him to stay; or rather, 
 with the’ distressed woman of Canaan, follow him 
 
THE TRUE PENITENT. 513 
 
 whithersoever he goeth —take no denial —through the 
 vail, that is to say, his flesh; torn from the crown ‘of 
 his head to the sole of his feet—through this mysteri-. 
 ous vail rent from the top to.the bottom, rush into. 
 the blood-besprinkled sanctuary—embrace the horns: 
 of the golden altar—lay all thy guilt on the head of 
 the sin-atoning victim—read thy name on the breast of 
 thy merciful High-priest—claim the safety, demand 
 the blessings, receive the consolations bestowed ‘on 
 all that fly to him for refuge—and begin a new de- 
 lightful life, under the healing and peaceful shadow 
 of his wings. ; wi 
 But perhaps thou art now devoid of active power, 
 and broken in spirit. The hurry of thy self-righteous 
 nature subsides. Wounded and half dead, thou liest 
 in the way of misery, waiting for the passing by of thy 
 deliverer. Thou hadst set thy heart. upon being bless- 
 ed in one particular manner, and God in his wisdom 
 thinks it best to bless thee in another. Thou wouldst 
 scale the new Jerusalem, and storm heaven; but he 
 chuses it should come down into thy soul, as a fruitful 
 shower descends into a fleece of wool. Be still then, 
 and know that he is God. Let him break thy self 
 will, which hides itself under godly appearances ; ‘and 
 let him practically teach thee, that salvation is not of 
 him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God 
 who showeth mercy. 
 Meekly dive into the amazing depth of these words, 
 “In quietness and rest shall be your strength. Stand 
 still, and see the salvation of God.” The fire, the 
 earthquake, and the rending of the rocks, are over, 
 silence takes place ; the still small voice will soon fol- 
 low. Thou art for a time taken from the foaming bil- 
 lows of self-agitation, and laid by the still waters #'a 
 calm succeeds the impetuous.storm, and a passive 
 waiting thy restless, fruitless endeavours. Thou art in 
 the ease of one falling into the sea, who having strug- 
 gled long and hard to escape drowning, is obliged to 
 yield at last. Yield, then, weary sinner, yield to thy 
 happy fate. Fully surrender to the God of thy life. 
 Entirely abandon thyself to Jesus. Freely trust him 
 17. 3 T 
 
514 A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO 
 
 with thy present and eternal salvation. Whether thou 
 swim or sink, let thyself go into the ocean of mercy: 
 
 Catch at no broken reed by the way, but calmly ven- 
 ture in the unfathomable depths of redeeming love. 
 
 Lose thus thy life, and thou shalt find it. The power 
 of God will soon be made perfect in thy weakness; 
 and when thy strength is renewed, earnestly wrestle 
 again. Thus go on, alternately striving and waiting, 
 according to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, till hav- 
 ing passed through all the inferior dispensations of di-’ 
 vine grace, thou enter by faith into the rest that 
 remains for the people of God, and take possession of 
 that kingdom of God, which consists in righteousness, 
 peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
 
 VII. In that kingdom, happy believer, the times of 
 refreshing fully come from the presence of the Lord: 
 mercy and love embrace thee on every side ; and thy 
 sprinkled conscience enjoys the peace of sin-pardon- 
 ing God. Then smiling Justice, more than satisfied 
 by the meritorious death of Christ, sheathes her flam- 
 ing sword, and declares, ‘‘ There is now no condemna- 
 tion to them that are in Christ Jesus; they are justified 
 from all things, and freely forgiven all trespasses.”— 
 And now thou at more than conqueror through him 
 that loved thee. Standing by humble faith in his om- 
 nipotence, thou canst do all things, through his grace 
 strengthening thee. Sin has no "dominion over thee: 
 the. cruel and bloody tyrant, that reigned unto death, 
 is dethroned; and grace, rich grace, sweetly reigns 
 through righteousness unto eternal life. ‘Triumphing 
 in Christ over thy fiercest enemies, and putting thy 
 victorious foot upon the neck of the last, thou chal- 
 lengest his utmost rage, and shoutest, “ O death, 
 where is thy sting?. O grave, where is thy victory ? 
 Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ!” 
 
 Now thou seest and feelest that God is Love. Thou 
 dwellest in Him, and He in thee. Love, the fulfilling — 
 of the law, diffusing itself through all thy heart, influ- 
 ences thy looks, words, and actions, and makes thee 
 spring after Jesus into the chariot of cheerful obedi- 
 
THE TRUE, PENITENT. 515 
 
 ence: thy heart is as his heart ;. and while active grace 
 draws thy willing soul along, God’s free Spirit pours 
 
 the oil of gladness upon the fervid wheels of thy affec- 
 tions : supported and animated by the Lord’s presence, 
 
 _ thou swiftly moyest, thou delightfully fliest in, all the 
 
 ways of duty: mountains of difficulties sink into plains 
 before thee; wisdom’s roughest ways are ways of 
 pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 
 - Now thou rejoicest to be thought worthy to suffer 
 shame for Christ’s name, and countest it all joy when 
 thou fallest into divers trials. With him the cross 
 
 loses its dreadful aspect, and enormous weight : when 
 thou findest it in the highway of holiness, instead ‘of 
 
 consulting with flesh and blood, how thou shalt go 
 aside to avoid it, thou immediately takest it up, and 
 
 it proves a comforting staff, a never-failing prop. ~~ 
 
 Christ crucified, works this miracle of grace,’ for 
 
 ‘Him thou receivest with every cross; and the moment 
 thou dost so in the power of his Spirit, God, even thy 
 own God, gives thee his choicest blessing : he crowns 
 thee with loving-kindness and tender’ ‘mercies: ‘and . 
 ‘with the inexpressible complaisance ofa father who | 
 
 receives a lost son! With the triumphant’ joys ofa 
 
 Saviour, who embraces a raised Lazarus, he says to the 
 
 myriads that surround his throne, ‘‘ One more sinner : 
 repenteth unto life! hallelujah! He hath escaped 'the 
 avenger of blood, he hath passed the gate‘ of the city 
 of refuge! hallelujah! Shout, ye sons of the morning! 
 My angels, strike your golden harps!’ Dance every - 
 heart for joy, through the realms of heaven! Let bursts 
 of triumphant mirth, let peals of ravishing praise, ‘roll 
 along the transporting news; Let all your exulting 
 breasts reverberate, let all your harmonious ‘tongues 
 echo back our glorious joy! For this'my -son’ was 
 dead, and is alive again! This your brother was lost, 
 and is found !” « 
 
 And irradiating thy soul with the light of his recon- 
 ciled countenance, he Says to thee from a throne blaz- . 
 ing with grace and glory, ‘“ Penitent believer, receive 
 the adoption ofason. Because thou receivest my Son, 
 my only-begotten Son, into thy heart, I admit thee, _ 
 
516 A SERIOUS ADDRESS, ETC. 
 
 into the family. of the first-born: be thou blameléss 
 and, harmless, a son of God without rebuke in the 
 midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among 
 whom I allow thee to shine as a burning light in a be- 
 nighted world. Son, all that I have is thine; be ever. 
 with me, and thou shalt inherit all things. Yes, whe- 
 ther Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas; whether my first 
 apostles, or my choice ministers; or the world, or life, 
 or death, or things present, or things to come; all is - 
 thine, for thou art Christ's, and Christ is mine. As 
 thou hast received him, so abide and walk with him, 
 worthy of me unto all pleasing; being fruitful in every 
 good work, and increasing in his knowledge, till thy 
 faith is turned to sight, and I am all in all.” A 
 
 Start not, believing Reader, at these sayings, as if 
 they were too glorious to be credited. They are the 
 true sayings of God. The Lord himself spoke them 
 for thy comfort. They are the precious pearls, which 
 I promised thee out of the unsearchable treasures of 
 Christ: if. swine trample them under their feet, wear 
 thou them on thy breast. Instead of being offended 
 at their transcendent excellence, magnify the God of 
 all, consolation, who having delivered up his own Son 
 for us all, with himalso freely gives us all things: con- 
 sequently the richest mines of gospel grace. _ And giv- 
 ing, vent tothe just transports of. thy grateful heart, 
 cry, out with the beloved disciple, ‘ Behold what man- 
 ner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that 
 we should be called the sons of God!—Unto him who 
 thus loved. us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
 ‘blood, and hath made us kings and priests to God and 
 his, Father:, to him be glory and dominion for ever 
 and ever. Amen. 
 
 THE END. | 
 
AN 
 
 ALARM 
 
 TO 
 
 UNCONVERGED SINNBRS. 
 
 BY JOSEPH ALLEINE. 
 
 4 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY HENRY FISHER, 
 
 (PRINTER IN ORDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY.) 
 
 SOLD AT NO. 38, NEWGATE STREET, 
 
bela T ato is} uuu 
 
 Av ype a pep nap 
 
 aM, OVA POA ves 
 
 on on “nye re saribaginyeh ys pms 
 
 { 
 
TO THE 
 
 UNCONVERTED READER. 
 
 MISERABLE sOUL!. 
 
 THERE is that’ life, and light, and love, in every 
 true believer, but especially in every faithful mi- 
 nister of Christ, which engageth them to long and 
 Jabour for your salvation. Life is communicative and 
 active; it maketh us sensible that faith is not phan- 
 tasm, nor true religion a stage-player, nor our hopes 
 of eternal happiness a dream. And as ‘we desire 
 nothing more for ourselves than to have more of the 
 holy life, (which we have, alas, in so small a measure,) — 
 so what is it we should more desire for others? With 
 the eye of an infallible (though too weak) faith, we 
 see the heaven which you neglect, and the blessed souls 
 in glory with Christ, whose companions you might be 
 for ever: we see the multitudes of souls in hell, who 
 came thither by the same way that you are going in, 
 who are shut out of the glorious presence of God, and 
 are now among those devils that deceive them, re- 
 membering they had their good things here, Luke xvi. 
 25. and how they spent the day of their visitation, and 
 how light they once set by God, by Christ, by hea- 
 ven, by mercy, whilst mercy was an earnest, solicitor - 
 for their hearts; and with our bodily eyes we see at 
 
 the same time abundance of poor sinners, living about 
 
 us as if there were no God, no Christ, no heaven, no - 
 hell, no judgment, no, nor death to be expected ; as if 
 
 a man were but a master-beast to rule the rest, and 
 
 feed upon and perish with them. And if it were your 
 
 own case, to see what souls do in heaven and hell, 
 
 and at once to see how unbelievingly, carelessly, and 
 
 senselessly, most men live on earth, as there were no 
 
 such difference in another world, would it not seem a 
 
520 3 AN EPISTLE TO THE | 
 
 pitiful sight to you? If you -had once seen the five 
 brethren of Dives on earth, eating, drinking, laughing, 
 and merry, clothed and faring daily with the best, and 
 at the same_time seen their brother's soul in hell, beg- 
 ging in-vain for a’ little ease, and ‘wishing that one 
 from the dead might go warn them, that they came 
 not to that place of torment;..would it not seem to you 
 a pitiful sight? Would not pity have made you think, ~ 
 *« Is there no way to open these gentlemen's eyes? No 
 way to acquaint them what is become of their brother, 
 and.-where Lazarus is, .and whither, they. themselyés 
 are: going? No, one.,driveth, or forgeth .them.to hell, 
 and. will they go thither of themselyes! And is there 
 no: way; to. stop them, or keep, them) back?” Did you 
 but ‘see. yourselyes »what, we,see by faith, (believing 
 God,) and .at. once ‘behold. the.saints, in heayen,. the 
 lost despairing souls in-hell, and the.senseless sensual 
 sinners on earth, that yet wall lay none of this to hea 
 surely it would make you wonder at the stupidity of 
 mankind..Would you not say, O what a deceiver is 
 the devil, that can thus lead. on souls. to) their ow: 
 damnation! O what a cheat, is this transitory word 
 that can make men. so forget the world where they 
 must live for ever!, O. what an enemy is this flesh, 
 that thus draweth down,men’s souls from) God! O 
 what a besotting thing is, sin, that,turneth a reasona- 
 ble soul into worse ;than a beast!..What a bedlam is . 
 this wicked world,, when thousands are so busy 
 labouring to undo, themselves, and others, and gratify- 
 ing the deyil against their, God and Saviour, who 
 would give them everlasting blessed life... 
 
 -And as we have such, a sight as this by. faith to 
 make us pity you, so,we have so much taste of the 
 goodness of God, the sweetness of his ways, and the 
 happiness of believers, as must needs make us wish 
 that you had but once tried the same delights. They 
 would turn the pleasures of sin into detestation. God 
 knows we desire nothing more for ourselves than the 
 perfection and eternity of this holiness and Aappiness 
 which we believe and taste: and should we not desire 
 the same for you ? , 
 
SS 
 
 UNCONVERTED, READER.  bQa 
 
 ', And being thus moved with necessary pity, we ask 
 of God what he would have us to do for your salvation. 
 And he hath told us in scripture, That the preaching 
 of his gospel, to acquaint you plainly of the truth, 
 and earnestly and frequently entreat you to turn from 
 the flesh and world to God by Jesus Christ, is the 
 means with which his grace is ready to. concur for your 
 salvation; when obstinate resistance causeth the Hol 
 Sporat to forsake the sinner, and leave him to himself 
 to pursue his own counsels, lusts, and will. 
 
 In this hope we undertook, the sacred ministry, and 
 gave up ourselves to this great and most important 
 work. In the great sense of our unworthiness,. but 
 yet in a sense of our. soul’s necessity, we were not such 
 fools at our first setting out, as not to know it must. be 
 a life of labour, self-denial, and, patience; and the 
 devil will do his -worst to hinder us, and have all his 
 instruments ready to serve him against, our labours, 
 and against your souls, Christ our Captain was saved 
 by patient conquest; and so must we save ourselves 
 and you; and so must you save yourselves under. Christ, 
 if ever you be saved. . “Twas no strange thing to Paul, 
 that bonds and afflictions did every-where attend him ; 
 nor did he account his life dear, that he might finish 
 his course. with joy, and the ministry committed to 
 him by the Lord, Acts xx.23, 24. It was no. strange 
 thing to him to be forbidden preaching to the, Gentiles, 
 that they might be saved; by such as .were filling up 
 the measure “of their. sins, and .were under God's ut- 
 most wrath on earth, ] Thess. ii. 16.. Devils-and Pha- 
 risees, and most where they came, both high and low, 
 were against the apostles preaching of the gospel; and 
 yet they would not sacrilegiously and cruelly break 
 their. covenant with Christ, and perfidiously desert, the 
 souls of men; even as their Lord, for the love of souls, 
 did call Peter ‘Satan, who would have tempted him_,to 
 save his life and flesh, instead of making it a sacrifice 
 for‘our: sins, Matt. xvi./23. 
 
 What think you should make us undertake a calling 
 so contrary to our fleshly ease and interest? Do we 
 ale, 3.U 
 
522 AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 not know the way of ease and honour, wealth and 
 pleasure, as well as others? And have we not flesh 
 as well as others? Could we not be content that 
 the cup of reproach, scorn, slander, poverty, and la- 
 bours, might pass from us, if it were not for the will 
 of God and your salvation? Why should we love 
 to be the lowest, and trodden down by malignant 
 pride; and counted as the filth of the world, and the 
 offscouring of all things; and represented to rulers, 
 whom we honour, as schismatics, disobedient, tur- 
 bulent, and unruly, by every church-usurper, whom 
 we refuse to make a god of? Why give we not 
 ‘over this preaching of the gospel at the. will of Satan, 
 who is for the everlasting suffering of your souls, un- 
 der pretence of its making ws suffer? Is not all this, 
 that’ you may be converted and saved? If we be 
 herein beside ourselves, it is for you: could the words 
 of the ignorant or proud have persuaded us, that either 
 your wants or dangers are so inconsiderable (or your 
 other supplies and helps sufficient) that our labours 
 had been unnecessary to you; God knoweth we 
 should have readily obeyed the silencing sorts of pas- 
 tors, and have betaken us to some other land, where 
 our service had been more necessary. Let shame. 
 be the hypocrite’s reward, who takes not the saving _ 
 of souls and pleasing of God for sufficient reward, 
 without ecclesiastical dignities, preferments, or worldly 
 wealth. pry 
 I have told you our motives, I have told you our 
 business, and the terms of our undertaking. It is God 
 and you senners that must next tell us what our enter- 
 tainment and success shall be. Shall it still be neglect 
 and unthankful contempt, and turning away your ears 
 and: ‘hearts, and saying, We have something else to 
 mind? Will you still be cheating. by this deceitful 
 world, and spend all your days in pampering your guts, 
 and providing for the flesh that must be rotting shortly 
 in a grave? Was you made for no, better use than_ 
 this? May not we bring you to some sober thoughts 
 of your condition? Not one hour seriously to think 
 whither you are going? ‘What! not one awakening 
 
 . 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 323 
 
 look into the world where you must be for ever? Not 
 one heart-piercing thought of everlasting glory? Not 
 one heart-piercing thought of your Saviour’s love? 
 
 - Not one tear for all your sinful lives? O! God for- 
 
 XN 
 
 bid: let not our labours be so despised: let not your 
 God, your Saviour, and your souls, be so light set 
 by: O let there be no more profane persons. among 
 you like Esau, who for one morsel sold his birth- 
 right. _ I 
 
 Poor sinners! we talk not to you as on a stage, im 
 customary words, and as if talking was our trade: we 
 are in as good earnest with you as if we saw you mur- 
 dering yourselves, and were persuading you to save 
 yourselves. Can any man be in jest with you, who 
 
 -believeth God, who by faith foreseeth whither you are 
 
 going, and what you lose, and where the game of sin 
 will end? ‘Tis little better to jest with you now in a 
 pulpit, or in private, than to stand jesting over your 
 departing souls, when at death you are breathing out 
 your last.—Alas! with shame and grief we confess, 
 we never speak to you of ti:ese things, as theit truth — 
 and weight deserve, nor with the skill and wisdom, 
 the affection and fervency, that beseemeth men en- 
 gaging in the saving of souls; but yet you may per- 
 ceive that we are in earnest with you, (for God is so.) 
 What else do we study for, labour for, suffer for, live 
 for? Why else do we so much trouble ‘ourselves, 
 and trouble you, with this ado, and anger them that 
 would have made us silent? For my own part, I will 
 make my free confession to you to my shame, that I 
 never grew cold, and dull, and pitiless to the souls of 
 others, till I first grew too cold and careless of my own, 
 (unless when weakness or speculative studies cool me, 
 which I must confess they often do.) We never cease 
 pitying you, till we are growing too lke you, and oft 
 have need of pity ourselves. 
 
 When, through the mercy of my Lord, the prospect 
 of the- world of souls, which I am going to, hath any © 
 
 _ powerful operation on myself, O! then I could spend 
 
 and be spent for others. No words are too earnest, 
 no labour too great, no cost too dear; the frowns and 
 
 2 
 
524 AN EPISTLE TO THE? 
 
 wrath of malignant opposers of the preaching of Christ's 
 gospel are nothing to me: but when the world of spi- 
 rits disappears, or my soul is clouded, and receiveth 
 not the vital illuminating influences of heaven, J grow 
 cold, first to myself, and then to others.) § 
 
 Cdne then, poor sinners, and help us, who: are wild . 
 ling at any time to help you. As we first crave'Gad’s 
 help, so we next crave yours: help us, for we cannot 
 serve you against your wills, nor save you without your. 
 consent and help. God himself ‘will not save you 
 without you; and how shall we? ‘We know’that the 
 devil is against us, and will do his utmost to hinder 
 us; and so will all his ministers, by what names ‘or 
 titles soever dignified or distinguished. But all this 
 is nothing, if you will but take our parts;. I mean, 
 if you will take Christ’s part and your own, and 
 will not be against yourselves. Men or devils cannot 
 either help or hinder us in saving you, as you may 
 do yourselves: if God and you be for’ us, who shall be 
 against-us ? 
 
 And wiil you help us? Give over striving against 
 God and conscience: give over fighting against Christ 
 and his Spirit: take no more part with the world and 
 flesh, which in your baptism you renounced :) set your 
 hearts to the message which we bring: allowit your 
 manlike sober thought, search the scriptures, and see 
 whether the things we speak be so or no. We ‘of= 
 fer you nothing but what we have resolvedly chosen . 
 ourselves, and that after the most serious deliberation — 
 we can make. We have many times looked: round 
 about us, to know what is the happiness of man ; and 
 had we found better for ourselves, we had offered bet- 
 ter to you. If this world would have served our tutns, 
 it would have served yours also, and we would not 
 have troubled you with that talk of another world; 
 but it will not, I am sure it will not, serve your turns 
 to make you happy, nor shall you long make that’ self- 
 deceiving shift with it 'as now ye do. 
 
 But if you will not think of these things, si you will 
 not use the reason of men, alas! what can we do to 
 save your souls? © pity them, Lord, that they may 
 
 ‘ 
 . 4 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 525 
 
 pity themselves; have mercy on them, that they may ~ 
 ave some mercy on themselves; help them, that 
 they may help themselves and us. If you still refuse, 
 will not your loss be more than ours? If we lose 
 our labour, (which to ourselves we shall not,) if we 
 lose our hopes of your salvation, what is this to your 
 everlasting loss of salvation itself? And what are our 
 sufferings for your sake, in comparison of your endless 
 sufferings ? 
 
 But, O! this is it that breaketh our hearts, that we 
 leave you under more guilt than we found you: and 
 when we have laid out life and labour to save. you, 
 the impenitent souls must have their pains increased 
 for refusing these calls; and that it will be part of your 
 heli to think for ever, how madly you refused our 
 counsel, and what pains, cost, and patience, were used 
 to have saved you, and all in vain. It will be so, it 
 must needs be so. Christ saith, it shall be easier for 
 Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for 
 the rejecters of his gospel-calls. The nature of the 
 thing, and the nature of justice, certainly inform you 
 it must be so. i 
 
 O turn not our complaints to God against you! tura 
 us not from beseeching you to be reconciled to God, 
 to tell him you will not be reconciled: force us not to 
 say, that we earnestly mvited you to the heavenly 
 feast, and you would not come: force us not to bear 
 this witness against you, “‘ Lord, we could have borne 
 all our labour and sufferings for them muuch easier, if 
 they would but have yielded to thy grace. Butit was 
 they themselves that broke our hearts, that lost our 
 labour, that made us to preach and intreat in vain; it 
 was easier to preach without maintenance than with- 
 out success. It was they that were worse to us than 
 all the persecutors in the world. How oft would we 
 
 have gathered them; but they would not, but are un- 
 - gathered still?” How many holy, faithful ministers, 
 have I known, these eleven years last past, who have 
 lived in pining poverty and want, and hardly by-cha- 
 rity got bread and clothing; and yet, if they could but 
 have truly said, «‘ Lord, the sermons which I preach 
 
526 AN ‘EPISTLE TO THLE*) 
 
 privately, and in danger, have won many souls to 
 thee,” it would have made their burden easy. But I 
 tell the senseless. and impenitent sinner, thou that de- 
 niedst God in thy heart, and that deniedst them thy 
 conversion, which was the end of all their labours, 
 has dealt much more cruelly with them than they that 
 denied the Levites bread. sa} 
 
 Poor sinners! I know that I am speaking all this to 
 those that are dead in sin; but ‘tis a death consisting 
 with a natural /ife, which hath a capacity of spiritual 
 life, or else I would no more-speak to you than to a 
 stone. And I know that you are blind to sin; but ‘tis 
 a blindness consisting with a reasonable faculty, which 
 is capable of spiritual i//wmination; or else 1 would no 
 more persuade you than I do a beast. And I know 
 that you are in the fetters of your own lusts; your 
 wills, your love, your hearts, are turned away from 
 God, and strongly bewitched with the dreams and 
 dalliances with the flesh and world: but your wills are 
 not forced to this captivity. Surely these wills may 
 be changed by God's grace, when you clearly see 
 sufficient reason to change them; else I would as 
 soon preach (were I capable) to devils and damned 
 souls. Your case is not yet desperate; O make it 
 not desperate. There is just the same hope of your 
 salvation as there is of your conversion and perseve- 
 rance,and no more. Without it there is no hope, and 
 with it you are safe, and have no cause to doubt and 
 fear. Heaven may yet be yours, if you will. “No- 
 thing but your own wills, refusing Christ and a holy 
 life, can keep you out. And shalt thou do it? Shall 
 hell be your own choice? And will you say, you wil 
 
 not be saved? 
 
 O think better what you do! God's terms are rea- 
 sonable, his words and ways are good and equal; Christ's 
 yoke is easy, and his burden light ; «and his commands 
 are not grievous to any, but so far as blindness and a 
 bad and backward heart makes them so. You have 
 no true reason to be unwilling ; God and conscience 
 shall one day tell you, and all the world, that you have 
 no reason for it. You may as wisely pretend reason to 
 
 * 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 527 
 
 cut your throats, to torment yourselves, as plead rea- 
 son against a true conversion unto God. Were I per- 
 suading you not to ki// yourselves, | would make no 
 question but you would be persuaded; and yet I must 
 be hopeless; when I persuade. you from everlasting 
 misery, and not to prefer the world and flesh before 
 your Saviour, and your God, and before a sure ever 
 lasting joy.—God forbid! 
 
 Reader, I take it for a great mercy of God, that be- 
 fore my head lies down in the dust, and I go to give 
 up my account unto my Judge, I have this opportu- 
 nity once more earnestly to bespeak thee for thy own 
 salvation. I beg it of thee, as one that must shortly 
 be called away, and speak to thee no more till we 
 come unto our endless state, That thou wouldst but 
 sometimes retire into thyself, and use the reason of a 
 man, and look before thee whither thou art going; and 
 look behind thee how thou hast lived, and what thou 
 hast been doing in the world till now; and ook within 
 thee, what a case thy soul is in, and whether it be fit 
 to enter upon eternity; and look above thee, what a 
 heaven of glory thou dost neglect, and consider thou 
 hast God to be thine everlasting Friend or Enemy, as 
 thou chusest, and as thou livest, and thou art always 
 in his sight; yea, and Jook below thee, and think where 
 they are that die unconverted. And when thou hast 
 soberly thought of all these things, then do as God 
 and true Reason shall direct thee.—And is this an un- 
 
 reasonable request? I appeal to God, and to all wise 
 
 men, and to thy own conscience, when it shall be 
 
 awakened, if I speak against thee, or if all this be not 
 for thy good: or if it be not true and sure, thenwegard 
 
 not what I say: if I speak not that message which 
 God hath commanded his ministers to speak, then let 
 
 it be refused as contemptuously as thou wilt. But if I 
 
 do but in Christ’s name and stead beseech thee to be 
 reconciled to God, 2 Cor. v. 20. refuse it at thy peril. 
 And if God’s beseeching thee shall not prevail against 
 thy sloth, lust, thy appetite, against the desires of the 
 flesh, against the dust aud shadows of the world, re- 
 
 . F 
 
528 AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 member it when with fruitless cries and horror thou 
 art beseeching ‘him too late. 
 
 I know, poor Sinner, that flesh is brutish, and ies 
 and appetite have no reason: but I know ‘thou hast 
 reason thyself, which was given thee to over-rule them, 
 and that. he that will not be a man, cannot be a saint, 
 nor a happy man. 1 know thou livest in a tempting 
 and wicked world, where things and persons will be 
 daily hindering thee : but I know that this is no more 
 to ‘a man that by faith sees heaven and hell before him, 
 than a grain of sand is to a kingdom, or a blast of wind 
 to one that is flying for his life. O man! that thou 
 didst but know the difference between that which the 
 devil and sin will give thee, if thou wilt sell thy soul 
 and heaven, and that which God hath promised and 
 Sworn to give thee, if thou wilt heartily give up thy- 
 self to him! I know thou mayest possibly fall ito 
 company (at least among some sots and drunkards) 
 ‘that will tell thee, « All this is but troublesome pre- 
 ciseness, and making more ado than needs.” But I 
 know withal what that man deserveth who will believe 
 a fool before his Maker; (for he can be no better than - 
 a miserable fool, that will contradict and revile the 
 ‘word of God, even the word of grace that would save 
 men’s souls.) 
 
 And, alas, it is possible thou mayest hear some of 
 the tribe of Levi (or rather of Cain) deriding this seri- 
 ous godliness, as mere hypocrisy; and fanaticism, and. 
 self-conceitedness ; as if you must be no’better than the 
 devil's ‘slaves, lest you be proud im thinking that you 
 are better than they; that is, you must go with them 
 to hell, lest in heaven ye be proud hypocrites, for wen 
 ing yourselves better than they. 
 
 ft may be they will tell you, that this talk of con- 
 version is better for pagans and infidels to hear, than for 
 ‘Christians and Protestants, because such men’s big 
 look or coat. may make the poison be the easier taken 
 down: Twill entreat thee ‘but: (as before (God) to an- 
 ‘swer the ‘following questions, ‘or to get them answer- 
 ed,‘and then judge whether it be they or we that would 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 529 
 
 deceive thee: and whether as men use to talk against 
 learning, that have none themselves, so such men prate 
 against conversion and the Spirit of God, because they 
 have no such thing themselves. 
 
 Quest. 1. I pray ask them, whether it be a Puritan 
 _ or Fanatic opinion, that men must die? And, what all 
 the pomp, wealth, and pleasure of the world, will sig- 
 nify to a departing soul? Ask them whether they will 
 live on earth for ever, and their merry hours and lordly 
 looks will have no end? And whether it be but the 
 conceit of hypocrites and schismatics, that their carcase 
 must be rotting in a darksome grave? . 
 
 Quest. 2. Ask them, whether men have not an 2m- 
 mortal soul, and a longer life to live when this is ended? 
 Luke xu. 4, 5. 
 
 Quest. 3. Ask them, whether reason requires not 
 every man to think more seriously of the place, or 
 state, where he must be for ever, than of that where he 
 must be for a little while, and from whence he is post- 
 ing day and night? And whether it be not wiser to 
 lay up our treasure where we must stay, than where 
 we must not stay, but daily look to be called away, . 
 and never more to be seen on earth ? 
 
 Quest. 4. Ask them, whether God should not be 
 loved with all your heart, and soul, and might? Matt. 
 xxii. 37. and, whether it be not the mark of an ungodly 
 miscreant to be a lover of pleasure more than God, 
 2 Tim. iii. 4. and a lover of this world above him, 1 John 
 ii. 15. and whether we must not seek, first, God's king- 
 dom and his righteousness, Matt. vi. 33. and Jdabour 
 most for the meat which never perisheth, John vi. 27. 
 and strive to enter in at the strait gate, Luke xiti. 24. 
 and give all diligence to make our calling and election 
 sure? 2 Pet. i. 10. 
 
 Quest. 5. Ask them whether without holiness any 
 shall see God? Heb. xii. 14. Matt. v. 8.. Titus n. 14. 
 and, whether the carnal mind is not enmity to God, and 
 to be carnally minded is not death, and to be spiritually 
 minded is not life and peace? and whether, if you live 
 after the flesh, you shall not die and be condemned? 
 “eae they shall not live and be saved that walk 
 
 . 3X 
 
530 AN. EPISTLE TO THE’ 
 
 after the Spirit? and whether any man be Christ’ 
 that hath not the Spirit? Rom. vii. 1—10. 
 
 Quest. 6. Ask them, whether any man hath treasure 
 in heaven, whose heart is not there? Matt. vi. 21. 
 And whether this be not the difference between the 
 wicked and the godly, that the first make their bellies 
 their god, and mind earthly things, and are enemies 
 to the cross of Christ, (though perhaps not in name,) 
 and the latter have their conversation im heaven, and, 
 being risen with Christ, do set their affections on 
 things above, and not on things that are on the earth, 
 to which they are dead, and. their life is hid (or out 
 of sight) with Christ in God, till Christ shall appear, 
 and then shall they appear (even openly to all the 
 world) with him in glory? Phil. ii. 18, 19, 20. Col. 
 ili. 1, 2, 3, 4. 
 
 Quest. 7. Ask them, whether it be credible or suit- 
 able to God's word or working, that he that will not 
 give the fruits of the earth without their labour, nor feed 
 and clothe them without themselves, will yet bring them 
 to heaven without-any care, desire, or labour of their 
 own, when he hath bid them not care for the one, and 
 called for the greatest diligence in the other? Matt. 
 vi. 31, &c. Yea, ask them whether these be not the 
 two first articles in all faith and religion: 1. That God 
 is; 2. That he is the rewarder of all them that diligently 
 seek him, 
 
 Quest. 8. ic them, yea, ask your eyes, your ears, 
 your daily experience in the, world, whether a// or 
 most that call themselves Christians, do in good\earnest 
 thus live to God in the Spirit, and mortsfy the flesh 
 with its affections and lusts, and. seek frst God's king- 
 dom, and righteousness, love him above all, and lay up 
 treasure and heart in heaven; or rather, whether most. 
 be not lovers of the world, and lovers of pleasure, more. 
 than God, and live not after the flesh; and mind not 
 most the things of the flesh? I mention not now the 
 drunkards, the flesh-pleasing gentlemen, that. live in. 
 pride, fulness, and idleness, and sport and play away 
 their, precious time ;. nor the filthy fornicator, nor the 
 merciless oppressor, nor the mabgoant hater of. a 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 531 
 
 godly life, nor the perjured betrayers of men’s souls 
 and the gospel, or of their country’s good: nor such 
 other men of seared consciences, whose misery none 
 questions, but such as are blind and miserable: it*is 
 not those only I am speaking of, but the common, 
 worldly, fleshly, and ungodly ones. 
 
 Quest. 9. Ask them, whether the name of a Chris-. 
 tian will save any of these ungodly ones? And whe- 
 ther God will like men the better for lying and call- 
 ing themselves Christians, when indeed they are 
 none? And, whether they dare preach to the peo- 
 ple, that a Christian-drunkand, or Christian-fornicator, 
 or oppressor, or a Christian-worldling, needeth no con- 
 version ? 
 
 Quest. 10. Ask them, whether they say not them- 
 selves that hypocrisy is a great aggravation to all other 
 sin? And whether God hath not made the hypocrites 
 and unbelievers to be standards in hell? Matt. xxiv. 
 51. And, whether seeking to abuse God by a mock 
 religion doth make such false Christians better than the 
 poor heathens and infidels, or much worse? And, | 
 whether he be not @ hypocrite, that professeth to be a 
 Christian and a servant of God, when he is none, nor 
 will be? And, whether he that knoweth his master’s 
 will, and doeth it not, shall not have the sorest stripes 
 or punishment? Luke xii. 47. 
 
 Quest. 11. Ask them, whether in their baptism 
 (which is their christening as a covenant) they did not - 
 renounce the flesh, the world, and the devil, and vow 
 and deliver up themselves to God their Father, their 
 Saviour, and their Sanctifier? And whether all or most 
 men perform this vow? And whether a perjured cove- 
 vant-breaker against God, is fitter for salvation than 
 one that never was baptized ? 
 
 Quest. 12. Ask them, whether the holy nature of 
 God be not so contrary to sin, as that it is blasphemy 
 to say that he will bring to heaven, and into the bosom 
 of his eternal delights, an unholy and unrenewed soul ? 
 2 Pet. i. 15, 16. . 
 ~ Quest. 13. Ask them, why it was that Christ came into 
 the world, whether it was not to save his people from 
 
1532 AN EPISTLE TO THE, 
 
 their sins, Matt. i. 21. and to destroy the works of the 
 devil, 1 John iii. 8. and to purify to himself a peculiar 
 people, zealous of good works, Tit. 1. 14. and to bring 
 home straying souls to God, Luke xv. and to be the 
 way to the Father? John xiy. 6. .And whether Christ 
 will save that soul that is not converted by him, and 
 cleansed from his sins? Or whether it be the. dead 
 image only of a crucified Jesus that is all their, Saviour, 
 while they have no. more of him? 
 
 Quest. 14. Ask them, why they believe, and, were 
 baptized in the Holy Ghost? And, whether a-man 
 can enter into the kingdom of heaven that is not , 
 born of the Spirit as well as of water? John iil. 
 3, 6, 7. and that is not converted, and begins not 
 the world as it were anew, in a teachable and tract- 
 able newness of life like a little child? Matt. xyui. 3. 
 And whether it be not a certain truth, that 2f any 
 man have not the Spirit of God, he is none of his? 
 Rom. vii. 9. 
 
 Quest. 15. Ask them, why Christ gave the world so 
 many. warnings of the damnableness of the Pharisees’ 
 hypocrisy, if hypocritical Christians may be saved? 
 And what were these Pharisees? They were the mas- 
 ters of the Jewish church, the Rabbies, that must have 
 high places, high tithes, ceremonies, and formal gar- 
 ments, and must be reverenced of all; that gave God 
 lip-service without the heart, and made void his com- 
 mands, and worshipped him in vain, teaching for doc- 
 trine the commandments of men'; and strictly tithed mint 
 and cummin, while love, merey, and justice, were pass- 
 ed by; who worshipped God with abundance of cere- 
 monies, and built the tombs and garnished the sepulchres 
 of the saints, while they killed and persecuted those 
 that did imitate them, and hated the living saints, but 
 honoured the dead: they were the bitterest enemies 
 and murderers of Christ, on pretence that he was a 
 blasphemer, and a seditious enemy to César and the 
 common peace, and one that spoke against the temple; 
 they were the greatest enemies of the Apostles, and 
 silencers of those that preached Christ’s gospel, and 
 persecuted them that called upon his name. And had 
 
 ? 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. S55 
 
 these no need of Conversion, because they could say, 
 God is our Father, (when the devil was their father, 
 John viii. 44.) and that they were Abraham's seed ? 
 And are not hypocritical Christians, drunken Christians, 
 fornicating Christians, carnal, worldly, infidel Chris- 
 tians, (the contradiction is your own,) persecuting 
 Christians, false-named, hypocritical Christians, as bad, 
 yea, worse, as they abuse a more excellent profession ? 
 Matt. xv. 7, 8, &c. 
 
 Quest. 16. Doth not the Holy State, or heaven, 
 require holiness in all that shall possess it? Can an 
 unholy soul there see, and love, and praise, and de- 
 light in God for ever, and in the holy society and em- 
 ployment of the saints? Is he not more like a Maho- 
 metan than a Christian, that looketh for a sensual and 
 unholy. heaven ? : 
 
 Quest. 17. What is the difference between the 
 church and the world? Is not the church a holy 
 society of regenerate souls? Yea, the church visible 
 is only those that in baptism vow holiness, aud profess 
 it. Look these hypocrites in'the face, and see whe- 
 ther they do not blush when they repeat in the Creed, 
 *T believe in the Holy Ghost; I believe in the Holy 
 Catholic Church, and the Communion of Saints,” who 
 shall have the forgiveness of sin, and life everlasting. 
 Ask them whether they mean holy adulterers, holy 
 worldlings, holy perjured persons? Ask them, whe- 
 ther they mean a communion of saints in a tavern, 
 in a play-house, in a gaming-house, in a whore- 
 house, or a jesting, canting stage-play communion ? 
 If the church be holy, be holy if you will be of the 
 church: if it be a communion of saints, make it not 
 a communion of swine; and make not saints and 
 their communion seem odious, neither their infirmi- 
 ties, for their crossness to your carnal interest or 
 conceits. 
 
 Quest. 18. Ask them, whether there be a heaven and 
 a hell or not? If not, why are they pretended Chris- 
 tians? If there be, will God send one man to heaven, 
 and another to hell, to so vast, so amazing a difference 
 of states, if there be no great difference between ther 
 
534 AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 here? If holiness no more differenced Christians from 
 others, than saying a sermon, or saying over a prayer, 
 doth difference one from an infidel, where were the 
 justice of God in saving some and damning others ? 
 And what were Christianity better than the religion of 
 Antonine, Plato, Socrates, Seneca, Cicero; Plutarch, 
 
 and others, if not much worse? Go into Loudon 
 streets, and when you have talked with living prudent’ 
 men, then go to the painter's shop, and see. a comely 
 picture ; and to the looking-glass, and see the appear- 
 ance of each passenger in a glass; and to the periwig- ° 
 shops, and see a wooden head with a periwig upon 
 the block ; and you have something like the difference 
 of a holy soul, and of a dead and dressed formal 
 
 hypocrite. ‘ 
 
 Quest. 19. Ask them, whether kings and all men 
 make not a difference between man and man; the 
 loyal and perfidious, the obedient and disobedient ? 
 and, whether they difference not themselves between 
 a friend and a foe, one that Joveth them, and one that 
 robbeth, hateth, or would kill them? And shall not 
 the most Holy God make more difference between the 
 righteous and the wicked ? 
 
 “Quest. 20. But if they are dead in every poifit, save 
 carnal interest, ask them why they are preachers or 
 priests? And if Conversion and Holiness be a needless 
 thing, what use are they themselves of? . And why 
 must the country be troubled with them, and pay them 
 tithes, and owe them reverence? 
 
 When. these twenty questions are well answered, 
 conclude you may be saved without conversion. 
 
 But if, poor soul, thou art fully convinced, and 
 asketh, What shall T do to -be converted?’ The Lord 
 make thee willing, and save thee from hypocrisy, and 
 I will quickly tell thee in a few words. 
 
 1. Give not over sober thinking of these things, till 
 thy heart be changed. 
 
 2. Come to Christ, and take him for thy Saviour, 
 thy Teacher, thy King, and he will pardon all that is 
 
 . past, and save thee. 
 3. Believe God's love, the panes of sin, and the 
 
UNCONVERTED READER, 535 
 
 everlasting joys of heaven, that thou mayest feel that 
 all the pleasure of the world and flesh are dung in ~ 
 comparison of the heavenly delight of faith, and hope, 
 and holy love, and peace of conscience, and sincere 
 obedience. 
 
 4. Sin no more wilfully, but forbear that which thoy 
 mayest forbear, Isa. lv. 7. 
 
 5. Away from temptations, occasions of sin, and 
 evil company, and be a companion of the humble, hea- - 
 
 . venly, and sincere, Psal. cxix. 63—115. 
 
 6. Wait on God’s Spirit in the diligent and constant 
 use of his own means: read, hear, meditate, pray; 
 pray hard for that grace that must convert thee: wait 
 thus, and thou shalt not wait in vain, Psal. xxxvii. 
 34. and Ixix. 6. 
 
 “ Pity, O Lord, and persuade these souls; let not 
 Christ's blood, his doctrine, his example, his Spirit, be 
 lost upon them, and they lost for ever. Let not hea- 
 ven be as no heaven to them, while they dream and 
 doat on the shadows of this world. And, O save this 
 land from a greater destruction, than all our late 
 plagues, and flames, and divisons, which our sins and 
 thy threatenings make us fear. O Lord, in thee have 
 we trusted, let us never be confounded.” ~ 
 
 Having thus contributed my endeavours in this Pre- 
 face, to the furtherance of the design of this ercellent 
 book, I must tell thee, Reader, that I take it for an 
 honour to commend so masculine a birth into the 
 world: the midwife of Alevander or Aristotle need 
 not to be ashamed of her office. Who the author of 
 this treatise was, how he preached, how he lived, how 
 he suffered, (and for what,) and how he died, his life, 
 and letters, lately printed, fully tell you: and I ear- 
 nestly commend the reading of them to all, but espe- 
 cially to ministers: not to tell them what men have 
 here been forbidden to preach Christ's gospel, and for 
 what; nor what men they are that so many years have 
 done it; but to tell you what men Christ's ministers 
 should be. But say not, “ he killed himself with ex- 
 cessive labour, therefore I will take warning, and take 
 my ease.” For, 1. He lived in perfect health all his 
 
s 
 
 536 AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 days, notwithstanding all his labours, till after his hard 
 and long imprisonment. 2. It was not the greatest 
 labour of his times of liberty that hurt him, but his 
 preaching six, seven, or eight times in a week, after he 
 was silenced, because he could not speak to all his 
 
 people at once. O make not an ill use of so excellent. 
 
 an example; say not, like Judas,“ What needs this 
 waste?” His labours, his life, his sufferings, his death, 
 were not in vain. The ages to come, that read his 
 life, and read his little popular treatise, and his Cad to 
 Archippus, shall say they were not in vain.» And tho’ 
 he was cut off in the midst of his age, and his longer 
 labours and more elaborate writings thus prevented, 
 take thankfully this small, but methodical, warm, and 
 serious Tractate: read it seriously, and it cannot be 
 but that it must do thee good. 
 
 Iam one that have looked into books, sciences, and 
 speculations of many sorts, and seriously tell thee, as 
 a dying man, that, after all my searches and experience, 
 I have found that philosophical inquiries into the di- 
 vine artifices and nature of things, have, among a great 
 number of uncertainties, a great many pretty pleasant 
 probabilities, which a holy soul can make good use of 
 in admiring God, and may find us a lawful Kind of 
 sport; but in the moralities, which Atheists count un- 
 certainties, the knowledge of God, and our duty and 
 our hopes, the doctrine and practice of holiness, tem- 
 perance, charity, and justice, and the diligent seeking 
 and joyful hopes of life everlasting, is all the true wis- 
 dom, goodness, rest, and comfort, of a soul). What- 
 
 ever be the plea, this is the sanctifying certainty, the 
 
 business, and the beautiful improvement, of our lives 
 
 RICHARD BAXTER. 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 537 
 
 <li 
 “« READER, 
 
 _* HOW well it were, if there were no more uncon- 
 verted ones among us, than those to whom this 
 is directed! Unconverted persons, how many are 
 there! but how few unconverted readers, especially ~ 
 of such books as this before thee! A play, or a ro- 
 mance better suits the lusts, and therefore must have 
 more of the eye of such; what will cherish the evil ° 
 heart only is most grateful,—not what will change it. 
 How many are there to whom this is directed, who 
 will not know that they are the men! and how little 
 hope is there that this excellent treatise should reach 
 its end with those that apprehend themselves not con- 
 cerned in it!—Art thou not one of them? Art thou a 
 convert, or art thou yet in thy sins? What is sin? 
 What is conversion ?—It may be thou canst tell me 
 neither, and yet thou sayest a convert thou art: But 
 to what purpose is it then like to be, for the servants 
 of God to treat with thee about this matter?. Let them 
 bid thee believe,—thou art a believer already: let them 
 bid thee repent and turn to the Lord,—that work (thou 
 sayest) is not to do now. What can there be said to 
 this man that is like to bring him to good? Friend, 
 _ know thyself better, or thou perishest without remedy. 
 Thou mayest pray, but what hope is there in thy pray- 
 ing? Thou mayest read, but what hope is there in thy 
 reading? Yet read on; this little hope there is, in this 
 book there’s eye-salve that may heal thee of thy blind- 
 ness. In this book there is a glass that will show thee 
 thy face. Dost thou know thy own face when thou 
 seest it? Behold thy very image in those marks that 
 are given of an unconverted person; read and consi- 
 der them, and then say if thou be not the man. 
 
 ** Be willing to know thyself, and to know the worst 
 of thy case: wink not at the light: hide not thyself 
 from thine own soul. Wilt thou never know thy dis- 
 ease till it be past remedy ? 
 
 ** Much of our hardest work would be over, if we: 
 could see the sinners to whom we are sent, to be con- 
 
 38. : 3 Y 
 
Wap > AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 vinced sinners. If we could but open the blind eyes, 
 there were hopes we should shortly raise the dead. 
 
 «Sinner, of a truth thou art in an ‘evil ease, whe- 
 _ ther thou know it or not; thou art among’ the dead, 
 and there is but one step between thee and hell. Thou 
 wilt not believe it, though it be told thee: yet once 
 again let me beseech thee, come to the'glass that is 
 here presented to thee, and narrowly observe whether 
 the very marks of the dead be not found upon thee. 
 
 “If there be miscarriages in this first work, if thou 
 wilt not understand thy misery and thy danger, there 
 is an end of all hope concerning thee. hilst self- 
 ignorance abides upon thee, all the ciatnoniie that are 
 necessary to a man in thy case will do thee no good; 
 they are never like to prosper with thee, because thou 
 wilt not count them proper for thee. » Who will be per- 
 suaded to do that which he believes'is already done ? 
 Who will take the counsel of the physician, that does 
 not think himself sick? The man'of God may spare 
 his pains of persuading thee to conversion, whilst thou 
 art confident thou art converted already. Who will be 
 at the pains of repentance, that concludes ‘he hath re- 
 pented? Who will be at the labour and pangs of the 
 new-birth, thst is confident he is already passed. from 
 death unto life? | 
 
 « But, friend, let me reason a little with thee; 
 Thou art confident it is well with thee; yet why wilt 
 thou not yield.to thus much at least, to put it to the 
 question, Am I not mistaken? Thou art worse than’ 
 mad, if thou thinkest such a question may not be put. 
 Dost thou not know, that the heart is false and de- 
 ceitful? Yet because it speaks good concerning 
 thee, must it not be questioned whether it speaks 
 true or no? Be so wise as to conclude, J may be mis- 
 taken; and thus come to the trial whether thou art 
 mistaken or not. 
 
 “ And if upon trial, by the marks that are ‘pefare 
 thee, thou come to be undeceived, and see thyself 
 wrapped up in that misery which hitherto thou wouldst 
 not suspect, the news that I expect to hear from ~ 
 thee is, What shall I do to be saved? QO were it come 
 
 ‘ 
 
. 
 
 UNCONVERTED READER. 539: 
 
 to that once! then thou hast an answer at hand in 
 those means thou wilt find prescribed thee: and be- 
 cause they are such as thou wilt hardly be. persuaded 
 to use, take in the motives that follow, and they will 
 help down the means: consider both the one and the 
 other, and if thou dost not find the means proper, and 
 the motives weighty, I think T shall do thee no wrong 
 if T tell thee, thou art still of a blind mind, and a 
 harder heart. 
 
 “Friend, the matter which this little book comes - 
 
 to treat with thee about, is of the highest importance, 
 
 ‘tis a matter of life or death. If thou sayest, The terms 
 upon which life is offered are hard; consider, is it not 
 harder to die? He is worthy to die who will lose his _ 
 soul to save his labour. If thou couldst step down 
 
 into-the deep, and take a turn or two with those damn- 
 
 ed souls who are drenched with fire and brimstone, 
 and bound in everlasting chains of vengeance, and 
 should ask them, Now what do you think of the terms 
 upon which life was offered? Now what think you 
 of that repentance, ofthat. obedience, of that cir- - 
 cumspection, self-denial, and the greatest severity, 
 which by the gospel were imposed upon you?- If 
 you might once again have the same terms granted 
 you for your redemption from this place of torment, 
 would you yet say, Hard terms? let me rather die 
 this death for ever, than live such a life? let me broil 
 in this furnace, rather than escape with such difficulty ? 
 
 * Shouldst thou ask them thus that have felt what it is 
 
 to be damned, what answer dost thou think they would 
 make? O friend! never again groan under the diffi- 
 culties of conversion, till thou believe them to be worse 
 than hell. But I will no farther anticipate my worthy 
 author. ; 
 ‘= Nor. 18 ee much need I should commend either 
 himself or his works; for the author himself thou 
 
 mayest at a small charge get acquainted with, in that 
 
 history of his life and death which is extant, concern- 
 ing which I shall only say, 
 “« Sic mihi contingat vivere, sicque mori.” 
 
540 - AN EPISTLE, ETC. 
 
 ‘«* And for this work of his, what commendation I 
 shall give of it will be needed no longer than till thou 
 hast read it over: thou wilt find such wine in it as 
 needs no bush. This only shall I say, as far as my 
 credit will go, it is exceedingly well worth thy most 
 serious perusal. O mayest thou hear that voice (such 
 a voice from heaven there is, whether thou hear it or 
 no) Tolle & Lege—Take up and read. Read, friend, 
 and read. over again, read and understand, understand 
 and pray, pray and consider, and consent unto him, 
 who by the pen of his servant calls to thee from hea- 
 ven, Why wilt thou.die? Turn and live. O. suffer 
 this work of instruction and exhortation to open thy 
 blind eyes, to turn thee from darkness to light, from 
 the power of Satan unto God, that thou mayest receive 
 forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them 
 that are sanctified, Et cum talis fueris, memento mei, 
 When it is thus with thee, then pray for 
 
 “ The friend and servant ef thy soul, 
 
 « RICHARD ALLEINE,” 
 
seivadhieleiucie 
 INVITATION TO SINNERS 
 ; TO TURN TO GOD, 
 
 IN ORDER TO THEIR ETERNAL SALVATION. 
 ~<3=-6-=- 
 
 DEARLY beloved and longed for, I gladly ac- 
 knowledge myself a debtor to you all, and am con- 
 cerned, as I would be found a good steward to the 
 ‘household of God, to give every one. his portion ; 
 but the physician is most solicitous for those patients 
 whose case is most hazardous; and the father’s bow- 
 els are especially turned towards his dying child ; the 
 numbers of unconverted souls call for my most earnest 
 compassion: and. therefore to these, first, I shall ap- 
 _ ply myself. 
 
 But, Lord, wherewith shall I woo them? Where- 
 with shall I win them? O that I could but tell! I 
 would write unto them in tears; I would weep out 
 every argument, verily (were I able) I would: O how 
 thankful would I be, if they would be prevailed with 
 to repent and turn! But, Lord, how insufficient am 
 I for this work! Lord, what a task hast thou sent me 
 to do! Alas, wherewith shall I make the heart -to 
 feel that is hard as a piece of the nether millstone! 
 Shall I go and lay my mouth to the grave, and look 
 when the dead will obey me, and come forth? Shall 
 _ I give the blind to see? From the beginning of the 
 world was it ever heard that a man opened the eyes of 
 the blind? But thou, O Lord, canst pierce the scales 
 and prick the heart of the sinner: I can but draw the 
 bow at a venture, but do thou direct the arrow 
 
a 
 542 MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 
 
 between the joints of the harness, kill: the sin, and 
 save the soul of a sinner that casts his cn bead 
 labours.” 
 
 But some of you do not know what is meant by 
 conversion; and therefore, for-your sakes, I shall show 
 what conversion is. Others cherish secret hopes of 
 mercy, though they continue as they are: and for them 
 I must show the necessity of conversion. Others har- 
 den themselves with a vain conceit that they are con- 
 - verted already; unto them I must show the marks of 
 the unconverted. Others, because they feel no harm, 
 fear none, and so sleep upon the top of the mast: to 
 them I shall show the misery of the unconverted. 
 
 Others sit still, because they see not their way out: to . 
 
 them I shall show the means of conversion. And, 
 finally, for the quickening of all, I shall close with the 
 motives to conversion. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Showing what ConvERsIoNn 7s not. 
 
 Ler the blind Samaritans worship they know not. 
 
 what—John iv. 22. Let the heathen Athenians su- 
 perscribe their altar unto the unknown God—Acts xvii. 
 23. They that know man’s constitution, cannot but 
 know that the understanding having the empire in the 
 soul, he that will go rationally to work must labour 
 to let in the hight hones Therefore, that you may not 
 mistake me, I shall show you what I mean by the 
 conversion I persuade you to endeavour after. 
 
 The devil hath made many counterfeits of conver- 
 sion, and cheats one with this, and another with that ; : 
 and such craft and artifice he hath, that (if it were pos- 
 sible) he would deceive the very elect. Now, that I 
 may cure the damnable mistakes of some who think 
 they are converted, when they are not, I shall show 
 you the nature of conversion, both what it is not, and 
 what it is. 
 
 1. It is not the taking upon us the profession of 
 
 Christianity. . Doubtless ea umiccat is more than a - 
 
 > 
 
oe 
 
 MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 543 
 
 name; If we will hear Paul, it lies not in word but 
 in power, 1 Cor. iv. 20. If to cease to be Jews and 
 Pagans, and to put on the Christian profession, had 
 been true conversion, who better christians than they 
 of Sardis and Laodicea? These were all. Christians 
 by profession, and had a name to live; but because 
 they had. but a name, are condemned by Christ. 
 Are there not many that mention the name of the 
 Lord Jesus, that yet depart not from imiquity? 
 And. will God receive these for true converts?) What! © 
 converts from sin, when they yet live in sin! We 
 find not only professors, but preachers of Christ, and 
 wonder-workers, turned off because evil werkers, 
 Matt. vii. 22, 23. 
 | 2. It is not the being washed in the laver of regene- 
 ration, or putting on the badge of-Christ in baptism. 
 Many wear the livery of Christ, that yet never stand 
 to their colours, nor follow their Leader. Azanias and 
 Sapphira were babtized as well as the rest. How 
 fondly do many mistake here, deceiving and being de- 
 ceived! dreaming that grace is necessarily tied ‘to the 
 external administration of baptism, and so every infant 
 shall be regenerated, not only sacramentally, but really 
 and properly. Hence men fancy, that being rege- 
 a already when baptized, they need no farther 
 work. 
 
 Friends and brethren, be not deceived, God is. not 
 
 __ mocked, Gal. vi. 7. Whether it were your baptism, or 
 
 whatever else that you pretend, I tell you from the 
 living God, that if any of you be prayerless persons, 
 or unclean, or malicious, or covetous, or riotous, or a 
 scoffer, or a lover of evil company; in a word, if you 
 are not holy, strict, and self-denying Christians, you 
 cannot»be saved. 
 
 3. dt lies not in a moral righteousness. This ex- 
 ceeds not the righteousness of the Scribes and Phari- 
 sees, and therefore cannot bring us to the kingdom of 
 God.’ St. Paul, while unconverted, touching the righ- 
 teousness which is in the law was blameless. The 
 Pharisee could say, J am no extortioner, adulterer, 
 unjust. Thou must have aes more than all a 
 
544 MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 
 
 to show, or else (however thou mayest justify thyself} 
 God will condemn thee; I condemn not morality, but 
 warn you not to rest here: piety includes morality, as 
 Christianity doth humanity; and grace includes rea- 
 son; but we must not divide the tables. > 
 
 4. It consists not in -an external conformity to the 
 rules of piety. “Fis too manifest men may have a form 
 of godliness, without the power. Men may pray long, 
 and fast often, and hear gladly, and be very forward 
 in the service of God, though costly and expensive, 
 (Isa. i. 11.) and yet be strangers to conversion: they 
 raust have more to plead for themselves, than that they 
 keep their church, give alms and make use of prayer, 
 to prove themselves sound converts ; no outward ser- 
 vice, but a hypocrite may do it, even to the giving all 
 his goods to feed the poor, 1 Cor. xiii. 3. 
 
 5. It lies not in the chaining up of corruption by . 
 education, human laws, or affliction. “Tis common to 
 mistake education for grace; but if this were enough, 
 who a better man than Jehoash? While Jehoiada his 
 uncle lived, he was very forward in God's service. 
 But here was nothing more than good education ; for 
 when his good tutor was taken out of the way, he ap- 
 pears to have been but a wolf chained up, and falls to 
 idolatry. 
 
 6. It consists not in conpiction, in a superficial change 
 or partial reformation. A Fehw may tremble under 
 conviction, and a Herod amend many things. ‘Tis 
 one thing to have sin alarmed by convictions, and 
 another to have it captivated and crucified by con- 
 verting grace. Many, because they have been trou- 
 bled for their sins, think well of their case, miserably 
 mistaking conviction for conversion. Others think, 
 that because they have given off their riotous courses, 
 and are broken off from evil company, and reduced 
 to sobriety, they are now real converts, forgetting that 
 there is a vast difference between being sanctified 
 and civilized; and’ that many seek to enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven, and are not far from it, and 
 arrive to the almost of Christianity, Acts xxvi. 28. 
 and yet fall short at last. While conscience holds 
 
MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 545 
 
 the whip over them, many will pray, hear, read, 
 and forbear their delightful sins: but no sooner is the 
 lion asleep, but they are at their vomit again. Who 
 more religious than the Jews, when God’s hand was 
 upon them? Yet no sooner was the affliction over, 
 but they forgot God, and showed their ee to 
 be a fit. 
 
 Hear then, O smners. Why would you wilfully 
 deceive yourselves, and build your hopes upon the ~ 
 sand! I know he shall find hard work of it that goes 
 to pluck away your hopes. It cannot but be ungrate- 
 ful to you, and truly it is not pleasing to me. TI set 
 about it as a surgeon, when he is to cut off a putrified 
 member from his well-beloved friend, which of force 
 he must do, though with an aching heart, and a trem- 
 bling hand. But understand me, brethren, I am only 
 taking down the ruinous house, (which will otherwise 
 speedily fall of itself, and bury you in the rubbish,) 
 that I may build it fair, strong, and firm for ever. The 
 hope of the wicked shall per ish.” And hadst thou not - 
 better, O sinner, let the word convince thee now in © 
 time, and let go thy false hopes, than have death to 
 open thine eyes, and find thyself in hell before thou 
 _ art aware? Let your conscience speak: what is it 
 that you have to piead for yourselves?’ Is it that you 
 wear Christ's livery? that you bear his name? that 
 you are of the church? that you have knowledge in 
 the points of religion? are civilized, perform religious 
 duties, are just in your dealings, have been troubled in 
 conscience for your sins? I tell you, from the Lord, 
 these pleas will never be accepted at God's bar; all © 
 this, though good in itself, will not prove you done 
 verted, and so will not suffice to your salvation. OQ! 
 bethink yourselves of turning speedily and soundly ; 
 set to praying, and to reading and studying your own 
 hearts; rest not till God hath made thorough work 
 with you: for you must be erlier men, or else you ¢ are 
 lost men. 
 
 But if these be short of conversion, what shall I say 
 of the profane sinner? He must know from the Lord 
 
 3 Z 
 
546 MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 
 
 that made him, that he is far from the kingdom of 
 God. May a man be civilized}, and not converted? | 
 where then shall the drunkard and the glutton appear ? 
 May a man keep company with the wise virgins, and - 
 yet be shut out? shall not a companion of fools. much 
 more be destroyed? May a man be true and just in 
 his dealing, and yet not be justified of God? what 
 then will become of thee, O wretched man, whose 
 conscience tells thee thou art false in thy trade, and 
 false in thy word, and makest thy advantnge By a 
 lying tongue? If men may be brought to the perform- 
 ance of holy duties, and yet go down to perdition for’ 
 resting in them, and sitting down on this side of con- 
 version, what will become of you, O miserable fami- 
 lies, that live without God in the world? and of you, 
 O wretched sinners! with whom God is scarce in all 
 your thoughts! that are so ignorant that you cannot, 
 or so careless that you will not pray? O repent, and 
 
 be converted: break off your sins by righteousness ; 
 
 away tu Christ for pardoning and renewing grace; 
 give up yourselves to him to walk with him in holiness ; 
 or else you shall never see God! O that you would 
 take the warning of God! In his namel once more 
 admonish you: turn you at my reproof. Be sober, right- 
 eous, godly. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify 
 your hearts, ye double-minded. Cease to do evil. Learn 
 
 - to do well. But if you will go on, you must die. 
 
 ‘CHAP. Il. 
 Showing what CoNVERSION 428. 
 
 I may not leave you with your eyes half open, as he 
 
 ' that saw men as trees walking. The word is profit- 
 
 able for doctrine, as well as reproof. And therefore 
 
 - having thus far conducted you by the rocks of so many 
 
 mistakes, I would guide you into the harbour of truth. 
 Conversion then is a thorough change both of the 
 heart and life: I shall briefly describe it in its nature 
 
 ‘and causes. - 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. «© 547. 
 
 ‘1. The author, ’tis the Spirit of God, and therefore 
 tis called the sanctification of the Spirit; yet not ex- 
 cluding the other persons in the Trinity: for the 
 - apostle teacheth us to bless the Father of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ, for that he hath begotten us again. And 
 Christ is said to give repentance unto Israel, and the’ 
 children which God hath given him. Yet this work 
 is principally ascribed to the Holy Ghost; and so we’ 
 are said to be born of the Spirit, John ii. 8. 
 
 So then ’tis a work above man’s power. Never 
 think thou canst convert thyself; if ever thou wouldst 
 be converted, thou must despair of doing it in thine 
 own strength. It is a resurrection from the dead, a 
 new creation, a supernatural work, Gal. vi. 15. 
 
 2. The moving cause is Internal or external. 
 
 The internal moving is only free grace. Not by works 
 of righteousness which we have done, but of his own 
 mercy he saved us. 
 
 God finds nothing in a man to turn his heart, but 
 _ enough to provoke his loathing. Look back upon | 
 thyself; look upon thyself in thy blood. Open thy 
 sepulchre. Behold thy putrid soul, thy loathsome 
 members. Behold thy ghastly visage, thy crawling 
 lusts, thy slime and corruption! How then should ho- 
 liness and purity love thee? Be astonished, O. hea- 
 vens, at this! Be moved, O earth! Who but must 
 needs cry, Grace! grace! Hear and blush, you chil- 
 dren of the Most High; O you unthankful generation ! 
 one would think you should be doing nothing but 
 praising and admiring God, wherever you are. How 
 can you make shift to forget such grace, or to pass it 
 over. with a slight mention? How affectionately doth 
 Peter lift up his hands, Blessed be the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus, who of his abundant mercy hath be- 
 gotten us again, | Pet.i. 3. How feelingly doth Paul 
 magnify the free mercy of God! God, who is rich in 
 mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, hath 
 guickened us together with Christ ; by grace ye are saved, 
 Eph. ii. 4, 5. 
 
 The external mover is the merit and intercession of 
 the blessed Jesus. Ue hath obtained gifts for the re- 
 
548 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 bellious, and through him it is that God worketh in 
 us what is well-pleasing in his sight. Through him 
 are all spiritual blessings bestowed on us in heavenly 
 places, Eph. i. 3. He intercedeth for them that be- 
 lieve not. Every. convert is the fruit of his’ travail. 
 O never was an infant born into the world with that 
 difficulty that Christ endured for us! How emphati- 
 cally he groaneth in his travail: all the pains that he 
 suffered on the cross, were our birth pains. He sane~ 
 tified himself, (that is, set apart himself as a sacrifice ») 
 that we may be sanctified, John xvii. 19. . 
 
 ‘Tis nothing then but the merit and intercession of 
 Christ, that prevails with God to bestow on us grace. 
 If thou art a new creature, thou knowest to whom 
 thou owest it, to Christ's pangs and prayers. Hence 
 the natural affection of a believer to Jesus Christ. 
 The foal doth not more naturally run after the dam, 
 than a believer to Jesus Christ. 
 
 3. The instrument is either personal or real. 
 
 The- personal is the ministry. J have begotten you 
 in Christ through the gospel, 1 Cor. iv. 15. Christ’s 
 ‘ministers are they that are sent to open men’s eyes, 
 and to turn them to God. 
 
 O unthankful world, little do ye know what you 
 are doing, while you are persecuting the messengers 
 of the Lord. These are they, whose business it is 
 (under Christ) to save you. Whom have you re- 
 proached and blasphemed? Against whom have 
 exalted yourselves, and lifted your voice on ei 
 These are the servants of the Most High God, 
 show unto you the way of salvation, Acts xvi. te 
 do you thus requite them? O foolish and unwise! 
 sons of ingratitude! against whom do you sport fit 
 selves? These are the instruments that God uses to 
 convert and save you. 
 
 The real instrument is the word. We were begotten 
 by the word of truth: this is that which enlightens 
 the eye, which converteth the soul, Psal. xix. 7, 8. 
 “which maketh wise to salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15. This 
 is the incorruptible seed, by which we are born again. 
 If we are washed, it is by the word, Eph. v.26 If 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 549, 
 
 ‘we are sanctified, it is through the truth, J ohn 
 xvii. 17. “ 7; : 
 
 You that have felt its renewing- power, be for ever 
 thankful forit; tie it about your necks, write it upon 
 your hand. - “When you go, let it lead you: when you 
 sleep, let it keep you; when you wake, let it talk with 
 you: say with huly David, I will not. forget thy pre- 
 cepts, for by them thou hast quickened me, Psal. cxix. 
 93. You that are unconverted, read the word with 
 diligence, flock to it where powerfully preached, fill 
 the porches as the multitude of the impotent, blind, 
 halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water, 
 John v. 3. Pray for the coming of the Spirit im ‘the 
 word; come off thy knees to the sermon, and’ come’ 
 to thy knees from the sermon: the seed doth not pros-: 
 per, because not watered by prayers and tears, nor 
 covered by meditation. 
 
 4. The final cause is man’s -salvation, and God's 
 glory.—We are chosen thro’ sanctification to salvation, 
 2 Thess. ii. 13. Called, that we might be glorified, but 
 especially that God might be glorified : that we should » 
 show forth his praise, and be fruitful in good works, 
 Col. i. 10. O Christian! do not forget the end of thy 
 calling; éet thy light shine, Matt. v. "16. let thy lamp 
 burn, let thy fruits be good, and many, and in season, 
 Psal. i. 3. let all thy designs fall in with God's, that so 
 may be magnified in thee. 
 
 5. The subject is the sinner; and that in all his parts 
 and powers, members and mind. 
 
 This change of conversion passes throughout the 
 whole subject. A carnal person may have some shreds 
 of good morality, but he is never good throughout the 
 whole cloth, the whole body of holiness. Conversion. 
 is no repairing of “the old building, but it takes all 
 down, and erects a new structure, ‘tis not the putting 
 ina patch, or sewing a list of holiness; but, with the 
 true convert, holiness is woven into all his powers, 
 principles, and practice. The sincere Christian 1s quite 
 a new fabric; from the foundation to the top-stone all 
 fire-new. He is a new man, a new creature. All 
 things are become new. Cohversion is.a deep work, 
 
550 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 a heart-work ; it turns all upside down, and makes a 
 man be in anew world. It goes throughout with men, 
 throughout the mind, throughout the motions of, the 
 whole man. Vavendls 
 
 1. Throughout the mind. It makes a universal 
 change within. First, it turns’ the balance of the 
 judgment, so that God and his glory weigh down 
 all carnal and worldly interest. It opens the eye of 
 the mind, and makes the scales of its native igno- 
 rance to fall off, and turns men from darkness to light. 
 The man that before saw no danger in his condition, 
 now concludes himself lost for ever, except renewed 
 by the power of grace. He that formerly thought 
 there was little hurt in sin, now comes to see it to be 
 the chief of evils; he sees the unreasonableness, un- 
 righteousness, and deformity, that is in sin; so that he 
 is affrighted with it, loathes it, flees it, and even abhors 
 himself for it. He that could see little sin in himself, 
 and could find no matter for confession before God, 
 unless it were some few gross evils: now sin reviveth 
 within him, he sees the rottenness of his heart, and 
 desperate and deep pollution of his whele nature: 
 he cries, ‘‘ Unclean, unclean! Lord, purge me with 
 hyssop, wash me thoroughly, create in me a new 
 heart.” He sees himself altogether become filthy, 
 corrupt, both root and tree; he writes unclean upon 
 all his parts, and powers, and performances: he sees 
 the blasphemy, and theft, and murder, and adultery, 
 that is in his heart, which before he was ignorant 
 of: heretofore he saw no form or comeliness in Christ, 
 
 or beauty, that he should desire him; but now he 
 
 finds the hid treasure, and will sell all to buy this 
 field. : 
 
 Now, according to.this new light, the man is of ano- 
 ther mind, another judgment, than he was: now God 
 is all with him, he hath none in heaven nor on earth 
 
 like him, Psal. xxiii. 25. He prefers him before all’ 
 
 thé world: his favour is his life; the light of his coun- 
 tenance is more than corn, or wine, and oil, the good 
 that formerly he inquired after, and set his heart upon. 
 Now let all the world be set on one side, and God 
 
 7 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 551 
 
 alone on the other; let the harlot put on her paint, and 
 present herself to,the soul (as when Satan would have 
 tempted our Saviour with her) in all the glory of her 
 kingdoms, yet the soul will not fall down and worship 
 her, but will prefer a naked, yea, a crucified, persecut- 
 
 - ed Christ, before her. This is the convert’s voice; 
 
 = 
 
 The Lord is my portion; whom have I in heaven but 
 thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire. be- 
 sides thee. God is the strength of my heart, and my 
 
 _ portion for ever. 
 
 Secondly, l¢ turns the bias of the will, both as to 
 means and end. 
 
 1. The intention of the will is altered. Now the 
 man hath new ends and designs; now he intends God 
 above all, and desires and designs nothing in all the 
 world so much, as that Christ may be magnified in 
 him. He counts himself more happy in this than in 
 all that the earth could yield, that he may be service- 
 able to Christ, and bring him glory in his generation. 
 This is the mark he aims at, that the name of Jesus 
 may be great in the world. 
 
 Fisher: dost thou view this, and never ask thyself, 
 whether it be thus ‘with thee? Pause awhile, and 
 breathe on this great concern, 
 
 2 The. election is also changed, so that, he chuseth 
 another way. He pitcheth upon God as his blessed- 
 ness; upon Christ as the principal, and holiness, as 
 the subordinate means to bring him to God. He chu-. 
 seth Jesus for his Lord. This choice is not made in 
 a fright, as with the dying sinner, that doth only take 
 Christ rather than hell; but he deliberately resolves, 
 that Christ is his best choice, and would rather have 
 him than all the good of this world. Again, he takes 
 holiness for his path; he doth not of mere necessity 
 submit to it, but he likes and loves it. He takes God's 
 testimonies, not as his bondage, but as his heritage; 
 yea, heritage for ever, Psal. cxix. 111. He counts. 
 them not his burden, but his bliss; not his cords, but. 
 his cordials. He doth not only bear, but takes up 
 Christ's yoke: he takes not holiness as the stomach 
 doth the loaded potion, but as the hungry doth his be- 
 
loved food. No time passing so sweetly with him as 
 that which he spends in the exercises of holiness; these 
 are both his aliment and element, the desire of his — 
 eyes, and the j joy of‘his heart. — 
 
 Put thy conscience to it as thou goest, whether thou © 
 art the man. O happy man, if this be thy case! But 
 see thou be impartial in the search. 
 
 Thirdly, Jé turns the bent of the affections. These 
 run all-in a new channel: Jordan is driven back, and — 
 the water runs upwards againsts its natural course. 
 Christ is his hope, 1 Tim. i. 1. This is the prize, Phil. 
 iii. 8. here his eye, here his heart is. He is contented 
 to cast all over-board (as the merchant in the storm). 
 so he may but keep this jewel. 
 
 The first of his desires is not after gold, but grace. 
 He hungers after it, he seeks it as silver, he digs for it 
 as hid treasure: he had rather be gracious than be 
 great: he had rather be the holiest man on earth, 
 than the most learned, the most famous, most pros- 
 perous. Once he said, O! if I were but in great 
 esteem, and rolled in wealth, and swimmed in plea- 
 sure, then I should be a happy man. But now the 
 tone is changed. O! saith the covenant, if I had 
 such measures of grace, such fellowship with God, 
 though I were poor and despised, I should account 
 myself a blessed man. Reader, is this the language 
 of thy soul ? 
 
 His joys are changed. He rejoiceth in the ways of 
 God’s testimonies, as mueh as in all riches. He de- 
 lights in the law of the Lord, wherein once he had 
 little favour. He hath no such joy as in the thoughts 
 of Christ, the fruition of his company, the prospérity 
 of his people. 
 
 His cares are altered. He was once set for the 
 world, and any serap of time were enough for his soul 
 Now he gives over caring for the asses, and sets his 
 heart onthe kingdom: now all the ery is, What shall, 
 ¥ do to be saved? His great solicitude is now to se- 
 eure his soul. 
 ' His fears are not now of suffering. Once he was 
 afraid of nothing so much as the loss of his estate or 
 
 552 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 1 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. pos 
 
 esteem, or the pleasure of friends; nothing sounded 
 so terrible to him as pain, or poverty, or disgrace ; 
 now these are little to him, in comparison of God's 
 dishonour or displeasure. How warily doth he walk, 
 lest he should tread uponasnare! He feareth always, 
 he looks before and behind, lest he should be. over- 
 taken with sin. It kills his heart to think of losing 
 God's favour; this he dreads as his only undoing. No 
 thought in the world doth pain him so much, as to. 
 think of parting with Christ. 
 
 His dove runs a new course. My Love is crucified, 
 (saith holy Ignatius) that is, my Christ. This is my 
 Beloved, saith the Spouse. 
 
 He can find no words sweet enough. Let me see 
 thee, O light of mine eyes: come, O thou joy of my 
 spirit. Let me behold thee, O life of my soul. Appear: 
 unto me, O my great delight. O my God, my life, and 
 the whole glory of my soul. Let me find thee, O desire 
 of my heart. : 
 
 His sorrows have now a new vent. The view of 
 his sins, the sight of Christ crucified, that would 
 _ searce stir him before, now how much do they affect 
 his heart! 
 
 Commune then with thine own heart, and attend 
 the general current of thine affection, whether it be 
 towards God in Christ above all other concernments. 
 Indeed the great inquiry is, whether the judgment 
 and will be standingly determined for God above all 
 other good: and if the affections sincerely follow their 
 choice, though it be not so sensibly as is to be desired, 
 there is no doubt but the change is saving. 
 
 2. Throughout the members. Those that were before 
 the instruments of sin, are now become the holy uten- 
 sils of Christ’s living temple. He that before abused 
 his body, now possesseth his vessel in sanctification 
 and honour, in temperance, chastity, and sobriety, 
 and dedicateth it to the Lord. 
 
 The eye that was once a wandering eye, a wanton 
 eye, a haughty, a covetous eye, is now employed in 
 weeping over its sins, in beholding God in his works, 
 >) ee 4A 
 
554 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. | 
 
 in reading his word, in looking up and down for ob- 
 jects of mercy, and opportunities for his service. «~ 
 
 The ear that was once open to Satan’s call, and re- 
 lished nothing so much as filthy (or at least frothy) 
 talk, and the fool’s laughter, is now bored to the door 
 of Christ's house, and open to his discipline; it saith, 
 Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth ; and waits for his 
 words as the rain, and relisheth them more than the 
 appointed food. 
 
 His heart is now become an altar of incense, where 
 the tire of divine love is ever kept in, and whence the 
 daily sacrifice of prayer and praise, and sweet in- 
 cense of holy desires and ejaculations, are continually 
 ascending. | A ety 
 
 The mouth is become a well of life, his tongue as 
 choice silver, and his lips feed many: now the salt 
 of grace has seasoned his speech, and cleansed the 
 mouth from its filthy communication, flattery, boast- 
 ing, railing, lying, swearing, backbiting, that once came 
 hke the flashes that proceed from the hell that was in 
 the heart. The throat that was once an open sepulchre, 
 now sends forth the sweet breath of prayer and holy 
 discourse, and the man speaks in another tongue, in 
 the language of Canaan, and is never so well as when 
 talking of God and Christ, and the matters of another 
 world. His mouth bringeth forth wisdom, his tongue 
 hath become the silver trumpet of his Maker's praise, 
 his glory, and the best member that he hath. 
 
 3. Throughout the life and practice. ‘The man takes 
 anew course. His conversation is in heaven. Nosooner 
 doth Christ call, but he straightway becomes a follower 
 of him. When God hath the new heart, and writes his 
 law in his mind, he forthwith walks in his statutes, and 
 keeps his judgments. 
 
 Though sin may dwell in hin, yet it hath 70 more 
 dominion over him. He hath his fruit unto holiness, and 
 hath an unfeigned respect to all God’s commandments, 
 making conscience even of little sins and little duties. 
 His very infirmities, which he cannot help, are’ his 
 soul's burden, and are like the dust in a man’s eye, ~ 
 
YHE NATURE OF CONVERSION. a2: 
 
 which though but little, yet is not a little troublesome, 
 O man! dost thou read this, and never turn in upon 
 thy soul by self-examination? The sincere convert is 
 not one man at church and another at home; he is 
 not a saint on his knees, and a cheat in his shop; he 
 will not tithe mint and cummin, and neglect mercy 
 and judgment, and the weighty matters of the law; 
 
 “\he doth not pretend to piety, and neglect morality ; 
 but he turneth from all his sins, and keeps all God's 
 statutes, if not perfectly, yet sincerely, not allowing 
 himself in the breach of any. Now he delights in 
 the word, and sets himself to prayer, and opens his 
 hand, (if able,) and draws out his soul to the hungry; 
 and hath a good conscience, willing in all things to live 
 honestly, and to keep without offence towards God 
 and man. 
 
 Here again you shall find the unsoundness of many, 
 that take themselves for good Christians; they are 
 partial in the law, and take up with the cheap and 
 easy duties of religion, but go not through with the 
 work, They are as cakes not tumed, half toasted 
 and half raw. It may be, you shall have them exact 
 in their words, punctual in their dealings; but they do 
 not exercise themselves unto godliness! and for exa- 
 mining themselves and governing their heart, to this 
 they are strangers. You may have them duly at the 
 church; but follow them to their families, and there 
 you shall see little but the world minded. Or, if they 
 have a road for family-duties, follow them to their clo- 
 sets, and there you shall find their souls are little look- 
 ed after. It may be they seem other ways religions, 
 but bridle not their tongues. It may be they come up 
 to closet and family-prayer; but follow them to their 
 shops, and there you shall find them ina trade of lying, 
 or some covert way of deceit. 
 
 6. ‘‘The terms are either from which, or to 
 which.” 
 
 I. The terms from which we turn, in this motion of | 
 conversion, are sin, Satan, the world, and our own righ- 
 teousness, 
 
 First, Sin.—When aman is converted, he is out with 
 
556 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 sin; yea, with all sin, but most of all with his own 
 sins, and especially with-his bosom-sin. Sin is: now 
 the butt of his indignation. His sins set abroach his 
 sorrows. “Tis sin. that pierces him; and wounds 
 him, he feels it like a thorn in his’ side, likeva 
 prick in his eyes; he'is not impatient of any burden 
 -so much as of his sin. If God should give him his 
 choice, he would chuse any aliiccam. so he might be 
 rid of sin. 
 
 Before conversion, he had light thoughts ai sin; he 
 cherished it in his bosom, as Uriah his lamb; he nou- 
 rished it; ‘and it grew up together with ira and lay 
 in. his bosom, and was to him: as’a daughter: but 
 when God opens his eyes by conversion, he throws 
 it away with abhorrence, as a man would a loath- 
 some toad, which in the dark he hath hugged fast in 
 his bosom, and thought it had been some harmless 
 bird..When'a man is thoroughly changed, he is 
 not only deeply convinced of the danger, but defile- 
 ment of sin; and, O how earnest is he with God to 
 be! ‘purified ! He runs to Christ, and casts himself 
 into the fountain for sin and for uncleanness. He 
 abhors his once-beloved sin, as a cleanly nature doth 
 the trough and mire wherein he sees the swine delight. 
 The ‘sound convert is heartily engaged against sin: 
 He ‘can forgive his’ other enemies, he can pity them, 
 but here he is implacable, ‘here he is set. ‘upon re- 
 venge; his eyes shall not pity, his hand shall not spare, 
 though ‘it be a right hand or a right eye: be it a gain- 
 ful sin, most delightful. to his nature, or support to 
 his esteem with friends, yet he will rather throw his 
 gain’ down the kennel, see his credit fall, or the 
 flower of pleasure wither in. his hand, than he will 
 allow himself in any known way of sin. He will 
 grant no indulgence, he will give no toleration, he 
 draws upon sin wherever he meets it, and frowns 
 upon it with this unwelcome salute, Have I found thee, 
 Oi mine enemy ! 
 
 Reader, ‘hath thy conscience been at work while 
 thou hast been looking over these lines? Hast thou 
 pondered these things in thy heart? Hast thou search- 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 557 
 
 éd the book within, to see if these things be so? If 
 not, read it again, and make thy, conscience speak, 
 whether or no it be not thus with thee. 
 
 ‘Hast thou crucified thy flesh, with its affections and 
 lusts? and not only confessed, but forsaken thy sins? 
 If not, thou art yet unconverted. Doth not conscience 
 fly in thy face as thou readest, and tell thee thou livest 
 im a way of lying for thy advantage, that thou usest 
 decéit in thy calling, that there is some way of secret 
 wantonness that thou livest in? Why, then do not 
 deceive thyself; thou art in the gall of bitterness, and 
 bond of iniquity. . 
 
 Doth not thy unbridled tongue, thy intemperance, 
 thy wicked company, thy neglect of prayer, of reading 
 and hearing the word, now witness against thee, aad 
 say, We are thy works, and we will follow thee? Or, 
 if L have not hit thee right, doth not one within tell 
 thee there is such or such a way, that thou knowest 
 to be evil, that yet thou dost tolerate thyself in, and 
 art willing to spare? If this be the case, thou art to . 
 this day wnregenerate, and must be changed or con- 
 demned. 
 
 Secondly, Satan.—Conversion binds the strong man, 
 spoils his armour, casts out his goods, turns men from 
 the power of Satan unto God. The real convert serves 
 now another master: he goes and comes at Christ's 
 beck: he watches against the snares and baits of Sa- 
 tan, and studies to be acquainted with his devices: he 
 is suspicious of his plots, and is very jealous in what 
 comes athwart him, lest Satan should have some de- 
 sign upon him: he wrestles against principalities and 
 powers, Eph. vi. 12. He entertains the messenger of 
 Satan as men do the messenger of death: he keeps 
 his eye upon his enemy, and watches in his duties; 
 lest Satan should put in his foot. 
 
 Thirdly, Zhe World.—Before a sound faith, a man 
 is overcome of the world; either he bows down to 
 Mammon, or idolizes his reputation, or is a lover of 
 pleasure, more than a lover of God, 2 Tim. iii. 4, 
 Here is the root of man’s misery by the fall; he is 
 turned aside to the creature instead of God, and gives 
 
558 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 ‘that great esteem, confidence, and affection to the 
 creature, that is due to him alone. 
 
 O miserable man! what a deformed monster hath 
 sin made thee! God made thee /itéle lower than the 
 angels; sin, little better than the devils: a monster 
 that hath his head and heart where his feet should 
 be, and his feet kicking against heaven. The world 
 that was formed to serve thee, is come to rule thee; 
 and the deceitful harlot hath bewitched thee. with 
 her enchantments, and made thee bow down and 
 serve her. a0) 
 
 But converting grace sets all in order again, and puts 
 God on the throne, and the world at his footstool : 
 Christ in the heart, and the world under the feet. So 
 St. Paul, I am crucified to the world, and the world to 
 me. Before this change all the cry was, Who will show 
 us any worldly good? But now he sings another tune, 
 Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon me; and 
 take the corn and wine whosoever will. Before, his 
 heart’s delight was in the world; then the song was, 
 Soul, take thy ease; eat, drink, and be merry, thou 
 hast much goods laid up for many years: but now all 
 this is withered, and there is no comeliness that he 
 should desire; and he tunes up with the sweet Psalmist 
 of Israel, Zhe Lord is the portion of my inheritance ; the 
 lines are fallen to me in a fair place, and I have a 
 goodly heritage. He boasteth himself in God. No-- 
 thing else can give him content. He hath written vanity 
 and vexation upon all his worldly enjoyments, and loss 
 and dung upon all human excellencies. He hath life 
 and immortality now in chase. He trades for grace 
 and glory, and hath a crown incorruptible im pursuit. 
 He first seeks the kingdom of heaven, and the righte- 
 ousness thereof, and religion is no longer a matter by- 
 the-by with him, but the main of his care. Once he 
 would do more for gain than godliness, more to plea- 
 sure his friends or his flesh, than to please the God that 
 made him; and God must stand by till the world were 
 first served: but now all must stand by; he hates 
 father and mother, and life, and all in comparison of 
 Christ. Well then, pause a little, and look within : 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 559 
 
 - doth not this nearly concern thee? Thou pretendest 
 for Christ, but doth not the world sway thee? Dost not 
 thou take more real delight in the world than in him? 
 Dost thou not find thyself better at ease when the 
 world goes to thy mind, than when retired to prayer 
 and meditation, or attending upon God’s word and 
 worship? No surer evidence of any unconverted state, . 
 than to have the things of the world uppermost in our 
 aim, love, and estimation. 
 
 With the sound convert, Christ hath the supremacy, 
 How dear is his name to him! How precious is his 
 favour! The name of Jesus is engraven upon his heart. 
 Here is the pearl of great price, here is his treasure, 
 here is his hope. This is his glory, ‘‘ my Beloved is 
 mine, and I am his.” O ’tis sweeter to him to be able 
 to say, Christ is mine, than if he could say, the king- 
 dom is mine, the Indies are mine. 
 
 Fourthly, Your own righteousness.—Before convyer- 
 sion, man seeks to cover himself with his own fig- 
 leaves, and to lick himself whole with his own duties, 
 Micah vi. 6,7. He is apt to set up his own righteous- 
 ness, and not to submit to the righteousness of God. 
 Now he casts away his filthy rags: Now he is 
 brought to poverty of spirit; all his inventory is, 
 poor, and miserable, and wretched, and blind, and naked. 
 He sees a world of iniquity in his holy things, 
 and calls his once idolized righteousness but filth and 
 loss, and would not for a thousand worlds be found in 
 himself. Now he begins to set a high price upon 
 Christ's righteousness: he sees the need of Christ in 
 every duty: he cannot live without him; or cannot 
 pray without him: Christ must go with him, or else 
 he cannot come into the presence of God; he sets 
 himself down for a lost undone man without him; 
 he is fixed in Christ, as the root of a tree spreads in 
 the earth for stability and nutriment. Before, the news 
 of Christ was a stale and sapless thing; but now how 
 sweet is Christ! In a word, the voice of the convert 
 is, with the martyr, None but Christ. 
 
 - The terms are either u/timate or subordinate. 
 The ultimate is, God the Father, Son, and Holy 
 
560 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION? 
 
 Ghost, whom the new convert takes» as his all-suf- 
 ficient and eternal blessedness:| A man is» never 
 truly sanctified till his very heart be set-upon God 
 above all things, as his portion. These are the natu- 
 ral breathings of a believer's heart, Thou) art my por- 
 tion. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. Ay 
 expectation is from'him; he only is my rock, and 
 my salvation, he is my defence; in God is my salvation 
 - glory, the rock of my strength ; and my refuge isin 
 od. e's ‘4 
 Would you put it to an issue, whether you be con- 
 verted or not? Now let thy soul and all that is within 
 thee attend. ote ativratd 
 Hast thou taken God for thy happiness? Where 
 doth the content of thy heart lie? Whence doth thy 
 choicest comfort come in? Come, and with Abraham 
 lift up thine eyes eastward, and look about. thee. 
 What is it that thou wouldst have in heaven, or on 
 earth, to make thee happy? If God should give thee 
 thy choice, as he did to Solomon, Or should say to thee 
 as Ahasuerus to Esther, What is thy petition, and 
 what is thy request, and it shall be granted thee? 
 What wouldst thou ask? Go into the gardens of plea- 
 _sure, and gather all the fragrant flowers from thence. 
 Would these content thee? Go to the treasures of 
 _ Mammon; suppose thou mightest lade thyself from 
 hence? Go to the trophies of honour; what thinkest 
 thou of being a man of renown, and having)a name 
 like the name of the great men of the earth? Would 
 any of this, all this, suffice thee, and make thee a hap- 
 py man? If so, then certainly thou art unconverted. 
 —lIf not, go farther; wade into the divine excellencies, 
 the store of his mercies, the depths unfathomable of 
 his all-sufficiency : doth this suit thee best, and please ~ 
 thee most? Dost thon say, ’Zts good to be here? 
 Matt. xvii. 4. Here will I pitch, here will I live and 
 die? Wilt thou let all the world go rather than this? 
 Then it is wel] between God and thee: happy art 
 thou, O man! happy art thou, that thou ever wast 
 born; if God can make thee happy, thou must needs 
 be happy; for thou hast avouched the Lord to be thy 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 36h 
 
 God, Dost thou say to Christ, Zhy Father. shall be 
 my Father, and thy. God my God? Here is the turn- 
 ing point. An unsound professor never, takes yp, his, 
 rest in God ; but converting grace cures the fatal, 
 misery of: the. fall, by turning the heart from its idol to 
 the living God... Now says the soul, Lord, whither shalt. 
 Tigo? thow hast. the words of eternal life, Jobn. yi. 
 68. Here he centres; ‘tis the entrance of heaven to; 
 him; to,see: his interest in God. When he discovers, 
 this, he saith, Return unto. thy rest, O my soul, Sor the, 
 Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. And it is even 
 ready to breathe out Simeon’s song, Lord, now (ettest 
 thou thy servant depart in peace, | 
 
 The mediate term of conversion is either principal 
 or Less principal. 
 
 © The principal is Christ, the only mediator between 
 God and man;;, His work.is to bring usto God. He 
 is the way to the Father, the ‘only « door, by which we 
 may enter. Conversion brings over the soul to Christ, 
 as the only means to life, as the only way; the only 
 name given under heaven. He looks not for salva~ 
 tion inany other but him, nor in any other with him; 
 but throws himself on Christ alone, as one.that casts 
 himself with outspread arms upon the sea. 
 
 Thus the. poor soul doth. venture on Christ, and 
 resolyedly. adheres to him... Before conversion. the 
 man made light of Christ, minded his farm, friends, 
 merchandise, more. than Christ. Now Christ is to 
 him as his necessary food, his daily bread, the life 
 of his heart, the staff of his life. His great design 
 is, that Christ may.be magnified in him. His heart 
 once said, as they to, the Spouse, What is thy beloved 
 mone: than another? He found more sweetness in his 
 merry company, wicked games, earthly delights, than 
 in Christ. He took religion for a fancy, and the talk 
 of great, enjoyments for an idle dream ; but now ta 
 him to hvews Chiist,. He sets light sila all that is ac- 
 sata _ precious, for ie advil 9 i HP le 
 re) rist. . 
 
 whueen 
 
562 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION! 
 
 he loves not only the wages, but the’workrof|Christ/ 
 He is willing not only to tread out’ the corn, but ‘to: 
 draw under the yoke: he takes up ‘the commands’of 
 Christ, yea, and the cross of ‘Christ. 0d ocho ab deat 
 
 The unsound closeth by halves with Christ ; he is:all 
 for the salvation of Christ, but not for sanetification. 
 This is an error in the foundation: whosoever loveth 
 life, let him beware here: ’tis an undoing mistake, of 
 which you have been often warned, and. yet none more 
 common. Jesus is a sweet name, but men love not. the 
 Lord Jesus in sincerity, Eph. vi. 24. They: will\not 
 have him as God offers, to be a: Prince and a Saviour 
 They divide what God hath joied, the King and) the 
 Priest. Every man’s vote is for salvation from suffering, 
 but they desire not to be saved from sinning.’ Yea, 
 many divide here again; they’ would be ‘eontent. to 
 have some of their sins destroyed, but they cannot 
 leave the lap of Delilah, or divorce the beloved He- 
 rodias. They cannot be cruel'to the right eye, or 
 
 right hand. O! be infinitely tender here; your souls 
 lie ‘upon it. The sound convert takes a whole Christ, 
 and takes him for all intents and purposes ; without ex- 
 ceptions, without limitations, without reserves. He 
 is willing to have Christ upon his own terms, Upon any 
 terms. He is willing to have the dominion of Christ, 
 as well as deliverance by Christ; he saith with Paul; 
 Lord, what wilt thou have me do do? Any thing, 
 Lord. He sends the: blank to Christ, to set down air 
 own conditions. NB 
 
 The less principal is the‘ laws, orchadaeat? canbe ichsjo 
 of Christ. The heart that was once set against these, 
 and could not endure the severity of these ways, now 
 falls in love with them, and chuses them as: dyes soe 
 and guide for ever. 
 
 Four things (I obseiay God‘ doth ebb 4 in’ every 
 sound convert, with reference to’ the laws and ways 
 of Christ, by which you may know your state, if you 
 will be faithful to your own souls : therefore — 
 eyes upon your hearts as you go along. _ 
 
 1. Lhe judgment is sie ad to approve of then as 
 
‘THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. ae 
 most righteous ‘and ‘most reasonable... The mind — 
 brought to like the ways of God; and the staiealiodd 
 that were once against them are. "removed: The un- 
 derstanding assents to them all, as holy, just, and good. 
 His judgment is for the ways of God, and that not 
 
 only the absolute, but comparative judgment ; he 
 thinks them not only best in general, but best for him: 
 he looks upon the rules of religion, not only as tolera- 
 ble, but désirable ; more desirable than gold, yea, 
 than much fine gold. 
 
 2.. The desire of the heart is to dete the whole mind 
 of Christ. He would not have one sin undiscovered, 
 nor be ignorant of one duty. ’Tis the earnest breath- 
 ing of his heart, “ Lord, if there be any way of wick- 
 edness in me, do thou discover it. What I know not, 
 teach thou me; and if I have done iniquity, I will do 
 it no more.” The gracious heart is willing to know 
 ‘the whole compass of his Maker’s law. He receives 
 with all acceptation the word that convinceth him of 
 any duty that he knew not, or minded not before, or 
 ‘discovereth any sin that lay hid before. 
 
 3. The will is determined for the ways of Christ, be- 
 fore ali the pleasures of sin, and\*prosperities of the 
 world. His consent is not extorted by some extremity 
 of anguish, nor is it only a sudden and hasty resolve, 
 ‘but he is deliberately purposed, and comes off freely 
 to the choice ; his will is for Christ’s laws and govern- 
 ment; so that he takes them not up as his toil or bur- 
 den, but his bliss.. He had rather (if he might have 
 his choice) live a strict and holy life, than the most 
 prosperous and flourishing life in the world. Christ 
 keeps not his subjects in by force, but is king of a wil- 
 ling people... They are (through his grace) ‘freely re- 
 solved for his service, and do it out of choice, not as 
 slaves, but as the son or spouse, from a spring of love, 
 and a loyal mind. In a word, the laws of Chris’ are 
 the convert's. love, desire, delight, and continual 
 study. 
 
 4, The bent of his course is directed to keep God's 
 statutes. "Tis the daily care of his life, to walk with 
 
564 WE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 God. He seeks great things, he hath ’ ote desta, 
 he aims at nothmg Jess than perfection; he désires it, 
 he reaches after it, he would not rest in any pitch of 
 grace till he were quite rid of sin,’and: had: ere 
 peat ani 
 
 ‘A: sound ‘convert desires holitiess fol bobinveds’ sake, 
 eae not only for. heaven's sake. He would not be 
 satisfied with so much as: might save’ him ‘from hell, 
 but desires: the highest pitch; yet desires are ‘not 
 enough. , What is thy way and thy course? Is’ the 
 drift and’ scope of thy lifé altered? Isvholimess thy 
 trade; and. religion: thy business? af a “thou art 
 short of sound conversion. ''\ » SIONYO Ya You 
 
 And is this, that we have dexofibed: ‘the Gohversion 
 that is of absolute necessity to ‘salvation? Then be 
 alia 1. That strait is the gate, and narrow the 
 
 , that leadeth unto life. 2. That there are*but few 
 
 steak find it. 3. That there is niet ee 1 WA 
 ‘to convert-a sinner to Jesus Christ: seas es tN 
 
 Again,’ Then be ‘exhorted,' @: cab ena: ‘réeadest, to 
 turn it upon thy own self... What' saith conscience? 
 Doth it not twitch thee as thou goest? “Is this thy 
 
 judgment, ‘and.is ‘this thy choice, ‘and ‘this thy ways 
 
 that we have described ? If so, “tis: well. - 
 doth not thy heart condemn ‘thee, and ‘tell thee, cen 
 is such a ‘sin thou livest in against thy “conscience ? 
 
 Doth it not tell:thee, there is such’ and ‘such @ secret - 
 
 way of wickedness that thou’ makest no bones ‘of ? 
 such or such a bin that | thou. makest | no eieee 
 ence of 2? © reoh fester! ote cel 
 Doth not conscience carry thee to thy closet, cad 
 tell thee how seldom prayer and reading’ ate f 
 formed there? Doth it not carry thee to thy family, 
 and show thee the charge of God, and the ‘souls'of thy 
 children and servants, that are neglected there? Doth 
 notsconscience lead thee to thy | shop, | thy trade, and 
 tell theerofisome. mystery of iniquity there’? Doth it 
 not sound thee in thine ear for the loose company thou 
 keepest, and the precious time thow mis-spendest 2° 
 ‘© conscience'!: do. thy duty : in the name: “of the 
 
 ' 
 
4HE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 565 
 
 ‘ving God, I command thee, discharge thine office, 
 lay hold upon the sinner, fall upon him, arrest him, 
 apprehend him, undeceive him! What! wilt thou 
 ‘flattet and smooth him while he lives in his sins? 
 Awake, O conscience! What meanest thou, O sleeper? 
 What! hast thou never a reproof in thy mouth? What! 
 ‘shall this soul die in this neglect of God and eternity, 
 and thou altogether hold thy peace? Shall he go on 
 ‘still in ‘his trespasses, and yet have peace? O! rouse 
 _up thyself, and do thy work; now let the preacher in 
 thy bosom'speak ; cry aloud and spare not; lift up 
 thy voice like a\ trumpet ; let not the dood of his soul 
 _ ‘be required at thy hands.” bE 
 
 at oh ake 
 Of the Necessity of Conversion. 
 
 Ir may be you are apt to wonder why I follow you 
 with such earnestness, still rmging one fetsb in your 
 ears, that you should repent, and be converted. Were — 
 it a matter of indifferency, I would never keep so 
 much ado: but would you not have me so solicitous 
 for ‘you, when I see you ready to perish? As the 
 Lord liveth, before whom I am, I have not the least 
 hopes to see one of your faces in heaven, except you 
 be ‘converted ; I utterly despair of your salvation er- 
 eept you will be persuaded to turn thoroughly, and 
 give up yourselves to God. Hath God said, Except 
 ye be born again, ye cannot see the kingdom of God, 
 
 ohn iii. 3. and yet do you wonder why your ministers 
 so painfully travail in birth with you? Think it not 
 strange that I am earnest with you to follow. after 
 holiness, and long to see the image of God upon you ; 
 never did any, nor shall any, enter into heaven by any 
 other way but this. 
 
 What is it that thou dost count necessary? Is 
 thy ‘bread necessary? Is thy breath necessary 7— 
 Then’ thy conversion is much more necessary. In- 
 deed, this is the one thing necessary. Thine es- 
 tate is not necessary ; thou mayest sell all for the 
 
566 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 pearl of great. price, and yet be a gainer )by the 
 _purchase, . Thy life is not necessary, thou.mayest part 
 ‘with it for Christ to infinite advantage, . Thine esteem 
 is not necessary; thou mayest be; reproached for the 
 name of Christ, and yet be happy.: yea, much. more 
 happy i in reproach, than in repute.. But thy conversion 
 is necessary, thy damnation lies upon it; and is it not 
 ‘needful, in so important a,case,) to. look. about, \thee ? 
 On this one pope depen as thy, making: or eearying to 
 all eternity. 
 
 “ But I shall more particul arly show: the “necessity of 
 Conversion i in five things, without, this. erotik i 
 
 1. Thy being is in vain. ds it, not a. ae doe 
 shouldst be good for nothing, an ‘unprofi ita urden 
 of the earth? Thus . thou art, ilst uncot d; for 
 
 thou canst not. answer the end of thy: Is it 
 not fofgebe divine pleasure thou art and wert 
 ‘Did he not make thee for himself? Art thou a man, 
 and . hast, thou reason?. Then bethink : 
 and whence thy being is: behold God’s w 
 in thy body, and. ask thyself, To what | 
 rear this fabric ? a, “76 ‘onsider. the. whole fact 
 heaven-born soul; to what end did God. bestow thes 
 excellencies? . To. no, athetg than, that, thou shouldst 
 gratify thy senses ? ‘Did God send men, like 
 swallows, into the world only to. gather. a few 
 
 and | dirt, and. build their nests, and | breed up. their 
 young, and ‘themaway ¢ 2 ate very heath ns, could ‘see 
 farther than this. dickh ey” 
 O man! set thy reason a. little i in the el chair. Is it 
 not pity such a ge odly fabric should] be raised in vain ? 
 Verily thou art in vain, except thou art for God bet- 
 ter thou hadst no being, than not to. be for him. 
 
 Wouldst thou serve thy end ? Thou must LER and 
 be converted: without this, thou art to mo purpose; 
 yea, to bad purpose. 
 
 First, Zo 6. purpose., Man unconverted is ‘like a 
 choice instrument that hath every string broke or out 
 of tune; the Spirit of the living God must repair and 
 tune it, and sweetly move it by the power of grace, or 
 else thy prayers will be but howlings, and all thy ser- 
 
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THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 567. 
 
 vices will make no music in the ears of the most Holy: 
 All thy powers and faculties are so corrupt in thy na- 
 tural state, that except thou be purged from dead 
 works, thou canst not serve the living God. 
 
 _ An unsanctified man cannot work the work of God : 
 1. He hath no skill in it: he is as unskilful in the work 
 as in the word of righteousness, Heb. v. 13. There 
 are great mysteries, as well in the practice as prin- 
 ciples of godliness: now the unregenerate know not 
 the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. You may as 
 well expect him to read that never learned the alpha- 
 bet, as that a natural man should do the Lord any 
 pleasing service. 2. He hath no strength for it. 
 How weak is his heart! He is presently tired: the 
 Sabbath, what a weariness is it! He is without 
 strength, yea, stark dead in sin. 3. He hath no mind 
 to it: he desires not the knowledge of God’s ways ;. 
 he doth not know them, and he doth not care to 
 know them. He knows not, neither will he under- 
 stand. So that a man may as well expect the trees 
 should speak, or look for motion from the dead, as 
 for any service, holy and acceptable to God, from the 
 unconverted. ) 
 
 Secondly, Zo bad purpose. The unconverted soul 
 is a very cage of unclean birds; a sepulchre full of 
 corruption. O dreadful case! Was it such an abomi- 
 nation to the Jews, when Antiochus set up the picture 
 of a swine at the entrance of the temple? How much 
 more abominable then would it have been, to have had 
 the very temple itself turned into a stable or a sty ; 
 and to have had the Holy of holies served like the 
 house of Baal, turned into a draught house! This 
 is the very case of the unregenerate: all thy mem- 
 bers are turned into instruments of unrighteousness, 
 servants of Satan. 
 
 O abuse insufferable! To see a heaven-born soul_ 
 abused to the filthiest drudgery !_ To see the glory of 
 God's creation, the chief of the works of God, ‘the 
 Lord of the universe, lapping with the prodigal at the 
 trough! Was it such a lamentation to see those that 
 fed delicately, sit desolate in the streets ; and those 
 
, ® 
 568 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 that were clothed in: scarlet, embrace dunghills? 
 And is it. not much more fearful to see the only. thing 
 that hath immortality in this lower world, and: carries 
 the stamp of God, become as a vessel, wherein there 
 is no pleasure ? (which i is but a modest expression of 
 the vessel men put to the most sordid use.) O indig: . 
 nity intolerable! Better thou wert dashed {into a 
 thousand pieces, than continue to be abased to.so ‘tin 
 thy a service. 
 » Il. Not only man, but the ih visible er ation, is 
 im vain without this. Beloved, God hath made all the 
 visible creatures in heaven and. earth for the service of 
 man, and man only i is the spokesman for all the rest. 
 Man is in the universe like the tongue to the body, 
 which speaks for all the members ; the other creatures 
 cannot praise their Maker, but by dumb signs. and 
 hints to man, that he may speak for them. Man is 
 as it were the high-priest of God’s creation, to, offer 
 the sacrifice of praise for all his fellow-creatures, . The 
 Lord God expecteth a tribute of praise for all his 
 works. Now all the rest bring in their tribute. to. man, 
 and pay it in by his hand ;,,so,then. if a- man, be false 
 and faithless, God is wronged of all, and shall have 
 no’active glory from his works. || . 
 Q. dreadful thought }. that God showle ‘puild, such 
 a world as this, and lay out, such infinite power, and 
 wisdom, and: goodness, thereupon ;,and man should 
 be guilty of robbingyand spoiling, him.of the glory of 
 all! O think of this! While, thou art .wngonyerted, 
 all the offices of :the creatures to thee, are in yain! 
 Thy meat nourishes thee im vain ; ;the sun -holds. forth 
 his light to thee in vaing thy' clothes warm thee: in 
 vain; thy beast carries thee in yain. In a-word, the 
 uaweanied labour and continual travail. of, the whole 
 creation (as to thee) is in vain. The service of all the 
 creatures, that yield forth’ their strength unto. thee, 
 (that therewith thou shouldst serve their. Maker),is,all 
 lost Jabour.. Hence the whole’ creation..groaneth yn 
 der the abuse of this unsanctified. world, that pervert 
 them to the service of ope buat ita — to the 
 very end of their) being. » 29h tia ,ylotsoilub bet 
 
2 
 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 569 
 
 TIL. Without this thy religion ts vain. All thy reli- 
 gious performances will be lost, for they can neither 
 please God, nor save thy soul, which are the very ends: 
 of religion. Be thy services ever so specious, yet 
 God hath no pleasure in them. Is not that man’s: 
 - ease dreadful, whose sacrifices are as murder, and 
 whose prayers are a breath of abomination?) Many 
 under convictions think they will begin to mend, and; 
 that a few prayers and alms will salve all; but, alas, 
 while your hearts remain unsanctified, your duties will, 
 not pass. God threatens it, as the greatest of temporal; 
 judgments, that. they should build and not inhabit,. 
 plant and not gather, and their labours should ‘be, 
 eaten up by strangers. Is it so great a misery to lose 
 our commen labours, to sow in vain, and build, in, 
 vain? How much more to lose our pains in religion 5; 
 to pray, and hear, and fast, in vain? This isan undo-, 
 ing and eternal loss. Be not deceived; if thou goest! 
 on in thy sinful state, though thou shouldst spread forth 
 thine hands, God will hide his eyes; though thou make’ 
 many prayers, he will not hearthee. If a servant do: 
 our work, but quite contrary to our order, he shall 
 have rather stripes than praise. God's work must be. 
 done according to God's mind, or he will not be. 
 pleased; and this cannot be, except it be done with 
 a holy heart. titre! 
 
 IV. Without this thy hopes arein vain. ; 
 
 First, Zhy hopes of comfort-here are in vain. "Tis 
 not only necessary to the safety, but comfort of your 
 condition, that you be converted. Without this you 
 shall not know peace. Without the fear of God, you 
 cannot have the comfort of the Holy Ghost. ‘If you: 
 have a false peace, continuing in your sins, “tis not of | 
 God’s speaking, and then you may guess the author. 
 Sin is a real sickness, yea, the worst of sickness; it is 
 a leprosy in the head, the plague in the heart: it is 
 brokenness in the bones: it pierceth, it woundeth, it 
 racketh, it tormenteth. A man may as well expect 
 ease when his bones are out of joint, as true comfort 
 while in his sins. 
 
 19. Ley y: 
 
570 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 Sin doth naturally breed distempers and distur- 
 we s in the soul: What a continual tempest is there 
 in”a discontented mind! What an eating evil is 
 hordinate care! What is passion, but a very -fever 
 in the mind? What is lust, but a fire in the bones? 
 What is pride, but a deadly tympany? . Or covetous- 
 ness, but an insatiable and unsufferable thirst? Or 
 malice and envy, but venom in the very heart? And 
 how can that soul have true comfort that is under 
 so many diseases? But converting grace cures, 
 and so eases the mind; prepares ‘the soul for a 
 settled, standing, immortal peace: (Great peace have they 
 that love thy commandments, and nothing shall offend them: 
 
 Secondly, Zhy hopes of salvation hereafter are in 
 vain, yea, worse than in vain: they are most injurious 
 to God, most pernicious to thyself: there is death, 
 desperation, blasphemy, in the bowels of this hope. 
 1. There is death in it: thy confidence shall be rooted 
 out of thy tabernacles, (God will up with it root and 
 branch :) i shall bring them to the king of terrors. 
 2. There is desperation in it: where is the hope of the 
 hypocrite, when God taketh away his soul? Then 
 there is an end for ever of his hope. But'the righteous 
 hath Rope in his death, Prov. xxiv. 32. When na- 
 ture is dying, his hopes are living; when his body i is 
 languishing, fits hopes are flourishing : his hope is a 
 living hope, but the other a dying, yea, a damning, 
 soul- ‘undoing hope. For the eyes of the wicked shall 
 fail; and their hope shall be as the giving up of the 
 ghost. Wicked men are fixed in their carnal hope, 
 
 and will: not be beaten out of it; they’hold it fast, 
 they will not let it go: yea, but death’ will knock off 
 
 their fingers; though we cannot undeceive them, 
 death and judgment “will; when death strikes his dart 
 through thy liver, it will out thy soul and thy hopes 
 together. 3. There is blasphemy in it. To hope we 
 shall be saved, though continuing unconverted, it is to 
 hope we shall prove God a liar. He hath told you, 
 that whatever you be or do, nothing shall avail’ you to 
 Ralwation unless you become new creatures, Gal. vi. 15. 
 
 wd 
 
THE NECESSITY OF ,CONVERSION. 571 
 
 To say God is merciful, and we hope will save us ne- 
 vertheless, is in effect to say, We hope God will not do 
 as he says 
 
 “Why, but we hope in Jesus. Christ, we put our 
 whole trust in God; and therefore doubt not but we 
 shall be saved.” . 
 
 Ans. 1. This is not to hope in Christ, but against 
 Christ. To hope to see the kingdom of God, with- 
 out being born again, to hope to find eternal life in the 
 broad way, is to hope Christ will prove a false pro- 
 phet. “Tis David's plea, I hope in thy word; but 
 this hope is against the word. Show me a word of 
 Christ for thy hope, that he will save thee in thy pro- 
 fane neglect of his service, and I will never go to 
 shake thy confidence. 
 
 2. God doth with abhorrence reject this hope. God 
 will not endure to be made a prop to men in their 
 sins: the Lord rejecteth those presumptuous sinners 
 tbat went on still in their trespasses, and yet would 
 stay themselves upon Israel's. God, Isa. xlvili. 1, 2. 
 as a man would shake, off the briars that cleave to his 
 garment. 
 
 “ But would you have us despair.” 
 
 Ans. You must despair of ever coming to hea- 
 ven as you are, that is, while you remain unconvert- 
 ed.—You must despair of ever seeing the face of 
 God without holiness; but you must by no means 
 despair of finding mercy upon your thorough repent- 
 ance and conversion; neither may you despair of 
 attaining to repentance and conversion in the use of 
 God's means. j 
 
 V. Without this all that God hath done. and suffered 
 will be (as to you) ix vain, John xii. 8. Titus 1. 14. 
 that is, it will no way avail you to salvation. Many 
 urge this as sufficient ground for their hopes, that 
 Christ died for sinners: but I must tell you, Christ 
 never died to save impenitent and unconverted sinners, 
 (so continuing,) 2 Tim. ii. 9. A great divine was 
 wont, in his private dealings with souls, to ask two 
 questions; 1. What hath Christ done for you? 2.» 
 What hath Christ wrought in you? Without the ap- 
 
572 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 plication of the spirit in regeneration, we can have no 
 Saving interest in the benefits of redemption. I tell 
 you from the Lord, Christ himself cannot save you if 
 you go on in this state. . . 
 
 1. It were against his trust. The mediator is the 
 servant of the Fathér, Isa. xlii. 1. shows his commis- 
 sion from him, and acts in his name. Now Christ 
 would quite cross his Father's glory, his greatest trust, 
 if he should save men in their sins, for this were to 
 Overturn all his counsels, and to offer violence to all 
 his attributes. ji het or ae 
 
 First, To overturn all his counsels: of which this is 
 the order, that men should be brought through sancti- 
 fication to salvation. If thou canst repeal the law of 
 God's immutable counsel, or corrupt him whom the 
 Father hath sealed, to go directly against his commis- 
 sion, then, and not otherwise, mayest thou get to hea- 
 ven in this condition. To hope that Christ will save 
 thee while unconverted, is to hope that God will fal- 
 sify his trust. Be assured, Christ will save none in a 
 way contrary to his Father's will. | 
 
 Secondly, Zo offer violence to all his attributes. 
 1. Zo his justice, for the righteousness of God's judg- 
 ment lies im rendermg to all according to their works. 
 Now should men sow to the flesh, and yet of the 
 Spirit reap everlasting life, where were the glory of 
 divine Justice, since it would be given to the wick- 
 ed according to the work of the righteous? 2. 70 
 his holiness. If God should not only save sinners, 
 but save them in their sins, his holiness would be 
 exceedingly defaced. It would be offering extreme 
 violence to. the infinite purity of the divine nature, to 
 have such to dwell with him. If holy David would 
 not endure such in his house, no nor in his sight, 
 Psal. ‘ci. 3, 7. can we think God will? 3. Zo his 
 veracity: for God hath declared from heaven, that 
 if any shall say, he shall have peace, though he shalt 
 go on in the imagination of his heart, his wrath shall 
 smoke against that man. That they (only) that confess 
 and forsake their sins shall find mercy, Prov. xxviii. 13. 
 That they that shall enter into his hill must be of clean 
 
vHE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION: 373. 
 
 hands, and of a pure heart, Psal. xxiv. 3, 4. Where 
 were God’s truth, if notwithstanding all this he 
 should bring men to salvation without conversion? 
 O desperate sinner, that darest to hope that Christ 
 will put the lie upon his Father, and nullify his word 
 to save thee! 4. To his wisdom: for this were to 
 throw away the choicest of mercies on them that 
 would not value them, nor were any way suited to them. 
 First, they would not value them: the unsanctified 
 sinner puts but little price upon God's great sal- 
 -yation. Now would it stand with wisdom to force 
 pardon and life upon those that would give no thanks 
 for them ? ' 
 
 Secondly, They are no way surted to them. The 
 divine wisdom is seén in suiting things to each other, 
 the means to the end, the quality of the gift to the 
 capacity of the receiver. Now, if Christ should bring 
 the unregenerated sinner to heaven, he could take no 
 more felicity there than a beast, if you should bring 
 him into a beautiful room to the society of learned men 
 and a well furnished table ; whereas the poor thing had — 
 much rather be grazing with his fellow-brutes. Alas, 
 what would an unsanctified creature do in heaven? 
 He could take no content there, because nothing suits 
 him. The place doth not suit him, he would be quite 
 out of his element, as a fish out of water. The 
 company doth not suit him. What communion hath 
 darkness with light? Corruption with perfection? 
 The: employment doth not suit him: the anthems of. 
 heaven. fit not his mouth, suit not his ear. Canst thou 
 charm thy beast with music? Or, wilt thou bring 
 him to thy organ, and expect that he should keep time 
 with the tuneful choir? 
 
 5. To his immutability, to his omnisciency or omnipo- 
 tency; for this is enrolled in the decrees of the court 
 above, that none but the pure in heart shall ever see God. 
 This is laid up with him, and sealed among his trea- 
 sures. Now, if Christ yet bring any to heaven uncon- 
 verted, either he must get them in without his Father's 
 knowledge, (and then where is his omnisciency?) Or 
 
574 TWE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 against his will, (and then where were his omnipo- 
 tency ?) Or he must change his will, (and then where 
 were his immutability ?) wees 
 
 Sinner, wilt thou not give up thy vain hope of be- 
 ing saved in this condition? Shall the earth be. for- 
 saken for thee? Or the rocks moved out of their 
 place? Job xviii. 4. May I not much more reason 
 so with thee? Shall the laws of heaven be reversed 
 for thee? Shall the everlasting foundations be over- 
 turned? Shall Christ put out the eye of his Father's 
 omnisciency, or shorten the arm of his eternal power, 
 for thee? Shall divine Justice be violated for thee? 
 or the glory of his holiness be blemished ?—O the 
 impossibility, absurdity, blasphemy, that is in such 
 a confidence! To think Christ will ever save thee 
 in this condition, is to make thy Saviour to be- 
 come a sinner, and to do more wrong to the infinite 
 Majesty than all the devils in hell ever did or could 
 do; and yet wilt thou not give up such a blasphe- 
 mous hope? ih ches) anti 
 II. Against his word. We need not say, Who shall 
 ascend into heaven, to bring down Christ from above? 
 Or who shall descend into the deep, to bring up Christ 
 _ from beneath? The word is nigh us. Are you agreed 
 that Christ shall end the controversy? Hear then his 
 own words; Except you be converted, you shall in no 
 wise enter the kingdom of heaven, Matt. xvii. 3. You 
 must be born again, John iii. 7. If I wash thee not, thou 
 hast no part in me, Jobn viii. 8. Repent or perish, 
 Luke xii. 3. One word, one would think, were 
 enough from Christ; but how often and earnestly doth. 
 he reiterate it! Verily, verily, evcept a man\be born 
 again, he shall not see the kingdom of God, John iii, 
 3, 5. And wilt thou yet believe thy own presump- 
 tuous confidence, directly against Christ's words? He 
 must go quite against the law of his kingdom, to save 
 thee in this state. bea 
 Ill. Against his oath. He hath lifted up his hand 
 to heaven, he hath sworn, that: those that remain in 
 unbelief, and know not his ways, (that is, are ignorant 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 575 
 
 of them, or disobedient to them,) shall not enter into 
 his rest, Psal. xev. 11. Heb. ii. 18. And wilt thou 
 not yet believe, O sinner, that he is in earnest? 
 Canst thou hope he will be forsworn for thee? The 
 covenant of grace is confirmed by an oath, and sealed 
 by blood, Heb. vi 17. Matt. xxvi. 28. But all must 
 be made void, if thou be saved living or dying un- 
 sanctified. 
 
 IV. Against his honour. God will so show his love 
 to the sinner, as withal to show his hatred to sin; 
 therefore he that names the name of Jesus must depart 
 from iniquity. And he that hath hope of life by Christ, 
 must purify himself ashe is pure. The Lord Jesus 
 would have all the world to know, that though he 
 pardons sin, he will not protect it. 
 
 V. Against his offices. God hath exalted him ¢o be 
 a Prince and a Saviour. He would act against both, 
 should he save men in their sins: it is the office of a 
 king, to be a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them 
 that do well. He is a Minister of God, an avenger, 
 to execute wrath on him that doeth evil. Now should 
 Christ favour the ungodly, (so continuing,) and take 
 those to reign with him that would not that he should 
 reign over them, Luke xix. 27. this would be quiic 
 against his office: What king would take rebels in 
 open hostility into his court? What were this but to 
 betray life, kingdom, government and all together. 
 
 _ Again; as Christ would not be a Prince, so neither 
 would he be a Saviour, if he should do this; for his 
 salvation is spiritual: he is called Jesus, because he 
 saves his people from their sins; so that should he 
 pore them in their sins, he would be neither Lord nor 
 
 esus.. 
 
 Application. Arise then; what meanest thou, O 
 sleeper? Awake, O secure sinner! Lest thou be 
 consumed in thine iniquities: say as the lepers, Jf we 
 sit here we shall die. Verily, it is not more certain 
 that thou art now out of hell, than that thou shalt 
 speedily be in it, except thou repent and be convert- 
 ed. There is this one door for thee to escape by. Arise 
 
576. THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 then, O sluggard, and shake off thine excuses... How 
 long wilt thou slumber, and fold thy hands to sleep? 
 Wilt thou lie down in the midst of the sea, or sleep on 
 _ the top of the mast? There is no remedy, but thou 
 must either turn or burn. There is an unchangeable 
 necessity of the change of thy condition, except thon 
 art resolved to abide the worst of it, and to try it, out 
 with the Almighty. If thou lovest thy life; QO man, 
 arise and come away ! { ivitwagk oil 
 . Oh, how wilful will thy destruction be,-if thou 
 shouldst yet harden thyself in thy sinful state?) But 
 none of you can say but you have had fait warning, 
 Yet methinks I cannot tell how to leave you so. ‘It is 
 not enough for me to have delivered my own) soul. 
 What! shall I go away without my errand? Will 
 none of you arise and follow me? Have I been all 
 this while speaking to the wind? Have I been charm- 
 ing the deaf adder? If you be men, and not sense- 
 
 less stocks, stand still and consider whither you are - 
 
 going: if you have the reason and understanding of 
 men, dare not to run into the flames, and fall into hell 
 with your eyes open, but bethink yourselves, and set 
 to the work of repentance. What! men, and yet 
 run into the pit, when the very beasts will not be for- 
 ced in! What! endowed with reason, and yet dally 
 with death and hell, and the vengeance of the Al- 
 mighty! Will you not hasten your escape from eter- 
 nal torments? O show yourselves men, and let rea- 
 son prevail with you: is it a reasonable thing’ for you 
 to contend against the Lord your Maker? — Or, to har- 
 den yourselves against his word, as though the strength 
 of Israel would die? Is it reasonable that an under- 
 standing creature should lose, yea, live quite against the 
 very end of his being, and be as a broken pitcher, only 
 fit for the dunghill? Hear, O heavens, and give.ear, O 
 earth, and let the creatures without sense be judges 
 if this be reason, that man, whom God hath nourished 
 and brought -up, should rebel against him! Judge 
 im’ your own selves; is it a reasonable understanding 
 for briars and thorns to set themselves in battle against 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 577 
 
 the devouring fire? Isa. xxvii. 4; or for the potsherd 
 of the earth to strive with its Maker? : 
 
 * What shall I say? Icould Spend myself i in this 
 argument. O that you would but hearken to me! 
 And that you would presently set upon a new course! 
 Will you not be made clean? When shall it once be? 
 Reader, shall I prevail with thee for one? Wilt thou 
 sit down’ and consider, whether it be not best to turn. 
 Come and let us reason together: is it good for thee 
 to'be here? Wilt thou sit still till the time come upon 
 thee? Is it good for thee to try whether God will be 
 so good’as his word, and to harden thyself in a conceit 
 that all is well’ with thee, while thou remainest. un- 
 sanctified ? a 
 
 'O. distracted sites | What will their end be? 
 What will they do in the day of visitation? Whither 
 will they flee for help? Where will they leave their 
 
 glory? Isa.-x. 3. How powerfully hath sin bewiteh- 
 
 cd them! |‘ How effectually hath the god of this world 
 blinded them! How strong is the délusion! how 
 uncireumcised their ears! how obdurate their hearts! 
 Satan/ hath them at his beck. But how long may 
 1 call;and: get -no'’answer? Though I tell them 
 there is death in the cup, yet they will take it up ; 
 though I tell them tis’ the broad way, and endeth in 
 destruction, yet they will go on in it; I warn them, 
 yet cannot win them. Sometimes I think the mercies 
 of: God will melt them, and his’winning invitations 
 will overcome them; but I find them as they were: 
 sometimes that the terror of the Lord. will persuade 
 them; yet neither will this doit. Iam to them as the 
 lovely song of one'that hath a pleasant voice, yet I can- 
 not get them to come under Christ’s yoke. “ ‘What shall 
 I do for the daughter of my people? O Lord God, 
 help! Alas, shail I leave them thus!» If they will 
 not hear me, yet do thou hear me. O that they may 
 yet live in thy sight!» Lord save them, or else they pe- 
 rish. ‘My heart would melt to see their houses on fire 
 about their: ears, when they were fast asleep in their 
 beds ;.and ‘shall not my soul be moved within me, to see 
 
 19. 4D 
 
578 MARKS OF, THE UNCONVERTED, 
 
 em falling into, endless. perdiupa: . Lord,, haye com- 
 aes and save.them out of, mht = = a 
 _ thy divine power, and, the work vill be, done ;, but 
 for me, I ce weve vv san? a. A ar 
 garyiyerry ae sage biceuecnheye Mielke 
 Yad sano “ GHAR, on sib Be od tows woy Hid 
 won} vyiq bitnds pobrolt 
 iiss Showing the Manxs oe the, eesrmantedarol tre 
 sot VO} [OBIT {bie set. ) 
 “Here, QO. “searching, Light, and let ‘thy, discern 
 ing eye discover. the ratte, foundation of, ge ped 
 deceiver: and lead me, .O Lord God, as; thou, didst 
 the prophet, , into, the chambers of Imagery, and dig 
 through the wall of sinners’ hearts, and dpbauer ae 
 hidden abominations that are lurking outjof,sight.. O 
 send thy angel before me, as thou didst before Peter, 
 and make even, the iron gates to fly open of their own 
 accord. And as Jonathan no sooner tasted the honey 
 but, his eyes were enlightened; so grant, O Lord, re 
 when the poor deceived souls shall, cast theirjeyes upon 
 these lines, their minds maybe illuminated, and their 
 consciences awakened, that they may see .with,their 
 eyes, and hear with their. ears, and be converted, and 
 thou mayest heal them !. yb ei vance 
 This must. be premised, that” tis certain men may 
 have a confident persuasion that their hearts.and states 
 are good, and yet be unsound. Yea, they may) be 
 confident they are rich, and increased in grace. |. 
 is,a@ generation that are pooy 1m thew own, eyes, and. yet 
 are not washed from their, filthiness, , Proy. »XxxXy12. 
 So; that they are miserably deceived that take a strong 
 confidence, for a sufficient evidence... They thatthave - 
 no better proof than a strong persuasion that|they ane 
 converted, are certainly strangers to conversions! «|; | 
 But some of the unconverted carry their marksian 
 their forehead more openly ;.aud some in their hands 
 more covertly. The apostle, reckons -up' some, upon 
 whom he writes the sentence of death; as in these 
 dreadful catalogues, which I beseech you to attend:to 
 with all diligence, Eph. v. 5, 6. ‘* For this you know 
 
MARKS OK) THE UNCONVERTED. ‘579 
 
 that no whoremonger, nor’unclean person, nor covetous 
 man, who is an idolater, ‘Hath any inheritance’ in i 
 kingdom of Christ and of God.’ ‘Let no man deceive ine 
 with vain words, for because of these things cometh he 
 wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. ' Rev. 
 xxi. 8. Buti the fearful and unbelieving, and abomina! 
 ble, and murderers, and 'whoremongers, and: sorcerers; 
 and idolaters,and ‘all liars, shall have their part in thé 
 lake that burneth with fire and brimstone,’ which is' the 
 second death. 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. Know ye not'that' the 
 unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?’ Be 
 not deceived: neither fornicators,. nor’ idolaters, ' ior 
 adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselvés 
 with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nordrunkards: 
 nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit'the kingdom 
 of God;” see Gal. v. 19, 20.' Woe to them that’ have 
 their names written in these rolls; such'may know, as 
 certainly as if God had ‘told them from heaven, ‘that 
 they are under an up ge of being saved i in this 
 condition. 
 
 » These (past all dispute) are ‘unconverted : ‘they carry 
 thei marks in their foreheads. ao 
 
 1. The Unclean. These are ever recktited among 
 the goats, and have their names in all the before-men- 
 tioned catalogues. 
 
 2. The Covetous. These are ever branded for fe 
 laters, and the doors of the kingdom are” —s against 
 them by name. us 
 
 «8. Drunkards. Not only such as drink away theit 
 reason, but such as are strong for strong drink. ‘The 
 Lord fills his mouth with woes: against these, ‘and ‘de- 
 clares' them to have no inheritance in the kingdom in 
 God.. 
 
 4, iRioreo: The Lord that cannot lie, has told chen! 
 that there is no place for them in his kingdom. (0 |) 
 
 5. Swearers. The end of these, without deep and 
 speedy repentance, is swift destruction. 
 
 6.' Railers and Backbiters; that take up a reproach 
 against: wad spel geben, or —— him poet his 
 back. yah ED AL Web. 
 
580 MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 7. Thieves, Extortioners, Oppressors, that over-reach 
 the brethren when they have them at an advantage: 
 these must know that God zs the avenger of alton 
 1 Thess. iv. 6. Hear, O ye false, and purloining; and 
 wasteful’ servants; hear, O ye deceitful tradesmen, 
 hear your sentence: God will certainly hold his door 
 against. you, and turn your treasuresiof unrighteous- 
 ness into the treasures. of wrath, and make your ill- 
 gotten, silver and gold to torment you like burning 
 metal in your bowels. netehantiie: 
 8. All that tive in the neglect of God's worship, that 
 hear not his word, that call not on his name, that ‘re- 
 strain prayer, before God, that mind not: thein own or 
 their families’ souls. liso bi 
 Sinner, consider diligently whether . slic art not to 
 be found i in one of these ranks: for if this be thy case, 
 thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of ini- 
 quity ; for all these carry their marks in their foreheads, 
 and are undoubtedly the sons of death. 1) 5 yo) 
 And if so, the Lord pity our poor congregations. 
 QO. how small a number will be left, when these ‘are 
 out! Alas, on how many doors, on how many faces; 
 must: we write, Lord, have mercy uponus! \ Sirs, what 
 shift do. you make to keep up your confidence of your 
 good state, when God from heaven declares against 
 you, and pronounces you in a state of damnation — 
 Beloved, God hath written it as with a sun-beamiin 
 the book by which you must be judged, that none 
 such (except renewed by corey seam shall ies- 
 cape the, damnation of hell. roel | eORBer 
 "And now I imagine many will, begin to bless:them: 
 selves, and think all is well, because they camnotibe 
 spotted with gross evils: but I must tell you, that 
 there, are another. sort of unsanctified persons that car- 
 ry not their marks in their foreheads, but more secretly 
 m their hands; these frequently deceive eee 
 and others, and. pass for good Christians. Many pas 
 undiscovered till death and judgment bring all to. light. 
 Brethren, I beseech you deeply to lay to, heart, this 
 awakening consideration, ‘ That multitudes miscarry 
 
MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 581 
 
 by the hand of some secret sin, that is not only hid- 
 den from others, but, for want of observing their own 
 hearts, even from themselves.” A man ;»may be free 
 from:.open pollutions, and yet die at, last. by the fatal 
 hand of some unobserved iniquity. And there. are 
 these following hidden sins, through which souls go 
 down \by numbers. into. the chambers of death. “As 
 you love your lives, read carefully, with a holy jea- 
 lousy. of yourselves, lest. you. should be the persons 
 concerned. 
 
 1. Wilful ignorance. me) how many poor, souls doth 
 this sin kill in 1 the dark! while they think verily they 
 have good. hearts, and are in the ready way to heaven. 
 This is the murderer that dispatcheth thousands. in 
 a silent. manner, when they suspect nothing. .Ah! 
 would it not have grieved a man’s heart to have seen 
 the woeful spectacle, when the poor Protestants were 
 shut up (a multitude together in a barn,) and a but- 
 cher comes, and leads them one by one, blindfold, to a 
 block, where he slew them one after anather?; But 
 how much more should your hearts. bleed. to. think of 
 the hundreds. in great. congregations, that wilful igno- 
 rance doth butcher in secret, and lead blindfold. to 
 the block! Beware this be not your case; make no 
 plea for ignorance: if you sparé that sin, fuses that it 
 will not spare you: And would. a man: ie a mur- 
 derer in his, bosom ? 
 
 mE Secret TESEFVES LR closing wath Christ. To rate 
 sake all for Christ,,to: hate father and mother, yea, a 
 man’s own, life for him;, this, is a. hard saying. Some 
 will do much,, but they will not be entirely devoted to 
 Christ; they must; have the sweet, sin; they, haye se- 
 eret, exceptions for life, liberty, or estate... Many, take, 
 Christ thus, hand oyer head, and never cast, up the 
 cost; and this error in the foundation mars. all, and 
 seeretly ruins them for ever. 
 
 3. Formality, in religion. Many rest in the outside, 
 of religion, in the eternal performances of holy du- 
 ties. And this oft-times doth most effectually de- 
 ceive. men, and more certainly undo them than open 
 looseness, . They hear, they fast, they pray, they giye 
 
582 MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 alms, and’ therefore will not’ believe ‘but''theit® tase 
 is good.! ‘Whereas resting’ in’ the’ work done}! a1 
 coming short ‘ofthe inward power ‘of religion, ‘th 
 fall at'last into the burning lake, ‘from ‘the ‘confident 
 persuasions of their being in’ the réddy' way "to hea- 
 ven. O dreadful case; when ‘a man’s religion ‘shall 
 sérve only to harden him, and effectually to ‘decéive 
 his! sould ssliw, vilvior> chew: 2am evel iy 
 4. Trusting in their oton righteousness.’ When men 
 trust in their own righteousness, they reject Ohrist’s! 
 Beloved, you‘had need be watchful; for not only your 
 sins, but your duties, may undo you. | A man may a 
 certainly miscarry by his seeming ‘righteousness as by 
 gross sins; when he ‘trusts to this as his righteousn 
 before God, for the satisfying of his justice} dnd’ ob! 
 taining of his own pardon ; for this’is"to’ ‘put! 
 out of office, and make a ‘saviour of our’ own’ duties 
 and graces. 0! it ire ‘st By opty Inte 
 5, The resting in a certain pitch of relizions” When 
 they have so much as will save'them (as they Suppose) 
 they look no farther, ‘and ‘so show theinsélves’ short 0 
 true grace, which will ever put men upon aspiring to 
 further perfection. hea Ngo ny, Gee? 
 6. The love of the world. This is' the sure ‘evidente 
 of an ‘unsanctified heart, '1 John 41.15. (80) oy 
 But how close doth this sin lurk ‘oft-times under # 
 fair covert of forward profession! Yea, ‘such wb te 
 of deceit is there in ‘this sin, that many times when 
 
 firs 
 
 Did they but’ carefully search, they ‘would’ quickly 
 find that their greatest content Js in the world, “Luke 
 
(MARKS, OF THE UNCONVERTED. 583 
 
 xil. 19, and their greatest care and. main endeavour is 
 to get and secure the world; whichis a certain dis- 
 covery of an unconverted sinner. ...\; ; 
 
 «fe, Resentment against those, that disrespect. them,, or 
 are injurious to them. , O, how, do, many, ,that seem to 
 be religious, remember injuries, and. carry, grudges, 
 and, will return men as good as they bring, rendering 
 evil for eyil, directly against the rule of the gospel, the 
 pattern of Christ, and,the nature of God. . Doubtless 
 where this evil is kept in the heart, that person, is. in 
 a state of death, " ) : 
 
 ~ Reader, doth nothing of this touch thee? Art thou 
 in one of the fore-mentioned ranks? , O search, and 
 search again! take thy heart solemnly to, task; woe 
 unto thee,,if after thy profession, thou shouldst be 
 found. under the power of wilful ignorance, lost in for- 
 -mality, drowned in earthly mindedness, envenomed 
 with malice, or exalted in an opinion of thine own 
 righteousness ; this would be a sad discovery, that all 
 thy religion was in vain. . But I proceed. ; 
 
 8. Pride. When men love the praise of, men, more 
 than the praise of God, ’tis certain they are yet in their 
 sins. When men see not, nor groan under the pride 
 of their own hearts, ‘tis. a sign they are stark dead in 
 sin. O how secretly doth this sin live and reign in 
 many hearts, and they know it not. 
 
 9. Carnal security, or a presuimptuovs confidence 
 that their condition is already good. Many cry, Peace 
 and safety, when sudden destruction is coming upon 
 them. Men are willing to cherish in themselves, 
 upon ever so light grounds, a hope that their condition 
 is good, and so look not out after a change, and by 
 this means perish in their sins. Are you at peace? 
 Show me upon what grounds your peace is maintain- 
 ed. , Is it Scripture peace?, Can you show the distin- 
 euishing marks of a sound believer? If not, fear, this, 
 peace more than any, trouble; and know, that a carnal 
 peace doth commonly prove the most mortal enemy 
 of the poor soul. 
 
 By this time I think I hear my readers crying out 
 
 ~ 
 
584 Marks’ OF THE’ Ht cb van. 
 
 with’ the disciples, Who then shall “be sve?” Set 
 from among’ our’ congregatioiis ‘all the ‘profane ¢ on the 
 one hand, and then all these sorts ‘of ‘closé and  self- 
 deceiving hypocrites on the other, and tell me = 
 whether it be not a remnant that shall be saved ? 
 
 And now, conscience, do thy office; ’'s ie hid 
 speak home to him that readeth these Ine 
 find any of these marks upon him,’ eb 
 nounce him ‘utterly unclean.’ ‘Take not. ‘up a Te 
 thy mouth, speak ‘not peace to him, to whom 
 speaks no peace. I require thee in the’ name of. God 
 to go with me to the search of ‘the suspected ‘house. 
 Wilt thow hold thy peace at such a time as this? I ad- 
 jure thee by the living God, that thou tell us the truth. 
 Is the man. converted, or is he not? Doth he allow 
 himeelf in any way of sin, or doth he not? “Doth, he 
 truly love, and please,” and delight in ‘God, or not? 
 Come, put it to an issue. 
 
 How long shall this soul live at Se 0 
 conscience ! bring in thy verdict.’ Is this man 
 man, or is he not? t? How dost thou find it? ‘Hath there 
 passed a thorough and mighty change upon, him, or 
 not? When was the time ? where was the place 2 Tor 
 what was the means by which this thorough chan e 
 was wrought in his soul? Speak, conscience; of if 
 thou canst not tell time and place, canst thou show 
 scripture evidence that the work is done? Hath the 
 man ever ‘been taken’off from his false bott m, from 
 the’ false hopes and false peace wherein he once trust- 
 ed? Hath he been convinced of sin, and of his lost 
 and undone condition, and brought out of himself, and 
 off from his ‘sins, to give edt up entirely t to Jesus 
 Christ? “Or dost thou not find h im to this day under 
 the power of ignorance, or in the mire of } “te neness ? 
 Hast thou’ not taken upon him the gains ‘of unrighte- 
 ousness? Dost thou not find him a stranger 1 to prayer, 
 a negleécter of the word, a lover of this present world ? 
 Dost thou not often catch him ina lie? Dost thou not 
 find his heart fermented with malice, or burning with 
 lust, or going after ‘his covetousness ? Speak plainly 
 
MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 585 
 
 to all the forementioned particulars : canst thou ac- 
 quit this man, this woman, from being one of the cha- 
 racters here described? If: he be found to be one of 
 them, set him aside ; he must be converted, and made 
 a new creature, ¢ or else write cannot enter into the king- - 
 dom of God. 
 
 Beloved, be not your own Bebadyerd “Do not de- 
 ceive your own hearts, nor set your hands to your own 
 ruin, by a wilful blinding of yourselves. Set up a tri- 
 bunal in your own breasts, bring the word and con- 
 science together. _Oh follow the search till you have 
 found how the case stands: mistake here, and perish. 
 And such is the treachery of the heart, the subtlety of 
 the tempter, and the deceitfulness of sin, and, withal, 
 so common and easy.is it to be mistaken, that ‘tis a 
 thousand ..to one but you will be deceived, unless you 
 be very careful and impartial in the inquiry. Oh there- 
 fore ply your, work, go to the bottom, search with can- 
 dles, weigh yourself i in the balance, come to the stan- 
 dard of the sanctuary, bring your coin to the touch- 
 stone. Satan is master of deceit; he can draw to the 
 life; there is nothing but he can imitate; you cannot 
 wish for any grace, but he can fit you to a hair with a 
 counterfeit.» Trade warily, look on every piece you 
 take; be. jealous, trust not your own hearts. Run to 
 God .to search you and try you; to examine you and 
 prove your reins. If other helps suffice not to bring 
 all to an issue, but you are still at a loss, open your 
 cases faithfully to some godly and faithful minister. 
 Mal. ii. 7... Rest not till you have put the business of 
 your eternal welfare out of question. _O, Searcher of 
 hearts, put thou this am upon, and help him in, his 
 search ! 
 
\ “ : 4 * 
 586 misErres’ OF ‘THE ‘UNCONVERTED. 
 “SE WORE: Ree luouisg bool nocisidl SHY Melee 
 “89 99 jo SiO etied mom asmow) Bit aR eiclt ip 
 ed) oF baa CHAP. Yhodriozeb stad aits¥oe1 
 ‘ eriovGaos od team ol: oliiee tad toa .mrails 
 In 1) O1AY 199 Jowuso Sd) s2ld to VoTRSS wor RB 
 Showing the Miseries of the Unconverted.\> ob 
 ior oe” Saavetisd vo” itor? Jom Sd, DOVES 
 
 So 'nspeakably dreadful i&’the’ Cased! éf'every aneon2 
 verted ua that’ T fade goth és potent aE could 
 but convince men that they were’ Yétin'a’ éréat ‘meas 
 sure unregenerate, the work would’ be dénés®! oie 
 , But I sadly experience, that’ suéh''a Spirit “of ‘sloth 
 and slumber possesseth the, unsanétified, that thou 
 they be convinced they aré uhcdhverted: " et they ca 
 lessly sit still: and what, through pleasures Pa 
 business, or noise and clamout of earthly cares and al 
 fections, the voice of consciendé' is ‘drowned, and’ men 
 go no farther than ‘some cold wishes, aiid ‘general part 
 poses of amending. ©” 9 ‘ " re fon a1 OW pose earl 
 We "Tis therefore ‘of high necessity ‘that Tnét only eon: 
 vince men that they até’ uncohvertéd, but “endeavour 
 to bring them ‘to ‘a sense of the ‘fearfal' miisery of ‘this 
 state. shania ead Siders 1? > of Jud vane vs it tlapw 
 But, what ‘tongie ‘cai tél “the heits of Hell'Suffie® 
 ently of their misery? Wheré'is the ready Whiter, who: 
 pen can decipher thir ‘misery that’ are’without ‘God 
 inthe world? Who knoweth' (saith Moses) lid art 
 thine anger? And how’ shall ‘T’tell’men! that’ which’ I 
 do not know?’ Yet so much We kihow, as'one wor 
 think would shake the heart of that man, that Ha 
 least degree of sense. | iu re LO ‘ST SEO saTaY 109 
 But could‘I uncover the face ‘of the’ deep, aid the 
 devouring gulph of Tophet, in all its terrors, ‘open 
 the gates of the infernal furnace, alas! he hath no eyes 
 to see it. He neither doth nor can know the things 
 of God, because they are spiritually discerned. He is 
 a child of darkness, and walks in darkness. Yea, the 
 light in him is darkness. 
 Shall I sound in his ear the terrible trump of God's 
 judgments, that one would think should make both 
 his ears to tingle, loose his joints, and make his knees 
 
MISERDESOP ‘THE|UNCONVERTED. 587 
 
 smite, one; against | another! Yet,: iahapateee Lape 
 mie not, hehathino earsito hears, 9!) o) 9 
 
 «| Which way. then shall:‘l come at. the: ideisilde ‘ob- 
 jects that I: haveito) deal with?» Who shall:make the 
 heart of stone to relent; or the lifeless carcase to feel 
 and move? -That God that is: able) of stones: to raise 
 up children unto Abraham, that loves to: work like him- 
 self, beyond-the hopes: and belief of man, that peo- 
 pleth his church with:dry bones. he is able! to do this. 
 Therefore Lbbow my) knee to the most high:God ; and 
 as our Saviour: prayed iat) the sepulchre? of Lazarus; so 
 doth your mourning minister kneel about your graves, 
 and carry you in the arms of prayer to that:God'i in 
 whom your help: is found. 
 
 - O thou all-powerful: Jehovah, that workest, and none 
 can let thee ; that hast the keys of death and hell; pity 
 thou the dead souls that:lie here entombed, and’ roll 
 
 ‘away the gravestone, andsay,:as to Lazarus, when 
 already stinking, Come forth... Lighten thou this dark- 
 ness; oh inaccessible) Light, and: let the day-spring 
 from on high visit the dark regions’ of. the) dead, to 
 whom I speak } for thou canst open the eyes that death 
 itself hath closed, thou that’ formedst the ear, canst re- 
 store the hearing ; ‘say thou'to these ears, Ephphatha, 
 and they shall be opened. Give thou eyes to see thine 
 excellencies; a taste that may relish thy sweetness; a 
 scent that’ may savour thy ointments; a feeling that 
 may discern the ‘privilege of thy favour, the burden of 
 thy wrath, the intolerable weight of unpardoned sin; 
 and give. thy servant order to prophesy to the dry — 
 bones, and let’ the effects of this prophecy be as of thy 
 prophet, when he prophesied ‘the valley of dry bones 
 mto a living army exceeding great.—But I must pro- 
 ceed, asf am able, to unfold that mystery, which no 
 tongue can fully unfold, no heart’ can sufficiently com- 
 prehend. Know, therefore, that: while thou art un- 
 converted, 
 
 OL. The viefditl G od is engaged against thee. 
 
 Thou art not only without God, but God is against 
 thee: Oh if God would but stand a neuter, though he 
 did not own or help the poor sintier, his case were not 
 
588 MISERPES’ OF THE (‘UNCONVERTED: 
 
 so deeply miserable, though God: should: give’ u 
 poor creature to the will of his: enemiés; to do their 
 worst with him; though he should: deliver ‘him over to 
 the tormentors, ‘that devils might tearcand torture him: 
 to their utmost power and ‘skill, :yet: this:was not half 
 so fearful. But) God will) set himself agaihst:the sin= 
 ner: and, believe it, ‘tis a: fearful thing» tox fall.into the 
 hands of theliving Gol. There is no friend: like himy 
 no: enemy like:him. As much as heaven:is above the 
 earth, so much more horrible is.it to fall into the hands 
 of the living God, than into:the paws of » bears. or 
 lions, yea, furies or devils..:: Thy: destruction, shalh 
 come from’ the :presence’ of the» Lord, :2Thess.»il 9: 
 “« Tophet is deep and large, and the wrath ofithe Lord; 
 — a river of brimstone, doth’ kindle it, Isa.\)xxx. 
 _ If God be against. thee, who: shall ‘be: for thee? 
 if ‘one.man sin against another, the judge: shall’ judge 
 him; but. if.a man sin against the Lord, who ‘shal 
 intrdat ‘for him? 1: Sam. ii. 25. » Thouy:' ‘even thou art 
 to be feared ;\:and\ who shall stand. in si wip when 
 thou art once angry ?” nd cot: 
 Sinner! methinks, this sbeobl go, kel a inliees to 
 thy heart, to know that God is thine enemy. O whi- 
 ther wilt thou go? Where wilt, thow shelter thyself? 
 There is-no hope for thee )unless thou lay’ dowm thy 
 weapons, and sue! out thy pardon, and get Christ to 
 stand thy friend, and make thy peace. If it) weresnot 
 for this, thou mightest go into.'some howling-wilder- 
 ness, and’ there pine*in sorrow, and,run mad. for an- 
 guish of heart and horrible despair. But in Christ there 
 18a possibility of mercy for thee, yea, a proffer, of mer- 
 cy. to thee, that\ thou mayest, have God to be more for 
 thee than he is now against,thee;, but if thou »wilt not 
 forsake thy sins, nor turn thoroughly, and to some pur- 
 pose, to God by a sound conversion, the wrath of God 
 abideth on. thee, and he proclaimeth himself to be 
 against thee, as in the prophet Ezekiel v. 8. _There- 
 fore thus saith the Lord God, Behold. I,,even I, am 
 against thee. nod 
 First, his Justice is like a flaming sword unsheathed 
 against thee: ‘‘ If l whet my glittering sword, and my 
 
MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 589 
 
 hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance 
 to mine adversaries, and will reward them that hate 
 ‘me! I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, ff Be. 
 Deut. xxxil. 41, 42. 
 
 « Divine: Justice is very. strict, it must have. natiathee 
 iba to'the utmost farthing; it denounceth indignation 
 and wrath, tribulation and anguish, to every soul that 
 doeth evil. It curseth every one. that continueth not 
 in every thing that is written in the law, to doit. The 
 justice of God to the unpardoned ‘sinner, that hatha 
 sense‘of his misery, is more terrible ‘than the sight of 
 the judge and bench to the robber, or .of the irons and 
 gibbet tothe guilty murderer. When justice sits upon 
 life and, death, oh what dreadful .work doth it make 
 with the wretched sinner! “Bind him hand and foot, 
 and cast him into outer darkness ; there shall be weep- 
 ing and wailing, and gnashing of teeth,” Matt. xxi. 
 13. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
 Matt. xxv. 41. This is the terrible sentence that jus- 
 tice pronounceth.. Why sinner, by this severe justice 
 must thou be tried! And, as God liveth, this killing 
 sentence shalt thou bday unless thou Past and be 
 converted. | 
 
 _ Secondly, D he’ power of God is $ against thee The - 
 pe of God’s power is to be displayed in the wonder= 
 ful destruction of them that obey not. the. gospel, 
 2 Thess. i. 8, 9. He will make his power known in them, 
 Rom, ix, 22.,Oh man! art thou able to make thy par- 
 ty good. with thy Maker? Nomore than a reed against 
 the cedars of God, or a cock-boat against the tum- 
 bling ocean. 
 
 Sinner, the ‘power of God's anger is: against thee,, 
 and power and anger together make fearful work : 
 *twere better thou hadst all the world in arms against 
 thee, than to have the power of God against thee. 
 There is no escaping his, hands, no breaking his pri-, 
 son? ‘‘ The thunder of his power who can under- 
 stand? Job xxvi. 14. Unhappy man that shall under- 
 stand it by feeling it! If he will contend with him, 
 he cannot answer him one of.a thousand. _ He is wise 
 in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened 
 
590 MISERIES OF, THE, UNCONVERTED. 
 
 himself against, him, and prospered ? ? who removeth;the 
 mountains, and they know it not; -who,over-turneth . 
 them in. his anger,;,, who. shaketh, the, earth out of her 
 place, and the pillars thereof tremble ; who command- 
 eth the sun, and it,riseth not,,and sealeth up the stars. 
 Behold, he taketh, away, who can hinder him:? who 
 will say unto him, What doest,thou? If God -will not 
 withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under 
 him,” Job ix. 3, 4,/5, 6, &e... And art thou ia fit match — 
 for such an antagonist ? O. consider this, you that sfor- 
 get God, lest he tear you in aoe ond there paws to 
 deliver you, Psal. 1. 22.» ) 
 
 Thirdly, Zhe truth of: God: is: agiinst ‘tens: a the 
 be true and faithful, thou must perish if thou goest on. 
 Unless he be false to his word, thou must die, except 
 thou repent. If we believe not, yet he abideth faith- 
 ful, he cannot deny himself. . That is, he is faithful to 
 his threatenings, as well as promises ; and will show his 
 faithfulness in our confusion, if we believe not. . God 
 hath told thee, as plain as it can be spoken, that ev- 
 cept thou be. converted, thou shalt an no wise enter into 
 the kingdom of ‘heaven ; and he abideth faithful, he 
 cannot deny himself. Beloved, as the immutable faith- 
 fulness of God in his promise affords believers strong 
 consolation, so it is to unbelievers for strong conster- 
 nation and confusion. O sinner, tell me, what shift 
 dost thou make to think of all: the threatenings: of 
 God’s word, that stand upon record against thee? 
 Dost thou believe they are true or not? If not, thou 
 art a wretched infidel; and therefore give over the 
 name and hopes of a Christian. But if thou dost be- 
 lieve them, O: heart of steel’ that thou hast, that canst 
 walk up and down in quiet, when the truth’and faith- 
 fulness of God is engaged to destroy thee! that ifthe 
 Almighty can do it, thow’ shalt surely perish and be 
 damned. Why, man! the whole book of God: doth 
 testify against thee, while thou remainest unsanctified : 
 it condemns thee in every leaf, and is to thee like Eze- 
 kiel’s roll, written within and without, lamentation, 
 and mourning, and woe. 
 
 Now put ‘this together, and tell me if the’ case 
 
 / 
 
MISERIES’ OF ‘THE 'UNCONVERTED. SOL 
 
 of the unconverted be ‘not ‘deplorably miserable;) as 
 we. read of some persons that had ‘bound themselves 
 in an oath, and in’ a curse, to kill Paul, ‘so thou’ must 
 know, O'sinner, to’ thy terror; that. all::the attributes 
 of the infinite’ God ‘are bound i in an oath to! destroy 
 thee, Heb. iii. 18. °O'man! what ‘wilt thou do? «whit 
 ther wilt thou flee? If God's omnisciency can‘ find 
 thee, thou shalt not escape: if the true and faithful 
 God will save his oath, perish thow must, except thow 
 believe and repent’: if the Almighty hath power to, 
 torment thee, thou shalt be perfectly miserable in soub 
 and body to all eternity, unless it i (sdetricica “ 
 speedy conversion. 
 
 If. The whole creation of | God as ‘against ree 
 The whole creation (saith Paul) groaneth ‘and travaileth 
 in pain, Rom. viii. 22.' But ‘what is it that the-crea- 
 tion groaneth under? Why, the fearful abuse that it 
 is subject to;'in serving unsanctified men. And-.what 
 is it that the création groaneth for? Why, liberty from 
 this abuse; for the creature is unvillingly subject to this 
 bondage. If the unreasonable and’ inanimate creature 
 had speech and reason, they would cry out underit as 
 a bondage unsufferable, to be abused by the ungodly, 
 contrary to their natures and the ends which the. great. 
 Creator made them for. It is a passage of an eminent 
 divine, “There is never a creatute, but, if it had ‘re+ 
 son to know how it is abused till a man be converted; 
 *twould groan against him: the land would groan to 
 bear him, the air would groan to give him breathing; 
 their houses would groan to lodge them, their beds 
 would groan to ease them, their food to nourish them; 
 their clothes to cover them, and the creature would 
 groan to give them any help and comfort, so long as 
 they live in sin against God.” ; 
 
 Methinks this should be a terror to an unconverted 
 soul, to think he is a burden to the creation. Luke 
 xi. 7. ‘Cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground? Tf 
 the poor inanimate creatures could but speak, they 
 would say to the ungodly, as Moses to Israel, ‘« Must 
 we fetch you water out of the rock, ye rebels?” Thy 
 food would say, “ Lord, must I nourish'such a whe 
 
592 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED: 
 
 as this, and yield forth my strength for him to disho- 
 nour thee! withal? No, 1 will choke him rather, .if 
 thou wilt give me permission.” The very air would 
 say, ‘‘ Lord,;must I give this man breath to set his 
 tongue against heayen, and scorn thy people, and vent 
 his pride, and wrath, and’ filthy communication, and 
 oaths and blasphemy against thee? No, if thou but 
 say the word, he shall be breathless for me.” A 
 wicked man, the earth groans under him; and hell 
 groans for him, till. death satisfies both, and unbur- 
 dens the earth, and. stops the mouth of hell with 
 him... While the Lord of hosts is against thee, be sure 
 the host of the Lord is against thee; and all the crea- 
 tures are, as it were, up in arms, till upon a man’s 
 conversion, the controversy being taken up between 
 God and him, he makes a covenant of peace with the 
 creature for him. . ¥ 
 Ill. Zhe rearing lion hath his full power upon thee. 
 Thou art fast in the paw of that lion that, is greedy to 
 devour ; ‘In the snare of the devil led captive by him 
 at his will.” You pity the poor Indians that worship 
 the devil for their god; but little think it is your own 
 case. Why, ’tis the common misery of all the unsanc- ~ 
 tified, that the devil is their god. Not that they intend 
 to do him homage, they will be ready to defy him, and 
 him that should say so of them; but all this while they 
 serve him, and come and go at his beck, and live un- 
 der his government; his servants you are to whom ye 
 yield yourselves to obey...Q how many then will c 
 found the real servants of the devil, that take them- 
 selves for children of God! Doubtless the liar intends 
 not. a service to Satan, but his own advantage; yet ‘tis 
 he that stands in the corner unobserved, and putteth 
 the thing into his heart. co eet ra 
 Dost thou live in the practice of any known sin? 
 know that thou. art, of the devil. Dost thou live in 
 strife, or envy, or malice? verily he is thy father. O 
 dreadful case! However Satan may provide his slaves 
 with divers pleasures, yet it) is but to roll them into 
 endless perdition. The serpent comes with the apple 
 in his mouth, but thou seest not the deadly sting in his 
 
MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTFED. 593 
 
 tail. He that is now thy tempter, will one day be thy 
 tormentor. O that I could but give thee to see, how 
 merciless a tyrant thou gratifiest; all whose pleasure 
 is, to set thee on work to make thy damnation sure, and 
 to heat the furnace hotter and hotter, in which thou 
 must burn for millions and millions of ages. 
 
 IV. The guilt of all thy sins hes like a mountain upon 
 thee. Poor soul! thou feelest it not, but this is that 
 which seals thy misery upon thee. While unconverted, 
 none of thy sins are blotted out. | 
 
 How light soever you may make of it now, you will 
 one day find the guilt of unpardoned sin to be a heavy 
 burden. This is a millstone, which whosoever falleth 
 upon, shall be broken; but upon whomsoever it shalt 
 fall, it shall grind him to powder, Matt. xxi. 44. What 
 work did it make with our blessed Saviour! It press- 
 ed the very blood out of his’ veins, and broke ‘all his 
 bones. And if it did this in the green tree, what will 
 it do in the dry ? 
 
 Oh think of thy case in time. Canst thou think of 
 that threat without trembling, Ve shall die in your sins, 
 John viii. 24. Oh better were it for thee to die ina 
 gaol, in a dungeon, than die in thy sins. If death, as 
 it will take away all thy other comforts, would take 
 away thy sins too, it were some mitigation: but thy 
 sins will follow thee, when thy friends leave thee, and 
 all worldly enjoyments shake hands with thee: thy 
 sins will not die with thee, as a prison’s other debts 
 will, but they will go to judgment with thee, there to 
 be thy accusers; and they will go to hell with thee, 
 there to be thy tormentors. Better to have so many 
 fiends about thee, than thy sins to fall upon thee and 
 fasten on thee. Oh the work that these will make! Oh 
 look over thy debts in time, how much thou art in the 
 books of every one of God’s laws ; how is every one of 
 God’s commandments ready to arrest thee, and take 
 thee by the throat, for the innumerable bonds it hath 
 upon thee. What wilt thou do then, when they shall 
 together lay in against thee? Hold open the eyes of 
 conscience to consider this, that thou mayest despair 
 
 an. 4 F 
 
594 MISERIES OF THE, UNCONVERTED, 
 
 of thyself, and be driven to Christ, and fly for refuge 
 to lay hold on the hope that is set beforethee. = 
 V. Thy raging lusts do miserably enslave thee.—W hile 
 unconverted, thou art a very servant to sin, it reigns 
 over thee, and holds thee under its dominion, till thou 
 art brought within the bonds of God’s covenant.. __ 
 What a woeful spectacle was the poor wretch that 
 was possessed with the legion! Would it not have 
 grieved thy heart to have seen him among the tombs, 
 cutting and wounding himself? This is thy case, such 
 is thy work, every stroke is a thrust at thy heart. Con- 
 science indeed is now asleep; but when death and 
 judgment shall bring thee to thy senses, then wilt thou 
 ieel the raging smart and anguish of every wound. | 
 VI. The furnace of eternal vengeance is heated ready 
 for thee, Hell and destruction open their mouths 
 upon thee, they gape for thee, they groan for thee, 
 Waiting as it were with a greedy eye, as thou stand- 
 est upon the brink, when thou wilt drop in.. If the 
 wrath of men be as the roaring of a lion, more hea- 
 vy than the sand, what is the wrath of the infinite 
 God! If the burning furnace heated in Nebuchadne3- 
 zar’s firey rage, when he commanded it to be made 
 yet seven times hotter, was_so fierce as to burn up 
 even those that drew near to it to throw the three chil- 
 dren jn, how hot is that burning oven of the Almi hty’s 
 fury! Surely this is seventy times seven uy 
 What thinkest thou, oh man, of being a faggot in hell 
 to all eternity? Can thy heart endure, or can thine 
 hands be strong, in the day that I shall deal with thee, 
 saith the Lord of hosts? Canst thou abide the ever- 
 lasting burnings; canst thou dwell with consuming 
 fire? When thou shalt be as a glowing iron in hell, 
 and thy whole body and soul shall be as perfectly pos- 
 sessed by God’s burning vengeance as the fiery spark- 
 ling iron when heated in the fiercest forge! Thou 
 canst not bear God’s whip, how then wilt thou endure 
 his scorpions? Thou art even crushed, and ready to 
 wish thyself dead, under the weight of his finger, how 
 then ‘wilt thow bear the weight of his loins? How wilt 
 
MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 595 
 
 thou endure, when God shal] pour out’ ail his vials, 
 and set himself against thee, to torment thee? When 
 he shall make thy conscience the tunnel by which he 
 will be pouring his burning wrath into thy soul for 
 ever, and when he shall fill all thy pores as full of 
 torment as they are now full of sin; when immorta- 
 lity shall be thy misery, and to die the death ofa 
 brute, and be swallowed in the gulph of annihilation, 
 would be such a felicity, as a whole eternity of 
 wishes and an ocean of tears shail never purchase. 
 Now thou canst put off the evil day, and canst laugh 
 and be merry, and forget the terror of the Lord; 
 but how wilt thou hold out, or hold up, when God 
 will cast thee into a bed of torments, and make 
 thee to lie down in sorrow? When roarings and 
 blasphemy shall be the only music, and the wine 
 of the wrath of God, which is poured out without 
 mixture into the cup of his indignation, shall be thy 
 only drink. When thou shalt draw in flames for thy 
 breath, and the horrid stench of sulphur’ shall be thy 
 only perfume. In a word, when the smoke of thy © 
 torment shall ascend for ever, and thou shalt have 
 no rest night or day, no rest in thy conscience,’ no 
 ease in thy bones, but thou shalt be an execration, 
 and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach, for 
 evermore! 
 _Oh sinner, stop and consider: if thou art’a man, and 
 not a senseless block, consider. Bethink thyself where 
 thou standest; why, upon the very brink of this fur: 
 nace. As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth; 
 there is but a step between thee and this. Thow know: 
 est not, when thou lest down, but thou mayest bein 
 before the morning; thou knowest not, when thou 
 risest, but thou mayest drop in before night. Darest 
 thou make light of this? Wilt thou go on in such a 
 dreadful condition, as if nothing ailed thee? If thou 
 puttest it off, and sayest, This doth not belong to thee, 
 look again over the foregoing chapter, and tell me the 
 truth: are none of these black marks found upon thee? 
 Do not blind thine eyes, do not deceive thyself; sée 
 thy misery while thou mayest prevent it. Think what 
 
: tormenting fury while he hath a being. | |. 
 
 + 
 
 596 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 it is to be a vile cast-out, a damned reprobate, a vessel 
 of wrath, into which the Lord will be pouring out his 
 
 Divine wrath is a fierce (Deut. xxxii. 22.) devouring 
 (Isa. xxxiil. 14,) everlasting (Matt. xxv. 41.) unquench- 
 able fire, (Matt. iii. 12.) and thy soul and body must be 
 the fuel upon which it must be feeding for ever, unless 
 thou consider thy ways, and speedily turn to the Lord 
 
 ‘by asound conversion. 
 
 And is this true indeed? Is this thy misery? Yea, 
 it is as true as God is. Better open thine eyes, and see 
 it.now, while thou mayest remedy it; than blind and 
 harden thyself, till (to thy eternal, sorrow), thou shalt 
 feel what thou wouldst not believe: andiif it be true, 
 what dost thou mean, to loiter and linger in sucha 
 ease as this! 
 
 Alas. for thee, poor man; how effectually hath sin 
 undone thee, and deprived thee even of thy reason, to 
 look after thine own everlasting good! Oh miserable 
 caitiff; what stupidity hath surprised thee! Oh let me 
 knock up and awake this sleeper.. Who dwells with- 
 in the walls of this flesh? Is there ever a soul, here, a 
 rational, understanding soul? Or art thou only a 
 walking ghost, and senseless lump? Art thou a rea- 
 
 sonable soul, and, yet: so far brutified, as to forget 
 
 thyself immortal, and to think thyself to be as the 
 beasts that perish? Oh unhappy soul, that wast tlie 
 glory of man; the mate of angels, and the image of 
 God; that wast God’s representative in the world, 
 and hast the supremacy amongst the creatures, and 
 the dominion over thy Maker's works; art thou now 
 become a slave to sense, a seryant to so base an idol 
 as thy belly, for no higher felicity than to heap toge- 
 ther a little refined earth, no more suitable toghy sept: 
 ritual, immortal nature, than the dirt-and sticks? Oh 
 why dost thou not bethink thee, where thou shalt be 
 for ever? Death is at hand, the Judge is even at the 
 door. Yeta little while, and time shall be no longer, 
 And wilt thou run the hazard of continuing im such a 
 state, in which if thou be overtaken, thou art irreco- 
 verably miserable ? . 4a 
 
MISERIES OF THE: UNCONVERTED. 597 
 
 - Come then, arise, and. attend thy nearest concern- 
 ments: tell me whither art thou going? What! wilt 
 thou live in such a course, wherein every act isa _ 
 step to perdition; and thou dost not know but the 
 next night thou mayest make thy bed in-hell? Oh, 
 if thou hast a spark of reason, consider and turn, and 
 hearken to thy friend; who would show thee thy 
 present misery, that thou mightest: escapes and be 
 eternally happy. : 
 
 . Hear what, the Lord saith: Fear ye not me, saith the 
 Lord! Will ye not tremble at my presence? Jer. v. 
 22. Oh sinners! do. you make light of the wrath to 
 come? lam sure there is.a time “coming, when you 
 will not make light of it. \Why, the: very devils be- 
 heve and, tremble. . What! are, you. more hardened 
 than they? Will you run upon the edge of the rock ? 
 Will you play at the hole of the asp? Will you put 
 your hand upon the cockatrice-den?,, Will. you dance 
 upon the fire till you are, burnt; or dally with devour- 
 ing wrath, as if you were at a point of indifference whe- 
 ther you will escape or endure it?,, There is nothing 
 so distracted as the wilful sinner, that goeth on in his. 
 unconverted state, as if nothing ailed him. Is it wis- 
 dom to dally with the second death, or to venture into 
 the lake that. burneth with fire and brimstone, as if 
 thou wert but going to wash thee, or to swim for thy 
 recreation? Wilt thou, as it were, jump into eternal 
 flames, as the children through the bonfire? What 
 shall I say? I can find out no expression, no compari- 
 son, whereby to set forth the dreadful distraction of 
 that soul that will go on in sin. 
 
 Awake, awake, oh sinner! arise and take thy flight : 
 there is but one door that thou mayest flee by, and ‘that 
 is the strait door of conversion. Unless thou turn 
 unfeignedly from all thy sins, and come unto Jesus 
 Christ, and take him for the Lord thy righteousness, 
 and walk in him in holiness and newness of life,—as 
 the Lord liveth; it is not more certain than thou art 
 now out of hell, than that thou shalt without fail be in 
 it but a few days or nights hence. Oh set thy heart to 
 think of thy case. Is not thine everlasting misery or 
 
598 MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTRD. 
 
 welfare that which doth deserve a little consideration. 
 Look again over the miseries of the unconverted. If 
 the Lord hath not spoken by me, regard me not; but 
 if it be the very word of God, that all this’ misety lies 
 upon thee, what a case art thou in! Is it forone that 
 hath his senses to live in such'a condition, and not! to > 
 make all possible expedition for preventing his Utter 
 ruin? Oh man! who hath bewitched thee, that in 
 the matters of this present life thou shouldest be wise 
 enough to forecast thy business, and foresee thy dan- 
 ger; but in matters of everlasting consequence should 
 be careless, as’ if they little concerned ‘thee { Why, 
 is it nothing to thee to have all the attributes of God 
 engaged against thee? Canst thou do well without 
 his favour? Canst thou escape his hands, or endure 
 his vengeance? Dost thou hear the creation groaning 
 under thee, and hell groaning for thee, and yet think 
 thy case good enough? Art thou in the paw of the 
 lion, under the power of corruption, in the dark noi- 
 some prison, working out thy own damnation, and is 
 hot this worth considering? ‘Dost thou laugh at hell 
 and destruction, or canst thou drink the envenomed 
 cup of the Almighty’s fury, as if it were but a common 
 potion ? ae: 
 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand 
 of thee, and answer thou me. Art thou such’a Levia- 
 than, as that the scales of thy pride should keep thee 
 from thy Maker’s coming at thee? Wilt thou esteem 
 his arrows as straw, and the instruments of death as 
 rotten wood? ‘Art thou the chief of all the children 
 of pride, even that thou shouldst count his darts as 
 stubble, and laugh at the shaking of his spear? Art 
 thou made without fear, and contemnest his barbed 
 irons? Art thou like the horse that paweth in the 
 valley, and rejoiceth in his strength? Dost thou mock 
 at fear, and art not affrighted, neither turnest back 
 from God’s sword, when his quiver rattleth against 
 thee, the glittermg spear and the shield? Well, if 
 the threats of the word will not awaken thee, lam 
 sure death and judgment will. Oh what wilt thou do, 
 when the Lord cometh forth against thee, and in hi 
 
 + 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION.: 599 
 
 fury falleth upon thee? If when Daniel's enemies 
 were castinto the den of lions, both they and their 
 wives and their children, the lions had the mastery of 
 them, and brake all their bones in pieces ere ever they 
 came at the bottom of the den; what shall be done 
 with thee, when thou fallest into the hands of the liv- 
 ing God, when he shall crush thee into a thousand 
 pieces in his wrath? 
 
 Oh, do not then contend with God! Repeni, and be 
 converted, so none of this shall come upon thee. Isa. 
 ly. 6, 7. ‘‘ Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found; 
 call upon him, while he is near. Let the wicked for- 
 sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; 
 and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have 
 mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abun- 
 dantly pardon.” 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Containing Directions for Conversion. 
 
 Brrore thou readest these Directions, 1 charge 
 thee before God and his holy angels, that thou resolve 
 to follow them, (as far as conscience shall be convinced 
 of their agreeableness to God's word,) and call in his 
 assistance that they may succeed: and as I have sought 
 the Lorp, and consulted his oracles, what advice to 
 give thee, so must thou entertain it with that awe, re- 
 verence, and purpose of obedience, which the word of 
 the living God doth require. 
 
 Now then attend: Set thine heart unto all that I 
 shall testify unto thee thts day ; for it 1s not a vain thing, 
 aé is your life. This is the end of all that has 
 been spoken hitherto, to bring you to make use of 
 God’s means for your conversion. I would not trou- 
 ble you, nor torment you before your time, with the 
 thoughts of your eternal misery, but in order to your 
 making your escape. Were you shut up under your 
 present misery without remedy, it were but mercy to 
 
600 DbIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION: 
 
 let you alone, that you might take that poor cdmfort 
 you are capable of in. this word; but you may yet be 
 happy, if you do not wilfully refuse the means of your 
 recovery. Behold, I hold.open the door to you; arise, 
 take your flight: [set the way of life before you; walk 
 in it, and you shall live and not die. It grieves me to 
 think you should be your own murderers, and throw 
 yourselves headlong, when God. cries’ out ‘to you, 
 spare thyself. iy wu 
 
 Would it not grieve a person of any humanity, if in 
 the time of a raging plague he should have a receipt 
 that would infallibly cure all the country, and recover 
 the most hopeless patients, and yet his friends and 
 neighbours should die by hundreds about him, because 
 they would not use it?) Men and brethren, though 
 you carry the certain symptoms of death, yet I have a 
 receipt that will cure you all: follow but these direc- 
 tions, and if you do not then win heaven, I will be 
 contented to lose it. 
 
 Hear then, oh sinner! and, as ever thou wouldst be 
 converted, embrace this counsel. aC a, 
 
 Direct. I. Set it down as an undoubted truth, that it 
 is impossible for thee ever to get to heaven in this un- 
 converted state, Can any other but Christ save thee ? 
 And he tells thee he never will do it, except thou be 
 converted. Doth he not keep the keys of heaven? 
 And canst thou get in without his leave? As thou 
 must, if ever thou come thither without a thorough 
 renovation. . HON ohh 
 
 Direct. Il. Labour to get: a lively sense and feeling 
 of thy sins. Till men are weary and heavy laden, and 
 sick of sin, they will not come to Christ, for ease and 
 "cure. They must set themselves down for dead men 
 before they will come to Christ, that they may have 
 life. Labour therefore to set all thy sins in order be- 
 fore thee; never be afraid to look upon them, but let 
 thy spirit make diligent search. Inquire into thine 
 heart, and into thy life; enter into a thorough exami- 
 nation of thyself, and all thy ways, that thou mayest 
 make a full discovery; and call in the help of God's 
 Spirit, for it is his work to convince of sin. Spread all 
 
 cya) f 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 601 
 
 before the face of thy conscience, till thy heart and 
 eyes be set abroach: leave not striving with God, 
 and thy own soul, till it cry out under the sense 
 of thy sins, What must I do to be saved? To this pur- 
 ose, 
 . Meditate on the numerousness of thy sins. David's 
 heart failed: when he thought of this, and considered 
 that he had more sins than hairs. This made him cry 
 out upon the multitude of God’s tender mercies. Look 
 backward: where was ever the place, what was ever. 
 the time, in which thou didst not sin? - Look inward? 
 what part or power canst thou find in soul or body, but 
 itis poisoned with sin? What duty dost thou ever per- 
 form, into which poison is not shed? O how great is 
 the sum of thy debts, who hast been all thy iife running 
 upon thy books, and never didst nor canst pay off one 
 penny! Look over the sin of thy nature, and all its 
 cursed brood, the sins of thy life: call to mind thy 
 omissions, commissions, the sins of thy thoughts, | 
 words, and actions, the sins of thy youth, and the sins 
 of thy years. Be not like a desperate bankrupt, that. 
 is afraid to look over his books: read the records of 
 conscience carefully. These books must be opened 
 sooner or later. f (1A) 
 Meditate on the aggravations of thy sins, as they are 
 the grand enemies of the God of thy life, and of the life 
 of thy soul. In a word, they are the public. enemies of 
 all mankind. O man! how canst thou make so light 
 of sin? This is the traitor that sucked the blood of the 
 Son of God, and sold him; that mocked him, that 
 scourged him, that spat in his face, that digged his 
 hands, that pierced his side, that pressed his soul, that 
 mangled his body that never left him, till it had bound 
 him, condemned him, nailéd him, crucified him, and 
 put him to an open shame. This is that deadly poi- 
 son, so powerful of operation as that one drop of it, 
 shed on the root of mankind, hath corrupted, spoiled, 
 poisoned, and undone his whole race at once. This is 
 the bloody executioner, that hath killed the prophets, 
 burnt the martyrs, murdered all the apostles, all the 
 patriarchs, all the kings 9 eer that has de- 
 20. 
 
t 
 
 602 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 stroyed cities, swallowed empires, butchered and de- 
 voured whole nations. Whatever was the weapon it 
 was done by, sin was it that did the execution. Dost 
 thou yet think it but a small thing? If Adam and all. 
 his children could be dug out of their graves, and their 
 bodies piled up‘to heaven, and an inquest were made, 
 what matchless murderer was guilty of all this blood ? 
 it would be found in the skirts of sin. Study the na- 
 ture of sin till thine heart inclines to fear and loathe it; 
 and meditate on the aggravations of thy particular sins. 
 how thou hast sinned against all God's warnings, 
 against thy own prayers, against mercies, against cor- 
 rection, against light, against love, against thine own 
 resolutions, against promises, vows, and covenants of 
 better obedience. Charge thy heart home with these 
 things till it blush for shame, and be brought out of 
 all good opinion of itself. i ct 
 Meditate on the. desert of sin. It crieth to heaven; 
 it calls for vengeance. Its due wages is death and 
 damnation ; it pulls the curse of God upon the soul and | 
 body. The least sinful word or thought lays thee under 
 the infinite wrath of God Almighty. O what a load of 
 wrath, what a weight of curses, what a treasure of 
 vengeance, have all the millions of thy sins then de- 
 served ! ny 
 Above ail other sins, fix the eye of consideration on 
 the sin of thy nature. It is to little purpose to lop off 
 the branches, while the root of-corruption remaihs un- 
 touched. In vain do men leave out the streams, when 
 the fountain is running that fills up all again. Study » 
 how deep, how close, how permanent, is thy natural 
 pollution, how universal it is; cry out, with Paul's 
 feeling, upon thy body as dead. Look into all thy 
 parts and powers, and see what unclean vessels, what, 
 dunghills, what sinks they are become. The heart ls, 
 never soundly broken, till thoroughly convinced of the 
 heinousness of original sin, Here fix thy thoughts: 
 this is that which makes thee backward to all good, 
 prone to all evil; that sheds blindness, pride, preju- 
 dice, unbelief, into thy mind; enmity, imconstancy, 
 obstinacy, into thy will; inordinate heats and colds mto 
 
DIRECTIONS) FOR CONVERSION: 603 
 
 thy affections; insensibleness, benumbédness, unfaith- 
 fulness, into thy conscience ; and, in a‘word, hath put 
 every wheel, in thyjsoul out of order,,and made it, of 
 a habitation of holiness, to become a very hell of imi- 
 quity. Thisis what hath defiled, corrupted, perverted, 
 all. thy members, and turned them into weapons: of 
 unrighteousness, and servants of sin. And wilt) thou 
 yet be in love with thyself, and tell us any longer of 
 thy good heart? Oh never leave meditation on the 
 desperate contagion of original ‘corruption, till with 
 the deepest shame and sorrow thou smite on thy breast, 
 and, with Job, abhor thyself, and repent in dust and 
 ashes. pony daisy 
 
 Direct. IIL. Strive to affect thy heart with a deep 
 sense of thy present misery. Read over the foregomg 
 chapter again and again, and get it into thy heart. 
 Remember, when thou hest down, that for ought 
 thou knowest thou mayest awake im flames; and when 
 thou risest up, that by the next night thow mayest 
 make thy bed in hell. Is it a trifling matter to hve 
 in such a fearful case? to stand tottermg upon the 
 brink of the bottomless pit, and to live at the mercy 
 of every disease, that if it will but fall upon thee, 
 will send thee forthwith into the burnings? Suppose 
 thou sawest a condemned wretch hanging over WVe- 
 buchadnezzar's burning fiery furnace by nothing’ but 
 a thread, which was ready to break every moment, 
 would not thy heart tremble for such.a one?» Why, 
 thou art the man. This is thy very case,,O man, 
 Q woman, that readest this, if thou be yet uncon- 
 verted. What if the thread of thy life should break? 
 (why, thou. knowest not but it may be the next 
 night, yea, the next moment,) where wouldst thou 
 be then? Whither wouldst thou drop? » Verily into 
 the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; where 
 thou must lie scalding and sweltering in a fiery 
 ocean while God hath a being, if thow die in thy 
 present case. ; 
 
 Direct. IV. Settle wt upon thy heart, that thow art 
 under everlasting inability ever to recover thyself.— 
 Never think thy praying, reading, hearing, confessing,. 
 
604 DIRECTIONS FOR! CONVERSIONL 
 
 amending, will:do the cure; these must be ‘attended 
 to, but thou art undone if thou restest in them. ~ Thou 
 art a lost man, if thow hopest to escape drowning 
 on any other plank but Jesus Christ.. Thou must 
 unlearn thyself, and renounce thine own wisdom; 
 thine own righteousness, thine own strength, and 
 throw thyself wholly. upon Christ, asa man that 
 swims casts himself upon the water, or else thou canst 
 not escape. While men trust in themselves, and esta- 
 blish their own righteousness, and have confidence 
 in the flesh, they'll not come savingly to Christ. Can 
 the lifeless carcase loose the bands of death? Then 
 mayest thou recover thyself, who art dead in trespasses 
 and sins, and under an impossibility of serving thy 
 Maker acceptably in this condition. Therefore when 
 thou goest to pray, or meditate, or to do any of the 
 duties to which thou art here directed, call in the help 
 of the Spirit, as despairing to do any thing pleasing to 
 God in thine own strength; yet neglect not thy duty, 
 but lie at the pool, and wait in the way of the Spirit: 
 Strive) to give up thyself to Christ; strive to pray, 
 strive. to meditate, strive.a: hundred and a hundred 
 times, try to do it as wellas thou canst; and whilst 
 thou art endeavouring in the way of thy duty, the Spi- 
 rit of the Lord will come upon thee, and help thee to 
 do what of thyself thou art utterly unable to perform, 
 Prov. 1. 23. iv Dag 
 
 Direct. V..Forthwith renounce all thy sins. If thou 
 yield thyself to the practice of any sin; thou art: un+ 
 done. In vain dost thou hope for life by Christ, ex- 
 cept thou depart from iniquity. Forsake thy sins, or 
 else thou canst not find mercy. Thou canst not be 
 married to Christ, except divorced from sin: give up 
 the traitor, or you can have no peace in heaven. | Cast 
 the head of Sheba over the wa'l: keep not Delilah m 
 thy Jap. ‘Thou must part with thy sins or with thy soul: 
 spare but one sin, and God will not spare thee. Never 
 make excuses; thy sins must die, or thou must die for 
 them. Ifthou allow of one sin, though but a little, a 
 secret one, though thou mayest plead necessity, and 
 have a hundred shifts and excuses for it, the life of thy 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 605 
 
 soul must go for the life of that sin. And will it not 
 be dearly bought ? ' 
 -.O sinner! hear and consider: If thou wilt part with 
 thy sins, God will give thee his Christ. Is not this a 
 fair exchange? I testify unto thee this day, that if 
 thou perish, ‘tis not because there was never a Saviour 
 provided, nor life tendered, but because thou preferedst 
 (with the Jews) the murderer before thy Saviour, sin 
 before Curist, and lovest darkness rather than light. 
 Labour therefore to find out thy sins, enter into thy clo- . 
 set, and consider, What evil have [lived in? What duty 
 have I neglected towards God? What sin have I liv- 
 ed in against my brother? And now strike the dart 
 through the heart of thy sin, as Joab did through Ab- 
 salom’s. Never stand looking upon thy sin, nor roll- 
 ing the morsel under thy tongue; but spit it up as 
 poison, with fear and detestation. Alas! what will 
 thy sins do for thee, that thou shouldst stagger at 
 parting with them? They will flatter thee; but they'll 
 undo and cut thy throat while they smile upon thee, 
 and poison thee while they please thee, and arm the 
 justice and wrath of the infinite God against thee. 
 They will open hell for thee, and pile up fuel to burn 
 thee. Away with them, crucify them, and let Christ 
 only be Lord over thee. 
 
 Direct. VI.- Make a solemn choice of God for thy 
 blessedness. With all possible devotion and veneration 
 _avouch the Lord for thy God. Set the world, with 
 all its glory, with all its pleasures and promotions, on 
 the one hand; and set God, with all his infinite ex- 
 cellencies on the other; and see that thou deliberately 
 make thy choice. Take up thy rest in God; sit thee 
 under his shadow; let his promises and perfections ~ 
 turn the scale against all the world. Settle it upon thy 
 heart, that the Lord is an all-sufficient portion, that 
 thou canst not be miserable whilst thou hast God to 
 live upon: take him for thy shield, and exceeding 
 _ great reward. GOD alone is more than all the world: 
 Content thyself with him; let others carry the prefer- 
 ments, the riches, and glory, of the world; place thou 
 thy happiness in his favour, and the light of his coun- 
 
606 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 tenance. Take him as God. to be the chief. im | thy 
 affections, estimations, intentions, for he will’ not enr 
 dure to have any set above him. In a word; thou must 
 take him in all his personal relations, and in. all Als 
 essential perfections. nig. arn 
 
 First, Jn all his personal relationss.,. Gridythies Father 
 must be taken. for thy Father. O come ta him. with 
 the prodigal: Futher, I have sinned against \heaven, 
 and in thy sight, and am not worthy to be called thy 
 son: but since of thy wonderful mercy thow drt: pleased 
 to take me, that am of myself a dog, @ swine, a devil, 
 to’ be a child, I solemnly take thee for my Father, com: 
 mend myself to thy care, and trust to thy: promdence, 
 and cast ‘muy burden on thy shoulders. I) renounce alt 
 confidence in myself, I repose my confidence in thee.— 
 Again, God the Son must be-taken for thy Saviour, for 
 thy Redeemer, and Righteousness. He must. be ac- 
 cepted as the only way of the Father, and the only 
 means of life. Lastly, God the Spirit must be taken 
 for thy Sanctifier, for thy Advocate, thy Counsellor, thy 
 Coniforter, the Teacher of thy 1 1guoraniey the pledge 
 and earnest of thy inheritance. 
 
 Secondly, In all his essential perfections. Gonsidet 
 how the Lord hath revealed himself to you in his word: 
 will you take him as such a God? O sinner, here's 
 the most blessed news that ever came to ie sons of 
 men, Zhe Lord will be thy God, Gen. xvii..7. Rey, 
 xxi. 3. if thou wilt but close with him im his cidbedions 
 cies. Wilt thou have the merciful, the gracious, the 
 sin-pardoning God, to be thy God? r 0 yes, (saith the 
 sinner) J am undone else. But the Father tells thee, 
 I am the holy and sin-hating God; if thou wilt be 
 owned as one of my people, thou must be holy, 1 Pet. 
 i. 16. holy in heart, holy im life, thou must put away 
 all thy imiquities, be they ever so near, ever so natural, - 
 ever so necessary to the maintaining thy fleshly lusts, 
 Unless thou wilt be at defiance with sin, I cannot. be 
 thy God. What doth thine heart answer? “ Lord, I 
 desire to have thee as such a God: I desire to’be‘holy 
 _ as thou art holy, to be made partaker of thy hohness. 
 I love thee not only for thy goodness and merey; but 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 607 
 
 for thy holiness and purity. I take thy holiness for 
 my happiness; O be to me a fountain of holiness; set 
 on me the stamp and impress of thy holiness; I will 
 thankfully part with all my sins at thy command: my 
 wilful sins I do forthwith forsake; and for mine infir+ 
 mities, I will strive against them in the use of the 
 means; I detest them, and will pray against them, and 
 never let them have quiet rest in my soul.” Beloved, 
 whosoever of you will thus accept of the Lord for his 
 God, shall have him. 
 
 Again he tells you, I am the all-sufficient God, Gen. 
 xvii. J. Will’you lay all at my feet, and give it up to 
 my disposal, and take me for your only portion? Will 
 you own and honour my All-sufficiency ? Will you take 
 me as your happiness and treasure, your hope and bliss? 
 Tam a sun and a shield; all in one: will you have me 
 for your all? Gen. vi. 1. If thou art willing to sell all 
 for the pearl of great price—if thine heart answer, 
 “Lord, I desire no other portion but thee; take the 
 corn and the wine, and the ol, whosoever will, so 
 I may have the light of thy countenance; I pitch 
 upon thee for my happiness, I gladly venture myself 
 on thee, and trust myself with thee; I set my hopes 
 in thee, I take up my rest with thee: let me hear 
 thee say, IJ am thy God, thy salvation, and I have 
 enough, all I wish for; I will make no terms with 
 thee, but for thyself: let me but have thee sure, let 
 me be-able to make my claim, and see my title to thy- 
 self, and for other things I leave them to thee; give 
 me more or less, any thing or nothing. I will be 
 satisfied in my God.” Take him thus, and see he 
 is thy own. 
 
 _ Direct. VII. Accept of the Lord Jesus in all his of- 
 fices, with all his inconveniences, as thine. Upon these 
 terms Christ may be had. Sinner, thou hast undone 
 thyself, and art plunged into the most deplorable mi- 
 sery, out of which thou art never able to climb up; 
 but Jesus Christ is able and ready to help thee, and he 
 freely tenders himself to thee. Be thy sms ever ‘so 
 many, ever so great, or of ever so long continuance, 
 yet thou shalt be certainly pardoned and saved, if thou 
 
608 DIRECTIONS: FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 dost not wretchedly neglect the offer that in the 
 name of God is here made to thee. \The Lord Jesus 
 calleth to thee, look to him, and be saved. Yea, he 
 is a sultor to thee, and bescecheth thee to be recon- 
 ciled. He. crieth in the. streets, he knocketh at thy 
 door, he wooeth thee to accept.of him, and live with 
 him. If thou diest, ‘tis because thou would not come 
 to him for life. 
 
 Direct. VIII. Resign up all thy powers ae ‘faculties, 
 and thy whole interest, to be his. They gave their own 
 selves unto the Lord, 2 Cor. viii. 5. Present your bo- 
 dies as a living sacrifice. The Lord seeks not yours, 
 but you; resign therefore thy body, with all its mem- 
 bers, to him; and thy soul, with all its powers; that 
 he may be glorified in thy body, and in, thy spirit, 
 which are his, 1 Cor. vi. 20. In a right closure with 
 Christ, all thy faculties give up tohim. The judg- 
 ment subscribes, Lord, thou art worthy of all accep- - 
 tation, chief of ten thousand ; happy is the man that finds 
 thee. All the things that are to be desired, are not to 
 be compared with thee, Prov. iii. 13, 15. The under- 
 standing lays aside its corrupt reasonings and cavils, 
 and its * prejudices against Christ and his ways. . “Tis 
 now past questioning, and carries it for Christ against 
 all the world. It concludes ’tis good to be here; and 
 sees such a treasure in his field, such a value in his 
 pearl, as it is worth all, Matt. viii. 44.. “ O here’s 
 the best bargain that ever I made, here is the richest 
 prize that ever man was offered; here is the most so- 
 vereign remedy that ever mercy prepared; he’s wor- 
 thy of my esteem, worthy of my choice, worthy of 
 my love, worthy to be embraced, adored, admired, for 
 evermore, Rev. v. 12. . l approve of his articles; his 
 terms are righteous and reasonable, full of. equity and - 
 mercy.’ Again, the will resigns: it stands no longer 
 wavering, nor wishing, and. woulding, but is peremp- 
 torily determined: “ Lord, thy love hath overcome 
 me, thou hast won me, and thou shalt have me: come 
 in, Lord; to thee I freely open, I consent to be saved 
 in thine own way. Thou shalt have any thing, nay, 
 have all, let me have but thee.” The memory gives | 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 609 
 
 up to Christ: ‘Lord, here is a storehouse for thee ; 
 out with this trash, lay in the treasure, let me be a 
 granary, a repository of thy truth, thy promises, thy 
 -providences.” The Conscience comes in: “ Lord, 
 - I will ever side with thee, I will ever be thy faithful 
 register, I will warn when the sinner is tempted, and 
 smite when thou art offended. Ill witness for thee, 
 and judge for thee, and guide into thy ways, and will 
 never let sin have quiet in this soul.” The Affections 
 also come into Christ: ‘‘O! saith Love, I am sick 
 for thee. O! saith Desire, now I have my longing: 
 here's the satisfaction I sought for, here’s the desire 
 of nations, here is bread for me, and balm for me, all 
 that I want.” Fear bows the knee with awe and 
 veneration: ‘‘ Welcome, Lord; to thee will I pay ho- 
 mage, thy word and rod shall command my motions; 
 thee will I reverence -and adore; before thee will I fall 
 down and worship.” Grief likewise puts in: “ Lord, 
 thy displeasure, and thy dishonour, thy people’s cala- 
 mities, and my own iniquities, shall be my only cause 
 of lamentation. I will mourn when thou art offended, 
 I will. weep when thy cause is wounded.” Anger 
 likewise comes in for Christ: “ Lord, nothing so en- 
 rages me as my folly against thee, that I should be so 
 besotted and bewitched as to hearken to the flatteries 
 of sin, and temptations of Satan against thee.” Ha- 
 ‘tred too will side with Christ: ‘ I protest mortal 
 enmity against thine enemies, that I never will be 
 friends with thy foes; I vow an immortal quarrel. 
 with ‘every sin, I will give no quarter, I will make 
 no peace.” Thus let all thy powers give up to 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Again; thou must give up thy whole interest to 
 him: if there be any thing that thou keepest back 
 from Christ, “twill be thy undoing, Luke xiv. 33. 
 Unless thou wilt forsake all, thou canst not be his 
 disciple. Thou must hate father and mother, yea, 
 and thine own life also, in comparison of him, and as 
 far as it stands in competition with him, Matt. x. 37. 
 Luke xiv. 26, 27. Ina — thou must give him 
 
 20. 4 
 
610 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION: 
 
 thyself, and all that thou hast, without reservation, or 
 else thou canst have no part in him. 
 
 Direct. IX. Make choice of the laws of Christ as the 
 
 rule of thy words, thoughts, and actions. This is the 
 true convert’s choice: but here remember these three 
 rules: 1. You must choose them all; there’s no getting 
 to heaven bya partial obedience. Read Psal. exix. 6. 
 exix. 160. Ezek. xvii. 21. None may think it enough 
 to take up with the cheap and easy part of religion, 
 and let alone the duties that are costly, and self-deny- 
 ing, and grate upon the interest of the flesh: you 
 must take all, or none. A sincere convert, though 
 he makes most conscience of the greatest sins and 
 weightiest duties, yet he makes true conscience of 
 little sins, and of all duties, Matt. xxiii. 23. For all 
 times, for prosperity, and for adversity, whether it rain 
 or shine. - A true convert is resolved in his way, he 
 will stand to his choice, and will not set his back to 
 the wind, and be of the religion of the times. J have 
 stuck to thy testemonies, I have inclined my heart to 
 perform thy statutes always, even to the end. \ Thy 
 testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever, Psal. 
 exix. 31. I will have respect to thy ‘statutes continually 
 Psal. exix. 117. 
 
 Direct. X. Let all this be completed in a solemn cove- 
 nant between God and thy soul, Psal. cxix. 106. Neh. 
 x. 29. For thy better help therein, take these few 
 Directions. 
 
 First, Set apart some time, more than once, to be 
 spent in secret before the Lord ; 
 
 1. In seeking earnestly his ‘special assistance, and 
 aie acceptance of thee.’ 
 
 . In considering distinctly all the terms of the co- 
 vidi expressed in the form hereafter proposed. 
 
 3. In searching thy heart, whether thou art sin- 
 cerely willing to forsake all thy sins, and to resign up 
 thyself body and soul unto God, and his service; to 
 serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of 
 thy life. 
 
 Secondly, x erie thy spirit into the most serious 
 frame possible. 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 61L 
 
 Thirdly, Lay hold on the covenant of God, and rely 
 on his promise of giving grace and strength, whereby 
 thou mayest be enabled to perform thy promise. 
 
 Fourthly, Resolve to be faithful; having engaged 
 ' thy heart, opened thy mouth, and subscribed with thy 
 hand unto the Lord, resolve in his strength never to 
 go back. 
 
 Lastly, Being thus prepared, on some convenient 
 time set apart for that purpose, set upon the work ; 
 and in the most solemn manner possible (as if the Lord. 
 were visibly present before thine eyes) fall down on 
 thy knees, and spreading forth thine hands toward 
 heaven, open thine heart to the Lord in these or the 
 hike words: 
 
 _ Oh most dreadful God! for the passion of thy dear 
 Son, I beseech thee, accept of thy poor prodigal, now 
 prostrating himself at thy door; I have fallen from 
 thee by mine iniquity, and am by nature a son of death, 
 and ‘a thousand-fold more the child of hell by my 
 wicked practice: but of thine infinite grace thou’ hast 
 promised grace to me in Christ, if 1 will but turn to 
 thee with all my heart: therefore upon the call of thy 
 gospel, [am now come in; and throwing down my 
 weapons, submit myself to thy mercy. 
 
 «« And because thou requirest, as the condition of 
 my peace with thee, that I should put away mine idols, 
 and be at defiance with all thine enemies, which I 
 acknowledge I have wickedly sided with against thee, 
 I here, from the bottom of my heart, renounce them 
 all, firmly covenanting with thee, not to allow myself 
 in any known sin, but conscientiously to use all the 
 means that I know thou hast prescribed for the death 
 and utter destruction of all my corruptions. And 
 whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously 
 let out my affections upon the world, I do here resign 
 up my heart to thee, that madest it; humbly protesting 
 before thy glorious Majesty, that it is the firm resolu- 
 tion of my heart, and that | unfeignedly desire grace 
 from thee, that when thou shalt call me hereunto, I 
 may practise this my. resolution through thy assistance, 
 to forsake all that is dear to me in this world, rather 
 
612 DIRECTIONS FOR \CONVERSION. 
 
 than to turn from thee to the ways of sim; and that I 
 will watch against all its temptations, whether of 
 prosperity or adversity, lest they should withdraw my 
 heart from thee ; beseeching thee also to help me 
 against all the temptations of Satan, to whose wicked 
 suggestions I resolve, by thy grace, never. to yield my- 
 self a servant. And I renounce all confidence in my 
 own righteousness, and acknowledge that I am myself 
 a hopeless, helpless, undone creature, without. righte- 
 ousness or strength. 
 
 «“ And forasmuch as thou hast, of thy bottomless 
 mercy, offered most graciously to me, wretched sin- 
 ner, to be again accepted by God, through Christ, if 
 I will accept of thee; I call heaven and earth to re- 
 cord this day, that I do here solemnly avouch thee for 
 the Lord my God; and with all possible veneration, 
 bowing the neck of my soul under the feet of thy most 
 sacred Majesty, I do here take thee the Lord Jehovah, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for my portion and chief 
 good: and so give up myself, body and soul, to thy 
 service, promising and vowing to serve thee in holi- 
 ness and righteousness all the days of my life. 
 
 ** And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the only means of coming unto thee, I do here, 
 upon the bended knees of my soul, accept of him as 
 the only, new, and living way, by which sinners may 
 _ have access to thee; and do hereby solemnly join my- 
 - self in marriage-covenant to him. 
 
 ** O blessed Jesus! I come to thee hungry and poor, 
 and wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked ; 
 -a most loathsome, polluted wretch, a guilty and con- 
 demned malefactor, unworthy for ever to wash the 
 feet of the servants of my Lord, much more to be so- 
 lemnly married to the King of glory: but since such is ~ 
 thme unparalleled love, I do here with all my power 
 accept thee, and do take thee for my head and hus- 
 band, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, for 
 all times and conditions, to love, honour, and obey thee 
 before all others, and this to the death; L embrace - 
 thee in all thy offices, | renounce my own worthiness, 
 and do here avow thee to be the Lord my righteous; 
 
‘ 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 613 
 
 ness: I renounce my own wisdom, and do here take 
 thee for my only guide; I renounce my own will, and 
 take thy will for my law. 
 
 ** And since thou hast told me that I must suffer, 
 if I will reign, I do here covenant with thee to take 
 my lot as it falls with thee; and, by thy grace assisting, 
 _ to run all hazards with thee, verily supposing that 
 
 -neither life nor death shall part between thee and me. 
 
 ** And because thou hast been pleased to give me 
 thy holy laws as the rule of my life, and the way in 
 which I should walk to thy kingdom, I do here wil- 
 lingly put my neck in thy yoke, and set my shoulder 
 to thy burden; and subscribing to all thy laws, as holy 
 just, and good, I solemnly take them as the rule of my 
 thoughts, words, and actions ; promising that though 
 my flesh contradict and rebel, yet I will endeavour to 
 order and govern my whole life according to thy direc- 
 tion, and will not allow myself in the neglect of any 
 thing that I know to be my duty. ‘ 
 
 ** Only because (through the frailty of my flesh,) I 
 am subject to so many failings, I am bold humbly to 
 protest, that unallowed miscarriages, contrary to the 
 settled bent and resolution of my heart, shall not make 
 void this covenant; for so thou hast said. 
 
 *“ Now, Almighty God, searcher of hearts, thou 
 knowest that I make this covenant with thee this day 
 without any known guile or reservation; beseeching 
 thee, that if thou spiest any flaw or falsehood therein, 
 thou wouldst discover it to me, and help me to do 
 it aright. . ' 
 
 “And now, glory be to thee, O,God the Father, 
 whom I shall be* bold from this day forward to look 
 upon as my God and Father, that ever thou shouldst 
 find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners. 
 Glory be to thee, O God the Son, who hast loved me, 
 and washed me from my sins in thine own blood, and 
 art now become my Saviour and Redeemer. Glory 
 be to thee, O God the Holy Ghost, who, by the finger 
 of thine almighty power, hast turned about my heart 
 
 ' from sin to God. 
 
 “O dreadful Jehovah! the Lord God omnipotent, — 
 
614 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! thou art now!become 
 my covenant friend ; and, | through thy infinite grace, 
 am become thy covenant servant, Amen, So be it. 
 And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it 
 be ratified in heaven.” . . 
 
 This Covenant 1 advise you to make, not only in heart, but in 
 word: not only in word, but in writing! and that you would with all 
 possible reverence spread the writing before the Lord, as if you would 
 present it to him as your act and deed; and when you have done ‘this, 
 set your hand to it, keep it as a memorial of the solemn transactions 
 that have passed between God and you, that you may have recourse to 
 it in doubts and temptations. : j pbihea 
 
 Direct. XI. Take heed of delaying thy conversion, 
 and set upon a speedy and present turning. Remember 
 and tremble, at the sad instance of the foolish virgins, 
 that came not till the door of mercy was shut, Matt. 
 xxv. and of Feliz, who put off Paul to another season ; 
 and we never find that he had such another season, O 
 come in while it is called to-day, lest thou shouldst be 
 hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; lest thy day 
 of grace should be over, and the things that belong to 
 thy peace should be hid from thine eyes. Now mercy 
 is wooing of thee ; now Christ is waiting to be gracious, 
 and the Spirit of God is striving with thee; now con- 
 science is stirring; now Christ is to be had for the tak- 
 ing. O strike in with the offers of grace: O now or 
 never! If thou make light of this offer, God may swear 
 in his wrath thou shalt not taste of his supper. 
 
 Direct. XII. Attend conscientiously upon the word, 
 as the means appointed for thy conversion, 1 Cor. iv. 
 15. Attend not customarily, but conscientiously; with 
 this desire, design, hope, and expectation, that thou 
 mayest be converted by it. To every sermon thou 
 hearest, come with this thought: ‘‘O! I hope God 
 will now come in: I hope this day may be the time, 
 this may be the man by whom God may bring me 
 home.” When thou art coming to the ordinances, lift 
 up thy heart thus to God: ‘ Lord let this be the sab- 
 bath, let this be the season, wherein I may receive re- 
 newing grace; O let it be said, that to-day such a one 
 was born unto thee.” 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 615 
 
 Direct. XIII. Strike in with the Spirit, when he be- 
 gins to work upon thy heart. When he works convic- 
 tions, O do not stifle them, but join in with him, and 
 beg the Lord to carry on conviction to conversion., 
 Quench not the Spirit. Do not out-strive him, do not 
 resist him. Beware of putting ont convictions with 
 evil company or worldly business. When thou findest 
 any trouble for sin, and fear about thy eternal state, 
 beg of God that they may never leave thee till they 
 have wrought off thy heart thoroughly from sin, and 
 ' wrought it over to Jesus Christ. Say to him, Strike 
 home, Lord; leave not the work in the midst. If 
 thou seest that I am not wounded enough, that I am 
 not troubled enough, wound me yet deeper, Lord: O 
 go to the bottom of my corruption, and let out the life- 
 blood of my sins. Thus yield thyself up to the work- 
 ings of the Spirit, and hoist thy sails to his gales. 
 
 Direct. XIV. Set upon the constant and diligent use 
 of serious and fervent prayer. This is one of the first 
 things conversion appears in: it sets men on praying. 
 
 Therefore set to this duty; let never a day pass over 
 ’ thee, wherein thou hast not, morning and evening, set 
 _ apart some time for set and solemn prayer in secret. 
 Call thy family also together daily to worship God with 
 thee. Woe be unto thee, if thine be found among the 
 families that call not on God’s name, Jer. x. 25. But 
 cold and lifeless devotions will not reach half way to 
 heaven. Be fervent and importunate; importunity 
 will carry it, but without violence the kingdom of hea- 
 ven will not be taken. Thou must strive to enter, and 
 wrestle with tears and supplications, as Jacob, if thou 
 meanest to carry the blessing. Thou art undone for 
 ever without grace, and therefore thou must set to it, 
 and resolve to take no denial. 
 
 Direct. XV. Forsake evil company, and forbear the 
 occasion of sin. Thou wilt never be turned from sin, 
 till thou avoidest the temptation to sin. 
 
 I never expect thy conversion from sin, unless thou 
 flee the occasions. If thou wilt be playing on the 
 brink, and tampering with the snare, thy soul will 
 surely be taken. Where God doth expose men in his 
 
- 
 — * 
 616 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. ~ 
 
 * providence to temptation, and the occasions are such », | 
 as we cannot remove, we may expect special assist- 
 /ance; but when we tempt God by running into dan- ~ 
 _ger, he will not engage to support us. And of all 
 temptations, one of the most fatal and pernicious is 
 evil company. ‘O what'hopeful beginnings have these 
 often stifled! O the souls, the estates, the families, the 
 towns, that these have ruined! how many poor’sinners 
 have been enlightened and convinced, and been just 
 ready to give the devil the slip, and have even escaped 
 the snare, and yet wicked company have pulled them 
 back at last, and made them seven fold more the chil- 
 dren ofshell! I have no hopes of thee, except thou 
 wilt shake off thy evil company. Christ speaketh to 
 thee as to them i:another case: If thou seek me, then 
 let these go their way. Thy life lies upon it: forsake 
 these, or else thou canst not live. Wilt thou be worse 
 than the beast, to run on when thou seest the Lord 
 with a drawn sword in the way? Numb. xxii. 53. 
 Let this sentence be written upon thy conscience, 
 A COMPANION OF FOOLS SHALL BE DE- 
 STROYED. The Lord. hath spoken it, and who 
 shall reverse it?- And wilt thou run upon destruction, © 
 when God himself hath forewarned thee? If God 
 doth ever change thy heart, ’twill appear in the change 
 of thy. company. . O fear and flee the gulph, by which 
 so many thousand souls have been swallowed up in 
 perdition. REE 
 Direct. XVI. Lastly, Set apart a day to humble thy 
 soul in secret by fasting and prayer, to work a sense — 
 of thy sins and miseries upon thy heart. Make’a cata- 
 logue of thy sins, and with shame and sorrow spread 
 them before the Lord; and if thy heart be truly willing 
 to the terms, join thyself solemnly to the Lord in the 
 covenant before-mentioned: and the Lord grant thee ~ 
 mercy in his sight! 3 ast ie 
 
 ip FINIS. ee 
 
 oy pap 
 
 PRINTED BY HENRY FISHER, CAXTON PRESS, LONDON. . 
 
DEMCO 38-297 
 
Div.S. 237.4 B355SI 
 
 For Reference 
 
 Not to be taken from this room