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 Alarm to unconverted sinners : 
 
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 ALARM 
 
 TO 
 
 UNCONVERTED SINNERS, 
 
 IN 
 
 A SERIOUS TREATISE: 
 
 SHEWING 
 
 I. What Conversion is not, and 
 
 correcting some Mistakes 
 about it. 
 
 II. What Conversion is, and where¬ 
 
 in it consisteth. 
 
 III. The Necessity of Conversion. 
 
 IV. The Marks of the Uncon 
 
 verted. 
 
 V. The Miseries of the Uncon 
 
 verted. 
 
 VI. Directions for Conversion. 
 
 VII. Motives to Conversion. 
 
 WHEREUNTO ARE ANNEXED, 
 
 ©tbtrs ^factual £asc<s of Consmnre Jubtctouslr; 
 
 By JOSEPH ALLIENE, 
 
 Late Minister of the Gospel at Taunton , in Somersetshire. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PRINTED FOR OGLE, ALLARDICE & THOMSON ; 
 
 >1. OGLE, GLASGOW; OGLE, DUNCAN & CO., LONDON; AND 
 JOHNSTON & DEAS, DUBLIN. 
 
To all the ignorant , carnal , and ungodly, who are lovers 
 of pleasure more than God , and seek this world more 
 than the life everlasting . and live after the flesh and not 
 after the spirit , these calls and counsels are directed, 
 in hope of their conversion to God, and of their salva¬ 
 tion. 
 
 HE THAT HATH AN EAR TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR. 
 
 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 la¬ 
 bour for your salvatron. Life is communicative and 
 active; it maketh us sensible that faith is not a fan¬ 
 tasy, nor true religion a stage play, 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 in 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 deceived them, re¬ 
 membering that they had their “ good things’’ here, 
 Luke xvi. 25. and how they spent the day of their vi¬ 
 sitation, and how light they once set by God, by Christ, 
 by heaven, by mercy, whilst mercy was an earnest so¬ 
 licitor for their hearts : And, with our bodily eyes, 
 we see at the same time abundance of poor sinners liv¬ 
 ing about us, as if there were no God, no Christ, no 
 heaven, no hell, no judgment, no, nor any 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 hea¬ 
 ven and hell, and at once to see how unbelievingly. 
 
IV 
 
 AN EPISTL] 
 
 HE 
 
 carelessly, and senselessly most men live on earth, as 
 if there were no such difference in another world, 
 would it not seem a 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, begging in vain for a little ease, 
 and wishing that one from the dead might go warn 
 them, that they come 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 
 to open these gentlemen’s eyes ? No way to acquaint 
 them what is become of their brother, and where La¬ 
 zarus is, and whither they themselves are going? No 
 one driveth or forceth them into hell, and will they 
 go thither of themselves ? And is there noway to stop 
 them or keep them back ?” Did you but see yourselves 
 what we see by faith, (believing God,) and at once 
 behold the saints in heaven, the lost despairing souls in 
 hell, and the senseless sensual sinners on earth, that 
 yet will lay none of this to heart, 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 own damnation ! O what a cheat 
 is this transitory world, that can make men “ so for¬ 
 get 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 reasonable 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 gratifying the devil, against their God and Savi¬ 
 our, who would give them everlasting blessed life. 
 
 And, as we have such a sight as this, by faith, to 
 make us pity, so we have so much taste of the good¬ 
 ness of God, the sweetness of his ways, and the happi¬ 
 ness of believers, as must needs make us wish that you 
 had but once tried the same delights; it would turn 
 the pleasure of sin into detestation. God knows, we 
 desire nothing more for ourselves than the perfection 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. V 
 
 and eternity of this holiness and happiness which we 
 believe and taste: And should we not desire the same 
 for you ? 
 
 And, being thus moved with necessary pity, we ask 
 of God what he would have us do for your salvation. 
 And he hath told us in Scripture, That the preaching 
 of his gospel to acquaint you plainly with 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 Holy 
 Spirit 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 own 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 
 that the devil would do his worst to hinder us, that all 
 his instruments would be ready to serve him against 
 our labours and against your souls, Christ, our cap¬ 
 tain, 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. It was no strange 
 thing to Paul, that bonds and afflictionsdid everywhere 
 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. 24. It was 
 no strange thing to him to be forbidden preaching to 
 the “ Gentiles, that they might be saved,” by such as 
 were 6t filling up the measure of their sins,” and were 
 under God’s “ utmost wrath” on earth, l Thess. ii. 16. 
 Devils and Pharisees, 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 perfidi¬ 
 ously desert the souls of men ; even as their Lord, for 
 the love of souls, did call Peter Satan , that would have 
 
Vi 
 
 THE 
 
 AN EPISTIL 
 
 tempted him to save his life and flesh, instead of mak¬ 
 ing it a sacrifice for our sins, Matt xvi. 23. 
 
 What, think you, should make us undertake a call¬ 
 ing so contrary to our fleshly ease and interest? Do 
 we 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 labours, 
 might pass from us, if it were not for the will of God 
 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 off-scouring of all things, 
 and represented to rulers, whom we honour, as schis¬ 
 matics, disobedient, turbulent, 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,” under pretence of making us 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 readily have obeyed the “ silencing sort of 
 pastors,” 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 a sufficient re¬ 
 ward, without ecclesiastical dignities, preferments, or 
 worldly wealth. 
 
 I have told you our motives, I have told you our 
 business, and the terms of our undertaking. It is God 
 and you sinners that next must 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 somewhat else to 
 mind ?” Will you still be cheated by this deceitful 
 world, and spend all your days in pampering your gut, 
 
UNCONVERTED BEADER. vii 
 
 and providing for the flesh, that must be rotting shortly 
 in a grave? Were you made for no better use than 
 this? May we not bring you to some sober thoughts 
 of your condition, not one hour seriously to think whi¬ 
 ther yOu are going ? What ! not one awakened 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 \ 0, God forbid ! 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!” 
 
 Poor sinners ! we talk not to you as on a stage, in 
 customary words, and as if talking were our trade ; we 
 are in as good earnest with you as if we saw you mur¬ 
 dering yourselves, and are persuading you to save your¬ 
 selves. 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 ? It 
 is a 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 1 with shame and grief we confess, we never 
 speak to you of these things as their truth and weight 
 deserve, nor with the skill and wisdom, the affection 
 and fervency, that beseem men engaged in the saving 
 of souls; but yet you may perceive that we are in ear¬ 
 nest 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? tor 
 my own part, I will make my free confession to you, 
 to my shame, that I never grow cold, and dull, and 
 pitiless, to the souls of others, till 1 first grow too cold 
 and careless of my own (unless when weakness or spe¬ 
 culative studies cool me, which I must confess they often 
 do.) We never cease pitying you, till we are grow¬ 
 ing too like 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 
 
I 
 
 MU 
 
 AN EPESTLETtO THE 
 
 powerful operation on myself, 0 ! then I could spend 
 and he spent for others. No weirds are too earnest, 
 no labour too great, no cost too dear; the frowns and 
 wrathof malignant opposers of the preaching ofChrist’s 
 gospel are nothing to me: But, when the world of 
 spirits disappears, or my soul is clouded, and receiveth 
 not the vital-illuminating influences of heaven, “ I grow 
 cold, first to myself, and then to others.” 
 
 Come then, poor sinners, and help us, who are wil¬ 
 ling at any time to help you. As we first crave God’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 with¬ 
 out 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 andyour own, and will not beagainstyour¬ 
 selves. Men and 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 “will you help us ?” Give over striving against 
 God and conscience ; give over fighting against Christ 
 and his spirit; take part no more with the world and 
 flesh, which in your baptism you renounced; set your 
 hearts to the message, which we bring; allow it your 
 manlike, sober thought; search the Scriptures, and see 
 whether the things we speak of be so or not. We offer 
 you nothing but what we have resolvedly chosen our¬ 
 selves, 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 better to you. 
 If the world would have served our turns, it would 
 have served yours also, and we would not have troubled 
 you with the talk of “ another world;” but it will not, 
 I am sure it will not, serve yftur turns to make you 
 happy, nor shall you long make that self-deceiving shift 
 with it as now ye do. 
 
 But, if ye will not think of these things, if ye will 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 1X 
 
 not use the reason of men, alas! what can we do to 
 save your souls? O pity them. Lord, that they may 
 pity themselves; have mercy on them, that they may 
 have some mercy on themselves; help them, that they 
 may help themselves and us. It you still ret use, will 
 not your loss be more than ours? It we lose our la- 
 bour, (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 ot your endless sufferings. 
 
 But, O ! this it is, that breaketh our hearts, that we 
 leave you under more guilt than we tound you; and, 
 when we have laid our life and labour to save you, 
 impenitent souls must have their pains increased for 
 refusing these calls; and that it will be part of your 
 hell to think for ever he w madly you refused our coun¬ 
 sel, and what pains, cost, and patience, were used to 
 have saved you, and ah in vain. It will be so, it must 
 needs be so. Christ saith, - It shall be easier tor So¬ 
 dom and Gomorrah, in the day ot judgment, than tor 
 the rejecters of his go>pei-calls. The nature ot the 
 thing, and the nature of justice, certainly inform you 
 
 it must be so. . . 
 
 O turn not our complaints to God against you. 
 turn us not from besseching you to be reconciled to 
 God, to tell him you will not be reconciled; force us 
 not to say, that “ we earnestly invited you to the hea¬ 
 venly 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 much 
 easier, if they would but have yielded to thy grace. 
 But it was they themselves that broke our hearts, that 
 lost our labour, that made us preach and entreat in 
 vain: It was easier to preach without maintenance 
 than without success It was they that were woise to 
 us than all the persecutors in the world. How oft 
 would we have gathered them, but they would not, 
 but are ungathered still 1” How many holy, faithlul 
 ministers have I known, theseeleven years last past, 
 who have lived in pining poverty and want, and hardly 
 
x. 4 AN EFISTLE TO THE 
 
 by charity got bread and clothing; and yet, if they 
 could but have truly said “ Lord, the sermons which 
 i preach privately, and in danger, have won many 
 souls to thee,” it would have made their burden easy. 
 But I tell thee, senseless and impenitent sinner, thou 
 deniest God in thy heart; and thou, that deniest them 
 thy conversion, which was the end of all their labours, 
 hast dealt much more cruelly with them than they 
 that denied the Levites bread. 
 
 Poor sinners! I know that I am speaking all this 
 to those that are “ dead in sinbut it is a “ death 
 consisting” with a “natural life,” which hath a “ca¬ 
 pacity “ 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 it is a blindness consisting with a 
 reasonable faculty, which is capable of spiritual illu¬ 
 mination, or else I 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 of the flesh and world ; 
 but your wills are not forced into this captivity ; surely 
 those 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 “ conver¬ 
 sion and perseverance,” and no more. Without it 
 there is “ no hope;” and with it you are safe, andJhave 
 no cause to doubt and fear. Heaven may yet be 
 yours if you will. Nothing but your own wills, re¬ 
 fusing 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 will not be saved ?” 
 
 O think better what “ you do!” God’s terms are 
 reasonable; 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 blind¬ 
 ness and a bad heart make them so. You have no 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. XI 
 
 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 cut your throats, to torment yourselves, as 
 plead reason against a true “conversion unto God. 
 Were I persuading you not to kill yourselves, 1 would 
 make no question but you would be persuaded; and 
 yet must I be hopeless when I persuade you from ever¬ 
 lasting misery, and not to prefer the world and flesh 
 “ before your Saviour and your God,” and before a 
 sure everlasting joy: “ God forbid! 
 
 Reader, I take it for a great mercy of God, that, 
 before my head lies down in the dust, and I go to give 
 up my account unto my judge, I have this oppor¬ 
 tunity 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 into our endless* state, that thou would*! 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 “ look 
 within” thee, what a case thy soul is in, and whether 
 it be fit to enter upon eternity; and “look above” 
 thee, what « heaven of glory thou dost neglect, and 
 that thou hast God to be thine everlasting “ friend or 
 enemy,” as thou choosest and as thou livest, and that 
 thou art always in his sight: Yea, and “ look below” 
 thee,.and think where they are that die unconverted. 
 And* then thou hast soberly thought of all these things, 
 theirdo as God and true reason shall direct thee. 
 And is this an unreasonable 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 
 alfcfchis be not for thy good; or, if it be not true and 
 sure, then regard not what 1 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. 
 
 B 2 
 
AN EPISTl 
 
 r 0 THE 
 
 refuse it at thy peril. And, if God’s beseeching thee 
 shall not prevail against thy sloth, thy lust, thy appetite, 
 against the desires of the flesh, against the dust and 
 shadows of the world, remember it, when, with fruit¬ 
 less cries and horror, thou art beseeching him too late. 
 
 I know, poor sinner, that flesh is brutish, and lust 
 and appetite have no reason; but I know thou hast 
 reason thyself, which was given thee to overrule them ; 
 and that lie, that will not be a man, cannot be a “ saint 
 nor happy man.” I 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 to a kingdom, or a blast of wind 
 to one that is fighting or flying for his life, Luke xii. 4. 
 O man ! that thou didst but know the difference be¬ 
 tween 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 thyself to him! I know thou mayst 
 possibly fall into company (at least among some sots 
 and drunkards) that will tell thee, “ All this is but 
 troublesome preciseness, 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 mayst hear some of 
 the tribe of Levi (or rather of Cain) deriding this 
 “ serious godliness,” as mere *« hypocrisy, and fanati¬ 
 cism, and self-conceitednessAs if you must be no 
 better than the “ devil’s slaves,” lest you be proud in 
 thinking that you are better than they; that is, you 
 must go with them to hell, lest in heaven ye be 
 “ proud hypocrites,” for thinking yourselves happier 
 than they. 
 
 It may be, they will tell you, that this talk of con¬ 
 version is fitter for pagans and infidels to hear than 
 for u Christians and Protestantsbecause such men’s 
 
k 
 
 UNCONVERTED READER. 
 
 big look or coat may make the poison be ^*5 
 taken down. I will entreat thee but (as before 
 to answer these following questions, or to get t ’ 
 answered, and then judge whether it be they or v - 
 that would deceive thee; and whether as men use ter 
 talk against learning that have none themselves, such 
 men prate against conversion and the “ Spirit of GOD,” 
 because they have no such thing themselves. 
 
 Q. 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 signify 
 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 
 carcass must he rotting in a “ darksome grave P 
 
 Q. 2 . Ask them, whether they have not an “ im¬ 
 mortal soul ?” and a longer life to live when this is 
 ended ? Luke xii. 4, 5. 
 
 Q. 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 lie 
 must be for a little while, and whence he is posting 
 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 ? 
 
 Q. 4. Ask them, whether God should not be “loved 
 with all your heart, and soul, and might,” Matt. xxii. 
 37. add whether it be not the mark of an ungodly 
 miscreant to be a “ 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 kingdom and his righteousness,” Matt vi. 33. 
 and “labour most for the meat that never perisheth,” 
 John vi. 27 « and strive to enter in at the strait gate,” 
 Luke xiii. 24. and “ give all diligence to make our 
 calling and eleclion sure?” 2 Pet. i. 10. 
 
 Q 5. Ask them, w'hether, without holiness, any 
 shall see God, Heb xii. 14. Matt. v. 8. Tit. ii. 14 and 
 whether the “ carnal mind” is not “enmity to God,” 
 
xiv 
 
 U 
 
 AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 and “to be spiritually minded is life and peaceand 
 whether, “ if you live after the flesh,” you shall not die 
 and he condemned, and they “ shall not live” and be 
 saved “that walk after the spirit;” and whether any man 
 be Christ’s that hath not his spirit? Rom. viii. 1—10. 
 
 Q. 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 
 to his name); and the latter have “ their conversation 
 in 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 as dead, “ and their 
 life is hid” (or out of sight) “ with Christ in God, till 
 Christ shall appear, and then they shall appear (even 
 openly to all the world) with him in glory?” Phil. iii. 
 18, 20. Col iii 1—5 
 
 Q 7. Ask them whether it be credible or suitable 
 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. S3. Yea, ask them, whether these be not 
 the two first articles of all faith and religion, 1. “ That 
 God is.” 2. “ That he is the rewarder of them that 
 diligently seek him ?” 
 
 Q. 8. Ask them, yea, ask your eyes, your ears, 
 your daily experience in the world, whether all or 
 most that call themselves Christians, do in good ear¬ 
 nest thus live to God in the Spirit, and “ mortify the 
 flesh with its affections and lusts, and seek first God’s 
 kingdom and righteousness,” love him above all, and 
 lay up treasure and heart in heaven ; or rather, whe¬ 
 ther most he not lovers of the world, and “ lovers of 
 pleasure more than God,” and live not the flesh, and 
 mind not most the things of the flesh ? I mention not 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 
 
 uow the drunkards, the flesh-pleasing gentlemen, that 
 live in “ pride, fulness, and idleness,” and sport ana 
 play away their precious time; nor the filthy fornica¬ 
 tor, nor the merciless oppressor, nor the malignant 
 hater of a godly life, nor the perjured betrayers ot 
 men’s souls, and the gospel, or of their country s good, 
 nor such other men of seared consciences, whose mi¬ 
 sery none questions, but such as are blind and miser¬ 
 able ; it is not those only 1 am speaking of, but the 
 common, worldly, fleshly, and ungodly ones. 
 
 Q 9. Ask them, whether the name of a Lnristian 
 will save anv of these ungodly ones : And whether 
 God will like men the better for lying, and calling 
 themselves Christians, when indeed they are none r 
 And, whether they dare preach to the people, that a 
 Christian drunkard, or Christian fornicator or oppres¬ 
 sor, or Christian worldling, needeth no conversion ? 
 
 Q. 10. Ask them, whether they say not themselves 
 that hypocrisy is a great aggravation to all other am . 
 And, whether God hath not made the hypocrites and 
 unbelievers to be standards in hell? Matt. xxv_ 51. 
 And, whether seeking to amuse God by a “ mock re- 
 ligion,” doth make such “ false Christians better than 
 the poor “ heathens and infidels, 1 ’ or much worse - 
 And, whether he be not a hypocrite, that professeth 
 to be a Christian and a servant of God, when he is 
 none, nor will be? And, whether be that “ knowe h 
 his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall not have the 
 sorest stripes or punishment ? Luke xu. 47. 
 
 O. 11. Ask them, whether in their baptism (which 
 is their christening as a covenant) they did not re¬ 
 nounce the flesh, the world, and the uevil, 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 peiju.ed 
 “ covenant-breaker” against God, is filter tor salvation 
 than he that never was baptized ? 
 
 O 12. Ask them, whether the “ holy n atu [ e 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 
 
AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 of his eternal delights, an unholy and unrenewed soul. 
 Pet. i. 15, 16. 
 
 Q. 13. Ask them, why it was that Christ came into 
 the world, whether it was not to save his people from 
 their sins, Matt. i. 21. and to destroy the works of the 
 devil, 1 John iii. 8. and to “ purify to himself a pecu¬ 
 liar people zealous of good works, Tit. ii. 11. and to 
 bring home strayed souls to God, Luke xv. and to be 
 the way to the Father ? John xiv. 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 
 oaviour, while they will have no more of him ? 
 
 . j them why they believe, and were bap- 
 
 tized into, 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 iii. 3, 5. 6. and 
 that is not converted, and begins not the world as it 
 were anew, in a “ teachable, tractable, newness of life, 
 like a little child?” Matt, xviii. 3. And whether it 
 be not a certain truth, that «if any man have not the 
 Spirit of Christ, he is none of his?” Rom. viii. 9. 
 
 Q- 15. Ask them why Christ gave the world so 
 many warnings of the damnableness of the Pharisees’ 
 hypocrisy, it hypocritical Christians may be saved ? 
 And what were these Pharisees ? They were the mas’ 
 ters of the Jewish church, the rabbies/that most have 
 nigh places, high tithes, ceremonies, and for al gar¬ 
 ments, and must be reverenced of all; that gave God 
 Jip-service, without the heart, and made void his 
 commands, and worshipped him in vain, “teaching for 
 doctrine the commandments of men,” and strictly 
 tithed mint and cummin, while love, mercy, and hj 
 t.ce were passed by; who worshipped God with 
 abundance of « ceremonies, and built the tombs and 
 
 ‘‘ garnished the sepulchres of the saints,” while they 
 killed and persecuted those that did imitate them 
 toed .he living s„i„„, b „ t honnnred Ihe dS’.h^ 
 were the bitterest enemies and murderers of Christ oil 
 pretence that he was a blasphemer and a seditious 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. XVU 
 
 enemy to Csesar and the “ common peace,” and one 
 that spoke against the temples: 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 these no need of con- 
 version because they could say, “ God is our lather, 
 (when the devil was their father, John viii. 44.) and 
 that they were Abraham’s seed ? And are not “ hypo¬ 
 critical Christians, drunken Christians, fornicating 
 Christians, carnal worldy infidel Christians, (the con¬ 
 tradiction is your own), “ persecuting Christians, false- 
 named, hypocritical Christians,” as bad, yea worse, as 
 they abuse a most excellent profession? Matt. xv. 7, 8, 
 13. and xxii. 18 anil vi. 2, &c. Luke xii. 1. 
 
 Q. 16 Doth not the holy state of heaven require 
 holiness in all that shall possess it ? Can an unholy soul 
 there see, and love, and praise, and delight in God 
 for ever, and in the holy society and employment ot the 
 saints? Is he not more like a Mahometan than a 
 Christian, that looketh for asensual and unholy heaven ? 
 
 Q. 17 What is the difference between the church 
 and the world ? Is not the church a holy society ot re¬ 
 generate souls? Yea, the church visible is only those 
 that in baptism vow holiness, and profess it. Look 
 these hypocrites in the face, and see whether they do 
 not blush when they repeat, in the creed, “ 1 believe 
 in the Holy Ghost, I believe in the holy Catholic 
 church, and communion of saints,” who shall have the 
 “ forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. Ask them, 
 whether they mean holy adulterers, holy worldlings, 
 holy perjured persons ? Ask them, whether they mean 
 a communion of saints in a tavern, in a play-house, in 
 a gaming-house, in a whore-house, or a jesting, cant¬ 
 ing, stage-play communion? If the church be holy, be 
 holy if you will be of the church: It it be a com¬ 
 munion of saints, make it not a communion of swine: 
 and make not the saints and their communion seem 
 odious, either for their infirmities, or their crossness 
 to your carnal interest or conceits. 
 
 Q. 18. Ask them, whether there be a heaven and 
 
xyiii 
 
 AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 a hell, or not? If not, why are they pretended 
 Christians? If there be, will God send one man to 
 heaven and another to hell, to so vast, so amazing, 
 a difference of state, if there be no great difference 
 between them here? If holiness no more differenced 
 Christians from others, than hearing a sermon or say¬ 
 ing 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, 11 and others, if not much worse ? 
 Go into London 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 appearance of each passenger in a 
 glass; and to the periwig shops, and see a wooden 
 head with a periwig upon the bulk; and you have 
 something like the difference of a holy soul and of a 
 dead and dressed formal hypocrite. 
 
 Q. 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 differ not themselves between a 
 friend and a foe; one that loveth them, and one that 
 robbeth, hateth, or would kill them? And shall not 
 the more holy God make more difference between the 
 righteous and the wicked ? 
 
 Q. 20. But, if they are dead in every point save 
 carnal interest, ask them why they are preachers or 
 priests ? and, if conversion and holiness be a needless 
 thing, what use they are themselves of? and why 
 must the country be troubled with them, and nay 
 them tithes, and owe them reverence? Whon tiLd 
 
 •»'»*•*«» mv vuauggui 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 
 
 g. 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 pardon of sin, and the 
 everlasting joys of heaven, that thou mayst feel that 
 all the pleasures of the world are dung in comparison 
 of the heavenly delight of faith, and hope ana “ holy 
 love,” and peace of conscience, and sincere obe- 
 
 4. u Sin no more wilfully,” but forbear that which 
 
 thou mayst forbear. Isa. Iv. 7. ■ 
 
 5. “ Away from temptations, occasions ot sin, and 
 evil company,” and be a companion of the “ humble, 
 holy, heavenly and sincere,” Psal. cxix. 63, 11 J - 
 
 6. “ Wait on God’s spirit in the diligent and con¬ 
 stant 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. xxv. and xxvii. 34. and lxix. 6 
 
 “ Pity, O Lord, and persuade, the souls ! Let not 
 Christ’s blood, his doctrine, his example, his spirit, 
 be lost unto them, and they lost for ever! Let not 
 heaven be as no heaven to them, while they dream and 
 dole on the shadows in this world ! And, oh 1 save 
 this land from the greater destruction than all our late 
 plagues, and flames, and divisions, which our sms and 
 thy threatenings make us fear!” O Lord, m thee 
 have we trusted, let us never be confounded! 
 
 Having thus contributed my endeavours, in this 
 preface, to the furtherance of the design of tins 
 “excellent book,” 1 must tell thee, reader, that I take 
 it for an honour to commend so masculine a birth 
 unto the world. The midwife of Alexander or Ans- 
 totle need not be ashamed ot her office Who the 
 author of this treatise was, how he preached, how he 
 died, his life and letters, lately printed, fully tell ye; 
 and I earnestly recommend reading them to all, but 
 especially 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 xave 
 
an epistle to the 
 
 done it; but to tell you what men Christ’s ministers 
 should be. But say not, 14 he killed himself with ex¬ 
 cessive labour, therefore I will take warning and take 
 my ease.” For, L He lived in perfect health all his 
 days, notwithstanding ail his labours, till after his lorn* 
 and hard improvement. 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 be could not speak to all his 
 people at once. O make not an ill use of so excellent 
 an example; say not, like Judas, 44 What needs this 
 waste ? His labour, his life, his sufferings, his death, 
 were not in vain. The ages to come, that read his 
 Jne, and read his little popular treatise, and his “ Call 
 to Archippus,” shall say they were not in vain. And, 
 though he was cut off in the midst of his age, and his 
 longer labours and more elaborate writings thus pre¬ 
 vented, take thankfully this small but 44 methodical, 
 warm, and serious ” tractate; read it seriously, and it 
 cannot be but that it must 44 do thee good.” 
 
 I am 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 divine artifices and the 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 as 
 a lawful kind of sport; but, in the moralities which 
 Atheists count uncertainties, the knowledge of God 
 and our duty, and our hopes, the doctrine and prac- 
 tice of holiness, temperance, charity, and justice, and 
 the diligent seeking and joyful hopes of life everlast¬ 
 ing “7 a11 th f vvisdom goodness, rest, and com- 
 f * S ° U \ . What f ver be the plea, this is the 
 satisfying certainty, the business,” and the beauti¬ 
 fying improvement, of our lives. 
 
 I have done, when I have songht to remove a little 
 scandal which I foresaw I should sustain in writing 
 the preface to his life, where himself and two of hif 
 
} 
 
 UNCONVERTED READER. XXl 
 
 friends make such mention of my name, which I can¬ 
 not own, because it would seem praising him tor 
 praising me. I confess it looketh ill favouredly in 
 me, but I had not the power of other men’s writings, 
 and dared not therefore forbear that which was bis due. 
 Had I directed their pens, they should have taken a 
 middle way, and only esteemed me a very unworthy 
 servant of Christ, who yet longs to see the peace and 
 prosperity of his church ; and I should have iorborne 
 their undeserved praise, as other men should have 
 done their slanderous libels. But, if the reader get 
 no harm by it, I assure him, the use I made of it was, 
 to lament that I am really so much worse than they 
 esteemed me; and fear lest I should prove yet worse 
 than 1 discern myself, who see so much sin and weak¬ 
 ness in my betters, and much more in myself, as to 
 make it the constant sentiment of my soul, that 
 PRIDE of MEN’S GREATNESS, WISDOM, and 
 GOODNESS, is the first part of the DEVIL,& 
 IMAGE on man’s soul; and DARKNESS is the 
 second; and MALIGNI'i. Y the third. 
 
 RICHARD BAXTER, 
 
 Reader, 
 
 How well were it, if there were no more uncon¬ 
 verted ones among us than those to whom this is di- 
 
 • reeled! Unconverted persons, how many are therer 
 but how tew unconverted readers, especially ot such 
 
 ” books as this before thee ! A play, or romance better 
 
 ' suits the lusts, and therefore must have more ot 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 these are the men ! And bow little hope is there 
 that this excellent treatise should reach its end with 
 
 , those that apprehend themselves not concerned in it - 
 
 Art thou not one of them ! Art thou a convert, or art 
 f thou yet in thy sins ? What is sin ? What is conver* 
 
xxii 
 
 AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 sion ? It may be thou canst tell me neither, and yet 
 thou sayest a convert thou art. But to what purpose 
 is it then likely to be for the servant of God to treat 
 with thee about this matter ! Let him bid thee believe. 
 Thou art a believer already; let me bid thee repent 
 and turn to the Lord. That work (thou sayest) 1*3 
 not to do now. What can there be said to this man 
 that is likely to bring him to good ? Friend, know 
 thyself better, or thou perishest without remedy. 
 Thou mayst pray, but what hope is there in thy 
 praying ? Thou mayst read, but what hope is there in 
 thy reading? Yet read on; this hope there is, in this 
 book there is eye-salve that may heal thee of thy 
 blindness. In this book there is a glass that will shew 
 thee thy face. Lost 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 
 consider them, and then say if thou art not the man. 
 
 “ Be willing to know thyself, anil to know the 
 worst of thy case: wink not at the light; hide not 
 thyself from thine own soul. Wilt thou never know 
 thy disease till it he past remedy ? 
 
 “ Much of our hardest work would he over, if we 
 could see the sinners, to whom we are sent to be 
 convinced 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 evil case, whether 
 thou know it or not; thou art among the dead, and 
 there is but a step betwixt 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 pre¬ 
 sented to thee, and narrowly observe whether the very 
 marks of the dead be not found upon thee. 
 
 “ lt tf,ere be miscarriages in this first work, if thou 
 wilt not understand thy misery and thy danger, there 
 is an end of all hopes concerning thee. Whilst self- 
 jgnorance abides upon thee, all the counsels, that are 
 necessary to a man in thy case, will do thee no good; 
 they are never likely to prosper with thee. Who will 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. XXiil 
 
 d je he persuaded to do that which he believes is already 
 lr po> done? Who will take the counsel of the physician 
 tai that doth not think himself sick ? The man of God 
 fes may spare his pains of persuading thee to conversion, 
 e P^ whilst thou art confident thou art converted already. 
 »t)i Who will be at the pains of repentance, that concludes 
 he hath repented? Who will be at the labour and 
 hot pangs of the new birth, that is confident he is already 
 4 passed from death unto life?’ 
 
 1 Hi “ But, friend, let me reason a little with thee, 
 sreii Thou art confident it is well with thee, yet why wilt 
 nttii thou not yield to thus much at least, to put it to the 
 nij question, am I not mistaken? Thou art worse than 
 mad if thou thinkest such a question may not be put. 
 whet Dost thou not know that thy heart is false and deceit- 
 larli ful ? Yet because it speaks good concerning thee, must 
 I aoi it not be questioned whether it speaks true or not ? 
 nan, Be so wise as to conclude, “I may be mistaken;” 
 tli and thus come to the trial whether thou art mistaken 
 nci or not. 
 
 :noi “ And if, upon trial, by the marks that are before 
 thee, thou come to be undeceived, and see thyself 
 f ffj wrapped up in that misery which hitherto thou wouldst 
 o (k not suspect, the next news I expect to hear from thee 
 )lioJ is, “ What shall 1 do to be saved ?” O, were it come 
 
 tbs to that once! then thou hast an answer at hand in 
 
 those means thou wilt find prescribed thee. And, be¬ 
 ttor cause they are such as thou wilt hardly be persuaded 
 and to use, take in the motive that follow', and they will 
 wilt help down the means; consider both the one and the 
 ain, other; and, if thou dost not find the means proper, 
 
 pre. and the motives weighty, I think I shall do thee no 
 
 ery wrong, if I tell thee, thou art still of a blind mind, and 
 a harder heart. 
 
 ion “ Friend, the matter which this little book comes to 
 ere treat with thee about is of the highest importance ; it 
 
 ,|f. is a matter of life or death. If thou sayest, “ the 
 
 J re terms upon which life is offered are hard,” consider, 
 d; is it not harder to die ? He is worthy to die who will 
 
 ill lose his soul to save his labour. If thou couldst step 
 
XXIV 
 
 AN EPISTLE TO THE 
 
 down into the deep, and take a turn or two with those 
 damned souls, who are drenched with fire and brim¬ 
 stone, 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, of that 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 tor¬ 
 ment, 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 dif¬ 
 ficulty ? 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 un¬ 
 der the difficulties of conversion, till thou believe them 1 
 to be worse than hell.” But I will no farther antici¬ 
 pate my worthy Author. 
 
 “ Nor is there much need I should coinmend either 
 himself or his works: for the Author himself thou 
 rnayst 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 viihi contingat vivere, sicque mori; 
 
 and for this work of his, what commendation I shall 
 give of it would be needed no longer than till thou 
 hast read it over: Thou wilt find such wine in it as 
 needs no brush. This only I shall say, as far as my 
 credit will go, it is exceedingly well worth thy most 
 serious perusal. O mayst thou hear that voice (such 
 a voice from heaven there is, whether thou hear it or 
 not). Tolle et 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 word of instruction and exhortation to open thy 
 
UNCONVERTED READER. 
 
 XXV 
 
 blind eyes, to turn thee from darkness to light, from 
 the power of Satan unto God, that thou mayst receive 
 forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them 
 that are sanctified. Ei cum ialis fueris memento mei; 
 When it is thus with thee, then pray for 
 
 “ Thy friend, and servant of thy soul, 
 
 Richard Alleine.” 
 
An earnest invitation to sinners to turn to God , in order 
 to their eternal salvation . 
 
 Dearly beloved and longed for, I gladly acknow¬ 
 ledge myself a debtor to you all, and am concerned, 
 as I would be found a good steward to the household 
 of God, to give to every one his portion. But the 
 physician is most solicitous for those patients whose 
 case is most doubtful and hazardous, and the father’s 
 bowels are especially turned towards his dying child; 
 The numbers of unconverted souls among you call for 
 the most earnest compassions and hasty diligence to 
 pluck them out of burning, Jude ver. 23. and therefore 
 to these first I shall apply myself in these lines. 
 
 But whence shall I fetch my argument, or how 
 shall I choose my words ? Lord, wherewith shall I 
 woo them? Wherewith shall I win them ? Oh! that 
 I could but tell! I would write unto them in tears, 
 I would weep out every argument, I would empty 
 my veins for ink, I would petition them on my knees, 
 verily (were I able) I would. Oh ! how thankful 
 would I be, if they would be prevailed with to repent 
 and turn ! 
 
 How long have I travailed in birth with you ? How 
 frequently have I made suit to you ? How often would 
 I have gathered you ? How instant have I been with 
 you? This is that I have prayed for and studied for, 
 for many years, that I might bring you to God. Oh! 
 that I might but do it! Will you yet be entreated? 
 Oh ! what a happy man might you yet make me, if 
 ye would but hearken to me, and suffer me to carry 
 you over to Jesus Christ. 
 
 “ But, Lord, how insufficient am I for this work ! 
 X have been many a year wooing for thee, but the 
 damsel would not go with me: Lord, what a task 
 hast thou set me to do! Alas! wherewith shall I 
 pierce the scales of Leviathian, or make the heart to 
 
11 
 
 AN INVITATION TtT$INNEBS. 27 
 
 feel, that is hard as stone, hard as a piece of the nether 
 mill stone P Shall I go and lay my mouth to the grave, 
 and look when the dead will obey me and come forth ? 
 Shall I make an oration to the rocks, or declaim to the 
 mountains, and think to move them with arguments? 
 Shall I give the blind to see ? From the beginning of 
 the w’orld was it hard 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 shoot at 
 rovers, and draw the bow at a venture, but do thou 
 direct the arrows between the joints of the harness, 
 kill the sin, and save the soul of a sinner that casts his 
 eyes on these labours.” 
 
 But I must apply myself to you to whom I am sent; 
 yet I am at a great loss. Would to God I knew how 
 to go to work with you ! would I stick at the pains? 
 God knoweth, you yourselves are my witnesses, how 
 I have followed you in private as well as in public, 
 and have brought the gospel to your doors, testifying 
 to you the necessity of the new birth, and persuading 
 you to look in time after a sound and thorough change. 
 Beloved, I have not acted a part among you to serve 
 my own advantage. 
 
 Our gospel is not yea and nay. Have you not heard 
 the same truths from the pulpit, by public labours, by 
 private letters, and by personal instructions ? brethren, 
 
 1 am of the same mind as ever, that holiness is the best 
 choice; that there is no entering into heaven but by 
 the strait passage of the second birth ; that “ without 
 holiness you shall never see God,” Heb xii. 14. Ah, 
 my beloved, refresh my bowels in the Lord. “ If there 
 be any consolation in Christ, any “ comfort of love, 
 any fellowship of the spirit, any bowels of mercy, fulfil 
 ye my joy:” Now give yourselves unto the Lord, 
 
 2 Cor. viii. 5. Now set yourselves to seek him. Now 
 set up the Lord Jesus in your hearts, and set him up 
 in your houses: Now come in and kiss the Son, Psa. 
 ii. 12. and embrace the tenders of mercy, touch his 
 his sceptre and live : why will ye die? I beg not for 
 myself, but fain I would have you happy : this is the 
 
AN INVITAT 
 
 TO SINNERS. 
 
 28 
 
 prize I run for, and the white I aim at. My souPs 
 desire and prayer for you is, that you may be saved, 
 
 Rom. x 1. 
 
 The famous Li/curgus having instituted most strict 
 and wholesome laws for his people, told them he was 
 necessitated to go a journey from them, and got them 
 to bind themselves in an oath, that his laws should be 
 observed till his return. This done, he went into a 
 voluntary banishment, and never returned more, that 
 they might, by virtue of their oath, be engaged to the 
 perpetual observing of his laws. Methinks I should 
 be glad of the hard conditions which he endured, 
 (though I love you tenderly,) so I might but hereby 
 engage you thoroughly to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 l)early beloved, would you rejoice the heart of your 
 minister? why then embrace the counsels of the Lord 
 by me. Forego your sins; set to prayer; up with the 
 worship of God in your families; keep at a distance 
 from the corruption of the times. What greater joy, 
 to a minister, than to hear of souls born unto Christ by 
 him, and his children walk in the truth ! 2 John iv. 
 
 Brethren, I beseech you suffer friendly plainness 
 and freedom with you in your deepest concernments. 
 I am not playing the orator, to make a learned speech 
 to you, nor dressing my dish with eloquence where¬ 
 with to please you; these lines are upon a weighty 
 errand indeed, viz. to convince, and convert, and to 
 save you. I am not baiting my hook with rhetoric, 
 nor fishing for your applause, but for your souls. My 
 work is not to please you, but to save you : Nor is my 
 business with your fancies, but your hearts: If I have 
 not your hearts, I have nothing. If I were to please 
 your ears, I could sing another song: If I were to 
 preach myself, I would steer another course; I could 
 then tell you a smoother tale; I would make you pil¬ 
 lows, and speak you peace; for how can Ahab love 
 his Micaiah that always prophecies evil concerning 
 him? I Kings xxii. 8. But how much better are 
 the wounds of a friend than the fair speeches of a 
 harlot, who flattereth with her lips till the dart strike 
 
AN INVITATION TO SINNERS. 
 
 29 
 
 through the liver, and hunteth for the precious life l 
 Prov. vii. 21, 22, 23 and vi. 26 If I were to quiet 
 a crying infant, I might sing to him a pleasant mood, 
 and rock him asleep! but, when the child is fallen 
 into the fire, the parent takes another course; he will 
 not go to still him with a song or trifle. I know, if 
 we speed not with you, you are lost; if we cannot 
 get your consent to “ arise and come away,” you perish 
 for ever: No conversion, and no salvation: I must get 
 your good will, or leave you miserable. . 
 
 But here the difficulty of my work again recurs upon 
 me: “ Lord, choose my stones out of the rock, 1 Sam. 
 xvii. 40, 45. I come in the name of the Lord of 
 hosts, the God of the armies of Israel. I come forth, 
 like the stripling David, to wrestle, not with flesh and 
 blood, but with principalities and powers, and rulers 
 of the darkness of this world, Eph. vi. 12. This day 
 let the Lord smite the Philistine, and spoil the strong 
 man of his armour, and give me to fetch off the cap¬ 
 tives out of his hand: Lord, choose my words, choose 
 my weapons for me ; and when I put my hand into 
 the bag, and lake thence a stone and sling it, do thou 
 carry it to the mark, and make it sink, not into the 
 forehead (1 Sam. xvii. 49.) but the heart of the un¬ 
 converted sinner, and smite him to the ground, with 
 Saul, in his so happy fall, Acts ix. 4- Thou hast sent 
 me, as Abraham did Eleazer, to take a wife unto my 
 master thy son, Gen. xxiv. 4. but my discouraged soul 
 is ready to fear the woman will not be willing to fol¬ 
 low me : O Lord God of my master, I pray thee send 
 me good speed this day, and shew kindness to my 
 master, and send thine angel before me, and prosper 
 my way, that I may take a wife unto thy son: (Gen. 
 xxiv. 12.) that as thy servant rested not till he had 
 brought Isaac and Rebecca together, so I may be suc¬ 
 cessful to bring Christ and the souls of my people to¬ 
 gether before we part.” 
 
 But I turn me unto you. Some of you do not know 
 what I mean by conversion, and in vain shall I per¬ 
 suade you to that which you do not understand; and 
 
AN INVITATION TO SINNERS. 
 
 30 
 
 therefore for your sakes, I shall shew “ what this con¬ 
 version is.” Others do cherish secret hopes of mercy, 
 though they continue as they are; and for them I 
 must shew the “ necessity of conversion.” Others are 
 like to harden themselves with a vain conceit that 
 they are converted already, unto them I must shew 
 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 shew the “ misery of 
 the unconverted.” Others sit still, because they see 
 not their way out: to them I shall shew the “ means 
 of conversion.” And, finally, for the quickening of 
 all, I shall close with the “ motive to conversion.” 
 
 Chap. I. Shewing , in the negative , what Conversion is 
 not , and correcting some mistakes about it. 
 
 Let the blind Samaritans worship they know not 
 what, John iv. 22. Let the heathen Athenians in¬ 
 scribe their altar u unto the unknown God,” Acts xvii. 
 22. Let the guileful Papists commend the mother 
 of destruction for the mother of devotion ; they that 
 know man’s constitution, and the nature of the reason¬ 
 able soul’s operation, cannot but know that, the under¬ 
 standing'having the empire in the soul, he that will go 
 rationally to work must labour to let in the light here; 
 fgnorantis non est consensus. And therefore, that you 
 may not mistake me, I shall shew you what I mean 
 by the conversion I persuade you to endeavour after. 
 
 It is storied, that, when Jupiter let down the golden 
 chaplets from heaven, all but one were stolen; upon 
 which (lest they should lose a relic of so great esteem,) 
 they made five others so like it, that, if any were so 
 wickedly minded as to steal that also, they should not 
 be able to discern which was it. And truly, my be¬ 
 loved, the devil hath made many counterfeits of this 
 conversion, and cheats one with this, and another with 
 that; and such craft and artifice he hath in his mystery 
 of deceits, that (if it were possible) he would deceive 
 the very elect Now, that I may cure the damnable 
 
mistakes about conversion. 31 
 
 mistake of some, who think they are converted when 
 they are not, as well as remove the troubles and fears 
 of others, that think they are not converted when 
 they are, I shall shew you the nature of conversion, 
 both negatively, or what it is not, and, positively, 
 what it is. 
 
 We will begin with the negative. 
 
 1. “It is not the taking upon us the profession of 
 Christianity.” Doubtless Christianity is more than a 
 name. If we will hear Paul, it lies not in word, but 
 in power, l Cor. iv. 20. If to cease to be Jews and 
 Pagans, and to put on the Christian profession, had 
 been true conversion, (as this is all that some would 
 have to be understood by it) 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, 
 and threatened to be spewed out. Rev. iii. 1, 16. Are 
 there not many that mention the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, that yet depart not from iniquity ?2 Tim. ii. 
 19. and “ profess they know God, but in works they 
 deny him?” Tit. i. 16. And will God receive these 
 for true converts, because turned to the Christian re¬ 
 ligion? What! converts from sin, when yet they do 
 live in sin ! It is a visible contradiction. Surely, if 
 the lamp of profession would have served the turn, the 
 foolish virgins had never been shut out, Matt. xxv. 
 12 We find not only professors, but preachers of 
 Christ and wonder-workers, turned off because evil- 
 workers, Matt. vii. 22, 23. 
 
 2. “ It is not being washed in the laver of regen¬ 
 eration,” or putting on the badge of Christ in baptism. 
 Many take the press money, and wear the livery of 
 Christ, and yet never stand to their colours, nor fol¬ 
 low their leader. Ananias and Sapphira, and Magus, 
 were baptized as well as the rest. How fondly do 
 many mistake here, deceiving and being deceived ! 
 dreaming that effectual grace is necessarily tied to the 
 external administration of baptism, (which what is it 
 but to revive the popish tenet of the sacraments 
 
MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 
 
 32 
 
 working grace, ex opere operaio?) and so every infant 
 shall be regenerated, not only sacramento tenus , sacra¬ 
 mentally, but really and properly. Hence men do 
 fancy, that, being regenerated already when baptized, 
 they need no farther work. 
 
 But, if this were so, then all that were baptized 
 in their infancy must necessarily be saved, because 
 the promise of pardon and salvation is made to con¬ 
 version and regeneration, Acts iii. 19. Matt. xix. 28. 
 
 Our calling, sanctification, (as to the beginning of 
 it,) or conversion, (which are but the same things 
 under different conceptions and expressions,) is but a 
 middle link in the golden chain, fastened to election 
 at one end, and glorification at the other, Rom. viii. 
 30. 2 Thess. ii. 13. 1 Pet. i. 2 . The silver cord may 
 not be broken, nor the connection between sanctifi¬ 
 cation and salvation, between grace and glory, impi¬ 
 ously violated, Matt. v. 8. If we were indeed begot¬ 
 ten again, it is “ to an inheritance incorruptible, re¬ 
 served in heaven for us,” and the divine power is 
 engaged to keep us for it, 1 Pet i. 4. And, if the 
 very regenerate may perish at last in their sins, we 
 will no more say, that he that is born of God, his 
 seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, 1 John iii. 
 9. (i. e. unto death), nor that it is impossible to de¬ 
 ceive the very elect,’ 1 Matt. xxiv. 24. 
 
 And indeed, were this true, then we need look no 
 farther to see our names written in heaven, than only 
 to search the register, and see whether we were bap¬ 
 tized: Then I would keep the certificate of my bap¬ 
 tism as my fairest evidence for heaven, and shouid 
 come by assurance of my gracious state with a wet 
 finger: Then men should do well to carry but a cer¬ 
 tificate of their baptism, under the register’s hand, 
 when they died, (as the philosopher would be buried 
 with the bishop’s bond in his hand, which he had 
 given him for receiving his alms in another world,) 
 and, upon sight of this, there were no doubt of their 
 admission into heaven. 
 
 In short, if there be no more necessary to conver- 
 
MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 33 
 
 sion, or regeneration, than to be turned to the Chris, 
 tian religion, or to be baptized m infancy, thw mil 
 fly directly in the face of that Scripture, Matt. vn. 14. 
 as well as multitudes of others : For, first, we will 
 then no more say, “ strait is the gate, and narrow is 
 the wayFor, if all that were baptized, and are ot 
 the true religion, are saved, the door is become hea¬ 
 venly wide, and we will henceforth say, “ wide is the 
 gate, and broad is the way that leadeth unto lite: 
 For, if this be true, whole parishes, yea, whole coun¬ 
 tries, and whole kingdoms, may go in a breast; and 
 we will no more teach, that the righteous is scarcely, 
 saved, or that there is need of such a stir in taking the 
 kingdom of heaven by violence, and striving to enter 
 in. Surely, if the way be so easy as many take it, 
 that there is little more necessary than to be regener¬ 
 ated in our baptism, and cry “ God have mercy, and 
 be absolved by the minister at our end, it is more ado 
 than needs to put ourselves to such running, and 
 seeking, and knocking, and fighting, and wrestling, as 
 the word requires as necessary to salvation. Secondly, 
 if this be true, we will no more say, “ few there be 
 that find ityea, we will rather say, “ few there be 
 that miss it:” We will no more say, that, ot the 
 many that are “ called, but few are chosen,” Matt. xxu. 
 14. and that even of the professing “Israel but a 
 remnant shall be saved,” Rom. ix. 27- If this toc- 
 trine be true, we will not say any more, with the dis¬ 
 ciples, “ Who then shall be saved?” but rather, Who 
 then shall not be saved ? Then, if a man be called a 
 brother, (that is, a Christian,) and be baptized, though 
 he be a fornicator, or a railer, or covetous, or a 
 drunkard, yet he shall inherit the kingdom of God, 1 
 Cor. v. 11. and vi. 9, 10. , 
 
 But the Arminian will reply, Such as these, though 
 they did receive regenerating grace in baptism, are 
 since fallen away, and must be renewed again, or else 
 they cannot be saved. 
 
 I answer, 1. That there is an infallible connection 
 between regeneration and salvation, as we have 
 
M MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. 
 
 already shewn, and I long to be farther evidencing, 
 but that it is against designed brevity. 2. Then men 
 must be born again a second time; which carries a 
 great deal of absurdity in its very face: And why 
 may not men be twice born in nature as well as in 
 grace? Why not as great an absurdity to be twice 
 regenerated, as to be twice generated? But, 3. And 
 above all, this grants, however, the thing I contend 
 for, that, whatever men do or pretend to receive in 
 baptism, if they be found afterwards to be grossly 
 ignorant, or profane, or formal, without the power of 
 godliness, they “ must be born again,” or else be shut 
 out of the kingdom of God. So then they must have 
 more to plead for themselves than their baptismal re¬ 
 generation. 
 
 Well, in this you see all are agreed, that, be it more 
 or less that is received in baptism, (if when men 
 come to years,) they are evidently unsanctified, they 
 must be renewed again by a thorough and powerful 
 change, or else they cannot escape the damnation of 
 hell. Friends and brethren, “ be not deceived; God 
 is not mocked,’ Gal. vi. 7. Whether it be your bap¬ 
 tism, 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, 
 (Prov. xiii. 20.) in a word, if you are not holy, strict, 
 and self-denying Christians (Heb. xii. 14. Matt. xv. 
 24.) you cannot be saved, except you be transformed 
 by a farther work upon you, and renewed again by 
 repentance. ® J 
 
 Thus I have shewn, that it is not enough to 
 evidence a man to be regenerate, that he hath been 
 baptized ; effectual grace not necessarily accompany¬ 
 ing baptism, as some have vainly asserted. But I 
 must answer one objection before I pass. 
 
 Obj. The sacraments do certainly atthin their ends 
 where man doth not ponere Obicem or lay some ob¬ 
 struction ; which infants do not. 
 
 Solut. I answer, it is not the end of baptism to re- 
 
ERSION. 
 
 MISTAKES ABOUT 
 
 35 
 
 generate. 1. Because then there would be no reason 
 why it should be confined only to the seed ot believers; 
 for both the law of God and the nature ot charity re¬ 
 quire us to use the means of conversion for all, as tar 
 as we can have opportunity. Were this true no such 
 charity as to catch the children of'l urks and Heathens, 
 and baptize them, so dispatch them to heaven out ot 
 hand: like the bloody wretches that made the poor 
 Protestants (to save their lives) swear they would 
 come to mass, and that they would never depart from 
 it, and then put them forthwith to death, saying, ‘they 
 would hang them while in a good mind.” 2. Because 
 it pre-supposes regeneration, and therefore cannot be 
 intended to confer it. In all the express instances in 
 Scripture, we find that baptism doth suppose their re¬ 
 penting, believing, receiving the Holy Ghost, Acts vm. 
 37 and ii. 38. and x. 47. Mark xvi. 16. And to imagine 
 that baptism was instituted for an end, of which not 
 one of the first subjects was capable, (for they were all 
 adult persons, and supposed to have faith and repent- 
 ance according as they professed, and their children 
 were not baptized till after them in their right,) were 
 no little absurdity. Were this doctrine true, baptism 
 would make disciples ; but we find it doth bespeak them 
 such before-hand, Matt, xxviii. 19. 3. Because bap¬ 
 
 tism. being but a seal of the covenant, cannot convey 
 the benefits, but according to the tenor of the cove¬ 
 nant to which it is set. 
 
 Now the covenant is conditional; therefore the seals 
 convey conditionally. The covenant requires faith and 
 repentance, as the conditions of the grand benefits, 
 “ pardon and life,” Acts xvi. 31. and iii. 19. and what 
 the covenant doth not convey but upon these condi¬ 
 tions, the seal cannot: so that baptism doth presup¬ 
 pose faith and repentance in th<? subject, without which 
 it neither doth nor can convey the saving benefits; 
 otherwise the seal should convey contrary to the tenor 
 of the covenant to which it is affixed. 
 
 3. “ It lies not in a moral righteousness.” This ex¬ 
 ceeds not the righteousness of the scribes and phari- 
 C 2 
 
MISTAKES A 
 
 T CONVERSION. 
 
 36 
 
 sees, and therefore cannot bring us to the kingdom of 
 God, Matt. v. 20. Paul, while unconverted, touch¬ 
 ing the righteousness which is in the law, was blame¬ 
 less, Phil. iii. 6. None could say, 44 black is thine eye,” 
 The self justiciary could say, 44 1 am no extortioner, 
 adulterer, unjust,” &c. Luke xviii. 11. Thou must 
 have something more than all this to shew, or else 
 (however thou mayst justify thyself) God will con¬ 
 demn thee. I condemn not morality, but warn you 
 not to rest here: Piety includes morality, as Christian¬ 
 ity doth humanity, and grace reason; but we must 
 not divide the tables. 
 
 4. “ It consists not in an external conformity to the 
 rules of piety.” It is too manifest men may have a 
 form of godliness, without the power, 2 Tim. iii. 5. 
 Men may pray long, Matt, xxiii. 14. and fast often, 
 Luke xviii. 12. and hear gladly, Mark vi. 20. and be 
 very forward in the service of God, though costly and 
 expensive, Isa. i. 11. and yet be strangers to conver¬ 
 sion: They must 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 service, but a hypocrite may do it, even 
 to the “giving all his goods, to feed the “poor, and 
 his members to the fire,” 1 Cor. xii. 3. 
 
 5. “It lies not in the chaining up of corruption by 
 “ education, human laws, or the force of incumbent 
 affliction.” It is too common and easy to mistake edu¬ 
 cation for grace; but, if this were enough, whoa bet¬ 
 ter man than Jchoash 9 While JchoiadcLhy his uncle 
 lived, he was very forward in God’s service, and calls 
 upon him to repair the house of the Lord, 2 Kings xii. 
 2, 7. but here was nothing more than good education 
 all this while ; for, when his good tutor was taken out 
 of the way, he appears to have been but a wolf chained 
 up, and falls on to idolatry. 
 
 . ®*. ®hort, 46 it consists not in illumination or con¬ 
 viction, in a superficial change or partial reformation ” 
 An apostate may be a man enlightened, Heb. vi. 4. 
 and a Felix tremble under conviction, Acts xxiv. 25. 
 
MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. ^7 
 
 and a Herod amend many things, Mark vi. 20. It is 
 one thing to have sin alarmed only by convictions, 
 and another to have it captivated and crucified by con¬ 
 verting grace. Many, because they have been trou¬ 
 bled in conscience for their sins, think well of their 
 case, miserably mistaking “conviction for conversion. 
 With these Cain might have passed for a convert, who 
 ran up and down the world like a man distracted, un¬ 
 der the rage of a guilty conscience, till, with building 
 and business, he had worn it away, Gen. iv. Id, 1*- 
 Others think, that, because they have given over their 
 riotous courses, and are broken ofT from evi company 
 or some particular lust, and reduced to sobriety and 
 civility, they are now no other than real converts, for¬ 
 getting that there is a vast difference between being 
 fanctified and civilized ; and that many seek to enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven, Luke xm. 24. and are not 
 far from it, Mark xii. 34. and arrive to the almost ot 
 Christianity, Actsxxvi. 28. and yet tall short at last. 
 
 While conscience holds the whip over them, many will 
 
 pray, hear, read, and forbear their delightful sin: but 
 no sooner is the lion asleep, than they are at their vomit 
 again. Who were more religious than the Jews, when 
 God’s hand was upon them? Psal. Ixxvni. 34, 35. 
 Yet no sooner was the affliction over, than they torgot 
 God, and shewed their religion to be a fit, ver. 3b, 37. 
 Thou mayst have disgorged a troublesome sin, that 
 will not sit in thy stomach, and have escaped those 
 gross pollutions of the world, and yet have not changed 
 thy swinish nature all the while, 2 Pet. ii. 20, 2'~. 
 
 You may cast the lead out of the rude mass into the 
 more comely proportion of the plant, and then into the 
 shape of a beast, and thence into the form and features 
 of a man, yet all the while it is but lead still; so 
 a man may pass through divers transmutations, from 
 ignorance to knowledge, from profaneness to civil¬ 
 ity, thence to a form of religion, and all this while 
 he is but carnal and unregenerate, whilst his nature 
 remains unchanged. 
 
 Application. “ Hear then, O sinners, hear as you 
 
 
MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSIONS 
 
 would live, so come and hear,” Isa. Iv. 30. Why 
 would you so wilfully deceive yourselves, or build your 
 hopes upon the sand ? I know he shall find hard work 
 or it that goes to pluck away your hopes. It cannot 
 but be ungrateful to you, and truly it is not pleasing 
 to me. I set about it as a surgeon, when to cut off a 
 putrified member from his well-beloved friend, which 
 of force he must do, though with an aching heart, a 
 pitiful eye, and a trembling hand. But understand 
 nie, 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 “ perish, ’ if God be true to his word, Prov. xi. 
 7. And hadst not thou better, O sinner, to let the 
 word convince thee now in time, and let go thy false 
 and self-deluding hopes, than have death too late to 
 open thine eyes, and find thyself in hell before thou 
 art aware ? I should be a false and faithless shep¬ 
 herd if I should not tell you, that you, who have built 
 your hopes upon no better grounds than these before- 
 mentioned are yet in your sins: Let your conscience 
 speak : What is it that you have to plead for your- 
 selves ? Is it that you wear Christ’s livery ? that you 
 bear his name ? that you are of the visible 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 
 sms ? I tell you, from the Lord, these pleas will never 
 be accepted at God’s bar ; all this, though good in it¬ 
 self, will not prove you converted, and so will not suf¬ 
 fice to your salvation. Oh 1 look about you, and be¬ 
 think yourselves of turning speedily and soundly, 
 bet to praying, and to reading, and studying your ovvn 
 hearts; rest not till God hath made thorough work 
 with you; for you must be other men, or else you are 
 lost men. J 
 
 But if these be short of conversion, what shall I say 
 of the profane sinner P It may be he will scarce cast 
 his eyes or lend his ear to this discourse; but, if 
 
MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION. S0 
 
 there be any such reading, or within hearing, he must 
 know, from the Lord 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 
 glutton appear ? May a man keep company with the 
 wise virgins, and yet be shut out; shall not a compa¬ 
 nion of fools much more be destroyed? Prov xiii, 20. 
 May a man be true and trusty in his dealings, 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 advantage by a lying tongue ? If men may 
 be enlightened and brought to the performance of holy 
 duties, and yet go down to perdition for resting in 
 them and sitting down on this side of conversion, what 
 will become of you, O miserable families, 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 to Christ 
 for pardoning and renewing grace; give up yourselves 
 to him to walk with him in holiness, or else you shall 
 never see God. Oh ! that you would take the warn¬ 
 ings of God ! In his name I once more admonish you : 
 Turn you at my reproof, Prov. i. 23. Forsake the 
 foolish, and live, Prov. ix. 6. Be sober, righteous, 
 godly. Tit. ii. 12. Wash your hands, you sinners; 
 purify your hearts, ye double-minded, Jam. iv. 8. 
 Cease to do evil, learn to do well, Isa. i. 16, 17. 
 But, if you will on, you must die, Ezek. xxxiii. 1L 
 
 Chap. II. Shewing positively what Conversion is. 
 
 1 may not leave you with your eyes half open, as he 
 that saw “ men as trees walking,” Mark viii. 24. 
 The word is profitable for doctrine as well as reproof, 
 
 2 Tim. iii 16. And therefore, having thus far con¬ 
 ducted you by the shelves and rocks of so many dan¬ 
 gerous mistakes, l will guide you at length into the 
 harbour of truth. 
 
40 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 Conversion then, in short, lies in the thorough 
 change both of the heart and life* I shall briefly de¬ 
 scribe its nature and causes. 
 
 1. “ The author is the spirit of God,” and therefore 
 it is called “ the sanctification of the spirit,” 2 Thess. 
 ii. 13. and “ the renewing of the Holy Ghost,” Tit. iii. 
 5. yet not excluding the other persons in the Trinity; 
 for the Apostle teacheth us to “bless the Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, for that he hath begotten us 
 again,” 1 Pet. i. 3. And Christ is said to give repent¬ 
 ance unto Israel, Acts v. 31. and is called the “everlast¬ 
 ing father,” Isa. ix. 6. and we his seed, and the child¬ 
 ren which God hath given him, Heb. ii. 13. Isa. liii. 
 10. O blessed birth! Seven cities contended for the 
 birth of Homer, but the whole Trinity fathers the new 
 creature: Yet this work is principally ascribed to the 
 Holy Ghost, and so we are said to be “ born of the 
 spirit,” John iii. 8. 
 
 So then it is a work above man’s power: “We are 
 born, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
 the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God,” John 
 i. 13. Never think thou canst convert thyself; if ever 
 thou wouldst be savingly converted, thou must despair 
 of doing it in thine own strength. It is a resurrec¬ 
 tion from the dead,’ Rev. xx. 5. Eph. ii. 1. a new 
 creation, Gal. vi. 15. Eph. ii. 10. a work of absolute 
 omnipotence, Eph i. 19. Are these out of the reach 
 of human power? If thou hast no more than thou 
 hadst by thy first birth, a good nature, a meek and 
 chaste temper, &c. thou art a very stranger to true 
 conversion: This is a supernatural work. 
 
 2. “ The moving cause is internal or external.” 
 
 “ The internal mover is only free grace.” Not by 
 works of righteousness which we have done, but of 
 his own mercy he saved us, and “ by the renewing of 
 the Holy Ghost,” Tit. Hir-5, “ Of his own will begat 
 he us,” Jam. i. 18. We are chosen and called unto 
 sanctification, not for it, Eph. i. 4. 
 
 God finds nothing in a man to turn his heart, but 
 to turn his stomach : enough to provoke his loathing. 
 
THE. NATURE OF CONVERSION. 41 
 
 Nothing to provoke his love. Look back upon thy¬ 
 self,-O Christian; take thy verminous rags; look, 
 upon thyself in thy blood, Ezek. xvi. 6. O! reflect 
 upon thy swinish nature, thy filthy swill, thy once 
 beloved mire, 2 Pet. ii. 22r Canst thou think, with¬ 
 out loathing, of thy trough and draught? Open thy 
 sepulchre, Matt, xxiii. 27. Art thou struck almost 
 dead with the hellish damp? Behold thy putrid soul, 
 thy loathsome members: O stench unsufferable, if 
 thou dost but scent thy own putrefaction ! Psa. xiv. 3. 
 Behold thy ghastly visage, thy crawling lusts, thy 
 slime and corruption ! Do not thine own clothes ab¬ 
 hor thee? Job ix. 31. How then should holiness and 
 pureness love thee ? Be astonished, O heavens, at 
 this; be moved, O earth, Jer. ii. 12. Who must but 
 needs cry, grace! grace! Zech. iv. 7. Hear and 
 blush, you children of the Most High ; O you unthank¬ 
 ful generation! that free grace is no more in your 
 mouths, in your thoughts, no more adored, admired, 
 commended, by such as you ! 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 and 
 seldom mention? What but free grace should move 
 God to love you, unless enmity could do it, or de¬ 
 formity could do it, unless vomit or rottenness could 
 do it ? How affectionately doth Peter lift up his 
 hands ! “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus, who of his abundant mercy hath begotten us 
 again/’ 1 Pet. i. 3. How feelingly doth Paul magnify 
 the free mercy of God in it ! “ God, who is rich in 
 
 mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, hath 
 quickened 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.” He hath obtained gifts for 
 the rebellious, Psa. Ixviii. 18. and through him it is 
 that God worketh in us what is well pleasing in his 
 sight, Heb. xiii. 21. Through him are all spiritual 
 blessings bestowed upon us in heavenly things, Eph. 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 i. 3. He interceded for the elect that believed not, 
 John xvii. 20. Every convert is the fruit of his tra¬ 
 vail, Isa. liii. 11. Oh! never was infant born in the 
 world with that difficulty that Christ endured for us! 
 How emphatically he groaned in his travail! All the 
 pains that he suffered on his cross, they were our 
 birth-pains, Acts ii. 24. the pulls and throws that 
 Christ endured for us. He is made sanctified to 
 us, 1 Cor. i. 20 He sanctified himself, (that is, set 
 apart himself as a sacrifice,) that we may be sanctified, 
 John xvii. :9. We are sanctified through the offer¬ 
 ing of his body once for all, Heb. x. 10. 
 
 It is nothing then, without his own bowels, but the 
 merit and intercession of Christ that prevails with 
 God to bestow on us converting grace. If thou art a 
 new creature, thou knowest to whom thou owest it; 
 to Christ’s pangs and prayers. Hence the natural af¬ 
 fection of a believer to Christ. The f oal doth no more 
 naturally run after the dam, nor the suckling to the 
 dugs, than a believer to Jesus Christ. And whither 
 else shouldst thou go ? If any in the world can shew 
 that for thy heart that Christ can, let them carry it. 
 Doth Satan put in ? .Doth the world court thee ? Doth 
 sin sue for thy heart? Why, were these crucified for 
 thee ? 1 Cor. i. 13. O Christian, love and serve the 
 Lord whilst thou hast a being. Do not even the pub¬ 
 licans love those that love them, and shew kindness 
 to them that are kind to them, Matt. v. 4-6, 47. 
 
 3. “ The instrument is either personal or real.” 
 
 The personal is the ministry. 46 I 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, Acts xxvi. 18. 
 
 O unthankful world, little do you 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 reproached 
 and blasphemed ? Against whom have you exalted 
 your voice, and lifted your eyes on high, Isaiah 
 xxxvii. 23. These are the servants of the most high 
 God, that shew unto you the way of salvation, Acts 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 48 
 
 xvi. 17. and do you thus requite them ? O foolish and 
 unwise! Deut. xxxii. 6. O sons of ingratitude! against 
 whom do you sport yourselves? against whom make 
 you a wide mouth and loll out the tongue? Isa. lvii. 
 4. These are the instruments that God useth to con¬ 
 vert and save you : and do you spit in the face of your 
 physicians, and throw your pilots overboard? 4k Fa¬ 
 ther, forgive them ; for they know not what they do.” 
 
 44 The instrument real is the word.” We are be¬ 
 gotten by the word of the truth: This is it that en¬ 
 lightens the eye; that converteth the soul, Psa. xix. 7, 
 8. that maketh wise to salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15. This is 
 the incorruptible seed, by which we are born again, 1 
 Pet. i. 23 If we are washed, it is by the word, Eph. 
 v. 26. If we are sanctified, it is through the truth, 
 John xvii. 17. This generates faith, and regenerates 
 us, Rom. x. 17. James i. 18. 
 
 O ye saints, how should ye love the word ! for by 
 this you have been converted • O ye sinners, how 
 should you ply the word: For by this you must be 
 converted: No other ordinary means but this. You 
 that have felt its renewing power, make much of it 
 while you live; be for ever thankful for it; tie it 
 about your necks; write it upon your hand ; lay it in 
 your bosoms, Prov. vi. 21, 22. When you go, let it 
 lead you ; when you sleep, let it keep you ; when you 
 wake, let it talk with you: Say with holy David, 44 I 
 will never forget thy precepts, for by them thou hast 
 quickened me,” Psa. cx’X. 93. You, that are uncon¬ 
 verted, read the w’ord 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 in the word; come of thy knees to the 
 sermon, and come to thy knees from the sermon : The 
 seed doth not prosper, because not watered by prayers 
 and tears, nor covered by meditation. 
 
 4. 44 The final cause is man’s salvation, and God’s 
 glory.” We are chosen through sanctification to saU 
 vation, 2 Thess. ii, 13. called that we might be gla- 
 
44 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 rifled, Rom. viii. 30. but especially that God might be 
 glorified, Isa. lx. 21. that we should “ shew forth his 
 praise,” 1 Pet. ii. 9. and 66 be fruitful in good works,” 
 Col. i. 10. O Christian ! do not forget the end of thy 
 calling; u let thy light shine,” Matt. v. 16. let thy 
 lamp born; let thy fruits be good, and many, and in 
 season, Psa. i. 3. let all thy designs fall in with God’s, 
 that he may be “ magnified in thee,” Phil. i. 20. Why 
 should God repent that he hath made thee a Christian, 
 as in the time of the old world that he made them 
 men ? Gen. vi. 6. Why shouldst thou be an eye-sore 
 in his orchard, (Luke xiii. 7.) by thy unfruitfulness? 
 or a son that causeth shame, as it were a grief to thy 
 father and a bitterness to her that bare thee ? Prov, 
 xvii. 25. and x. 5. O let the “ womb bless thee that 
 bare thee. He that begets a fool doth it to his sor¬ 
 row, and the father of a fool hath no joy ? Prov. 
 xvii. 21. 
 
 5. “ The subject is the elect sinner, and that in all 
 his parts and powers, members and mind.” Whom 
 God predestinates, them only lie calls, Rom. viii. 30. 
 None are drawn to Christ by their calling, nor come 
 to him by believing, but his sheep, those whom the 
 Father hath given him, John vi. 37, 44*. Effectual 
 calling runs equal with eternal election, 2 Pet. i. 10. 
 
 Thou beginnest at the wrong end if thou disputest 
 first about thine election : Piove thy conversion, and 
 then never doubt of thy election : or, canst thou not 
 yet prove it ? set upon a present and thorough turn¬ 
 ing. Whatever God’s purposes be, (which are secret,) 
 I am sure his precepts are plain. How desperately 
 do rebels argue ! if l am elected, I shall be saved, do 
 what I will ; if not, 1 shall be damned, do what I can. 
 Perverse sinner! wilt thou begin where thou shouldst 
 end ? Is not the word before thee ? What saith it? 
 “ Repent and be converted, that your sins may be 
 blotted out,” Acts iii. 19. “ If you mortify the deeds 
 
 of the body, you shall live,” Rom. viii. 13 “ Believe 
 
 and be saved,” Acts xvi. 31. What can be plainer? 
 Do not stand still disputing about thine election, but 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 45 
 
 set to repenting and believing; cry to God for con¬ 
 verting grace. Revealed things belong to thee ; in 
 these busy thyself. It is just (as one well said) that 
 they who will not feed on the plain food of the word 
 should be choked with the bones. Whatever God's 
 purposes be, I am sure his promises are true ; what¬ 
 ever the decrees of heaven be, I am sure, that if I re¬ 
 pent and believe, I shall be saved; and that, if I re¬ 
 pent not, I shall be damned. Is not here plain ground 
 for thee P and wilt thou yet run upon the rocks ? 
 
 More particularly this change of conversion passes 
 throughout the whole subject. A carnal person may 
 have some shreds of good morality, a little near the 
 list; but he is never good throughout the whole cloth, 
 the whole body of holiness and Christianity : Feel him 
 a little farther near the ridge, and you shall see him 
 to be but a deceitful piece. Conversion is not repair¬ 
 ing of the old building; but it takes all down, and 
 erects a new structure: It is not the putting in a 
 patch, or sew ing a list of holiness: But with the true 
 convert, holiness is woven into all his powers, prin¬ 
 ciples, and practice. The sincere Christian is quite 
 a new fabric, from the foundation to the top-stone all 
 fire-new\ He is a new man, Eph. iv. 24. a new 
 creature. All things are become new, 2 Cor. v. 17. 
 Conversion is a deep work, a heart-work, Acts ii. 37. 
 and vi. 14. It turns all upside down, and makes a 
 man be in a new world. It goes throughout with 
 men, throughout the mind, throughout the members, 
 throughout the motion of the whole life. 
 
 1. “ Throughout the mind.” It makes an universal 
 change within. First, it turns the balance of the 
 judgment; so that God and his glory do weigh down 
 all carnal and worldly interest, Acts xx. 24. Phil. i. 20. 
 Psa Ixxiii. 25. It opens the eye of the mind, and 
 makes the scales of its native ignorance to fall off, 
 and turn men from darkness to light. Acts xxvi. 18. 
 Eph. v. 8. 1 Pet ii. 2. The man, that before saw no 
 danger in his condition, now concludes himself lost 
 and for ever undone, Acts ii. 37. except renewed by 
 
46 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 the power of grace. Fie, that formerly thought there 
 was a little hurt in sin, now comes to see it to be the 
 chief of evils; he sees the unreasonableness, unrigh¬ 
 teousness, the deformity, and filthiness, that are in 
 sin; so that he is affrighted with it, loathes it, dreads 
 it, flees it, and even abhors himself for it, Horn 
 vii. 3, 18. Job xlii. 6. Ezek. xxxvi. 81. Fie that 
 could see little sin in himself, and could find no mat¬ 
 ter for confession, (as it was said of that learned ig¬ 
 noramus Bellarmine, who, it seems, while he knew so 
 much abroad, was a miserable stranger to himself, 
 that, when he was to be confessed by the priest, 
 could not remember any things to confess, but was 
 fain to run back 10 the sins of his vouth,) 1 say, he 
 that could not find matter for confession, unless it 
 were some few gross and staring evils, now sin re- 
 viveth with him, Rom. vii. 9. he sees the rottenness 
 of his heart, and desperate and deep pollution of his 
 whole nature; he cries, unclean, unclean. Lev. xiii. 
 45. Lord, purge me with hyssop, wash me thoroughly, 
 create in me a new heart, Psa. li. 2, 7, 10. Fie sees 
 himself altogether become filthy, Psa. xiv. 3. corrupt 
 both root and tree, Matt. vii. 17,18. he writes unclean 
 upon all his parts and powers, and performances, Isa. 
 xlvi. 6. Rom. vii. 18. he discovers the nasty corners 
 that he was never aware of, and 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 nor comeliness in Christ, nor beauty, 
 that he should desire him; but now he finds the hid¬ 
 den treasure, and will sell all to buy this field. Christ 
 is the pearl he seeks; sin the puddle he loathes. 
 
 Now, according to this new light, the man is of 
 another mind, another judgment, than before he was : 
 Now God is all with him, he hath none in heaven, 
 nor in earth, like him l*sa. lxxiii. 25. he prefers him, 
 truly, before all the world ; his favour is his life, the 
 light of his countenance is more than corn, or wine 
 and oil: the good that formerly he inquired after, 
 and set his heart upon, Psa, iv, 6, 7. Now, let all 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 47 
 
 the world be set on one side, and God alone on the 
 other; let the harlot put on her paint and gallantry, 
 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, 
 persecuted, Christ before her, Phil. iii. 8. 1 Cor. ii. 2 . 
 Not but a hypocrite may come to yield a generous 
 assent to this, that God is the chief good; yea, the 
 wiser heathens (some few of them) have at last stum¬ 
 bled upon this; but there is a difference between the 
 absolute and comparative judgment of the under¬ 
 standing. No hypocrite comes so far as to look upon 
 God as the most desirable and suitable good to him, 
 and thereupon to acquiesce in him. This was the 
 Convert’s voice : “ The Lord is my portion, saith my 
 soul: Whom have I in heaven, but thee? and there 
 is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. God 
 is the strength of my heart, and my portion for 
 ever.” Psa. Jxxviii. 25, 26. Lam. iii. 24. 
 
 Secondly, “ It turns the bias of the will both as to 
 means and end.” 1. “ The intentions of the will are 
 altered ” Ezek. xxxvi. 26. Jer. xxxi. 33. Isa. xxvi. 8, 
 0. 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, Phil. i. 20. He counts himself 
 more happy in this than in all that the earth could 
 yield, that he may be serviceable 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, 
 and that all the sheaves of his brethren may bow to his 
 sheaf. 
 
 Reader, dost thou view this, and never ask thyself 
 whether it be thus with thee? Pause awhile, and 
 breathe on this great concernment. 
 
 2. “ The election is also changedso that he 
 chooseth another way, Psa. cxix. 15 He pitcheth 
 upon God as his blessedness, and upon Christ, as the 
 principal, and holiness as the subordinate means to 
 
4S the nature of conversion. 
 
 bring him to God, John xiv. 6. Rom. 7 - ^ 
 
 chooseth Jesus for his Lord, Col. u* 6. , 
 
 merely forced into Christ by the storm, noi o 1 
 take Christ for bare necessity, as the man begged 
 from the gallows when he takes the wi e ra ner an 
 the halter; but he comes off freely in the choice. This 
 match is not made in a fright, as with the terrified 
 conscience, or dying sinner, that will seemingly do any 
 thing for Christ, but doth only take Christ rather 
 than hell; but he deliberately resolves that Christ is 
 his best choice, Phil. i. 23. and would rather have him 
 to choose than all the good of this world, might he 
 enjoy it while he would. Again, he takes holiness for 
 his path; he doth not of mere necessity submit to it; 
 but he likes and loves it: 44 I have chosen the way of 
 thy precepts,” Psa. cxix. 173. He takes God’s testi- 
 monies, not as his bondage, but as his heritage, yea, 
 heritage for ever, ver. 111. He counts them not his 
 burden, but his bliss; not his cords, but his cordials, 
 1 John v. 3. Psa. cxix. 14, 16, 17. He doth not only 
 bear, but takes up, Christ’s yoke: He takes not holi¬ 
 ness as the stomach doth the loathed potion, (which it 
 will down with rather than die,) but as the hungry 
 doth his beloved food. No time passeth so sweetly 
 with him (when he is himself) as that he spends in the 
 exercises of holiness: These are both his aliment and 
 element, desire of his eyes, and the joy of his heart, 
 Job xxiii. 12. Psa. cxix. 82,131, 162, 174, and lxiii. 5. 
 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 thorough and impartial in the search. 
 
 Thirdly, 44 It turns the bent of the affections,” 2 Cor. 
 vii. 11. These run all in a new channel: The Jordan 
 is now driven back, and the water runs upward, 
 against its natural course. 
 
 Christ is his hope, 1 Tim. i. 1. This is his prize, 
 Phil. iii. 8. Here his eye is; here his heart is. He 
 is contented to cast all overboard, (as the merchant 
 in the storm ready to perish,) so he may but keep 
 this jewel. 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 49 
 
 of 1,18 desires is not after gold, but grace 
 Phil. m. 13. He hungers after it, he seeks it as filver! 
 he digs for it as for hid treasure; he had rather be gra¬ 
 cious than be great; he had rather be the holiest man 
 on earth than the most learned, the most famous, most 
 prosperous. While carnal, he said, Oh ! if I were but 
 in great esteem, and rolled in wrath, and swimming 
 in pleasure! if my debts were paid and I and mine 
 provided tor, then I were a happy man ! but now the 
 tone is changed; Oh ! saith the convert, if I had but 
 my corruptions subdued, if I had such measures of 
 grace, such fellowship with God, though I were poor 
 and despised, I could not care; I should account my¬ 
 self a blessed man. Reader, is this the language of 
 thy soul ? 00 
 
 His joys are changed. He rejoiceth in the ways of 
 God s testimonies as much as in all riches, Psa. cxix 
 14. He delights in the law of the Lord, wherein once 
 he had little savour. He hath no such joy as in the 
 thoughts of Christ, the fruition of his company, the 
 prosperity of his people. 
 
 His cares are quite altered. He was once set for 
 the world: and any scraps of by-time (nothing too 
 often) were enough for his soul; now he gives over 
 caring for the asses, and sets his heart on the king¬ 
 dom ; now all the cry is, “ what shall I do to be saved?” 
 Acts xvi. 30. His great solicitude is now to secure 
 his soul. Oh .' how would he bless you, if you could 
 but put him out of doubt of this 1 
 
 His fears are not so much of suffering, but of sin¬ 
 ning, Heb. xi. 25, 27. Once he was afraid of nothing 
 so much as the loss of his estate or est eem, the pleasure 
 of friends, the frowns of the great; nothing sounded 
 so terrible to him as pain, or poverty, or disgrace; now 
 these are little to him, in comparison of God’s dis¬ 
 honour or displeasure. How warily doth he walk 
 lest he should tread upon a snare ! He feareth alway • 
 he looks before and behind; he hath his eye upon his 
 heart, and is often casting over his shoulder, lest he 
 should be overtaken with sin. Psa. xxxix. 1. p rov 
 
 / 
 
50 THE NATURE OF CONYEBSION. 
 
 xxviii. 14. Feel. ii. 14. It kills his heart to think of 
 Kin* God’s favour, this he dreads as his only undoing 
 PsT H 11, 12, and cxix. 8. No thought in the world 
 doth pinch him and pain him so much as to think ot 
 
 Pa &rve h run h s l anew course. My love was cruel- 
 fled, (saith Ignatius,) that is, my Christ. 1 his is my 
 beloved, saith the spouse, Cant. v. I&. How doth 
 Augustine often pour his love upon Christ. O eter- 
 
 nal blessedness P &c. T 4 
 
 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: Ap¬ 
 pear unto me, O my great delight, my sweet comfort. 
 O my God, my life, and the whole glory of my soul. 
 Let me find thee, O desire of my heart. Let me hold 
 thee, O love of my soul. Let me embrace thee, 0 
 heavenly bridegroom. Let me possess thee. 
 
 His sorrows have now a new vent, 2 Cor. vn. y, 1U. 
 The view of his sins, the sight of a Christ crucified, 
 that would scarce stir him before, now how much do 
 
 they affect his heart! _ . . „ 
 
 His hatred boils, his anger burns against sin. Psa. 
 cxix 104. He hath no patience with himself; he 
 calls himself fool and beast, and thinks any name too 
 good for himself, when his indignation is stirred up 
 Igainst sin. Psa. lxxiii. 22. Prov. xxx. 2. He could 
 once swill in it with too much pleasure : now he loathes 
 the thought of returning to it as much as licking up 
 the filthiest vomit. 
 
 Commune then with thine own heart, and attend 
 the common and general current of thine affection, 
 whether it be towards God in Christ above all other 
 concernments. Indeed, sudden and strong commo¬ 
 tions of the affections and sensitive parts are oft-times 
 found in hypocrites; especially where the natural in¬ 
 clination leads thereunto: And, contrariwise, the sane- 
 tified themselves are many times without sensible stir¬ 
 ring of the affections, where the temper is more slow, 
 dry, and dull. The great inquiry is, whether the 
 
THE NATURE OFVg^J^RSION. 51 
 
 judgment and will be standingly determined for God, 
 above all other good, real or apparent; and, it the 
 affections do sincerely follow their choice and conduct, 
 though it be not so strongly and 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 
 utensils of Christ’s living temple, Rom. vi. 16 1 Cor. 
 iii. 16. He that before made, as it were, a bawd or a 
 barrel of bis body, now possesseth his vessel in sancti¬ 
 fication and honour, in temperance, chastity, and so¬ 
 briety, and dedicateth it to the Lord. 1 lhess. iv. -L 
 Gal. v. 22. 23. 1 Cor vi. 19, 20. . 
 
 The eye that was once a wandering eye, a wanton 
 eve, a haughty, a covetous eye, is now employed (as 
 Mary’s) in weeping over its sins, Luke vu. 33. in be¬ 
 holding God in his works, Psa viii. 3. in reading his 
 words, Acts viii. 30. in looking up and down tor ob¬ 
 jects of mercy, and opportunities for his service. 
 
 The ear that was once open to Satan s call, and that 
 (like a vitiated palate) did relish 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 ser¬ 
 vant hearethIt cries, with him. Vernal Vcrbune 
 Domini, and waits for his words as the rain, and rehsh- 
 eth them more than the appointed food, Job xxiii. 12. 
 “than the honey and the honey-comb,” Psa. xix. 10. 
 
 The head, that was the shop of worldly designs, is 
 now filled with other matters, and set on the study of 
 God’s will, Psa. i. 2. and cxix. 97. and the man beats 
 his head, not so much about his gain, hut about his 
 duty. The thoughts and cares that fill his head are 
 principally how he may please God and flee. sin. 
 
 His heart that was a sty of filthy lusts, is now be¬ 
 come an altar of incense, where the fire of divine 
 love is ever kept in, and whence the daily sacrifice ot 
 prayer and praise, and sweet incense of holy desires, 
 ejaculations, and anhelations, are continually ascend¬ 
 ing Psa. cviii. 1. and xxix. 20. and cxxxix. 17, 18. 
 6 D 
 
52 THE CONVERSION. 
 
 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 eaten out the cor¬ 
 ruption, Col. iv 6. and cleansed the mouth from its 
 filthy comn un cat on, flattery, boasting, lying, swear¬ 
 ing, backbiiing, that once came like the flashes that 
 proceeded from the hell that was in the heart, James 
 iii. 6, 7. The throat, that was once an open sepul¬ 
 chre, Horn. iii. 13. 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 taking of God and Christ, and 
 the matters of another world. His mouth bringetli 
 wisdom ; his tongue is become the silver trumpet of 
 his Maker's praise, his glory and the “ best member 
 that he hath ” 
 
 Now, here you shall have the hypocrite halting: 
 He speaks (it may be) like an angel, but he hath a 
 covetous eye, or the gain of unrighteousness in his 
 hand; or the hand is white, but his heart is full of 
 rottenness, Matt. Xxiii. 27. full of unmortified cares, 
 a very oven of lust, a shop of pride, the seat of malice. 
 It may be with Nebuchadnezzar's image, he hath a 
 golden head, a great deal of knowledge; but he hath 
 feet of clay, his affections are worldly, he minds 
 earthly things, and his way and walk are sensual and 
 carnal; you may trace him in his secret haunts, and 
 his footsteps will be found in some by-paths of sin; 
 the work is not throughout with him. 
 b Throughout the motions, or the life and prac¬ 
 tice,” the new man takes a new course, Eph. ii. 2, 3. 
 His “conversation is in heaven,’’Phil. iii. 20. No sooner 
 doth Christ call by effectual grace, than he straightway 
 becomes a “ follower of him," Matt. iv. 20. When God 
 hath given the new heart, and written his law in 
 his mind, he forthwith walks hi his statutes, and keeps 
 his judgments, l zek xxxvi. 26,27. 
 
 1 hough sin may dwell (God knows, a wearisome 
 and unwelcome guest) in him, yet he hath “nomore 
 dominion over him," Rom. vi, 7, 14, “ He hath his 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 53 
 
 fruit unto holiness,” Rom. vi 22. And, though he 
 makes many a blot, yet the law of life and Jesus is 
 what he eyes as his copy, Psa. cxix. 30. Ileb. xii. 2. 
 and he hath an unfeigned respect to all God's com¬ 
 mandments, making conscience even of little sins and 
 li?tie duties, Psa. cxix. 113. His very infirmities, 
 which he cannot help though he would, are his soul's 
 burden, and are like the dust in a man's eye, which 
 though but little, yet is not a little troublesome. (0 
 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 Jaw; he 
 doth not pretend piety, and neglect morality, Matt, 
 xxiii. 14. but he turneth from all his sins, and keeps 
 all God's statutes, Ezek. xviii 21. though not per¬ 
 fectly (except in desire and endeavour) yet sincerely, 
 not allowing himself in the breach of any, Rom. vii. 
 15. 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, Rom. vii. 22. Psa. cix. 4. 
 Isa. lviii. 10. 46 He breaketh off his sins by righte¬ 
 
 ousness, and his iniquities by shewing mercy to the 
 poor, Dan. iv. 27. and hath a good conscience, willing 
 in all things to Jive honestly,” Heb. xiii 18. and to 
 keep without offence toward God and man. 
 
 Here again you find the unsoundness of many pro¬ 
 fessors, that take themselves for good Christians; they 
 are partial in the law, Mai. ii. 9. and take up with 
 the cheap and easy duties of religion, but go not 
 through with the work. They are as a cake not 
 turned, half toasted and half raw. It may be you 
 shall have them exact in their words, punctual in their 
 dealings, but then they do not exercise themselves 
 unto godliness; and, for examining themselves and 
 governing their hearts, to this they are strangers. 
 You may have them duly at the church: but, fol¬ 
 low them to their families, and there you shall see 
 
/ 
 
 54 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION* 
 
 little but the world minded; or, if they have a road 
 for family-duties, follow them to their closets, and 
 there you shall find their souls are little looked after. 
 It may be they seem otherwise religious, but bridle 
 not their tongues, and so “ all their religion is in vain, 
 James i. 26. It may be they come up to closet and 
 family prayer: but, follow them to their shops, and 
 there you shall find them in a trade of lying, or 
 some covert and cleanly way of deceit. r l hus the 
 hypocrite goes throughout in the course of his obe¬ 
 dience. And thus much for the subject of con¬ 
 version. # 
 
 6. “ The terms are either from which or to which. 
 
 1. “The terms from which we turn in this motion 
 of conversion are, sin, Satan, the world, and our own 
 righteousness ” 
 
 First, Sin, when a man is converted, he is for ever 
 out with sin; yea, with all sin, Psa. cxix. 128. but 
 most of all with his own sins, and especially with his 
 bosom sin, Psa. xviii. 23. Sin is now the butt of his 
 indignation, 2 Cor. vii. 11. he thirsts to bathe his 
 hands in the blood of his sins. His sins set abroach 
 his sorrows. It is sin that pierces him and wounds 
 him ; he feels it like a thorn in his side, like a prick in 
 his eyes: he groans and struggles under it, and not 
 formally, but feelingly cries out, “ O wretched man P 
 He is not impatient of any burden so much as of his 
 sin, Psa. xl 12. If God should give him his choice, 
 he would choose any affliction, so he might be rid of 
 sin; he feels it like the cutting gravel in his shoes, 
 pricking and paining him as he goes. 
 
 Before conversion he had light thoughts of sin ; he 
 cherished it in his bosom, as Uriah his lamb ; he nou¬ 
 rished it up, and it grew up together with him; it 
 did eat, as it were, of his own meat, and drank of his 
 own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him as a 
 daughter: But, when God opens his eyes by conver¬ 
 sion, he throws it away with abhorrence, Isa. xxx. 22. 
 as a man would a loathsome toad, which in the dark 
 he hath hugged fast in his bosom, and thought it 
 
 r', 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. ^ 
 
 had been some pretty and harmless bird. When a 
 man is savingly changed, he is not only deeply con- 
 vinced of the danger, but defilement of sin: and, Oh! 
 how earnest is he with God to be purified ! he loaths 
 himself for his sins, Ezek. xxxvi 31. He runs to 
 Christ, and casts himself into the fountain for sin and 
 for uncleanness, Zech. xiii. 1- If he fall, what a stir 
 is there to get all clean again ! He flies to the word, 
 and washes, and rubs, and rinses, labouring to cleanse 
 himself from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit: He 
 abhors his once beloved siu, Fsa xviii. 43. as a cleanly 
 nature doth the trough and mire wherein he sees the 
 
 swine delight. . . 
 
 The sound convert is heartily engaged against sin; 
 he struggles with it, he wars against it; he is too often 
 foiled, but he will never yield the cause, nor lay down 
 the weapons, but he will'up and to it again, while he 
 has breath in his body : he will never give quiet pos¬ 
 session ; he will m .ke no peace; he will give no quar¬ 
 ter; he fails upon it, and fires upon it, and is still 
 disquieting it with continual alarms. He can forgive 
 his other enemies; he can pity them, and pray lor 
 them. Acts vii. 60. hut here he is implacable, here he 
 is set upon revenge: lie hunteth as it were tor the 
 precious life; bis eyes shall not pity, his hand shall 
 not spare, though it be a light hand or a right eye. 
 Be it a gainful sin, most delightful to his nature, or 
 support to his esteem with carnal 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, Luke 
 xix b. 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, O mine enemy !” 
 
 Header, hath conscience been at work while thou 
 hast been looking over these lines? Hast thou pon¬ 
 dered these things in thy heart? Hast thou searched 
 the book within, to see if these things be so? If not, 
 read it again, and make thy conscience speak whether 
 or not it be thus with thee. 
 
56 THE NATURE OP CONVERSION. 
 
 Hast thou crucified thy flesh with its affections and 
 lusts? and not only confessed, but forsaken, thy sins, 
 all sin in thy fervent desires, and the ordinary prac¬ 
 tice of every deliberate and wilful sin in thy life? If 
 not, thou art yet unconverted. Doth not conscience 
 fly in thy face as thou readest, and tell thee that thou 
 livest in a way of lying for thy advantage, that thou 
 usest deceit in thy calling, that there is some way of 
 secret wantonness that thou livest sin ? why then do 
 not deceive thyself; thou art in the gall of bitterness, 
 and bond of iniquity. 
 
 Doth not thy unbridled tongue, thy brutish intem¬ 
 perance, thy wiiked company, thy neglect of prayer, 
 of reading and hearing the word, now witness against 
 thee, and say, “we are thy works, and we will follow 
 thee?” Or, if I have not hit thee right, doth not the 
 bird within tell thee, there is such or such a way as 
 thou knowest to be evil, that yet for some carnal re¬ 
 spect thou dost tolerate thyself in, and art willing to 
 spare? If this be thy case, thou art to this day unre¬ 
 generate, and must be changed or condemned. 
 
 Secondly, Satan. Conversion binds the strong man, 
 spoils his armour, casts out his goods, turn men from 
 the power of Satan unto God. Acts xxvi. IS. Be¬ 
 fore the devil could no sooner hold up his finger to 
 the sinner, to call him to his wicked company, sin¬ 
 ful games, and filthy delights, but presently he fol¬ 
 lowed, like an ox to the slaughter, and a fool to the 
 correction of the stocks; as the bird that hasteth to 
 the prey, and knowetli not that it is for his life. No 
 sooner could Satan bid him lie, but presently he had 
 it on the top of his tongue, Acts v. 3. No sooner 
 could Satan offer a wanton object, but he was stung 
 with lust. The devil could do more with him than 
 God could : If the devil says, “ away with these family- 
 duties,”. be. sure they shall be rarely enough per¬ 
 formed in his house: If the devil says, “ away with this 
 strictness, this preciseness,” he will keep far enough 
 from it: If he tell him, “ there is no need of these 
 closet-duties,” he shall go from day to day, and 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 57 
 
 scarce perform them. But, since he is converted, he 
 serves another master, and takes q »ite another course, 
 1 Pet. iv. he goes and comes at Cmist’s b ck, Col. iii. 
 24 Satan may sometimes catch his tool in a trap, but 
 he will no longer be a willing captive; he watches 
 against the snares and baits ot Satan, and studies to be 
 acquainted with his devices; he is very suspicious of 
 his plots, and is very jealous in what comes athwart 
 him, lest Satan should have some design upon him ; 
 he 66 wrestles agaiust 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, 1 Pet. v. 8. and watches in his duties, lest Satan 
 should put in his foot. 
 
 Thirdly, The 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, 
 He is the root of man’s misery by the fall; he is turned 
 aside to the creature instead of God, and gives that 
 esteem, confidence, and affection, to the creature, that 
 is due to him alone. Rom. i. 25. Matt. x. 37. Prow 
 xvni. 11. Jer. xvii. 5. 
 
 O miserable man ! what a deformed monster hath 
 sin made thee! God made thee little lower than the 
 angels;*’ sin, little better than the devils, John vi. 70. 
 and viii. 44. a monster that hath his head and heart 
 where his feet should be, and his feet kicking against 
 heaven, and every thing out of place ! The world, 
 that was formed to serve thee, is come to rule thee, 
 and the deceitful harlot hath bewitched thee with her 
 i enchantments, and made thee bow down and serve her. 
 
 But converting grace sets all in order again, and 
 puts God in the throne, and the world at his foot¬ 
 stool, Psa. Ixxiii. 25. Christ in the heart, and the 
 world under the feet, Eph. iii. 17. Rev. xii. 1. So 
 s Paul, “ I am crucified to the world and the world 
 to me,” Gal. vi. 14. Before this change, all the cry 
 t was, “ who will shew us any worldly good ?” but now 
 he sings another tune, “ Lord, lift thou up the light 
 
58 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 of thy countenance upon me,” and take the corn and 
 wine whoso will, Psa. iv. 6, 7. Before, his heart’s 
 delight and content were 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 we should desire it; and he tunes up with the 
 sweet Psalmist of Israel: “ The Lord is the portion of 
 my inheritance; the lines are fallen to me in a fair 
 place, and I have a goodly heritage.” He blesseth 
 himself, and boasteth himself in God, Psa. xxxiv. 2. 
 Lam. iii. 24. Nothing else can give him content. 
 He hath written vanity and vexation upon all his 
 worldly enjoyments, Eccles. i 2. and loss and dung 
 upon all human excellencies, Phil. iii. 7, 8. He hath 
 life and immortality now in chase, Rom. ii. 7. He 
 trades for grace and glory, and hath a crown incor¬ 
 ruptible in pursuit, i Cor. ix. 25. His heart is set in 
 him to seek the Lord, 1 Chron. xxii. 19 and2Chron. 
 xv. 15 He first seeks the kingdom of heaven and 
 the righteousness thereof, and religion is no longer a 
 matter by-the-bye with him, but the main of his care. 
 Matt. vi. 33. Psa. xxvii. 4. Now the gaudy idol is 
 become Nehushtan, 2 Kings xviii. 4 and he gets up 
 and treads upon it, as Diogenes trampling upon Plato’s 
 hangings, saying Caleo Plalonis Fastum . Before, the 
 world had the swaying interest with him; he would 
 do more for gain than godliness, 1 Tim. vi. 5. more 
 to pleasure his friend, or his flesh, than to please the 
 God that made him; and God must stand by till the 
 world was first served: But now all must stand by; 
 he hates father and mother, and life, and all, in com¬ 
 parison of Christ, Luke xiv. 26. Well, then, pause a 
 little, and look within: Doth not this nearly concern 
 thee? Thou pretendest for Christ, but doth not the 
 world sway thee ? i)ost thou not take more real de¬ 
 light and content in the world than in him? Dost thou 
 not find thyself better at ease when the world goes to 
 thy mind, and thou art encompassed with carnal de¬ 
 light, than when retired to prayer and meditation in 
 
the nature of conversion. 
 
 59 
 
 thy closet, or attending upon God’s word and wor¬ 
 ship P No surer evidence of an unconverted state than 
 to have the things of the world uppermost in our aim, 
 love, and estimation. John ii. 15. James iv. 4. 
 
 } With the sound convert, Christ has the supremacy. 
 
 ! How dear is his name to him ! How precious is his 
 ; favour ! Cant. i. 3. Psa. xlv. 8. The name of Jesus 
 is engraven on his heart. Gal. iv. 19. and lies as a 
 11 bundle of myrrh between his breasts, Cant. i. 13, 14. 
 Honour is but air, and laughter is but madness, and 
 Mammon is fallen like Dagon before the ark, with 
 hands and head broken off on the threshold, when 
 a once Christ is savingly revealed. Ilere is the pearl 
 of great price to the true convert; here is his trea- 
 11 sure, here is his hope, Matt. xiii. 44, 45. I his is 
 1J his glory; my beloved is mine, and I am his. Gal. 
 
 1 vi. 14. Cant. ii. 16. Oh ! it is sweeter to him to be 
 & able to say, Christ is mine, than if he could say, the 
 
 * kingdom is mine, the Indies are mine. 
 
 n Fourthly, “yourown righteousness” Before con- 
 
 * version, man seeks to cover himself with his own fig- 
 g leaves, Phil. iii. 6, 7. and to lick himself whole with 
 - his own duties, Mic. vi. 6, 7. He is apt to trust in 
 
 himself, Luke xvi. 15. and xviii. 9. and set up his 
 ii own righteousness, and to reckon his counters for 
 m gold, and not submit to the righteousness of God, 
 
 i Rom. x. 3. But conversion changes his mind : now 
 x> he casts away his filthy rags, and counts his own 
 
 ii righteousness as a menstruous cloth : He casts it off, 
 li as a man would the verminous tatters of a nasty beg- 
 4 gar, Isa. lxiv. 6. Now he is brought to poverty of 
 it spirit. Matt. v. 3. complains of and condemns himself, 
 
 Rom. vii. and all his inventory is, “ poor and miser- 
 able, and wretched, and blind, and naked,” Rev. iii. 
 lit 17. He sees a world of iniquity in his holy things, 
 k and calls his once-idolized righteousness but filth, and 
 i loss, and dog’s meat; and would not for a thousand 
 mi worlds be found in himself, Phil. iii. 4, 7, 8, 9. His 
 to finger is ever upon his sores, Psa. Ii. 3. his sins, his 
 f wants. Now he begins to set a high price upon 
 
 D 2 
 
60 
 
 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 Christ's righteousness; he sees the need of a Christ, 
 in every duty, to justify his person, and justify his 
 performances; he cannot live without him ; he cannot 
 pray without him; Christ must go with him; or else 
 he cannot come into the presence of God ; he leans 
 upon the hand of Christ, and so bows himself in the 
 house of his God ; he sets himself down for a lost un- 
 done man without him; his life is hid in Christ, as 
 the root of a tree spreads in the earth, for stability and 
 nutriment. Before, the news of a Christ was a stale 
 and sapless thing; but now how sweet is a Christ! 
 Augustine could not relish his before so much-admired 
 Cicero, because he could not find the name of Christ: 
 how pathetically cries he, Dulcissime , amanlis benignis 
 Claris , &c quando te videbo ? quando satiabor de pul- 
 chritudine tua ? Meditat c. 37. 44 O most sweet, most 
 loving, most kind, most dear, most precious, most 
 desired, most lovely, most fair, &c. all in a breath, 
 when he speaks of and to his Christ. In a word, the 
 voice of the convert is with the martyr, 44 none but 
 Christ" 
 
 The terms, which are either ultimate, or subordi¬ 
 nate, or mediate. 
 
 The ultimate is, God the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, whom the true convert takes as his all-suffi¬ 
 cient and eternal blessedness. A man is never truly 
 sanctified till his very heart be in truth set upon 
 God above all things, as his portion and chief good. 
 These are the natural breathings of a believer^ 
 heart: 44 Thou art my portion," Psa. cxix. 57. 44 My 
 soul shall make her boast in the Lord," Psa. xxxiv. 
 2. fc4 My expectation is from him; he only is my rock 
 and my salvation; he is my defence; in God is my 
 salvation and glory ; the rock of my strength, and my 
 refuge is in God," Psa. Ixii. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7. and xviii. 
 1 , 2 . 
 
 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. 
 
 Hast thou taken God for thy happiness ? Where 
 
THE NATURE OP CONVERSION. 61 
 
 doth the content of thy heart lie? Whence doth thy 
 choicest comfort come in ? Come then, and, with Abra¬ 
 ham, lift up thine eyes eastward, and westward, and 
 northward, and southward, and cast 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 Ahu- 
 suerus to Esther, “ what is thy petition, and what 
 is thy request, and it shall be granted thee ? (Est. v, 
 S.) what wouldst thou ask ? Go into the gardens of 
 pleasure, and gather all the fragrant flowers thence : 
 Would these content thee ? Go to the treasures ot 
 Mammon ; suppose thou mightst lade thyself a* thou 
 wouldst from hence. Go to the towers, to the tro¬ 
 phies of honour; what thinkest thou ot 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 count thyself a happy man? 
 If so, then certainly thou art carnal and unconverted. 
 If not, go farther; wade into the divine excellencies, 
 the store of his mercies, the hiding of his power, the 
 depths unfathomable of his all- sufficiency: Doth this 
 suit thee best and please thee most ? Dost thou say, 
 “ It is good to be here ?” Matt. xvii. 4. “ Here will l 
 pitch; here will I live, and die?” Wilt thou let all 
 the world go rather than this ? Then it is well between 
 God and thee ? happy art thou, O man; happy art 
 thou that ever thou wast born: If a God can make 
 thee happy, thou must needs be happy ; for thou hast 
 vouched the Lord to be thy God, Deut. xxvi. 17. 
 Dost thou say to Christ as he to us, “ Thy Father 
 shall be my Father, and thy God be my God,” John 
 xx. 17. Here is the turning point; An unsound pro¬ 
 fessor never takes up his rest in God, but converting 
 grace does the work, and so cures the fatal misery of 
 the fall, by turning the heart from its idol to the liv¬ 
 ing God, 1 Thess. i. 9. Now, says the soul, “ Lord, 
 whither shall I go ?” “ Thou hast the words of eternal 
 life,” John vi. G8. Here he centers, here he settles; 
 Oh! it is the entrance of heaven to him, to see his in- 
 
62 THE nature op conversion. 
 
 terest in God. When he discovers this, he saith, 64 re¬ 
 turn unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt 
 bountifully with thee,” Psa. cxvi. 7. And it is even 
 ready to breathe out Simeon’s song, “ Lord, now let- 
 test thou thy servant depart in peace,” Luke ii. 29. 
 and saith, with Jacob, when his old heart revived at 
 the welcome tidings, “ it is enough,” Gen. xlv 28. 
 When he sees he hath a God in covenant to go to, 
 “ this is all his salvation, and all his desire,” 2 Sam, 
 xxiii. 5. 
 
 Man, is this thy case? hast thou experienced this? 
 why then “ blessed art thou of the Lord;” God hath 
 been at work with thee; he hath laid hold on thy 
 heart by the power of converting grace, or else thou 
 couldst never have done this. 
 
 The mediate term of conversion is either principal 
 or less principal. 
 
 The principal is Christ, the only mediator between 
 God and man, 1 Tim. ii 5. His work is to bring us 
 to God, 1 Pet. iii. 8 He is the way to the Father, 
 John xvi. 6. the only plank on which we may escape, 
 the only door by which we may enter, John x. 9. con¬ 
 version brings ovei the soul to Christ to accept him, 
 Col. ii. 6. as the only means of life, as the only way, 
 the only name given under heaven, Acts iv. 12. He 
 looks not for salvation in any other but him; nor in 
 any other with him : but throws himself on Christ 
 3 lone, as one that should cast himself with spread 
 arms upon the sea. r 
 
 Here (saith the convinced sinner) “ I will venture: 
 and, it I perish, I perish: If I die, I will die here. 
 #ut, Lord, suffer me not to perish under the pitiful 
 eye of thy mercy. Entreat me not to leave thee, 
 or to turn away from following after thee,” Kuth i. 16. 
 “Here I will throw myself, if thou kick me, if thou 
 kill me,” Job xiii. 15. 44 I will not go from thy door.” 
 
 Thus the poor soul doth venture on Christ," and re¬ 
 solvedly adhere to him. Before conversion, the man 
 made light of Christ, minded his farm, friends, mer¬ 
 chandise, more than Christ, Matt. xxii. 5. now Christ 
 
THE NATURE OP CONVERSION, 63 
 
 is to him, as his necessary food, his daily bread, the 
 life of his heart, the staff of his life, Gal, ii 20 His 
 great design is, that Christ may be magnified in him, 
 Phil, i 20. His heart once said, as then to the spouse, 
 what is thy beloved more than another ?” Cant, v 9. 
 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 enjoy¬ 
 ments for an idle dream; but now to him to live is 
 Christ. He sets light by all that he accounted preci¬ 
 ous, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, 
 Phil. iii. 8. 
 
 All of Christ is accepted by the sincere converts : 
 He loves not only the wages, but the work ol Christ, 
 Rom vii. 12. not only the benefits, but the burden, 
 of 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 cross of Christ, Matt, 
 xi. 9. and xvi 24. 
 
 The unsound closeth by the halves with Christ; 
 he is all for the salvation of Christ, but he is not for 
 sanctification; he is for the privileges, but appropri¬ 
 ates not the person, of Christ; he divides the offices 
 and benefits of Christ. This is an error in the foun¬ 
 dation : Whoso loveth life, let him beware here ; it is 
 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 “ since¬ 
 rity ,” Eph. vi 24 They will not have him as God 
 offers, “to be a prince and a saviour,” Acts v. 31. 
 They divide what God hath joined, the king and the 
 priest: Yea, they will not accept the salvation of 
 Christ as he intends it; they divide it here, Every 
 man’s vote is for salvation from suffering; but they 
 desire not to be saved from sinning; they would have 
 their lives saved, but withal would have their lusts. 
 Yea, many divide here again; they would be ’ton# 
 tent to have some of their sins destroyed, but they 
 cannot leave the lap of Delilah, or divorce the beloved 
 Hergdias: They cannot be cruel to the right eye or 
 
64 the nature of conversion. 
 
 without exceptions, without limitations, without re* 
 right hand: The Lord must pardon them in this thing, 
 2 Kings v, 16 Oh ! be carefully tender here: your 
 souls be upon it. The sound convert takes a whole 
 Christ, and takes him for all intents and purposes, 
 serves. He is willing to have Christ upon any terms; 
 he is willing to have the dominion of Christ, as well 
 as deliverance by Christ; hesaith, with Paul, “ Lord, 
 what wilt thou have me to do?” Acts ix. 6. Any 
 thing, Lord : He sends the blank to Christ, to set 
 down his own conditions. Acts ii. 37. and xvi. 30. 
 
 The less principal is the laws, ordinances, and ways, 
 of Christ. The heart that was once set against these, 
 and could not endure the strictness of these bonds, the 
 severity of these ways, now falls in love with them, 
 and chooses them as its rule and guide for ever, Psa, 
 cxix. Ill, 112. 
 
 Four things (I observe) God doth work in every 
 sound convert, with reference to the laws and ways of 
 Christ, by which you may come to know your state, 
 if you will be faithful to your own souls, and there¬ 
 fore keep your eyes upon your hearts as you go along. 
 
 1. “ The judgment is brought to approve of them, 
 and subscribe to them as most righteous, and most 
 reasonable,” Psa. cxix. 112, 128, 137,138. The mind 
 is brought to like the ways of God; and the corrupt 
 prejudices that were once against them, as unreason¬ 
 able and intolerable, are now removed. The under¬ 
 standing assents to them all, as holy, just and good, 
 Rom. vii. 12. How is David taken up with the ex¬ 
 cellencies of God's laws ! how doth he expatiate on 
 their praises, both from their inherent qualities and 
 admirable effects! Psalm xix. 8, 9, 10, &c. 
 
 There is a twofold judgment of the understanding, 
 judicium absolutum et comparatum . The absolute 
 judgment is, when a man thinks such a course best in 
 the general, but not for him, or not under the present 
 circumstances he is in, pro hic 9 ct nunc . Now, a 
 godly man's judgment is for the ways of God, and 
 that not only the absolute, but comparative, judge- 
 
THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 65 
 
 meat; he thinks them not only the best in general* 
 but best for him; he looks upon the rules of religion 
 not only as tolerable, but desirable; yea, more desir¬ 
 able than gold, fine gold; yea, much fine gold, Psa. 
 xix 10. 
 
 His judgments are settledly determined, that it is 
 best to be holy, that it is best to be strict, that it is 
 in itself the most eligible course, and that it is for 
 him the wisest and most rational and desirable choice. 
 Hear the godly man’s judgment: 44 1 know, O Lord, 
 that thy judgments are right: I love thy command¬ 
 ments above gold, yea, above fine gold: I esteem all 
 thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and 
 I hate every false way,” Psa. cxix. 127, 128. Mark, 
 he did approve of all that God required, and disal¬ 
 lowed of all that he forbade; “ Righteous, O Lord, 
 and upright are thy judgments. Thy testimonies 
 that thou hast commanded are righteous and very 
 faithful. Thy word is true from the beginning, and 
 every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for 
 ever,* 1 ’ Psa. cxix. 137, 138, 1(>0. See how readily 
 and fully he subscribes ; he declares his assent and 
 consent to it, and all and every thing therein con¬ 
 tained. 
 
 2. 44 The desire of the heart is to know the whole 
 mind of Christ,” Psa. cxix. 124, 125, 169. and xxv. 
 4, 5. He would not have one sin undiscovered, nor 
 be ignorant of one duty required. It is the natural 
 and earnest breathing of a sanctified heart: “ Lord, 
 if there be any way of wickedness in me, do thou dis¬ 
 cover it. What I know not, teach thou me; and if 
 I have done iniquity, I will do it no more.” The un¬ 
 sound is willingly ignorant, 2 Pet. iii. 5. loves not to 
 come to the light, John iii. 20. He is willing to keep 
 such or such a sin, and therefore is loath to know it 
 to be a sin, and will not let in the light at that win¬ 
 dow. Now the gracious heart is willing to know the 
 whole latitude ami compass of his Maker’s law, Psa* 
 cxix. 18, 19, 27, 33, 64, 66, 68, 78, 108, 124. He re- 
 ceives with ail acceptation, the word, that convinceth 
 
66 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION. 
 
 him of any duty that he knew not, or minded not be¬ 
 fore, or discovereth any sin that lay hid before, Psa. 
 cxix. 11 
 
 3. u The free and resolved choice of the will is de¬ 
 termined for the ways of Christ before all the plea¬ 
 sures of sin and prosperities of the world,” Psa. cxix. 
 103, 127, 162. 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, Psa. xvii. 3. and cxix. 
 30. True, the flesh will rebel, yet the prevailing part 
 of his will is for Christ’s laws and government; so that 
 lie takes them not up as his toil or burden, but his 
 bliss, 1 John v. 3. Psa. cxix. 60, 72. While the un¬ 
 sanctified goes in Christ’s ways as in chains and fet¬ 
 ters, he doth it naturally, Psa. xf 8. Jer. xxxi. 33. 
 and counts Christ’s laws his liberty, Psal. cxix 32, 
 45. James i. 25. He is willing in the beauties of holi¬ 
 ness, Psalm cx. 3. and hath this inseparable mark, 
 u That 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.” 1 Sam. x. 26. 
 
 There went with Saul a band of men whose hearts 
 God had touched.” When God toucheth the hearts 
 of his chosen, they presently follow Christ, Matt. iv. 
 22, and (though drawn) do freely run after him, Cant, 
 i. 4. and willingly offer themselves to the service of 
 the Lord, 2 Chron. xvii. 16 seeking him with their 
 whole desire, 2 Chron. xv. 15. Fear hath its use; 
 but this is not the main spring of motion with a sanc¬ 
 tified heart. Christ keeps not his subjects in by force, 
 but is king of a willing people. They are (through 
 his grace) freely resolved 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 Christ are the convert’s love, Psa. cxix. 159, 
 163, 167, desire, ver. 5, 20, 40, delight, ver, 77, 92, 
 103, 111, 143, and continual study, ver. 97, 99, and 
 Psa. i. 2. 
 
 4. “ The bent of his course is directed to keep God's 
 
THE NATURE OP CONVERSION. 67 
 
 statutes,” Psa. cxix. 4, 8, 167, 168. It is the daily 
 care of his life to walk with God. He seeks great 
 things, he hath noble designs, though he fall too short. 
 He aims at nothing less than perfection; he desires 
 it, he reaches after it; he woidd not rest in any pitch 
 of grace, till he were quite rid of sin, and had perfect 
 holiness, Phil, iii- 11, 12, 13, 14 
 
 Here the hypociite’s rottenness may he discovered. 
 He desires holiness (as one well said) only as a bridge 
 to heaven, and inquires earnestly what is the least 
 that will serve his turn, and it he can get but so much 
 as may bring him to heaven, this is all he cares lor. 
 But the sound convert desires holiness for holiness 
 sake, Psa. cxix 97. Matt. v. 0. and not only lor 
 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? Are the drift and scope of thy life 
 altered? Is holiness thy trade, and religion thy busi¬ 
 ness? Horn. viii. 1. Matt. xxv. 16. Phil. i. 20. If 
 not, thou art short of sound conversion. 
 
 Application. And is this, that we have described, 
 the conversion that is of absolute necessity to salva¬ 
 tion ? Then be informed, 1. That strait is the gate, 
 and narrow the way, that leadeth unto life. 2. i hat 
 there are but few that find it. 3. 1 hat there is need 
 of a divine power savingly to convert a sinner to 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Again, then be exhorted, O man that readest, to 
 turn in upon thine own self. What saith conscience ? 
 Doth it not begin to bite ? Doth it not twitch thee as 
 thou goest ? Is this thy judgment, and this thy choice, 
 and this thy way, that we have described ? If so, then 
 it is well. But doth not thy heart condemn thee, and 
 tell thee there is such a sin thou livest in against thy 
 conscience? Doth it not tell thee there in such and 
 such a secret way of wickedness that thou makest no 
 bones of? such or such a duty that thou makest no 
 
 conscience of ? , 
 
 Doth not conscience carry thee to thy closet, and 
 
69 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 tell thee how seldom prayer and reading are performed 
 there ? Doth it not carry thee to thy family, and shew 
 thee the charge of God, and the souls of thy children 
 and servants, that are neglected there? Doth not 
 conscience lead thee to thy shop, thy trade, and tell 
 thee of some mystery of iniquity there; Doth it not 
 carry thee to the ale-shop, or to the sack-shop, and 
 round thee in thy ear for the loose company thou 
 keepest there, the precious time thou mis-spendest 
 there, for the talents of God which thou throwest 
 down this sink, for thy gaming, and thy swilling? 
 &c. Doth it not carry thee into thy secret chamber, 
 and read thee a curtain-lecture. 
 
 O conscience ! do thy duty : in the name of the 
 living God, I command thee, discharge thine office, 
 lay hold upon this sinner, fall upon him, arrest him. 
 apprehend him, undeceive him. What! wilt thou 
 flatter and smooth him while he lives in his sins? 
 Awake; O conscience ! what meanest thou, O sieeper? 
 What! hast thou never a reproof in thy mouth? 
 What! shall this soul die in his careless neglect of 
 God and eternity, and thou altogether hold thy peace? 
 What! shall he go on still in his trespasses, and yet 
 have peace? Oh! 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 “ blood of his soul ” be required at thy hands. 
 
 Chap. Ill, Of the Necessity of Conversion . 
 
 It may be you are ready to say, what meaneth this 
 stir ? and are apt to wonder why I follow you with 
 such earnestnes, still ringing one lesson in your ears, 
 that “you should repent, and he converted,” Acts iii. 
 19. But I must say unto you, as Ruth to Naomi, 
 “ entreat me not to leave you, nor to turn from fol¬ 
 lowing after you,” Ruth. i. 1G. Were it a matter of 
 indifference, I would never keep so much ado: might 
 you be saved as you are, I would gladly let you alone: 
 But would you not have me solicitous for you, when 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 69 
 
 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, except you will be 
 prevailed with to turn thoroughly, and give up your¬ 
 self to God in holiness and newness of life. Hath 
 God said, “except you be born again, you cannot see 
 the kingdom of God,” John iii. 3. and yet do you 
 wonder why your ministers do so plainly travail in 
 birth with you ? Think it not strange that I am ear¬ 
 nest 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. 
 The conversion described is not a high pitch of some 
 taller Christians, but every soul that is saved passeth 
 , this universal change. 
 
 It was a passage of the noble Roman, when he was 
 hasting with corn to the city in the famine, and the 
 mariners were loath to set sail in foul weather, Neces - 
 sarium est navigare , non est necessarium vivere; Our 
 voyage is more necessary than our lives. What is it 
 that thou dost count necessary ? Is thy bread neces¬ 
 sary ? Is thy breath necessary ? Then thy conversion 
 is much more necessary. Indeed, this is the unum ne- 
 cessarium , the one thing necessary. Thine estate is 
 not necessary; thou mayst sell all for the pearl of 
 great price, and vet he a gainer by the purchase, Matt, 
 xiii. 46 Thy life is not necessary ; thou mayst part 
 with it for Christ to infinite advantage. Thine esteem 
 is not necessary; thou mayst be reproached for the 
 name of Christ, and yet be happy ; yea, much more 
 happy in reproach than in repute, l Pet. iv. 14. Matt, 
 v. 10, 11. 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 
 point depends.thy making or marring to all eternity. 
 
 But I shall more particularly shew the necessity of 
 conversion in five things; for without this, 
 
 1. “ Thy being is in vain.” Is it not a pity thou 
 shouldst be good for nothing, an unprofitable burden 
 
70 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 ( 
 
 of the earth, a wart or wen in the body of the uni* 
 verse? Thus thou art, whilst unconverted: for thou 
 canst not answer the end of thy being. Is it not for 
 the divine pleasure that thou art and wast created? 
 Rev. iv. 11. Did he not make thee for himself ? Prov. 
 xvi. 4. Art thou a man, and hast thou reason ? Why, 
 then, bethink thyself why and whence thy being is. 
 Behold God's workmanship in thy body, and ask thy* 
 self, to what end did God rear this fabric ? Consider 
 the noble faculties of thy heaven-born soul: To what 
 end did God bestow these excellencies ? To no other 
 than that thou shouldst please thyself and gratify thy 
 senses? Did God send men, like the swallows, into 
 the world, only to gather a few sticks and dirt, and 
 build their nests, and breed up their young, and then 
 away? The very heathens could see farther than this. 
 Art thou so “ tearfully and wonderfully made," P>a. 
 cxxxix. 14. and dost thou not yet think with thyself 
 surely it was for some noble and raised end ? 
 
 O man ! set thy reason a little in the chair. Is it 
 not a pity such a goodly fabric should be raised in vain? 
 Verily thou art in vain, except thou art for God: 
 Better thou hadst no being than not be for him. 
 Wouldst thou serve thy end? thou must repent and 
 be converted : Without this, thou art to “ no purpose;” 
 yea, to “ bad purpose." 
 
 First, to “no purpose." Man, unconverted, is like 
 a choice instrument that hath every string broken or 
 out of tune: The spirit of the living God must repair 
 and tune it by the grace of regeneration, and sweetly 
 move it by the power of actuating grace, or else thy 
 prayers will be but bowlings, and all thy services will 
 make no music in the ears of the most holy, Eph. ii. 10. 
 Phil. ii. 13. Hos. vii. 14. Isa. i. 15. All thy powers 
 and faculties are so corrupt in thy natural state, that, 
 except thou be purged from dead works, thou canst 
 not serve the Jiving God, Heb. ix. 14. Titus i. 15. » 
 
 An unsanctified man cannot work the work of God: 
 
 1. “ He hath no skill in it;" he is altogether as un¬ 
 skilful in the work as in the word of righteousness, 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 71 
 
 Heb. v. 13. There are great mysteries, as well in 
 the practices as principles of godliness: Now the un¬ 
 regenerate know not the “ mysteries of the kingdom 
 of heaven,” Matt. xiii. 11. 1 Tim. iii. 16. You may 
 as well expect him that never learned the alphabet to 
 read, or a “ book for goodly music” on the lute from 
 one that never set his hand to an instrument* as that 
 a natural man should do the Lord any pleasing ser¬ 
 vice. He must first be taught of God, John vi. 45. 
 “ taught to pray,” Luke xi. 1. taught to profit,” Isa. 
 xlviii. 17. 66 taught to go,” Hosea xi. 3. or else he will 
 be utterly at a loss. 2. “ he hath no strength for it.” 
 How weak is his heart! Ezek. xvi. 30. he is presently 
 tired: The Sabbath, what a weariness is it! Mai. i. 
 
 13. He is without strength, Rom. v. 6. yea, stark 
 
 dead in sin, Eph ii. 5. 3. “ He hath no mind to it;” 
 
 he desires not the knowledge of God’s ways, Job xxi. 
 
 14. he doth not know them, and he doth not care to 
 know them, Psa. lxxxii.5. he knows not, neither will 
 he understand. 4. “ He hath neither due instruments 
 nor materials for it.” A man may as well hew the 
 marble without tools, or limn without colours or in¬ 
 struments, or build without materials, as perform any 
 acceptable services without the graces of the Spirit, 
 which are both the materials and instruments in the 
 work. Alms-giving is not a service of God, but of 
 vain-glory, if not holden forth by the hand of divine 
 love. What is the prayer of the lips without grace 
 in the heart, but the carcase without the life ? What 
 are all our confessions, unless they be exercises of 
 godly sorrow and unfeigned repentance? What our 
 petitions, unless animated all along with holy desires 
 and faith in divine attributes and promises ? YVhat our 
 praises and thanksgivings, unless from the love of God, 
 and a holy gratitude and sense of God’s mercies in 
 the heart? So that a man may as well expect the 
 
 itrees should speak, or look for logic from the brutes, 
 or motion from the dead, as for any service holy and 
 acceptable to God from the unconverted. When the 
 tree is evil, how can the fruit be good? Matt. vii. 18. 
 
72 THE NECESSITY OP CONVERSION. 
 
 Secondly, To “ bad purpose.* The unconverted 
 soul is a very cage of unclean birds, Rev. xviii. 2. a 
 sepulchre full of corruption and rottenness, Matt, xxiiu 
 27. a loathsome carcase full of crawling worms, and 
 sending forth a hellish and most noisome savour in the 
 nostrils of God, Psa. xiv. 3. O dreadful case ! Dost 
 thou not yet see a change to be needful? Would it 
 not have grieved one to have seen the golden conse- 
 crated vessels of God's temple turned into quaffing 
 bowls of drunkenness, and polluted with the idol’s 
 service? Dan. v. 2, 3. Was it such an abomination 
 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 
 bad the very temple itself turned into a stable or a 
 sty, and to have had the “ holy of hollies” served like 
 the house of Baal; to have had the image of God 
 taken down, and have been turned into a draught, 
 house; 2 Kings x. 27. This is the very case of the 
 unregenerate: All thy members are turned into instru¬ 
 ments of unrighteousness, Rom. vi. 19. Servants of 
 Satan ; and thy inmost power into a receptacle of 
 uncleanness, Eph. ii. 2. Tit. i. 15. You may see the 
 goodly guests within, by what comes out; for “ out of 
 the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, 
 fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies,” &c. 
 This blackguard discovers what a hell there is within, 
 
 O abuse insufferable! to see a heaven-born soul 
 abased to the filthiest drudgery! to see theglory of God’s 
 creation, the chief of the works of God, the Lord of 
 the universe, lapping with the prodigal at the trough, 
 or licking up with greediness the most loathsome vo¬ 
 mit ! Was it such a lamentation to see those that did 
 feed delicately sit desolate in the streets; and the pre¬ 
 cious sons of Sion, comparable to tine gold, esteemed 
 as earthen pitchers; and those that were clothed in 
 scarlet embrace dunghills ! Lam. iv. 2, 5. and is it not^ 
 much more fearful to see the only thing that hath im¬ 
 mortality in this lower world, and carries the stamp 
 of God, become as a vessel wherein there is no plea* 
 
' 
 
 ) 
 
 THE NECESSITY OP CONVERSION, 73 
 
 . sure? Jer. xxii. 28. (which is but a modest expression 
 of the vessel men put to the most sordid use.) O in 
 ‘tyimty intolerable! Better thou wert dashed in a* 
 thousand pieces, than continue to be abased to so filthv 
 a service. M v 
 
 II. “ Not only man, but the whole visible creation, 
 is m vain without this.” Beloved, God hath made 
 all the visible creatures in heaven and eaith for the 
 service o! man, and man only is the spokesman for all 
 
 Sp ,5* M !" If* ,n l , he universe i 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 should speak for them 
 
 fo 1 off 15 ’ U We r e ‘ the h,gl ' l )riest of Gou ’ 8 creation, 
 to offer the sacrifice of praise for all his fellow-crea- 
 
 lures, Psa. cxlvm. cl. The Lord God expecteth a tri- 
 bute °t praise from all his works, Psa. ciii. 22. Now 
 
 kbvhUl d A bnng 1 in ,heir trihute to man, and pay 
 it by his hand ; >o then, if a man be false, and faith- 
 
 less, and selfish, God is wronged off all, and shall have 
 no active glory from his works. 
 
 • i m 1 !i dreadful bought to think of] that God should 
 build such a world as this, and lay out such infinite 
 
 Fn er ’ and Wlsd °m» and goodness, thereupon, and all 
 in vain , and man should be guilty at la*t nf mKk* 
 
 and spoiling him of the glory of all / Oh, think oi this? 
 J\hile thou art uncovered, all the offices of the 
 creatures to thee are in vain; thy meat nourishes thee 
 in vain; the sun holds forth his light to thee in vain ■ 
 the stars, that serve thee in their courses by iheir 
 powerful, though hidden, influence, (Jud. v. 20. Hos 
 Ji. 21, 22.) do it in vain; thy clothes warm thee in 
 vain; thy beast carries thee in vain; in a word the 
 unwearied labour and continual travail of the whole 
 
 th! at '° n / aS t0 , thee ) are ,n vain ’ The service of all 
 the creatures that drudge for thee, and yield forth 
 
 then- strength unto thee, (that therewith thou sbouldst 
 serve their Maker,) is all but lost labour. Hence the 
 who e creauon groaneth under the aLuse of this un¬ 
 modified world, Bom. viii. 22. that pervert them to 
 
 
:* ** 
 
 •'•' r v 74, THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 ,v rte'irfice if their lusu, quite contrary to the very 
 ' m.WiS thi., Ay religion i. 
 
 V-.-26,. All thy .religious performances ll ? 11 ; 
 
 - 3 «hth“re the very enriset 
 
 tliy soul, I • • ever so specious yet God 
 
 religion Be thy services e t Mfl1 i# 10 Is 
 
 had. no P^ asu r" '" t^ e m a ' d ' ui ; vvhose 'sacrifices are as 
 not that man- e a breath of abomina- 
 
 murders, an< w ose P 9 Many under con- 
 
 tl -°ronsThink they will set upon mending, and that a 
 
 nravtr. JtAalm. -i« «>« ■« •*■>» !>>"'• 
 
 S'^fhS^o^rUn^ 
 
 F1 ^ pmil 1 and vet being unconverted, all was but 
 
 kss Phil iii 6,7- Men thmk they do much in attend¬ 
 ing Pod's service, and are ready to twit him with it, 
 j * ?vifi. 3- VIalt. vii. 22 and set him down so much 
 their debtor.whereas (their persons being unsanct.fied) 
 their duties cannot be accepted. 
 
 O soul! do not think, when thy sins pursue thee 
 little praying and reforming thy course will pacify 
 God: Thou must begin with thine heart. 
 not renewed, thou canst no more please God than one 
 thlt having unspeakably offended thee, should bring 
 thee his vomit in a dish to pacify thee: or having 
 fallen into the mire, should think with his loathed em- 
 
 braces to reconcile thee. . , ~ iru 
 
 It is a great misery to labour in the fire. l» 
 poets could not invent a worse heU tor, Sisyphus tha 
 to be getting the barrel still up the hill and then that 
 it should presently fall down again and renew hisi- 
 bour God threatens it as the greatest of tempo J 
 judgments, that they should build and not inhabit, 
 “plant and not gather, and their labours should b 
 eaten up by strangers, Deut. xxvm. 30, 38, dJ ,, + 
 Is it so great a misery to lose our common labouis, 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CON 1 
 
 sow in vain, and build in vainlv 
 
 lose our pains in religion, to prayvai^ lie^wgnd-$tyt, 
 in vain ! This is an undoing and not 
 
 deceived ; if thou goest on in thy sirffi 
 thou shouldst spread forth thy hands, OrwlsiA mtfJ-fijg 
 eyes; though thou make many prayers, hewil'l hot 
 hear, Isa. i. 15. If a man without skill set about our 
 work, and mar it in the doing, though he take much 
 pains, we give him but small thanks. God will be 
 worshipped after the due order, 1 Chron. xv. 13 If 
 a servant do our work, but quite contrary to our order, 
 he shall have rather stripes praise. God’s work 
 must he done according to God’s mind, or he will not 
 be pleased; and this cannot be, except it be done with 
 a holy heart, 2 Chron. xxv. 2. 
 
 IV. “ Without this thy hopes are in vain,” Job viii. 
 12 , 13. “ The Lord hath rejected thy confidence,” 
 Jer. ii. 37. 
 
 First, “ The hope of comforts here is in vain.” It 
 is not only necessary to the safety, but comfort, of 
 your condition, that you be converted. Without this, 
 “ you shall not know peace,” Isa. lix. 8. Without the 
 “ fear of God” you cannot have the “ comfort of the 
 Holy Ghost, Acts ix. 31. God speaks peace only to 
 his people and to his saints, Psa. Ixxxv. 8. If you 
 have a false peace, continuing in your sins, it is not 
 of God’s speaking, and then you may guess the author. 
 Sm is a real sickness, Isa. i. 5. yea, the worst of sick¬ 
 ness; it is a leprosy in the head, Levit. xiii. 44. the 
 p ague of the heart, l Kings viii. 38. it is brokenness 
 in the bones, Psa. li. 8. it pierceth, it woundeth, it 
 racketh, it tormenteth, 1 Tim. vi. 10. A man may 
 as well expect ease when his distempers are in their 
 full strength, or his bones out of joint, as true com¬ 
 fort while in his sins. 
 
 O wretched man, that canst have no ease in this 
 case, but what comes from the deadliness of the dis¬ 
 ease! You shall have the poor sick man saying, in his 
 lightness, “ he is well,” when you see deni h in hie fono. 
 
76 THE NECESSITY OP CONVERSION. 
 
 very next step is like to be in his grave. lheun*/ 
 sanctified often see nothing amiss; they think t iem- 
 selves whole, and cry not out for the physician, but 
 this shew? the danger of their case. 
 
 Sin doth naturally breed distempers and disturb, 
 ances in the soul: What a continual tempest and 
 commotion is there in a discontented mind what an 
 eating evil is inordinate 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 
 covetousness, but an insatiable and insufferable thirst? 
 or malice and envy, but venom in the very heart ? 
 Spiritual sloth, is but a scurvy in the mind, and car¬ 
 nal security a mortal lethargy ; 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 souls for a settled, standing, immortal, 
 peace: Great peace have they that love thy com¬ 
 
 mandments, and nothing shall offend them, Psa. 
 cxix. 165. They are the ways of wisdom, that afford 
 pleasure and peace, Prov. iii. 17. David had infi¬ 
 nitely more pleasure in the word than in all the de¬ 
 lights of his court, Psa. cxix. 103, 127. 1 he con¬ 
 
 science cannot be truly pacified till soundly purified, 
 Heb. x. 22. Cursed is that peace that is maintained 
 in a way of sin, Deut. xxix. 19, 20. Two sorts of 
 peace are more to be dreaded than all the troubles 
 in the world ; peace with sin and peace in sin. 
 
 Secondly, “ Thy hopes of salvation hereafter are in 
 vain yea, worse than in vain ; they are most injuri¬ 
 ous to God, most pernicious to thyself: 1 here 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 ;) “ it shall bring them to the king of terrors. 
 Job xviii. 14. Though thou rnayst lean upon this 
 house, it will not stand, Job viii. 15. but will prove 
 like a ruinous building, which, when a man trusts to, 
 it falls down about his ears. 2. “ There is despera¬ 
 tion in it: Where is the hope of the hypocrite when 
 
 r\ 
 
THE NECESSITY OP CONVERSION. 77 
 
 God takes away his soul?” Jobxxvii. 8. Then there 
 is an end for ever of his hope. Indeed, the hope of 
 the righteous hath an end; but then it is not a de¬ 
 structive, but a perfective end; his hope ends in frui¬ 
 tion, others in frustration, Prov. x 28. The godly 
 must say at death, “ It is finished;” but the wicked. 
 It is perished,” and in too sad earnest bemoan him¬ 
 self, as Job in a mistake, “ Where is now my hope ? 
 He hath destroyed me; I am gone, and my hope is 
 removed like a tree,” Job xix. 10. “ The righteous 
 
 hath hope in his death,” Prov. xiv 32. When nature 
 is dying, his hopes are living; when his body is lan¬ 
 guishing, his hopes are flourishing; his hope is a liv¬ 
 ing hope, l Pet i. 3 £/$ iXnldci tytav, but others a dying, 
 a damning, soul-undoing hope, * VVhena wicked man 
 dieth, his expectation shall perish; and the hope of 
 the unjust man perisheth,” Prov x . 7 “ It shall be 
 
 cut ofl and prove like a spider's web.” Job viii 14. 
 which he spins out ot his own bowels; but then comes 
 death, with the broom, and takes down all, and so 
 there is an eternal end of his confidence wherein he 
 trusted; “ for the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and 
 their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost,” Job 
 xL 20. Wicked men are fixed in the 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. 
 The unsanctified have "hope only in this life, 1 Cor. 
 xv. 9. and therefore are “ of all men most miserable 
 \Y hen death comes, it lets them out into the amazing 
 gulf of endless desperation. 3. « There is blasphemy 
 in it.” To hope we shall be saved, though continuing 
 unconverted, is to hope we shall prove God a liar, 
 He hath told you, that so merciful and pitiful as he is, 
 he will never save you notwithstanding, if you go on 
 in ignorance, or a course of unrighteousness, Isa. xxvii, 
 11. 1 Cor. vi. 9. In a word, he hath told you, that* 
 whatever you be or do, nothing shall avail you to sal- 
 
 
78 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 vation, without you become new creatures, Gal. vi. 16, 
 Now, to say God is merciful, and we hope will save 
 us nevertheless, is in effect to say, “We hope God 
 will not do as he says.' 0 We must not set God is at¬ 
 tributes at variance; God has resolved to glorify his 
 mercy, but not to the prejudice of truth, as the pre¬ 
 sumptuous sinner will find to his everlasting sorrow. 
 
 Object . Why, but we hope in Jesus Christ; we 
 put our whole trust in God; and therefore doubt not 
 but we shall be saved. 
 
 Ansa. 1. “ This is not to hope in Christ, but against 
 Christ.” To hope to see the kingdom of God without 
 being born again, to hope to find eternal life in the 
 broad way, is to hope Christ will prove a false prophet. 
 It is David’s plea, “ I hope in thy word,” Psa. cxu. 
 81. But this hope is against the word. Show me a 
 word of Christ for thy hope, that he will save thee in 
 thine ignorance or profane neglect of his service, and 
 I will never go to shake thy confidence. _ ^ 
 
 2. “ God doth with abhorrence reject this hope. 
 Those condemned in the prophet went on in their sins, 
 yet (saith the text) they will lean upon the Lord, 
 Mic. iii. 11. God will not endure to be made a prop 
 to men in their sins; The Lord rejected those pre- 
 sumptuous sinners that went on still in their trespas¬ 
 ses, and yet would stay themselves upon Israel’s God, 
 Isa. xlviii. 1, 2. as a man would shake off the briars 
 (as one said well) that cleave to his garment. 
 
 * 3. “ If thy hope be any thing worth, it will purify 
 thee from thy sins,” 1 John iii. 3. but cursed is that 
 hope which doth cherish men in their sins. 
 
 Object. Would you have us to despair ? 
 
 Ansa. You must despair of ever coming to heaven 
 33 you are, Acts ii. 37. that is, while you remain un¬ 
 converted. 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 at¬ 
 taining to repentance and conversion in the use of 
 God’s means. 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 79 
 
 V. “ Without this, all that God hath done and suf¬ 
 fered will be (as to you in vain.”) John xiii. 8. Tit. ii. 
 14*. that is, it will no way avail you to salvation. 
 Alany urge this as a 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. 19. 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 
 application 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. 
 
 I. It were against his trust. The mediator is the 
 servant of the Father, Isa. xlii. 1. shews his commis¬ 
 sion from him, and acts in his name, and pleads his 
 command for his justification, John x. 18, 36. and 
 vi. 38, 40. and God has committed all things to him, 
 entrusted his own glory and the salvation of the elect 
 with him, Matt. xi. 97. John xvii. 2. Accordingly 
 Christ gives his Father an account of both parts of 
 his trust before he leaves the world, John xvii. 4, 6,12. 
 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. 
 
 First, “ To overturn all his counselsof which this 
 is the order, that men should be brought through 
 sanctification to salvation, 2 Thess. ii. 13. He hath 
 chosen them, that they should be holy, Eph. i. 4. 
 They are elected to pardon and life through sanctifi¬ 
 cation, 1 Pet. i. 2. If thou canst repeal the law of 
 God’s immutable counsel, or corrupt him whom the 
 Father hath sealed, to go directly against his com¬ 
 mission, then, and not otherwise, mayst thou get to 
 heaven in this condition. To hope that Christ will 
 save thee, while unconverted, is to hope that Christ 
 will falsify his trust. He never did nor will save one 
 soul, but whom the Father hath given him in election, 
 
 /"A 
 
80 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 and drawn to him in effectual calling, John vi.35,37. 
 Be assured that Christ will save none in a way con¬ 
 trary to his Father’s will, John vi. 38. 
 
 Secondly, 44 To offer violence to all his attributes.^ 
 
 1 . “ To his justicefor the righteousness ot God’s 
 judgment lies in rendering to all according to their 
 works, Rom. ii. 5, 6. Now, should men sow to the 
 flesh, and yet of the spirit reap everlasting life, Gal. 
 vi. 7, 8. where were the glory of divine justice, since 
 it should be given to the wicked according to the 
 work of the righteous? 2. “To his holiness. If God 
 should not only save sinners, but save them m their 
 sins, his most pure and strict holiness would be ex¬ 
 ceedingly defaced : The unsanctified fs, in the eyes 
 of God’s holiness, worse than the swine or viper, 
 Matt. xii. 34. 2 Pet. ii. 22. Now, what cleanly 
 nature could endure to have the filthy swine bed 
 and board with him in his parlour or bed-chamber? 
 It would be offering the extremest violence to the 
 infinite purity of the divine nature to have such to 
 dwell with him? “ They cannot stand his judgments; 
 u they cannot abide his presence,” Psa. i. 5. and v. 4,5. 
 If holy David w r ould not endure such in his house, 
 no, nor in his sight, Psa. cxxxi. 3, 7. can we think 
 God will? Should he take men as they are, from the 
 trough to the table, from the harlot’s lips, from the 
 stye and draff, to the glory of heaven, the world would 
 think God were at no such distance from sin, nor had 
 such dislike of it as we are told he hath ; they would 
 conclude God w r ere altogether such an one as them¬ 
 selves (as they wickedly did, but from the very for¬ 
 bearance of God, Psa. 1. 21.) 3. 46 To his veracity.” 
 
 For, God hath declared from heaven, that, 44 if any 
 shall say he shall have peace, though he shall go on 
 in the imagination of his heart, his wrath shall smoke 
 against that man,” Deut. xxix. 19, 20- That “they 
 (only) that confess and forsake their sin shall find 
 mercy,” Prov. xxviii. 13. That 4C they that shall en¬ 
 ter into his hill must be of clean hands and pure 
 heart,” Psa. xxiv. 3, 4. Where w ere God’s truth, if 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 SI 
 
 not withstanding'all this, he should bring men to sal¬ 
 vation without conversion ? O desperate sinner, that 
 darest to hope that Christ will put the lie upon his 
 Father, and nullity his word, to save thee ! 4. 44 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, 44 They would not value themThe unsancti¬ 
 fied sinner puts but little price upon God’s great sal- 
 tion. Matt. xxii. 5. He sets no more by Christ 
 than the whole bv the physician, Matt, ix, 12. He 
 prizes not his balm, values not his cu e, tramples 
 upon his blood, Heb x 29. Now, would it stand with 
 wisdom to force pardon and life upon those that would 
 give them no thanks for them ? Will the all wise God 
 (when he hath forbidden us to do it) throw his holy 
 things to dogs and his pearl to swine, that would, as 
 it were, but turn again and rend him? Matt. vii. 6. 
 
 1 This would make mercy to he despised indeed. Wis- 
 1 dom requires that life be given in a way suitable to 
 God’s honour, and that God provide for the securing 
 of his own glory as well as man’s felicity. It would 
 be dishonourable to God to set jewels on the snouts 
 of swine, (continuing such,) and to bestow his choicest 
 1 riches on them that have more pleasure in their swill 
 than in the heavenly delights that he doth offer. God 
 
 would lose the praise and glory of his grace, if he 
 
 should cast it a way upon them that were not only un¬ 
 worthy, hut unwilling. 
 
 Secondly, 44 They are no way suited to them.” The 
 divine wisdom is seen in suiting things to each other, 
 the means to the end, the object to the faculty, 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, 
 i to the society of learned men, and a well-furnished 
 
 i table; whereas the poor thing had much rather he 
 
 grazing with his fellow-brutes. Alas ! what should 
 an unsanctified creature do in heaven ? he could take 
 no content there, because nothing suits him; the 
 
$2 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 place doth not suit him ; he would he but Piscis in 
 arido , quite out of his element, as swine in a parlour, 
 or fish out of water; the company doth not suit him. 
 What communion hath darkness with light? Corrup¬ 
 tion with perfection? Filth and rottenness with glory 
 and immortality ? The employment doth not suit him; 
 theanthemsof 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 
 make thee melody, or keep time with the tuneful choir? 
 or, had he skill, he would have no will, and so could 
 find no pleasure no more than the nauseous stomach 
 in the meat on which he hath newly surfeited. Spread 
 thy table with delicacies before a languishing patient, 
 and it will be a very great offence. Alas! if the poor 
 man think a sermon long, and say, of a sabbath- 
 day, “ what a weaiiness it is!” Mai. i. 13. how mi¬ 
 serable would he think it, to be holden to it to all 
 eternity. 
 
 5. 44 To his immutability,”or else 44 to hisomnisciency 
 or omnipotency ;” for this is enacted in the conclave 
 of heaven, and enrolled in the decree of the court 
 above, that none but the 44 pure in heart shall ever see 
 God,” Matt. v. 8. This is laid up with him and sealed 
 among his treasures. Now, if Christ yet bring any to 
 heaven unconverted, either he must get them in with¬ 
 out his Father’s knowledge (and then where is his 
 omnisciency ?) or against his will, and then where 
 were his omnipotency ?) or he must change his will, 
 (and then where were his immutability ?) 
 
 Sinner, wilt thou not give up thy vain hope of be¬ 
 ing saved in this condition ? Saith Bildad, 46 shall the 
 earth be forsaken for thee ? or the rocks moved out of 
 their place ?” Job xviii. 4. May I not much more rea¬ 
 son so with thee ? Shall the laws of heaven be reversed 
 for thee? Shall the everlasting foundations be overturn¬ 
 ed for thee? 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 brightness of the glory of his holiness be blemished 
 for thee ? Oh! the impossibility, absurdity, blasphemy. 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, Oo* 
 
 that are in such a confidence: To think Christ will 
 ever save thee in this condition is to make thy Saviour 
 become a sinner, and do more wrong to the infinite 
 majesty than all the wicked on earth, or devils in hell, 
 ever did, or could do; and yet wilt thou not give up 
 such a blasphemous hope ? 
 
 II. “ Against his word. 1 ’ We need not say, “ W ho 
 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,” Rom. 
 x. 6, 7, 8. Are you agreed that Christ shall end the 
 controversy P Hear then his own words: “ Except 
 you be converted, you shall in no wise enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven,” Matt. xvii. 3. “ You must be 
 born again,” John iii. 7. i( If I wash thee not, thou 
 hast no part in me,” John xiii.8. “ Repent or perish, 1 
 Luke xiii. 3. One word, one would think, were 
 enough from Christ; but how often and earnestly 
 doth he reiterate it! 64 Verily, verily, except a man be 
 born again, he shall not see the kingdom of God,” 
 John iii. 3, 5. Yea, he doth not only assert but prove 
 the necessity of the new birth, John iii. 6. by reason 
 of which man is no more fit for heaven than the beast 
 is for the chamber of the king’s presence. And wilt 
 thou yet believe thy own presumptuous confidence, di¬ 
 rected against Christ’s words? He must go quite 
 against the law of his kingdom, and rule of his judge¬ 
 ment, to save thee in this state. 
 
 III. “ 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 
 of them, (or disobedient to them,) shall not enter into 
 his rest, Psa. xcvi. 11. Heb. iii. 18. And wilt thou 
 not yet belive, O sinner, that he is in earnest ? Canst 
 thou hope he will be forsworn for thee ? The cove¬ 
 nant of grace is confirmed by an oath, and sealed by 
 blood, Heb. vi. 17. and ix. 16,18, 19. Matt. xxvi. 28. 
 but all must be made void, and another way to heaven 
 found out, if thou be saved, living and dying unsanc¬ 
 tified. God is come to his lowest and last terms wilt 
 
 E 2 
 
84 THE necessity op conversion. 
 
 man, and has condescended, as faras in honour he could, 
 and hath set up his pillars with a we plus ultra . Men 
 cannot be saved, while unconverted, except they could 
 get another covenant made, and the whole frame of 
 the gospel (which was established for ever with such 
 dreadful solemnities) quite altered : And would not 
 they be distracted, to hope they shall ? 
 
 IV. “Against his honour/' God will so shew his 
 love to the sinner, as withal to shew his hatred to sin; 
 therefore “ he that names the name of Jesus must 
 depart from iniquity,” 2 Tim. ii. 19. and deny all un¬ 
 godliness; and he that hath hope of life by Christ 
 must “ purify himself, as he is pure,” 1 John iii. 3. Tit. 
 ii. 12. otherwise Christ would be thought a favourer 
 of sin. The Lord Jesus would have all the world to 
 know, that, though he pardons sin, he will not protect 
 it. If holy David shall say, “depart from me, all ye 
 workers of iniquity,” Psa. vi. 8 and shall shut the doors 
 against them, Psa. ci. 7. shall not such much more ex¬ 
 pect it from Christ’s holiness ? Would it be for his ho- 
 nour to have the dogs at the table, or lodge the swine 
 with his children, or to have Abraham’s bosom to be 
 a nest of vipers ? 
 
 V. “Against his offices.” God hath exalted him 
 to be a prince and a Saviour,” Acts v. 31. He would 
 act against both, should he save men in their sins; 
 It is the office of a king, 
 
 Parcere subjectis , et debellare superbos , 
 to be a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them 
 that do well,” Rom. xiii. 3, 4. “ He is a minister of 
 
 God, a revenger to execute wrath on him that doth 
 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 quite against his office; he there¬ 
 fore reigns, that he may “ put his enemies under his 
 feet, 1 Cor. xv. 25. Now, should he lay them in his 
 bosom, he would cross the end of his regal power; it 
 belongs to Christ, as a king, to subdue the hearts, and 
 slay the lusts, of his chosen, Psa. xiv. 5. and cx. 3. 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. Oe> 
 
 What king would take rebels in open hostility into his 
 court ? What were this but to betray life, kingdom, 
 government, and all together ? If Christ be a king, he 
 must have honour, homage, subjection, &c. Mai. 1 . b. 
 Now, to save men, while in their natural enmity, were 
 to obscure his dignity, lose his authority, bring con¬ 
 tempt on his government, and sell his dear-bought 
 
 rights for nought. . 
 
 Again, as Christ would not be a prince, so neither 
 a Saviour, if he should do this; tor his salvation is 
 spiritual: He is called Jesus, because he saves his 
 people from their sins, Matt. i. 21. so that, should he 
 save them in their sins, he would be neither Lord nor 
 Jesus. To save men from the punishment, and not 
 from the power of sin, were do his work by halves, 
 and be an imperfect saviour. His office, as the de¬ 
 liverer is, “ to turn away ungodliness from Jacob, 
 Rom. xi. 26. “ He is sent to bless men, in turning 
 
 them from their iniquities,” Acts iii. 26. “ To make 
 
 an end of sin,” Dan. ix. 24. so that he would destroy 
 his own designs, and nullify his offices, to save men 
 abiding in their unconverted state. 
 
 Application. Arise then ! What meanest thou, O 
 sleeper ? Awake, O secure sinner! lest thou be con¬ 
 sumed in thine iniquities; say, as the lepers, “ If we 
 sit here we shall die,” 2 Kings vii. 3, 4. 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 converted; there is but this one door for thee 
 to escape by. Arise then, O sluggard, and shake off 
 thine excuses: How long wilt thou slumber, and fold 
 thy hands to sleep ? Prov. vi. 10, 11. Wilt thou lie 
 down in the midst of the sea, or sleep on the top of 
 the mast ? Prov. xxiii. 34 There is no remedy, but 
 thou must either turn or burn. There is an un¬ 
 changeable necessity ot the change of thy condition, 
 except thou hast resolved to abide the worst ot it, and 
 try it out with the Almighty. If thou lovest thy life, 
 O man, rise and come away. Methinks I see the 
 Lord Jesus laying the merciful hands of a holy vio* 
 
SO THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, 
 
 lence upon thee; methinks he carries it like the an¬ 
 gels to Lot, Gen. xix. 15, &c. “Then the angels 
 hastened Lot, saying, arise, lest thou be consumed. 
 And, while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his 
 hand, the Lord being merciful unto him, and they 
 brought him without the city, and said, escape for 
 thy life, stay not in all the plains; escape to the 
 mountains, lest thou be consumed.” 
 
 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 fair 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 7 me? Have I been all this 
 while speaking to the wind ? have I been charming 
 the deaf adder, or allaying the tumbling ocean with 
 argument ? Do I speak to the trees, or rocks, or to 
 men ? to the tombs or monuments of the dead, or to a 
 Jiving auditory ? If you be men, and not senseless 
 stacks, 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 l Men, and yet run into 
 the pit, when the very beasts will not be forced in! 
 What! endowed with reason, and yet daily with death 
 and hell and the vengeance of the Almighty ! Are men 
 herein distinguished from the very brutes, that these 
 have no foresight of, and care to provide for, the things 
 to come; and will you not hasten your escape from 
 eternal torments? O shew yourselves men, and Jet 
 reason prevail with you. Is it a reasonable thing for 
 you to contend against the Lord your maker? Isa. 
 xlv. 9. or “ to harden yourselves against his word,” 
 Job ix. 4. as though the strength of Israel would lie? 
 
 I Sam. xv. 29. Is it reasonable that an understand¬ 
 ing creature should lose, yea, live quite against, the 
 very end ot his being, and be as a broken pitcher, only 
 fit for the dunghill ? Is it reasonable that the only 
 
THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION 67 
 
 thing in this world that God hath made capable of 
 knowing his will, and bringing him glory, should yet 
 live in ignorance of his Maker, and be unserviceable 
 to his use, yea, should be engaged against him and 
 spit his venom in the face of his Creator ? “ Hear, O 
 heavens, and give ear, O earth," 1 and let the creatures 
 without sense judge if this be reason, that man whom 
 God hath “ nourished and brought up, should rebel 
 against him ! Isa. i. 2. Judge in your ownselves: Is 
 it a reasonable undertaking for briars and thorns to 
 set themselves in battle against a devouring fire ? Isa. 
 xxvii. 4. or for the potsherd of the earth to strive with 
 its Maker? You will say, 44 This is not reason; 11 or 
 surely the eye of reason is quite put out: And, if this 
 be not reason, then there is no reason, that “you 
 should continue as you are, 11 but it is all the reason in 
 the world 44 you should forthwith turn and repent. 1 * 
 
 What shall 1 say ? I could spend myself in this ar¬ 
 gument, Oh ! that you would but hearken unto me ! 
 that you would presently set upon a new course! 
 Will you not be made clean? When shall it once be? 
 What! will nobody be persuaded ? Reader, shall I 
 prevail with thee for one? Wilt thou sit down and 
 consider the fore-mentioned argument, and debate it, 
 whether it be not best to turn ? Come, and let us rea¬ 
 son together; is it good for thee to be here? Wilt 
 thou sit till the tide come in upon thee ? It is 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 unsanctified ? 
 
 But I know you will not be persuaded, but the 
 greatest part will be as they have been, and do as they 
 have done. I know the drunkard will to his vomit 
 again, and the deceiver will to his deceit again, and 
 the lustful wanton to his dalliance again. Alas ! that 
 I must leave you where you were in your ignorance 
 or looseness, or in your lifeless formality and custom¬ 
 ary devotions 1 However, I will sit down and bemoan 
 my fruitless labours, and spend some sighs over my 
 perishing hearers. 
 
88 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION. 
 
 O distracted sinner ! what will their end be ? what 
 will they do in the day of visitation ? 44 Whither will 
 they flee for help, where will they leave their glory? 
 Isa. x.3. How powerfully hath sin bewitched them! 
 how effectually hath the God of this world blinded 
 them ! how strong is the delusion ! how uncircumcised 
 their ears ! how obdurate their hearts ! Satan hath 
 them at his beck; But how long may I call, and can 
 get no answer! I may dispute with them year after 
 year, and they will give me the hearing, and that is 
 all; they must and will have their sins, say what I 
 will; though I tell them there is death in the cup, 
 yet they will take it up; though I tell them it is 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 
 do it. They will approve the word, like the sermon, 
 commend the preacher ! but they will yet live as they 
 did. They will not deny me, and yet they will not 
 obey me. They will flock to the word of God, and 
 sit before me as his people, and hear my words, hut 
 they will not do them. They value and will plead for 
 ministers, and I am to them as the lovely song of one 
 that hath a pleasant voice, yet I cannot get them to 
 come under Christ’s yoke. They love me, and will 
 be ready to say, they will do any thing for me; but, 
 for my life, I cannot persuade them to leave their sins, 
 to forego their evil company, their intemperance, 
 their unjust gains, &c. I cannot prevail with them to 
 set up prayer in their families and closets, yet they 
 will promise me, like the froward son, that said, “ I 
 go, Sir, but went not,” Matt xxi. 30. I cannot per¬ 
 suade them to learn the principles of religion, though 
 else, 66 they would die without knowledge,” Job 
 xxxvi. 12. I tell them their misery, but they will 
 not believe but it is well enough: If I tell them par¬ 
 ticularly, I fear, for such reasons, their state is bad, 
 
THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 89 
 
 they will judge me censorious; or, it they be at pre¬ 
 sent a little awakened, they are quickly lulled asleep 
 by Satan again, and have lost the sense of all. 
 
 Alas! for my poor hearers, must they perish at last 
 by hundreds, when ministers would so fain save them ? 
 What course shall 1 use with them that I have not 
 tried ? “ What shall I do for the daughter of my 
 people ?” Jer. ix. 7. “ O Lord God, help. Alas! 
 
 shall I leave them thus? If they will not hear me, 
 yet do thou hear me: Oh ! that they may yet live in 
 thy sight! Lord, save them, or else they perish. 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 them 
 falling into endless perdition P Lord, have compassion, 
 and save them out of the burning: put forth thy di¬ 
 vine power, and the work will be done; but, as for 
 me, l cannot prevail.” 
 
 Chap. IV. Shewing the Marks of the Unconverted. 
 
 W hile we keep aloof in generals, there is little 
 fruit to be expected: it is the hand fight that does 
 execution. David is not awakened by the prophet’s 
 hovering at a distance in parabolical insinuations; he 
 is forced to close with him, and tell him plainly, 
 “ Thou art ihe man.” Few will in words deny the 
 necessity of the new birth, but they have a self-delud¬ 
 ing confidence that the work is not now to do. And 
 because they know themselves free from that gross hy¬ 
 pocrisy which takes up religion merely for a colour, 
 to deceive others, and for covering wicked designs, 
 they are confident of their sincerity, and suspect not 
 that more close hypocrisy, (wherein the greatest dan¬ 
 ger lies,) by which a man deceiveth his own soul, 
 James i. 26. But man’s deceitful heart is such a 
 matchless cheat and self-delusion, so reigning and so 
 fatal a disease, that I know not whether be the greater, 
 the difficulty or displacency, or the necessity of the un¬ 
 deceiving work that I am now upon. Alas! for my 
 
( 
 
 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 unconverted hearers ! they must be undeceived or un¬ 
 done. But how shall this be effected ? Hie labor , hoc 
 opus y est. 
 
 “ Help, O all-searching light, and let thy discern¬ 
 ing eye discover the rotten foundation of the self-de¬ 
 ceiver; and lead me, O Lord God, as thou didst the 
 prophets, into the chambers of imagery, and dig 
 through the wall of sinners’ hearts, and discover the 
 hidden abominations that are lurking out of sight in 
 the dark. Oh ! send thy angel before me, to open 
 the sundry wards of their hearts 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 than his eyes were enlightened, so grant, 0 
 Lord, that, when the poor deceived souls, with whom 
 I have to do, shall cast their eyes upon these lines, 
 their minds may be illuminated, and their consciences # 
 convinced and awakened, that they may see with 
 their eyes, and hear with their ears, and be converted, 
 and thou mayst heal them.” 
 
 This must be premised before we proceed to the 
 discovery, that it is most certain men may have a con¬ 
 fident persuasion that their hearts and states be good, 
 and yet be unsound. Hear the truth himself, who 
 shews, in Laodicea’s case, that men may be wretched, 
 and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and 
 yet not know it; yea, they may be confident they 
 are rich, and increased in grace, Kev. iii, 17. There 
 is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and 
 yet are not washed from their filthiness,” Rom. xxx. 
 42, Who better persuaded of his case than Paul, 
 while he yet remained unconverted? Rom. vii. 9. so 
 that they are miserably deceived that take a strong 
 confidence fora sufficient evidence. They, that have 
 no better proof than barely a strong persuasion that 
 they are converted, are certainly as yet strangers to 
 conversion. 
 
 But to come more close: As it was said to the ad¬ 
 herents of Antichrist, so here; some of the uncon- 
 veited carry their marks in their foreheads more 
 
THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 91 
 
 openly, and 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 ye know that no whore- 
 
 monger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who 
 is an idolater, hath an inheritance in the kingdom of 
 Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with 
 vain words; for, because of these things cometh the 
 wrath of God upon his children of disobedience, 1 ’ 
 Rev. xxi. 8. “ But the fearful and unbelieving, and 
 
 abominable, and murderers, and whore-mongers, and 
 sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their 
 part in the lake that burns 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 fornica¬ 
 tors, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor 
 abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor 
 covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, 
 shall inherit the kingdom ot Godsee Gal. v. 19, 20, 
 21. Woe to them that have their name written 
 in these bead-rolls ! Such may know, as certainly as if 
 God had told them from heaven, that they are unsanc* 
 tified; and under an impossibility of being saved in 
 this condition. 
 
 There are then these several sorts that (past all dis¬ 
 pute) are unconverted: They carry their marks in 
 their foreheads. 
 
 1. The Unclean . These are ever reckoned among 
 the goats, and have their names (whoever is left out) 
 in all the forementioned catalogues, Eph. v. 5. Rev. 
 xxi. 8. 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. 
 
 2. The Covetous. These are ever branded for 
 idolaters, and the doors of the kingdom are shut 
 against them by name, Ephes. v. 5. Col. iii. 5. 1 Cor 
 vi. 9, 10. 
 
 3. Drunkards. Not only such as drink away their 
 reason, but withal (yea, above all) such as are too 
 strong for strong drink. The Lord fills his mouth 
 with w T oes against these, and declares them tp haye 
 
92 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 no inheritance in the kingdom of God, Isa. v. 11, 12, 
 22. Gal. v. 21. 
 
 4. Liars. The God, that cannot lie, has told them, 
 that there is no place for them in his kingdom, no 
 entrance into his hill; but their portion is with the 
 father of lies) whose children t ey are) in the lake of 
 burnings, Psa. xv. 1, 2. Rev. xxi. 8, 27. John viii. 
 44\ Prov. vi. 1 7 
 
 5 Swearers . The end of these, without deep and 
 speedy repentance, is swift destruction, and most cer¬ 
 tain and unavoidable condemnation, James v. 12. 
 Zech v 1,2,3. 
 
 6. Railers and Backbiters . that Jove to take up a 
 reproach against their neighbour, and fling all the dirt 
 they can in his face, or else wound him secretly be* 
 hind his back, Psa xv. 1,3 1 Cor vi. 10. and v. 11. 
 
 7. Thieves , Extortioners . Oppressors , that grind the* 
 poor, over-ieach their biethren when they have them 
 at an advantage: These must know that God “isthe 
 avenger of all such,” 1 Thess. iv 6 Hear, O ye 
 false and purloining and wasteful servants? hear, 0 
 ye deceitful tradesmen, hear your sentence, God will 
 certainly hold bis door against you, and turn your 
 treasures of unrighteousness into the treasures of 
 wrath, and make your ill-gotten silver and gold to 
 torment you, like burning metal in your bowels, i 
 Cor. vi. 9, 10 James v. 2, 3. 
 
 8. “All that do ordinarily live in the profane ne¬ 
 glect of God’s worship,” that hear not his word, th: t 
 call not on his name, that restrain prayer before God, 
 that mind not. their own nor their family’s souls, but 
 “ live without God in the world,” John viii. 47. Job xv. 
 4. Psa. xiv. 4. and lxxix. 6. Eph. ii. 12. and iv. 18. 
 
 9. Those that are frequenters and lovers of company, 
 God hath declared, he will be the destroyer of all 
 such, and that they “ shall never enter into the hill 
 of his rest.” Prov. xiiu 20. and ix. 6. Psa. xv. 4 
 
 10. Scoffers at Religion , that make a scorn of pre¬ 
 cise walking, and mock at the messengers and dili¬ 
 gent servants of the Lord, and at their holy profes- 
 
the marks op the unconverted. 93 
 
 sion, and make themselves merry with the Weakness 
 and failings of professors, “ Hear ye desp.sers hear 
 your dreadful doom, Prov. xix. 29. and in. 34. 2 
 
 Chron xxxvi. 16. 
 
 Sinner, consider diligently whether thoui art not to 
 be found in one of these ranks; tor it * is be thy 
 case, thou art in the “gall of bitterness and bond of 
 iniquity for, all these do carry their marksintheir 
 foreheads, and are undoubtedly the sons of death- 
 And, if so,ihe Lord pity our poor congregations ! Uh, 
 how small a number will be left when these ten so.ts 
 are left out! Alas', on how many doors, on how 
 many faces, must we write, “ Lord, have mercy upon 
 us!" Sirs, what shift do you make to keep up your 
 confidence of your good stale, when G<> rom ,‘ ea 
 ven declares against you, and pronounces vou in a 
 state of damnation ? 1 would reason will, you as God 
 with them, “howcansl thou say 1 am not polluted 
 fJer ii 23) “See the way in the valley; kn( w 
 what tliou hast done.” Man, is not thy conscience 
 privy to the tricks of deceit, to thy chamber p.a. ks, 
 to thy way of lying? Yea, are not thy friends, thy 
 family, thy neighbours, witnesses to thy protane ne¬ 
 glect of God’s worship, to thy covetous practices, to 
 thv envious and malicious carriage? May not they 
 point at thee as thou goest; there goes a gaming 
 prodigal: there goes a drunken Nabal, a companion 
 of evil-doers: there goes a railer, or a scoffer, or a 
 loose liver? Beloved, God hath written it as with a 
 sun-beam, in the book by which you must be judged, 
 that these are not the spots of his children, and that 
 none such (except renewed by converting grace) sha 
 ever escape the damnation of hell. , 
 
 Oh that such as you would now he persuaded to 
 “ repent, and turn from all your transgressions, or else 
 iniquity will be your ruin !” Lzek xvm. 30. Alas- 
 for poor hardened sinners ! Must I leave you at last 
 where you were? Must I leave the tippler still at the 
 ale-bench ? Must I leave the wanton still at his dam- 
 
94 
 
 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 ance? Must I leave the malicious still in his venom, 
 and the drunkard still at his vomil ? However, you 
 must know that you have been warned, and that I 
 am clear of your blood; and, whether men will hear, 
 or whether they will forbear, I will leave these Scrip, 
 tures with them, either as thunder-bolts to awaken 
 them, or as searing irons to harden them to a repro¬ 
 bate sense, Psa lxviii. 21. tc God shall wound the 
 head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an 
 one as goes on still in his trespasses,’' Prov. xxix. I. 
 “ He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, 
 shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy,” 
 Prov. i. 24, &c. “ Because I have called, and ye re¬ 
 
 fused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man re¬ 
 garded, &e. I will mock at your calamity when your 
 destruction cometh as a whirlwind!” 
 
 And now I imagine many will begin to bless them¬ 
 selves, and think all is well, because they cannot be 
 spotted with the grosser evils before mentioned; but 
 I must farther tell you that there is another sort of 
 unsanctified persons that carry not their marks in their 
 foreheads, but, more secretly and covertly, in their 
 hands! these do frequently deceive themselves and 
 others, and pass for good Christians, when they are 
 all the while unsound at bottom. Many pass undis¬ 
 covered, till death and judgment bring all to light. 
 1 hose self-deceivers seem to come even to heaven’s 
 gate with confidence of their admission, and yet are 
 turned off at last. Matt. vii. 22. Brethren, beloved, 
 I beseech you deeply to lay to heart and firmly retain 
 Uiis awakening consideration, “ that multitudes mis- 
 carry by the hand of some secret sin, that is not only 
 hidden from others, but, for want of observing their 
 own hearts, even from themselves.” A man may be 
 iree from open pollutions, and yet die at last by the 
 fatal hand of some unobserved iniquity; and there are 
 i se vve ve hidden sins, through which souls go down 
 >y numbers into the chambers of death; these you 
 must search carefully for, and take them as black 
 mat s (wherever they be found) discovering a grace- 
 
TUE MARKS OF THE*ONCONVERTED. 1)5 
 
 less and unconverted state; and, as you love your 
 lives, read carefully, with a holy jealousy of your¬ 
 selves, lest you should be the persons concerned. 
 
 1. Gross ignorance. Oh, how many poor souls doth 
 this sin kill in the dark ! Hos. iv. f>. 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 (poor hearts !) 
 they suspect nothing, and see not the hand that mis¬ 
 chiefs them. You shall find, whatever excuses you 
 have for ignorance, that it is a soul undoing evil, Isa. 
 xxvii 11.2 Thess. i. 8. 2 Cor. iv. 3. Ah ! would it 
 not have grieved a man’s heart to have seen that woe¬ 
 ful spectacle, when the “ poor protestants were shut 
 up, (a multitude together in a barn,) and a butcher 
 came, with his inhuman hands warmed in human 
 blood, and led them one by one (blindfold) to a block, 
 where he slew them (poor innocents!) one after ano¬ 
 ther, by the scores, in cool blood ? Hut how much 
 more should your hearts bleed to think of the hun¬ 
 dreds, in great congregations, that ignorance doth 
 butcher in secret, and lead blindfold to the block ! Be¬ 
 ware this be none of your case: Make no plea for ig¬ 
 norance ; if you spare that sin, know that it will not 
 spare you; and would a man keep a murderer in his 
 bosom ? 
 
 2. Secret reserves in closing with Christ. To forsake 
 all for Christ, to hate father and mother, yea, a man’sb 
 own life, for him, “ this is a bard saying,” Luke xiv„ 
 26. Some will do much, but they will not be of the 
 religion that will undo them; they never come to be 
 entirely devoted to Christ, nor fully to resign to him ; 
 they must have the sweet sin; they mean to do them¬ 
 selves no harm: they have secret exceptions for life, 
 liberty, or estate. Many take Christ thus, hand-over¬ 
 head, and never consider his self-denying terms, nor 
 cast up the cost; and this error in the foundation 
 mars all, and secretly ruins them for ever, Luke xiv. 
 28. Matt. xiii. 21. 
 
 3. Formality in Religion. Many stick in the dark. 
 
96 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED# 
 
 and rest in the outside of religion, and in the external 
 performances of holy duties, Matt, xxiii. 25. And 
 this oftentimes doth most effectually deceive men, and 
 doth more certainly undo them than open looseness; 
 as it was in the Pharisee’s case, Matt, xxiii. 81. 1 hey 
 
 hear, they fast, they pray, they give alms, and there¬ 
 fore will not believe but their case is good, Luke xviii. 
 11. Whereas, resting in the work done, and coming 
 short of the heart-work and the inward power and vi¬ 
 tals of religion, they fall at last into the burning, from 
 the flattering hopes and confident persuasions of their 
 being in the ready way to heaven, Matt, vii 22, 23. 
 O dreadful case, when a man’s religion shall serve 
 only to harden him, and effectually to delude and de¬ 
 ceive hi? own soul ! 
 
 4. The prevalence offalse ends in holy duties ; Matt, 
 xxiii. 25. this was the bane of the Pharisees. Oh, 
 how many a poor soul is undone by tins, and drops 
 into hell before he discerns his mistake ! he performs 
 “ good duties,” and so thinks all is well, but perceives 
 not that he is actuated by carnal motives all tlie while. 
 It is too true, that, even with the truly sanctified, 
 many carnal ends will oft-times creep in ; but they are 
 the matter of his hatred and humiliation, and never 
 come to be habitually prevalent with, him, and bear 
 the greatest sway, Rom. xiv. 7. But now, when the 
 main thing that doth ordinarily carry a man out to 
 religious duties shall be really some carnal end, as to 
 satisfy his conscience, to get the repute of being reli¬ 
 gious, 44 to be seen of men,” to shew his own gifts and 
 parts, to avoid the reproach of a profane and irreligi¬ 
 ous person, or the like; this discovers an unsound 
 heart, Hos. x. I. Zech. vii 6. O Christian ! if you 
 would avoid self deceit, see that you mind not only 
 your acts, but withal (yea above all) your ends. 
 
 5. Trusting in their own righteousness , Luke xviii. 9. 
 This is a soul-undoing mischief, Rom. x. 3. When 
 men do trust in their own righteousness, they do in¬ 
 deed reject Christ’s. Beloved, you had need be watch¬ 
 ful on every hand; for, not only your sins, but your 
 
 n 
 
THE MARKS OF TH^V^CONVERTED. 97 
 
 duties, may undo you: It may be you never thought 
 of this, but so it is, that a man may as certainly mis¬ 
 carry by his seeming righteousness and supposed graces 
 as by gross sins; and that is when a man doth trust 
 to thee as his righteousness before God, for the satis¬ 
 fying his justice, appeasing his wrath, procuring his 
 favour, and obtaining of his own pardon; tor this is 
 to put Christ out of office, and make a Saviour of our 
 own duties and graces. Beware of this, O professors ! 
 you are much in duties, but this one fly will spoil all 
 the ointment. When you have done most and best, 
 be sure go out of yourselves to Christ; reckon your 
 own righteousness but rags, Psa. cxliii. 2. Phil iii. 9. 
 Isa. lxiv 6 Neh. xiii. 22 
 
 6. A secret enmity against the strictness of religion. 
 Many moral persons, punctual in their formal devo- 
 
 I tions, have a bitter enmity against preciseness, and 
 hate the life and power of religion. Phil. iii. 6. com- 
 pared with Acts ix. 1. They like not this forward¬ 
 ness, nor that men should keep such a stir in religion; 
 they condemn the strictness of religion as singularity, 
 indiscretion, and intemperate zeal, and with them a 
 lively preacher, or lively Christian, is but a heady fel¬ 
 low. These men love not holiness as holiness, (for 
 then they would love the height of holiness,) and 
 therefore are undoubtedly rotten at heart, whatever 
 good opinion they have of themselves. 
 
 7. The resting in a certain pitch of religion. When 
 they have so much as will save them, (as they sup¬ 
 pose,) they look no farther, and so shew themselves 
 short of true grace, which will ever put men upon as¬ 
 piring to farther perfection, Phil. iii. i5. Prov. iv. 18. 
 
 8. The predominant love of the world . This is the 
 sure evidence of an unsanctified heart, Mark x. 22. 
 1 John ii. 15. 
 
 But how close doth this sin lurk oft-times under 
 the fair covert of forward profession! Luke vii. 14. 
 Yea, such a power of deceit is there in this sin, that 
 many times, when every body else can see the man’s 
 worldliness and covetousness, he cannot see it him- 
 
98 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 self, but hath so many colours, and excuses, and pre¬ 
 tences, for his eagerness on the world, that he doth 
 blind his own eyes, and perish in his self-deceit. How 
 many professors are there with whom the world hath 
 more of their hearts and affections than Christ, “ who 
 minded earthly things,” and thereby are evidently 
 after the flesh, and like to end in destruction! Rom. 
 viii 5. Phil. iii. 19. yet ask these men, and they will 
 tell you confidently, they prize Christ above all; 
 (God forbid else!) and see not their own earthly mind¬ 
 edness, for want of a narrow observation of the work¬ 
 ings of their own hearts. Did they but carefully 
 search, they would quickly find that their greatest 
 content is in the world, Luke xii. 9. and their greatest 
 care and main endeavour are to get and secure the 
 world ; which are the certain discoveries of an uncon¬ 
 verted sinner. May the professing part of the world 
 take earnest heed that they perish not by the hand of 
 this sin unobserved. Men may be, and often are, 
 kept off from Christ as effectually by the inordinate 
 love of lawful comforts, as by the most unlawful 
 courses, Matt. xxii. 5. Luke xiv. 18, 19, 20, 24. 
 
 9. Reigning malice and envy against those that dis¬ 
 respect them and are injurious to them, 1 John ii. 9, 
 11. Oh! how do many, that seem to be religious, re¬ 
 member injuries and carry grudges, and will return 
 men as good as they bring, rendering evil for evil, 
 loving to take revenge, wishing evil to them that 
 wrong them, directly against the rule of the gospel, 
 the pattern of Christ, and the nature of God, Rom, 
 xii. 14, 17. 1 Pel. ii. 21, 23. Neh. ix. 17. Doubt- 
 less, where this evil is kept boiling in the heart, and 
 is not hated, resisted, mortified, but doth habitually 
 prevail, that person is in the very gall of bitterness, 
 and in a state of death, Matt, xviii. 34, 35 1 John iii. 
 14, 15. 
 
 Reader, doth nothing of this touch thee? Art thou 
 in none 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 
 
a 
 
 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 99 
 
 found under the power of ignorance lost in formality, 
 drowned in earthly mindedness, envenomed with 
 malice, exalted in an opinion of thine own righteous¬ 
 ness, leavened with hypocrisy and carnal ends in God’s 
 service, embittered against strictness; this would be a 
 sad discovery, that all thy religion were in vain. But 
 I must proceed. 
 
 10 Unmortified Pride. When men love the praise 
 of men more than the praise of God, and set their 
 hearts upon men’s esteem, applause, and approbation, 
 it is most certain that they are yet in their sins, and 
 strangers to true conversion, John xii. 43. Gal i 10. 
 When men see not, nor complain, nor groan under 
 the pride of their own hearts, it is a sign they are 
 stark dead in sin. Oh, how secretly doth this sin live 
 and reign in many hearts, and they know it not, but 
 
 ' are very strangers to themselves! John ix. 40. 
 
 11. The prevailing love of pleasure , 2 Tim. iii 4. 
 This a black mark. When men give the flesh the 
 liberty that it craves, and pamper and please it, and 
 do not deny and restrain it; when their great delight 
 is in gratifying their bellies, and pleasing their senses; 
 whatever appearances they may have of religion, all 
 is unsound, Korn. xvi. 18 Tit. iii. 3. A flesh pleas¬ 
 ing life cannot be pleasing to God: “ They that are 
 Christ’s have crucified the flesh,” and are careful to 
 cross it and keep it under, as their enemy, Gal. v. 24. 
 
 1 1 Cor. ix 25, 26, 27. 
 
 12. Carnal security, or a presumptuous ungrounded 
 confidence that there condition is already good , Rev. iii. 
 17. Many cry, peace and safety, when sudden de¬ 
 struction is coming upon them, 1 Thess. v. 3. This 
 was that which kept the foolish virgins sleeping when 
 they should have been working, upon their beds when 
 they should have been at the markets, Matt. xxv. 5, 
 10. Prov x. 5. They perceived not their want of 
 oil till the bridegroom was come; and, while they 
 went to buy, the door was shut. And, oh ! that these 
 
 * foolish virgins had no successors! Where is the place, 
 
 • yea, where is the house almost, where these do not 
 
 F 
 
100 THE MARKS OP THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 dwell ? 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 these 
 means perish in their sins. Are you at peace P Shew 
 me upon what grounds your peace is maintained. Is 
 it Scripture peace ? Can you shew the distinguishing 
 marks of a sound believer? Can you evidence that 
 you have something more than any hypocrite in the 
 world ever had? If not fear this peace more than 
 any trouble ; and know that a carnal peace doth com¬ 
 monly prove the most mortal enemy of the poor soul, 
 and, whilst it smiles, and kisses, and speaks it fair, 
 doth fatally smite it, as it were, under the fifth rib. 
 
 By this time, I think I hear my readers crying out 
 with the disciples, 46 Who then shall be saved ?” Set 
 out from among our congregations all those ten ranks 
 of the profane on the one hand, and then besides take 
 out all these twelve sorts of close and self deceiving 
 hypocrites on the other hand, and then tell me then 
 whether it be not a remnant that shall be saved ! How 
 few will be the sheep that shall be left, when all these 
 shall be separated and set among the goats! For my 
 part, of all my numerous hearers, I have no hope to 
 see any of them in heaven that are to be found among 
 these two and twenty sorts that are here mentioned, 
 except by sound conversion they are brought into 
 another condition. 
 
 Application . And now, conscience, do thy office: 
 Speak out, and speak home, to him that heareth or 
 readeth these lines. If thou find any of these marks 
 upon him, thou must pronounce him utterly unclean, 
 Levit. xiii. 44. Take not up a lie into thy mouth; 
 speak not peace to him to whom God speaks no peace: 
 Let not lust bribe thee, or self-love or carnal preju- 
 dice blind thee. I subpoena thee, from the court of 
 heaven, to come and give in evidence: I require thee, 
 in the name of God, to go with me in the search of 
 the suspected house. As thou wilt answer it at thy 
 peril, give in a true report of the state and case of 
 him that readeth this book. Conscience, wilt thou 
 
THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 101 
 
 altogether hold thy peace at such a time as this ? I 
 adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us the 
 truth, Matt xxvi 63. Is the man converted, or is 
 he not? Doth he allow himself in any way of sin, or 
 doth he not? Doth he truly love, and please, and 
 prize, and delight in God above all other things, or 
 not ? Come, put it to an issue. 
 
 How long shall this soul live at uncertainties? O 
 conscience, bring in thy verdict. Is this man a new 
 man, or is he not? 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, or 
 what were the means by which this thorough change 
 of the new birth was wrought in his soul! Speak, con¬ 
 science; or if thou canst not tell the time and place, 
 canst thou shew Scripture evidence that the work is 
 done? Hath the man been ever taken off from his 
 false bottom, from the false hopes, and false peace, 
 wherein once he trusled ? Hath he been deeply con¬ 
 vinced of sin, and of his lost and undone condition, 
 and brought out of himself, and off from his sins, to 
 give up himself entirely to Jesus Christ ? or dost thou 
 not find him to this day under the power of ignor¬ 
 ance or in the mire of profaneness? Hast thou not 
 taken upon him the gains of unrighteousness? Dost 
 thou not find him a stranger to prayer, a neglector 
 of the word, a lover of this present world ? Dost thou 
 not often catch him in a lie ? Dost thou not find his 
 heart fermented with malice, or burning with lust, or 
 going after his covetousness? Speak plainly to all the 
 fore mentioned particulars: Canst thou acquit this 
 man, this woman, from being any of the two and 
 twenty sorts here described ? If he be found with any 
 of them, set him aside; his portion is not with the 
 saints: He must be converted and made a new crea¬ 
 ture, or else he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
 
 Beloved, be not your own betrayers; do not de¬ 
 ceive your own hearts, nor set your hands to your own 
 ruin by a wilful blindness of yourselves. Set up a tri¬ 
 bunal in your own breasts : bring the word and con- 
 
102 THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 science together, “ to the law and to the testimony,” 
 Isa. viii 20. Hear what the word concludes of your 
 estates: 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 subtilty of the temp¬ 
 ter, and the deceitfulness of sin, Jer. xvii. 9. 2 Cor. 
 xi. 3. Heb. iii. 13. all conspire to flatter and deceive 
 the poor soul; and withal so common and easy it is 
 to mistake, that it is a thousand to one but you will 
 be deceived unless you be very careful, and thorough, 
 and impartial, in the inquiry into your spiritual con¬ 
 dition : O therefore ply your work ; go to the bottom; 
 search with candles; weigh you in the balance; come 
 to the standard of the sanctuary; bring your coin to 
 the touchstone. You have the archest cheats in the 
 world to deal with; a world of counterfeit coin is 
 going; happy is he that takes no counters for gold. 
 Satan is master of deceit; he can draw to the life: 
 he is perfect in the trade; 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 so much as your own hearts. Run to God 
 to search you and try you, to examine you and prove 
 your reins, Psal. xxvi. 2. and cxxxix. 23, 24. 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, Mai. ii. 7. Rest 
 not till you have put the business of your eternal 
 welfare out of question, 1 Pet. ii. JO. “ O searcher 
 of hearts, put thou this soul upon, and help him in his 
 search.” 
 
 Chap. V. Shewing the Miseries of the Unconverted . 
 
 So unspeakably dreadful is the case of the every un¬ 
 converted soul, that I have sometimes thought (if I 
 could but convince men that they are yet unregener¬ 
 ate) the work were upon the matter done. 
 
 But I sadly experience that such a spirit of sloth 
 
 i 
 
THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 103 
 
 and slumber (Horn, xi 8. Matth. xiii. 15.) possesseth 
 the unsanctified, that, though they be convinced that 
 they are yet unconverted, yet they oft-times care¬ 
 lessly sit still; and what through the avocation of 
 sensual pleasure, or hurry of worldly business, or noise 
 and clamour of earthly cares, and lusts, and afFections, 
 Luke viii. 14. the voice of conscience is drowned, and 
 men go no farther than some cold wishes, and general 
 purposes of repenting and amending. Acts xxiv. 2d. 
 
 It is therefoie of high necessity that I do not only 
 convince men that they are unconverted, but that I 
 also endeavour to bring them to a sense of the fearful 
 misery of this state. 
 
 But here I find myself a ground at first putting 
 forth. What tongue can tell the heirs of hell suffi¬ 
 ciently of their misery, unless it were Dives’ in that 
 flame, Luke xvi 24 Where is the ready writer 
 whose pen can decipher their misery that are without 
 God in the world ? Eph. ii. 12 This cannot fully be 
 done, unless we know the infinite ocean of that bliss 
 of perfection which is in that God, which a state of 
 sin doth exclude men from. u Who knoweth*’ (saith 
 Moses) u the power of thine anger!” Psa. xc 11. 
 And how shall I tell men that which I do not know? 
 Yet so much we know as one would think would shake 
 the heart of that man had the least degree of spit itual 
 life and sense. 
 
 But this is yet the more posing difficulty, that I am 
 to speak to them that are without sense. Alas ! this 
 is not the least part of man’s misery upon him, that he 
 is dead, stark dead, in trespasses and sins, Eph. ii. 1. 
 
 Could I bring paradise into view, or represent the 
 kingdom of heaven to as much advantage as the temp¬ 
 ter did the kingdoms of the world, and all the glory 
 thereof, to our Saviour; or could I uncover the face 
 of the deep and devouring gulf of Tophet, in all its 
 terrors, and open the gates of the eternal furnance; 
 alas! he hath no eyes to see it, Matt. xiii. 14, 15. 
 Could I paint out the beauties of holiness, or glory of 
 the gospel, to the life; or could I bring above-board 
 
 
104 THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 the more than diabolical deformity and ugliness of 
 sin ; he can no more judge of the loveliness and beauty 
 of the one, and the filthiness and hatetulness of the 
 other, than the blind man of colours. He is alienated 
 from the life of God through the ignorance that is in 
 him, because of the blindness of his heart, Eph. iv. 
 18. He neither doth nor can know the things of 
 God, because they are spiritually discerned, 1 Cor. ii, 
 14. His eyes cannot be savingly opened but by con¬ 
 verting grace, Acts xxvi. 18. He is a child of dark¬ 
 ness, and walks in darkness, 1 John i. 6. Yea, the 
 light in him is darkness, Matt. vi. 23. 
 
 Shall 1 ring his knel, or read his sentence, or sound 
 in his ear the terrible trump of God’s judgments, that 
 one would think should make both his ears to tingle, 
 and strike him into Belshazzar’s fit, even to appai his 
 countenance, and loose his joints, and make his knees 
 smite one against another? Yet, alas! he perceives 
 me not; he hath no ears to hear. Or shall I cail up 
 the daughters of music, and sing the song of Moses 
 and of the Lamb? Yet he will not be stirred. Shall 
 I allure him with the joyful sound, and lovely song, and 
 glad tidings of the gospel ? with the most sweet and 
 inviting calls, comforts, cordials, of the divine pro¬ 
 mises, so exceedingly great and precious? It will not 
 affect him savingly, unless I could find him ears, Matt, 
 xiii. 15. as well as tell him the news. 
 
 Shall I set before him the feast of fat things, the 
 wine of wisdom, the bread of God, the tree of life, 
 the hidden manna ? He hath no appetite for them, no 
 mind to them, 1 Cor. ii. 14. Matt. xxii. 5. Should 
 I press the choicest grapes, the heavenly clusters of 
 gospel privileges, and drink to him in the richest wine 
 of God’s own cellar, yea, of his own side; or set be¬ 
 fore him the delicious honey-comb of God’s testimonies, 
 Psa. xix. 10. alas l he hath no taste to discern them. 
 Shall I invite the dead to rise and eat the banquet of 
 their funerals? No more can the dead in sin relish 
 the holy food wherewith the Lord of life hath spread 
 his table. 
 
THE MISERIES OP THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 What then shall I do? shall I burn the brimstone 
 of hell at his nostrils ? or shall 1 open the box ot 
 spikenard, very precious, that filleth the whole house 
 of this universe with its perfume, Mark xiv. 3 John 
 xii. 3. and hope that the savour ot Christ s ointments, 
 and the smell of his garments, will attract him P Psa. 
 xlv 8 Alas' dead sinners are like the dumb idols, 
 they have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have 
 they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear 
 not; noses have they, but they smell not; they have 
 hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they 
 walk not; neither speak they through their throat, 
 Psa. cxv. 5, b, 7. they are destitute of spiritual sense 
 
 and motion. . . , , • 
 
 But let me try the sense that doth last leave us, and 
 draw the sword of the word; yea, lay at him while I 
 will, yea, though 1 choose mine arrows out ot Cod s 
 quiver, and direct them to (he heart, nevertheless he 
 it nnt: for how should he, being past feeling? 
 
 feeleth’it not; for how should he, being past feeling? 
 Eph. iv, 19. so that though “the wrath ot God abid- 
 eth on him," and the mountainous weight ot so many 
 thousand sins, yet he goes up and down as light as if 
 nothing ailed him, liom. vii. 9. In a word, he carries 
 a dead soul in a living body, and Ins flesh is but the 
 walking coffin of acoirupted mind that is twice dead, 
 Jude 12. rotting in the slime and putrefaction of 
 noisome lusts. Matt, xxiii. 27, 28. . 
 
 Which way then shall I come at the miserable ob¬ 
 jects that I have to deal with ? Who shall make the 
 heart of stone to relent? Zech. vii. 11,12. or the life¬ 
 less carcass to feel and move? That God that^is able 
 of “ stone to raise up children unto Abraham, Matt, 
 iii 9. that “ raiseth the dead," 1 Cor. i. 9. “and 
 melteth the mountains," Neh. i.5. and “ stiikes water 
 out of the flmts," Deut. viii. 15. that loves to work 
 like himself, beyond the hopes and belief ot man, that 
 peopleth his church with dry bones, and planteth his 
 orchard with dry sticks; he is able to do this, i here- 
 fore “ I bow my knee to the.Most High God," Eph. 
 iii. 15. and as our Saviour prayed at the sepulchre of 
 
106 THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 Lazarus, John xi. 3S, 41. and the Shunamite ran to 
 the man of’God for her dead child, 2 Kings iv. 25, so 
 doth your mourning minister kneel about your graves, 
 and carry you in the arms of prayer to that God in 
 whom your help is found. 
 
 “O thou all-powerful Jehovah, that worketh 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 grave-stone, and say, as to Lazarus 
 when already sinking, come forth. Lighten thou this 
 darkness, O 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 eye that death 
 itself hath closed; thou, that formedst the ear, canst 
 restore the hearing; say thou to these ears, Ephpha- 
 tha, and they shall be opened ; Give thou eyes to see 
 thine excellencies, a taste that may relish thy sweet¬ 
 ness, a scent that may savour thy ointment, a feeling 
 that may discern the privilege of thy favour, the bur. 
 den of thy wrath, the intolerable weight of unpardoned 
 sin, and give thy servants order to prophesy on the dry 
 bones, and let the effects of this prophesy be as of thy 
 prophet, when he prophesied the valley of dry bones 
 into a living army exceeding great,” Ezek. xxxvii. I, 
 &c. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and car¬ 
 ried me in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in 
 the midst of the valley which was full of bones. He 
 said to me, prophesy on these bones, and say to them, 
 O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord ; thussaith 
 the Lord unto these bones, behold I will cause breath 
 to enter into you, and ye shall live; and I will lay 
 sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh on you, 
 and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, 
 and you shall live, and ye shall know that I am the 
 Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as 
 1 prophesied there was a noise and a shaking, and the 
 bones came together, bone to his bone. And, when 
 I beheld, lo! the sinews and flesh came upon them and 
 covered them above, but there was no breath in them. 
 Then said he unto me, prophesy unto the wind ; pro. 
 
THE MISERIES OP THE UNCONVERTED. 107 
 
 phesy, son of man, and say to the wind, thus saith the 
 Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and 
 breathe on these slain, that they may live. So I pro- 
 phesied as he commanded me, and the breath came 
 into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, an 
 exceeding great army.'' But 1 must proceed, as I am 
 able, to ^unfold that mystery, which, I confess, no 
 tongue can unfold, no heart can sufficiently comprehend. 
 Know therefore that, while thou art unconverted, 
 
 I. The infinite God is engaged against thee . 
 
 It is no small part of thy misery that thou art 44 with¬ 
 out God,” Eph. ii. 22. How doth Micah run crying 
 after the Danites, 44 You have taken away my gods, 
 and what have I more ?” Judg. xviii. 23, 24. O what 
 a mourning then must thou lift up, that art without 
 God, that canst lay no claim to him without daring 
 usurpation ! Thou mayst say of God, as Sheba of Da¬ 
 vid, u we have no part in David, neither have we in¬ 
 heritance in the son of Jesse,” 2 Sam. xx. 1. How 
 pitiful and piercing a moan is that of Saul in his ex¬ 
 tremity ! 44 the Philistines are upon me, and God is 
 departed from me !” 1 Sam. xxviii. 1.5. Sinners, but 
 what will you do in the day of your visitation ? Whi¬ 
 ther will you flee for help P Where will you leave 
 your glory P Isa. x. 3 What will you do when the 
 Philistines are upon you; when the world shall take 
 its eternal leave of you; when you must bid your 
 friends, houses, and lands, farewell for evermore ? 
 What will you do then, I say, that have never a God 
 to go to? Will you call on him ? Will you cry to him 
 for help ? Alas, he will not own you, Prov. i. 28, 29. 
 he will not take any notice of you, but send you pack¬ 
 ing with an I never knew you,” Matth. vii. 23. 
 They that know what it is to have a God to go to, a 
 God to live upon, they know a little what a fearful 
 misery it is to be without God. This made that holy 
 man cry out, 44 Let me have a God, or nothing; let 
 me know him, and his will, and what will please him, 
 and how I may come to enjoy him, or would I had 
 never had an understanding to know any thing !” &c. 
 
 F 2 
 
108 THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 But thou art not only without God, but God is 
 u against thee,” Ezek. v. 8, 9. Nahum ii. 13. O! if 
 God would but stand a neuter, though he did not own 
 nor help the poor sinner, his case were not so deeply 
 miserable, though God should give up the poor crea- 
 ture to the will of his enemies, to do their worst with 
 him; though he should deliver him over to the tor¬ 
 mentors, Matt, xviii. 34*. that devils should tear and 
 torture him to their utmost power and skill, yet this 
 were not half so fearful. But God will set himself 
 against the sinner; and, believe it, it is a fearful 
 44 thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” Heb, 
 x. 31. There is no friend like him, no enemy like him. 
 As much as heaven is above the earth, omnipotence 
 above impotence, infinity above nullity, so much more 
 horrible it is to fall into the hands of the living God, 
 than into the paws of bears and lions, yea, furies or 
 devils. God himself will be thy tormentor; thy de¬ 
 struction shall come from the presence of the Lord, 2 
 Thess. i. 9. Tophet is deep and large, and the wrath 
 of the Lord, like a river of brimstone, doth kindle it, 
 Isa. xxx. 33. 44 If God be against thee, who shall be 
 
 for thee ? If one man sin against another, the judge 
 him; but, if a man sin against the Lord, who shall 
 entreat for him?” 1 Sam. ii. 25. 44 Thou, even thou, 
 art to be feared ; and who shalt stand in thy sight 
 when once thou art angry ?” Psa. Ixxvi. 7. 44 Who is 
 that God that shall deliver you out of his hands?” 
 Dan. iii. 15. Can mammon ? “ riches profit notin 
 the day of wrath,” Prov xi 4. Can kings or warri¬ 
 ors ? No: “ They shall cry to the mountains and 
 rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of 
 him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of 
 the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, 
 and who shall be able to stand ?” ltev. vi. 15, 16, 17. 
 
 Sinner! I think this should go like a dagger to thy 
 heart, to know that God is thine enemy. Oh ! whi- 
 Rier wilt thou go? where wilt thou shelter thee! 
 There is no hope for thee, unless thou lay down thy 
 weapons, and sue out thy pardon, and get Christ to 
 
THE MISERIES OP THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 109 
 
 stand thy friend, and make thy peace: If it were not 
 for this, thou mightst 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 is a possibility of mercy for thee, yea, a proffer 
 of mercy to thee, that thou mayst have God more tor 
 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!” . , 
 
 I. His face is against thee, Psa. xxxiv. 16. 1 lie 
 
 face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut 
 off the remembrance of them.” Woe unto them whom 
 God shall set his face against! When he did but look 
 on the host of the Egyptians, how terrible was the 
 consequence! Ezek xiv. 8. “ I will set my face 
 
 against that man, and will make him a sign and a pro¬ 
 verb, and will cut him off from the midst of my peo¬ 
 ple, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”- 
 
 II. His heart is against thee. He hateth all the 
 workers of iniquity : Man, doth not thy heart tremble 
 to think of thy being an object of God’s hatred ? Jer. 
 xv. 1. Though Moses and Samuel “ stood before me, 
 yet my mind could not be towards this people; cast 
 them out of my sight,” Zech.xi. 8. “ My soul loathed 
 them, and their souls also abhorred me.” 
 
 III. His hand is against thee. 1 Sam. xii. 14, 16. 
 All his attributes are against thee. 
 
 First, his justice is like a flaming sword unsheathed 
 against thee: “ If I whet my glittering sword, and my 
 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,” &c. 
 Heut. xxxii. 40, 41. 
 
 So exact is justice, that it will by no means clear the 
 guilty, Exod. xxxiv. 7. God will not discharge thee, 
 he will not hold thee guiltless, Exod. xx.,7. but will 
 
HO THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 require the whole debt in person of thee, unless thou 
 canst make a scripture claim to Christ, and his satis, 
 faction. When the enlightened sinner looks on jus¬ 
 tice, and sees the balance in which be must be weighed, 
 and the sword by which he must be executed, he feels 
 an earthquake in his breast: But Satan keeps this out 
 of sight, and persuades the soul (while he can) that 
 the Lord is all made up of mercy, and so lulls it asleep 
 in sin. Divine justice is very strict; it must have sa¬ 
 tisfaction to the utmost farthing; it denounceth “in¬ 
 dignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, to every 
 soul that doeth evil, ’ Iiom. ii. 8, 9. It curseth every 
 one that continueth not in every thing that is written 
 in the law, to do it, Gal. iii. 10. The justice of God 
 to the unpardoned sinner, that hath a sense of his mi¬ 
 sery is more terrible than the sight of the bailiff or 
 creditor to the bankrupt debtor, or than the sight of 
 the judge and bench to the robber, or of the irons and 
 gibbet to the guilty murderer. When justice sits upon 
 life and death, O what dreadful work doth it make 
 to the wretched sinner ! ‘‘Bind him hand and toot; 
 cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping 
 and gnashing of teeth,” Matt. xxii. 13. “ Depart 
 from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,” Matt. xxv. 
 41. I his is the terrible sentence that justice pro- 
 nounceth. Why, sinner, by this severe justice must 
 thou be tried; and as God liveth, this killing sentence 
 shalt thou hear, unless thou repent and be converted. 
 
 Secondly, “ Ihe holiness of God is full of antipathy 
 against thee, Psa v. 4,5. lie is not only angry with 
 thee, (so he may be with his own children,) but he 
 hath a fixed, rooted, habitual, displeasure against thee; 
 “ he loathes thee, Zech. xi. 8. and what is done by 
 thee, though for substance commanded by him, Isa. i. 
 14. Mai. i. 10. As if a man should give his servant 
 evei so good meat to dress, yet, if he should mingle 
 filth or poison with it, he would not touch it, God’s 
 nature is infinitely contrary to sin, and so he cannot 
 but hate a sinner out of Christ. 
 
 Oh what misery is this, to be out of the favour, yea. 
 
THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. lli 
 
 under the hatred of God! Eccles. v. 6. Hos. ix. IS. 
 that God, who can as easily lay aside his nature, and 
 cease to be God, as not be contrary to thee and detest 
 thee, except thou be changed and renewed by grace, 
 O sinner, how darest thou to think of the bright and 
 radiant sun of purity, or the beauties, the glory, of ho¬ 
 liness, that is in God ! “ The stars are not pure in his 
 sight,” Job xxv. 5. 44 He humbles himself to behold 
 
 things that are done in heaven,” Psa. cxiii. 6, O those 
 light and sparkling eyes of his! what do they spy in 
 thee ? and hast thou no interest in Christ neither, that 
 he should plead for thee ? I think he should hear thee 
 crying out (astonished) with the Bethshemiles, 44 Who 
 shall stand before this Lord God ?” 1 Sam vi. 20. 
 
 Thirdly. The power of God is mounted like a mighty 
 cannon against thee . The glory of God’s power is to 
 be displayed in the wonderful confusion and destruc- 
 li tion oi them that obey not the gospel, 2 Thess. i. 8, 9. 
 ii He will 64 make his power known in them,” Rom. ix. 
 i 22. how mightily he can torment them: For this end 
 he raiseth them up, 44 that he might make his power 
 known,” Rom. ix. i7. O man, art thou able to make 
 thy party good with thy Maker? No more than a 
 silly reed against the cedars of God, or a little cock¬ 
 boat against the tumbling ocean, or the children’s 
 i bubbles against the blustering winds. 
 
 Sinner, the power of God’s anger is against thee, 
 3 Psa. xc. 11 and power and anger together make fear¬ 
 ful work; it were better thou hadst all the world in 
 i arms against thee, than to have the power of God 
 
 ,i against thee. There is no escaping his hands, no 
 
 breaking his prison. 46 The thunder of his power who 
 can withstand ?” Job xxvi. 14. 44 Unhappy man, that 
 
 shall understand 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 himself against him, and prospered, which 
 r removeth the mountains, and they know it not; which 
 overturneth them in his anger; which shaketh the 
 earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble; 
 
112 THE MISERIES OP THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and it 
 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, &c. 
 And art thou a fit match for such an antagonist? 
 “ Oh ! consider this, you that forget God, lest he tear 
 you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you,” Psa. 
 1. 22. Submit to mercy; let not dust and stubble 
 stand out against the Almighty; set not briers and 
 thorns in battle, lest he go through them, and consume 
 them together; but lay hold on his strength that you 
 may “ make peace with him,” Isa. xxvii. 4, 5. “ Woe 
 to him that striveth with his Maker !” Isa. xlv. 9. 
 
 Fourthly, The wisdom of God is set to ruin thee . He 
 hath ordained his arrows, and prepared instruments of 
 death, and made all things ready, Psa. vii. 12, 13. 
 His counsels are against thee to contrive thy destruc- 
 tion, Jer. xviii. 11. Pie laughs to see how'thou wilt 
 be taken and ensnared in the evil day, Psa. xxxvii 13. 
 “ The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that the 
 day is coming.” He sees how thou wilt come down 
 mightily in a moment; how thou wilt wring thy hands, 
 tear thy hair, eat thy flesh, and gnash thy teeth, for 
 anguish and astonishment of heart, when thou seest 
 thou art fallen remedilessly into the pit of destruction. 
 
 Fifthly, The truth of God is sworn against thee y 
 Psa. xcv. 11. If he be true and faithful, thou must 
 perish if thou goest on, Luke xiii. 3. Unless he be 
 false of his word, thou must die except thou repent, 
 Ezek xxxiii. II. If we believe not, yet he abideth 
 faithful: he cannot deny himself, 2 Tim. ii. 13. That 
 is, he is faithful to his threatenings as well as promi¬ 
 ses, and will shew his faithfulness in our confusion, if 
 we believe not. God hath told thee, as plain as it can 
 be spoken, that, “ if he wash thee not, thou hast no 
 part in him,” John xiii. 6. That, “ if thou livest af¬ 
 ter the flesh, thou shalt die.” Rom. viii. 13. « That, 
 except thou be converted, thou shalt in no wise enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven,” Matt, xviii. 3. and he 
 
THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 11J 
 
 abideth faithful ; he cannot deny himself. Beloved* 
 as the immutable faithfulness of God in his promise 
 and oath affords believers strong consolation, Heb. vi. 
 18. so they are to unbelievers for strong consternation 
 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 be¬ 
 lieve they are truth or not ? if not, thou art a wretched 
 infidel, and not a Christian; and therefore give over 
 the name and hopes of a t hristian. But, if thou dost 
 believe them, O heart of steel that thou hast, that canst 
 walk up and down in quiet, when the truth and faith¬ 
 fulness of God are engaged to destroy thee! so that, 
 if the Almighty can do it, thou shalt surely perish and 
 be damned. Why, man, the whole “book of God” 
 doth testify against thee, while thou remainest un¬ 
 sanctified: It condemns thee in every leaf, and is to 
 thee like Ezekiel’s roll, written within and without 
 with lamentation, and mourning, and woe, Ezek. 
 ii. 10. And all this shall surely come upon thee and 
 overtake thee, (Deut. xxviii 15 .) except thou repent: 
 44 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but one jot or 
 tittle of this word shall never pass away.” Matt. v. 18. 
 
 Now, put all this together, and tell me if the case 
 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 an infinite God are bound in an oath to destroy 
 thee, Heb. iii. 18. O man, what wilt thou do? whi¬ 
 ther wilt thou flee ? If God’s omniscience can find 
 ther thou shalt not escape: If the true and faithful 
 God will save his oath, perish thou must, except thou 
 believe and repent: If the Almighty hath power to 
 torment thee, thou shalt be perfectly miserable in 
 soul and body to all eternity, unless it be prevented 
 by speedy conversion. 
 
 II. The whole creation of God is against thee. 
 u The whole creation (saith Paul) groaneth and tra- 
 vaileth in pain,” Rom. viii. 22. But what is it that 
 
114 THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 the creation groaneth under ? why, the fearful abuse 
 that it is subject to, in serving the lust of unsanctified 
 men. And what is it that the creation groaneth for? 
 why, for freedom and liberty from this abuse, for 
 the “ creature is very unwillingly subject to this bond¬ 
 age.” Rom. viii. 19, 20, 21. If the unreasonable 
 and inanimate creatures had speech and reason, they 
 would cry out under it as a bondage unsufferable, to 
 be abused by the ungodly, contrary to their natures 
 and the ends that the great Creator made them for. 
 It is a passage of an eminent divine, “ The liquor 
 that the drunkard drinketh, if it had reason as well as 
 a man to know how shamefully it is abused and spoil¬ 
 ed, it would groan in the barrel against him, it would 
 groan in the cup against him, groan in his throat, in 
 his belly, against him; it would fly in his face, if it 
 could speak. And, if God should open the mouths 
 of his creatures, as he did the mouth of Balaam’s ass, 
 the proud man’s garment on his back would groan 
 against him. There is never a creature, but, if it had 
 reason to know how it is abused till a man be con¬ 
 verted, would 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 com¬ 
 fort, so long as they live in sin against God.” Thus 
 far he. 
 
 I think this should be a terror to an unconverted 
 soul, to think he is a burden to the creation; Luke 
 xiii. 7. “ Cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground ?” 
 If 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 ?” Num. 
 xx. 10. Thy food would say, Lord, must I nourish 
 such a wretch as this, and yield forth my strength for 
 him to dishonour thee withal P No, I will choke him 
 rather, if thou wilt give me permission. The very 
 air would say, Lord, must I give this man breath to 
 
THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 set his tongue against heaven, and scorn thy people, 
 and vent his pride, and wrath, and filthy communica¬ 
 tion, and belch out oaths and blasphemy against thee? 
 No, it* thou but say the word, he shall be breathless 
 for me. His poor beast would say, Lord, must I 
 carry him upon his wicked design ? No, I will break 
 his bones, I will end his days rather, if I may have 
 leave from thee.” A wicked man ! the earth groans 
 under him, and hell groans for him, till death satis¬ 
 fies both, and unburdens the earth, and stops the 
 mouth oi hell with him. While the Lord of Hosts is 
 against th< e, be sure the Host of the Lord is against 
 thee, and all the creatures, 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, Job xxii. 21, 22, 
 23, 24. Hos ii. 18, ;9, 20. 
 
 III. r l'he roaring lion hath his full power upon thee . 
 1 Pei. v. 3. Thou art fast to the paw of that lion that 
 is greedy to devour; in the snare of the devil, led 
 captive by him at his will, 2 Tim. ii. 26. This is the 
 spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience, 
 Eph. ii. 2. His drudges they are, and his lust they 
 do. He is the ruler of the darkness of this world, 
 Eph. vi. 12. that is, of ignorant sinners that live in 
 darkness. You pity the poor Indians that worship 
 the devil for their God, but little think it is your own 
 case. Why, it is the common misery of all the un¬ 
 sanctified, that the devil is their God, 2 Cor. iv. 4, 
 Not that they do intend to do him homage and wor¬ 
 ship; they will be ready to defy him, and him that 
 should say so by them ; but all this while they serve 
 him, and come and go at his beck, and live under his 
 government: His servants you are to whom ye yield 
 yourselves to obey, Rom. vi. 16. Oh, how many 
 then will be found the real servants of the devil, than 
 take themselves for no other than the children of 
 God ! tie can no sooner offer a sinful delight or op¬ 
 portunity for your unlawful advantage, than you em¬ 
 brace it: If he suggest a lie or prompt you to revenge. 
 
116 THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 you readily obey: If be forbid you to read or pray, 
 you hearken to him, and therefore his servants you 
 are. Indeed he lies behind the curtain, he acts in 
 the dark, and sinners see not who setteth them on 
 work, but all the while he leads them in a string. 
 Doubtless the liar intends not a service to Satan, but 
 his own advantage; yet it is he that stands in the 
 corner unobserved, and puttetli the thing in his heart, 
 Acts v. 3. John viii. 4. Questionless, Judas when he 
 sold his Master for money, and the Chaldeans and 
 Sabeans when they plundered Job, intended not to do 
 the devil a pleasure, but to satisfy his own covetous 
 thirst; yet it was be that actuated them in their wicked- 
 ness, John xiii. 27. Job i. 12, 15. 17. Men may he 
 very slaves and common drudges tor the devil, and 
 never know it: nay, they may please themselves in 
 the thoughts of happy liberty, 2 Pet. ii. 19. 
 
 Art thou yet in ignorance, and not turned from 
 darkness to light? Why thou art under the power of 
 Satan, Acts xvi. 18. Dost thou live in the ordinary 
 and wilful practice of any know n sin ? know that thou 
 art of the devil, 1 John iii. 8. Dost thou live in strife, 
 or envy, or malice? Verily he is thy father, John viii. 
 40, 41. O dreadful case! However Satan may provide 
 his slaves with divers pleasures. Tit. iii. 3. yet it is but 
 to roll them into endless perdition. The serpent comes 
 with the apple in his mouth, oh ! but (with Eve) thou 
 seest not the deadly sting in his tail. He that is now 
 thy tempter will one day be thy tormentor. Oh, that 
 I could but give thee to see how black a master thou 
 servest, how filthy a drudgery thou dost, how merci¬ 
 less a tyrant thou gratifiest, all whose pleasure is, to 
 set thee on work to make thy perdition and 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 lies 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, Acts iii. 19, they are 
 
THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 117 
 
 all upon the score against thee. Regeneration and 
 remission are never separated; the unsanctifv d are 
 unquestionably unjustified and unpardoned, 1 Cor. vi. 
 11. 1 Pet i. 2. Heb. ix. 14 Beloved, it is a fear¬ 
 
 ful thing to be in debt; but above all, in God's debt; 
 for there is no arrest so formidable as his, no prison 
 so horrible as his. Look upon an enlightened sinner, 
 who feels the weight of his own guilt; oh, how fright¬ 
 ful are his looks, how tearful are his complaints ! his 
 comforts are turned into wormwood, and his moisture 
 into drought, and his sleep is departed from his eyes. 
 He is a terror to himself and all that are about him ; 
 and is ready to envy the very stones that lie in the 
 street, because they are senseless, and feel not his 
 misery; and wisheth he had been a dog, or a toad, or 
 a serpent, rather than a man, because then death had 
 put an end to his misery; whereas now he will be but 
 the beginning of that which will know no ending. 
 
 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 mill stone, that, 44 w hosoever falleth 
 upon it, shall be broken; but upon whomsoever it 
 shall fall it shall grind him to powder, 1 ' Matt, xxi.44. 
 What work did it make with our blessed Saviour ! It 
 pressed the veiy blood (to a worder) 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 lhy case in time. Canst thou think 
 of that tin eat without trembling, 44 ye shall die in 
 your sins,” John viii. 24. Oh ! better were it for thee 
 to die in a jail, in a ditch, in a dungeon, than die in 
 thy sins. It death, as it will take away all thy other 
 comforts, would take away thy sins too, it were some 
 mitigation ; but thy sins w ill lollow the when thy 
 friends leave thee, and all worldly enjoyments shake 
 hands with thee: Thy sins will not die with thee, 
 2 Cor. v. 10. Rev xx. 12. as a prisoner’s other debts 
 will; but they will to judgment with thee, there to be 
 thy accusers; and they will to hell with thee, there to 
 be thy tormentors. Better to have so many fiends 
 
 
THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 118 
 
 and furies about thee, than thy sins to fall upon thee 
 and fasten upon thee. Oh, the work that these will 
 make thee? 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 all together come in against 
 thee ? Hold open the eyes of conscience to consider 
 this, that thou mayst despair of thyself, and be driven 
 to Christ and fly for refuge, to “ lay hold on the hope 
 that is set before thee,” 11 eb vi 18 
 
 V. Tkj/ raging lusts do miserably enslave thee . While 
 unconverted, thou art a very servant to sin: it reigns 
 over thee, and holds thee under it* dominion till thou 
 art brought within the bonds ot God’s covenant, John 
 viii. 34, 36. Tit. iii. 3. Rom vi. 12, 14 and vi. 16, 
 17. Now, there is no such another tyrant as sin: 
 O the filthy and fearful work that it doth engage its 
 servants in ! Would it not pierce a man’s heart to see 
 a company of poor creatures drudging and toiling, and 
 all to carry together fagots and fuel for their own 
 burning? Why this is the employment of sin’s drudges: 
 Even while they bless themselves in their unrighteous 
 gains, while they sing and swill in pleasure, they are 
 but treasuring up wrath and vengeance for their eter¬ 
 nal burning; they are but layingin powder and bullet, 
 and adding to the pile of Tophet, and flinging in oil 
 to make the flame rage the fiercer. Who would serve 
 such a master, whose work is drudgery, and whose 
 wages are death ? Rom. vi. 25. 
 
 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? Mark v. 5. This is 
 thy case; such is thy work; every stroke is a thrust 
 at thy heart, 1 Tim. vi. 10. Conscience indeed is now 
 asleep; but, when death and judgment shall bring 
 thee to thy senses, then wilt thou feel the raging 
 smart and anguish in every wound. The convinced 
 
THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 110 
 
 sinner is a sensible instance of the miserable bondage 
 of sin : Conscience flies upon him, and tells him what 
 the end of these things will be; and yet such a slave 
 he is to his lusts, that on he must, though he sees it 
 will be his endless perdition; and, when the tempta¬ 
 tion comes, lust gets the bit in his mouth, breaks the 
 cords of all his vows and promises, and carries him 
 headlong to his own destruction. 
 
 VI. The furnace of eternal vengeance is heated ready 
 for thee , Isa. xxx. 33. Hell and destruction open their 
 mouths upon thee; they gape for thee; they groan for 
 thee, Isa. v, 14. waiting as it were with a greedy eye, 
 as thou standest upon the brink, when thou wilt drop 
 in. If the wrath of men be 46 as the roaring of a lion,” 
 Prov. xx. 2 . 44 more heavy than the sand,” Prov. 
 xxvii. 3. what is the wrath of the infinite God l if the 
 burning furnace heated in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery 
 rage, when he commanded it to be made yet seven 
 times hotter, was so fierce as to burn up even those 
 that drew near it to throw the three children in, Dan. 
 iii. 19, 22. how hot is that burning oven of the 
 Almighty’s fury! Mai. iv. I. surely this is seventy 
 times seven more fierce. What thinkest thou, O 
 man, of being a fagot in hell to all eternity ? 44 Can 
 thy heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in 
 the day that I will deal with thee, saitb the Lord of 
 hosts!” Ezek. xxii. 14. Canst thou abide the ever¬ 
 lasting burnings? Canst thou dwell with consuming 
 fire? Isa. xxxiii. 14. when thou shalt be as glowing 
 iron in hell, and thy whole body and soul shall be as 
 perfectly possessed by God’s burning vengeance as 
 the fiery sparkling 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 thou bear the w r eight of his 
 loins ? The most patient man that ever was, did curse 
 the day that ever he was born, Job iii. 1. and even 
 wish death to come and end his misery, Job xii. 15, 16. 
 when God did but let out one little drop of his wrath; 
 
120 THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 how then wilt thou endure when God shall pour out 
 all 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 
 immortality shall be thy misery, and to die the death 
 of a brute, and be swallowed in the gulf of annihila¬ 
 tion, shall be such a felicity as the whole eternity of 
 wishes, and an ocean of tears, shall never purchase? 
 Now thou canst “ put off the evil day,” and canst 
 “ laugh and be merry, and forget the terror of the 
 Lord,” 2 Cor. v. 11. but how wilt thou hold out, or 
 hold up, when God will cast thee into a 44 bed of tor. 
 ments,” Rev. ii. 22. and make thee 44 to lie down in 
 sorrow?” [sa. 1. 11. when roaring and blasphemy shall 
 be thy 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 ? Rev. xiv. 10, 
 when thou shalt draw in flame 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 ever, and thou shalt have no rest night nor 
 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 ? Jer. xlii. 18, 
 O sinner! stop here and consider: If thou aria 
 man, and not a senseless block, consider: Bethink 
 thyself where thou standest: Why, upon the very 
 brink of his furnace. As the Lord livetb, and thy 
 soul liveth, there is but a step between thee and this, 
 1 Sam. xx. 3. Thou knowest not, when thou liest 
 down, but thou mayst be in before the morning: 
 thou knowest not, when thou risest, but thou mayst 
 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 sayst, 
 1 his doth not belong to thee,” look again over the 
 foregoing chapter, and tell me the truth : Are none of 
 those black marks found upon thee ? Do not blind 
 
 
THE MISERtES OP THE UNCONVERTED. 121 
 
 thine eyes; do not deceive thyself; see thy misery 
 while thou mayst prevent it: Think what it is to be 
 a vile cast out, a damned reprobate, a vessel of wrath, 
 into which the Lord will be pouring out a tormenting 
 fury while he hath a being, Ilom ix. 22. 
 
 Divine wrath is a fierce, (Deut. xxxii. 22.) devour- 
 ing, (Isa. xxxiii. 14.) everlasting, (Matt xxv. 41.) 
 unquenchable fire, (Matt. iii. 12.) and thy soul and 
 body most be the fuel upon which it must be feeding 
 for ever, unless thou consider thy ways, and speedily 
 turn to the Lord by a sound conversion. They that 
 have been only singed by this fire, and had no more 
 but the smell thereof passing upon them, oh, what 
 amazing spectacles have they been! Whose heart 
 would not have melted to have heard Spirals outcries ? 
 To have seen Chaloner, that monument of justice 
 worn to skin and bone, blaspheming the God of hea¬ 
 ven, cursing himself, and continually crying out, “ O 
 torture, torture, torture ! O torture, torture,” as if the 
 flames of wrath had already taken hold on him ? To 
 have heard Rogers crying out, “ I have a little plea¬ 
 sure, but now I must have hell for evermore:” wishing 
 but for this mitigation, that God would but let him lie 
 burning for ever behind the back of that fire, (on the 
 earth.) and bringing in his sad conclusion still, at the 
 end of whatever was spoken to him to afford him 
 some hope, “ I must to hell, I must to the furnace of 
 hell, for millions and millions of ages !” Oh ! if the 
 fears and fore-thoughts of the wrath to come be so ter¬ 
 rible, so intolerable, what is the feeling of it ! 
 
 Sinner, it is but in vain to flatter you : this would 
 be but to toll you into the unquenchable fire : Know 
 ye from the living God that here you must lie; with 
 these burnings you must dwell till immortality die 
 and immutability change, till eternity run out and 
 omnipotence is no longer able to torment, except you 
 be in good earnest renewed throughout by sanctifying 
 grace. 
 
 VII. The law discharges all its threats and curses at 
 thee , Gal. iii. 10. DeutT xxviii. Oh how dreadfully 
 
122 THE MISERIE9 OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 doth it. thunder ! It spits fire and brimstone in thy 
 face: Its words are as drawn swords, and as the sharp 
 arrows of the mighty : It demands satistaction to the 
 utmost, and cries, Justice! Justice ! It speaks blood, 
 and war, and wounds, and death, against thee. 0 
 the execrations, and plagues, and deaths, that this mur¬ 
 dering piece is loaded with ! (read Deut. xxviii 15, 
 16, &c.) and thou art the mark at which this shot is 
 levelled. O man, away to thy strong hold, Zech ix. 
 12. away from thy sins; haste to the sanctuary, the 
 city of refuge, Heb. xiii. 13 even the Lord Jesus 
 Christ; hide thee in him, or else thou art lost, with¬ 
 out any hope of recovery. 
 
 VIII. The gospel itself bindeth the sentence of eternal 
 damnation upon thee , Mark xvi. 16. If thou continues! 
 in thine impenitent and unconverted state, know that 
 the gospel denounceth a much sorer condemnation 
 than ever would have been for the transgression only 
 of the first covenant. Is it not a dreadful case to have 
 the gospel itself fill its mouth with threats, thunder, 
 and damnation? “To have the Lord to roar from 
 mount Sion against thee?” Joel iii 16. “Hear the 
 terror of the Lord: He that believeth not shall be 
 damned. Except ye repent, ye shall all perish,” Luke 
 xiii. 3- This is the condemnation, that light is come 
 into the world, and men love darkness rather than 
 light,” John iii. 19 “ He that believeth not, the wrath 
 of God abideth on him,” John iii. 36. “ If the word 
 
 spoken by angels was steadfast; and every trans¬ 
 gression and disobedience received a just recompense 
 of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great 
 salvation,” Heb. ii. 2, 3. “ He that despised Moses' 
 
 law, died without mercy : Of how much sorer punish¬ 
 ment shall he be thought worthy, that hath trampled 
 underfoot the Son of God ?” Heb. x. 28, 29. 
 
 Application. 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 mayst remedy it, than 
 blind and harden thyself till (to thy eternal sorrow) 
 thou shalt feel what thou wouldst not believe; and, if 
 
THE MISERIES OP THE UNCONVERTED. 123 
 
 it be true, what dost thou mean, to loiter and linger 
 in such a case as this ? 
 
 Alas, for thee, poor man ! how effectually hath sin 
 undone thee, and deprived and despoiled thee even of 
 thy reason to look after thine own everlasting good ! 
 O miserable caitiff! what stupidity and senselessness 
 have surprised thee! Oh ! let me knock up and awake 
 this sleeper! Who;dwells within the walls of this 
 flesh ? Is there ever a soul here, a rational, under¬ 
 standing soul ? or art thou only a walking ghost, a 
 senseless lump? Art thou a reasonable soul, and yet 
 so far brutified as to forget thyself immortal, and to 
 think thyself to be as the beasts that perish ? Art thou 
 turned into flesh, that thou savourest nothing but 
 gratifying the sense, and making provision for the 
 flesh ? or else, having reason to understand the eter¬ 
 nity of the future state, dost thou yet make light of 
 being everlastingly miserable, which is to be so much 
 below the brute, as it is worse to act against reason 
 than to act without it? O unhappy soul, that wast 
 the glory of man, the mate of angels, and the image 
 ot God ! that wast God’s representative in the world, 
 and had the supremacy amongst the creatures, and 
 the dominion over thy maker’s works! art thou now 
 become a slave to sense, a servant to so base an idol 
 as thy belly, for no higher felicity than to fill thee 
 with the wind of man’s applause, or art heaping to¬ 
 gether a little refined earth, no more suitable to thy 
 spiritual 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,” James v. 9. Yet a little while, and “ time 
 shall be no longer,” Rev. x. 5, 6. And wilt thou run 
 the hazard of continuing in such a state, in which, 
 if thou be overtaken, thou art irrecoverably miser¬ 
 able ? 
 
 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 is a step 
 to perdition; and dost thou not know but the next 
 
 G 
 
124 THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED- 
 
 night thou mayst make thy bed in hell ? O ! if thou 
 hadst a spark of reason, consider, and turn and hearken 
 to thy very friend, who would therefore shew thee thy 
 present misery, that thou mightst in time make 
 thine escape, 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. O sinners, do you make light of “ the 
 wrath to come ?” Matt. iii. 7. I am sure there is a 
 time coming when you will not make light of it. 
 Why, the very “ devils do believe and tremble,” James 
 ii. 19. What ! 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’s den ? Will you dance upon the fire till 
 you are burnt, or dally with devouring wrath as if 
 you were at a point of indifference whether you did 
 escape or endure it? O madness of folly ! Solomon’s 
 madman, that casteth fire-brands, and arrows, and 
 death, and saith, “ am I not in jest!” Prov. xxvi. 18. 
 There is nothing so distracted as the wilful sinner, 
 Luke xv. 17. that goeth on in his unconverted state 
 without sense, as if nothing ailed him. The man that 
 runs in the cannon’s mouth, and sports with his blood, 
 or lets out his life in a frolic, is sensible, sober, and 
 serious, to him that goeth on still in his trespasses, 
 Psa. Ixviii. 21. for, “ he stretcheth out his hand 
 against God, and strengthens himself against the Al¬ 
 mighty : He runneth upon him, even upon his neck, 
 upon the thick bosses of his buckler,” Job. xv. 25,26. 
 Is it wisdom to dally with the stcond death, or to 
 venture into the lake that burneth with fire and 
 brimstone, Rev. xxi. 8. as if thou wert but going to 
 wash thee, or swim for recreation ? Wilt thou, as it 
 were, fetch thy vizor, and jump into eternal flames, 
 as the children through the bone-fire? What shall I 
 say? I can find out no expression, no comparison, 
 whereby to set forth the dreadful distraction of that 
 soul that shall go on in sin. 
 
 Awake, awake, Eph. v. 14. O sinner, arise and 
 
THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 125 
 
 take thy flight. There is but one door that you 
 mayst flee by, and that is the strait door of conversion 
 and the new birth. Unless thou turn unfeignedly 
 from all thy sins, and come to 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 that thou art now 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 thy everlasting misery or 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 misery lies upon 
 thee, what a case art thou in ! Is it for one that hath 
 his senses to live in such a condition, and not to make 
 all possible expedition for preventing his utter ruin? 
 O man, who hath bewitched thee, Gal. iii. 1. that in 
 the matters of this present life thou shalt be wise 
 enough to forecast thy business, foresee thy danger, 
 and prevent thy mischief, but in matters of everlast¬ 
 ing consequence shall be slight and 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 groan¬ 
 ing 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 noisome prison, fettered with 
 lusts, working out thy own damnation, and is not this 
 worth the considering? Wilt thou make light of all 
 the terrors of the law, of all its curses and thunder¬ 
 bolts, as if they were but the report of children’s pop¬ 
 guns, or thou wert to war with their paper-pullets ? 
 Dost thou laugh at hell and destruction, or canst thou 
 drink the envenomed cup of the Almighty’s fury, as 
 it were but a common potion. 
 
 “ Gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will de¬ 
 mand of thee, and answer thou me,” Job xl. 7. Art 
 
 
126 THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 thou such a Leviathan, 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 instru¬ 
 ments of death as rotten wood ? Art thou 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? Job xli. Art thou like the horse 
 that paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength, 
 who goeth out to meet the armed men ? Dost thou 
 mock at fear, and art not affrighted, neither turnest 
 back from God’s sword when his quiver rattleth against 
 thee, the glittering spear, and the shield ? Job xxxix. 
 21,22, 23 Well, if the threats and calls of the word 
 will not fright thee nor awaken thee, I am sure death 
 and judgment will. Oh, what wilt thou do when the 
 Lord cometh forth against thee, and in his fury falleth 
 upon thee, and thou shalt feel what thou readest? If, 
 when Daniel’s enemies were cast into the den of lions, 
 both they and their wives and their children, the lions 
 had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones in 
 pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den, 
 Dan. vi. 24. what shall he done with thee, when thou 
 fallest into the hands of the living God, when he shall 
 gripe thee in his iron arms, and grind and crush thee 
 into a thousand pieces in his wrath ? 
 
 Oh ! do not then contend with God. “ Repent and 
 be converted,” so none of this shall come upon thee. 
 Isa. Iv. 6, 7. t6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be 
 found; call on him while he is near : Let the wicked 
 forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; 
 let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy 
 on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly 
 pardon,” 
 
F 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 127 
 
 Chap. VI. Containing Directions for Conversion. 
 
 Mark x. 17. And there came one % and kneeled to him , 
 and asked him . good Master , what shall I do that I 
 may inherit eternal life ? 
 
 Hefore thou readest these directions, I advise thee, 
 yea, I 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 thy state,) and call in his assistance and 
 blessing that they may succeed: And, as I have 
 “sought the Lord,” and consulted his oracles what ad¬ 
 vice to give thee, so must thou entertain in with that 
 awe, reverence, and purpose of obedience, that the 
 word of the Jiving God doth require. 
 
 Now, then, attend : “ Set thine heart unto all that 
 I shall testify unto thee this day; for it is not a vain 
 thing, it is your life,” Deut. xxxii. 46. This is the 
 end of all that has been spoken hitherto, to bring you 
 to set upon turning, and make use of God’s means 
 for your conversion. I would not trouble you, nor 
 “ torment you before your time,” with the sore thoughts 
 of your eternal misery, but in order to your making 
 your escape. Were you shut up under your present 
 misery without remedy, as it were but mercy (as one 
 speaks) to let you alone, that you might take in that 
 little poor comfort that you are capable of in this 
 world; but you may yet be happy, if you do not wil¬ 
 fully refuse the means of your recovery : Behold I 
 hold open the door to you ; arise take your flight: I 
 set the way of life before you : walk in it, and “ you 
 shall live and not die,” Deut. xxx. 19. Jer. vi. 16. 
 It grieves me to think you should be your own mur¬ 
 derers, and throw yourselves headlong, when God 
 and man cry out to you, as Peter in another case to 
 his master, “ spare thyself.” 
 
 A noble virgin, that attended the court of Spain, 
 was wickedly ravished by the king; and hereupon, 
 
 7T\ 
 
128 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 exciting the duke, her father, to revenge, he called | 
 in the Moors to his help : who when they had exe- j j 
 cuted his design, miserably wasted and spoiled the 
 country: which this virgin laying so extremely to] ■ 
 heart, she shut herself up in a tower belonging to her I j i 
 father’s house, and desired her father and mother I' 
 might be called forth; and bewailing to them their 
 wretchedness, that she should occasion so much mi- * 
 sery and desolation to the country for satisfying her l! 
 revenge, she told them she had resolved to be 
 venged upon herself. Her father and mother be- / I 
 sought her to pity herself and them; but nothing |: 
 prevailing, she took her leave of them, and threw her*»» 
 self of the battlements, and so perished before their 
 
 f aC0S , 'HI' 
 
 Just thus is the wilful destruction of ungodly men.rtj- 
 The God, that made them, beseeching them, criethlj! 
 out to them, as Paul to the distracted jailor when 
 about to murder himself, “ do thyself no harm.” TheJJj 
 ministers of Christ forewarn them, and follow them, 
 and fain would have them back; but alas! no ex-jjj 
 postulations or obtestations will prevail, but men will|j| 
 hurl themselves into perdition, while pity itself look. ^ 
 
 eth on. j 
 
 What shall I say ? Would it not grieve a person ot 
 any humanity, if, in the time of a raging plague, he 
 should have a receipt (as one said well) that would 
 infallibly cure all the country, and* recover the most , 
 hopeless patients, and yet his friends and neighbour; 
 should die by hundreds about him, because they woulc 
 not use it ? Men and brethren, though you carry the: 
 certain symptoms of death in your faces, yet I havr 
 a receipt that will cure you all, and will cure infalli 
 bly ? Follow but these directions, and, if you do no 
 then win heaven, I will be content to lose it. 
 
 Hear, then, O sinner ! and, as ever thou wouldst b 
 converted and saved, embrace this following counsel. 
 
 Direct. 1. Set it down with thy selfas an undoubted 
 truth , that it is impossible for thee ever to get to heaven 
 in this thy unconverted state > Can any other but Christ 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 129 
 
 save thee? and he tells thee he will never do it, ex¬ 
 cept thou be regenerated and converted. Matt, xviii. 
 3. John iii. 3. Doth he not keep the keys of heaven ? 
 and canst thou go in without his leave? as thou must, 
 if ever thou come thither in thy natural condition, 
 without a sound and thorough renovation. 
 
 Direct. 11 Labour to get a thorough sight , and lively 
 sense and feeling of thy sins . Till men are weary and 
 heavy laden, and pricked at the heart and quite sick 
 of sin, they shall not come unto Christ, in his way, 
 for ease and cure, nor to purpose inquire, “ What 
 shall we do?’ 1 Matt. xi. 28. Acts ii. 37. Matt. ix. 12. 
 They must set themselves down for dead men before 
 they will come unto Christ, that they may have life, 
 John v. 40. Labour therefore to set all thy sins in 
 order before thee; never be afraid to look upon them, 
 but let thy spirit make diligent search, Psa. lxxvii. 
 6. Inquire into thine heart, and into thy life; enter 
 into a thorough examination of thyself and all thy 
 ways, Psa. cxix. 59. that thou mayst make a full dis¬ 
 covery; and call in the help of God’s spirit, in the 
 sense of thine own inability hereunto, for it is his 
 proper work to convince of sin, John xvi. 8* Spread 
 all before the face of thy conscience, till thy heart 
 and eyes be set abroach. Leave not striving with 
 God and thine own soul, till it cry out, under the 
 sense of thy sins, as the enlightened jailor, “ what 
 must I do to be saved ?” Acts xvi. 30. To this purpose. 
 
 “ Meditate on the numerousness of thy sins.” Da¬ 
 vid’s heart failed when he thought of this, and con¬ 
 sidered that he had more sins than hairs, Psa. xl. 12. 
 This made him cry out upon the multitude of God’s 
 tender mercies, Psa. li. 1. The loathsome carcase 
 doth not more hatefully swarm with crawling worms 
 than an unsanctified soul with filthy lusts: they fill the 
 head, the heart, the eyes, and the mouth of him. 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 it is poisoned with sin ? What duty dost thou ever 
 
130 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION* 
 
 perform into which poison is not shed ? Oh ! how 
 great is the sum of thy debts, who hast been all thy 
 life running upon thy books, and never didst or 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 ; for sins of thy youth 
 and the sins of thy years, &c. Be not like a despe¬ 
 rate bankrupt, that is afraid to look over his books. 
 Read the records of conscience carefully. These 
 books must be opened sooner or later. Rev. xx. 12. 
 
 44 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.” How do David, Ezra, 
 Daniel, and the good L* vite, aggravate their sins, 
 from the consideration of their injuriousness to God, 
 their opposition to his good and righteous laws, the 
 mercies, the warnings, they were committed against, 
 Neh. ix. Dan. ix. Ezra ix. O the work that sin hath 
 made in the world ! This is the enemy that hath 
 brought in death and hath robbed and enslaved man, 
 that hath hacked the devil, that hath digged hell, 
 Rom v. 12. 2 Pet. ii. 4. John viii. 34. This is the 
 enemy that hath turned the world upside down, and 
 sown dissension between man and the creatures, be¬ 
 twixt man and man, yea, between man and himself, 
 setting the sensitive part against the rational, the will 
 against the judgment, lust against conscience; yea, 
 worst of all, between God and man, making the lapsed 
 sinner both hateful to God and the hater of himself, 
 Zech xi. 8. O man ! how canst thou make so light 
 of sin ? This is the traitor that sucked the blood of the 
 son of God, that sold him, that mocked him, that 
 scourged him, that spit in his face, that digged his 
 hands, that pierced his side, that pressed his soul, 
 that mangled his body, that never left till he had 
 bound him, condemned him, nailed him, crucified 
 him, and put him to an open shame, Isa. liii. 4, 5, 6. 
 This is that deadly poison, so powerful of operation. 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION- 131 
 
 as that one drop of it, shed on the root of mankind, 
 hath corrupted, spoiled, poisoned, and undone, his 
 whole race at once, Horn. v. 18, 19- This is the 
 common butcher, the bloody executioner, that hath 
 killed the prophets, burnt the martyrs, murdered all 
 the apostles, all the patriarchs, all the kings and po¬ 
 tentates ; that has destroyed cities, swallowed em¬ 
 pires, butchered and devoured whole nations. What¬ 
 ever was the weapon it was done by, sin was it that 
 did the execution, Rom. vi. 23. Dost thou yet think 
 it but a small thing? If Adam and all his children 
 could be dug out of the graves, and their bodies piled 
 up to heaven, and an inquest were made, what match¬ 
 less murderer were guilty of all this blood? It would 
 be all found in the skirts of sin. Study the nature of 
 sin till thy heart incline 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 clearest light, against freest love, 
 against thine own resolutions, against promises, vows, 
 covenants, and better obedience, &c. Charge thy 
 heart home with these things, till it blush for shame 
 and be brought out of all good opinion of itself, 
 Ezra ix. G. 
 
 “ Meditate on the desert of sin.” It crieth up to 
 heaven; it calls for vengeance, Gen. xviii. 21. Its 
 due wages are death and damnation; it pulls the curse 
 of God upon the soul and body, Gal. iii. 10. Deut. 
 xxviii. The least sinful word or thought lays thee 
 under the infinite wrath of God Almighty, Rom. ii.8, 
 9. Matt. xii. 3G. Oh ! what a load of wrath, what 
 a weight of curses, what a treasure of vengeance, have 
 all the millions of thy sins then deserved ! Rom. ii. 5. 
 James v. 3. Oh ! judge thyself, that the Lord may 
 not judge thee, 1 Cor. xi. 31. 
 
 “ Meditate on the deformity and defilement of sin.” 
 It is as black as hell, the very image and likeness of 
 the devil drawn upon the soul, 1 John iii. 8, 10, It 
 would more affright thee to see thyself in the hate- 
 G 2 
 
132 directions for conversion. 
 
 ful deformity of thy nature than to see the devil. 
 There is no mire so unclean, no vomit so loathsome, 
 no carcase-carrion so offensive, no plague or leprosy 
 so noisome, as sin, in which thou art all enrolled and 
 covered with its odious filth, whereby thou art ren¬ 
 dered more displeasing to the pure and holy nature 
 of the glorious God than the most filthy object, com¬ 
 posed of whatever is hateful to all thy senses, can 
 be to thee, Job xv. 15, 16. Couldst thou take up a ' 
 toad in thy bosom ? Couldst thou cherish it, and take 
 delight in it: Why thou art as contrary to the pure 
 and perfect holiness of the divine nature, and as , 
 loathsome as that is to thee, Matt, xxiii. 33. till thou 
 art purified by the blood of Jesus, and the power of 
 renewing grace. 
 
 Above all other sins fix the eye of consideration on 
 these two: 1. “ The sin of thy nature.” It is to little 
 purpose to lop the branches, while the root of original 
 corruption remains untouched. In vain do men lave 
 out the streams, when the fountain is running that 
 fills up all again. Let the axe of thy repentance 
 (with David’s) go to the root of sin, Psa. li. 5. Study 
 how deep, how close, how permanent, is thy natural 
 pollution, how universal it is, till thou dost cry out, 
 with Paul’s feeling, upon thy body as dead, Rom. vii. 
 
 24 Look into all thy parts and powers, and see what 
 unclean vessels, what sties, what dunghills, what sinks, 
 they are become. Heu miser quid sum ! vas sterquilinii 
 concha put edinis ; plenus fottore et korrore . Aug. Solil. 
 c. 2. The heart is never soundly broken, till tho¬ 
 roughly convinced of the heinousness of original sin: 
 Here fix thy thoughts; this is that that makes thee 
 backward to all good, prone to all evil, Rom. vii. 15. 
 Uiat sheds blindness, pride, prejudice, unbelief, into 
 thy mind; enmity, inconstancy, obstinacy, into thy 
 will; inordinate heats and colds into thy affections; 
 insensibleness, benumbedness, unfaithfulness into thy 
 conscience; slipperiness into thy memory ; and in a 
 •word, hath put every wheel of the soul out of order, 
 and made it, of an habitation of holiness, to become a 
 
 r\ * i 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 133 
 
 very hell of iniquity, James iii. 6. This is what hath 
 defiled, corrupted, perverted all thy members, and 
 turned them into weapons of unrighteousness and ser¬ 
 vants of sin, Rom. vi. 19. that hath filled the head with 
 carnal and corrupt designs, Mic. ii. 1. the hand with 
 sinful practices, Isa. i. 15. the eyes with wandering 
 and wantonness, 2 Pet. ii. 14. the tongue with deadly 
 poison, James iii. 8. that hath opened the ears to 
 tales, flattery, and filthy communication, and shut 
 them against the instructions of life, Zech.vii. 11, 12 . 
 and hath rendered thy heart a very mint and forge for 
 sin, and the cursed womb of all deadly conceptions, 
 Matt. xv. 19. so that it poureth forth its wickedness 
 without ceasing, 2 Pet. ii. 14. even as naturally, freely, 
 and unweariedly, as a fountain doth pour forth its wa¬ 
 ters, Jer. vi. 7. or the raging sea doth cast forth mire 
 and dirt, Isa. Ivii. 20 . And wilt thou yet be in love 
 with thyself, and tell us any longer of thy good heart P 
 Oh, never leave meditating on the desperate contagion 
 of original corruption, till, with Ephraim, thou be¬ 
 moan thyself, Jer. xxxi. 18. and with the deepest 
 shame and sorrow smite on thy breast, as the publi¬ 
 can, Luke xviii. 13 and, with Job, abhor thyself, and 
 repent in dust and ashes, Job xlii. 6. 2. “ The par¬ 
 
 ticular evil that thou art most addicted to Find out 
 all its aggravations, set home upon thy heart all God’s 
 threats against it; repentance drives before it the 
 whole herd, but especially sticks the arrow in the be¬ 
 loved sin, and singles this out, above the rest, to run 
 it down, Psa. xviii. 23. Oh ! labour to make this sin 
 odious to thy soul, and double thy guard and resolu¬ 
 tions against it, because this hath and doth most dis¬ 
 honour God and endanger thee. 
 
 Direct. III. Strive to affect thy heart with a deep 
 sense of thy present misery . Read over the foregoing 
 chapter again and again, and get it out of the book 
 into thy heart. Remember, when thou best down, 
 that, for ought thou knowest, thou mayst awake in 
 flames, and, when thou risest up, that by the next 
 night thou mayst make thy bed in hell. Is it a just 
 
134 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION* 
 
 matter to live in such a fearful case, to stand tottering 
 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? Sup- 
 pose thou sawest a condemned wretch hanging over 
 Nebuchadnezzar’s burning fiery furnace by nothing 
 but a twine-thread, which were ready to break every 
 moment, would not thy heart tremble for such an one? 
 W hy, thou art the man ; this is thy very case, O man, 
 woman, that readest this, if thou yet be unconverted. 
 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, upon the crack 
 but of this thread, thou fallest 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 thou die in thy present case. And doth not thy soul 
 tremble as thou readest ? Do not thy tears bedew the 
 paper, and thy heart throb, in thy bosom? Dost thou 
 not yet begin to smite on thy breast, and bethink thy¬ 
 self what need thou hast of a change ? Oh 1 what 'is 
 thy heart made of? Hast thou not only lost all re¬ 
 gard to God, but art without any love and pity to 
 thyself? J 1 J 
 
 Oh ! study thy misery till thy heart cry out for 
 Chiist as earnestly as ever a drowning man did for a 
 boat, or the wounded for a surgeon. Men must come 
 to see the danger and feel the smart of their deadly 
 sores and sickness, or else Christ will be to them a 
 physician of no value, Matt. ix. 12. Then the man- 
 slayer hastens to the city of refuge when pursued by 
 the avenger of blood. Men must be even forced and 
 fired out ot themselves, or else they will not come to 
 Christ. It was distress and extremity that made the 
 prodigal think of returning, Luke xv. 16,17. While 
 Laodicea thinks herself rich, increased in goods, in 
 need of nothing, there is little hope: She must be 
 deeply convinced of her wretchedness, blindness, po- 
 ' er ty> nakedness, before she will come to Christ for 
 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 135 
 
 his gold, raiment, eye-salve, Rev. iii. 17, 18. There¬ 
 fore hold the eyes of conscience open, amplify thv 
 misery as much as possible, do not flee the sight of it, 
 for fear it should fill thee with terror. The sense 
 of thy misery is but as it were the suppuration of the 
 wound, which is necessary to the cure. Better fear 
 the torments that abide thee now, than feel them 
 hereafter. 
 
 Direct. IV. Settle it upon thy heart that thou art under 
 everlasting inability ever to recover thyself. Never think 
 thy praying, reading, hearing, confessing, amending, 
 will do the cure; these must be attended, but thou art 
 undone if thou restest in them, Rom. x. 3. Thou art 
 a lost man, if thou hopest to escape drowning on any 
 other plank but Jesus Christ, Acts iv. 12. Thou must 
 unlearn thyself, and renounce thine own wisdom, thine 
 own righteousness, thine own strength, and throw 
 thyself wholly upon Christ, as a man that swims casts 
 himself upon the water, or else thou canst not escape. 
 While men trust in themselves, and establish their own 
 righteousness, and have confidence in the flesh, they 
 will not come savingly to Christ, Luke xviii. 9. Phil, 
 iii. 3. Thou must know thy gain to be but loss and 
 dung, thy strength but weakness, thy righteousness 
 rags and rottenness, before there will be an effectual 
 closure between Christ and thee, Phil. iii. 7, 8, 9. 
 
 2 Cor. iii. 5. Isa. Ixiv. 6. Can the lifeless carcase shake 
 off its grave-clothes, and loose the bands of death ? 
 then mayst thou recover thyself, who art dead in tres¬ 
 passes and sins, and under an impossibility of serving 
 thy Maker acceptably in this condition, Rom. viii. 8. 
 Heb. xi. 6. Therefore, when thou goest to pray or 
 meditate, or to do any of the duties to which thou art 
 here directed, go out of thyself; 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 in the spirit. 
 While the Eunuch Was reading, then the Holy Ghost 
 did send Philip to him, Acts viii. 28, 29. When the 
 Disciples were praying, Acts iv 31. when Cornelius 
 
136 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 and his friends were hearing. Acts x. 44. then *J ie 
 Holy Ghost fell upon them and filled them all. 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 well as thou canst; and while thou art en- 
 deavouring in the way of thy duty , the spirit o tie Lord 
 will come upon thee, and help thee to do what ot thy¬ 
 self thou art utterly unable to perform, Prov. i. 23. 
 
 Direct. V. Forthwith renounce all thy sins. If thou 
 yield thyself to the contrary practice of any sin, thou 
 art undone, Rom. vi. IT. In vain dost thou hope for 
 life by Christ, except thou depart from iniquity,21 im. 
 ii. 19. Forsake thy sins, or else thou canst not find 
 mercy, Prov. xxviii. 13. Thou canst not be married 
 to Christ, except devorced from sin : Give up the trai¬ 
 tor, or you can have no peace in heaven. Cast the 
 head of Sheba over the wall; keep not Dalilah in the 
 lap: Thou must part with thy sins or with thy soul: 
 spare but one sin, and God will not spare thee. Ne¬ 
 ver make excuses; thy sins must die, or thou must 
 die for them, Psa. lxviii. 21. If thou allow of one 
 sin, though but a little, a secret one, though thou 
 mayst plead necessity, and have a hundred shifts and 
 excuses for it, the life of thy soul must go for the life 
 of that sin, Ezek. xviii. 21. And will it not be dearly 
 
 bought ? . L 
 
 O sinner l 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, it is not because there was never a Savi¬ 
 our provided, nor life tendered, but because thou pre- 
 ferredst (with the Jew) the murderer before thy Sa¬ 
 viour, sin before CHRIST, “ and lovedst darkness 
 rather than light,John iii. 19. Search thy heart 
 therefore with candles, as the Jews did their houses 
 for leaven before the passover. Labour to find out 
 thy sins; enter into thy closet, and consider, what 
 evil have I lived in ? What duty have 1 neglected to¬ 
 wards God? What sin have I lived in against my 
 brother P And now strike the darts through the heart 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. J37 
 
 of thy sin, as Joab did through Absalom’s, 2 Sam. 
 xviii. 14. Never stand looking upon thy sins, nor 
 rolling the morsel under thy tongue, Job xx. 12. but 
 spit it out as poison, with fear and detestation. Alas ' 
 what will thy sins do for thee, that thou shouldst stick 
 at parting with them ? They will flatter'tbee, but they 
 will undo thee, 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. Behold the gibbet that they 
 have prepared for thee 1 O serve them like Haman, 
 and do upon them the execution they would else have 
 done upon thee. Away with them, crucify them, and 
 let Christ only be Lord over thee. 
 
 Direct. VI. Make a solemn choice of God for thy 
 portion and blessedness, Deut. xxvi. 17. With all pos¬ 
 sible devotion and veneration, avouch the Lord for thy 
 God: set the world, with all its glory, and paint, and 
 gallantry, with all its pleasures and promotions, on the 
 one hand ; and set God with all his infinite excellen¬ 
 cies and perfections on the other; and see that thou 
 dost deliberately make thy choice. Josh, xxiv 15 
 Take up thy rest in God, John vi. 68. Sit thee down 
 under his shadow, Cant. ii. 3. 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 while thou 
 hast God to live upon : Take him for thy shield and 
 exceeding great reward. God alone is more than all 
 the woild ; content thyself with him : Let others carry 
 the preferments and glory of the world; place thou 
 thy happiness in his favour, and in the light of his 
 countenance, Psa. iv. 6, 7. 
 
 Poor sinner! thou art fallen off from God, and hast 
 engaged his power and wrath against thee; yet know 
 that, of his abundant grace he doth offer to be thy God 
 again in Christ, 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. What sayst thou, 
 man ? wilt thou have the Lord for thy God P Why 
 take this counsel, and thou shalt have him; come to 
 
* 
 
 ■7 
 
 138 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 him by his Christ, John xiv. 6. /enounce the idols of 
 thy own pleasures, gain, reputation, 1 Tness. i. 9. let 
 these be pulled out of their throne, and set God s in¬ 
 terest uppermost in thy heart. Take him as God, to 
 be chief in thy affections, estimations, intentions; for 
 he will not endure to have any set above him, Rom. i. 
 24. Psa. lxxiii. 25. In a word, thou must take him 
 in all his “ personal relations,” and in all his “ essen¬ 
 tial perfections” 
 
 First, In all his personal relations. God the bather 
 must be taken for thy father, Jer. iii. 4, 19, 22. Oh, 
 come to him with the prodigalFather, I have sin¬ 
 ned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am not wor¬ 
 thy to be called thy son ; but since, of thy wonderful 
 mercy, thou art pleased to take me, that am of myself 
 a dog, a swine, a devil, to be a child, I solemnly take 
 thee for my father, commend myself to thy care, and 
 trust to thy providence, and cast my burden on thy 
 shoulders, I depend on thy provision, and submit to 
 thy corrections, and trust under the shadow of thy 
 wings, and hide in thy chambers, and fly to thy name. 
 I renounce all confidence in myself; I repose my con¬ 
 fidence in thee ; I depose my concernment with thee; 
 I will be for thee, and not for another.” Again, God 
 the Son must be taken for thy Saviour, for thy re¬ 
 deemer, and righteousness, John i. 12. He must be 
 accepted, as the only way to the father, and the only 
 means of life, Heb. vii. 25. Oh then put off the rai¬ 
 ment of thy captivity, on with the wedding-garment, 
 and go and marry thyself to Christ. “ Lord, I am 
 thine, and all I have, my body, soul, and estate. I 
 send a bill of divorce to my other lovers ; I give my 
 heart to thee; I will be thine undividedly, thine ever¬ 
 lastingly. I will set thy name on all I have, and use 
 it only as thy goods, during thy leave resigning all to 
 thee: I will have no king but thee, to reign over me: 
 Other lords have had dominion over me: but now I 
 will make mention of thy name only, and do now take 
 an oath of fealty to thee, promising to serve thee and 
 fear thee above all competitors. I disavow mine own 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 139 
 
 righteousness, and despair of ever being pardoned and 
 saved for my own duties or graces, and lean solely on 
 thy all-sufficient sacrifice and intercession for pardon, 
 and life, and acceptance before God. I take thee for 
 my only guide and instructor, resolving to be directed 
 by thee, and to wait for thy counsel; for, thine shall 
 be the casting voice with me.” Lastly, God the spi¬ 
 rit must be taken for thy sanctifier, Rom. viii. 9, 14. 
 Gal. v, 16, 18. for thy advocate, thy counsellor, thy 
 comforter, the teacher of thy ignorance, the pledge 
 and earnest of thy inheritance, Rom. viii 26. Psa. 
 Ixxiii. 24. John xiv. 16, 26. Eph. i. 14. and iv. 30. 
 ** Awake, thou North wind, and come, thou South, 
 and blow upon my garden,” Cant. vi. 16. 66 Come, 
 
 thou Spirit of the Most High ? here do thou rest for 
 ever; dwell here; and rest here; lo, I give up the 
 possession to thee, full possession ; I send thee the 
 keys of my heart, that all may be for thy use, that 
 thou mayst put thy goods, thy grace, into every room : 
 I give up the use of all to thee, that every taculty, and 
 every member may be thy instrument to work righ¬ 
 teousness, and do the will of my Father who is in 
 heaven. 
 
 Secondly, In all his essential perfections . Consider 
 how the Lord hath revealed himself to you in his 
 word : Will you take him as such a God? O sinner, 
 here is the most blessed news that ever came to the 
 sons of men, the Lord will be thy God,” Gen. xvii. 
 7, 8. Rev. xxi. 3. if thou wilt but close with him in 
 his excellencies. Wilt thou have the merciful, the 
 gracious, the sin-pardoning God to be thy God ? “ O 
 yes,” saith the sinner, “ I 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 in life; thou 
 must put away all thy iniquities, be they ever so near, 
 ever so natural, ever so necessary to the maintaining 
 thy fleshly interest. Unless thou wilt be at defiance 
 with sin, I cannot be thy God. Cast out the leaven; 
 put away the evil of thy doings; cease lo do evil; 
 
140 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 learn to do wellelse I can have nothing to do with 
 thee, Isa. i. 16, 18. Bring forth mine enemies, or 
 there is no peace to be had with me. What doth 
 thine heart answer ? 44 Lord. I desire to have thee as 
 such a God; I desire to be holy as thou art holy, and 
 to be made partaker of thy holiness. 1 love thee, not 
 only for thy goodness and mercy, but 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 sin< at thy command: My wilful 
 sins I do forthwith forsake; and a ! l tor mine infirmi¬ 
 ties that I cannot get iid of though I would, 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, whoever of 
 you will thus accept of the Lord, for his God, shall 
 have him. 
 
 Again, he tells you, a I am the all-sufficient God,” 
 Gen. xvii. 1. Will you lay all at my feet, and give it 
 up to my dispose, 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? I am a sun and a shield, all in one; 
 will you have me for your all? Gen xv. 1. Psa. 
 lxxxiv. 11. Now, what dost thou say to this ? Doth 
 thy mouth water after the onions and flesh-pots of 
 Egypt ? Art thou loathe to change thy earthly hap¬ 
 piness for a part in God ? and though thou wouldst 
 be glad to have God and the world too, yet canst 
 thou not think of having him, and nothing but him, 
 but hadst rather take up with the earth below, if God 
 would but let thee keep it as long as thou wouldst : 
 This is a fearful sin. But now, if thou art willing to 
 sell all for the pearl of great price, Matt. xiii. 46. if 
 thine heart answer, 44 Lord, I desire no other portion 
 but thee; take the corn, and the wine, and the oil, 
 whoso will, so I may have the light of thy counte¬ 
 nance: I pitch upon thee for my happiness; I gladly 
 venture myself on thee, and trust myself with thee; 
 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 14T 
 
 I set my hopes in thee; I take up my rest with thee. 
 Let me hear thee say, I am thy God, thy salvation, 
 and I have enough, all I wish for ; I will make no 
 terms with thee but for myself: Let me but have 
 thee sure; let me be able to make my claim, and see 
 my title to myself; and, for other things, 1 leave 
 them to thee: Give me more or less, any thing or 
 nothing, I will be satisfied in my God. 1 ” Take him 
 thus, and he is thy own. 
 
 Again, he tells you, I am the sovereign Lord; if 
 you will have me lor your God, you must give me 
 the supremacy. Matt. vi. 24. I will not be an un¬ 
 derling; you must not make me a second to sin or 
 any worldly interest. If you will be my people, I 
 must have the rule over you ; you must not live at 
 your own list. Will you come under my yoke ? Will 
 you bow to my government ? Will you submit to my 
 discipline, to my woid, to my rod? Sinner, what 
 sayst thou to this ? “ Lord, 1 had rather be at thy 
 command than live at my own list; I had rather 
 have thy will to be done than mine: I approve of and 
 consent to thy laws, and account it my privilege to 
 lie under them : And, though the flesh rebel, and 
 often break its bounds, I have resolved to take no 
 other Lord but thee. I willingly take the oath of 
 thy supremacy, and acknowledge thee for my leige 
 Sovereign, anti resolve all my days to pay the tribute 
 of worship. Obedience, love, and service to thee, 
 and to live to thee to the end of my life.” This is 
 a right acceptance of God. 
 
 To be short, he tells you, I am the true and faith¬ 
 ful God. If you will have me for your God, you 
 must be content to trust me, 2 Tim. i. 12. Piov. iii. 5. 
 Will you venture yourselves upon my word, and de¬ 
 pend on my faithfulness, and take my bond for your 
 security: Will you be content to follow me in poverty, 
 and reproach and affliction, here; and to see much 
 going out, and little coming in, and to tarry till the 
 next world for your preferment? Matt. xix. 21. 1 
 
 deal much upon trust: Will you be content to labour 
 
142 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 and suffer, and to tarry for your returns till the re¬ 
 surrections of the just ? Luke xiv. 14. The womb of 
 my promise will not presently bring forth; will you 
 have the patience to wait? Heb. x. 39. Now, be¬ 
 loved, what say you to this? Will you have this God 
 for your God? Will you be content to live by faith, 
 and trust him for an unseen happiness, an unseen 
 heaven, an unseen glory ? Do your hearts answer, 
 “ Lord, we will venture ourselves upon, thee; we 
 commit ourselves to thee; we roll upon thee; we 
 know whom we have trusted; we are willing to lake 
 thy word; we will prefer thy promises before our 
 own possessions, and the hopes of heaven before all 
 the enjoyments of the earth; we will wait thy lei¬ 
 sure, what thou wilt here, so that we may have but 
 thy faithful promise for heaven hereafter.” If you 
 can, in truth, and upon deliberation, thus accept of 
 God, he will be yours. Thus there must be, in a 
 right conversion to God, a closing with him suitable 
 to his excellencies. But, when men close with his 
 mercy, but yet love sin, hating holiness and purity; 
 or will take him for their benefactor, but not for their 
 sovereign, or for their patron, and not for their por¬ 
 tion ; this is no thorough and sound conversion. 
 
 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 ditch of most deplor¬ 
 able misery, 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, Heb. vii. 25. 
 John iii. 36. Be thy sins ever so many, ever so great, 
 or of ever so long continuance, yet you shall be most 
 certainly pardoned and saved, if thou dost not wretch¬ 
 edly neglect the offer that in the m*me of God is here 
 made to thee. The Lord Jesus calleth thee, to look 
 to him and be saved, Isa. xlv. 22. to 66 come unto him, 
 and he will in no wise cast thee out,” John vi. 37. 
 Yea, he is a suitor to thee, and beseecheth thee to be 
 reconciled, 2 Cor. v. 20. He crieth in the streets; 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 143 
 
 he knockcth at thy door; he wooeth thee to accept 
 of him and liveth with him, Prov. i. 20. K e v. iii. go. 
 if thou diest, it is because thou wouldst not come to 
 him for life, John v. 40. 
 
 Now accept of an offered Christ, and thou art made 
 forever; now give up thy consent to him, and the 
 match is made; all the tvorld cannot hinder it. Do 
 not stand off because of thy unworthiness: Man, I 
 teli thee, nothing in the world can undo thee but thy 
 unwillingness. Speak, man; art thou desirous of the 
 match ? Wilt thou have Christ in all his relations, 
 to be thine; thy king, thy priest, thy prophet? Wilt 
 thou have him with all his inconveniences? Take not 
 Christ hand over head, but sit down first and count 
 the cost. Wilt thou lay all at his feet ? Wilt thou be 
 content to run all hazards with him ? Wilt thou take 
 thy lot with him, fall where it will ? Wilt thou “ deny 
 thyself, tak e U p thy Cross, and follow him ?” Art thou 
 deliberately, understanding^, freely, fixedly, deter- 
 mided to cleave to him, in all times and conditions ? 
 
 ••• S ,°A m , y S0U * f ° r t,line ’ tllou shait never perish, John 
 in. 16. but art passed from death to life. Here lies 
 the main point of thy salvation, that thou be found in 
 thy covenant-closure with Jesus Christ; and therefore, 
 if thou love thyself, see that thou be faithful to God 
 and thy soul here. 
 
 Direct. VIII. Resign up all thy powers and facul. 
 lies, and thy whole interest, to be his. “ They' save 
 their ownselves unto the Lord,” 2 Cor. viii. 5. “Pre¬ 
 sent your bodies a living sacrifice,” Horn. xii. 1. The 
 Lord seeks not yours, but you; resign therefore thy 
 body, with all its members 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. go In a 
 right closure with Christ, all thy faculties give up to 
 i m ‘ ^ ,, y J U(l g m f nt describes, “ Lord, thou art wor¬ 
 thy of all acceptation, chief of ten thousand : Happy 
 is the man that finds thee. All the things that are td 
 be desired are not to be compared with thee,” Prov. 
 m. 13, 14,15. The understanding lays aside its cor- 
 
V 
 
 144? DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 rupt reasonings and cavils, and its prejudices against 
 Christ and his ways. It is now past questioning, and 
 carries it for Christ against all the world. It concludes 
 it is “ good to be here,” and sees such a treasure in 
 this field, such a value in this pearl, as is worth all, 
 Matt xiii 44 “ Oh ! here is the richest bargain that 
 
 ever I made; here is the richest prize that ever man 
 was offered, here is the most sovereign remedy that ever 
 meicy prepared; he is worthy of my esteem, worthy 
 of my choice, worthy of my love, worthy to be em¬ 
 braced, adored, admired, for evermore, Rev. v. 12. 
 
 I 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 wish- 
 ing, nor woulding, but is peremptorily 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 up to Christ: “ Lord, 
 here is a store-house for thee; out with this trash; 
 lay in the treasure; let me be a granary, a repository 
 of thy truth, thy promises, thy providences. 1 ’ The 
 conscience comes in; “ Lord, 1 will ever side with 
 thee; l will be thy faithful register; I will warn 
 when the sinner is tempted, and smite when thou art 
 offended ; I will witness for thee, and judge for thee, 
 and guide into thy ways, and will never let sin have 
 quiet in this soul. 11 The affections also come into 
 Christ: Oh ! saith love, u I am sick of thee: Oh! 
 saith desire, now I have my longing; here is the sa¬ 
 tisfaction I sought for; here is the desire of nations; 
 here is bread for me, and balm for me; all that I 
 want. 11 Fear bows the knee with awe and veneration. 
 
 “ Welcome, Lord; to thee will I pay my homage; 
 thy word and rod shall command my motions; thee 
 will I reverence and adore; before thee will I fall 
 down and worship. 11 Grief likewise puts in. “ Lord, 
 thy displeasure, and thy dishonour, thy people’s cala¬ 
 mities and my own iniquities, shall be what shall set 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 145 
 
 me abroach. I will mourn when thou art offended; 
 I will weep when th_> 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.” Hatred 
 too will side with Christ, “ I protest mortal enmity 
 with thine enemies, that I never will be a friend to 
 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, it will be thine undoing, Luke xiv. 33. 
 Unless thou wilt forsake all, (in preparation and re¬ 
 solution of thy heart,) thou canst not be his disciple, 
 lhou 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, &c. In a word, thou must give him 
 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, Psa. cxix. 
 30. this is the true convert’s choice: But here remem 
 ber these three rules: 1. “ You must choose them 
 all: there is no getting to heaven by a partial obedi- 
 ence. Read Psa. cxix. 6, 123, 160. Ezek. xviii. 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-denying and grate upon the interest 
 of the flesh; you must take all or none. A sincere 
 convert, though he makes most conscience of the great¬ 
 est sins and weightiest duties, yet he makes true con¬ 
 science of little sins and of all duties, Psa. cxix. 6 
 113. Matt. xxii. 23. 2. “For all times,” for prospe-’ 
 
 rity 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. “ I have stuck to thy 
 
|45 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 testimonies; I have inclined my heart to perform 
 thy statutes always, even to the end. Ihy^testi- 
 monies have I taken as an heritage for ever, Fsa. 
 cxix. 31, 44, 93, 111, 117. “ I will have respect to 
 
 thy statutes continually. 1 ’ This must not be done 
 hand over head, but deliberately and understanding. 
 The disobedient son said, “ I go, sir; but he went 
 not.” Matt. xxi. 30. How fairly did they promise, 
 
 46 All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, 
 we will do it!” And it is like they spake as they 
 meant: But, when it came to trial, it was found that 
 there was not such a heart in them, as to do what 
 they had promised, Deut. v. 27, 29. If you would be 
 sincere in closing with the laws and ways of Christ, 
 first “ study the meaning and latitude, and compass 
 of them Remember that they are spiritual; they 
 reach the very thoughts and inclinations of the heart; 
 so that, if you will \yalk by this rule, your very 
 thoughts and inward motions must be under govern¬ 
 ment. Again, they are very strict and self-denying, 
 quite contrarv to the grain of your natural inclina¬ 
 tions, Matt. xvi. 24. you must take the strait gate, 
 the narrow way, and be content to have the flesh 
 curbed from the liberty it desires, Matt. vii. 14. In 
 a word, that they are very large, for “ thy command¬ 
 ments are exceeding broad, 1 ’ Psa. cxix. 90. Secondly, 
 “ rest not in generals,” (for there is much deceit in 
 that) “but bring down thine heart to the particular 
 commands of Christ.” Those Jews in the Prophet 
 seemed as well resolved as any in the world, and called 
 God to witness that they meant as they said, but they 
 stuck in generals ; when God’s command crosses their 
 inclination they will not obey, Jer. xlii. 1—6. com¬ 
 pared with chap, xliii. 2. Take the assembly’s larger 
 catechism, and see their excellent and most compen¬ 
 dious Exposition of the Commandments, and put thy 
 heart to it. Art thou resolved, in the strength of 
 Christ, to set upon the conscientious practice of every 
 duty that thou findest to be there required of thee, 
 and to set against every sin that thou findest here for- 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 147 
 
 bidden ? This is the way to be found in God’s statutes, 
 that thou mayst never be ashamed, Psa. xi. 80. 
 Thirdly, 44 Observe the special duties that thy heart 
 is most against, and the special sins that it is most in¬ 
 clined to, and see whether it be truly resolved to per¬ 
 form the one, and forego the other.” What sayst 
 thou to thy bosom-sin, thy gainful sin ? what sayst 
 thou to costly, hazardous, and flesh displeasing duties; 
 If thou haltest here, and dost not resolve (by the grace 
 of God) to cross the flesh, and put to it, thou art un¬ 
 sound, Psa. xxviii. 23 and cxix. 6. 
 
 Direct. X. Let all this be completed in a solemn co¬ 
 venant between God and thy soul , Psa. cxix. 106. Neh. 
 x ;29 For thy better help therein, take these fevv 
 directions. 
 
 First, Set apart some time, more than once, to be 
 spent in secret before the Lord: 
 
 . Seeking earnestly his special assistance and gra¬ 
 cious acceptance of thee. 
 
 2. In considering distinctly all the terms or con¬ 
 ditions of the covenant expressed in the form here- 
 after proposed. 
 
 3. In searching Ihy 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 , Compose thy spirit into the most serious 
 frame possible, suitable to a transaction of so high 
 importance. 6 
 
 Thirdly , Lay hold on the covenant of God, and rely 
 on his promise of giving grace and strength, whereby 
 thou mayst be enabled to perform thy promise. Trust 
 not to thine own strength, to'the strength of thy own 
 resolutions; but take hold on his strength. 
 
 Fourthly , Resolve to be faithful: Having engaaed 
 thy heart, opened thy mouth, and subscribed*vvith 
 thy hand unto the Lord, resolve in his strength never 
 to go back. 
 
 Lastly, Being thus prepared, on some convenient 
 
 

 148 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 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,) tall 
 down on thy knees, and spreading forth thine hands 
 towards heaven, upon thine heart to the Lord, in 
 these or the like words. . . _ , 
 
 O Most dreadful God ! for the passion of thy dear 
 Son, I beseech thee, accept of thy “ poor Prodigal, 1 ’ 
 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 I will but turn to thee with all my 
 heart: Therefore, upon the call of thy 
 gospel, I am now come in; and throw¬ 
 ing 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, re¬ 
 nounce them all, firmly covenanting 
 with thee, not to allow myself in any 
 known sin, but conscientiously use all 
 the means that I hope thou hast pre¬ 
 scribed for the death and utter destruc¬ 
 tion 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 madst it, 
 humbly protesting, before thy glorious Majesty, that 
 it is the firm resolution of my heart, and that I un- 
 feignedly desire grace from thee, that when thou shalt 
 call me hereunto, I may practice this my resolution, 
 through thy assistance, to forsake all that is dear to 
 me in this world, rather than to turn from thee to the 
 ways of sin; and that I will watch against all its 
 
 The terms 
 of our conver¬ 
 sion are either 
 from which, or 
 to which. 
 
 The terms 
 from whichwe 
 must turn; 
 sin , satan,the 
 world and our 
 own righte¬ 
 ousness,which 
 must be thus 
 renounced . 
 
The terms to 
 which we must 
 turn are either 
 ultimate or me~ 
 diate . 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 149 
 
 temptations, whether of prosperity or adversity, lest 
 they should withdraw my heart from thee: beseech¬ 
 ing thee also to help me against all the temptations of 
 Satan, to whose wicked suggestions I resolve, by thy 
 grace, never to yield myself a servant. And because 
 mine own righteousness is but as filthy rags, I re¬ 
 nounce all confidence therein, and acknowledge that I 
 am of myself a hopeless, helpless, undone creature, 
 without righteousness, or strength. 
 
 And forasmuch as thou hast, of thy 
 bottomless mercy, offered most gra¬ 
 ciously to me, a wretched sinner, to 
 be again accepted by God, through 
 Christ, if I would accept of thee, I call 
 heaven and earth to record 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 The ultimate 
 thee, the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son, is God the Fa- 
 and Holy Ghost, for my portion and ther. Son , and 
 chief good; and so giveupmyself, body Holy Ghost, 
 
 and soul, to thy service, promising and who must be 
 vowing to serve thee in holiness and thus accepted. 
 righteousness all the days of my life. 
 
 And since thou hast appointed the The mediate 
 Lord Jesus Christ the only means of termsare either 
 coming unto thee, I do here, upon principal, or 
 the bended knees of my soul, accept * 
 of him as the only, new, and living 
 way, by which sinners may have ac¬ 
 cess to thee; and do hereby solemnly 
 join myself in marriage covenant to 
 him. 
 
 O blessed Jesus, I come to thee, 
 hungry, and hardly bestead, poor, and wretched, and 
 miserable, and blind, and naked; a most loathsome 
 and polluted wretch, a guilty and condemned male¬ 
 factor, unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the ser¬ 
 vants of my Lord, much more to be solemnly married 
 
 less principle . 
 The principle 
 is Christ the 
 Mediator , who 
 must thus be 
 embraced . 
 
J50 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION* 
 
 to the King of Glory ; but since such is thine un- 
 paralled love, I do here, with all my power, accept 
 thee, and do take, thee for my head and husband, for 
 better for worse, for richer for poorer, lor all times 
 and conditions, to love, honour, and obey thee, before 
 all others, and this to the death. I embrace thee in 
 all thy offices, I renounce my own worthiness, and do 
 here avow thee to be the Lord, my righteousness; 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 i?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 willingly 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; pro¬ 
 mising, that though my flesh contradict and rebel, yet 
 I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life 
 according to thy direction, and will not allow myseli 
 in the neglect of any thing that 1 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; lor so thou hast said. 
 
 Now, Almighty God, searcher of hearts, thou know- 
 est that I make this covenant with thee ibis day, with¬ 
 out 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, 
 
 The least 'prin¬ 
 cipal are the 
 laws of Christy 
 which must he 
 thus observed. 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 151 
 
 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 sin¬ 
 ners. Glory be to thee, O God the Son, who hast 
 loved me, and washed me from my sins in thine own 
 blood, andar t thou 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, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! thou art now become 
 my covenant-friend, and I (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. 
 
 The AUTHOR’S Advice. 
 
 This covenant I advise you to make , not only in heart , 
 hut in word; not only in wordy but in writing; and 
 that you wouldy 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 
 trayisactions that have passed between God and you, that 
 you may have recourse to it in doubts and temptations. 
 
 Direct. XI. Take heed of delaying thy conversion , 
 and set upon a speedy and present turning , I made haste 
 and delayed not , Psa. cxix. 60. Remember and 
 tremble at the sad instance of the foolish virgins, that 
 came not till the “ door of mercy was shut, 1 ’ Matt, 
 xxv. 11. and of a convinced Felix, who put off Paul 
 to another season ; and we never find that he had 
 such another season ; Acts xxiv. 25 . Oh ! come in 
 while it is called to-day, lest thou shouldst be hardened 
 through the deceitfulness of sin, lest the day of grace 
 should be over, and the things which belong to thy 
 peace should be “ hidden from thine eyes.” Now 
 mercy is wooing thee; now Christ is waiting to be 
 
152 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 gracious to thee, and the spirit of God is striving with 
 thee: Now ministers are calling: Now conscience is 
 stirring: Now the market is open, and all may be 
 had, thou hast opportunity for buying: Now Christ 
 is to be had for the taking. Oh ! strike in with the 
 offers of grace: Oh ! now or never! If thou make 
 light of this offer, God may swear, in his wrath, thou 
 shalt not taste of his supper, Luke xiv. 24. 
 
 Direct. XII. Attend conscientiously upon the word , 
 <25 the means appointed for thy conversion , James i. 18, 
 19. 1 Cor. iv 15. Attend, I say, not customarily, 
 
 but conscientiously ; with this desire, design, hope, 
 and expectation, that thou mayst be converted hv 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 
 will bring me home.” When thou art coming to the 
 ordinances, lift up thy heart thus to God : “ Lord, 
 let this be the sabbath, let this be the season, whereby 
 I may receive renewing grace: Oh ! let it be said, that 
 this day such a one was born unto thee.” 
 
 Object. Thou wilt say, I have been long a hearer 
 of the word, and yet it hath not been effectual to my 
 conversion. Ans. Yea, but thou hast not attended 
 upon it in this manner as a means of thy conversion, 
 nor with this design, nor praying for and expecting 
 the happy effect from it. 
 
 Direct. XIII. Strike in with the spirit , when he be - 
 gins to work upon thy heart . When he works con vie* 
 tions, oh! do not stifle them, but join in with him, 
 and beg the Lord to carry on conviction to conver¬ 
 sion. “ Quench not the spiritdo not outstrive him, 
 do not resist him. Beware of putting out convictions 
 with evil company or worldly business. When thou 
 findest any troubles of sin, and fears about thy eter¬ 
 nal 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 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 153 
 
 am not troubled enough, wound me yet deeper, Lord: 
 Oh ! go to the bottom of my corruption, and let out 
 the blood of my sins.” Thus yield up thyself to the 
 workings of the Spirit, and hoist thy sails to his gusts. 
 
 Direct. XIV. Set upon the constant and diligent use 
 of serious and fervent prayer. He that neglects prayer 
 is a profane and unsanctified sinner, Job xv. 4. He 
 that is not constant in prayer is but a hypocrite, Job 
 xxvii. 10. (unless omission be contrary to his ordinary 
 course, under the force of some instant temptation.) 
 This is one of the first things conversion appears in, 
 that it sets men on praying, Acts ix. 11. 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 and duly to wor¬ 
 ship God with thee. Woe be unto thee if thou be 
 found among the families that call upon God’s name, 
 Jer. x. 25. But cold and lifeless devotions will not 
 reach half way to heaven. Be fervent and importu¬ 
 nate : Importunity will carry it; but without violence, 
 the kingdom of heaven will not be taken, Matt. xii. 
 24. Thou must strive to enter, Luke xiii. 24. and 
 wrestle with tears and supplications, as Jacob, if thou 
 meanest to carry the blessing, Gen. xxxii. 24. com¬ 
 pared with Hos. xii. 4. Thou art undone for ever 
 without grace, and therefore thou must set to it, and 
 resolve to take no denial. That man, who is fixed in 
 this resolution: “ Well, I must have grace, or I will 
 never give over till I have grace; I will never leave 
 seeking, waiting, and striving with God and my own 
 heart, till lie doth renew me by the power of his grace 
 This man is in the likest way to win grace. 
 
 Object . But God heareth not sinners ; their prayer 
 is an abomination. 
 
 Answ. Distinguish between sinners. 1. There are 
 “ resolved sinners;” their prayers God abhors. 2. 
 cfi Returning sinners;” these God will come forth to, 
 and meet with mercy, though yet afar off, Luke xv. 
 
154 DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 20 . Though the prayers of the unsanctified cannot 
 have full acceptance, yet God hath done much at the 
 request of such ; as at Ahab’s humiliation, and Nine¬ 
 veh’s fast, 1 Kings xxi. 29. John iii. 8, 9, 10. Surely 
 thou mayst go as far as these, though thou hast no 
 grace ; and how dost thou know but thou mayst speed 
 in thy suit, as thou did in theirs? Yea, is he not far 
 more likely to grant to thee than them, since thou ask. 
 est in the name of Christ, and that not for temporal 
 blessings, as they, but for things much more pleasing 
 to him, viz. for “ Christ, grace, pardon, that thou 
 mayst be justified, sanctified, renewed, and fitted to 
 serve him ?” Turn to these soul-encouraging Scrip¬ 
 tures, Prov. ii. 1—0. Luke xi. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 
 Prov. viii. 34, 35. 
 
 Is it not good comfort that he calleth thee? Mark 
 x. 49. Doth he set thee on the use of means, and 
 dost thou think he will mock thee ? Doubtless he will 
 not fail thee, if thou be not wanting to thyself: Oh, 
 pray, and faint not, Luke xviii. 1. A person of great 
 quality, having offended the Duke of Buckingham, the 
 king’s great favourite, being admitted into his presence, 
 after long waiting, prostrates himself at his feet, say¬ 
 ing, “ I have resolved never to rise more till I have 
 obtained your Grace’s favour.” With which carriage 
 he did overcome him. With such a resolution do thou 
 throw thyself at the feet of God; it is for thy life, 
 and therefore follow him, and give not over; resolve 
 thou wilt not be put off with bones, with common 
 mercies. What though God do not presently open to 
 thee ? Is not grace worth waiting for ? Knock and 
 wait, and no doubt, but, sooner or later, mercy will 
 come. 
 
 And this now, that thou hast the very same encour¬ 
 agement to seek and wait, that the saints now in glory 
 once had; for they were once in thy very case: And, 
 have they sped so well, and wilt thou not go to the 
 same door, and wait upon thy God in the same course? 
 
 Direct. XV. Forsake thy evil company , Prov. ix. 6. 
 “and forbear the occasion of sin,” Prov. xxiii. 31. 
 
DIRECTIONS FTO CONVERSION. 155 
 
 Thou wilt never be turned from sin till thou wilt de¬ 
 cline and forego the temptations of sin. 
 
 I never expect thy conversion from sin, unless thou 
 art brought to some self-denial, as to flee the occasions. 
 If thou wilt be nibbling at the bait, and playing on the 
 brink, and tampering and meddling with the snare, 
 thy soul will surely be taken. Where God doth ex¬ 
 pose men, in his providence, unavoidably to tempta¬ 
 tion, and the occasions are such as we cannot remove, 
 we may expect special assistance in the use of his 
 means ; but, when we tempt God by running into dan¬ 
 ger, he will not engage to support us when we are 
 tempted. And, of all temptations, one of the most fa¬ 
 tal and pernicious is evil company ! Oh ! what hope¬ 
 ful beginnings have these often stifled ! Oh ! 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 has pulled them back at last, and 
 made them seven-fold more the children of’ hell ? In a 
 word, I have no hopes of thee, except thou wilt shake 
 off thy evil company. Christ speaketh to thee as to 
 them in another case : “ If thou seek me, then let 
 these go their way,” John xviii. 8. Thy life lies upon 
 it; forsake these, or else thou canstnot live, Prov. ix. 
 6 . Wilt thou be worse than the beast, to run on 
 when thou seest the Lord with a drawn sword in the 
 way P Numb. xxii. 33. Let this sentence be written 
 in capitals upon thy conscience, A COMPANION OF 
 FOOLS SHALL BE DESTROYED, Prov. xiii. 20. 
 The Lord hath spoken it, and who shall reverse it ? 
 And wilt thou run upon destruction, when God him¬ 
 self shall forewarn thee ? If God doth ever change thy 
 heart, it will appear in the change of thy company. 
 Oh ! fear and flee the gulf, by which so many thou¬ 
 sand souls have been swallowed up in perdition. It 
 will be hard for thee indeed to make thy escape : Thy 
 companions will be mocking thee out of thy religion, 
 and will study to fill thee with prejudices against 
 
156 . DIRECTIONS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 strictness as ridiculous and comfortless: They will be 
 flattering thee and alluring thee, but remember the 
 warnings of the Holy Ghost, “ my son, if sinners en¬ 
 tice thee, consent thou not: If they say, come with us, 
 cast in thy lot among us; walk thou not in the way 
 with them, refrain thy foot from their path ; avoid it, 
 pass by it, turn from it, and pass away : For the way 
 of the wicked is as darkness, they know not at what 
 they stumble: They lie in wait for their own blood, 
 they lurk privily for their own lives,” Prov. i. 10.— 
 18. and iv. 14—19. My soul is moved within me 
 to see how many of my hearers are like to perish, both 
 they and their houses, by this wretched mischief, even 
 the haunting of such places and company, whereby 
 they are drawn into sin. Once more I admonish you, 
 as Moses did Israel, Numb. xvi. 26. “ And he spake 
 
 unto the congregation, saying, depart, I pray ye, from 
 the tents of these wicked men.” Oh! fly them as you 
 would those that had the plague sores running in their 
 foreheads. These are the devil's panders and decoys; 
 and, if thou dost not make thy escape, they will toll 
 thee into perdition, and will prove thine eternal ruin. 
 
 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. Read over the 
 Assembly’s Exposition of the Commandments, and 
 writedown the duties omitted, and sins committed, by 
 thee against every commandment, and so make a cata¬ 
 logue of thy sins, and with shame and sorrow spread 
 them before the Lord ; and, if thy heart be truly will¬ 
 ing to the terms, join thyself solemnly to the Lord in 
 that covenant set down in the 10th Direction, and the 
 Lord grant thee mercy in his sight. 
 
 Thus have I told thee what thou must do to he saved, 
 Wilt thou not obey the voice of the Lord ? Wilt thou 
 not arise and set to thy work ? O man, what answer 
 wilt thou make, what excuse wilt thou have, if thou 
 shouldst perish at last through very wilfulness, when 
 thou hast known the way of life ? I do not fear thy 
 miscarrying, if thine own idleness do not at last undo 
 
A soliuTIJuy, &c. 157 
 
 thee, in neglecting the use of the means that are so 
 plainly here prescribed. Rouse up, O sluggard, and 
 ply thy work; be doing, and the Lord will be with 
 thee. 
 
 A short Soliloquy for an unregenerate Sinner. 
 
 Ah ! wretched man that I am ! what a condition 
 have I brought myself into by sin ! Oh! I see my heart 
 hath but deceived me all this while, in flattering me 
 that my condition was good. I see, I see, I am but 
 a lost and undone man, for ever undone, unless the 
 Lord help me out of this condition. My sins! my 
 sins! Lord, what an unclean, polluted, wretch am I! 
 more loathsome and odious to thee than the most hate¬ 
 ful venom or noisome carcase can be to me- Oh ! 
 what a hell of sin is in this heart of mine, which I have 
 flattered myself to be a good heart! Lord, how uni¬ 
 versally am I corrupted in all my parts, powers, per¬ 
 formances ! All the imaginations of the thoughts of 
 my heart are only evil continually. I am under a 
 disability to, averseness from, and enmity against, every 
 thing that is good, and am prone to all that is evil. 
 My heart is a very sink of all sin ; and oh! the innu¬ 
 merable hosts and swarms of sinful thoughts, words, 
 and actions, that have flown from thence ! O the load 
 of guilt that is my soul! my head is full, my heart is 
 full, my mind and my members are full of sin. O my 
 sins! how do they stare upon me ! how do they wit¬ 
 ness against me! woe is me! my creditors are upon 
 me, every commandment taketh hold on me, far more 
 than ten thousand talents, yea, ten thousand times 
 ten thousand. How endless then is the sum of all my 
 debts ! If this whole world were filled up from earth 
 to heaven with paper, and all this paper written over 
 within and without by arithmeticians, yet (when all 
 were cast up together) it would come inconceivably 
 short of what I owe to the least of God’s command¬ 
 ments. Woe to me! for my debts are infinite, and 
 my sins are increased; they are wrongs to an infinite 
 
A SOLILOQUY 
 
 Majesty; and, if he that committeth treason against 
 a simple mortal is worthy to be racked, drawn, and 
 quartered, what have I not deserved, that have so of¬ 
 ten lifted up my hand against heaven, and have struck 
 at the crown and dignity of the Almighty? 
 
 O my sins, my sins! behold a troop cometh ! multi¬ 
 tudes, multitudes ! there is no numbering their armies: 
 Innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine 
 iniquities have taken hold upon me; they have set 
 themselves in array against me ! Oh ! it were better 
 to have all the regiments of hell come against me, than 
 to have my sins fall upon me to the spoiling of my 
 soul. Lord, how am I surrounded f how many are 
 they that rise up against me! they have beset me be¬ 
 hind and before; they swarm within me and without 
 nie; they have possessed all my powers, and have for¬ 
 tified my unhappy soul, as a garrison, which this brood 
 of hell doth man and maintain against the God that 
 made me. 
 
 And they are as mighty as they are many. The 
 sands are many, but then they are not great: The 
 mountains are great, but then they are not many: 
 but, woe is me ! my sins are as many as the sands, 
 and as mighty as the mountains; their weight is 
 greater than their number: It were better that the 
 rocks and mountains would fall upon me, than the 
 crushing and insupportable load of my own sins. 
 Lord, I am heavy laden ; let mercy help, or I am gone. 
 Unlade me of this heavy, this sinking, guilt, Lord, or 
 I am crushed without hope, and must be pressed down 
 to hell. If my grief were thoroughly weighed, and 
 sins laid in the balance together, they would be hea¬ 
 vier than the sand of the sea ; therefore my words are 
 swallowed up: They would w^eigh down all the rocks 
 and the hills, and turn the balance against all the isles 
 of the earth. O Lord, thou knowest my manifold 
 transgressions and my mighty sins. 
 
 Ah ! my soul! alas, my glory ! whither art thou 
 humbled? once the glory of the creation, and the 
 express image of God, now a lump of filthiness, a cof- 
 
FOR AN UNREGENERATE SINNER. 159 
 
 fin of rottenness. O what work hath sin made with 
 thee ! Thou shalt be termed forsaken, and all the 
 rooms of thy faculties desolate; and the name that 
 thou shalt be called by is Ichabod, or, 66 Where is the 
 glory ?” How art thou come down mightily ! My 
 beauty is turned into deformity, and my glory into 
 shame. Lord, what a loathsome leper am I ! The 
 ulcerous bodies of Job and Lazarus were not more of¬ 
 fensive to the eyes and nostrils of men, than I must 
 needs be to the most holy God, whose eyes cannot 
 behold iniquity. 
 
 And what misery have my sins brought upon me ! 
 Lord, what a case am I in ! sold under sin, cast out of 
 God’s favour, cursed from the Lord, cursed in my body, 
 cursed in my soul, cursed in my name, in my estate, 
 in my relations, and all that I have. My sins are un- 
 pardoned, and my soul is within a step of death. 
 Alas ! what shall I do? whither shall I go ? which way 
 shall I look ? God is frowning on me from above, hell 
 gaping for me beneath, conscience smiting me within, 
 temptations and dangers surrounding me without: 
 Oh ! whither shall I flee ? what place can hide me 
 from omniscience ? what power can secure me from 
 omnipotence. 
 
 What meanest thou, O my soul, to go on thus? art 
 thou in league with hell ? hast thou made a covenant 
 with death ? art thou in love with thy misery ? “ Is 
 it good for thee to be here ?” Alas ! what shall I do? 
 shall I go on in my sinful ways? Why then certain 
 damnation shall be my end : And shall I be so besotted 
 and bemadded as to go and sell my soul to the flames 
 for a little ale and a little ease, for a little pleasure or 
 gain, or content to my flesh ? Shall I linger any longer 
 in this wretched state ! No; if I tarry here I shall die. 
 What then ? is there no help, no hope ? None, except 
 I turn. Why, but is there any remedy for such woe¬ 
 ful misery ? any mercy after such provoking iniquity ? 
 Yes, as sure as God’s oath is true, I shall have pardon 
 and mercy yet, if presently, and unfeignedly, and un¬ 
 reservedly, I turn by Christ to him. 
 
■ 
 
 u 
 
 160 A SOLILOQUY 
 
 Why then I thank thee upon the bended knees of 
 my soul, O most merciful Jehovah! that thy patience 
 hath waited upon me hitherto ; for, hadst thou taken 
 me away in this estate, I had perished for ever. And 
 now I adore thy grace, and accept the offers of thy 
 mercy: I renounce all my sins, and resolve by thy 
 grace to set myself against them, and follow thee in 
 holiness and righteousness all the days of my life. 
 
 Who am I, Lord, that I should make any claim 
 unto thee, or have any part or portion in thee, who 
 am not worthy to lick up the dust of thy feet ? yet, 
 since thou holdest forth the golden sceptre, I am bold 
 to come and touch. To despair would be to dispa¬ 
 rage thy mercy: and to stand off, when thou biddest 
 me to come, would be at once to undo myself, and 
 rebel against thee, under the pretence of humility: 
 Therefore I bow my soul to thee, and with all possi¬ 
 ble thankfulness accept thee as mine, and give up my¬ 
 self to thee as thine. Thou shalt be Sovereign over 
 me, “ my King and my God Thou shalt be in the 
 throne, and all my powers shall bow to thee; they shall 
 come and worship before thy feet. Thou shalt be my 
 portion, O Lord, and I will rest in thee. 
 
 Thou callest for my heart: O that it were any way 
 lit for thine acceptance ! I am unworthy, O Lord, ever¬ 
 lastingly unworthy, to be thine; but, since thou wilt 
 have it so, I freely give up my heart to thee ; take it; 
 it is thine: O that it were better! But, Lord, I put 
 it into thine hand, who alone canst mend it: Mould 
 it after thine own heart; make it, as thou wouldst 
 have it, holy, humble, heavenly, soft, tender, flexible; 
 and write thy law upon it. 
 
 Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly ;” enter in tri¬ 
 umphantly ! take me up to thee for ever: I give up 
 myself to thee; I come to thee, as the only way to the 
 lather, as the only mediator, the means ordained to 
 bring 5 me to God. I have destroyed myself, but in 
 thee is my help ; “ save, Lord, or else 1 perish:’ I 
 come to thee with a rope about my neck: I am wor¬ 
 thy to die and to be damned. Never was the hire 
 
'OR. 
 
 FOR AN UNREGENERATE SINNER. 161 
 
 more due to the servant, never was penny more due to 
 the labourer, than death and hell (my just wages) 
 are due to me for my sins: But I flee to thy merits ; 
 I trust alone to the value and virtue of thv sacrifice, 
 and prevalence of thy intercession : I submit to thy 
 teaching; I make choice of thy government. “ Stand 
 open, ye everlasting doors, that the King of Glory 
 may come in.” 
 
 O thou spirit of the Most High, the comforter and 
 sanctifier of thy chosen ! come in with all thy glorious 
 train, all thy courtly attendants, thy fruits and graces; 
 let me be thine habitation; I can give thee but what 
 is thine own already; but here, with the poor widow, 
 I cast my two mites, my soul and my body, into thy 
 treasury, fully resigning them up to thee, to be sane- 
 tified by thee, to be servants to thee. They shall be 
 thy patients; cure thou their malady: They shall be 
 thy agents; govern thou their motions. Too long 
 have 1 served the world; too long have I hearkened 
 to Satan: but now I renounce them all, and will be 
 ruled by thy dictates and directions, and guided by 
 thy counsel. 
 
 O blessed Trinity ! O glorious Unity ! I deliver up 
 myself to thee; receive me; write thy name, O 
 Lord, upon me, and upon all that I have, as thy pro¬ 
 per goods; set thy mark upon me, upon every mem¬ 
 ber of my body, and on every faculty of my soul. I 
 have chosen thy precepts: thy law will I keep in 
 mine eye, and study to write after. According to this 
 rule, do I resolve, through thy grace, to walk; after 
 this law shall my whole man be governed; and though 
 I cannot perfectly keep one of thy commandments, 
 yet I will allow myself in the breach of none. I know 
 my flesh will hang back; but I resolve, in the power 
 of thy grace, to cleave to thee and thy holy ways, 
 whatever it costs me. I am sure I cannot come off a 
 loser by thee, and therefore I will be content with re¬ 
 proach, and difficulties, and hardships here, and will 
 “ deny myself, and take up my cross and follow 
 thee.” Lord Jesus, thy yoke is easy, thy cross is wel- 
 
162 
 
 MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 
 
 come; as it is the way to thee, I lay aside all hopes 
 worldly happiness ; I will be content to tarry till I 
 come to thee: Let me be poor, and low, and despised 
 here, so I maybe but admitted to live and reign with 
 thee hereafter. Lord, thou hast my heart and hand 
 to this agreement; be it as the laws of the Medes and 
 Persians, never to be reversed : To this I will stand; 
 in this resolution, through grace, I will live and die; 
 «« I have sworn,” and will perform it, that “ I will 
 keep thy righteous judgments:” I have given my free 
 consent; 1 have made my everlasting choice: Lord 
 Jesus confirm the contract. Amen. 
 
 Chap. VII. Containing the Motives to Conversion. 
 
 Though what is already said of the “ necessity of 
 conversion,” and of the “ miseries of the unconverted,” 
 might be sufficient to induce any considering mind to 
 resolve upon a present turning or conversion unto 
 God; yet, knowing what a piece of desperate obsti¬ 
 nacy and untractableness the heart of men naturally 
 is, I have thought it necessary to add, to the means 
 of conversation and directions for a covenant-closure 
 with God and Christ, some motives to persuade you 
 hereunto. 
 
 “ Lord, fail me not now, at my last attempts: If 
 any soul hath read hitherto, and is yet untouched, 
 now, Lord, fasten on him, and do thy work; now take 
 him by the heart, overcome him, persuade him, till 
 he say, thou hast prevailed ; for thou vvert stronger 
 than I. Lord, didst thou make me a fisher of men, 
 and I have toiled all this while, and caught nothing? 
 Alas! that I should have spent my strength for 
 nought! and now I am casting my last: Lord Jesus, 
 stand thou upon the shore, and direct how and where 
 I shall spread my net; and let me so inclose with ar¬ 
 guments to the souls I seek for, that they may not be 
 able to get out. Now, Lord, for a multitude of souls! 
 now for a full draught! O Lord God, remember me 
 I pray thee, and strengthen me this once, O God.” 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 
 
 163 
 
 But I turn me unto you. 
 
 1 Men and brethren, heaven and earth call upon you ; 
 yea, hell itself doth preach the doctrine of repentance 
 unto you ; the angels of the churches travail with you, 
 Gal. iv. 19. The angels of heaven wait for you, for 
 your repenting and turning unto God. O sinner, why 
 should the devils make merry with thee ? why shouldst 
 thou be a morsel for that devouring Leviathan P why 
 should harpies and hell-hounds tear thee, and make a 
 feast upon thee, and when they have got thee into the 
 snare, and have fastened their talons in thee, laugh at 
 thy destruction, and deride thy misery, and sport them¬ 
 selves with thy damnable folly ? This may be the case 
 except thou turn. And w ere it not better thou shouldst 
 be a joy of angels, than a laughing-stock and sport 
 for devils ! Verily, if thou wouldst but come in, the 
 heavenly host would take up their anthems and sing, 
 “ glory be to God in the highestthe morning-stars 
 would sing together, and all the sons of God shout for 
 joy, and celebrate this new creation as they did the 
 first. Thy repentance would, as it w r ere, make a 
 holiday in heaven, and the glorious spirits would re¬ 
 joice, in that there is a new brother added to their so¬ 
 ciety, liev. xxii. 9. another heir born to the Lord, and 
 the lost son received safe and sound. The true peni¬ 
 tent’s tears are indeed the wine that cherisheth both 
 GOD and man. 
 
 If it be little that men and angels would rejoice at 
 thy conversion, know thou that God himself w ould re¬ 
 joice over thee, even with singing, and rest in his love, 
 Luke xv. 9. Isa. Ixii. 5. Never did Jacob with such 
 joy w r eep over the neck of his Joseph, as thy heavenly 
 Father would rejoice over thee upon thy coming in to 
 him. Look over the story of the prodigal: Methinks 
 I see how the aged father lays aside his estate, and 
 forgetteth his years; behold how he runneth ! Luke 
 xv. 20. Oh! the haste that mercy makes! the sin¬ 
 ner makes not half that speed. Methinks I see how 
 his bowels turn, how his companions yearn. How 
 quick-sighted is love ? Mercy spies him a great way 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 
 
 164 
 
 off, forgets his riotous courses, unnatural rebellion, 
 horrid unthankfulness, debauched practices, (not a 
 word of these,) but receives him with open arms, 
 clasps about his neck, forgets the nastiness of his rags, 
 kisses his lips that deserve to be loathed; the lips 
 that had been joined to harlots, that had been more 
 common with the swine; calls for the fatted calf, the 
 best robe, the ring, the shoes, the best cheer in hea¬ 
 ven’s store, the best attire in heaven’s wardrobe, Luke 
 xv. G, 9, 23. Yea, the joy cannot be held in one 
 breast, &c. Others must be called to participate: 
 the friends must meet and make merry: Angels must 
 wait, but the prodigal must be set at table, under his 
 father’s wing; he is the joy of the feast, he is the 
 sweet object of his father’s delight: The friends 
 sympathize, but none knows the felicity the father 
 takes in his new-born son, whom he hath received 
 from the dead. Methinks I hear the music and dan¬ 
 cing at a distance. Oh ! the melody of the heavenly 
 choristers ! I cannot learn the song, Rev. xiv. 3. but 
 methinks I overhear the burden, at which all the 
 harmonious choir with one consent strike sweetly in; 
 for thus goes round at heaven’s table: “ For this 
 my son was dead, and is alive again ; was lost and is 
 found, 1 Luke xv. 23, 24, 32. I need no farther ex¬ 
 plain the parable: God is the father, Christ is the 
 cheer, his righteousness the robe, his grace the orna¬ 
 ments, ministers, saints, angels, the friends and ser¬ 
 vants, and thou that readest (if thou wilt but un- 
 feignedly repent and turn) the welcome prodigal, the 
 happy instance of this'grace, and blessed subject of 
 this joy and love. 
 
 O rock! O adamant! what! not moved yet? not 
 yet resolved to turn forthwith, and to close with mercy! 
 
 I will try thee yet once again : if one were sent to 
 thee from the dead, wouldst thou be persuaded ? Why, I 
 hear the voice from the dead, from the damned, cry- I 
 mg to thee that thou shouldst repent: « I pray thee 
 that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house, (for 
 - have five brethren,) that he may testify to them least 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 1G5 
 
 they also come to this place of torment: If one went 
 to them from the dead, they will repent,” Luke xvi. 
 27, 28, &c. Hear, O man ; thy predecessors in impe¬ 
 nitence preach to thee from the infernal gibbets, from 
 the flames, from the rack, that thou shouldst repent. 
 Oh! look but down into the bottomless pit; seest 
 thou how the smoke of their torments ascendeth for 
 ever and ever ! Rev. xiv. 11. how black are the fiends ! 
 how furious are their tormentors ! It is their only 
 music to hear how their miserable souls patients roar, 
 to hear their bones crack : It is their meat and drink, 
 to see how their flesh frieth, and their fat droppeth ; 
 to drench them with burning metal, and to rip open 
 their bodies, and to pour in the fierce-burning brass 
 into their bowels and the recesses and ventricles of 
 their hearts. What thinkest thou of those chains of 
 darkness, those instruments of cruelty ? Canst thou be 
 content to burn ? Seest thou how the worm gnaweth, 
 how the oven gloweth, how the fire rageth ? What 
 sayst thou to the river of brimstone, that dark and 
 horrible vent, that gulf of perdition ? wilt thou take 
 up thine habitation there P Oh ! lay thine ear to the 
 door of hell: Hearest thou the curses and blasphemies, 
 the weepings and wailings, how they lament their 
 follies, and curse their day ? Matt. xxii. 13. Rev. xvi. 
 9. How do they roar, and yell, and gnash their teeth ! 
 how deep are their groans ! how feeling are their 
 moans ! how inconceivable are their miseries ! if the 
 shreiks of Cora, Dathan, and Abiram, were so terrible, 
 (when the earth clave asunder, and opened its mouth 
 and swallowed them up, and all appertained to them,) 
 that all Israel fled at the cry of them, Numb. xv. 33, 
 34*. Oh ! how fearful would the cry be, if God should 
 take off the covering from the mouth of hell, and let 
 the cry of the damned ascend in all its terror among the 
 children of men, and of all their moans and miseries, 
 this is the piercing, killing emphasis and burden, “for 
 ever, for ever f* 
 
 Why, as God liveth that made thy soul, thou art 
 
166 MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. ' 
 
 but few hours distant from all this, except thou “ re¬ 
 pent and be converted.” 
 
 O! I am even lost and swallowed up in the abun¬ 
 dance of those arguments that I might suggest. If 
 there be any point of wisdom in all the world, it is to 
 repent and come in ; it there be any thing righteous, 
 any thing reasonable, this is it: If there be any thing 
 in the world that may be called madness and tolly, 
 and any thing that may be counted sottish, absurd, 
 brutish, unreasonable, it is this, “ to go on in thine 
 “ unconverted state.” Let me beg of thee, as thou 
 wouldst not wilfully destroy thyself, to sit down and 
 weigh, besides what has been said, these, following 
 motives, and let conscience speak, if it be not reason 
 that thou shouldst u repent and turn.” 
 
 1 . The God that made thee does most graciously in¬ 
 vite thee. 
 
 First, His most sweet and merciful nature doth invite 
 thee. O the kindness of God, his working bowels, his 
 tender mercies! They are infinitely above our thoughts, 
 higher than heaven, what can we do ? deeper thru 
 hell, what can v\e know? Job xi 7,8,9. He is full 
 of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plen¬ 
 teous in mercy,” Psa lxxxvi. 15. This is a great ar¬ 
 gument to persuade sinners to come in, “ turn unto 
 the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, 
 slow to anger, of great kindness, and repenteth him of 
 the evil.” If God would not repent of the evil, it 
 were some discouragement to us why we should not 
 repent. If there were no hope of mercy, it were no 
 wonder why rebels should stand out; but never had 
 subjects such a gracious prince, such pity, patience, 
 clemency, piety, to deal with, as you have “ who is 
 God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity?” Mic. 
 vii. 18. O sinners ! see what a God you have to deal 
 with: if you will but turn, “ he will turn again, and 
 have compassion on you ; he will subdue your iniqui¬ 
 ties, and cast all your sins into the depths of the sea,” 
 ver. 19. ** Return unto me, saith the Lord of hosts 
 
 ond I will return unto you,” Mai. iii. 7. Zech. i. 3. 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 
 
 167 
 
 Sinners do not fail in that they have too high thoughts 
 of God’s mercies, but in that, 1. “They overlook his 
 justice. 2. They promise themselves mercy out of 
 God’s wayhis mercy is beyond all imagination, Isa.' 
 Iv. 9. great mercies, 1 Chron. xxi. 13. manifold mer¬ 
 cies, Neh. ix. 19. tender mercies, Psa. xxv. 6 sure 
 mercies, Isa. liv. 3. everlasting mercies, Psa. ciii. 17. 
 Isa. liv 8. and all is thy own, if thou wilt but turn. 
 Art thou willing to come in ? Why, the Lord hath 
 laid aside his terror, erected a throne of grace, holds 
 forth the golden sceptre; touch and live. Would a 
 merciful man slay his enemy when prostrate at his 
 feet, acknowledging his wrong, begging pardon, and 
 offering to enter with him into a covenant of peace? 
 Much less will the merciful God. Study his name, 
 Exod. xxxiv. 7. Read experience, Neh. ix. 17. 
 
 Secondly, His soul encouraging call and promises do 
 invite thee. Ah, what an earnest suitor is mercy to 
 thee ! how lovingly, how instantly, it calleth after thee! 
 how passionately it wooeth thee ! “ Return thou back¬ 
 sliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause my 
 anger to fall upon you ; for, I am merciful, saith the 
 Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever; only ac¬ 
 knowledge thine iniquity. Turn, O backsliding chil¬ 
 dren, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you; 
 return, and I'will heal your backslidings. Thou hast 
 played the harlot with many lovers; yet return unto 
 me saith the Lord,” Jer. iii. 11,12,13, 14, 22. . “ As 
 I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the 
 death of the wicked, but that he turn from his way 
 and live. Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; 
 for, why will ye die, O house of Israel ?” Ezek. xxxiii. 
 11 . 66 If the wicked will turn from all his sins that 
 
 he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do 
 that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he 
 shall not die : All his transgressions that he hath com¬ 
 mitted shall not be mentioned to him ; in his righte¬ 
 ousness that he hath done shall he live. Repent and 
 turn you from all your transgressions: so iniquity 
 shall not be your ruin. Cast away all your transgres- 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 
 
 16S 
 
 sions, and make you a clean heart and a new spirit; 
 for, why will ye die, O house of Israel; for I have no 
 pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord 
 God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye,” Ezek. 
 xvii. gl, 23, 30, 31,32. 
 
 O melting gracious words 1 the voice of a GOD, 
 and not of a man ! This is not the manner of men, 
 for the offended sovereign to sue to the offending trai¬ 
 torous varlet. Oh, how doth mercy follow thee and 
 plead with thee! Is not thy heart broken yet ? Oh 
 that 44 to-day you would hear his voice !” 
 
 2 . The doors of heaven are thrown open to thee y the 
 everlasting gates are set wide for thee , and an abundant 
 entrance into the kingdom of heaven is administered to 
 thee . Christ now bespeaks thee, as she her husband : 
 64 Arise, and take possession,” 1 Kings xxi. 15. View 
 the glory of the other world, as set forth in the map 
 of the gospel; get thee up into Pisgah of the promises, 
 and lift up thine eyes northward, and southward, and 
 eastward, and westward, and see the good land that 
 is beyond Jordan, and that goodly mountain: Behold 
 the Paradise of God, watered with the streams of glory. 
 Arise and walk through the land, in the length of it, 
 and in the breadth of it; for the land which thou 
 seest, the Lord will give it to thee for ever, if thou 
 wilt but return, Gen. xiii. 14, 15, 17. Let me say to 
 thee as Paul to Agrippa, 44 believest thou the pro- 
 phets?” If thou believest indeed, do but view what 
 glorious things are spoken of the city of God, Psa. 
 lxxxvii. 3. and know that all this is here tendered in 
 the name of God to thee. As verily as God is true, 
 it shall be for ever thine, if thou wilt but thoroughly 
 turn. 
 
 Behold the city of pure transparent gold, whose 
 foundations are garnished with all manner of precious 
 stones, whose gates are pearls, whose light is glory, 
 whose temple is God; believest thou this ? if thou 
 dost, art not thou worse than distracted, that wilt not 
 take possession when the gates are hung open to thee, 
 and thou art bid to enter? O ye sons of folly, will 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 169 
 
 ye embrace the dunghills, and refuse the kingdom ? 
 Behold the Lord takes you up into the mountain, 
 shews you the kingdom of heaven and all the glory 
 thereof, and tells you, “ All this will I give you, if 
 you will fall down and worship me;” if you will sub¬ 
 mit to mercy, accept my Son, and serve me in righ¬ 
 teousness and holiness. “ O fools, and slow of heart 
 to believe !” Will you court the harlot? Will you 
 seek and serve the world, and neglect eternal glory ? 
 What! not enter into Paradise when the flaming 
 sword, which was once set to keep you out, is now 
 used to drive you in ! But you will say, I am uncha¬ 
 ritable to think you infidels and unbelievers. Why, 
 what shall 1 think ? Either you are desperate unbe¬ 
 lievers, that do not credit it, or distracted, that you 
 know and believe the excellence and eternity of this 
 glory, and yet do so fearfully neglect it. Surely, you 
 have either no faith or no reason, and I had almost 
 said, conscience shall tell you so before I leave you. 
 
 Do but attend to what is offered you : O blessed 
 kingdom: a “kingdom of glory,” 1 Thess. ii. 12. a 
 “ kingdom of righteousness,” 2 Pet. iii. 13. a 66 king¬ 
 dom of peace,” Rom. xiv. 17. and an “everlasting 
 kingdom,” 2 Pet. i. 11. Here thou shalt dwell, here 
 thou shalt reign for ever, and the Lord shall seat thee 
 on a throne of glory, Matt. xix. 28. and with his own 
 hand shall set the royal diadem upon thine head ; and 
 give thee a crown, not of thorns ; for there shall be 
 no sinning nor suffering there, Rev. xxi. 37. and xxii. 
 3, 4, 5. not of gold, (for this shall be viler than the 
 dirt in that day,) but a “ crown of life,” James i. 12. 
 a “crown of righteousness,” 2 Tim. iv. 8. a “crown 
 of glory,” 1 Pet. v. 4. yea, “ thou shalt put on glory 
 as a robe,” 1 Cor. xv. 43. and shalt “ shine like the' 
 sun in the firmanent, in the glory of thy father,” 
 Matt. xiii. 43. Look now upon thy dirty flesh, thy 
 clay, thy worms-meat: This very flesh, this lump, 
 this carcase, shall be brighter than the stars, Dan. xii. 
 3. In short, thou shalt be made like unto the “ an¬ 
 gels of God,” Luke xx. 36. and “ behold his face in 
 
170 MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 
 
 righteousness,” Psa. xvii. 15. Look in now and tell 
 me, dost thou yet believe ? if not, conscience must 
 pronounce thee an infidel; tor it is the very u word 
 of God,” that I speak. 
 
 Put, if thou say thou believest, let me next know 
 thy resolution. Wilt thou embrace this for thy hap¬ 
 piness ? Wilt thou forego thy sinful gains, thy forbid¬ 
 den pleasures P Wilt thou trample on the world’s es¬ 
 teem, and spit in the harlot’s face, and stop thv ears 
 to her flatteries, and rest thee out of her embraces ? 
 Wilt thou be content to take up with reproach and 
 poverty, if'they lie in the way to heaven, and follow 
 the Lord with humble self-denial in a mortified and 
 flesh displeasing life ? If so, all is thine, and that for 
 ever. 
 
 And art thou not fairly offered ? Is it not pity but 
 he should be damned that will needs go on and perish, 
 when all this may be had for the taking? Wilt thou 
 take God at his word, and rid thy hands of thy hold¬ 
 fast of the world, and rid thy hands of thy sins, and 
 lay hold on eternal life ? If not, let conscience tell 
 thee whether thou art not distracted or bewitched, 
 that thou shouldst neglect so happy a choice, by which 
 thou mightst be made for ever. 
 
 3 . God will settle unspeakable privileges at present 
 upon thee , 1 Cor. iii. 22. Heb. xii. 22,23,24. “ Though 
 the full of your blessedness shall be deferred till here¬ 
 after, yet God will give you no little things in hand.” 
 
 He will redeem you from your thraldom, John viii. 
 36. He will pluck you from the paw of the lion, Col. 
 i. 13. The serpent shall bruise your heel, but you 
 shall bruise his head, Gen. iii. 15. He shall deliver 
 you from the present evil world, Gal. i. 4. Prosperity 
 shall not destroy you ; adversity shall not separate 
 between him and you, Rom. viii. 35, 37, 38. He will 
 redeem you from the power of the grave, Psa. xlix. 
 15. and make the king of terrors a messenger of peace 
 to you. He will take out the curse from the cross, 
 Psa. cxix. 71. And make affliction the fining-pot, the 
 fan, the physic, to blow off the chaff, purify the me- 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 171 
 
 tal, and purge the mind, Dan. xii. 10. Isa. xxvii. 9. 
 He will save you from the arrest of the law, and turn 
 the curse into a blessing to you, Rom. vi. 14. Gal. iii. 
 24. He hath the keys of hell and death, and shutteth 
 that no man openeth, Itev. i. 18. and iii. 7. and he will 
 shut its mouth as once he did the lions, Dan. vi. 22. 
 that you shall not be hurt of the second death, 
 Rev. ii. 11. 
 
 But he will not only save you from misery, but in¬ 
 stall you into unspeakable prerogatives: He will be¬ 
 stow himself upon you ; he will be a friend unto you, 
 and a father to you, 2 Cor. vi. 18. He will be a sun 
 and a shield to you, Psa. lxxxiv. 11. In a word, he 
 will be a God to you, Gen. xvii. 7. And what can 
 be said more? What may you expect that a God 
 should do for you, and be to you ? that he will be, 
 that he will do. She that marries a prince, expects 
 he should do for her like a prince, that she may live 
 in a suitable state, and have an answerable dowry : 
 He that hath a king for his father, or a friend, expects 
 he should do for him like a king Alas! the kings 
 and monar^hs of the earth so much above you, are but 
 like the painted butterflies amongst the rest of their 
 kind, or the fair coloured palm worm amongst the rest 
 of the words, if compared with God. As he doth in¬ 
 finitely exceed the glory and power of his glittering 
 dust, so he will beyond all proportion exceed in doing 
 for his favourites whatever princes can do for theirs. 
 He will “ give you grace and glory, and withhold no 
 good thing fron^you, ,, Psa. lxxxiv. 11. He will take 
 you for his sons and daughters, and make you heirs 
 of his promises, Heb. vi. 17. and establish his ever¬ 
 lasting covenant with you, Jer. xxxii. 40. He will 
 justify you from all that law, conscience, Satan can 
 charge upon you, Rom. viii. 33, 34. He will give 
 you free access into his presence, and accept your per¬ 
 son, and receive your prayers, Eph. i. 6 and iii. 12. 
 1 John v. 14. He will abide in you, and make you 
 the man of his secrets, and hold a constant and friendly 
 communion with you, John xiii. 23. and xv. 15, 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 
 
 172 
 
 1 John i. 3. His ear shall be open, his door open, 
 liis store open, at all limes to you. His blessings 
 shall rest upon you, and he will make your enemies 
 to serve you, and work about “ all things for good 
 unto you,” Psa. cxv 13. Rom. viii. 28. 
 
 4. The terms of mercy are brought as low as possible 
 to you. God has stooped as low to sinners as with 
 honour he can: He will not be thought an author of 
 sin, nor stain the glory of his holiness ; and whither 
 could he come lower than he hath, unless he should 
 do this? He hath abated the impossible terms of the 
 first covenant, Jer. iii. 23 Mark v. 36. Acts iii. 19. 
 and xiv. 31. Prov. xxviii. 13 He doth not impose any 
 thing unreasonable or impossible, as a condition of life 
 upon you. Two things were necessary to be done, 
 according to the tenor of the first covenant, by you. 
 1. “ That you should fully satisfy the demands’of jus¬ 
 tice for past offences. 2. That you should perform 
 personally, perfectly, and perpetually, the whole law 
 for the time to come.” Roth these are to us impos¬ 
 sible, Rom viii. 3. Rut behold God's gracious abate¬ 
 ment in both: He doth not stand upon satisfaction ; 
 he is content to take off the surety (and he of his own 
 providing too) what he might have exacted from you, 
 2 Cor. v. 10. He declares himself to have received a 
 ransom, Job xxxiii. 24. 1 Tim. ii. 6 and that he ex¬ 
 pects nothing but that you should accept his Son, and 
 “ he shall be righteousness and redemption to you,” 
 John i. 12. 1 Cor. i. 30. And, for the future obedi¬ 
 ence, here he is content to yield to your weakness, 
 and omit the rigour. He doth not stand upon per¬ 
 fection as a condition of life, though he still insists 
 upon it as his due, but is content to accept of sincer¬ 
 ity, Gen. xvii. 1. Prov. xi. 20. Though you cannot 
 pay the full debt, he will accept you according to that 
 which you have, and take willingness for doing, and 
 the purpose for the performance, 2 Cor. viii. J2. 
 2 Chron. vi. 8. Ileb xi. 17. And, if you come in his 
 Christ, and set your hearts to please him, and make 
 it the chief of your care, he will approve and reward 
 you, though the vessel be marred in your hands. 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 173 
 
 01)! consider your Maker’s condescension; let me 
 say to you, as Naaman’s servant to him, My father, 
 if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing, 
 would you not have done it? How much rather when 
 he saith to thee, wash and be clean !” 2 Kings v. 13. 
 If God had demanded some terrible, some severe and 
 rigorous thing of you, to escape an eternal damnation, 
 would you not have done it ? Suppose it had been to 
 spend all your days in sorrow in some howling wilder¬ 
 ness, or pine yourselves with famine, or to “ offer the 
 fruit of your bodies for the sin of your souls,” would 
 you not have thankfully accepted eternal redemption, 
 though these had been the conditions? Nay, farther; 
 if God should have told you, that you should have 
 fried in the fire for millions of ages, or been so long 
 tormented in hell, would you not have gladly accepted 
 it ? Alas ! all these are not so much as one sand in 
 the glass of eternity. If your offended Creator should 
 have holder) you but one year upon the rack, and then 
 bidden you come and forsake your sins, accept Christ, 
 and serve him a few years in self-denial, or lie in this 
 case for ever and ever, do you think you should have 
 stuck at the offer, and disputed the terms, and have 
 been unresolved whether you were to accept of the 
 motion ? O sinner, return and live; why shouldst 
 thou die when life is to be had for the taking, when 
 mercy seems beholden to thee (as it were) to be saved ? 
 Couldst thou say, indeed, “ Lord, I knew thee that 
 thou wast a hard man,” Matt. xxv. 24. thou hadst 
 some little excuse ; but when the God of heaven has 
 stooped so low, and condescended so far, if now thou 
 shouldst stand off, who shall plead for thee ? 
 
 Object . Notwithstanding all these abatements, I 
 am no more able to perform these conditions (in 
 themselves so easy) of faith, repentance, and sincere 
 obedience, than to satisfy and fulfil the law. 
 
 Answ. These you may perform by God’s grace 
 enabling; whereas the other are naturally impossible 
 in this state, even to believers themselves. But let 
 the next consideration serve for.a fuller answer. 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION* 
 
 5. Wherein you are impotent , God doth offer grace 
 to enable you " I have stretched out mine hand, and 
 no man regarded,” Prov. i. 24. What though you are 
 plunged into the ditch of the misery from which you 
 can now get out! Christ offereth to help you out: he 
 reachetlf out his hand to you, and, if you perish, it is 
 for refusing his help: " Behold I stand at the door 
 and knock; if any man open to me, I will come in,” 
 Rev. iii. 20. What though you are poor, and wretched, 
 and blind, and naked ! Christ offereth a cure for your 
 blindness, a covering for your nakedness, a remedy 
 tor your poverty; he tenders you his righteousness, 
 his grace: " I counsel thee to buy of me gold, that 
 thou mayst be rich; and white raiment, that thou 
 mayst be clothed; anoint thy eyes with eye-salve, 
 that thou mayst see,” Rev. iii. 17, 18. Do you say, 
 the condition is impossible; for I have not wherewith 
 to buy ! You must know that this buying is " with¬ 
 out money and without price,” Isa. iv. 2. This buy* 
 ing is by begging and seeking with diligence and con¬ 
 stancy in the use of God’s means, Prov. ii. 3, 4. God 
 commandeth thee to know him, and to fear him„ 
 Dost thou say, Yea, but my mind is blinded, and my 
 heart is hardened, from his fear? I answer, God doth 
 offer to enlighten thy mind, and to teach thee this fear, 
 that is presented to thy choice, Prov. i. 29. "For 
 that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear 
 of the Lord.” So, that now, if men live in ignorance 
 and estrangement from the Lord, it is because they 
 " will not understand and desire the knowledge of his 
 ways,” Job xxi. 14. "If thou criest after know¬ 
 ledge, if thou seekest her as silver, &c. then shalt 
 thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the 
 knowledge of God,” Prov. ii. 3, 4, 5. Is not here a 
 fair offer ! " Turn ye at my reproof; behold I will 
 pour out my spirit unto you,” Prov. i. 23. Though 
 of yourselves you can do nothing, yet you may do all 
 through his spirit enabling you, and he doth offer as¬ 
 sistance to you. God bids you " wash and make you 
 clean,” Isa ii. 16. You say you are unable, as much 
 
MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 175 
 
 as the leopard to wash out his spots, Jer. xiii. 28. 
 Yea, but the Lord doth offer to purge you ; so that, 
 if you be filthy still, it is through your own wilful- 
 ness, Ezek. xxiv. 13. “ I have purged thee, and thou 
 wast not purged,” Jer. xiii. 27. “ O Jerusalem, wilt 
 
 thou not be made clean ? When shall it once be ?” 
 God doth wait when you will be made clean, when 
 you will yield to his motions, accept of his offers, and 
 let him do for you, and in you, what you cannot do 
 for yourselves. You do not know how much God 
 will do, upon your importunity, if you will be but 
 restless and instant with him, Luke xi. 8. and xviii. 5. 
 
 Though God hath not bound himself, by express 
 promise to wicked men, to give them grace in the dili¬ 
 gent use of the means, yet he hath given them abun¬ 
 dance of encouragement to expect it from him, if they 
 seek it earnestly in his way. His most gracious na¬ 
 ture is abundant encouragement. If a rich and most 
 bountiful man should see thee in misery, and bid thee 
 come to his door, wouldst thou not with confidence 
 expect, at thy coming, to find some relief? Thou art 
 not able to believe nor repent: God appoints thee to 
 use such and such means, in order to thy obtaining 
 faith and repentance; doth not this argue that God 
 will bestow these upon thee if thou dost ply him dili¬ 
 gently in prayer, meditation, reading, hearing, self- 
 examination, and the rest of his means? Otherwise 
 God would but mock his poor creatures, to put them 
 upon these self-denying endeavours, and then, wheiv 
 they have been hard put to it, and continued waiting 
 upon him for grace, deny them at last. Surely, if a 
 sweet-natured man would not deal thus, much less 
 will the most merciful and gracious God. 
 
 I intended to have added many other arguments, 
 but these have swollen under my hands ; and I hope 
 the judicious reader will rather look upon the weight 
 than number. 
 
176 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 The conclusion oj the Whole . 
 
 And now, my brethren, let me know your minds; 
 What do you intend to do? will you go and die? 
 or will you set upon a thorough and speedy conver¬ 
 sion, and lay hold on eternal life ? How long will ye 
 linger in Sodom? “ How long will ye halt between 
 two opinions ?” 1 Kings xviii. 21. Have ye not yet 
 
 resolved whether Christ or Barabbas, whether bliss 
 or torment, whether the land of Cabul, 1 Kings ix. 
 13. or the Paradise of God, be the better choice? Is 
 it a disputable case, whether the Abana and Parphar 
 of Damascus be better than all the streams of Eden; 
 or whether the vile puddle of sin is to be preferred 
 before the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding 
 out of the throne of God and of the Lamb ? Can the 
 world in good earnest do that for you that Christ can ? 
 Will it stand by you to eternity? Will pleasures, 
 land, titles, treasures, descend with you ? Psa. xlix. 
 17. 1 Tim. vi. 7. If not, had you not need look after 
 somewhat that will ? What mean you to stand waver¬ 
 ing, to be off and on ? Foolish children ! how long 
 will you stick between the womb and the world! 
 Shall I lead you at last no farther than Agrippa, but 
 almost persuaded: Why, you are for ever lost if left 
 here; as good not at all, as not altogether Christians. 
 You are half in the mind to give over your former 
 negligent life, and set to a strict and holy course; you 
 could wish you were as some others are, and could do 
 as they can do. How long will you rest in idle wishes 
 and fruitless purposes ? When will you come to a 
 fixed, firm, and full resolve? Do not you see how 
 Satan gulls you, by tempting you to delays ? How 
 long hath he toiled you on in the way of perdition ! 
 How many years have you been purposed to mend ! 
 What if God should have taken you off this while ! 
 
 Well, put me not off with a dilatory answer: tell 
 me not of hereafter.; I must have your immediate 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 177 
 
 consent: if you be not now resolved, while the Lord 
 is treating with you and courting you, much less are 
 you like to be hereafter, when these impressions are 
 worn out, and you are hardened through the deceit¬ 
 fulness of sin. Will you give me your hand ? Will 
 you set open the door, and give the Lord Jesus the 
 full and ready possession P Will you put your names 
 unto this covenant? Will you subscribe? What do 
 you resolve upon ? If you are still upon your delays, 
 my labour is lost, and all is like to come to nothing. 
 Fain I would that you should now put in your adven¬ 
 tures. Come, cast in your lot; make your choice. 
 “ Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salva¬ 
 tion : To-day if you will hear his voice.* 1 Why should 
 not this be the day whence thou shouldst be able to 
 date thy happiness? Why shouldst thou venture a day 
 longer in this dangerous and dreadtul condition ? What 
 if God should this night require thy soul ! “ Oh ! that 
 thou mightst know, in this thy day, the things that 
 belong to thy peace before they be hid from thy eyes !” 
 Luke xix. 42. This is thy day, and it is but a day, 
 John ix. 4. Others have had their day, and have 
 received their doom, and now art thou brought upon 
 the stage of this world, here to act thy part for the 
 whole eternity. Remember, thou art now upon thy 
 “ good behaviour” for everlasting ; if thou makst not a 
 wise choice now, thou art undone for ever. Look 
 what thy present choice is; such must thine eternal 
 condition be, Luke x. 42. and xvi. 25. Prov. i. 27, 
 28, 29. 
 
 And is it true indeed ? Are life and death at thy 
 choice? Yea, it is as true as truth is, Deut. xiii. 14. 
 Why then, what hinders but that thou shouldst be 
 happy ? Nothing doth or can hinder, but thine own 
 wilful neglect or refusal. It was the passage oi the 
 Eunuch to Philip: “ See here is water; what doth 
 hinder me to be baptized ?” See I may say to thee, 
 See, here is Christ, here is mercy, pardon, life; what 
 hinders but that thou shouldst be pardoned and saved ? 
 One of the martyrs, as he was praying at the stake. 
 
1 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 had his pardon set by him in a box (which indeed he 
 refused deservedly, because upon unworthy terms); 
 but here the terms are more honourable and easy. 6 
 
 varl! er ’ w '^ t ^ 10u k. urn w *th thy pardon by thee! 
 ^ by, do but forthwith give up thy consent to Christ, 
 to renounce thy sins, deny thyself, take up the yoke 
 and the cross, and thou carriest the day; Christ is 
 t n> e P ar< ^ on ’ peace, life, blessedness, are all thine: 
 .And is not this an offer worth embracing? Why 
 shouldst thou hesitate or doubtfully dispute about the 
 case ? Is it not past controversy whether God be better 
 than sin, and glory than vanity ? Why shouldst thou 
 -orsake thy own mercy, and sin against thy own life' 1 
 When wilt thou shake off thy sloth, and lay by thine 
 excuses? “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; thou 
 knowest not” where this night may lodge thee, Prov 
 xxvii. 1. 
 
 Beloved, now the holy spirit is striving with you; 
 he will not always strive. Hast thou not felt thine 
 heart warmed by the word, and been almost persuaded 
 to leave off thy sins and come into God ? Hast thou 
 not felt some good motions in thy mind, wherein thou 
 hast been warned of thy danger, and told what thy 
 careless course would end in ? It may be thou art like 
 young Samuel, who, when the Lord called once and 
 again, knew not the voice of the Lord, 1 Sam. iii. 
 6, 7. but these motions and items are the offers, and 
 essays, and callings, and strivings, of the spirit: Oh! 
 take the advantage of the tide, and know the day of 
 thy visitation. 
 
 Now the Lord Jesus stretcheth wide his arms to re¬ 
 ceive you; he beseecheth you by us. How movingly, 
 how meltingly, how pitifully, how compassionately he 
 calleth ! the church is pul into a sudden ecstacy upon 
 the sound of his voice, the voice of my beloved, Cant. 
 ii. 8. Oh ! wilt thou turn a deaf ear to his voice ? Is 
 it not the voice that breaketh the cedars, and maketh 
 the mountains to skip like a calf? that shaketh the 
 wilderness, and divideth the flames of fire ? It is not 
 Sinai’s thunder, but a soft and still voice: It is not 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 179 
 
 the voice of Mount Ebal, a voice of cursing and ter¬ 
 ror, but the voice of Mount Gerizim, the voice ot 
 blessing and glad tidings of good things : It is not the 
 voice of the trumpet, nor the voice of war, but a mes¬ 
 sage of peace from the King of Peace, Eph. vi. 15. 
 2 Cor. v. 8, 20. Methinks it should be with thee as 
 with the spouse; My soul failed when he spake, 
 Cant. v. 6. I may say to thee, O sinner, as Martha to 
 her sister, “ The master is come, and he calleth for 
 thee,” John xi. 28. Oh, now, with Mary, arise 
 quickly, and come unto him. How sweet are his invi¬ 
 tations! he crieth in the open concourse, iC If any man 
 thirst, let him come unto me and drink,” John vii. 37. 
 Prov. i. 21. He broaches his own body for thee ; O ! 
 come and lay thy mouth to his side. How free is he! 
 he excludeth none: Whosoever will, let him come 
 and take the water of life freely,” Rev. xxii. 17. 
 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. Come, eat 
 of my bread, drink of the wine that I have mingled. 
 Forsake the foolish and live,” Prov. ix. 4, 5, 6. 
 “ Come unto me, 8cc. take my yoke upon you, and 
 learn of me, and ye shall find rest to your souls,” Matt, 
 xi. 28, 29. “ Him that cometh to me will I in no 
 
 wise cast out,” John vi. 37. How doth he bemoan 
 the obstinate refuser! “ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! how 
 often would I have gathered thy children as a hen ga- 
 thereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would 
 not,” Matt, xxiii. 37. “ Behold me, behold me; I 
 
 have stretched out my hands all the day to a rebellious 
 people,” Isa. Ixv. 1,2. Oh ! be persuaded now at last 
 to throw yourselves into the arms of love. 
 
 Behold, O ye sons of men, the Lord Jesus hath 
 thrown open the prison, and now he cometh to you, 
 (as the magistrates once to them,) Acts xvi. 39. and 
 beseecheth you to come out. If it were from a pa¬ 
 lace or paradise that Christ did call you, it were no 
 wonder if you were unwilling; (and yet how easily 
 was Adam toiled thence !) but it is from your prison. 
 Sirs, from your chains, from the dungeon, from the 
 darkness, that he calleth you, Isa, xlii. 6, 7. and yet 
 
THE conclusion. 
 
 will you not come? He calls you unto liberty, Gal. v. 
 13. and yet will you not hearken? His yoke is easy, 
 his laws are liberty, his service is freedom, Matt. xi. 
 30. James i. 25. 1 Cor. vii. 22. and, (whatever preju¬ 
 dices you have against his ways,) if a God may be be¬ 
 lieved, you shall find them all pleasure and peace, and 
 shall taste sweetness and joy unutterable, and take in¬ 
 finite delight and felicity in them, Prov. iii. 17. Psa, 
 cxix. 103, 111, 165. 1 Pet. i. 8. 
 
 Behold, I am loathe to leave you; I cannot tell how 
 to give you over. I am now ready to shut up, but 
 fain I would drive this bargain between Christ and you 
 before I end. What! shall I leave you as I found 
 you at last ? Have you read hitherto, and not resolved 
 upon a present abandoning all your sins, and closing 
 with Jesus Christ? Alas! what shall I say? what 
 shall I do? Will you turn off all my importunity? 
 Have I run in vain ? Have I used so many arguments, 
 and spent so much time to persuade you, and you sit 
 down at last in disappointment ? But it is a small mat¬ 
 ter that you turn me off; you put a slight upon the 
 God that made you; you reject the bowels and be- 
 seechings of a Saviour, and will be found resisters of 
 the Holy Ghost, Acts vii. 51. If you will not now be 
 prevailed with to repent and be converted. 
 
 Well, though I have called you long, and you have 
 refused, I shall yet this once more lift up my voice like 
 a trumpet, and cry from the highest places of the city, 
 before I conclude with a miserable co?ictavatum cst. 
 Once more I shall call after regardless sinners, that (if 
 it be possible) I may awaken them : 44 O earth, earth, 
 earth, hear the word of the Lord, 11 Jer. xxii. 29. Un¬ 
 less you be resolved to die, lend your ears to the last 
 calls of mercy. Behold in the name of God I make 
 open proclamation to you : 44 Hearken unto me, O ye 
 children; hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it 
 not, 11 Prov. viii. 32, 33. 
 
 44 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the wa¬ 
 ters ; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy, and 
 eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money 
 
THE CONCLUSION. l&l 
 
 and without price. Wherefore do ye spend your mo¬ 
 ney for that which is not bread, and your labour for 
 that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, 
 and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul de¬ 
 light itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto 
 me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make 
 an everlasting covenant with you, even the suie mer¬ 
 cies of David,” Isa. lv. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 Ho, every one that is sick of any manner of disease 
 or torment, Matt. iv. 23, 24. or is possessed with an 
 evil spirit, whether of pride, fury, lust, or covetous¬ 
 ness, come ye to the physician, bring away your sick ; 
 lo, here is he that “ healeth all manner of sicknesses, 
 and all manner of diseases among the people.” 
 
 Ho, every one that is in debt, and every one that 
 is in distress, and every one that is discontented, ga¬ 
 ther yourselves unto Christ, and he will become a Cap¬ 
 tain over you, he will be your protection from the ai- 
 rests of the law, be will save you from the hand of 
 justice Behold he is an open sanctuary to you ; he 
 is a known refuge, Heb. vi. 18. Psalm xlviii. 3. 
 Away with your sius and come in into him, lest the 
 avenger of blood seize you, lest devouring wrath 
 overtake you. 
 
 Ho, every ignorant sinner, come and buy eye-salve, 
 that thou mayst see, Rev. iii. 18. Away with thy ex¬ 
 cuses ; thou art for ever lost, if thou continue in this 
 state, 2 Cor. iv. 3. But accept of Christ for thy pro¬ 
 phet, and he will be a light unto thee, Isa. xliii. 6. 
 Eph. v. 14. Cry unto him for knowledge, study his 
 word, take pains about the principle of religion, hum¬ 
 ble thyself before him, and he will teach thee his way, 
 and make thee wise unto salvation, Matt. xiii. 36. 
 Luke viii. 9. John v. 39. But, if thou wilt not fol¬ 
 low him in the painful use of his means, but sit down 
 because thou hast but one talent, he will condemn 
 thee for a wicked and slothful servant, Matt. xxv. 
 24, 26. 
 
 Ho, ever profane sinner, come in and live : Return 
 unto the Lord, and he will have mercy on thee; be en- 
 
1D/C THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 treated. Oh ! return, come : Thou that hast filled thy 
 mouth with oaths and execrations, all manner of sins 
 and blasphemies shall be forgiven thee, Matt. iii. 28 . 
 it thou wilt but thoroughly turn unto Christ and come 
 m. Though thou wert as unclean as u Magdalen, yet 
 put away thy whoredoms out of thy sight, and thy 
 adulteries from between thy breasts,” and give up thy¬ 
 self unto Christ, as a vessel of holiness, alone for his 
 use; and then, “ though thy sins be as scarlet, they 
 shall be as wool; and though they be as crimson, they 
 shall be white as snow.” Luke vii. 47. Isa. i. 18. 
 
 Hear, O ye drunkards; “ how long will ye be 
 drunken ? put away your wine,” 1 Sam. i. 14. Though 
 you have rolled in the vomit of your sin, take the vo¬ 
 mit of repentance, and heartily disgorge your beloved 
 Just, and the Lord will receive you, 2 Cor. vi. 17. 
 Give yourselves up unto Christ, to live soberly, righ¬ 
 teously, and godly ; embrace his righteousness; ac¬ 
 cept his government: and, though you have been 
 swine, he will wash you, Rev. i. 5. 
 
 Hear, O ye loose companions, whose delight is in 
 vain and wicked society, to sport away your time in 
 carnal mirth and jollity with them ; come in at wis¬ 
 dom’s call, and choose her and her ways, and you 
 shall live, Prov. ix. 5, 6. 
 
 Hear, O ye scorners, hear the word of the Lord; 
 though you make a sport at godliness and the profes¬ 
 sors thereof, though you have made a scorn of Christ 
 and of his ways, yet even to you doth he call, to ga¬ 
 ther you under the wirgs of his mercy, Prov. i. 22 ,23. 
 In a word, though you should be found among the 
 worst of the black roll, 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. yet, upon 
 your thorough conversion, you shall be washed, you 
 shall be justified, you shall be sanctified in the name of 
 the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God, ver. 11. 
 
 Ho, every formal professor; thou art but a luke¬ 
 warm, dough-baked Christian, and restest in the form 
 of godliness. Give over thy halving and thy halting ; 
 be a throughout Christian, and be zealous and repent; 
 and then, though thou hadst been an offence to Christ’s 
 
f 
 
 the conclusion. 
 
 183 
 
 stomach, thou slialt be the joy of his heart, Rev. iii. 
 
 16 , 19 > 20 - . , . , 
 
 And now bear witness that mercy hath been offered 
 
 you : “ I call heaven and earth to record against you 
 this day, that I have set before you life and death, 
 blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that you 
 may live,” Deut. xxx. 19. I can but woo and warn 
 you; I cannot compel you to be happy ; if I could, 
 
 I would. What answer will you send me with to my 
 Master ? Let me speak to you as Abraham’s servant 
 to them, “ And now if ye will deal kindly and truly 
 with my Master, tell me,” Gen. xxiv. 29. Oh, tor 
 such a happy answer as Rebecca gave them ! ver. 57, 
 58. “ And they said, We will call the damsel, and 
 
 inquire at her mouth; and they called Rebecca, and 
 said unto her, wilt thou go with this man ? and she 
 said, I will go.” O that I had but this from you! why 
 should I be your accuser, Matt. x. 14, 15. who thirst 
 for your salvation ? why should the passionate plead¬ 
 ings and wooing of mercy be turned into the horrid 
 aggravation of your obstinacy, and additions to your 
 misery ? Judge in yourselves: Do you not think their 
 condemnation will be doubly dreadful that shall still 
 go on in their sins, after all endeavours to recall them ? 
 Doubtless “ it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and 
 Sidon, yea, for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day ot 
 judgment, than for you !” Matt, xi. 22, 24. _ 
 
 Beloved, if you have any pity for your perishing 
 souls, close with the present offers of mercy : If you 
 would not continue and increase the pains ot your tra¬ 
 vailing ministers, do not stick in the birth. It the 
 God that made you have any authority with you, obey 
 his command, and come in. If you are not the des- 
 pisers of grace, and would not shut up the doors of 
 mercy against yourselves, repent and be converted; 
 let not heaven stand open for you m vain ; let not 
 the Lord Jesus open his wares, and bid you buy with¬ 
 out money and without price in vain ; let not his 
 ministers and his spirit strive with you in vain, and 
 leave you now at last unpersuaded, lest the sentence 
 go forth against you: “ The bellows are burnt, the 
 
 / 
 
184 
 
 MR ALLEINE’s COUNSEL, &C. 
 
 lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in 
 vam ; reprobate silver shall men call them, because 
 the Lord hath rejected them.” Jer. vi. 29, 30. 
 
 - ather of spirits, take the heart in hand that is too 
 lar tor my weakness: Do not thou end, though I 
 lave done : Half a word from thy effectual power will 
 do the work. O thou that hast the key of David, that 
 T th , a " d t “° «?an shutteth, open thou this heart, 
 as thou didst Lydia s, and let the King of Glory enter 
 
 ha£ ™ ake . th ' s soul captive ; let not the tempter 
 harden him m delays; Jet him not stir from this place, 
 nor take Ins eyes from these lines, till he resolve to 
 torego his sms, and accept of life on thy self.denying 
 terms In thy name, O Lord God, did I go forth to 
 these labours; in thy name do I shut them up. Let 
 not all the time they have cost be lost hours; let not 
 all the thoughts of the heart, and all the pains that 
 have been about them, be but lost labour. Lord, put 
 in thy hand into the heart of this reader, and send thv 
 spirit, as once thou didst Philip, to join himself to the 
 chariot ot the Eunuch, while he was reading the word • 
 And, though I should never know it while I live vet 
 I beseech thee, O Lord God, let it be found, at that 
 day, that some souls are converted by these labours • 
 and let some be able to stand forth and say, that bv 
 these persuasions, they were won unto thee. Amen 
 Amen. Let him that readeth say Amen. ’ 
 
 Mr Alleme’s Counsel for Personal and Family 
 Godliness. 
 
 Beloved, I despair of ever bringing you to salvation 
 
 without ® anct,f3 p atlon ’ or Possessing you of happiness 
 without persuading you to holiness. God knows I 
 
 have not the least hope ever to see one of your faces 
 
 “ p h r ! a I en> eXC T l y ° U be converted and sanctified, and 
 viercise your lives unto godliness: I beseech you, 
 study personal god mess and family godliness. * 
 
 set uifrhT/ G0dUnesa : Let it he your first care to 
 C a ii 1 • ) 0Ur hearts J see that you make all 
 
 j oui worldly interests to stoop to him; that you be 
 
• MR ali.eine’s counsei., Sjc. 185 
 
 entirely and undeservedly devoted unto him. If y ou 
 wilfully, and deliberately, and ordinarily, harbour any 
 in, you are undone, Psa. lxviii. 21. hzek xvm 20. 
 See that you unfeignedly take the law ot Christ as the 
 rule of your words, thoughts, and actions, and subject 
 your whole man, members, and minds, fait.du y 
 him Psa cxix. 34. Rom. vi. 13. It you have not a 
 
 true respect to all God’s commandments you are un¬ 
 sound at heart, Psa. cxix. 6. O, stud y | e 1 B 
 image and impress of Christ upon you within Be- 
 gin with your hearts; else you build without any 
 foundation Labour to get a saving change wrthm, 
 or else all external performances will be to no pur 
 pose; and then study to shew forth the power of o - 
 liness in the life. Let piety be yourfirstandgr 
 business : it is the highest point of justice to e i 
 his due. Beware that none of you be a P^ycHess p - 
 son ; for that is a most certain discovery that yoia a 
 a Christless and graceless person, or one tha ‘“ * 
 stranger to the fear of God, Psa. v. 7. »u 
 your bibles to gather dust: See that you converse 
 daily with the wmrd, John v. 39. That 
 
 ver lay claim to blessedness whose delight is not m the 
 
 law of the Lord, Psa. i. 1, 2. Let meditation and 
 self-examination be your daily exercise. t 
 
 But piety without charity is but the half of Chris¬ 
 tianity, or rather impious hypocrisy. We may 
 divide 7 the tables; see therefore that you do justly, 
 and love mercy, and let equity and chanty run hke^an 
 even thread throughout all your dealings. y 
 
 temperate in .11 thfngs, end let chastityand sohnrty 
 be your undivided companions. Let nW purdy, 
 
 humility, Simplicity and sincerity, shine out in all the 
 
 part of your conversations. See that you forget and 
 forgive wrongs, and requite them with kindness, as 
 you would be found the children of the Most Hiji. 
 Be merciful in your censures, and put the most ■ avoid¬ 
 able construction upon your brethren s carnage that 
 
Mfl allei.ve’s COUNSEL, &c. 
 
 Iheir actions will reasonably bear. Be slow in pro 
 m«sing; punctual in fulfilling. Let meekness and 
 innocence, affableness, yieldingness, and simplicity 
 commend your conversations to all men. Let none of 
 ^° 4 r j r » 1 ^ ns want that l° ve and loyalty, reverence 
 and duty, that tenderness, care, and vigilance, which 
 their several places and capacities call for. This is 
 thorough godliness. I charge you before the most 
 high God, that none of you be found a swearer, or a 
 liar, or a lover of evil company, or a scoffer, or mali¬ 
 cious, or covetous, or a drunkard, or a glutton, un¬ 
 righteous in his dealing, unclean in his living, or a 
 quarreller, or a thief, or a backbitter, or a railer; for 
 l denounce unto you, from the living God, that de- 
 struction and damnation are the end of all such, Prov 
 
 SS.?i l7o,\V 2 - R "' a 1 c “- "• »• 
 
 Family Godliness. He that hath set up Christ in 
 his heart, will be sure to study to set him up in his 
 
 T”*; fn 1 ever .yJ* mU y w ‘th you be a Christian 
 church, 1 Cor. xvi. 19. every house a house of prayer: 
 Let every householder say with Joshua, “ I and my 
 house will serve the Lord,” Josh. xxiv. 15. and re- 
 solve, with David, “ I will walk in my house with a 
 per ect heart, Psa. ci. 2. Let me press upon you a 
 few duties in general. 1 • 
 
 First, Let religion be in your families, not as a 
 matter by-the-bye, (to be minded at leisure, when the 
 
 Tf iil T S iy e you leave,) but the standing business 
 of the house. Let them have your prayers as duly as 
 their meals. Are there any of your families, but have 
 
 tin ? e /°, r their taking food ? wretched man ! canst thou 
 not find time to pray in ? 
 
 Secondly, Settle it upon your hearts that your souls 
 are bound up in the souls of your family: They are 
 committed unto you: and if they be lost through 
 your neglect, they will be required at your hand! 
 
 / yo “ do no . t ’ y° u sh aH know that the charge of 
 souls is a heavy charge, and that the blood of souls is 
 a heavy guilt. O man, hast thou a charge of souls 
 
MR alleinb’s counsel, &c. 187 
 
 to answer for, and dost thou not yet bestir thyself for 
 them, that their blood be not found in thy skirts ? 
 Wilt thou do more for immortal souls than thou wilt 
 do for the beasts that perish P What dost thou do for 
 thy children and servants P Thou providest meat and 
 drink for them agreeable to their nature;^ and dost 
 thou not the same for thy beasts? Thou givest them 
 medicines, and cherishest them when they are sick; 
 and dost thou not the same for thy swine ? More par¬ 
 ticularly, , . . 
 
 1. Let the solemn reading of the word, and singing 
 
 of Psalms, be your family exercises, John v. 39. Psa. 
 cxviii. 15. See Christ singing with his family (viz. 
 his disciples,) Matt. xxvi. 30. .. 
 
 2 . Let every person in your families be duly called 
 to an account of their profiting by the word, heard 
 or read, as they are about doing your own business : 
 This is a duty of consequence unspeakable, and would 
 be the means to bring those under your charge to 
 remember and profit by what they receive. See 
 Christ’s example in calling his family to account. 
 Matt. xvi. 11,13, 15. 
 
 3. Often take an account of the souls under your 
 care, concerning their spiritual states; [herein you 
 must be followers of Christ, Matt. xiii. 10, 36, 51. 
 Mark iv. 10, 11.] make inquiry into their condition ; 
 insist much upon the sinfulness and misery ot their 
 natural state, and upon the necessity of regeneration 
 and conversion, in order to their salvation. Admonish 
 them gravely of their sins; encourage their begin¬ 
 nings ; follow them earnestly; and let them have no 
 quiet for you, until you see them in a saving change. 
 This is a duty of very great consequence, but (I am 
 afraid) most fearfully neglected. Doth not conscience 
 say, “ thou art the man ?” 
 
 4. Look to the strict sanctifying of the Sabbath by 
 all your household, Exod. xx. 10. Levit. xxiii. 3. 
 Many poor families have little time else. O improve 
 but your Sabbath-days as diligently, in labouring tor 
 knowledge and doing your Maker s work, as you do 
 
188 MR alleine’s counsel, &c. 
 
 the other days in doing your own work, and I doubt 
 not but you may come to some proficiency. 
 
 5. Let the morning and evening sacrifice of solemn 
 prayer be daily offered up in all your families, Psa. 
 xcii. 1, 2 Exod. xxx 7, 8. Luke i. 9, 10. Beware 
 ye be not found among the families that call not upon 
 God’s name: for why should there be wrath from the 
 Lord upon your families ? Jer. x. 25 O miserable 
 families, without God in the world, that are without 
 family prayers ! What! have you so many family 
 sins, family wants, family mercies; what ! and yet 
 no family prayers! How do you pray with all prayer 
 and supplication, if you do not with family prayer? 
 Eph. vi. 18. Say not, “ I have no time:” What! 
 hast thou not all thy time on purpose to serve God 
 and save thy soul, and yet is this it for which thou 
 canst find no time ? Find but a heart, and 1 will find 
 time. Pinch out of your meals and sleep rather than 
 want for prayer.: Say not, “ my business will not 
 give leave:” this is the greatest business, to save 
 thyself and the souls committed to thee. Business! 
 a whet will he not let. In a word, the blessings of all 
 is to be got by prayer, Jer. xxix. 11, 12. 2 Sam. vii. 
 29. and what is thy business without God’s blessings? 
 Say not, “ I am not able:” Use the one talent, and 
 God will increase, Matt. xxv. 24, &c. Helps are to 
 be had till thou are better able. But if there be no 
 other remedy, thou must join with thine able neigh¬ 
 bour ; God hath special regard to join prayer, James 
 v * 4—19. Acts xii. 5, 10, 12. 2 Cor. i. 11. and there¬ 
 fore you must improve family advantages for the per¬ 
 forming of it. 
 
 6. Put every one in your families upon private 
 prayer. Observe whether they do perform it. Get 
 them the help;of a form if they need it, till they are 
 able to go without it. Direct them how to pray, by 
 reminding them of their sins, wants, and mercies, the 
 materials of prayer. This was the practice of John 
 and Jesus, Luke xi. 1, 2, &c. 
 
 7. Set up catechising in your families, at the least 
 once every week. Have you no dread of the Almigh- 
 
* MR alleine’s counsel, &c. 189 
 
 tv’s charge that you should “ teach these things dili¬ 
 gent to your children, and talk of them as you sit in 
 your houses ?” Deut. vi. 0, 7, See. and “ train them up 
 in the way wherein they should go,” Prov. xxii. 6, 
 Hath God so commanded Abraham, that he would 
 « teach his children and household,” Gen. xviii. 19. 
 and that he had many “ instructed servants,” Gen. xiv. 
 14. (see the margin) and given such a promise to him 
 thereupon, and will you not put in for a share, nei¬ 
 ther in the praise nor the promise ? Hath Christ ho¬ 
 noured catechising with his presence, Luke ii. 46. and 
 will you not own it with your practice ? Say not, they 
 are careless and will not learn ? What have you your 
 authority for, if not to use it for God and the good ot 
 their souls ? You will call them up, and force them to 
 do your work ; and should you not at least be as zeal- 
 ous in putting them upon God’s work P Say not, they 
 are duii, and are not capable: If they be dull, Gc~ 
 requires of you the more pains and patience: But, so 
 dull as they are, you will make them learn how to 
 work; and’ean they not learn how to live? Are they 
 capable of the mysteries of your trade, and are they 
 not capable of the plain principles of religion ? Well, 
 as ever you would see the growth of religion, the cure 
 of ignorance, the remedy of profaneness, the down- 
 fall of error, fulfil you my joy in going through with 
 
 this duty. ## 
 
 Will you answer the calls of divine Providence ? 
 Would you remove the incumbent, or prevent the 
 impendent calamities? Would you plant nurseries 
 for the church of God? Would you that God should 
 build your houses and bless your substance ? Would 
 you that your children should bless you ? O then set 
 up piety in your families, as ever you would be 
 blessed or be a blessing : Let your hearts and your 
 houses be the temples ot the living God, in w hich his 
 worship (according to all the afore-mentioned direc¬ 
 tions) may be with constancy reverently performed, 
 Prov. xxiv. 1. “ He that, being often reproved, 
 
 hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and 
 that without remedy,” 
 
190 
 
 Divers practical Cases of Conscience satisfactorily 
 resolved. 
 
 I. Wherein should Christians be singular in their obe- 
 dience ? or what may they and must they do more 
 than others ? 
 
 II. What may and must a Christian be and do, that he 
 may please God ? 
 
 III. Whether any man is able , in this life , tQ come up 
 to the example of Christ in this > to do always those 
 things that may please God. 
 
 IV. What weariness in. and unwillingness to, duties 
 may stand with grace . and what not £ 
 
 To which are added, 
 
 * Some COUNSELS and CORDIALS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 The singular duties of Christians. 
 
 I. The Case of Conscience on Matt. v. 47. 
 
 What do ye more than others ? 
 
 Q* "W" herein should Christians be singular in their 
 obedience ? or what may and must they do more than 
 others ? 
 
 . Take the answer of these sixteen rules contain¬ 
 ing the character and compass of a Christian. 
 
 ^Rule I. Heartily to love them that slight you, and 
 wish and seek the good of those that hate you and seek to 
 hurt you. This is the very thing urged in the text: 
 If you salute your brethren only, and love them that 
 *ove you, do not even the publicans the same ? Matt. 
 
CASES OP CONSCIENCE, 8tC. 191 
 
 v. 44, 46. To love them that do respect and value 
 us, is what every one can do; but to love them that 
 think meanly of us and have prejudice and hard 
 thoughts against us, and to speak well of them that 
 speak evil of us, (as the sweet spirited Calvin) [let 
 Luther call me dog or devil, I will say of him never¬ 
 theless, he is a precious servant of Christ Jesus,] this 
 is to do more than others. Thus the martyr Cranmer, 
 of whom it was a proverb, “ Do the Bishop of Can! 
 terbury a displeasure, and you shall ever have him 
 your friend.” Thus that holy man, in his much to- 
 be lamented parting words, “ I had never any greater 
 pleasure, in all my life, than to forget and to forgive 
 injuries, and to shew kindness to them that sought 
 evil to me.’’ Study who have offended and disobliged 
 you, and slighted you, and keep up good thoughts of 
 them, (if the cause will bear it,) and speak nothing 
 but good of them, and think what kindness you may 
 shew them. Pray for them; wish well for them; 
 so shall you be the children of your Father which is 
 in heaven, Matt. v. 46. 
 
 Rule II. To swim against the stream of the multi - 
 tude. The dead fish will swim with, but the living 
 against, the stream. Many will turn Jews when 
 their interest will carry it in the world; when reli¬ 
 gion is in fashion, every one will be in it: but to bear 
 head against the current of the times, and to be for 
 strict godliness in all your ways, when the stream runs 
 quite against it, to bear it down, and to resolve, as 
 David did, to be yet more vile, this is to be and to do 
 more than others. The Samaritans will need be Jews 
 when Alexander favours and helps them ; but, when 
 Antiochus bloodily rages against them, (as in the 
 time of the Maccabees,) then they will be none of the 
 kin, but pretend themselves to be of another stock 
 (which by the way, was the reason of the deadly 
 hatred afterwards between the Jews and them); but 
 to be singular in your good choice and resolutions, 
 with Joshua, though all should vote against you with 
 one consent; and, with Noah, to be perfect in our 
 
192 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 generations when ever so adulterous, and to walk with 
 God when all flesh have corrupted their way and tread 
 a contrary course; this is to do more than others. 
 Thus, the three children, or rather three champions, 
 who would not tear the flouts of the multitude, nor 
 the frowns of the great ones, nor the charge ot sin¬ 
 gularity, but, when all the Pr inces, Governors, Cap¬ 
 tains, Counsellors, Sheriffs, and all the People, Na¬ 
 tions, and Languages, fell down and worshipped, 
 stood by themselves, and would not sinfully comply, 
 Dan. iii'3, 7, 18 
 
 Rule III. To take more care of that which is most 
 out of sight. A Christian’s eye is most on the things 
 least seen: first upon his heart; herein doth he ex¬ 
 ceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, whose great 
 care w’as to keep all fair and clean that came to view, 
 but looked no farther. Make great conscience of 
 your carriage in secret, and. let your main guard be 
 upon your hearts, and this will be more than others 
 reach to. This was Paul’s care, to keep his consci¬ 
 ence, his inside, clean and undefiled, Acts xxiv. 16. 
 and Job’s care, that though all the world did reproach 
 him, he might not put a reproach in the mouth of his 
 conscience, Job xxvii. 6. and David’s care that his 
 heart might be clean. Secondly, on his hope. Others 
 look to the tilings seen, things in hand ; but the true 
 believer eyes his hopes, walks by faith, not by sight, 
 and lives a quite different life from any other in the 
 world besides ; as living upon the hopes of heaven 
 doth differ from living on the pleasures, profits, and 
 honours of the world. 
 
 Rule IV. To be merciful to others'failings, and very 
 severe to our own . The noble Roman, Cato, could 
 more easily forgive any than himself. To aggravate 
 our own evils, and to have an excuse ready for our 
 brother’s, and to censure ourselves treely, and to come 
 with the mantle behind us to cover our brother, this 
 is to do more than others. The hypocrite is a censoi 
 abroad; he is like the eye that can see any thing, but 
 himself; he can discern a moat in his brother’s eye, 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 
 
 but not a beam in his own. But the servant of God 
 rebukes others with meekness : but he falls out easily 
 and bitterly with himself. ^ 
 
 y-. To suffer rather than to sin. This was 
 Moses choice: but the hypocrite’s is quite contrary - 
 lie chooseth iniquity rather than affliction. To go so 
 far with Christ as our way lies together, is to do no 
 m . oie . than an unsound professor may reach to; the 
 trial is, when Christ’s interest and ours do cross, and 
 we must either balk our duty or our safety and advan¬ 
 tage. The famous martyr under Julian, would not 
 give one halfpenny towards the building of the idol’s 
 temple, though he was offered his life by the Emperor 
 on those terms. The godly high-priest Eleazor when 
 the nobles persuaded him to eat other meat under co¬ 
 lour of swine’s flesh, and they would persuade kin<* 
 Antiochus, that he had eaten swine’s flesh, would die 
 rather than stain his profession with the appearance 
 of evil. When a man shall lie in towards misery, and 
 have a door of deliverance open, if he will but sin, and 
 yet he will not accept of it, as those worthies in Paul's 
 martyrology, this is to do more than others. 
 
 Kule VI. To rejoice in losses for Christ , and glory 
 in the cross . When others are discouraged at the news 
 of hardships, as that forward and seemingly resolved 
 disciple; or shall be offended as soon as the sun of 
 persecution is up; when we shall take pleasure in in¬ 
 firmities, and tribulations, and rejoice that we are 
 counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of 
 Christ; this is to do more than others. When the 
 servants of God shall not only patiently and trium¬ 
 phantly undergo the crosses that crack the brains, the 
 heart of others, and shall shake off the viper without 
 receiving any hurt; when Paul and Silas shall sing in 
 the stocks, and the resolved martyrs shall embrace the 
 fagots and kiss the stake; when the valiant pilot shall 
 say of his prison, “ In the judgment of the world we 
 are in hell, but I find in it the sweet consolation of 
 heavenand the holy Bradford, “ My prison is 
 sweeter to me than any parlour, than any pleasure I 
 have had all my life;” this is indeed to exceed others. 
 
194 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 Rule VII. To be good when we shall be evil spoken 
 of for our labour. A Pharisee will do those duties that 
 gain applause of men; but, to take up with despised 
 duties, disgraceful duties, and, with David, to be reli¬ 
 gious when it shall render him vile, this is to do more 
 than others. The Philosopher could say, “ It is noble 
 indeed for a man to do well, when he knows he shall 
 bear ill for it.” To take up religion when every one 
 kicks it off: to stand up alone, with Luther, for the 
 truth, when the whole world is gone wandering after 
 the whore; to have his hand against every man, and 
 to be for Christ, with Athanasius, against the whole 
 universe ; this i3 indeed to do some singular thing. 
 
 Rule VIII. To strike in with God's interest when it 
 is falling: To join ourselves with the Lord’s people 
 when it is the weakest; to espouse their interest, with 
 Moses, when they were in deep affliction, Heb. xi. 
 25, 26 To own ourselves to be some of them un¬ 
 dauntedly, when this way is everywhere spoken 
 against, this is to tread Antipodes to the course of 
 this world. 
 
 Rule IX. To be most cruel to the sin that is natur¬ 
 ally most dear. The hypocrite hides his sweet morsel 
 under his tongue ^ he spares, as it were, the fattest of 
 the cattle; he saith, the Lord pardon his servant con¬ 
 cerning this thing t but when a man shall off with his 
 right hand, out with his right eye, serve his Absalom 
 as Joab did when he took three darts and thrust 
 through his heart, this is to do more than others. 
 The sincere Christian is most angry with the sin of 
 his temper; against this he aims the arrows of all his 
 prayer. He keeps him from his iniquity ; he drives 
 the whole herd of sin before him; but especially he 
 shoots at, and singles out, this, to run it down. 
 
 Rule X. To live upon the divine promises, when others 
 live upon their possessions. Others are all for what is 
 in hand; with them words are but wind ; they cannot 
 live upon them; the promises are to them a barren 
 heath or dry breasts: But, when we make the promises 
 our heritage, the staff of our life, the life of our hearts; 
 when the promises are the bottle we run to in all our 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 
 
 195 
 
 fainting; and, while others hope in their wealth, our 
 hope is in the word; this is to do more than others. 
 
 Rule XI. To love that best> and choose it soonest , that 
 doth cross the flesh most The godly man’s rule is, to 
 take the self-denial side, so he be sure it be safe. 
 
 When others study to please themselves, he to curb 
 himself: The life of others is a flesh-pleasing, his a 
 self-denying life: Others joy is when they can gratify 
 themselves: his, when he can get the victory over 
 himself. 
 
 Rule XII. To be most hot in that wherein self is 
 least concerned . Paul is meek as a lamb under per¬ 
 sonal injuries, 1 Cor. iv. 13. Acts xvii. 19. but how 
 is his spirit stirred when God is dishonoured ! A man 
 of understanding is of a cool spirit, that is, in his own 
 concern; but Moses the meek waxes hot with indigna¬ 
 tion at the sight of the calf. To be hot and forward 
 in those duties where the flesh’s interest is not con¬ 
 cerned, is to do more than a Jehu, 2 Kings x. 10, 30. 
 
 Rule XIII. To make a true conscience of the least 
 sin , but most conscience of the greatest . In one of these 
 will the hypocrite be found tardy. It may be he will 
 fly from open sins, and startle at gross staring sins, 
 but of little sins he makes little conscience; these he 
 allows of, and connives at: Or else he will be very 
 tender of little things; scruple the picking of ears of 
 corn on the Sabbath-day, or the curing of the sick, 
 and strain at the gnat, when he will in other things 
 swallow a camel, and devour widows’ houses. The 
 sincere will indulge no sin; grieves for, groans under, 
 cries out feelingly against his very infirmities, but 
 must dreads what God hates. 
 
 Rule XIV. To allow yourselves in the neglect of no 
 duly , but to reserve your zeal for the duties of most weight. 
 To tithe mint and cummin, and neglect judgment, 
 mercy, and faith ; to be zealous for human ceremo¬ 
 nies and men’s traditions, and omit the weightier 
 matters of the law, is the right Pharisee’s guise, Matt, 
 xiii. 23. and xv. 2. To eye both the tables; to join 
 sweetly together morality and piety; to be punctual 
 
CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 196 
 
 with men, but not careless with God; to give Csesar 
 the things that are Caesar’s, but first to give to God 
 the things that are God’s; this is to do more than 
 others. The sincere Christian has respect to all God’s 
 commandments; walks in all his statutes: he is 
 throughout with God, but be most zealous in these 
 things that lie next the heart of religion. 
 
 Rule XV. To love your reprovers. Herein David 
 doth more than Ahab: See their contrary frames, 
 1 Kings xxii. 8. Psa. cxli. 5. 
 
 Rule XVI. To subject all your worldly interest to 
 your Maker's glory , and perform holy duties with holy 
 ends; and, while others do their best actions with 
 carnal aims, you must do your common and civil ac¬ 
 tions with heavenly aims. 
 
 Q. How may we know whether we are , and do , more 
 than others , that are unsound ? 
 
 I shall answer this question by propounding eight 
 questions to you, beseeching you to retire to the most 
 solemn and strict examination, and make conscience 
 give a clear answer to these few interrogatories; and 
 that will resolve the case. 
 
 Q. 1. When others pick and choose , have you respect 
 to all God’s commandments? The hypocrite may have 
 great respect to the comforts, but he hath little to 
 the commands of religion: He is much for the pri¬ 
 vileges and promises, little for the precepts and duties: 
 He is partial in the law ; he will take but here and 
 there, where he likes; and, where God commands, 
 will sever his interest, or at least will not pinch too 
 hard upon the flesh. The sound Christian sets all 
 God’s commands before him; he eyes all his copy, 
 and heartily designs and studies a throughout con¬ 
 formity ; he has no starting holes, no contrived haunts; 
 nor doth he halt between the Lord and Baal, nor serve 
 two masters; he doth not fear the Lord and serve other 
 Gods, nor divide his service between God and Mam¬ 
 mon, but is all for uniformity, and entirely devoted to 
 God’s service and fear alone: He hath a good con- 
 
in Tmrn^mrm 
 
 T 
 
 JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 197 
 
 science, willing in all things to live honestly, and doth 
 truly, though not perfectly, forsake all his sins, and 
 keep all God’s statutes that are known to him. Let 
 me therefore ask you two questions: (J.) When others 
 divide the tables, do you sweetly conjoin them in 
 your practice? The hypocrite may be just and square 
 towards men; but follow him to his family or closet, 
 you shall find but little of God ; his family is ne¬ 
 glected, his soul is neglected: Or it my be he is a for¬ 
 ward first-table man, but you shall find him tardy in 
 the second: He will make many and long prayers, yet 
 make no conscience of devouring widows’ houses ! He 
 is a great pretender of piety, but meanwhile neglects 
 judgment and mercy. The sincere joins altogether: 
 He is so far careful of justice with men that mean¬ 
 while he will not neglect the first and great part of 
 justice, viz. to give God his due: He doth justice, he 
 loves mercy, but withal walks humbly with God: 
 lie walketh soberly with respect to himself, righte¬ 
 ously towards his neighbour, and godly towards his 
 Maker. He is not one of those that are good only on 
 their knees, but you shall find him everywhere con¬ 
 scientious; you shall have temperance on his table, 
 chastity and modesty in his behaviour, grace and truth 
 in his words, charity in his deeds, faithfulness in his 
 trust, justice in his dealing. He doth not only seem to 
 be religious, but bridleth his tongue; he is not only a 
 good Christian, but a good neighbour; not only a good 
 man, but a good husband, a good master, dutiful child, 
 a diligent and faithful servant, a good subject. In a 
 word, he makes great conscience of discharging the 
 duties of his relations among men. (2.) When others 
 stick in externals, do you look to the spiritual part of 
 every command, and principally mind the inwards and 
 vitals of religion; do you not only make conscience of 
 performing duties, but do you carefully look to the 
 manner of performing them, and the ends for which 
 you do perform them ? Do you not only make con¬ 
 science of open, but of secret sins ? Do you abound, 
 above all, in secret duties ? Do you keep a watch 
 
199 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 upon your hearts, and make conscience not only of the 
 gross acts of sin, but even of sinful thoughts, inclina¬ 
 tions, and desires ? and are you grieved even with your 
 infirmities, and the corrupt disposition of your natures, 
 which you cannot help though you would? 
 
 Q. II. When others have their reserves in closing with 
 Christ , do you give up all to him entirely f Have you 
 taken Christ (not hand over head, but) deliberately, 
 understandingly, sitting down first and counting the 
 cost ? Have you not secret reserves for your own ease, 
 safety, estate, some esteemed, beloved sin ? Have you, 
 upon solemn consideration, accepted Christ as the 
 Lord your righteousness, for better for worse, for all 
 changes of times and conditions; to run all hazards 
 with him, and to take your lot with him, fall as it will ? 
 
 Q. III. When others are for a little religion by-the- 
 by , do you make religion your business ? Do you not 
 put off God with the w'orld’s leaving, and serve him, 
 when you are at leisure? Must not God stand by, 
 while the world is first served ? and are not your souls 
 the least of your cares, and put off with some by-scraps 
 and ends of your time ? Is religion your trade, and 
 your conversation in heaven? Do you walk with 
 God? or have you only now and then a turn with him? 
 When you have ended your prayers, is there an end of 
 your religion till you come to them again ? or do you 
 carry on a design of religion throughout your whole 
 course ? Have you only a list of religion at the outside 
 of the piece ? or is the woof of religion woven into the 
 whole cloth ? into the heart and life ? into your dis¬ 
 course, and trades, and tables ? Do you first seek the 
 kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof? Is it 
 the chief care of your lives that God be served and 
 your souls be saved ? and is this the one thing neces¬ 
 sary with you, that you chiefly mind, and are most 
 solicitous about? Do your very hearts say, with 
 David, one thing have I desired of the Lord ; that 
 will I seek after, &c. 
 
 Q. IV When others are for the wages of religion, are 
 you for the work? Can you say, with David, 1 have 
 
—r 
 
 JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 
 
 199 
 
 chosen thy precepts ? Do your hearts come oft freely 
 in this choice ? Had you rather be holy than other- 
 wise, if it were your choice? Had you rather be God s 
 servants, and live at his command, than at your own 
 lusts? Do you count the laws of Christ your heritage, 
 or rather do you count them your bondage? Do ye 
 choose not only the wages of righteousness, but the 
 ways of righteousness ? Are God’s commandments 
 your delight? and are the sweetest hours of your 
 lives the hours you spend with him ? Do ye ever en* 
 joy yourselves so much as when you most enjoy God ? 
 Is his service the greatest comfort ? and is it meat 
 and drink to you to do his will,' unless when you are 
 not yourselves in the time of temptation or desertion ? 
 Do you make use of holy duties only as men do of 
 physic, when they are ill at ease, when conscience 
 lashes, and afflictions sting, as it were to conjure down 
 the frightful furies, or to pacify God, that he may 
 not hurt you ! or else do you use them as your daily 
 bread, and the very staff of your life and means of 
 your comforts ? 
 
 Q V. When others are for the cheap and easy reli¬ 
 gion, are you for self-denial ? When others are for the 
 religion that will serve them best, are you tor that 
 which will serve God best ? When others are all 
 upon the sparing hand, and will spare what may be 
 spared, and study how they may best save charges in 
 going to heaven, are you of princely spirits, to resolve 
 not to serve the Lord with that which will cost no¬ 
 thing ? Is your course of religion such as doth put 
 your flesh to it, and cross and curb its desires ? or do 
 you love to give it what it craves, and suffer it to take 
 its own way ? Have you no enemy you dread so much 
 as self? Do you pamper and please it, and make pro¬ 
 vision for it, or do you pray and watch against it, and 
 grieve for its unhappy infirmities in your actions, and 
 had you rather than all the world that this enemy 
 were under your feet ? 
 
 Q. VI. When others are for no more religions than 
 needs musty are you for the height of religion ? The hy- 
 
200 
 
 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 pocrite (as one well observes) is very inquisitive what 
 is the lowest pitch a man may have, and go to heaven, 
 and upon his design, if he could find but this, he 
 would look no farther: But the sincere Christian, 
 though satisfied that his state is safe, will rest in no 
 attainments in grace, but reaches forward and presses 
 on, if it were possible, to attain to the resurrection of 
 the dead. He that doth not “ desire, and design, and 
 endeavour, perfection, never yet came up to sincerity.'” 
 .A true believer desires holiness for holiness’ sake,” 
 and therefore is set upon “ perfecting holiness.” 
 
 Others desire it only for heaven’s 
 sake, and therefore are only for so 
 much as will bear their charge this 
 ther: Others make use of holiness 
 only as a bridge to heaven, and 
 therefore are for no more than will 
 just serve their turn. The true be¬ 
 liever hath a holy nature, and there¬ 
 fore holiness is his element and na¬ 
 tural employment; and he must 
 needs desires holiness in its height, 
 because every nature reaches after 
 perfection in its kind. The godly desires not holiness 
 because it is the way to heaven; but he loves heaven 
 the better for the holy way that leads to it, and for 
 the perfect holiness which is there. 
 
 Q. VII. When others are all for the salvation of 
 Christ , are yon as truly for sanctification by Christ ? 
 Do you take Christ as God offers him, with all his 
 offices and benefits, to be both a prince and a Saviour, 
 to give you repentance as well as remission of sins ? 
 Are you desirous of the dominion of Christ, as well 
 as deliverance by Christ ? Do you close with his bur¬ 
 den as well as his benefits ? Do you count his laws 
 your liberty ? his government not your bondage, but 
 your privilege ? his service your freedom ? Do you go 
 in Christ’s ways as in jives or fetters? or do you run 
 with enlargement of heart, delight, or real willingness? 
 
 Q. VIII. When others do make self their end, do you 
 
 And they have 
 a false notion 
 of heaven itself; 
 else they might 
 justly desire it, 
 as the end . of 
 their present Ao- 
 liness: it being 
 the fruition of 
 God in perfect 
 holiness. 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 201 
 
 set up God above a//, as your highest end ? The hypo¬ 
 crite doth the same duties with the godly, but with 
 different ends; he eats for himself, he fasts for himself, 
 and prays with no better than self-ends, and therefore 
 is rejected. Now, it is your great design^ in your 
 whole course, to glorify God, and enjoy him. Do you 
 count this your whole business and blessedness ? Do 
 you make other business stoop to this, other interest 
 yield to this ? Do your souls breathe after this, above 
 all “ worldly good,” that Christ may be magnified in 
 you ? Do you count your name and estate as loss, and 
 the delights of sense but puddle-water, in comparison 
 of Christ? If conscience give a comfortable and clear 
 answer to these questions, go in peace; blessed are 
 you of the Lord ? God is your friend ! Heaven is your 
 heritage, the promise are your portion; Christ is 
 yours: all is yours; for he that hath these things 
 shall never be moved, Psa. xv. 
 
 A necessary Case on 1 Thess. iv. 1. 
 
 Q. What may and must a Christian be and do, that 
 he may please God ? 
 
 A. To your pleasing God , something is necessary as 
 to your persons or estates , and something as to your 
 performances and acts . 
 
 First , As to your persons or estates, it is necessary 
 in general that you be in a state of reconciliation with 
 God. If you would walk worthy of the Lord unto 
 all pleasing, you must first be friends with him; for 
 how can two walk together, except they be agreed ? 
 Get the controversy taken up between God and thee, 
 and then thou shalt, with Levi, walk with God in 
 peace. Labour to get the breach made up, to have 
 the enmity slain, to have divine displeasure removed: 
 Till thy pardon be obtained, and thy peace made, 
 nothing thou canst do will please God; he will be 
 angry with thy person, and angry with thy prayers. 
 What a tart message is that to impertinent sinners, 
 Mai. i. 10. God cannot take pleasure in their per- 
 
CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 203 
 
 sons, (I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of 
 Hosts,) nor in any of their performances; (neither 
 will I accept an offering at your hand.) He professes 
 that his soul had no delight in them, and tells them, 
 they are unto him as a vessel wherein there is no 
 pleasure, Jer. xxii. 28. It is the modest expression 
 of that vessel into which nature empties itself. Come 
 in, then, and touch the golden sceptre; yield to 
 mercy ; kiss the son ; resign to Christ; accept of the 
 peace tendered to you in the word of reconciliation; 
 and then God will be a friend. 
 
 More particularly, that you may be in a state of 
 reconciliation, and so in a capacity of pleasing God, 
 you must follow these directions. 
 
 1. Put off every sin . It is your iniquity that sepa¬ 
 rates between you and your God; this is the make- 
 bait. If thou wouldst have God pleased, turn every 
 sin out of doors; pluck it out; cast it from thee; if 
 thou regard iniquity in thy heart, God will not hear 
 thee nor regard thee, Psa. lxvi. 18. If thou art of 
 them that have pleasure in unrighteousness, the Lord 
 hath no pleasure in thee; he is not a God that hath 
 pleasure in wickedness; evil shall not dwell with 
 him ; the fools shall not stand in his sight; he hateth 
 all the workers of iniquity. See that thou abandon 
 every sin that thou knowest: Spare not one Agag, 
 not a right eye, not an Herodias ; for then God will 
 not spare thee: Give the darling of thy bosom a bill 
 of divorce; say to the idol, get thee hence. God will 
 not look upon that man that seems pleasant upon any 
 sin. The jealous God will not endure to see thee 
 hankering on the harlot’s lips, embracing any sin with 
 delight; he will not bear it, to see thee smile upon 
 any sin; he holds thee a traitor to his crown if thou 
 willingly harbourest his enemy. Though thou be 
 very diligent in God’s service, and him presentest with 
 multitudes of sacrifices and many prayers, he will be 
 pleased with nothing, but hide his face and stop his 
 ears, while thou keepest thine iniquities in thy hands, 
 Isa, i. 16, 17, 18. God will not amicably treat with 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 203 
 
 them that will not put away the evil of their doings. 
 
 O look into thine hands, thy heart, and into thy house, 
 into thy shop, thy trade, thy calling, and see if here 
 be any way H of wickedness that thou art found in. 
 Thou canst^not have peace with God nor he> P easure 
 in thee, till this be removed: put off, theretoie, tne 
 
 old man, with his deeds. ... 
 
 2. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, Rom. xm. • 
 
 First, The red robe of his righteousness for justifica¬ 
 tion The Lord will never give thee a good look, noi 
 a good word, but in Christ: lie is a revenging, a con- 
 suming fire out of Christ; but get on his robes, and 
 he will be well pleased. Enoch had this testimony, 
 that he pleased God; but Christ had much more that 
 God was well pleased with sinners in and for him. 
 Away with these rags and with these fig-leaves . Ho 
 can the righteous soul of God but abhor you, whilst in 
 the filthy clothes of your own righteousness. Hare not 
 to come unto God, but with Christ in your arms; ap¬ 
 proach him not but in the garment of your elder bio- 
 
 ther, lest you carry away the curse. Joshua 5 nit y 
 garments must be put off; and Christ’s raiment put on, 
 else there is no standing before the bright and burning 
 eyes of infinite holiness. Put on the Lord Jesus in 
 believing; that is, accept of him in all his offices, wit 
 all his inconveniences, and deliver up thyself to him, 
 and this will entitle thee to his merits and righteous¬ 
 ness: Without this nothing will avail. If thy head 
 were waters, and thine eyes a fountain of tears; it 
 thou shouldst wear thy tongue to the root with pray¬ 
 ing ; if thou shouldst weep an ocean, and wash thy¬ 
 self in thine own brine, all could not get out one spot. 
 Nothing can be accepted while thou art out of Christ, 
 and therefore, in the first place, apply thyself to him. 
 God wil accept no gift but of his altar. 
 
 2dly, The white robe of his grace of sanctification , 
 Rev vi. 11- Thou, that art in the flesh, (that is, un¬ 
 renewed, unsanctified,) “ canst not please God,” Rom. 
 viii. 8. Never think to make up the matter by a little 
 “ mending and reforming' 1 particular acts: Man, thy 
 
 K 2 
 
CASES OP CONSCIENCE 
 
 heart must be renewed; thy state must be clean alter¬ 
 ed, or God cannot be pleased, Matt. vii. 17, 18. The 
 tree must be made good, the fountain must be healed 
 or else the stream will be salt, and the fruit sour. If 
 Christ be once formed in thee, that is his image, in his 
 pace, God will love thee. Likeness is the ground of 
 ove. Similitude and suitableness of nature are the 
 loadstone of affection. God cannot but love his own 
 likeness. Wouldst thou have his favour ? wouldst 
 thou be his delight ? then conform to his pleasure, 
 S' I be hke T him > P urif y Myself as he is pure. 
 
 • r,t hte ? U . S L , ord loveth righteousness;” he de- 
 sireth I ruth m the inward parts,” and takes infinite 
 complacence in the graces of his people. These are 
 the spikenard and saffron, the spices, the bed of lilies, 
 the sweet ointments, that Christ is so taken with! 
 lliese are the cinnamon and the tree of frankincense, 
 the calamus and camphire, the myrrh and aloes, the 
 chains of the neck, and the precious pearls, that he is 
 so ravished withal, and doth so superlatively commend, 
 i/' 7'/* .. 1 hl , s 18 ,he raiment of needle-work, and 
 gold of Ophir, wherein the queen is presented to her 
 royal husband, Psa. xlv. 9, 13. Therefore “ as the 
 elect of God, holy and beloved,” Col. iii. 12, 13 “ put 
 ye on bowels of mercy, kindness ” Put off all’these, 
 angei, wrath, malice, filthy communication; and put 
 ye on the new man,” Col. iii. 8, 10. Particularly let 
 me commend to you some special graces, which n od 
 doth manifest him to be wonderfully pleased withal • 
 As ever you would please God, get on these. 
 
 1. Be clothed with humility, 1 Pet. v. 5. This is a 
 garment which must be put on, or else you cannot be 
 accepted or saved, Matt, xviii. 3. Here is the dress 
 you must come to God in: He must be “served iu 
 humility of mind,” Acts xx. 19. You must humble 
 yourselves to walk with him, Mic. vi. 8. Humility 
 is a plain, yet comely garment, This grace doth emi¬ 
 nently honour God, and therefore God doth put a pe¬ 
 culiar honour upon, and manifest a most fecial de- 
 light in this. Of all the men in the world, this is the 
 
w 
 
 JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 20 6 
 
 man that God will look unto; even he that is poor and 
 of a contrite spirit, that trembles at his word, Isa. 
 lxvi. 2. Though he be a high and lofty one, that inha- 
 biteth eternity, whose name is Holy, (whence the 
 trembling soul is ready to conclude, that surely such a 
 fearful Majesty cannot but despise him, such a sm-hate- 
 ing purity cannot but abhor him,) yet he will lay (Ise- 
 Ivfi.15.) aside his Majesty, and bear with mans im¬ 
 purity, and condescend to most familiar and constant 
 communion and cohabitation with his poor dust, when 
 contrite at his feet, and prostrate in humility. If thou 
 wouldst be accepted of God, come, as Benhadad s ser¬ 
 vants to the king of Israel, with a rope about thy neck, 
 and ashes on thy head, 1 Kings xx. 32. Think meanly 
 of thyself, and God will honour thee, 1 Sam. n. JU. 
 Put thyself in the lowest room, and God will set thee 
 higher; be little in thine own eyes, and thou shalt be 
 high in his. A proud heart and a proud look are, with 
 God, the first-born of abomination. As ever thou 
 wouldst have God well pleased with thee, be tho¬ 
 roughly displeased with thyself: If thou dost tho¬ 
 roughly loathe thyself, God will love thee: if thou ab- 
 horrest thvself, God will delight in thee: Be angry 
 with thyself, and the Almighty will turn away his an¬ 
 ger from thee; condemn thyself, and God will acquit 
 thee: In no wise extenuate thy sins, nor justify thy¬ 
 self Think the worst of thyself, and be willing that 
 others should think meanly of thee, and heartily love 
 them that slight thee. This is the frame with which 
 God is well pleased: Pass sentence on thyself, and 
 God will absolve thee; set thyself at his footstool, and 
 he will lift thee up into the throne. 
 
 II. Labour for Sincerity. This is not a distinct 
 grace from the rest; yet tor the doctrines sake, 
 speak to it distinctly. Uprightness is the great thing 
 that God seeks after and covenants for, Gen. xvn. I. 
 It renders all our persons and performances acceptable 
 before God, Prov. xv. 8. Such as are upright in the 
 way are God’s delight, Prov. xi. 20. To these are all 
 the promises of peace, salvation, pardon, preseiva^on, 
 
CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 and blessedness, Prov. xxviii. 10. In a word, there is 
 no good thing God will withhold from them that walk 
 uprightly, Psa lxxxiv. 11. This was Noah’s praise, 
 that he was upright in his generation ; this was that 
 which set off Job at such a rate, that God doth so ex. 
 tol him for, and as it were made his boast of him, the 
 singular sincerity and integrity of his heart. Study 
 to be upright: See that the main bent of thy heart be 
 to please God and honour him; that God’s interest be 
 uppermost with you; that he have the chief share in 
 you; and that the eye of the soul be principally to 
 him ; for in this sincerity doth consist, as to your main 
 state. Let your great care be your hearts; here is a 
 Christian’s great work. The Lord seeth not as man 
 seeth; for man looks on the outward appearance, but 
 the Lord looks on the heart: see therefore that you 
 look to it. Let thy eye be chiefly where God’s eye is; 
 lie minds not so much what thou dost, as with what 
 heart: Go then and do likewise; yet be not satisfied 
 in this, that you are upright as to your estates, but la¬ 
 bour to approve yourselves in uprightness to God in 
 your particular actions. Do common as well as spi¬ 
 ritual actions with holy ends; much of your lives is 
 lost for want hereof. So much as is done for God, of 
 his grace he counts himself our debtor for; but what 
 is done for no higher end than self is lost from our 
 account. 
 
 III. Put on a spirit of zeal and activity. How won¬ 
 derfully is God pleased with Phinehas’ zeal l Numb, 
 xxv. 11, 12, 13. what a great approbation doth he ma¬ 
 nifest of him ! what attention doth he give to him ! 
 He is so greatly pleased with the zealous appearance 
 of him, that he turns away his displeasure from the 
 whole congregation of Israel, and overlooks their crim¬ 
 son provocation against him. On the contrary, there 
 is nothing that God is more displeased with than re¬ 
 missness and lifelessness, and indifference in religion. 
 The lukewarm water is not a greater offence in the 
 stomach than the lukewarm professor to God; and 
 therefore he will spew such an one out of his mouth, 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 
 
 207 
 
 Rev. iii. 16. Christians, where is your zeal for the 
 Lord of Hosts? Christ’s redeemed must be “ zealous of 
 good works,” Titus ii. 14. “ Not slothful in business, 
 
 but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, Rom. xii. 11. 
 Acts xxvi. 6, 7. instantly, night and day, for the hope 
 of the promise. Do not only that which is right in 
 the sight of the Lord, but do it with all your heart: 
 The Lord loveth a willing servant: Bestir yourselves 
 for the Lord. Be ye followers of Christ, who went up 
 and down doing good. Every Christian should be a 
 common blessing, a public good: This is to be the 
 children of your father which is in heaven, who is 
 “ good unto all, and his tender mercies are over all his 
 works;” and be sure that the father doth best love 
 that child that is most like him. A private narrow 
 spirit is a low and a base spirit, unworthy of a Chris¬ 
 tian. A catholic communicative spirit is full of great 
 desires and great designs; a large heart set “ upon do- 
 ing good,” whose fire though ever hottest within, will 
 be breaking forth of his breast, and provoking others; 
 whose love will not be confined to a party, but gladly 
 and thankfully owneth Christ wherever he sees him : 
 This catholic spirit, I say, is the glory of religion, the 
 church’s blessing, and God’s delight. 
 
 IV. Lively Faith . Heb. x. 38- This is a precious 
 grace in God’s account, 2 Pet. i. 1. 1 Pet, i. 7. it giv- 
 eth glory to God, and therefore God taketh no small 
 pleasure in it. By faith Enoch obtained that testi¬ 
 mony, that he pleased God, Heb. xi. 5, 39. Matt. viii. 
 10, 11. If you would walk so as to please God, you 
 must walk by faith. Christians must look to the things 
 unseen; they must not live at the common rate: 
 Christ must be their life and breath, their prayer and 
 their promises, their daily bread. By faith, the Eiders 
 obtained that good report: It was faith that Christ 
 was so greatly taken with in the Centurion, which 
 made him to commend him for a none-such. This 
 was that which won such singular praise and appro¬ 
 bation from our Saviour to the woman of Canaan, even 
 her victorious faith, Matt. xv. 28* r l hou hast taken 
 
CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 208 
 
 ' away my heart, my sister, my spouse: thou hast taken 
 my heart with one of thine eyes,” Cant. iv. 9. that is, 
 with thy faith. Live in the power of faith, and thou 
 wilt please him to the heart; give glory to him by be¬ 
 lieving. Let the life thou livest in the flesh be by faith 
 of the Son of God : Faith, as one well says, is the na¬ 
 vel of morality. 
 
 Live by faith in Prosperity : Though thou hast the 
 world about thee, let it not be above thee; keep it at 
 thy feet; use it as thy servant; be much in the views 
 of glory and contemplationsof eternity; buy as “though 
 thou possessedst not; rejoice as though you rejoicedst 
 not; love as though thou lovedst not; use this world 
 as not abusing itIt is but a fashion, not a substance, 
 and that which is passing away, 1 Cor. vii. 30, 31. 
 Use it therefore with mortified affections, and prove 
 the sincerity of your faith by the victory over your 
 inordinate content and delight in* and desires after, and 
 cares for, the things of this world, 1 John v. 5. 
 
 Live by faith in adversity; weep as though you 
 wept not, enduring the cross, and despising the shame, 
 as looking unto Jesus, Heb. xii. 2. and xi. 26. account¬ 
 ing Christ’s reproaches your riches, his shame your 
 glory. Acts v. 41. Compare these light afflictions with 
 the promises; count, if you can, the riches that are 
 laid up in them; roll yourselves upon the Lord, Psa. 
 xxxvii. 5. and know that your heavenly Father hath 
 no greater delight than to see his children trust him 
 with confidence, w^hen all visible helps are out of sight, 
 and he seems to be their enemy, Job xiii. 15. 
 
 V. Put on the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit; 
 this is in the sight of God of great price. Study to be 
 (1 Pet. iii. 4.) like your Father, slow to anger, ready 
 to forgive, Psa. cxxx. 4, 8. forgetting injuries, loving 
 enemies, requiting ill-will with kindness, ill-words 
 with courtesies, neglect with benefits ; and, if any 
 wrong you, do him kindness the sooner: so shall you 
 bear his likeness, and be his delight. And, know, if 
 you are of unmortified passions and unbridled tongues, 
 that God hath a special hatred and displeasure against 
 
—— 
 
 "1 
 
 JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 
 
 200 
 
 a froward heart and a froward tongue, Prov. iii. 32. 
 and xi. 20. and viii. 13. Oh ! seek meekness: how 
 can the holy Dove rest in an angry heart ? Christ is a 
 Lamb of meekness; how can he take pleasure in an 
 unquiet contentious spirit? Verily with the froward 
 he will shew himself froward, Psa. xviii. 26. If you 
 will not forgive others, he will not forgive you. Art 
 thou hard to be pleased, a froward wife, a froward mas¬ 
 ter, a cross and wilful servant? Surely God will not 
 be pleased with thee; he will mete to you as you mea¬ 
 sure to others, Matt vii. 2. 
 
 VI. Get a spirit of self-denial. God is then pleased 
 best when self is displeased most. When we can be 
 content to be empty, content to be abased, that God 
 may be honoured, and, with the holy Baptist, are wil¬ 
 ling to be eclipsed by Christ, willing to decrease, that 
 he may increase, counting ourselves no losers while his 
 interest is a gainer, John iii. 29, 30. rejoicing that we 
 are made low for Christ’s advancement; this is well- 
 pleasing unto God. How greatly was he pleased with 
 Solomon’s self-denying choice, giving him his asking, 
 and throwing in riches and honour into the bargain! 
 1 Kings ii. 10, 11, 12. Strange was Abraham’s self- 
 denial: What ! to sacrifice, with his own hand, the 
 whole hope of his family, the heir of promise, the child 
 of his years, a son, an only son, when his life was 
 bound up in the lad’s life! was ever mortal thus put to 
 it? But Abraham shall not be a loser; God gives him 
 a testimony from heaven; blesses him, blesses his seed, 
 blesses all nations in him, Gen. xxii. 15, 16, 17, 18. 
 Wonderful was Moses’ self-denial, but more wonderful 
 were his acceptation and reward, Heb. xi. 24. None 
 like Moses, Deut. xxxiv. 10, God preferred him in a 
 better manner than Pharaoh could : He must speak to 
 him face to face, as a man to his friend ; his word shall 
 be as it were a law with God: speak for whom he will, 
 they shall be spared, though they seem to be destined 
 to destruction: But, speak against him who durst, they 
 shall be sure to bear their iniquity, Numb. xii. 8. For¬ 
 get thyself; renounce thine own wisdom, thine own 
 
210 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 worthiness, thine own will ; bridle thy passions, curb 
 thy. appetite, bite thy tongue; this do, and thou shalt 
 be greatly accepted, and shall find that God’s favour 
 will infinitely reward thee for all the murmuring oppo¬ 
 sitions and discontents of thy flesh, which will be ready 
 to be impatient to have the reins held so hard. 
 
 VII. Maintain a spirit of resolution and constancy in 
 the ways of God , Heb x. 38. This was the renown of 
 the three worthies, Dan. iii. They feared not the 
 fierceness of Nebuchadnezzar’s rage, nor the fire of the 
 furnace; all the world could not make them bow; and 
 how gloriously did God own them, and miraculously 
 evidence his pleasure in them; Stand your ground; 
 resolve to live and die by substantial godliness ; cleave 
 to the Lord with full purpose of heart; let no difficul¬ 
 ties make you change your station ; then shall you be 
 an honour and a pleasure to God that made you. 
 
 Well then, would you know what frame of heart is 
 pleasing to God? Why, this humble, sincere, zealous, 
 active, frame; this believing, meek, self-denying, re¬ 
 solved, frame: This is the frame that is well pleasing 
 in the “ sight of God.” 
 
 Secondly, “As to your performance:” More briefly, 
 that those may please God, you must heedfully ob¬ 
 serve these five things : 
 
 1. That they be done by the right rule % which is God’s 
 word. You must not follow the imaginations of your 
 own hearts, Numb. xv. 39. you must not do that which 
 is right in your own eyes; in all sacred actions you 
 must have God’s commands to warrant you. You 
 may not offer to God that of which you are not able 
 to say, “ thou requirest these things, at our hands,” 
 Isa. ic 12 . In all civil actions you must have God’s 
 allowance: Be sure he will never accept that which 
 this world condemns : Under pain of God’s displeasure, 
 dare not you set your hand to what the world forbids. 
 
 2. That they be done to the right end , which is God’s 
 glory. How damnably* did the Pharisees err ! how mi¬ 
 serably did Jehu miscarry ! and both in acts forth 
 “ matter commanded,” for want of aiming at this end. 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 21 1 
 
 S. That they proceed from right principles. (1.) 
 Faith, without which it is impossible to please God : 
 prayer will not avail, except it be the prayer of faith, 
 Heb. xi. 6. We believe and therefore we speak. (2.) 
 Love- If we should “ give our goods to the poor, and 
 bodies to the fire, and not from love, “ it would profit 
 us nothing.” Where the slavish fear of hell only, or 
 the lash of conscience, or the love of man’s praise, car- 
 ries men to duties: where any other carnal principle 
 is predominant in the act; it cannot please God. (J ) 
 Fear. We cannot serve God acceptably without “ re¬ 
 verence and godly fear (no slavish fear) The Lord 
 taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in them tha 
 hope in his mercy. Observe the happy mixture where 
 these two are conjoined: that it is a true filial tear. 
 Saith David, “ I will come to thy house in the multi¬ 
 tude of thy mercy,” (behold his faith,) “and in 
 fear will I worship toward ihy holy temple, (there is 
 his fear with faith); laith without fear, were bold pre¬ 
 sumption: fear, without faith, is sinful despair: Join 
 them together, and God is well pleased. 
 
 4 That they be done in a right manner, preparedly, 
 not rashly and inconsiderately, in the presence of so 
 dreadful a Majesty: Prudently; for, lawful acts may 
 be spoiled, and done unlawfully, without consideration 
 had to the offence that may in some cases attend them; 
 yea, holy duties, as well as common actions, may be 
 turned into sins, by being ill-timed, and for want of a 
 
 due attending the present circumstances : Holily, not 
 rashly, uttering any thing with our mouth before God; 
 but behaving ourselves as in his sight, heartily, not 
 feignedly, with our lips going when our minds are 
 
 ^ 5. That they be directed through the right means, i. e. 
 « Jesus Christ, the only way to the Father. Bring all 
 thy sacrifices to the high-priest; offer all upon this 
 altar; else all is lost. Not that it is enough to say, 
 “ through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen, at e en 
 but in every duty you must come with a lively de¬ 
 pendence on him for righteousness and strength, tor 
 
212 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 assistance and acceptance. Remember to do all this 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus : to come leaning upon 
 his hand; without this all your service will be re¬ 
 jected. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 A third case of Conscience, grounded on the words of 
 our Saviour, John viii. 29. 
 
 For, I do always these things that please him , 
 
 Q. I. Is any man able, in this life, to come up to the 
 example of Christ in this, to do always those things 
 that please God? 6 
 
 Answ. In regard there is none that doth good and 
 sinneth not, and God neither can nor will be pleased 
 with sin, no, not in his own people, but most of all 
 nates it in them, it cannot be that any man in this life 
 should fullv come up to Christ’s example herein; yet 
 may we come so far towards it, that, not only in our 
 immediate addresses to God, but in the general course 
 of our lives, we may arrive at pleasing God. Thus 
 Enoch and Noah walked with God: i. e. in their ge¬ 
 neral course they walked so as to please God and ap¬ 
 prove themselves in his sight. Thus the meanest 
 actions, if done by us unto the Lord, as servants of 
 Christ, have a promise of acceptance and reward. 
 
 Q. II. How may we come in our measures to be fol¬ 
 lowers of Christ in this, to do always those things that 
 please God ? ° 
 
 Answ. In order to this, there is something neces¬ 
 sary with reference, 1. to our persons, 2. to our prin¬ 
 ciples, 3. to our practices. With reference to our 
 persons: And here it is necessary, 1. that there be 
 an alteration of our natures by renewing grace: for 
 * rp/ a . re II ? fl es h cannot please God. 
 
 J. hese wild vines must needs bring forth sour grapes, 
 sa. v. 4. the fruit they bear (how specious and fair 
 soever to the eye) is evil fruit, Matt. vii. 19. Where 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 213 
 
 there is not a good treasure of grace in the heart, a 
 man cannot in his actions bring forth good things. 
 
 Many enlightened sinners think, by reading and 
 praying, and forsaking some gross and foul sin, to 
 pacify God, and set all aright. Mistaking souls ! let 
 me undeceive you ; you begin at the wrong end: Your 
 first and greatest care must be to get your hearts and 
 natures changed and renewed by the force of convert- 
 ing grace; you labour in vain at the streams, while 
 the fountain of corruption in the heart remains in its 
 strength ; you must not think it is with you as it is with 
 a ruinous house, where the mending of it here and 
 there a little will make up all again; but the old 
 building must be quite taken down, and the founda¬ 
 tion stone laid anew in a sound repentance for dead 
 works and thorough conversion of God. Till this be 
 done, you must know God hath no pleasure in you, 
 neither will accept an offering at your hand as he doth 
 from those that are his friends. 
 
 2. That there be the acceptation of your persons 
 through faith in Jesus Christ; for, in him alone it is 
 that God will be well pleased. So that, without faith 
 interesting us in him, it is impossible to please God. 
 
 For the better understanding both these particulars, 
 know that there are two attributes of God to which 
 you must bear a conformity, or else you cannot 
 please him. 
 
 1. The holiness of God: For, he is not a God that 
 hath pleasure in iniquity; he heareth not sinners; the 
 foolish shall not stand in his sight; he hateth all the 
 workers of iniquity, Psa. v, 3, 4. John ix. 31. God 
 can no more take pleasure in the unsanctified than we 
 in swine or serpents. 
 
 2. The justice of God . For he will by no *means 
 clear the guilty, Exod. xxxiv. 7. Could we have in¬ 
 herent holiness in us, in our unpardoned state, yet 
 justice could not but be infinitely offended while guilt 
 lieth unremoved, as you may see in Christ; for, though 
 he were perfectly holy, yet being under the guilt of 
 our sins imputed to him, the severity of God’s justice 
 broke out against him. 
 
CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 214 
 
 Now, man being naturally an offence, both to the 
 holiness and justice of God, there must of necessity 
 pass upon him, in order to his pleasing God, this two¬ 
 fold change: 
 
 1. The real change of sanctification I call this a 
 real change, because by this there is a real change; 
 infusing new qualities and dispositions; making him of 
 proud, humble; of carnal spiritual and heavenly, &c. 
 
 2. The relative change of justification I call this a 
 relative change, because it is not a real change in a 
 man s nature, but in his condition; making him to 
 stand in a near relation to the law, with reference to 
 which he was before guilty and condemned: But now 
 the law pronounces the same man clear and acquitted; 
 and it was not from any righteousness infused into him, 
 but for the satisfaction and payment another laid down 
 for him : Satisfaction there must be, and righteous¬ 
 ness must be tendered, else God cannot be at peace. 
 We have nothing to pay, Luke vii. 42. Oh sinners! 
 away to Christ for it; hide thee in the clefts of that 
 rock; run to the fountain open for sin and unclean¬ 
 ness. Appear not before God, but in the robe of 
 Christ’s righteousness: He sends you to Jesus, as he 
 did them to Job, Chap. xlii. 8. Go to my servant 
 Job; he shall pray for you; him will I accept. Get 
 out of yourselves; flee to Christ; labour to be found 
 in him ; else all your endeavours, in rinsing and wash¬ 
 ing yourselves, will be to no effect. 
 
 3. With reference to our principles. And here it is 
 necessary that some corrupt principles be unlearned, 
 and some holy principles be received and retained. 
 
 Some corrupt principles must be unlearned; as 
 1. that it is enough if we serve God on the Lord’s 
 day, and we may serve ourselves all the rest of the 
 week. 1 hough God hath reserved one day in seven 
 wholly for his immediate service, (where is therefore 
 in a peculiar sense, called the Lord’s day,) yet we 
 must know that every day is his, and that he hath not 
 allowed us one hour or inch of time but only for his 
 service. Indeed he hath service of more sorts than 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 
 
 215 
 
 one; but we must know that the business of our ordi¬ 
 nary affairs, if rightly done, is serving the Lord Christ, 
 Col. iii. 24*. God is as truly served by you in the 
 working day’s labour as the Sabbath-day’s rest, if you 
 do it in a right manner, and to holy ends. 
 
 There are a generation whose religion is but a Sun¬ 
 day’s religion, which they put on and ofF with their 
 Sunday’s clothes, and then they think God is fairly 
 served for the week, although, God knows, that little 
 they do then is but poorly done neither. Never think 
 God will accept it at thine hands, when thou livest six 
 days for the world and thyself, for one that thou 
 spendest to him. This shews thee to be under the 
 unmortified powerof self-love, and not to be the Lord’s; 
 for none of his liveth to himself, Rom. xiv. 7. You 
 must remember that you are but to learn upon the Sab¬ 
 bath how r to serve God all the week; and not to think, 
 when the Lord’s day is ended, his work is done. 
 
 2. That if God be served morning and evening , it is 
 enough , though we serve ourselves the rest of the day. 
 God must be served every day, and all the day: You 
 must be serving him not only in your feasts but at 
 your common meals, not only on your knees but in 
 your callings. 
 
 Some think, that, if they keep all religious duties, 
 they may do what they list at other times; that, if 
 they be intemperate, lascivious, unrighteous, it is but 
 to make over again with God at night, and all will be 
 well; like the whore in the Proverbs, that, having 
 made her offering, was presently read for new wick¬ 
 edness, Prov. vii. 14 as if she had paid off the old 
 score, and might now run boldly upon a new. Those 
 are not the children of God but of Belial. 
 
 Others think, that, though they may not serve the 
 devil at any time, yet giving God his dues morning and 
 evening, they may serve themselves the rest of the 
 time. But in vain do they lay claim to God, who 
 live more to themselves than him. This will be found 
 horrible sacrilege, to put off God with but a tenth. 
 God is to be eyed and served in all that you do; and 
 
216 CASES OP CONSCIENCE 
 
 this is what I drive at; that we may not divide our¬ 
 selves between God and the world, between his ser¬ 
 vice and our own ends, and so put him off with a 
 partial service; but that we may do all in obedience 
 to him, and so may be entirely the Lord’s; that he 
 may in all things be glorified by us, and we may not 
 lose our reward* 
 
 2 . Some holy principles must be received and re¬ 
 tained : as, 
 
 Princ. 1. That the pleasing God is not only busi¬ 
 ness and our highest blessedness. First, our only 
 business: What is it we call or count our business? 
 
 1. That is a man’s business which his livelihood and 
 subsistence depend upon. The lawyer reckons the 
 law his business, and the tradesman counts his trade 
 his business, because upon these their livelihood and 
 subsistence depend. Brethren, our whole depends 
 upon the pleasing God; do this, and you do all; miss 
 in this, and you mar all: Please him and you are 
 made for ever; if he be not pleased, you are undone 
 for ever. How careful is the selfish courtier to please 
 his Prince! how will he crouch and flatter! and, if 
 he can but divine what will gratify and please him, 
 he thinks himself happy ! And why? but because all 
 his dependence is upon his Prince’s favour ! Much 
 more do we depend upon the favour of God : Blessed 
 is the man whom he chooseth ! in his favour is life ! 
 but woe to them that have God against them ! they 
 are perfectly miserable: Reprobate silver shall men 
 call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. If 
 the Lord do but say to a man, as he did to Moses, thou 
 hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by 
 name—happy is that man! but, if he thus say: I 
 have no pleasure in thee 1 you may cover the face of 
 that man, as they did Haman’s, and carry him away ! 
 Miserable must his end be if he continue ! 
 
 2. That is a man’s business which he hath his stock 
 and talents for. If a man be entrusted as a steward 
 or factor, his business is to buy in the commodities 
 that are useful. Beloved, all our time, parts, interests, 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 217 
 
 food, raiment, and all other mercies, spiritual or tem¬ 
 poral, are the stock wherewith God has entrusted us, 
 and are all for his own use and service: And is it not a 
 sad and fearful case, that God should have so great a 
 stock going, as lies in the hands of all the sons of men, 
 and yet have (if I may so speak) so little profit of it, 
 (I mean so little glory by it,) that he should sow so 
 much and reap so Tittle, strew so much and gather so 
 little? Is it not sad, that men should have so much in 
 vain ? Hast thou health and wealth, and dost thou not 
 use them for God ? It is all in vain. Hast thou under¬ 
 standing, and yet improved it but for contriving thine 
 own affairs and worldly designs? thy reason and under¬ 
 standing are become vain. Oh ! how wilt thou answer, 
 that thou hast had so great a stock in thy hands, and 
 made so little improvement of it ? It had been well for 
 some men if they never had a foot of land or an hour 
 of ease, if they never had the understanding of men, 
 because they have not used their talents for God, and 
 for the ends for which they were put into their hands. 
 
 3. That is a man's business which his capacities do 
 call for . It is a man’s business, if in the capacity of a 
 judge, to do justice; or of a servant, to do his master’s 
 will. Brethren, all your capacities evidence it to be 
 your business to please God; you are his friends, you 
 are his servants, therefore must please him well in 
 all things, Tit. ii. 9. his children, and therefore must 
 set yourselves to honour him, Mai. i. 6. his spouse, 
 and therefore it is your business to please your hus¬ 
 band, 1 Cor. vii. 34. 
 
 4. That is a man's business which he hath a mainte- 
 nance from . If a man be maintained in the place of a 
 school-master, it is his business to teach ; if of a soldier, 
 it is his business to fight. Beloved, do you not know 
 at whose finding you are ? and do you think God keeps 
 so many servants to be idle, or to mind their own de¬ 
 signs and pleasures? God hath cut you out every one 
 his work, every man his hands full; so much work is 
 to be done within door, and so much without door; so 
 much towards God, towards your neighbour, towards 
 
218 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 your ownselves, that you have no time to be idle in, 
 and you shall dearly reckon for it, it you will eat his 
 bread, and will not do his work. And, as pleasing 
 God is our chiefest business. 
 
 Princ. 2. So it is also our highest blessedness; for 
 man’s happiness lies in God’s favour, Psa. vi. 9. Our 
 happiness is in attaining the end of our being; and 
 therefore the great query among the philosophers was, 
 what was the end and happiness of man ? Now, the 
 true end of our being is, that we may please God; for 
 his pleasure we are and were created. Rev. iv. 11. And 
 for this end also we are now created, that we should 
 yield ourselves unto God, Rom. vi. 13. and being 
 built up a spiritual house, should offer up to him spi¬ 
 ritual sacrifices, acceptable through Christ, 1 Pet. ii.5. 
 This is the end of our redemption, that we should not 
 serve ourselves, but him in holiness and righteousness 
 all the days of our lives, Luke i. 74, 75. and that we 
 should not henceforth live to ourselves, but to him 
 that died for us, 2 Cor. v. 15. It is the end likewise 
 of our justification ; that our consciences being purged, 
 we should acceptably serve the living God. In a word, 
 it is the end of our glorification, that, being translated 
 into heaven, we should perfectly please God, and 
 serve him night and day in his temple, Rev. vii. 15. 
 and xxii. 3. So that the pleasing God is the sole end 
 and happiness of man, Eccl. xii. 13. And this will 
 be clear, because we then do promote ourselves most 
 when we please God best; for, by this, you shall have 
 this two fold advantage. 
 
 First, You shall be the favourite of God . O glorious 
 promotion ? Haman thought himself no little man 
 when he was on Ahasuerus’ right hand, and yet he 
 was at length but preferred to the gallows, Esther v. 
 11. and vii. 10. But what shall be done to the man 
 whom GOD delights to honour ? O blessed is that 
 man ! Woe to him that touches him ! “ It had been 
 better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about 
 his neck, and be drowned in the midst of the sea, 
 than that he should offend such an one P Luke xvii. 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 
 
 219 
 
 2. God is infinitely careful of his favourites ; the 
 apple of his eye is touched when they are injured, 
 Zech. ii. 8. Whosoever toucheth them shall not be 
 innocent, Psa. cv. 15. God hath a blessing for those 
 that shew them kindness; he will render vengeance 
 upon the ungodly for every hard speech they utter 
 against them. 
 
 O man ! doth not thy soul say, happy are the peo¬ 
 ple that are in such a case! Will not thy condition be 
 most blessed, when God shall be thus infinitely tender 
 of thee, take all the kindnesses done to thee as done 
 to himself, and all the injuries done to thee as affronts 
 to himself? This is the happy case of his favourites ! 
 
 Secondly, every thing you do shall be found on your 
 account with God. Brethren, are you believers, or 
 are you not ? do ye believe the immortality of the soul, 
 and the life to come, or do ye not ? the ways of most 
 declare them to be such as do not; to be mere infidels, 
 though professed Christians. If you think there be an 
 eternal state to come, will it not be your highest wis¬ 
 dom to provide for it, and lay up what possibly you 
 can, that you may inherit it in the other world ? Will 
 not every wise man, that knows he is shortly to be re¬ 
 moved into another country, be careful to transport all 
 he can, that he may enjoy it at his coming ? Beloved, 
 if you do indeed believe that you must be for ever in 
 another world, will it not be your best way to be doing 
 that, the fruit whereof you shall enjoy for ever ? Were 
 not he a madman, that (having but a very short term 
 upon a living) should yet go building and planting 
 there, when he had a land of inheritance to build up¬ 
 on ? Infinite is the mischief that comes of self-seeking 
 and self pleasing: You are eternal losers by it: God 
 will say, you have your reward. Something you may 
 have in hand, but the eternal reward is lost. Bre¬ 
 thren, I am ambitious for you that what ye do you 
 should do for ever, that all should meet you in the 
 other world, and that there you should reap the ever¬ 
 lasting fruit of what you are doing now. A wise 
 builder will build for ever, and not that which shall 
 
 L 
 
CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 220 
 
 last for only a day or year: Oh, that you would be 
 wise builders! Do all for God, and you shall have 
 eternal advantages. Learn but this lesson, ‘ 6 to set 
 yourselves in all things to please God, and you will 
 be promoting and advancing yourselves in all that ever 
 you do;” always laying up a treasure in heaven; still 
 adding to the heap. And, oh ! what riches will you 
 come to, when, by every day, and every hour, and 
 every action, you are gainers! for, God will not let 
 the least thing that is done for him (no, not a cup of 
 cold water) go without an everlasting reward, Matt, 
 x. 42. nor your labour be in vain, 1 Cor. xv. 58 
 Princ. 3. That , when yon have done all , if God be 
 not pleased , you have done nothing . Settle it in your 
 heart that all is in vain that is not done for God; when 
 you do not please God, you do not profit yourselves: 
 When men offer ever so richly and freely, if not in 
 such a manner as is pleasing to God, all is but a vain 
 oblation, Isa. i. 13. If men will do more than ever 
 God required, and be zealous in things that God has 
 not commanded, it is “ but in vain that they worship 
 him,” Matt. xv. 9. Beloved, so much time as you 
 have lived to yourselves you have lived in vain; be¬ 
 cause it was quite beside your end. Oh ! it is a heart¬ 
 cutting consideration to a tender Christian to think of 
 this; that when life is short, and time so little in all, 
 yet he must be fain to cut off so much. Why, man, 
 so many hours must thou cut off’ from thy days, and 
 so many years from thy life, as thou hast not lived 
 unto God but to thyself, are lost as to the ends of life 
 and time. If on repentance thou art forgiven, thou 
 art not rewarded for them. 
 
 w Beloved, you must count that you have lived no 
 longer than you have lived unto God, Phil. i. 21. 
 “ To me to live is Christ.” I should account I did not 
 live if I did not live to him ; it is the only employment 
 of my life to serve him: I should not tell what to do 
 with my life, unless it were to spend it for him. 
 
 Christian, thus you must reckon : So much time as 
 I have lived to Christ, so much I have saved; and so 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 221 
 
 much as I have lived to myself, so much I have lost. 
 
 It is not the man, but the beast, that lives while we 
 live below our reason, which distinguishes the human 
 life from that of brutes. Now, while vve live not to 
 God, we live utterly below our reason itself; which is 
 sufficiently discovered in that God is the author and 
 end of man. Doth not reason dictate, that God should 
 have the glory of his own work, and the vessel should 
 be to the potter’s use ? Doth any man plant a vineyard, 
 or keep a flock, and not expect the fruit or milk? 1 Cor. 
 ix. 7. “ God hath made thee, O man, for himself,” 
 Prov. xvi. 4 and hast thou the face of a man, and 
 dost not blush at this, to think that God should make 
 and mention thee in vain ? If thou hast a grain of in¬ 
 genuity, thou wilt abhor the thoughts of this, that 
 thou shouldst be in vain. Why, so much as thou art 
 for thyself, thou art for nothing. It may be thou liv- 
 est a very busy life, but thou actest not for God ; thou 
 art all this while but busily doing nothing: Thou may- 
 est sit down in the evening, and say, “ I have been all 
 this day doing nothing.” Thou wilt find a blank in 
 God’s book for that day : Nothing on thy account; or 
 this sad record, “ such a day spent, and nothing done.” 
 God has his day-book, and takes notice of all your 
 carriages, how you rise, and how you go forth to your 
 labours; how you speak, how you eat, and whether 
 you eye him, and his glory in all, or look no higher 
 than yourselves, Luke v. 5. “ We have been toiling 
 “ all night, and caught nothing.” May not this be the 
 sad complaint of many a man: I have been toiling all 
 my life, and yet have done nothing, because what I 
 did was not done unto the Lord! How would you 
 take it of your servants, if, coming home in the even¬ 
 ing, you should find every one of them minding their 
 own business and pleasure, and your work left undone ? 
 Is it not sad, Sirs, that so many days and hours should 
 pass over us, and we be no nearer our end than we 
 were before ? Your little children are busy from morn¬ 
 ing till night, and yet all the while have been doing 
 nothing; and so are you, when you are but seeking 
 
222 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 your carnal selves, and not serving and pleasing God i 
 in what you undertake. |e 
 
 Princ. 4. That the favour of all the world can nothing t 
 
 avail you , if God he not pleased with you and by you . i 
 
 If there were any that could save you from his wrath, f 
 
 you need not be solicitous to please him; and, if he 
 be not well pleased, we are all undone, V Thou, even ct 
 thou, art to be feared; and who shalt stand when 
 once thou art angry ?” Psa. lxxvi. 7. Isa. xliii. 13. a 
 
 When men have slight thoughts of God’s anger, and t 
 
 the fear and dread of him are not on their hearts, no ci 
 
 wonder if they be not careful to please him. You b 
 
 must be convinced that the displeasure of God is the it 
 
 most formidable thing in the world, else you can i 
 
 never learn this great lesson. Beloved, if you should b 
 
 please men, and all the world should be on your side, p 
 
 what would this avail, while God is your enemy ? If l 
 
 all men should bless you and speak well of you, what z 
 
 would this profit when God should rise up in judgment t 
 
 against you and condemn you ? It is not a man’s bar, y 
 
 but God’s that you must stand at; it is not by men’s 
 votes you must be cast or acquitted ; it will not go by ? 
 most voices, but God himself is the judge, Psa. lxxv. 7. 
 
 In his breast it is whether you shall live or die. If a \ 
 man were upon trial for his life, what would it avail 
 him that all his fellow prisoners and the whole crowd | 
 about him were for him, when the whole bench and 
 jury were against him? If your lives and estates were 
 in question, to whom would you go to make a friend, 
 the judge or the people? Sirs, be convinced that, if 
 God be against you, it is as bad as if God and all the 
 world were against you ; for all signifies nothing with- 
 out him. Oh ! whatever you do, study to get in and 
 keep with him. I tell you the time is coming when 
 the breath of men will signify nothing: when their 
 commendation will do you no good. O man, though 
 all the world should give thee their hands, and sub¬ 
 scribe thy certificate, it would signify nothing in God’s 
 account, or his court. Many build their hopes of 
 heaven upon the good opinion that others have of 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 223 
 
 them: bat I tell thee, man, though thou couldst carry 
 letters of commendation with thee when thou diest, 
 and all the ministers of the gospel should give thee 
 their Bencdicites , all would be no more than a blank 
 paper; and he would not save thee a jot the sooner 
 if he should find thee to have been but a secret hypo¬ 
 crite, a rotten-hearted professor, all the while. 
 
 Princ. 5. That God would not be pleased with you 
 in any thing, except you make it your care to please him 
 well in every thing . You will be one day ashamed, ex¬ 
 cept you “ have respect to all God’s commands,” Psa. 
 cxix. 0. “You have not a good conscience, except 
 it be your care in all things to live honestly,” Heb. 
 xiii. 8. If Naaman must be excused in one thing, to 
 bow in the house of Rimmon, that he might not des¬ 
 pise his Master, this is enough to spoil every thing, 
 2 Kings v. 18. Some will needs keep God’s good will 
 and the world’s too, and so will give both their turns: 
 they will serve God at home, and conform to the 
 world abroad; and it must be a great thing indeed 
 that they will not swallow rather than lose the good¬ 
 will of men, especially great men. These men have 
 two faces and two tongues: the one for the good, and 
 the other for the bad company that they come into. 
 Some held two first principles; the one the “ common 
 foundation of all good,” (which is God,) and the other 
 the cause of all evil; and they worshipped both; the 
 “ good principles for love,” and the evil for fear. Just 
 such a religion are many among us now of: But let 
 them know, whoever they are, that, while they grasp 
 all, they lose all; for God will never own time-servers 
 nor men-pleasers for the servants of Christ. Eph. vi. 6. 
 Gal. i. 10. 
 
 3. With reference to their practice. And here, as 
 ever you desire to come to that blessed life of “ doing 
 always those things that please God,” you must care¬ 
 fully follow” these six rules. 
 
 Rule I. Look round about you to the whole latittide 
 and compass of your duty. Great is the latitude ot 
 Christianity: “ Thy commandment is exceeding broad,* 
 
CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 22 4 
 
 Psa. cxix. 96. and many professors scarce look more 
 than one way; but, while they intensely mind one f 
 thing, they neglect another. It may be while they 
 are taken up with the care of religious duties, they 
 forget relative duties; or they are careful of personal 
 duties, but very remiss in the duties that they owe to 
 the souls of their families; or they complain and 
 mourn over their own sins, but lay not to heart others’ 
 sins. It may be they are more punctual in their more 
 immediate duties towards God, but are very negligent 
 in their duties towards men; or they will spend much 
 time for their souls, but little lay to heart the case of 
 the church, the misery of perishing souls that are 
 round about them. Possibly, they keep the Sabbath 
 strictly, and pray, hear, and fear an oath; but in the 
 meantime, make little conscience of breaking their ) 
 promises, passing hasty and uncharitable censures, 
 spending time vainly, being unprofitable in their dis¬ 
 course, close-handed to godly uses, suffering sin to go 
 unreproved, letting out their passions at every petty c 
 cross. Many will mind their duty to them that are 
 within, and in the meantime are very short in their 
 duties to them that are without. This is too common 1 
 a case. Where is the Christian almost that seriously 
 bethinks himself, what might I do to win souls? It may 
 be you will go on in the company of the godly, where 
 you may be edified : but, when do you go to your poor 
 neighbour, whom you see to live in a sinful state, and 
 tell him of his danger, and labour to gain him to 
 Christ? Yea, so much is this great duty neglected and 
 out of fashion, that I am afraid many question whether 
 it be a duty or not; as if you might let sin lie upon 
 the soul of your brother, and yet be innocent, Lev. xix. 
 
 17. If it were but his ox or ass that lay ready to 
 perish, you would make no question but it were your 
 duty to help him out of the ditch; and do you think 
 in earnest that you owe more to these than you do to 
 his soul? Is it to ministers only, or to»all believers, 
 the Scripture belongs? Prov. xi. 30. “ The fruit of 
 the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winngth 
 
39fS 
 
 JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 
 
 souls is wise.” Surely the lives of too many Christians 
 speak the same language that Cain spake with his 
 mouth: “ Am I my brother’s keeper? Gen. iv. 9. It 
 is true, God will have you keep every one, within 
 the bounds of your proper station, so as to take occa¬ 
 sions, yea, to seek occasions, as you are able, to be 
 doing good to others. Do you not know howr to get 
 within your poor neighbour? Carry alms with jou, 
 do him a kindness; oblige him by a courteous and 
 winning carriage; then shall I expect to see t le ing- 
 dom of Christ flourish gloriously, when every one that 
 prot'esseth godliness shall arise and take hold ot the 
 skirt of his neighbour. Oh, see your neglects in this; 
 do not think it enough to keep your own vineyard; 
 let your friends and neighbours have no quiet tor 
 you, till vou see them setting in good earnest to seek 
 after heaven; or, if you might bring in but everyone 
 his man to CHRIST, what a blessed thing were this. 
 
 I lose myself in this argument; but l am content to 
 do so, this duty being so miserably neglected. 
 
 Too many live as if religion lay all in k praying 
 and hearing, holy confidence,” and the like ; orget- 
 ting “ that pure religion and undefiled is this, to visit 
 the 8 fatherless and widows in their afflictions, James 
 i 27. The other should be so done, as that this 
 should not be left undone. You make conscience o 
 being just, and true, and faithful, but do you not for¬ 
 get to win upon others by your kindness and affa- 
 
 bleness ? as if it were not written in your Bible, 
 pitiful, be courteous, having compassion one of ano¬ 
 ther” 1 Pet- Hi. Say not “ it is not my nature. 
 What doth grace serve for, but to correct the ev^s of 
 your temper? Is not ours a religion of sdf-denial? 
 Do not the rules of religion enjoin us to be followers 
 of whatsoever is lovely and ot good report, and may 
 render religion amiable to the world ? Phil, iv 8. 
 
 Rule II. Use a wise forecast, that every day may 
 fall in its time and order, and every work may have its 
 room. It is not enough to do God’s work, but it must 
 be done in his order. That which in itselt is good and 
 
2 26 
 
 
 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 necessary, may be so ill-timed as to become a sin. It 
 js a duty to tell our brother of bis sin; but, to rip it 
 up in your passion, or to be retorting upon him when 
 ^i Chris . tianl y admonishing you, is a sin. Your 
 worldly business must not shut out religion, nor reli¬ 
 gious duties take you so as to neglect your callings; 
 but every duty must have its place. But, for the 
 oing of all in Gods order, take these five directions. 
 i*rP ireCt ’ I' ^ e 8 ln at l. in provoking to good 
 
 Why must God plead with you; thou that teachest 
 another, teaches thou not thyself? Rom. ii. 21. Be 
 an example of thine own rule; else the hypocrite’s 
 charge will come in against thee. Matt, xxiii. 4. 
 -they bind heavy burdens, but will not touch them 
 with one of their fingers. O observe God’s order, 
 I3eut. vi. 6, 7. These words which I command thee 
 shall be in thine heart; that must be our first care; 
 and then, having got our lesson well ourselves, we 
 must teach it to others: And thou shalt teach them dili- 
 gently to thy children, and talk of them when, &c. At 
 least, if thou hast not already attained it, be sure to 
 earn with the first; and, when thou professest to duty, 
 intend thyself first, and speak most to thy own heart. 
 
 2. In reproving evil: Else thou wilt be branded for 
 a hypocrite, Matt. vii. 5. First cast the beam out of 
 thine own eye. We may not think, as many do mis- 
 takingly, that we must not reprove another, when we 
 are guilty of the same sin; but we must in such a case 
 be sure to cast the first stone at ourselves. Be soonest 
 angry with thyself, and most severe to thine own sins 
 rather, than to others. It is strange to see the areat 
 censoriousness of professors to others, and how tender 
 they are of their own corruptions, and impatient of 
 reproof. Reader, fear and avoid this sin. 
 
 Direct. II. Let God be first served. Let God have 
 the first of thy thoughts, the first of the day, the first 
 o thy strength. IIow heavily is God displeased with 
 the profane piiests, because they will serve themselves 
 first with sacrifices before him ! 1 Sam. ii. 15, 3fi. It 
 is the holy counsel that one gives: Hold the’door of 
 
VJ 
 
 JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 227, 
 
 thy heart fast against the world in the morning, till 
 thv heart hath been first in heaven, and seasoned and 
 fortified thence against the temptations thou art like 
 to meet with as soon as thou comest below. Indeed 
 all must be done as God’s service, but so as that his 
 immediate service must be done first. It is the coun¬ 
 sel of several heathens that all undertakings should be 
 begun with prayer. Saith Aratus, let us begin with 
 God • And the very Mahometans begin their books al¬ 
 ways, as men use to do their wills, « In the name ot 
 God M 
 
 Direct III. First cleanse the inside. Matt, xxiii.26. 
 Cleanse first that which is within the cup. Though 
 they are much out that live as if all their work did lie 
 within doors, yet remember that it lies chiefly here. 
 It is a most preposterous course in religion to begin 
 first with the outside, Jer. iv. 14. O Jerusalem, wash 
 thine heart: When once this is done, reformation will 
 quickly begin in the life, but not otherwise. Many 
 are careful that all that appear to men should be beau¬ 
 tiful, but their hearts are neglected : 1 hese carry about 
 them the marks of the hypocrite. Matt. xxm. 17, 2b. 
 And what will it profit thee, O vain man, to have all 
 secret from men, since GOD knows and detects thee, 
 and hath appointed a day when he will rip open all 
 thy pack, and anatomize thy heart before the world r 
 1 Cor. iv. 5. Eccles. xii. 14. Horn. h. lb. 
 
 Direct IV Eve those duties that are of most import¬ 
 ance, Matt, xxiii. 23. The hypocrite is very punctual 
 in less matters, but neglects the weightier things of 
 the law; judgment, mercy, and faith. He is for a re¬ 
 ligion that will cost him but little; and therefore, 
 words being very cheap, he will be as forward as any 
 mighty zealot in the circumstantials of religion, and 
 marvellously censorious of others that come not up to 
 his mind, as men of wide principles and large con¬ 
 sciences; but, in the meantime, he is very negligent 
 of secret duties, a great stranger to self-denial and 
 walking humbly with God: He strains wonderfully 
 at a ceremony, but (it may be) he can swallow the 
 
 L 2 
 
CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 gains of unrighteousness, or the baits of repentance, 
 safe enough. It may be he will decry superstition, and 
 never wants a stone to sling at a profane churchman ; 
 but in the meantime walks loosely in his family, 
 makes little conscience in his dealings, or will take up 
 his cups as freely as another, so he be not drunk; or 
 it he will not take a penny of his neighbour’s estate, 
 he is most unmerciful to his good name, and will take 
 up any report that is going. Brethren, you must make 
 conscience of the least sin, and of the least duty ; but 
 it is a fearful sign when men are zealous against less 
 sins, and yet connive at greater, as these are, Matt, 
 xxiii. 24. 
 
 Direct. V. Take the first opportunity, when God gives 
 a Jit season for any duty . Let not Satan beguile you, 
 by telling you of another or better time. It may be 
 thou hast a purpose to reprove thy brother for his sin; 
 but how long wilt thou be purposing f Now God gives 
 thee an opportunity. It may be, thy backward heart 
 saith, not now, but another time,” and so'puts it off’ 
 till he 01 thyself be removed, and he be hardened; 
 then, at least, thou art guilty of the sin that he commits 
 in the meanwhile, because thou hast “ not done thy 
 ic duty” to prevent it. It is in thine heart to deal with 
 thine unconverted friend or neighbour about his spiri¬ 
 tual state; but it may be, while thou art delaying, 
 death comes, and snatches him away in his sins, or 
 takes thee off, and so farewell for ever to any opportu¬ 
 nity of doing the soul of thy brother any good. How 
 often are the closet-duties hindered, or miserably dis¬ 
 turbed, for want of care to lay hold on the first oppor¬ 
 tunity ? We think another hour in the day may do as 
 well; but then one thing or another unexpectedly falls 
 in, that nothing is done to the purpose; therefore be¬ 
 ware of this cheat. A man can scarce peep into the 
 world, but one brier or thorn or other will catch him ; 
 therefore take opportunity by the foretop. Our Sa¬ 
 viour would take his season for prayer before day, 
 when his other work was pressing, Mark i. 35. 
 
 Rule III. Do nothing in things sacred without God's 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 229 
 
 command; nothing in things civil without God's allow - 
 ance. Offer not with strange fire. In God s worship 
 you must see you be well able to answer that question, 
 
 «who hath required these things at your hands ? 
 Here the command must be observed without adding 
 or diminishing, Deut. xii. 32- yet understanding this 
 
 with two cautions: t . . . , ^ 
 
 1 “ Though men may not stamp their invented ce~ 
 
 remonies with a moral signification, nor impose nor 
 use them, though with good intentions ot eddying.peo¬ 
 ple by devising means," Matt. xv. 9. as if Christ had 
 not sufficiently provided for the edified of his people 
 without their devices: and, though nothing may be 
 used as a part of worship that God hath not com¬ 
 manded, Col. ii. 23. (for, it is enough to make any 
 thing rejected by the Lord ot Divine VVorship it he 
 shall say, “ I commanded it not, spake it not, neither 
 came it into my mind," Jer. vii. 31. and xix. 5.) yet 
 nevertheless those things that are merely circumstan¬ 
 tial, and not in the general kind necessary nor in¬ 
 tended as any part or means of worship, may be de- 
 termined of by human prudence, according to the ge- 
 neral rules of the word, which must always be ob¬ 
 served, 1 Cor. xiv. 26, 40. And, tor want ot under- 
 standing, many have ignorantly condemned preaching 
 by an hour-glass, in a high place, in churches, by way 
 of doctrine and use, &c. running from one extreme to 
 
 another. „ „ 
 
 2. We may not think that God’s ordinance, remain¬ 
 ing tor substance, may be forsaken, because ot some 
 “ faults in the administering, or in the way of their 
 administration.” The administering of Gods ordi¬ 
 nances belongs not to the people, but to the mini- 
 sier; and, if he fails in his duty, by administer- 
 ing them in a way that is not, or is less edify- N.l3* 
 ini, it is my grief, but his sin. Hophm and 
 Phineas were corrupt in their lives, and brought m 
 much corruption and rudeness into the service ot God, 
 vet Elkanah and Hannah, with others of the godly, 
 did nevertheless attend God's worship and sanctuary, 
 
230 
 
 CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 m Ti A Sa , m ‘ *■ mucl1 corru pt*°n was crept both into 
 iM.-D. the doctrine, worship, and lives of the Jews, yet 
 our Saviour (though he still cried down the cor¬ 
 ruption and would not join in it) never prohibited 
 cornmumon with them in God’s worship, but enjoins 
 i , Matt. v. 24. Luke v. 14. and practises it, both he, 
 
 a , .“I* P“ ren,s ’ and a P°s‘les. Luke ii. 21, 22, 24, 39, 
 41, 42, 46. Acts xxi. 23, 24, 26. 
 
 But now, in things civil, it is'sufficient that you 
 have the allowance of the word, though not the com¬ 
 mand ; always provided, that the general rules be here 
 observed, all to the glory of God, 1 Cor. x. 31. and 
 not to abuse our lawful liberty to the offence of others, 
 Korn. xiv. 2, 3. Now, your actions being thus justi¬ 
 fiable, as to the matter of them, (without which it is 
 impossible, had you never so good intentions, to please 
 trod,) the influence and virtue of holy ends in them 
 will be effectual to turn all into religious duties, as a 
 touch of the philosopher s stone turns the baser metal 
 into gold. 
 
 Rule IV. In every action let God be uppermost; but 
 in religious actions let God be all . Ret none of your 
 actions terminate in yourselves; but labour to be able 
 in sincerity to give this account of any thing you set 
 about, that this you do because it is pleasing to God, 
 because it is his will concerning you. Set a mark 
 upon this caution ; beware in those actions wherein self 
 may bear a part, lest it should sweep stakes, and carry 
 all. You may, in your common actions, have an eye 
 to your outward commodity and comfortable being in 
 the world, but this must not be the chief thing, much 
 less the all that you design herein ; for, by looking no 
 higher than self, you incur this double mischief, 1. 
 You lose so much from your own account; 2 . You 
 usurp on the great prerogative of God. I fear we are 
 not aware of the fearful evil in self-seeking: it is no 
 less than jostling God beside the throne, and setting 
 ourselves in his stead. It is God’s great prerogative, 
 and the proper worship that is due to him, as God, 
 that he should be the last end of all the operations of 
 
 \ 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 231 
 
 us Ills creatures, and that all our motions should ter¬ 
 minate in him. Now, when we eye our own commo¬ 
 dity, and not God, and look to this more than unto 
 God, we arrogate the divine prerogative to ourselves, 
 and set ourselves above him; which is no less than 
 heinous idolatry. And, if it be such a heinous sin to 
 bow down to an image, which is but the giving God’s 
 outward worship to the creature, how much more to 
 seek and honour ourselves before God ! This is to give 
 his inward worship, which of all is the principal, to 
 the creature. Oh, how many that pass for good Chris* 
 tians, will be found heinous idolators, because they 
 have sought their own carnal ends more than God and 
 his glory ! and many real Christians, though they 
 mainly design God and his glory, yet in many parti¬ 
 cular actions contract great guilt, by looking no higher 
 than themselves in what they do. I know you can¬ 
 not be always thinking of God, yet I would have you 
 never forget what you have been taught—in the en¬ 
 trance of every solemn action, to remember God, and 
 make him your end. Lie down in the name of God 
 every evening; go forth in his name every morning; 
 resolving to undertake all for him. When you enter 
 upon your callings, sit down at your meals, make a 
 journey or a visit, do it as unto the Lord, with design 
 to please him therein. This you may come to with 
 care and watchfulness. 
 
 Again, in “ religious actions let God be all.” Here 
 self (I mean carnal self) must be shut out; otherwise 
 this dead fly will spoil the box of most precious oint¬ 
 ment. It is true, self will be crowding in ; but you 
 must knock it down carefully ; otherwise, ii this be 
 the predominant ingredient, all your duties will be 
 but lost labour. What more pleasing to God than 
 prayer ? this is incense before him, Psa. cxli. 2. What 
 more delightful than alms P this is a sacrifice acceptable 
 and well-pleasing unto him, Phil. iv. 18. How 
 happy a testimony had Cornelius ! “ Thy prayers and 
 thy “ alms are come up as a memorial before God,” 
 
£32 cases of conscience 
 
 Acts x. 4*. yet, when self is predominant in those du¬ 
 ties, “ prayers, alms,” &c. are all but lost, Matt. vi. 
 1,7. 
 
 Rule V. When you have done all , be careful to deny 
 all , Luke xvii. 10. and deny not God’s mercy in ena¬ 
 bling and assisting you: This must be with all thank¬ 
 fulness observed, attributing nothing to yourselves, and 
 giving God all the glory. Take the pattern of holy 
 l)avid, 1 Chron. xxix. 14. “ But who am I, and what 
 is my people, that we should offer so willingly ? of 
 thine own have we given thee.” And of blessed Paul, 
 1 Cor. xv. “ Not I, but the grace of God which is 
 within me.” And of good Nehemiah, who, when he 
 had done the most eminent service for God, cries at 
 last for pardoning mercy, Neh. xiii. 22. “ Remember 
 me, O God, concerning this also, and spare me accord¬ 
 ing to the greatness of thy mercy ! ” 
 
 Rule VI. Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus , Col. 
 iii. 17. Having carefully set out for God in the morn¬ 
 ing, and directed your common actions to “ him as 
 your end” throughout the day, doing all in his sight, 
 and with a desire to please him therein, bring all to 
 “ Christ in the evening,” and present all to God by 
 him, confidently expecting God’s acceptance and re¬ 
 ward for ail that you have done ; for this he hath pro¬ 
 mised, be your actions ever so mean, because they 
 were done as his service, Col iii. 22, 23, 24. Eph. 
 vi. 6, 7, 8. If you neglect this, you lose all at last : 
 for God will accept of no sacrifice but from the priest’s 
 hands; and therefore you must expect no acceptance 
 with God, nor any reward from him, but only through 
 Christ, 1 Pet. ii. 5. John xiv. 6. You must be sure, 
 therefore, not only to make a formal mention of 
 Christ's name, but to build all your hopes of success 
 on him alone, and to come to God with an actual and 
 lively dependance on him. 
 
 Thus have I resolved the case propounded. I will 
 but answer an objection, and briefly press your duty 
 by some motives, and so conclude. 
 
rz - 
 
 W ■ 
 
 JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 233 
 
 Object. You bind heavy burdens : What! must we 
 be always in the traces P surely, this severity of reli¬ 
 gion is more than needs ! 
 
 Answ. 1. Burden, man ! it is thy happiness: If ho¬ 
 liness and pleasing God be a burden, health is a bur¬ 
 den, heaven and happiness are a burden. 
 
 Answ . 2. This is no other burden than what God 
 himself hath bound upon your consciences, Kom. ix. 
 20. “ What art thou, O man, that repliest against 
 
 God ? Have I put upon you a devised and unneces¬ 
 sary strictness; or bound that burden upon you which 
 I will not touch with one of my fingers ?” 1 Cor. ix. 
 8. “ Say I this as a man, or saith not the law the 
 
 same also ?” Prithee whose word is this, “be thou in 
 the fear of the Lord all the day long ?* Prov. xxiii. 
 17. “Do all to the glory of God, 11 1 Cor. x. 31. 
 “ Exercise thyseli unto God, 1 ’ 1 Tim. iv. 7. Y\ hat 
 have I pressed but what the saints have practised P 
 Phil. iii. 13, 14. “One thing I do, I press towards 
 the mark. 11 Psa. xxvii. 4. “ One thing have I desired 
 of the Lord, that will I seek alter.” Psa. cxix. 38. 
 “ Thy servant that is devoted to thy fear. 11 Gen. v, 
 22 “ Enoch walked with God three hundred years.” 
 What is this but what the Scripture hath foretold shall 
 be ? “ 1 hey shall walk up and down in the name of 
 the Lord, 11 Zech. x. 12. “Then shall be upon the 
 bells of the horses, and upon every pot in Jerusalem, 
 holiness to the Lord,” Zech. xiv. 20,21. Dispute not 
 against God, but up and be doing: It is an ill sign 
 when the heart rises against strictness of the duty : 
 You utterly mistake in thinking this life of strictness 
 to be bondage. Who have joy unspeakable and full 
 of glory, who know the peace that passeth all under¬ 
 standing, if not those that thus walk with God ? 
 
 Now, my brethren, let me beseech you to be con¬ 
 scientious practioners of this great lesson: Study to 
 do always those things that are pleasing unto God; 
 Oh! that I knew but how to engage you; that I 
 could but get you to set these rules before you all the 
 days of your lives for your practice ! It is not enough 
 
CASES OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 234 
 
 that you give the hearing, and like the preacher, or 
 approve the doctrine. But, Sirs, what will you do? r 
 too many of my hearers are like Ezekiel's, chap, 
 xxxiii. 32. What say you, brethren, will you learn 
 with me ? Oh ! that I might lead you on to a thorough 
 acquaintance with the strictness and power of religion, 
 and the holy frame which will be God's delight, and 
 your felicity. Brethren, what seek I for? God 
 knows, this is my ambition, that I may but help you 
 on the way of holiness. I would not that you should 33 
 be such bad proficients, as to be always of the lower 
 form, and keep on merely in a dull and barren course: 
 
 My desire for you is, that you should not be shrubs, 
 but cedars of tall growth, choice experience, singular 
 communion, u walking with God,” shining to the 
 conviction of the world. Will you let me but prevail ® 
 
 with ye in so good a design? Why should you 11 
 
 mourn at last, and say how have I hated instruction, P 
 
 and my heart despised reproof! I have not obeyed the a 
 
 voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to them ; 
 
 that instructed me, Prov. v. 11, 12, 13. That I may 1- 
 
 invite you to this holy course, consider: 
 
 I. It is very possible; for, first, God is very easily « 
 
 pleased : he is not like a froward master, that cannot, l 
 
 that will not, be pleased. If you do but make it your a 
 
 study and care to please him, and thoroughly set your \ 
 
 heart to it, your willing mind shall be accepted; and 
 though you should not go through with the work, 
 
 God will say, thou didst well that it was in thy heart. 
 When the heart is set to please the Lord, and we do 
 unfeignedly put to it, though there be many failings, 
 
 God will overlook them all. 
 
 Secondly, God hath told you what will please him, 
 and hath cut out your work to your hand. You 
 need not say, wherewith shall we come before the 
 Lord ? He hath shewn you what is good, and what 
 he requireth of you. You need not say, who shall 
 ascend into heaven to bring down the mind of God 
 from heaven ? no the word is nigh you. God hath 
 set before you his Jaw, as in a table: on one side the 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 235 
 
 things that please, on the other those that displease 
 him. Oh! that you may be found among those that 
 choose the things that please him : otherwise, since 
 you know you master’s will and do it not, you will 
 be found worthy of many stripes. 
 
 Thirdly, God hath given particular rules for the 
 doing of all vour work in the manner that will please 
 him. Had God told you only what must be done, 
 and not how it must be done, you might have been at 
 a loss; but he hath prescribed the very manner how 
 every thing must be done, that you might have full 
 directions, Rom. xii. 8. 1 Pet. iv. 1. He hath shewn 
 you how you must pray, and .hear, and give alms: 
 how you must carry it in all circumstances. He hath 
 told you, not only how you must fast, but how you 
 must eat, to wit, with watchfulness and temperance; 
 not as those who have nothing to do but to fill their 
 paunches, but with an eye to his glory,. as those that 
 are feeding the servant of Jesus Christ. He hath 
 shewn you not only bow you should “ rest on the 
 Lord’s day,” but how you must follow your calling 
 on the rest, viz. with diligence and discretion ; mind¬ 
 ing him as your end, as those that herein serve the 
 Lord Christ. He hath told you how you must man¬ 
 age your dealings; with equity and charity, doing the 
 verv same to others that your conscience tells you ) e 
 would have them, in the like case, do unto you: how 
 you must sleep; even as those that know he encom- 
 passeth their path and their lying down: and how 
 you must awake; to wit, so as to be still with him. 
 
 Fourthly, « God hath given you special helps; to 
 this end you have the mind ot Christ, 1 Cor. }'• v* 
 And you have “ the Spirit of Christ,” 1 Cor. u. 12. 
 Indeed, “ they that are in the flesh cannot please 
 God; but you are not in the flesh, but in the Spnit, 
 Rom. viii. 8, 9. You that are believers, have not the 
 law only in your Bibles, but in your hearts, lleb. 
 
 V1 'il 1 It is very profitable. Glorious advantage shall 
 you have by this course. First, this is the most speedy 
 
CASES OP CONSCIENCE 
 
 236 
 
 and certain way to assurance, for want of which many 
 of you complain, but henceforth you must complain 
 no more; for either you will follow this course, and 
 then you will have it; or you will not, and then cease 
 your hypocritical complaint, when it is through your 
 own wilful disobedience that you are without it. 
 When once you are habituated to this course, and 
 find it to be the chief of your care, and that which 
 your very hearts are set upon above all things else, 
 “ to glorify and please God, and approve yourselves in 
 his sight,” you cannot want assurance, unless through 
 your own ignorance; for this is the must undoubted 
 evidence in the world, that you are the children ot God, 
 whatever unallowed failings you may be guilty of. 
 
 Secondly , Hereby you shall be ce; tain of God gra¬ 
 cious and favourable presence always with you : See 
 the text; “ he that hath sent me is with me; for I do 
 always those things that please him. 1 ’ 
 
 Thirdly , By these means you shall be always laying 
 up a treasure in heaven. Brethren, “ what are you 
 for ?” Are you men for eternity, or are you for pre¬ 
 sent things P Is your design for glory, honour, and 
 immortality ? Are you for riches in the other world 
 or of dunghill spirits, preferring your part in Paris 
 before your part in Paradise ? If you are for true 
 riches, here is your way; by this you shall be daily 
 and hourly increasing the stock of your own glory. 
 My vehemence is only that fruit may “ abound to 
 your account;” that all you do may meet you in 
 heaven; and Christ may shew you “ your good 
 works another day, as the widows did Dorcas her 
 garments,” Acts ix. 39. 
 
JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 
 
 237 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 A fourth Case of Conscience. 
 
 What weariness in and unwillingness to duties may stand 
 with grace , and what not . 
 
 JFor the resolving this, some distinctions must be 
 premised, and then some conclusions elicited. 
 
 Distinct. This weariness and unwillingness must be 
 distinguished, 1. According to the degrees of it; and 
 sont is either partial and gradual, or else prevalent and 
 plenary. 2. According to the subject of it; and so 
 this weariness is either of the members or else ot the 
 mind. 3. According to the prevalence ot it; and so 
 it is either transient and occasional, or settled and 
 habitual. 4. According to the sense we have of it; 
 and so it is either matter ot allowance to us, or mat¬ 
 ter of annoyance. 5. According to the cause ot it , 
 and so it is either frotn a fixed dislike of food, or else 
 from an accidental distemper ot the stomachy 6. Ac* 
 cording to the effects ot it; tor it is either victorious, 
 and makes us give over our duties, or else abhorred, 
 and repulsed by grace, the Christian still holding on 
 
 the way of duty. * . , 
 
 Conclus . 1. When this weariness is only m the 
 members (or at least chiefly) but there is still a wil- 
 ingness of the mind, this is no matter of ques.iomug 
 our estate. When the mind outgoes and undoes the 
 body, and the appetite to duties continues in vigour, 
 though there is a languishing ot the natural stiengtn 
 and weariness of the bodily organs, this is not our sin, 
 but affliction. But too commonly the body hath so 
 much influence upon the mind, as causeth a.listlessness 
 and sluggishness there, and makes it negligent m its 
 office; yet when this does proceed from the failing ot 
 the spirits, tired with bodily labour and exercise, and 
 from the distemper of the parts, our most pitiful la 
 ther considers our frame, and remembers we are but 
 
dust: and our merciful High-priest, that is not un¬ 
 touched with the sense of our infirmities, is ready to 
 frame our excuse, that the spirit is willing, but the 
 flesh is weak. 
 
 2. Where our weariness in and unwillingness to 
 duties, are only gradual and partial, not plenary and 
 prevalent, it is not sufficient to conclude ourselves 
 graceless. While the twins are together in the womb, 
 and two nations within our bowels, there will be con¬ 
 trary inclinations; the flesh will never say Amen to a 
 good motion as such, but will be lusting against the 
 spirit, and will hang back when the spirit puts' for¬ 
 wards, and pull down when the spirit bends upwards; 
 so that, while corruption remaineth, there will be al¬ 
 ways a dissenting part and continual conflicts, whence 
 it is no wonder there should arise some weariness; yet 
 the spirit is the prevailing interest, and, though often¬ 
 times foiled, yet hath mostly the mastery of the com¬ 
 bat, and carries it against the flesh, though not with¬ 
 out much resistance and reluctance from the rebel 
 opponent. 
 
 3. When this weariness is only transient, during 
 the present temptation or defection, (which, as soon as 
 the tried soul can get out of it, returns to its former 
 temper and pleasure in holy duties,) there is only mat¬ 
 ter of humiliation. But, when it is the settled per¬ 
 manent, and habitual frame of the mind, it is a matter 
 of questoning our condition. The holy Psalmist, under 
 a desertion, was even almost persuaded to give over 
 with religion ; but, when he is himself, nothing is so 
 sweet, nothing so lovely and desirable to him, as the 
 duties of holiness. But, for them who have, in their 
 ordinary settled course and frame, no mind to duties, 
 but are hauled to them by conscience, or engaged by 
 company or custom, or the like, their case is fearful 
 in that measure, that duty is^unpleasing, and not loved. 
 
 4. Where this weariness of, and unwillingness to, 
 duties are painful and grievous, as a sore in the eye, 
 or a sickness in the heart, the state is good; but, where 
 *t is naturally allowed, and meets with little or no re* 
 
vj 
 
 JUDICIOUSLY RESOLVED. 239 
 
 sistance, it is a black mark; for this argues there is 
 nothing but flesh, and there is no contrary principle 
 in such a heart; for if there were, the spirit would 
 at least make opposition. This was the very frame 
 of those unsanctified sinners that counted the Sab¬ 
 baths and services of God an unprofitable burden, a 
 very weariness, a bondage not to be borne, Ma). i. 
 13. A gracious heart when under such a distemper 
 as that God’s service seems a weariness, is even weary 
 of himself: Whilst this is burdensome, he is a burden 
 to himself; he cannot enjoy himself, while in such a 
 frame wherein he cannot enjoy God ; and if this be 
 tine case, our state is good, though the frame be bad. 
 
 5. Where this weariness and unwillingness are not 
 from a rooted dislike of the food, but an accidental 
 and preternatural indisposition of the stomach, or a 
 being disappointed of God’s presence in duties, the 
 main state is safe. You know under a distemper, 
 the appetite may loathe and nauseate the food, that a 
 man doth love above all other meats when he is well; 
 and so it is here. Do you, when you are yourselves, 
 relish more sweetness in God’s service than in your 
 meats and drinks ? Are no sweets so delightful to 
 you as fellowship and communion with God, when 
 you can attain to them in duties ? Do you come 
 away discontented because you cannot meet with 
 God ? Is the ground why your countenances fall, 
 and your hearts are discouraged, because you have 
 with them toiled and spread the net, and have not 
 caught what you went for, or because you have no 
 answer or income from God ? If it be thus, it is a 
 sign your hearts are set upon God, and that you place 
 the happiness and comfort of your lives in God, and 
 that so your state is safe: otherwise when there is a 
 fixed antipathy to duties, and an habitual dislike to 
 them, and contrariety to them, the case is very sad. 
 
 6. Where our weariness and unwillingness are such 
 as make us give over our duties, so as to live in the 
 ordinary neglect of them, it is a fearful sign: but 
 where, notwithstanding present discouragements, we 
 
24-0 QUESTIONS TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 hold on in the performance of our duties, and a 
 humble waiting on God for removing our difficulties I 
 till we are brought to a better frame; this argues 
 well The church herself may be greatly deserted ; 
 but then she gives not over duties, but seeks after 
 her beloved, and makes diligent inquiry, and will not f 
 be at rest till she hath found him : But the hypocrite * 
 
 gives up, and will not wait upon the Lord any longer. stt 
 
 Not but that a deserted soul may, under the violence & 
 of temptations, omit duties for a time ; but his con- \\ 
 dition this while is most painful, restless, and grievous l[ 
 to him, and he quickly returns again, and never » 
 
 comes to live quiet in the ordinary omission of known : 
 
 duties. # n 
 
 Conclus 7. When our weariness and unwillingness rf 
 
 are such as make us fall out with the service of Christ, mi 
 and willing to ease ourselves of his yoke and throw off lo 
 his burden, this is a bad sign ; but, when we fall out 
 with ourselves, and justify and approve Christ’s ways el 
 and service, it is well. Thus it was with Paul; he 5f 
 doth not quarrel with the law as too strict and severe, tl. 
 nor think of breaking of his bands and taking his li- ifi 
 berty; but he pleads for the law, and greatly approves u 
 it and commends it, and condemns the backwardness to 
 of his own nature, Rom. vii. 12, 15. When men are > 
 more willing to be rid of Christ’s burden than of the I 
 distemper that makes it grievous, and cast about for iis 
 ease, by widening their bands, and not by bringing jc 
 their minds to them, it is a woeful discovery of an 
 unsound heart. And thus much for this case. ji 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
 Awakening Questions propounded to the Unconverted. 
 
 And Counsels to the Converted . I. 
 
 -> 
 
 Fiiat I may reach every man’s case, I shall speak g 
 something to the unconverted and something to the 
 converted. t 
 
QUESTIONS TO THE UNCONVERTED- 241 
 
 For the unconverted there are six questions, which 
 I would advise them to put to their souls. 
 
 Q. I. What state did my soul come into the world in ? 
 Was it not in the state of' death? Eph ii. 1. a state 
 of wrath ? ver. 3. Sirs, awake and bethink yourselves 
 where you are, and whither you are going. While 
 thou art in thy natural, unconverted, unbelieving 
 state, all your sins are unpardoned, and the wrath of 
 God abideth on you, Acts iii. 19. Suppose you saw 
 a poor creature hanging over a burning fiery furnace, 
 by nothing but a twined thread like to break every 
 moment, would not your hearts ache for such an one? 
 Sirs, it is your very case : You hang over the infernal 
 burnings by nothing but the small thread of life, 
 which you know not but it may crack the next mo¬ 
 ment, and then where are you ? Is this a case for you 
 to go on contentedly and merrily in ? 
 
 Q. II. What condition is my soul now in? Am I 
 changed and renewed by conversion, or am I not ? 
 Speak, conscience, hath this man, this woman, been 
 thoroughly and savingly changed, both in heart and 
 life? Where are your evidences ? Can you shew the 
 marks of the Lord Jesus upon your souls ? Let your 
 conscience answer: Where was the place ? what were 
 the means ? when was the time that thy soul was 
 thoroughly renewed ? At least if you cannot shew the 
 time, place, or means, can you prove the thing? Can 
 you say with him, One thing I know, that whereas I 
 was blind, I now see! Sirs, be not deceived: I tell 
 you, whatever you be, and whatever you do, nothing 
 will avail you to salvation, except you be new 
 creatures. 
 
 Q. III. What if I should lose my soul? What fine 
 work should I make of it then? This is very possible, 
 Matt. xvi. 26. Yea, it is the case of most; there are 
 but few, few of the children of men, that do escape 
 safe to heaven, Matt. vii. 14. Sirs, beware of your 
 danger, and fear least a promise being made of you 
 entering into rest, any of you should at length come 
 short of it, Heb. iv I. Suppose a man were to travel 
 
242 QUESTIONS TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 through some perilous wood or wilderness, having ^ 
 but one jewel in all the world, in which his all was jo 
 bound up; and should see some stand on one hand, fj 
 and some on the other ; and hear a company in this 
 place, and another in that, crying out, under the 
 hands of some cruel robbers; Oh in what fear would „ 
 
 this traveller go, lest he should lose his jewel, and be j, 
 
 robbed of all at once ! Why, thou art the man ; this r 
 
 traveller is thyself; this jewel is thy soul; this wilder- j 
 
 ness, or wood, is this world: Thou art to travel B 
 
 through swarms of sins, legions of devils, a whole j 
 
 world of temptations : These are the robbers that do j. 
 
 lie in w ait for thy soul; and, if all that these can do 3 
 
 can keep thee out of heaven, thou shalt never come ai 
 
 there. Oh ! what if thy pride of worldliness, thy de- v 
 
 lays and triflings in religion, should at last betray thy 
 soul into the robbers 1 hands ! Other loses may be re- 
 paired ; but, thy soul being once lost, Christ is lost; [ 
 heaven, all, lost for evermore. 
 
 Q. IV. What do I do for my soul? What have I 
 a soul, an immortal soul, to care for, and look no bet* 
 ter after it, nor bestow no more of my time or pains 
 upon it, no more of my thoughts about it! When Au¬ 
 gustus, the Emperor, saw the outlandish women carry 
 apes, and such kind of strange creatures, in the street 
 in their arms, he asked, >vhat! have the women in 
 these countries no children ? So it may be said of 
 many among us, that are early and late at their 
 worldly business, but let the care of religion lie by 
 neglected. What! have these men no souls? Why, 
 man, hast thou a soul, and yet dost so little in thy clo¬ 
 set, so little in thy family, from day to day, for it ? 
 What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise call upon thy 
 God, that thou perish not, Jonah i. 6. What will be¬ 
 come of thy soul, if thou lookest to it only at this 
 careless rate ? 
 
 Q V. What if God should this night require thy 
 soul? Where would death land thee ? Luke xii. 19, 20. 
 There was one that promised himself many merry 
 days and years, as it is likely thou dost, but that same 
 
COUNSELS FOR THE CONVERTED. 243 
 
 night, God called for his soul. Sirs, are you in your 
 postures? Are you fit to die? Oh ! dare not to live, 
 in such a case, in that course in which you are not fit 
 to die ? 
 
 Q. VI. What a happy case were / in , if 1 had hut se- 
 cured my soul! Oh, it this were but once done, how 
 sweetly mightst thou, live ! Then thou mightst eat 
 thy bread, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, 
 when assured that God accepteth thee and thy works, 
 Eecles. ix. 7. Then thou mightst lie down in peace, 
 arise up in peace, go out and come home in peace! 
 Then thou mightst look death in the face, thou mightst 
 look dangers in the face, yea, look devils in the face, 
 and never be afraid ! Oh, Sirs ! if there be any insur¬ 
 ance office for souls in all the world, one would think 
 you should be seeking it. 
 
 And thus much for the questions, which, though of 
 use to all, yet were intended chiefly for unconverted, 
 impenitent souls. 
 
 COUNSELS and CORDIALS for the Converted. 
 
 The Counsels are these . 
 
 Couns. I. That you put hard to it to get that by these 
 hazardous opportunities that may quit all your cost . 
 What pity is it that you shall adventure much, and 
 yet gain but little? How dismal would it be, if you 
 should at last suffer deeply for conscientious attend¬ 
 ance upon God in such seasons; and, when you come 
 into prison, or into banishment, find that you had not 
 got that by them that would bear you out! 
 
 Couns. II. That you value no mercy barely as it 
 serves in content to your flesh 9 but as it stands in order 
 to eternity , and may serve the furthering your Maker's 
 M 
 
COUNSELS FOR THE CONVERTED 
 
 244 
 
 glory: God hath preserved your liberties, and has re¬ 
 stored mine. But what of all this? Unless we im¬ 
 prove our liberties for eternity, what are we better 
 than those that are in prison, if this be all the ad¬ 
 vantage we have, a little more content to the flesh ? 
 The cypher, put to the figure, is of great signification ; 
 but, set by itself, it signifies nothing at all. These 
 creature comforts, separated from their respect to 
 God and eternity, are of no value; but, in order to 
 these ends, they signify much. We have ease and 
 fulness, when many others are in pain and poverty; 
 and we have much the start of them, if we be wise to 
 improve our health, in laying in apace against a wet 
 day, and preparing apace for eternity, and serve the 
 Lord with more diligence, and cheerfulness, and glad¬ 
 ness of heart, in the abundance of all things: But, if 
 this be all we have by it, that our bones do lie a 
 little softer, and our palates are tickled with a little 
 more delight, what profit have we by our health and 
 estates? if they that are sick or poor, do love the 
 Lord as well, and serve the Lord as much as we, 
 they have the advantage of us; and better it were 
 for us to be poor and sick, as they are. 
 
 Couns. III. Rest not in probabilities for heaven , but 
 labour for certainties. Beloved, certainty may be had, 
 else the counsel of God to make our calling and elec¬ 
 tion sure is in vain, 2 Pet. i. 10. else the experience 
 of the saints were but delusion, who tell us they know 
 they are passed from death to life, 1 John iii. 14. 
 2 Cor. v. 1. Job xix. 25, 26. else the power of self¬ 
 reflection were to no purpose, and the spirit which is 
 in man would not know the things of the man, 1 Cor. 
 ii. 11. Now, if a certainty must be had, will you not 
 put in for it, and turn every stone that you may get 
 it? Sirs, now, if ever, you have need to push hard to 
 get assurance. We are at miserable uncertainties for 
 all outward enjoyments; we know not how soon we 
 may be called to part with them all. Christians, what 
 do you mean ? Will you be content to have nothing 
 
COUNSELS FOR THE CONVERTED 245 
 
 sure ? Will you not settle your everlasting condition, 
 now you are so unsettled as toyour outward condition ? 
 What will you do in the day of visitation, when extre¬ 
 mity comes in upon you, if you have no assurance 
 that God will receive you. It would make one’s heart 
 tremble to think of being upon such a fearful tempta¬ 
 tion as to part with all for Christ, and not to be sure of 
 him neither. O man, what an advantage will the 
 temper now have upon thee, when he shall suggest, 
 “ Wilt thou be such a fool as to let go all at once? 
 Thou seest heaven is not sure, Christ is not sure; 
 therefore keep the world, whilst thou hast it, and 
 hold what thou hast sure.” Beloved, what a fearful 
 slighting of God, and contempt of heaven, and glory, 
 and all the promises, doth this argue, that you can be 
 content to be at uncertainties, whether they be yours 
 or not! How many of you are there that do not know 
 whether you be going to heaven or to hell! And what 
 desperate carelessness doth this argue, to go on from 
 week to week in such a case ! Some hopes you have 
 that you shall do well ; but put me not off with 
 hopes. Never be satisfied till you are able to say, 
 not only I hope I shall be saved, but I know I am 
 passed from death to life; I know that, when the 
 earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, I 
 have a building not made with hands, &c. 2 Cor. v. 1. 
 
 Couns. IV. Be mot satisfied with the truth of grace, 
 hut reach after the growth . Do not think all is done 
 when you have obtained the evidence of grace, but 
 put on hard towards the increase. That person that 
 doth not desire and design perfection, never came up 
 to sincerity. He that desires grace, truly desires it 
 not barely as a bridge to heaven, and so to seek no 
 more than will just bear his charges thither; but he 
 desires it for its own sake, and therefore desires the 
 height of it: That person that desires grace only for 
 heaven’s sake, and inquires what is the lowest measure 
 of grace that any may have come to heaven (by which 
 he meaneth but to be saved from misery) upon this 
 
246 COUNSELS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 design, that, if he could but come to that pitch, he 
 would desire no more; that person is rotten at the 
 heart. Christians, the Lord doth expect of you that 
 you should not be babes and dwarfs; he looks, now 
 especially, that you should make some progress. What 
 do you more than heretofore? What! do you feel his 
 spurs in your sides, and his whip at your backs, yet 
 never mend your pace in religion, nor stir one jot the 
 faster? Let me commend you to Paul’s study, Phil. iii. 
 12, &c. It argues a base and unworthy spirit, to 
 content ourselves with little things in religion. 
 
 Couns. V. Labour that holiness may become your 
 nature , and religion your business. Then you are 
 come to somewhat indeed in religion, when the work 
 of God is become your natural and beloved employ¬ 
 ment, your meat and drink, your work and wages; 
 when your tongue and hearts naturally run on God, 
 as others on and of the world. Much of that may be 
 attained by constant care and prayer. Brethren, let 
 God’s work be done by you, not by-the-bye, but as 
 your greatest business: Seek first the kingdom of 
 God; and so, whatsoever you do, you may be able 
 to give that account of yourselves that our Saviour 
 did when they inquired of him, That you are about 
 your Father’s business. 
 
 Couns. VI. Confine not religion to your knees , but 
 carry on an even spun thread of holiness through your 
 whole course. Brethren, it is.the disgrace of religion 
 that Christians are so unlike themselves, unless it be 
 when they are holy in duties. This wounds religion 
 to the quick, when it shall be said of professors, These 
 men indeed will pray like angels, but, for aught we 
 can see, they are as peevish and touchy as any other 
 men, and they are as hard in their dealings, and make 
 as little conscience of their words as others do. Be¬ 
 loved, do not think religion lies only, or chiefly, in 
 praying, hearing, or reading; for you must be through¬ 
 out religious. Sirs, bring forth your religion out of 
 your closets into your ordinary course; let there not 
 
COUNSELS FOR THE CONVERTED. 24< 
 
 he a life of holiness on the outside of the clot1 *’ but 
 let holiness be woven into the whole o y our 
 sations. Herein consists the excellency and difficulty 
 of religion • when you have the baits of intemperance 
 before ye, then to hold the reins hard, and1 deny your 
 
 bite in your passions, and bridle me 7 nroceed 
 
 when you have dealings with others, P 
 
 by that golden rule of equity and charity, todo unto 
 others, as (your consciences tell you) y° 11 i 
 
 them to do in like case to you; when you are called 
 upon by your several relations, then o e 
 
 selves with that tenderness and ove ’ con descen- 
 rence and obedience, with that courtesy^ condesce 
 sion, and kindness, that become you in your vanou 
 capacities. In this, I say, lies the excellence of reli- 
 
 8l Couns. VII. Ever walk with your end in your eye 
 Tt true according to the usual similitude, I be tra¬ 
 veller thinks not of his journey’s end every step, nor 
 needs he, yet there is no traveller but thinks o i a 
 his settin^out. Brethren, there is nothing hinders but 
 that with prayer and watchfulness, you might come 
 every'solemn action, to mind God as your 
 chief end Impose this on yourselves as your daily 
 rule to walk by, never to lie down but with these 
 thoughts • “ Well, I will make use of my bed as an 
 ordinance of God, for my natural. 
 
 Sup buVwith "these though, « I will set forth thw 
 
 S about our callings, but in the entrance think thus, 
 f, will set about my employment in obedience to God, 
 bi.u»U U hbw!ll I shoultl walk with «» » », 
 nlace and station." Never to sit down at your tables, 
 but thinking, “ I will now eat and drink, not merely 
 to feed my flesh, but to cherish a servant of Christ Je¬ 
 sus, that he may have strength for h.s service. 
 
-18 COUNSELS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 Charge this upon yourselves, and examine in the even¬ 
 ing how you have minded it, and check yourselves 
 wherein you come short: Once learn this, and you are 
 come to something, and shall have the undoubted evi- 
 • ?. e " ce ° f - v ° ur sincerity, and shall know the inside of 
 that blessed mystery of walking with God. 
 
 ouns. Vi 11. Be and do more than ordinary in your 
 ordinances C ° SetS> n0W ' in lhe de f ects °f more Public 
 
 1. In your closets. See that your consciences be 
 able to bear you witness, that, under God’s extraor¬ 
 dinary providences, you do more than ever: In answer 
 thereto, it may be you prayed twice in the day ; there¬ 
 fore why should you not, at such a time as this is, make 
 one visit more than ordinary to heaven, daily to repre¬ 
 sent before God the calamities of his church ? This be 
 sure of, that somewhat more than heretofore must now 
 be done; else God will look upon himself as intoler¬ 
 ably slighted, and upon his church as most unnaturally 
 neglected, if we do not now put to it. Be more than 
 ever in self-examination: God expects that, when he 
 is trying us, we should be much in the trial of ourselves. 
 And here let me put it to your consciences: How are 
 your rules for daily examination looked after ? Do you 
 try yourselves by them from day to day ? Ah, wretch¬ 
 ed negligence ! What, have you given your approba¬ 
 tion, and passed your promise, and yet even in such a 
 day as this so much forget your duty ? God expects it 
 of you, that, now you see him angry, you should, with 
 more zealous fear, and tender circumspection, and holy 
 watchfulness and selCdenial, walk before him; else 
 you will greatly increase his indignation, when he sees 
 that you slight his anger. 
 
 2. In your families. Christians, now the Lord calls 
 aloud upon you to set your houses in order! O see 
 what is amiss in them, and strive to cast out that which 
 may be a .provocation. Three things I advise you 
 with reference to your families: 
 
 I. That you set up the solemn exercise of catechis- 
 
 
TT 
 
 COUNSELS FOR THE CONVERTED. 219 
 
 ing weekly among them. Methinks I would not ques 
 tion but that in every godly family there is a care of 
 the catechism; but when governors do <?nly impose 
 it in general upon their families, and occasionally take 
 an account, I find but little progress ,s made; and 
 therefore I beseech you to make it a solemn standing, 
 and constant exercise, and to expect of your c ii r 
 and servants, as due an account weekly o vr y 
 
 have learnt of the principles of religion, as ol any bu¬ 
 siness of your own. Oh, the mcredib e benefit that 
 would speedily come of this, if I couldl bu persu 
 and prevail with my hearers in so small a request as 
 
 this ^ 
 
 2* That you be often inquiring into their spiritual 
 states. Follow them close, and let them have no quiet 
 till you see they seriously mind and seek spiritual 
 things. Put them upon secret prayer. Provide helps 
 lor them till they are able to go without them. Shew 
 them often the necessity of regeneration and conver¬ 
 sion, and the nature thereof. Put them m mind ol 
 their fearful misery and unregenerate state, lieloved, 
 it is too sadly evident, that as the ordinances are now 
 somewhere managed, there is little conversion-work 
 like to be done. O you governors of Emilies ! do but 
 vour duty in your several places, and I doubt not but 
 many souls will soon be born to Christ, even in such 
 
 a 3 7Call them to an account for their proficiency by 
 every opportunity. If there be but a sermon or a chap¬ 
 ter read, let them give some account of it: 1 bus our 
 Saviour, when the disciples (his family) were in pri¬ 
 vate was asking them whether they did understand 
 and ’profit by what they heard in public. 
 
 Couns IX. Be not discouraged by the present diffi¬ 
 culties of religion , but rather rejoice in the opportunity 
 to shew your love and loyalty to your Lord. Do not 
 think God hath dealt hardly with you now your reli¬ 
 gion is like to cost you something, and presently think 
 If shrinking and drawing back to preserve your safety. 
 
CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 eL y eedi^li!f- L ^l d JeSUS ’ y ° U shou,d re J oice and be 
 
 ren whaf ifjfh ^ the °PP ortunit y i0 shew it. Breth- 
 
 fw shamP f fl y0Ur f e lg, ° n , C °. Sty0U llithert0 ? Then, 
 
 to tell Hip’ ufl u r n0t ^ 0Ur sIinnkin g and withdrawing 
 tell the world you have not love enough for Christ 
 
 indPPdT 7 ?h 1 t r T 2ny hazard for him - Do you 
 indeed love the Lord? O then now rejoice and be ex- 
 
 ceed.ng glad; for never had you such J an opportunity 
 
 “ y ° Ur ,'. Ve f ‘° Shew your love as now, for never 
 
 Ts now 0 ™,* ^ t0 * enture S ? f ° r him and his service 
 m you are. Now resolve that, if religion will 
 
 zerd Jr VI ^° U r 11 be yet more vi 'e, and let your 
 
 epedl^ro p 7rtuX GOdbe “ d heighU 
 
 The CoRnixis follow, which are Sacrament-Cordials. 
 
 Now dearly beloved Brethren, 
 
 This holy sacrament is appointed as a sealing ordi¬ 
 nance between Christ and you. The covenants are 
 made; the terms are agreed to on both sides; God is 
 willing to be yours to all intents and purposes, your 
 refuge, your rest, and your guide. While Christ has 
 it, you shall never want; and what God is to him, 
 that he (m your order) will be to you. 
 
 . ^ ou a S ain (through grace) are willing to be his: his 
 in Ins own way, and on his own terms; willing to serve 
 him; mil,ng to be betrothed to him, and to be com¬ 
 manded to him, to use his remedies, to follow his coun¬ 
 sels, and to acquiesce in him as your blessedness; thus 
 all an? agreed; the articles are drawn; the covenants, 
 both on God s part and yours, are ready written; and 
 here you may come to put all past controversy, and 
 mutually to sell and subscribe. O happy and blessed 
 meeting ! Christians, do not forget your errand; re¬ 
 member where you are, and what you are come for; 
 
VJ 
 
 251 
 
 CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 and know that you arc upon the most solemn transac¬ 
 tion that ever passed between the creator and the crea- 
 ture. It is God’s admirable condescension that he 
 will be tied to us, and enter into bonds, to us, to bless 
 us and reward us; and, because our faith is weak, he 
 hath brought his surety with him, the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who is a surety on his part, as well as ouis, to 
 undertake for his fulfilling his promises. And he hath 
 brought the visible signs and pledges by which all sha 
 be firmly passed and ratified before your e y es - *• 1S 
 is the new testament in my blood, l.uke xxii. 20. "nt- 
 ten in my blood, ratified in my blood. Oh, Mrs, this 
 is that which God doth here reach forth unto you with 
 his own hand this day ! the new testament in Christs 
 blood! Christians, prepare your ears, and rouse up 
 your faith, and now believe and hear some of the bles¬ 
 sed articles of that covenant which God doth he resign 
 and seal to you. 1 shall mention only nine, which 
 I advise youto lay next your hearts, while you have 
 a day to live, and you shall find the virtue of these 
 cordials strong and operative in all conditions. 
 
 Art. I. That he will fulfil to you the place of all rela¬ 
 tions, 2 Cor. vi. 18. I will be a father to you, you 
 shall be my sons and daughters. Whatever children 
 may expect from a father, that you may look for from 
 me: I will find ye meat, be not thoughtful, I know 
 that ye have need of all these things, Matt. vi. 32. 
 
 . You shall be clothed out of my wardrobe. Matt. vi. 30. 
 and wear my livery; and when you have need of cor¬ 
 rection, I will remember to do it in mercy, and you 
 shall find, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the 
 Lord your God chasteneth you, Deut. vui. o. 
 
 I will be a husband to you, and will betroth you 
 to me for ever. You shall not need to fear, your Ma¬ 
 ker is so: I will give you my choice love, I will give 
 
 y °I wfll^be a Lord and sovereign to you: the Lord is 
 your judge, the Lord is your lawgiver, the Lord is 
 your king; Fear not the unrighteousness of men 
 
25& CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 I will judge your cause, I will defend your rights; you 
 shall not stand or fall at man’s bar; you shall not be 
 cast at their votes: Let them curse, I will bless: let 
 them condemn, I will justify : Who shall accuse when 
 I shall acquit? Who shall lay any thing to your charge, 
 when I do discharge you ? When you come upon trial 
 for your life, to have your eternal state decided, you 
 shall see your friend, your father, on the bench; and 
 you shall surely stand in judgment, and be found at 
 the right-hand, among tfie sheep, and hear the King 
 say, come ye blessed : 
 
 I will be a shepherd to you : Fear no evil, for I am 
 with ye ; You shall not want, for I will feed ye; You 
 shall not wander to be lost, for I will restore ye; I 
 will cause ye to lie down in green pastures, and lead 
 ye beside the still waters : If my officers be careless, I 
 will do it myself. As for you, O my flock, thus saith 
 the Lord God, I will judge between cattle and cattle : 
 I will feed my flock, saith the Lord God, and cause 
 them to lie down ; I will seek that which w r as lost, 
 and bring again that which was driven away, and 
 bind up that which was broken, and strengthen that 
 which is sick; But I will destroy the fat and the 
 strong, and will feed them with judgment. 
 
 I will be a physician to you, I will heal your back- 
 slidings, and cure all your diseases; fear not; never 
 did soul miscarry that left itself in my hands, and 
 would but follow my prescription. 
 
 Well, this is one of the articles that God here seal- 
 eth to, that he will be to you in the place of ail rela¬ 
 tions: Silence, thou quarrelling unbelief: Methinks I 
 hear thy whispers, that this is too good to be true; that 
 it were presumption in us to count upon all this. What! 
 shall they, that must say to corruption, thou art my 
 father, be able to say to the incorruptible God, thou 
 art my father ? Shall they, that must say to the worm, 
 thou art my mother and my sister, be able to say to 
 the Angels of light, ye are my fellow-servants, and to 
 the King of glory, thou art my brother and my kins- 
 
W -* . . 
 
 V 
 
 CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 253 
 
 man ? Shall Majesty espouse himself to misery, and 
 the worms 1 meat be married to immortality and life ? 
 How can these things be P 
 
 Nay, but O heart of unbelief, what art thou that 
 repliest against God ? dost thou, under a slay pretence 
 of humility, argue with thy Maker, and call veracity 
 into doubt ? is not this his word, his promise, his 
 covenant ? and is there not his seal ? Why then dost 
 thou doubt, O thou of little faith ? 
 
 Art. II. That he will entitle you to all the divine per - 
 feciions , Gen. xvii. 7. “ I will be a God to thee . 11 Mark, 
 God gives away himself, and he gives his Son to you, 
 Isa. xlii. 6 . u I will give thee for a covenant of the 
 people . 11 This is the church’s triumph, Isa. ix. 6 . 
 •* Unto us a son is given . 11 And he gives his Spirit to 
 you. John xiv. 16. “ He shall give you another com- 
 forter . 11 And believers acknowledge the receipt. 
 
 1 Cor. ii. 12. “ We have received the Spirit which is 
 of God . 11 Thus you see all the persons of the godhead 
 are made over to you, and so are all the perfections 
 of the godhead ; and so the covenant runs, Gen. xvii. 1. 
 44 j am the Almighty God, or the all-sufficient God ; 
 walk before me and be upright ;* these are the terms 
 between God and a believer: “ Be thou upright be¬ 
 fore me, and I will be all-sufficient to thee. lhe 
 all-sufficiency of God is the comprehension of all his 
 perfections. Truth without power, or power without 
 wisdom, both without goodness, would not be all-suf¬ 
 ficiency : All sufficiency take in all that is in God, 
 (if we may speak ot God’s most simple essence accoid- 
 ing to the shallow reach of our present capacity,) 
 yea, it comprehends infinitely more than can be said 
 or thought. Why now, this is the covenant ot grace 
 which God establishes with you this day, that he will 
 be a God all-sufficient to you. 
 
 Christians rouse up your faith, now appropriate and 
 apply the promises, noyv believe strongly and stead¬ 
 fastly, and believingly will fill you with joy unspeak¬ 
 able and full of glory. I do not wonder if your faith 
 
254 CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 be put to it, in so great and high a mystery, to draw 
 nigh to infinite Majesty, and consideringly and with- 
 out resistance to say thou art mine, and all that thou 
 hast; this is no easy thing. But thou mayst not dare 
 to doubt it. Canst thou question him who is the 
 truth ? Can the strength of Israel lie, or in his word 
 deceive thee ? But the soul is ready to reply, Oh ! the 
 thing is too high and great for me to presume to be¬ 
 lieve * and is ready, with Peter astonished, to cry out, 
 depart, Lord, for I am a sinful man. But why doth 
 thy hand tremble, and thy heart fail thee, and thy 
 feet (with Peter’s, when walking on the water) begin 
 to sink? What dost thou stick at ? Is it at the truth 
 of the promises? No, saith he, tremblingly soul, but 
 sure so much can never belong to me so sinful ; I am 
 afraid it is not mine ! Why what saith the promise ? 
 Only be upright. What, though thou hast a hundred 
 failings, yet thy heart is upright; the bent of thy 
 heart is, mainly for God and holiness; thou makest 
 conscience of all sin, little as well as great, secret as 
 well as open, and dost not deliberately allow thyself 
 in any: Thou dost, in the settled frame of thy heart, 
 prefer the pleasing God, and value his favour and fel¬ 
 lowship, above all worldly good, therefore thou art 
 upright; these marks are infallible. What! dost thou 
 object thy failings? Art thou under a covenant of 
 works ? Do ye think God now stands upon perfec¬ 
 tion ? The covenant is plain; God contendeth for 
 uprightness, and God hath wrought in thee that con¬ 
 dition that he requires of thee. What can be plainer? 
 Wilt thou suffer the devil and unbelief to catch the 
 bread out of thy hand, when God tells thee it is thine ? 
 Wilt thou be against thyself, and refuse thine own 
 peace, when God is come to seal thee up to the day of 
 redemption ? This is that which the Lord here seals 
 to thee, that he will be a God all-sufficient to thee. 
 O believe and be thankful, and rejoice in thy own 
 blessedness: O happy, thrice happy souls, to whom 
 the living God thus signeth and sealeth, and assigns 
 
 
CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 255 
 
 over all his infinite perfections, as its everlasting pos¬ 
 session. 
 
 Art. Ill Thai he will discharge you from all your 
 debts, Heb. viii It), 12. This is the covenant; I will 
 be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins 
 and iniquities will I remember no more, Isa. 1 . 18. 
 Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white 
 as snow. Believest thou this? Come near, belove 
 Christian, approach believingly, and here thou shalt 
 see the Lord crossing out all thy debts, taking away 
 the hand-writing that is against thee, declaring that 
 he hath received a ransom, and he is satisfied, con¬ 
 tented, and paid. O happy man, that shalt leave all 
 ' t hv sins behind thee ! Why this is the very thing the 
 faithful God doth here seal unto thee. 1 hy pardon 
 is written in his most sacred blood, which is here 
 shed for the remission of sins; so that thou mays 
 triumph with the Apostle, Who is he that condemn- 
 
 eth? It is Christ that died. 
 
 Art. IV. That he will save you from all your enemies . 
 Not from the combat, but from the conquest: the vie- 
 lory shall be sure, so far as God is engaged So the 
 covenant runs in its first discovery, that the seed of 
 the woman shall break the serpent’s head, though he 
 should bruise his heel, Gen. ,n. 15. By he seed of 
 the woman, understand not Christ only; but all be¬ 
 lievers By the serpent, understand not Satan only, 
 but all his party, the ungodly persecuting world, 
 which are his children; and all our ty rannous lusts, 
 which are his brood, his works. By his bruising our 
 heel understand his molesting and wounding of us, 
 but not mortally. By our breaking h.s head, under¬ 
 stand the total and final victory which we shall most 
 certainly obtain over him and his party at last. Chns- 
 Jians what should we fear? Death! the covenant 
 l ere sealed makes over death as a legacy to you; and 
 behold it brings the head of your conquered enemy in 
 a charger, 1 Cor. iii. 22. Death is yours ; O blessed 
 and most grateful present! Satan ! the covenant as- 
 
CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 256 
 
 sures you God will bruise him under your feet shortly, 
 Rom. xvi. 20. The world ! be of good cheer, Christ 
 bath overcome the world, John xvi. 33. Hell! there 
 is no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus. 
 Rom r viii, 1. Sin ! this is indeed to be dreaded, but 
 with a watchful and cautious fear, not with a fainting, 
 discouraging fear: Sin shall not have dominion over 
 you, Rom. xiii. 13, 14. 
 
 Christians, here is meat now for your faith : What ! 
 do all these holy promises nothing move you, or carry 
 little savour or relish with them? What! shall the 
 Almighty God give it to thee, under his own hand, 
 that thou art a freeman, and thou makst little account 
 it? Shall he give thee thy protection, and thou lay it 
 by as an useless paper that signifieth little ? Oh, Sirs ! 
 when your hearts are ready to faint, because of the 
 sons of Anak, that be in the way ; when you see the 
 blackguard gaping upon you, and the king of terrors 
 levelling at you, and a wicked world armed with rage 
 against you, and full of malice, and the thieves and con¬ 
 spirators in thy bosom watching their opportunity to 
 betray all to them ; yet let not this discourage you. 
 These were enough indeed to make a considering 
 man’s heart to melt and die within him ; but that co¬ 
 venant of grace yields such ample relief against all ! 
 Oh be ever mindful of the covenant! Remember what 
 hath passed this day between the living God and your 
 souls. Watch, O Christian, and stand fast; acquit thee 
 like a man. The conquest is sure: Who would not 
 fight with courage that hath assurance of the victory? 
 
 Art. V. That he will befriend you in all conditions. 
 He will be a fast friend to you in every change, and 
 turn all things to your good : and, when you are ready 
 to say unbelievingly, with Jacob, “ All these things 
 are against me,” Gen. xlii. 36. “ If he brings you 
 
 into the wilderness, there he will speak comfortably 
 unto you. In the fire and the water he will be with 
 you. He will be a strength to the poor, a strength 
 to the needy in his distress: a refuge from the storm, 
 
CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 257 
 
 and a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the 
 terrible one is as a storm against the wall.” 
 
 Beloved, here the Lord is come to seal all these 
 promises to you. O go home and bless yourselves in 
 the sweet security of your state ! God hath promised 
 you, that whatever condition you be in, you shall 
 have succour and support from him, and enjoy his 
 presence with you, and see his finger, in all your 
 troubles, sweetly turning all for the best. Go away 
 and live like believers; be not afraid of sufferings, 
 but shew that you believe what God hath promised, 
 that affliction shall not hurt you. The next time any 
 trouble comes upon you, remember what a. promise 
 God hath passed upon you this day, and wait on him 
 believingly for the happy issue and event of every 
 trial that shall befal you. 
 
 Art. VI. That he will take upon him the care of all 
 your concernments. “You must be careful in nothing. 
 He careth for you ; Take no thought what ye shall 
 eat or drink, neither be of doubtful mind, but rather 
 seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things 
 shall be added unto you.” Come ye to this holy 
 ordinance in any distress or trouble, methinks you 
 should go from it as Hannah, and your countenance 
 be no more sad : “ God shall number your hair9, and 
 take care that nothing be lost. He will take care of 
 your names, and bring forth your righteousness as 
 the light. He will take care of your substance, he 
 will give meat to them that fear him, and be ever 
 mindful of his covenant; Of your seed, for he will be 
 a God to them, and will entail the blessing on them.” 
 He commands that your widows, and fatherless chi!- 
 dren should be left on him. He is, by covenant, to 
 look after their concerns; you need not be solicitous; 
 lie is tender of you, when he seems most to neglect 
 you ; as Moses’ sister, that was secretly watching be¬ 
 hind the bush, and wishingly looking on, to see what 
 was done to the child ; though to the finders, it seemed 
 exposed to famine and death in the flags. 
 
CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 258 
 
 Art. VII. That he will give you , or he himself to you 
 instead of all comfort. “ He will be a sun and a 
 shield, and give grace and glory, and no good thing 1 
 will he withhold from them that walk uprightly, 11 
 Psa. lxxxiv. 11. Oh! the treasure that is in these 
 words, 46 l am thy shield and exceeding great reward ! 
 
 I will undertake both for thy protection and provi¬ 
 sion : When evil assails thee, I will be a shield to 
 thee; when any good is wanting, I will be a supply; i 
 
 thou shalt have children, or I will be better to thee * 
 
 than ten children; thou shalt have riches, or I will be c 
 
 thy store ; thou shalt have friends, if best for thee, or f 
 
 else I will be thy comforter in thy solitude, thy coun- c 
 sellor in thy distress; my secrets, my ears, and my 
 doors, shall be ever open to thee. Mark x. 30 He 1 
 shall receive a hundred fold in this time: though he 
 have not the things themselves, yet he shall have all i 
 these, and more than all, in me; I will be house, r 
 friend, and father to him, all in one. 11 If you should ( 
 
 have a hundred candles burning in the room, and a 
 
 should put out every one, and open the window, and / 
 
 let in the sun, this would be better than the hundred l 
 
 lights that were put out; so here, though thou shouldst ; 
 be called on to forsake all, it will be but as letting the s 
 cistern run, and opening the fountain. 
 
 Art. VIII. That he will maintain you all your days 
 in his service . <h He will be your guide even unto 
 death, Psa. xlvii. 14. Christian, whilst thou hast 
 a day to live, God will stand by thee: he will never 
 leave thee, nor forsake thee, Heb. xiii. 5. Surely 
 goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of 
 your lives, Psa. xxiii 6. and the Lord will never turn 
 away from you to do you good,’ 1 Jer. xxxii. 40. O 
 happy covenant that the Lord sealeth to you ! 
 
 Art. IX. That when you come of age , he will give 
 the kingdom to you. God saith to the believer here, 
 thine is the kingdom; whatever is promised in the co¬ 
 venant is sealed in the sacrament, Luke xii. 32. It is 
 your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 
 
TO 
 
 CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 259 
 
 Luke xxii. 29. I appoint unto you a kingdom. Mark 
 the promise pregnant with a kingdom ; it is no less 
 than a crown, a kingdom, that is here delivered to you : 
 Luke xix. 12. A certain nobleman went into a far 
 country, to receive to himself a kingdom, and to return: 
 This is the business you are come hither for, to 
 receive to yourselves a kingdom, and so to return. Oh! 
 methinks, you should forget the ground you go upon 
 as you are going home, to think wliat you have receiv¬ 
 ed here: Methinks, you should go forth as Haman 
 from the banquet, joyful and with a glad heart. Sirs, 
 do you know what you are doing? Why, the Lord doth 
 by these signs give you the kingdom, as a man, by de¬ 
 livering to you a turf or a key, gives possession of a 
 house or land. Brethren, have you ever read of the 
 kingdom of joy, of the crown of life, of the robes of 
 righteousness, of the throne of glory? Why all these 
 God here makes over to you. 1 tell you, Sirs, these 
 are not big words, nor cunningly devised fables; God 
 Almighty is here come to certify you of the reality of 
 his promises: As sure as you now sit on your seats, 
 you shall shortly sit on your throne: as sure as you 
 are now clothed with fljesh, so surely shall you be 
 clothed with glory. Are you sure you are now on 
 earth ? So surely shall you be shortly in heaven; the 
 Lord intendeth you but for a very little while in this 
 lower region ; yo» must dwell above : where Christ is, 
 there must you be also; as sure as you now see a 
 crucified Christ, so surely shall you see a glorified 
 Christ. The Lord Jesus doth anticipate his sentence 
 here, and calls to you his guests. Come, ye blessed, 
 inherit the kingdom ; take the writings, hold the seals, 
 here are the conveyances of the kingdom ; the donation 
 is sure and full, unalterable, irrevocable. 
 
 Christians, do you believe? If you do, methinks, 
 you should be ravished; methinks, you should be filled 
 with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. But do you 
 stagger at the promise through unbelief? Do you say, 
 O it is too much and too great! Why, how can this be p 
 
 N 
 
260 CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED- 
 
 What! too great for God to make good ! Thou darest 
 not think so. But it is too great for me to count upon. 
 Why, but man, dost thou not bear upon thee the 
 mark of the Lord Jesus? Whose image and superscnp- 
 lion is this? Doth not your very iear p 
 above all the world ? Hast thou not made a deliberate 
 choice of him for thy head and husband Hast thou 
 not entered into a solemn contract with him, to be t * 
 for all lime, anil conditions, and to love, ho "°" r '“J 
 obev him, before all others, to thy death? And doth 
 Shy heart stand to all Us choke f Hast thou not 
 taken Lt, with his yoke and tvtlh hi. cross? AndJW 
 th.,11 not in thy practice, first seek the Kingoom oi 
 God and the righteousness thereof? And hast thou not 
 Chosen the wl/of the kingdom? Art thou not m lore 
 !i.h hlessj and de.irest gr.ee f th.n old 
 
 And S «ll this, not only for. Bl, o r B-h. but »«• 
 
 settled frame ‘" d J T“ ,,, | ,T thou deniest it 
 fhou most wrong God nnd [ tby elh ^ ^ ^ of 
 
 S? & 
 
 LM Gotlh’at thou art a^son, and so an heir, 
 
 promises, and count them th‘« e concern 
 
 fas too often heretofore) as .f he mM n ^ 
 
 thee Remember wtatGodtaU ^ g, ^ ^ te . 
 
 Jtn'd “ee,‘when .hotigoest ^^“‘^'pTnX 
 
 Nefe, forge, what the 
 

 m 
 
 : .... 
 
 CORDIALS FOR THE CONVERTED. 
 
 Lord hath here spoken to thy soul: Make more of the 
 promises than ever in thy life before; bless thyself in 
 thee; remember how the Lord delivered thee the 
 promises; how he sealed to thee several articles; 
 how he sprinkled the blood upon the book of the 
 covenant, and gave it thee, and ^aid, this is the new 
 testament in my blood. Oh ! live henceforth a live of 
 joy and faith, as a man that is elevated above the 
 world ; do not live at the old dull and slothful rate; 
 carry it as a believer; and, in a word, walk as one 
 that doth indeed take all for truth that the Lord Jesus 
 hath spoken to thee this day. Let that of the Apostle 
 be a close to all, 2 Cor. viii. 1. “having, therefore, 
 these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse our- 
 selves from all filthiness, both of flesh and spirit, 
 perfecting holiness in the fear of God!” 
 
 FINIS 
 
 Leith : 
 
 Printed by Ogle, Allardice and Thomson,