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THR '
Solemn Warning^ of the Dead
OR, AN
ADMONITION
TO
UNCONVERTED SINNERS.
By Mr. JOSEPH ALLEINE.
^ AND, A
C A ]L IL
TO THE
UNCONVERTED-
By Mr. RICHARD BAXTER.
HE BEING DEAD YET SPEAKETH. HEB. Xl. 4.
NEW-YORK :
PUBLISHEn BY DANIEL HITT, FOR THE METHODIST CONNECTION IN THE UNI'f'ED STATES.
J, C. Totten, printer.
181 L
1
AJf
AD MO NIT ION
TO
Unconverted Sinners;
IN A
SERIOUS TREATISE
SHEWING
I. What Conversion is
not, and correcting some mistakes about it.
II. What Conversion is, and wherein it con- sisteth.
III. The Necessity of Conversion.
IV.
The Marks of the Unconverted. The Miseries of the Unconverted. Directions for Con- version. VII. Motives for Con- version.
V.
VI.
By JOSEPH ALLETYE,
Late Minister of the Gospel, at Taunton in Somcj:» setshire.
TO THE READER.
Readeb,
X ()U are here fir csentedirit h a booky iv/iich was torit' ten many years before the name of Methodism was known in the world ; which it may be firofier to remind you of in order to remove any unreasonable prejudice arising fropi that quarter. What I would recommend to you isi to read it with attention, exawijiation, and Jirayer^ as the most effectual method you can take to ren- der it a blessing to your ow7i soul. The author seems to have made use of every possible argument to win upon yo7ir ingenuity, to awaken conscience f and to di" rect you into the way everlasting,
I charge you, as in the presence of the living Gcd, now to do your part, jznd give it a faithful reading: I beg of you, by every endearing motive of love and af^ fection to your precious and immortal soul, that you will look upon this book as calculated to promote your pre- sent and everlasting happiness ; and I beg of God that ha would be filcased so to accompany your reading of it with his divine and heavenly grace, as to afford you mat' terrf thajiksgiving, gratitude, and praise to his holy name, for ever and ever.
Many by nature and firactice, is a sinner before God /. a charge of guilt is fastened upon him : thisy in words t he readily' acknowledges ; but being blinded %vith pir cm- dice, and having wrong conceptions both of the nature cf God and sin, he flatters himself that all will be well at ijusty and that a merciful God will not finully condemn.- A3
VI " TO THE READBE.
him ; this lulls him asleep, in Satan* s armsyond makes him secure and easy under all the denunciations of God* s ivrath against him.
One grand design of the author in this botk is, to dis' pel that gross darkness, to rectify those false conceptions he Itas of God and sin, and to convince him that notivith' standing all his vain pretensions, ivithout true repent- ance, the sentence ofivrath stands infull force against himstilL
Jesus Christ is set forth in scripture as the Saviour of sinners, the helper of the helpless s the only sure bottom lipon ivhich man is to anchor the hope of eternal salvation. To this Lord and Saviour is the anvakened sinner direct- ed in this botk : a free and a full salvation is offered him imder every possible assurance, that if he closes with it, his sins shall be pardoned, his person and future services accepted ; and., from being a brand of hell, he shall bC" come an heir of eternal glory.
Reader, the former character either is or has been thine own : if it is thine at this present reading, remem- iter thy danger ; take the alarm, and flee from the wrath to come : If it has been thine formerly, and thou art truly converted to God by Jesus Christ, give h' /i all the glory, rejoice in the happy exchange, walk worthy of thy high calling J and thou art made forever.
ThyTeady servant in the LORD.
AN
ADMONITION
TO
Unconverted Siniiers^ &c.
An earnest Invitation to Sinners to return to ,God, i7i order to their eternal Salvaaon.
DEARLY beloved and longed-for J gladly acknow- ledge myself a debtor to you all, and am con- cerned, as I would be found a good steward to the hous- hold of God, to give to every one his portion ; but the physician is most solicitous for those patients, wh,ose case is most doubtful and hazardous; aYid the father's bowels arc especially turned towards his dying child. The numbers of unconverted souls among you, call for my most earnest compassion and hasty diligence to pluck them out of the burning, Jude 23. And there- fore to these first I shall apply myself in these lines.
But whence shall I fetch my argument ? or how shall I choose my words I Lord, wherewith shall I woo them ? wherewith shall I win them ? O 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 : O how. thankful would I be if they would be prevailed with to repent and turn !
" But, Lord, how insufiicient am I for this work : I 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 Leviathan, or make the heart to feel that's hard as stone, hard as a piece of nether millstone ! Shall I go and lay my mouth to the ^rave, and look when the dettd will obey me and
8 An Invitation to Sinners
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 S'je ? From the beginning of the world was it not heard that a man opened the eyes of the blind ; but thou, O Lord, canst pierce the scales and prick the heart of the sinner : I can but shoot at rovers, and draw the bow at a venture, but do thou direct the arrow between the joints of the harness, kill the sin, and save the soul of a sinner that casts his eyes on these labours.'*
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 tjo you, nor dressing my dish with eloquence where- Vy'ith to please you ; these lines are upon a weighty errand indeed, namely, 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 Michaiahi that "always prophesies evil concerning him ?" I Kings xxii. 8. But how much *' better are the wounds of a friend than the fair speeches of an harlot whoflattereth, with her lips, till the dart strike through the liver, and hunteth for the precious life ?** FrGv,\i\. 21, 22,23 and vi. 16. If I were to quiet a crying infant, I night sing to him a pleasant song, and rock him asleep ! but when the child is fallen inio the fire, the parent takes another course i he will r-ot go to still him with a song or a 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 ipy work again recurs up*
To return to God. 9
on me, " Lord, choose my stones out of the brook,"'^ 1 Sam. xvii. 40, 45. "I come jn the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of IsraeV* 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 captives out of his hand :'* Lord, choose my words, choose my weapons for me ; and when I put my hand into the bag, and take 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 unconverted sinner, and smite him to the ground, with Saul in his so happy fall," Acts. ix. 4'. Thou hast sent me as Abraham did his servant, " to take a wife unto my master, thy Son,'* Gen. xxiv. 4. hutmy discouraged soul is ready to fear *' the woman will not be willing to follow me : O L©rcl God of my master, I pray thee send me good speed this day, and shew kindness to my master, and send thine angel before, 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 successful to bring Christ and the souls of my people together 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 persuade you to that which you do not understand ; and there- fore for your sakes I shall-shew what this Conversion is. Others do cherish secret hopes of mercy, though they continue as they are ; and for them I n-.ust shew the JVecesfiity of Conversion. Others are like to harden themselves v/ith a vain conceit that they are convert- ed already; unto them I must shew the marks of the Unconverted. Others>ecause they feel no harm, fear none, 'and so sleep on the top of the mast; to them I shall shew the miseries of the Unconverted. Others sit still, because they see not thiir way out ; to tliem I shall shew the Means of Conversion, And finally, for
10 Mistakes about Conversion.
the quickening of all) I shall close with the Motives of
Conversion.
CHAP. I.
Shewing in the J^egati-ue what Conversion is not, and ( correcting' some mistakes about it.
LET the blind Samaritans worship they know not what, ycAniv. 22. let the heathen Athenians %n- perscribs their altar, " Unto the unknown God," Jcta xvli. 23, they that know man*s constitution, and the nature of the human soul's operation, cannot but know that the understanding having the empire in the soul, he that will go rationally to work, muit labour to let in the light here. Now that I may cure the mistakes 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 nattare of conversion, both nega- tively, or what it is not ; and positively what it is. We will begin with the Negative. I. "It is not the taking upon us the profession of Christianity." Doubtless Christianity is mere than a name. If we will hear Paw/, it lies not in word, but in power, I Cor. iv. 20. If to cease to be Jrws and Pa- gans and to put on the Christian profession, had been true conversion, vvho lietter Christians than they o^Sar- dis and Laodicea ? These were all Christians by pro- fession, and had a name to live ; but because thf-y had but a name, are condemned by Christ, and threaten- ed to be spesvid out, i^cx;. iii. 1,16. Ar^, there not ma- ny that Hie tion the name of the Lord .IksuS; and yet depart not from iniquity ? 2 Tim.Yi. 19. and "profess they kno .V Go'l. but in works they deny him 1'* Titus i. I 6. And -vill God receive these for true converts, be- cause turned ^o the Christian religion? What! con- verts fro'n sin. when yet thev do live in sin ? it is vis- ible contradiction, burely if the lamp of profession
Mistakes ahout Conversiok. 1 1
V/Ouldhave served the turn, the foolih virgins had ne- ver been shut out Mat. xxv. 12. We find not only pro- fessors, but preachers of Christ, and "\vonder-v.ork- crs, turned off because evil-workers. Matt vii. 22, 23.
2. "It is not the being washed in the laver of rege- neration, or putting on the badge of Christ in bap- tism." Many take the press-money, and wear the liv- ery of Chkist, that yet never stand to their colors, nor follow their leader. Anncniasr and Scpphirc^ and Magufi, v;ere baptized as well as the rest.
Friends and brethren, " Be not deceived, God is not mocked," Gal ^l. 7. Whether it be your baptism, or whatever else that you pretend, I tell you from the living God, that if any of you be praycrless 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 selt-denying Christians, Heb. xii. 14. Matt. xvi. 24. you cannov be saved, except you be transformed by a further work upon you, and renewed again by repentance.
3. *• It lies not in a moral righteousness." This ex- ceeds not the righteousness of the Scribes and Phari- sees, and therefore cannot bring us to the kingdom of God, Matt. V. 20. Pow/ while unconverted, ** touching thw righteousness which is in the law was blam.e- less " Phil iii. 6. None could say, " black is thine eye." The self-justiciary could say, *' I am no extor- tioner, adulterer, unjust, kc. Luke yi\\\\. 11. Thou must have something more than all this to shew, or else however thou may est justify thyself, God will condemn thee. I condemn net morality, but warn you not to rest here ; piety includes morality, as Christianity 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 mtn 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. 2. and be ve- ry forward in the service of God. though cosily and exj)ensive, Imiah i. 1 1, and yet be strangers to Ccrz-
1^ Mistakes about Conversiok.
version. They must have more to plead for thera- selvesi than that they keep their churph, 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. xiii. 3.
5. ' II Wt'i not in the chainingup of corruption by education, numan laws, or the force of incumbent af- fliction.'* It is too common and easy to mistake edu- catioK for grace; but if this were enough, whoa bet- ter m:in that Jchoam ? While Sthoiadab his uncle liv- ed, 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, ai;id falls to idolatry.
6. In short, ' It consists not in illumination or con- viction, not in a superficial change or partial refor- mation." Felix may tremble under conviction. Acts xxiv, 25. and a Htrod amend many things, Mark vi. 20. It is one thing to have sin alarmed only by con- victions, and another to be captivated and crucified by converting grace. Many, because they have been troubled in conscience for their sins, think well of their case, miserably mistaking conviction for con- version : With these Cain might have passed for a convert, who ran up and down the world like a man distracted, under the rage of a guilty conscience, till with building and business he bad worn it away. Gen, iv. 1 3, 14. Others think, that because they have given over their riotous courses, and are broken off from evil company, or some particular lust, and i educed to sobriety and civility, they are now no other than reaJ converts : forgetting that there is a vast difference be- tween being sanctified and civilized : and that many- seek to enter ihto the kingdom of heaven, Luke xrii 24, and are not far from it," Mark xii. 34. and arrive to the a/mo5if of Christianity, ^c^s xxvi. 28. and yeifall short at last. Whiht conscience holds the whip over th'^tm, many will pray, hear, read, ai^d forbear their delightful
Mistakes about Convers i on. 1 o
sins ; but no sooner is the lion asleep, than they are at their vomit again. — Whomore religious than the Jews, when God's hand was upon them ; Psalm \y.y.\m. 34, 35. yet no sooner was the affliction over, but they for- got God, and shewed their religion to be a fit, ver. 36, 37. Thou mayest have disgorged a troublesome sin, that will not sit easy on thy stomach, and yet not have changed thy swinish nature all the while.
You may cast the lead out of the rude mass into the more comely proportion of a 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 diverse transmutations, from igno- rance to knowledge, from profaneness to civility, 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 would live, so come and hear," Zsa.lv. 3. Why would you so willingly deceive yourselves, orbuild yourhopcis upon the sand ? I know he shall find hard work of it th::l goes to pluck away your hopes ; it cannot but be uii- gro.teful 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 trcnib- ling hand. But understand me, brethren, I am only takmg down the ruinous house (which will otherwise speedily fall of itself, and bury you in the rubbish) that I may build it fair, firtn and strong for ever. "The hope of the hypocrite shall perish,'* Prov. xi. 7. if God be true to his word. And hadst not thou better, O sinner, to let the v/ord convince thee now in time, and let go tl\y false and seir-deluding hopes, than have death too h",t(i to open bhine eyes, and find thyself in hell 1 e'.ore iho»i art aware ? I sh^^uld be a false and faithless shepherd, if i could not tell you, that you, who h-ave built your hopes upon no better ground than these before menticnec!, are y^t in your sins. Let 70ur conscience speak ; what is it the!' you have to plead for yourselves ! Is it that yon wearCHRisT's livery? thatyou bearhisname? t!;at vou ars of the visible church ? that you have knowledge ii-i B
14 Mistakes about Conversion.
the poin'sof religion,arecivilized. perform reiigiousdu- - urs,are just in your dealings, have been troubled in con- science for your sins ? - 1 tell you from the Lord, these pleas vill never be accepted at God's bar ; all this, lhoup;li good in itself, will not prove you convened and so will not suffice to your salvation. O! Look about you, andbothinkyoursclvesofreturning speedily and sound- ly. Set to praying, and to reading, and studying your own hearts : rest not till God hath made thorough work %viihyou; for ye must be other men, or else are lost men. But iftljesebe short of conversion, what shull I say of the prophane sinner? It-may be. he will scarce cast his eye or lend his ear to this discourse 1 but if there be any such reading, or within hearing, he must know from the LoHD 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 gluiton appear ? May a man keep company with the wise virgins, and yet be shut out; shall not " a companion of fools much more be destroyed ? Prov. xiii. 20. May a man be true and just in his dealings, and yet not be justified of God ! whii: then will become of thee, O wretched man, ■whose conscience tells thee thou art false in thy trade, and false tO/ 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 cf you, O mise- rable families, that live without God in the world ? and of you. O wretched sinners, with whom God is scan e in all your thoughts ; that are so ignorant that ycu cannot, or so careless that yo\i will not pray ? O repent and be converted; ''break off your sins by righteous- ness," away to Christ for pardoning and renewing *jrace ; give un yourselves to him, to walk with him in holiness ; or else you shall never see God. O that you would take the warnings of God! In his name I once more admonish you : '• Turn you at my reproof," Prov. i. 23. "Forsake the foolish, and live," Prov. \x 6. "Be sober, righteous, godly." 77^ ii. 12. "Wash yQ\ix hands, ye sinners ; purify your hearts, ye dou-
The Nature ^Conversion. 15 n
ble-minded/* James iv. 8. "Cease to do evil, learn to do well,** Isa. i 1 6, 1 7. " But if you will ijo on, you must die,'* Ezek. xxxiii. 1 1 .
CHAP. IT.
Shelving fiositivcly what Confersion is,
T MAY not leave you with your eyes half open, as he X " that saw men as trees walking : " Mark viii. 24. The word is, ''profitable for dociiine as well as reproof,'* 2 Ti?n. iii. 16. And therefore, bavins^ thu;i far conducted you by the shelves and rocks of so nvany dangerous mistakes, I would guide you at length into the harbour of truth.
Conversion then, in short, lies in the thorough change both of the heart and life : I shall briefly des- cribe it in ils nature and causes.
I. "The author is the Spiiit of God :'* and therefore it is called th'e sanctification of the Spirit," 2"'rhess. ii. 13, and ''the renewing of the Holy Ghost," Tii.'ui. 5. yet not excluding the other persons in the Trinity ; for the Apostle leacheth 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 " repen- tance unto Israel,** ^cts. v. 31. and is called '• ihe Ev- erlasting Father,'* /*a.ix. 6. and we his seed, and "the children which God hath given him,'* Hc5. ii. 1 3. Isa, liii. 10. O blessed birth, the whole Triniiy fathers the new creature ; yet this work is principally asci ibed to the Holy Ghost, and so we are suid to be '• bo!n 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 man, but of God,** Joh7i i. 1 3. Never think thou canst con- vert thyself; ifever thou wouldst be savingly converted, thou must despair of doing it in thy own strength. It is a ressurrection from the dead, Rev. xx. 5. Efihea. ii. 1. a new creation, Gal, vi. 15. Ejihes. ii. 10. a work of absolute omnipotence, -£y^//f.9. i. 19. Are these out of the reach of human power? If thou hast no more than thou hadslby the first birih,a good natui;e,a jn^'^^V
16 The nature of CosYBRsio^.
and chaste temper, &c. ihou art a very stranger to true conversion : this is a supernatural work.
2. "The moving cause is internal and external. The internal mover is only free grace." Not by works of righteousness which we have doncjbut of his own mercy he saved us, and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost," Tiiusin. 5. " Of his own will begat he us," ^awf^i. 18. We are chosen and called unto sanctificaiion. Eph. i. 4.
How affectionately doth Feter lift up his hands ! " B!es':,-^d be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who of i)is abundant mercy haih begotten us again," 1 Pet. i. 3. How feelinp^ly doth Paul magnify the free mercy of God in it ! " God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he lovedu5,hath quickened us together w ith CiinisT : by grace ye are saved ;" Ej.hcs. ii. 4, 5.
*' The external n^.over is the merit and intercession of the blessed Jesus." " He hath obtained gifts for the rebellious." PW/w Ixviii. 18. and through him it is .that God worketh in usr what is well-pleasing in his vight, Heb. xiii. 21. Through him arc all spiritual blessings bestowed upon us in heavenly things, ii/?Af5. i. 3, He interceded for them that believed not, John xvii. 20. Every convert is the fruit of his travail, Isa. •iiii. 11. O never was infant born into the world wiih tJiat difficulty that Christ endured for us ! How em- phatically he groaned in his travail ! All the pains that he suffered on his cross, they were our birth-pains. Acts ii. 2 i " ordinas'* the pulls and threes that Christ en- dured for us. He is made sanctification to us, i Cor. i. 30. He sanctified himself, (that is. set apart him- self as a sacrifice) that we may be sanctified. John xvii. 19. We are sanctified '* through the oUcring of his body once for all," Htb. x. '0,
3. ''The instrument is either personal or real." The personal is the ministry. ** I have begotten you ImChrist through the gospel," \Cor.i\. 15. Christ's ministers are they that are sent to open men*s eyes, and to turn them to God, Acts xxvi. 18
" The instrument real is the word." We were begot- ten by the word of truth : this is it that enlightens the eye, that converteth the soul,P.sa/m xix. 7. 8. that m.ak- eihwisc tosalvalion; 2 Tlm.in. 15. This is the incorriip-
The Nature r/' Conversion. 1?
tible seed by which we are born again, Pet. i. 23. \i we are washed, it is by the word, Efihea. v. 26. If we are sanctified it is through the truth, John xvii. 17. Tliis generates faith, and regenerates us, Rorn, x. 17. James \. 18.
O ye saint?, how should ye love the word ! for by tliis ye have been converted. O ye sinners, how should ye ply the word I for Uy this you must be converted ; no other ordinary means but this. You that have felt its re- newing power,make much of it while you live,be forever thankful for it; tie it about, your necks, write it upon your hands, lay it in your bosoms, -Proi;. vi. 21,22. When you golelitlead you; when you sleep let itkeep you; when you wake, let it talk wiih you. Say with iioly David '•! will never forget thy precepts, for with them thou hast quickened me." Faalm cxix. 93. You that are unconverted, read the word wiih diligence, flock to it where powerfully [ireached, fill the porches as the multitude of the impotent, bUnd, hah, withered, wailing for the moving of the water, John v. 3. Pray for the coming of the spirit in the word : Come off thy knees to the Sermon, and come io thy knees from the Ser- mon. The seed doth net prosper, because not water- ed by prayers and tears, nor covered by meditation.
4. ''The final cause is man's salvation, and God's glory.** We arechoscn through sanctification to salva- tion, 2 7/K'.s.<f.ii. IS. called that we might be glorified, Rom. viii. 30. but especially that God njight be glori- fied, I&a. Ix. 21. that we should shew forth his pmise, 1 I^e'. ii. 9. and be fruitful in good works. Col. i. 10. O Christian ! do not forget the end of thy calling ; let thy light sliine, Matt. v. 16. let^thy lamp bum. let thy fruits be good, and many, and in season, /^6i^/w i. 3. let all thy designs fall in with God's, that he may be magnified in thee, Phil. i. 10.
5. "The subject is the true believer, and that in all his parts and powers, members and mind." Conver- sion is no repairing of the old building : but it takes all down and erects a new structure. It is not the putting in a p?.tch, or sewing on a list of hcliness : but, with the true convert; hcliness is woven in iill his powers,
■ ' B 2 .
1 3 The Nature of Conversion .
principles, and practice. The sincere Chrisiian is quite a new fabrick, from the foundation to the top stone all new. He is a new man, Jbyphcs. iv. 24 a new creature. " All things are become new," 2 Cor. v. 17. Conver- sion is a deep work, a heart work, Jets 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 motions of the whole life.
1. '* Throughout the mind." It makes an universal change within. Fiiat it turns the balance of the judg- ment, so that God and his glory do weigh down all carnal and worldly interest, jicts xx. 24. Phil. i. 20. Psalm Jxxiii. 25. It opens the eye of the mind, and makes the scales of its native ignorance to fall off, and " turns men from darkness to light," ^7c;* xxvi. 18. Ephes'm. 8. I Pet. ii. 2. The man that before saw no danger in his 'ondilion, now concludes himself lost, and forever un- done, ./:/c^5ii. 37. except renev/ed by the power of grace. He that formerly thought there was little hurt in sin, now comes to see it to be the chief of evils : he sees the unreasonablcnes, the unrighteousness, the deforn iiy und filtliiness that is in sin, so that he is afiVighted with it, loathes it, dreads it, flees it, and even abhors himself ibr it, Rom. vii. 18. Job xlii. 6. JLzck. xxxvi. 31.
Now, according to this new light, the man is of ano- ther mind, another judgmeiu than before he was : now God is all with him, lie hath none " in heaven or on earth like him," Psalm Ixxiii. 2 5. He prefers him truly be- fore all the world ; his favour is his life, the ligiu of his countenance is more than corn,or wine and oil, the good ihat formerly he enquired after," and set his heart upcn, Psalm iv. 6,7. This is the convenes voice ; "The Lord is my portion, saiih my soul ; whom have I in heaven but thee ? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. Gcd is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever," -/-"iaMi Ixxiii. 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 al- lered," -£z6;t. xxxvi. 26. /cr. xxvi 33. Zsa. xxvi. 8,9. Now the man hath new ends and designs : now he in*
The Nature of Cox\ eroIOx. 1 ?.
tends God above all, and desires and des«igns nciiiing in all the world so much as that Chiisi may be n agni- . Tied in him, Phil i. 20. He counis himself more happy in this, than in all that the earth couid yield, tlK\t ho may he serviceable to Christ, and bring him glory in his t^eneraiion. This is the mark he aims at, tliat the name of Jesus may be great in the world; and that all the sheaves of his brethren may bow to his sheaf, Gen. xxxvii. 7.
Reader. Dost thou view this, and never ask thyself, whether it be thus with thee ? Pauhe a while, and breathe on this great concernment.
2. *' The choice is also changed)" so that he choos- eth another way, P^a//;i cxix. 15. He pitcheth iipow God as his blessedness, and upon Christ as the princi- pal, and holiness, as the subordinate means to bring him to God, John xiv. 6. l-ir.m. ii. 7 He choosclh Jesus foi* his Lord, Co/, ii. 6. lie is not merely forced into Christ by the storm, nor dolh he take Christ for bare neces- sity ; but he deliberately resolves that Christ is his best choice, jP////. i. 2,S. and would rallier have himtochoosc than all the good of this world, might he enjoy it while he would. Agipin, he takes holiness for his path ; he doth not of mere necessity submit to it, but he likes and loves it. ''I have chosen the way of thy precepts,** Psalmcx'ix. 173. He takes God's testimonies, not as his bondage, but as his heritage, yea, heritage for ever, vcr. III. He counts them not his burden but his bliss ; not his cords but his cordials, 1 Johnv. 3. Psalm cxix. 14, 16, 17. He doth not only bear, but takes up Christ's yoke. He takes not holiness as the stomach doth the loathed potion, which it will down with rather than die, but as the hungry doth his beloved food. No lime passes so sweetly with him as that he spends in the ex- ercise of holiness ; these are both his aliment and el- ement, the desire of his eyes and the joy of his heart, ./b6xxiii 12 Psc/w cxix. 82. 1 1 1 162.174 and Ixxiii. 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, " It turns the bent of his affection," 2 Cor. \\u U. These run all in a new channel : the Jordan
20 The XaUire <2/^ Conversion.
is no'.v driven back, and the water runs upward, rgainst its iiaiural course.
Chri:>Ubhis/;:v''/f, I Tii.i.'i. I. \.\n^\s\\\s firize^ Fhii- \\\ 8. here his ej-c is. here his heart is. .lie is con- tented to ca-u ail overboard (as the merchant in the btoini ready to perish) so he may but keep this Jewel.
The first of iiis desires is not after gold, but grace, Phil. iii. 13. He hungers after it, he seeks it as silver, he digs ^KiY it as for a hid treasure ; he had rather be gracious than be great ; he had rather be the holiest nv.m on earth, than the most learned, the most famous, thw* most prosperous. While carnal, he said, (> 1 if I were but in great esteen», and rolled in wealth, and swimmed in pleasure: if my debts were paid, and, I and mine provided for, then I were a happy Hian. Ikit now the tone is changed. O ! saith the convert, if I had but my corruption subdued, if I had such mea- sures of grace, such fellowship with God, though I were poor and despised, I should not care, I should account myself a blessed m^n. Reader, is this the language of thy soul ?
Wis joys are changed. He rejoiceth in the ways of God's testimonies, as much as in all riches Psalvi cxix. 14. He ''delights in the law of the Lord;" he haili 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 setforthe world, and any scraps of by-time were enough for his soul. Now '' he gives over caring for the asses,'* and sets his heart upon the kingdom ; now all the cry is, " What shall 1 do to be saved ?" ^cts xvi. 30. His great solicitude is how to secure his so«l : O how he would bless you, if you could put him out of doubt of this 1
His fears take another turn, Heb. xi. 25,27. Once he was afraid of nothing so much as the loss of his es- tate or esteem, the pleasure of friends, or the frowns of the great; nothing sounded so terrible to him, as pain, or poverty, or disgrace : now these are little to him in com- parison of God's dishonour or displeasure. How warily doth he walk lest he should tread upon a snare! He fear- elh always he looks bsfore and behind j he h:ilh his eye
T/ie lYatureofCojuviE.'RSio^. Ql
upon his heart, and is often casting it over his shoulder, lest he should be overtaken with sin, P.sc///? xxxix 1. Prov. xxviii. 14. Eccla^. ii 14. Il kills his heart to think of losinjj God's favour, this he drends as his only- undoing, Pi-a/m li, 11. 12. and cxix 8. No thought in the world doth pinch him and pain him so much, as to think of parting with Christ.
His/ore runs a new course. " My love was crucified," saith Ignatius ; that is, my Christ. ^'This is my belov- ed," saiih the spouse, Cart v 1 6. How doth Augustine often pour out his love upon Christ ? •' O eternal bles- sedness' ^C' He can find no words sweet enough :
*'Letme see thee, O lightof mine eyes? Come O thou joy of my spirit ! Let me behold thee, O life of my soul ! Appear unto me, O my great delight, my sweet com- fort; O my God my life, and the whole glory of my soul ! Let me find thee, O desire of my heart I Let me hold thee. O love of my soul ! Let mc embrace thee, O heavenly bridegroom ! Let me possess thee."
His sorrows have now a new vent, 2 Cor. vii 9, 10. 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 /^a^rff/ boils, his anger burns against sin, Fsa!. cxix. 104. He calls himself fool, and tlunks any name too good for himself, when his indignation is stirred up agidnst sin. Pi,alm Ixxiii. 22, Prov xxx. 2.
*'Ct>mmune then with thy own htart," 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 cou/ motions of the affections and sensitive parts arc often fount! in hypocrites, especially where the natural inclination leads thereunto: and contrary-wise, the sancuficd them- selves are many times without very sf-nsible sti) ling of the afl'ections, where the temper is more slow, dry, and dull. The great enquiry is whether the juc'gmpnt and will be steadily determined fc-r God, ahove all other good, real or apparent ; and if the affections do sin- cerely follow their choice anfl conduct. thonp:h it be not so strongly and sensibly as is to be desired, there is no doubt but the change is saving.
^2! The Nature <2/" Conversion".
2. " Throughout the members.'* Those that were before the instruments of sin, are now become the holy utensils of Christ's living temple, Rovi. vi. 16 1 Cxir. iii. 16. The eye that was once a wandering eye, a wanton eye, an haughty, covetous eye< is now employ- ed as Mary*s in weeping over its sins. Luke vii. 38. in beholding God in his works, P&alm viii. 3. in reading his word, Acts viii SO. in looking up and down for objects 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 fil- thy, or at least frothy talk, and the fools laughter, is now bored to the door of Christ's house, and open to discipline: itsaith, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant hear- cth ;" 2nd waits for his words as the rain, and rclishtth them more than the appointed food, JoA xxxiii. 12, " than the honey and the honey comb," Psalm xix 10.
The head that was the shop of worldly designs, is now filled v/iih other matters, and set on the study of God's will, Psalm\. 2. and cxix. 97. The thoughts and cares that fill it, are principally how he may please God and flee sin.
His /j(?arr,that was full of filthy lusts, is now become an altar of incense, where the fire of divine love is ever kept in ; and v/hence the daily sacrifice cf prayer and praise, and the sweet incense of holy desires, ejacyla^ tions and aspirations, are continually ascending^ P&alm eviii. 1. and cxix. 20. and cxxxix. 17,18,
The mouth is become a well of life, his tongue as choice silver, and his li/is feed many, now the salt of grace hath seasoned his speech, and eat out the cor- ruption, Col. iv. 6. and cleansed the mouth from its filthy communication, flattery, boasting, lying, swear- ing, backbiting, that once cam.e like flashes from the hell that was in the heart, James iii. 6,7.
The ^//roa;, that was once "an open sepulchre," i?ow. iii. 13. now sends forth the sweet breath of prayer and holy discourse, and the man speaks in another tongue, in the lan;<uage of Canaan^ and is never so well as when talking of God and Christ, and the matters of another world. His mouth biingcth wisdom, his tongue is be-
The Nature o/* Conversion. ^3
come *he silver trumpet of his Maker's praise, his glory, and the best member 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. 2f fuH of unmortified cares, a very oven of lust, a shop of pride, the seat of malice. It may be with J^tbuchadnezzar's image, he hath a golden head^Tn great deal of knowledge : but he hath feet of clay^ his affec- tions are worldly, he minds worldly 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.
3. " Throughout the motions or the life and prac- tice." The new man takes a new course, -£//: ii 2, 3. " his conversation is in heaven," Fhil. iii- 20. No sooner doth he obey the call of Christ, but he straight- way becomes a follower of him. Mutt. iv. 20. When God hath given the new heart, and wrote his law in his mind, he forthwith walks in his statutes, and keeps his judgments, -^z<"A:. xxxvi. 26.27.
Though sin may be in him, yet it "hath no more dominion over him," Horn \\. 7,14, he "hath his fruit unto holiness," chafi. vi. 22. And the lav/ of life, and Jesus, is what he eyes as his copy, Pf,alm cxix. 30. Hed. xii. 2. and he hath an unfeigned respect for all God's commandments, making conscience even of little sins and little duties. Psahn cxix. I 13. His very in- firmities are his soul's burden, and arc like the dust in a man's eye, which though but little, yet is not a little troublesome. (O man ! Dost thou read this, and never turn it 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 ne- glect ** merry and judgment, and the weightier matters of the law ; he doth not pretend piety and neglect mc- rality, ATatt. ixxiii. 1 4. but he turneth from all his sirs, and keeps all God's statutes, /izfA'. xviii. 2 I not aliov ^ in^ himself in the breach of any, Rom. vii. 15. Noy^^
^4 T/ie iVat7ire ^^CosvBiisioyi.
he delii^hts in the word, and sets himself to prayer, and opens his hand and drawsout his soul toi he hungry, -Row?, vii. 22. FsalmciK. 4:. Zsa. Iviii. 10. " Pic breakelh oft' his sins by righteousness, and his ii.iquiiies by shewing raercy to the poor,"i>a;:. iv. 27. and hath a good con- science,willing in all things to live honestly, "//(?Z>xiii. 13 18. and to keep without otVence towards God and man.
Here again you find the unsoundness of many profes- sors,that take themselves for good Christians : they are partial in the laM',3/fl/. ii. 9. and take up with the cheap and easy du'ies of religion, but go not through with the work. They are as a cake not turned. It may he you sh^ll have them exact in their words, punctual in their dealings, but then they do not exercise themselves unto godliness, and for examining themselves, and govern- ing their hearts, to this they are strangers. You may have them duly at church, but follow them to their fam- ilies, and there you shall see liltle but the world minded ; or if they have a road for family duties, follow them to tlieir closeti--, and there you sliall find their souls are little looked after. It may be they seem otherwise re- ligious, but bridle not their tongues, and so all their re- ligion is vain. Jair.es 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. Thus the hypo- crite goes throughout in the course of his obedience. And thus*, much for the subject of Cor-oevfion.
6. '"The terms are eithery'rom ivhichyov to which.^*
1. "The terms from which we turn in this motion of Converbion, are sin, Satan, the world, and our own righteousness.
First, Sin. When a man is converted he is forever out with sin ; yea, with all sin, P,^alm cxix. 128. But most of all with .his own sins, and especially with his bosom sin. Psalm xviii. 2 3. Sin is now the butt of his indignation, 2 Ccr. vii. 1 1 . he thirsts to bathe his hands in the blood of liis sins. His sins set his sorrows abroach : if God should give him his .hoice, he would choose any affliction so he might be rid of sin. . Before conversion he had light thoughts of i;in ; he
The Nature c/' Conversion. ^5
cherished it in his bosom, as Uriah his Iamb; " he nou- rished it up, and it grew up together with him ; it did eat as it were his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. But when God opens hi§ eyes by conversion, he throws it away with abhorrence, laaiah xxx. 22. When a man is savingly changed, he is not only deeply con- vinced of the danger, but defilement of sin ; and O, how earnest is -he with God to be purified 1 He loathes iiim- self for his sins, Eztk. xxxvi. 31. He runs to Christ, and ''casts himself into the fountain for sin and for un- cleanness,'* Ztch. xiii. 1.
The sound convert is heartily engaged against sin, he struggles with it. he wars against it ; he will never yield the cause, nor L^y down his weapons, but he will up and to it again, while he has breath in his body. He can forgive his other enemicii: 1*: can pity them and pray for them, ylrts vii. 60 but here he is implacable, here he is set upon revenge : his eye shall not pity, his hand shall not spare, though it be a right 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 away his gain, sec his credit fall, or the flov^'er of pleasure wither in his hand, than he will allow himself in any known way of sin, Luke xix. 8. He will grant no indulgence, he will give no tolerf^tion, he draws upon sin wherever he me;gts it, and frowns upon it with this unwelcome salute, " Have I found thee, O mipe enemy ?"
Reader, hath conscience been at work whilst thou hast been looking over these lines ; Hast thou pondered these things in thy heart ? Hast thou searched the book Tjithin^ 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.
Hast thou '' crucified thy flesh, with its affertions and lusts;" and not only confessed, but forsaken, ihy sius ? All sin in thy desires, and t!ie practice of every deliberate and wilful sin in thy life I If not, thou art yet unconverted
Secondly, Satan. Conversion " binds the strong man^ C
'^6 The Nature o/* Conversion.
spoils him of his armour, casts out his p^oods, and turns men from the power of Satun unto God,'* ^cr* xxvi. 18. Before, the devil could no sooner hold up his finger to the sinner to call him to liis wicked company, sinful games fihlu- delights, but prrsenily he followed, " Like in ox to the slaughter, and a fooJ to the correction of the stocks, ub u bird that hastcth lo the prey, and knoweth not that it is for his life.'* But when he is converted, he serves another master, and takes quite another course, 1 Pet. iv. 4. he goes and comes at Christ's beck, Coi. iii. 2i-. He watches against the snares and baits 'of Satan, and studies to b2 acquainted with his devices : He is very suspicious of his plots, and is very jealous of what comes athwart him, lest Satan should have some design upon him : He " \t res- iles agdnst principalities and powers," £/.h vi. 12. he entertains the messenger of Satan as men do the mes- sengtir of death ; he keeps his eye upon his enemy, I Pet. V. 8. and watches in his duties lest Satan should put in his. foot.
Thirdly, T/i:; ivorld. Before a sound faiih, a man is overcome of the world : either he bows down to mam- mon, or idolizes his reputation, or is a "lover of pleas- ure more than a lover of GoJ," 2 Tim. iii. 4. Here is the root of man's misery by the fall, he is turned aside to the creature instead of God, and gives that esteem, con- fidence, and affection to the creature, that is due to him alone, Rom. i. 25. Matt. x. 37. Prov. xviii. W.Jerem, XV ii. 5.
But converting gr;ice sets all in order again, and puts God on the throne, and the world his footstool, Pmaim Ixxiii. 25. Christ in the heart, and the world under the feet, ^M- iii. 17. Rev xii. 1. So Paul, '• 1 am crucified to the world and the world to me," Gal. vi. 14. Be- fore this change, all the cry was, ''Who will shew us any woil ily good?" But now he sings another tune. Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me," and lot who will take the corn and wine, Psalm iv. 6 7. Before, his heart's delight and content w^s in the world ; then the song was, " Soul, take thine ease ; eat, drink, and be m^erryi thou hast much ^oods lai^
Hie Nature ^CoNVERsiOiT. QH,
lip for many years :" But now all this is withered, anc], "there is no comeliness that he should -'esire it *' and he tunes up with the sweet Psalmist c'i hvacl, '' The Lord is the portion of mv inheritance : The lines are fallen to me in a fair place, and I have a j^oodly heritJ^ge." He blcaseth himself and boasieth himself in God, Psalm xxxiv. 2 Lam.ni. 24. Nothin:>elsc can give him con- tent. He hath written T'cmV?/ cnrf T'rj:a/'z6?z upon all his worldly enjoyments, Eccles. \. 2. and loss^vAcIurg up- on all human excellencies. Phil. X\\ 7, 8. He hath life and immortality now in cliace, Bom. ii. 7. He pursues grace and glory, and hath an incoriuptiblc crown in pursuit, 1 ''Cor. ix. 25. His heart is set in him to seek the Lord, I CAroTZ. xxii. 9. and 2 CAron. xv, 15. He "first seeks the kingdom of heaven and the righteous- ness thereof ;" and religion is no longer a matter by the by with him, but the main of his care, Matt. vi. 33. Psalm xxvii. 4.
Well then, pause a little, and look within : Doth net this nearly concern thee ? Thou prctendest for Christ, but doth not the world swny thee ? Dost not thou take more real delight and content in the world, ihr.n in him ? Dost tliou not find thyself belter at ea*;e when the world goes to tliy mind, and thou art encom.prissed with car- nal delights than when retired to prayer and medita- tion in thy closet, or attending upon God's word and worsl-np ! No surer evidence of an unconverted state, than to have the things of the world uppermost in our aim, love, and est»»nation, Jq/iu ii, 15. Ja?nes iv. 4.
With the sound convert, Christ hath the supremacy. How dear is his name to him ! How precious is his favour! Cant.i. 3. Psalm \\y. 8 — The name of Jesus is engraven upon his heart, Gal. iv. 19. and lies as a 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 once Christ is savingly revealed. Here is the pearl of great price to the true convert, here is his treasure, here is his hope, Matt. xiii. 44, 45. This is his glory, "My beloved is mine; and I am his,*' Ga/. vi. 14. Cant.u,
r28 77^6* Xaiure (/Conversion.
J 6. O, it is sweeter to him to be able to say, Clirist is mine, than if he could say, The kingdom is mine. The Indies are mine.
Fourthly, Your oivii righteou&ness. Before conversion man seeks to cover himself with his own fig-leaves, Phil. iii. 6, 7. and to make himself whole with his own duties, Alic. vi. 6, 7. He is apt to trust in himself, Luke xvi. 15. and xviii 9. and set up his own righteousness, ;ind to rer! on his .counters for gold, and not submit to the righteousness of God, Rovi. x. 3. But conversion changes his mind, now he casts away his ow:n righteous- ness as a filthy rag, Isa. xliv, 6. Now he is brought to poverty of spirit, Alatt.v, 3. 'complains of, and con- demns himsclf,i?om. vii. and all his inventory by nature is " poor, and miserable, and wretched, and blind, and naked,'* x?6x'. iii. 17. He sees a world of iniquity in his holy things, and calls his once idolized righteousness but filth and dross, and would not for a thousand worlds i)e found in himself. Phil. iii. 4. 7, 8, 9. His finger is ever upon his sores, Psalm li. 3. his sins, his wants. Now he begins to set a high price upon Christ's rignt- coirsncss ; he ^ees the need of a Chiist in every duly to justify both his person and periormflnccs : he cannot live without him ; he cannot pray without him ; Christ must go v/ith him, or else he cannot come into the pres- ence 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 undone man without him ; his life is hid and grows in Christ, as the root ?f a tree spreads in the eanii for stability and nutriment. Before, the news of Christ was a stale and sapless thing; but now how^ sweet is Christ ! The voice cf the convert is, with the martyr, *' Nope but Christ.*'
The terms to which we turn are,
Is/, To God the Father, Son. and Holy Ghost.
2£.7i/, To the laws, ordinances, end ways of Christ.
A man is never truly justified, 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's heart: "Thou art my p' rtion." Ps^alm cxix. 57, " My soul shall mal^e her boast in the Lord,"
The Nature ^Conversion. 29
Psalm xxxvi. 2. " My expectation is from him ; he on- ly 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/' /^w/m Ixii. 1,2,5,7, 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 doth the content of thy heart lie ? Whence doth thy choicest comfort come in. Come then, and with Jbraham^ " lift up thine eyes eastward and westward, and northwc. '«! and southward,'* and cast about thee. What is it that thou wouldest have in heaven, or en earth, to make thee happy? If God should give thee thy choice, as he did to Solomon^ or should say to thee, as ^/lasuerus to Esther^ " What is thy petition, and what is thy request, and it shall be granted thee?" Esther \. 3. What wouldest thou ask ? Go into the gardens of pleasure, and gather all fragrant flowers from thence, would these content thee ? Go to the treasures of Mammon, suppose thou mighlest lade thyself as heavy as thou wouldst from thence : Go to the towers, to the trophies of hon- our ; what thinkest thou of being a man of renown, and having a name like the name of the great men of the earth ? Would any of these, would all these suffice thee, and make thee count thyself an 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 liiding of his power, the depth unfath- omable of his all-sufficiency ; doth this suit tliee best, and please the most ? Dost thou say " It is good to be here?" Mutt. xvii. 4. "Here will I pitch, here will I live and die." Wilt thou let all the world go rather than this ? Then it is 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 Dmst needs be happy ; for thou hast vouched the Lord to be thy God, Devj. xxvi. 17. Dost thou say to Christ, as he to us, ''Thy f\ither shall be my Father, and thy God h^ my God?" t/j/m xiv. 7. Here is the turning point. C 2
50 The Nature cf Co-s\ii.K^io:s,
An unsound professor never takes up his rest in God, but convening gcace does the work, and so cures the fatal misery of the fall, by turning the heart from its idol to the living God, ! Thefm. i. 9. Now, says the soul, ''Lord whither shall I go I Thou bust the words of eternal life." John vi. 68. Here he centers, here he settles ; O, it is the entrance of heaven to him to see his interest in God. When he discovers this, he saith, " Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee,'* Pmbn cxvi. 7. And is •veil ready to breathe out Simeon* s song, " Lord, now * Ltest thou thy servant depart in peace," Zz.-^^ ii. 29. and saith with Jacobs when his old heart revived st the welcome tidings, "It is enough," Gm. xlv. 28. When }ie seeth that he hath a God in covenant to go to. "this is ail his salvation, and all his desire," Sam xxiii. 5.
Man, is this thy case? hast thou experienced this? Avhy 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 tliis.
The true convert turns to Jesus Christ the only me- diator between God and man, 1 Tim. ii. 5. His work is 10 bring us to God, 1 Pet. iii. 18. He is the way to the lc-d\\\e,\'^Jolin xiv. 6. the only plank on which we may escape, the only door by which we may enter, Johnyi, 9. as the only means of life, as the only way, the only name given under heaven, Acts iv. 12. He looks not for sal- vation in any other but him, nor in any other with him : but tiirows himself on Christ alone, as one that should cast hiniself with arms spread out upon the sea. ^ "Here, saith the convinced sinner, I will vlsnture; and if I perish, I perish ; if I die, I will die here. But Lord, suffer me not to perish under the pitiful eye of thy i^iercy. — Intreat me not to leave thec; or to turn away from following after thee,*'"i^wM i. 16. Here I ^idll thro\7 myself: if thou kick me, if thou, kill me, I will not go from thy door. Job xiii. 17.
Thi^s the poor soul doth ventiu'e on Christ, and re- -solvedly adhere to him. Before conversion the man made light of Christ j minded his farm; friends, mer-
The Nature ^ Conversion. 3i
cliaiulise, more than Christ, ISlatt. xxii. 5. nov/ Christ is to him as his necessary food, his diiiy bread, ilie life of his heart, the staff of his life. Gal. ii 20. His great design is, that Christ may be mi'gnified in him, Phil i. 20. His heart ones said, as they to the spouse, '* What is thy beloved more than another?'* Cant. v. 9. He found more sweetness in his merry company, wicked games, and earthly delights, than in Christ. He took religion for a fancy, and th.e talk of great enjoyments for an idle dream ; but now " to him to live is Clirist." He sets light by all that he accounted precious, "for the excellency of the knowledge ofChiist," Phil. iii. 8.
All of Christ is accepted by the sincere convert ; he loves net only the wages, but the work of 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 the cross of Christ, Matt. xi. 9. and xvi. 24.
The unsound co.nvei't closes only by halves with Christ: he is all for the salvation of Christ, but he is not for sanctiiication ; he is for the privileges, but va- lues not the person of Christ : he divides the offices and benefits of Christ. This is an error in the foundation : Who 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 Jcsus in sincerity,'* Ephes. vi. 24. They will not have him as God offers, ^*to be a Prince and a Saviour," .fc^s 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 di- vide it here. Every man's vote is for s.tlvation from suffering but they desire not to be saved from sinning: they would have their lives saved, but withal would have their lusts. Vea, many divide here again ; they would be content to have some of their sins destroyed, but they cannot leave the lap of Delilah^ or divorce the beloved Herodias. They cannot be cruel to the ri^ht eye or right hand ; the " Lord must pardon them io this thing, 2 Kings v. 18,
3.3 The XaUirc of Conversion.
O be infiiutely tender here, your souls lie upon it. Tlie sound convert takes a whole Christ, and takes him for all intents and purposes, without exceptions, without limitations, without reserves. lie is willing to have Christ upon his own terms, upon any terms. He is willing to have the dominion oiChri'.i as well as deliv- erance by C'lrist. He saith with Paul, "Lord, what w'ilt thou have me to do?' ytcts ix. 6. any thint^. Lord: He sends a blank to Christ to set down his conditions, ^■Icta ii. 37. and xvi. 30.
. 2{lly, He turns to the laws, ordinances, and ways of Christ. The heart that was once set against these, and' couhl not endure the strictness of these bonds, the sever- ity of these ways, now falls in love with them, and chti- ses them as its rule and guide forever, Pmlni cxix 1 1 L, il2.
Four things, I observe, God doth \vork 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 therefore keep your eyes upon you.r hearts as you go along.
1st. "• The judgment is brought to approve of them, and sub^-.cribe to them as most righteous and most rcas- ©nable,'* Psalm cxix. I 12, 128, 137, 138. The mind is brought to like the ways of God ; and the corrupt pre- judices that were once against them, as unreasonable^ and intolerable, are now removed : the understanding * ' assents to them, all, as " holy, just and good," Rom. vii. 2. How is D wid taken up with the excellencies of God's laws I How doth he expatiate in their praise, both from their inherent qualities and admirable effects t Psalm xix. 8, 10. Sec.
2dly, " The desire of the heart is to know the whole mind of Christ," Psahn cxix. 124, 125, 169, and xxv. 4, 5. He would not have one sin undiscoveredy nor be ig- norant of one duty required. It is the natural and ear- nest breathing of a sanctified heart, "Lord, if there be any way of wickedness in me, do thou discover it— • What i know not, teach thou me ; and if I have done iniquity I will do it no more." The unsound convert is
The Nature of Conversion. 3S
Ayillir.g;ly ignorant, 2 Pet. iii. 5. loves not to come to the Ifght, »/b/m iii. 20 He is willing to keep such or such a sin, and therefore is loth to know it to be sin, and will not let in the light at that window. Now the gracious heart is willing to know the whole latitude and compass of his Maker's law, >P«a/mcxix. 18, 19,27,33,64,66,68, 78, 108, 124. He receives with all acceptation the word that convinceth him of any duty that he knew not, or minded not before, or discorerelh any sin that lay hid before, Psalm cxix. 11.
3dly. ''The free and resolved choice of the will is determined for the ways of Christ, before all the plea- sures of sin. and prosperities of the world." Psalm cxix. 103, 127, 16-2. His consent is not extorted by some extremity of anguish, nor is it only a sudden and hasty resolve, but he is deliberate*y purposed, and comes off freely to the choice, Psalm xvii. 3. and cxix. 30. True the flesh will rebel, yet the prevailing part of his will is for Clirisl's law ynd government, so that he takes them not up as his toil or burden, but bis bliss, I John v. 3. Psalm cyiW. 60,72. While the unsanct^'ied goes in Christ's ways u* in chains and fetters, he vloth it natural- ly. Psalm xi 8. Jcr. xxxi. 33. and counts Chris.t's laws his liberty. Psalm cxix. 32. 45, Jrunes i. 25. He is wil- ling in the beauties of holiness, Psalm ex 3. and hath this insep^irahlc mark, "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 wnrld." Sam. y., 26. '* There went with Savl?i band of men whose iuarts God had touched." When God touche^th the hearts of men, they presentlv follow Chiisi. Mctt. iv. 2. and (though drawn) do freely run after him. Cant i. 4. and vviiiiiiglv offer t!se-TiseIves. to the service of the Lord, 2 Chroy^id-s xvii 16 seeking him with their whole 6q' 'A\'e, c/ia/itf^r xy 15. Fear hath its use ; but tliis is not t1\e main spri'ig of njotion with a sanctified }ie;u't. Christ keeps not his subjects in by force, but i.s King of a willing pef.ple. They are, thrci:gh 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 ioya] mind. In a word, the laws of C[;rist are the
3 i Jlie Xature of CoNvERSiair.
convert's love. Psalm cxix. 159, 163, 167. his desire. x;(?r.9d'2,20, 40: his delight verse 97 99, 103, 111, U3-, and continual stiuly, verse 97, 99. and Psalm i. 2.
4thly. " Th-^ Ir*nt of this course is directed to keep God's statutes." P.9a/m cxix 4,8. 167, 163. It is the daily care of his life to wr\lk with God. He seeks f*reat thinpfs. he hath noble desij>ns, though he falls too short. He aims at nothin.u; less than perfection ; he desires it, he reaches after it ; he would not "rest in any pitch of Horace, till he were quite rid of sin, and had perfected holiness. Phil. \\\. 11. 14.
Here the hypocrite's rottenness may be discovered. He desires holiness, as one well said, only as a bridge to heaven, and enquires earnestly what is the least that will serve his turn ; and if he can get but so much as may bring hi-n to heaven, this is all he cares for. But the sound convert desires holiness for holiness sake, Psalm cxix. 97. Matthenv v. 6 and not only for heaven's sake. He would not be satisfied with so much as might save him from hell, but desires the highest pitch : Yet de- sires are not enough ; What is thy way and thy course ? Is the drift and scope of thy, life altered ? Is holiness thy trade, and religion thy business? Romans viii. I. Mat- thevj XXV. 16. Phil. i. 20. If not thou art short of sound conversion.
Application. And is this that v/e have described the conversion that is of absfdute necessity to salvation ? Then be informed, 1. That " strait is the gat^^;, and nar- row is the way that leadeth unto life.'* 2. " That there are but fevr that find it." 3. That there is need of a divine power savingly to convert a sinner to Jesus Christ,
Agairr ; Then be exhorted, O man that readcst, to turn in- upon thy own self. What saith conscience? Doth it not begin to bite ? Doth it not pain thee as thou goest? Is this thy judgment, this thy choice: and this thy way that we have described ? If so, then it is well. B'it 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 is such and such a secret way of
Tlie Necessiti/ ^Co^versiox. Sb
wickedness that thou .-.rt guilty of? «uch or such a duty that thou makest no conbcience of ?
Doth not conscience can y Uue to thy closet, and tell thee how seldom prayer and residing is pcrfoin.ed there ?
Doth it not carry thee to thy fan.ily and shew thee the charge of God, and the soulb oi thy children and servants that are neglected there ? Doth net conscience lead thee to thy sliop li.y trade, and tell ihee of bcn e i-n>stery of iniquity there r Doih it not carry thee to thy places of cntertumnjent and rcn.ind thee of the cci..j)a- ny thou keepest there ; the prccic.us time thou n.is- spcndest there ; the tai.nts the u ^\aslesl there ? Doth it not lead thee to thy secret chi.Uiber, and discover to thee things that are hid from the eyes of n.an, and knowD only to God and thy sell ?
C) conscience 1 do thy duty : In the name of the liv- ing God, I conmiand thee to discharge thy office. Lay hold upon this sinner, f dl upon him, arrest him, appre- hend him, undeceive him. What! \\ilt thou flatter and soothe hin; \\hile he lives i . his sins? Awake, O conscience; what meanest thou, C) sleeper ? What! Hast thou never a reproof in thy nioutii ? What! Shall this soul die in his careless neglect of God and eternity, and thou altogether hold thy peace ? What ! shall he go on in his trespasses, . nd yet have peace ? O rouse up thyself, and do thy work! Now let ilie preacher in thy bosom speak, cry aloud and spare not ; lilt up thy voice like a trumpet ; Let not the blood of hii soul be requi- red at thy hands.
CHAP. IIL
Of the JW'ccs&ity o/" Conversion.
IT may be you are ready to say. What meaneth this siir? And are apt to wonder why I follow you with such earnestness, still linging one lesson in your cars, that you should " repent and be convened," ^icts. iii. 19. But I must say unto you as Ruth to A'aojniy "ii> treat rne not to leave you, nor to turn aside from follow- ing after you," Euth i. 16. Were it a matter of indif-
30 The Necessltij of Conversion.
ferency, I would never make so moch ado : might you be saved as you be, I would gladly let you alone : but would you not have me solicitous for you, when I see you ready to perish. As the Lord liveth, before whom I am, I have not tlje least hopes of seeing one of your fa- ces in heaven, except you be converted ; I utterly des- pair of your salvation, except you will be prevailed with to turn thoroughly and give up yourselves to God in ho- liness and newness of life. Hath God said, '• Erxcpt ye be born again, ye 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? Thi' k it not strange that I am earnest with you to follow afier holiness, and long to see the image of God upon you . never did any, nor shall any enter into he.tvcn by any other way but this. The conversion described is not an high pitch of some taliei christians; butevsry soul that is saved pasbeth this universal change.
It was A passage of the noble Roman, when he was hastening witti corn to the city in the famine, and the ma- riners were ioth lo set sail in foul weather, " Our voy- age is more necessary than our lives.'* What is it that thou dos^ count necessary ? is thy bread necessary ? Is thy breath necessary? Then thy conversion is much more necessary. Indeed, this is the one thing necessary. Thine estate is not necessary ; thou maycst sell all tor the pearl of great price, and yet be a gainer by the purchase, Matt, xiii 46. Thy life is not necet>Sdry ; thou mayest part v/ith it for Ciirist to an infinite advantage. Thine esteem is not necessary ; thou mayest be reproached for the name of Christ and ystbe h;.ppy : yea. much more happy in reproach than in i-epute. \2^tt.i\. 14 Matt, V. I'JJ 11. But thy conversion 'is necessary; thy dam- nation lies upon it. And is it not needful, in so impor- tant a case, to look about thee ? On this one poinl de- pends thy making or marring to all eternhy.
But I shall nK»Ve particuiui ly show the necessity of conversion in^z^t^ things j fo:- without this, '
Fir^it-i ' Thy being is vain."* Is it not a pity that ^ thou shouldest be good for nothing, an unprofit^ible hnr-./j den of the earth, a wart or wen in the body of the
Of the Necessity of Conversion. 37
universe? 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 wert created ; Rtrv. iv.
1 1. 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 thyself, 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 shouldest please thyself^ and gratify thy senses? Did God serjd 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 fearfully and wonderful- ly made," Psalm cxix. 14. and dost thou not yet think with thyself surely it was for some noble and high end ? O man ? set thy reason a little in the chair. Is it not pity such a goodly fabric should be raised in vain ? Ve- rily thou art in vain, except thou art for God : better thou hadst no being, than not to be for him. Wouldcst thou serve thy end ! Thou must repent and be convert- ed ; without this, thou art to no purpose, yea to bad pur- pose.
First, To no purpose. Man unconverted is like a choice instrument that hath every string broke or out of tune. The Spirit of the living God must repair and tune it 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 High. Ephes. ii. 10. Phil ii. 15. Hos.sii. 14 /5a. i. 15. All thy powers and ficukies are so corrupt in thy natural state, that except thou be purged from dead works, thou canst not serve the liv- ing God, /TeA ix. K Titus \. 15.
An unsanctified man cannot fully work the work of God : he hath no skill in it ; he is altogether as unskil- ful in tlie work, as in the word of righteousness, Hf b. v. 13. There are great mysteries as well in the practices as in the principles of godliness : now the unregenerate "know not the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,*'
33 Of the Necessity of CoyiVE-Sisio-^.
Matt. xiii. 1 1. I Tim. iii. 16 Alms-giving is not a ser- vice of God, but of vain-.:5lory, if not held forth by the hand of divine or penitendal love. What is the pri^yer of the lips, without ihe heart- but the carcase without the life? What are all our confessions, unless'they be ex- ercises of godly sorrowand unfeigned repentance? What our petitions unless animated all along with holy desires, and fdith in the divine attributes and promises ? \\ hat our praises and thanksgivings, unless fiom the love of God and a holy gratitude, and sense of God's mercies in tke heart ? So that a man may as well expect the tree should speak, or look for logic f -om brutes, or motion from the dead, as for any service holy and perfectly ac- ceptable to God, from thc'uncoi: verted. When the tree is evil, hov/ can the fruit be good ? Matt. vii. 18.
Secondly, To bad purpose. The unconverted soul is a very cage of unclean birds, i?et'. xviii. 2. a sepulchre full of corruption and rottenness, JMatt. xxiii. 27. a loath- some carcase full of crawling worms, and sending forth a h liish and most noisome savour in the nostrils of Gcd, Psa'm xiv. 3. O dreadful case ! Dor>t thou not see a change to be needful ? Would it not have grieved one to have sptn the goldc-n consecrated vessels of God's temple turned into qu?.fnng bowls of drunkenness, and polluted with idol service ? Dan.v. 2,3. Was it such an ibomination to the Jews, when Antiochus set up the picture of a swine at the entrance of the temple ? How much more abominable then would it have been, to have had the very temple itself turned into a stable or a sty, and to have had the Holy of Holies served like the house of IJaal, and to have been turned into a draught-house? 2 Kings X. 27. This is tl^e very case with the un regen- erate : all thy members are turned into instruments of unrighteousness, Rom. vi. 19. servants of Satan, and the inmost power into a receptacle of unclcanne3S,-£/:Af'*>, ii. 2. Titus i. 1 5. You n ay see the ungodly guests with- in by what comes out ; for, "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, tnurder, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies," ^c. these discover what a hell there is within.
O ibise insuft'crable I to see a heaven-born soul abased to the ftlthisst drudgery 1 To sec the glory of Qod's crc-
Of the Necessity of Conversion. 39
&lion, the chief of the M'orks of God, the lord of the uni- verse, lapping wiih the prodigal at the trough, or lick- ing up with greediness the most loaifisome vomit ! Was it such a lamentation, to see those that did feed delicate- ly, sit desolate in the streets ; and the precious sons of Sion comparable to fine gold, esteemed but as earthen pitchers, and those that were cloathed in scarlet embrace dunghills 1 Lam. v. 2, 3. and is it not much more fearful to see the only thing that hath immortality in this lower world, and carries the stamp of God, become as *' a ves- sel -wherein there is no pleasure?" Jer. xxi. 28. (which is but a modest expression of the vessel men put to the most sordid use.) O indignity intolerable ! Better thou wert dashed in a thousand pieces, than cxjntinue to be abased to so filthy a service.
Secondly^ " Not only man, but the whole visible crea- tion is in vain, without this." Beloved, God hath made all the visible creatures in heaven and earth for the ser- vice of man, and man only is the spokesman for all the rest. Man is in the universe, like the tongue to the body, which speaks for all its members. The other creatures cannot praise their Maker but by dumb signs and hints to man that he should speak for them. Man is as it were the high priest cf God's creation, to offer the sa- crifice oi praise for all his fellow-creatures. The Lord God expecteth a tribute of praise from all his works, Psalm ciii. 22. now all the rest do bring in their tribute to man, and pay it by his hand : so then if man be false, and faithless, and selfish, God is wronged of all. and shall have no active glory from his works.
O dreadful thought to think of! that God should build such a world as this, and lay out such infinite pow- er, and wisdom, and goodness thereupon, and all in vain ; and that man should be guilty at last of robbing and spoiling him of the glory of all. O think of this ! Whilst thou art unconverted, all the offices cf the crea- tures to thee are in vain; thy meat nourisheth thee in vain, the s\m holds forth its light to thee^n vain, the stars that serve thee in their courses by their powerful, though hidden influence. Judges v. 20. Hosea ii. 21,22. do it in vain : thy clotbes warm thee in vain ; thv beast carries
40 Of ike Necessity of Conversion.
thee in vain. In a word, jthe unwearied labour and con- tinued travail of the whole creation, as to thee, is in vain. The service of all tHc ci^eatures that drudge for thee, and yield forth their strength unto thee, that therewith thou shouldest serve their Maker, is all but lost labour. Henca the whole creation groaneth under the abuse of this un- sanctified world, Rom. viii. 22. that perverts them to the service of their lusts, quite contrary to the very end of their being.
Thirdly, " Without this thy religion is vain,'* Jamea i. 26. All thy religious performances will be but lost, for they cannot save tny soul, 1 Cor. xiii. 2, 3. which is the very end of religion. Is not that man's case dread- ful whose sacrifices are as murders, and whose prayers are a breath of abomination, Isa. Ixvi. 3. Frov. xxviii. 9. Many under convictions think they will set upon mend- ing, and that a few prayers and alms will save all again j but alas ! Sirs, while your hearts remain unsanctified, your duties will not pass. How punctual was Jehu ? And yet all was rejected, because his heart was not up- right, 2 Kirf^s X. with Hosea i. 4. How blameless was Paul ? And yet being unconverted, all was but loss, Phil. iii. 6, 7. Men think they do much in attending God's service, and are ready to twit him with it, Isaiah Iviii. 3. Mail. vii. 22. and set him down so much their debtor, whereas their persons being unsanctified, their duties cannot be saving.
O soul ! do not think when thy sins pursue thee, a Ik- tle praying and reforming thy course will pacify God : thou must begin with thy heart ; if that be not renewed, thoii canst not please God.
God threatens it as the greatest of temporal' judg- ments, that they should build and not inhabit, plant and not gather ; and that their labours should be eat up by strangers, Deitt. xxyiii. 30. 38. 39. 41. Is it so great a misery to lose our common labours, to sow in vain, and build in vain ? how much more to lose our pains m reli- gion, to pray, and hear, and fast in vain ? This is an un- doing and eternal loss. Be not deceived, if thou goest on in thy sinftil state, though thou shouldest spread forth thine hands, God will hide his eyes ; though thou make
Of the Necessity ^Conversion. 41
many prayers, he will not hear, /sa. i. 15. If a man . without skill set about our work, and mar it in the doing though he takes much pains, we give him but Utile thanks. God will be worshipped after the due order, 1 Chron. xv. 13. If a servant do our work, but quite con- trary to our order, he will have rather stripes than praise. God's work must be done according to God's mind, or lie will not be pleased ; and this cannot bes except it be done with a believing or penitential heart, 2 Chron. XXV. 2.
Fourthly^ " Without this thy hopes are in vain." Job viii. 1 2, 13. *' The Lord hath rejected thy confidence," Jer. ii. 37.
First, " The hope of comforts here are in vain." It is not only. necessary to the safety, but comfort of your rfcondiiion, 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," Actsiyi. 31. God speaks peace only to his people, and to his saints, Psalm Ixxxv. 8. If vou have a f.ilse peace, continuing in your sins. It is not of God's spe king, and then you may guess the author : Sin is a real bickness, laa. i. 5. yea, the worst of sickness: it is a leprosy in the head, Lev. xiii. 44. the pLigud in the heart, 1 Kini^s viii. 38. it is biokenncss in the bones, P^a/m li. 8. it piercelh, it woundeth, it racketh, it tormenteih, 1 Tim. Ml. 10. ^A man may as well expect case when his dis- tempers are in their full .stiengin, or his bones out of joint as true comfort while in his sins.
O wretched man ! that canst have no ease in this case but what comes from the deadliness of Ihy disease. You shall have the poor sick man saying in his lightness, / am ivell ; when you see death in his face, he will needs up and about his business, when the very next s.ep is like to be in his grave. The unsanclihed often see noth- ing amiss ; tbyy think themselves whole, and cry not out for the Physician ; but this shews the danger of their case.
Sin doth naturally breed distempers and disturbance^ in the soul. What a continual tempest and commotion is there in a discontented mind 1 What an eating evil is D 2
42 Of the Necessity (j/' Conversion.
inordinate eare 1 What is passion, but a fever in the mind ? What is lust, but a fire in the bones ? What is pride, but a deadly tympany ? Or (!ovelousness, but an insatiable or unsufferable thirst ? Or malice, and envy, but venom in the very heart ? Spiritual sloth is but a S€urvy in the mind ; and carnal security a mortal leth- argy ; and how can that soul have true comfort that la- bours under so many diseases ; But convening grace cures, and so eases the mind : prepares the soul for a settled standing, and immortal peace ; " great peace have they that love thy commandments,and nothing shall offend them,P«a/mcxix. 165. they are the ways of wis- dom that afford pleasure and peace, Prov, iii. 17 David had infinitely more pleasure in the word, than in all the delights of his court, Psalm cxix. 103, 127. The icon- science cannot be truly pacified till soundly purified^ Ileb. X. 22. Cursed is that peace that is maintained in a way of sin, Deut. xxix. 1 9, 20. Two sorts of peace are more to be dreaded than all the troubles in the world, per.ce with sin, and peace in sin.
Secondly, *' Thy hopes of salvation hereafter are in vain, yea worse than in vain ," they are most injurious to God, most pernicious to thyself. There is death, sep- aration, 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 mayest lean upon this house it will not stand, J^o/i viii. 15. but will prove like a ruinous building, which when a man trusts to,. falls down about his ears. 2. There is desparaiion in it: "Where is the hope of the hypocrite, whenGodtaklesaway his soul ?** Jo6'xxvii. 8. then there is an end forever of this hope : Indeed the^-ope of the righteous hath an end, but then it is not a destructive but a perfective end ; this hope ends in fruiiion, others in frustration^ Prov- x. 28. The godly must say at death, " Ii is finished ;" but the wick- ed, *' It is perished •" and in too sad earnest himself, as £.s Job in a mistake ; " where is now my hope ? He hath " destroyed me, 1 am gone, and my hope is removed like a tree, Job xix. 10. The righteous hath hope in liis
of the Neccssiii) <2/^Conv£rsion. 43
death, Prov. xiv. 32. When nature is clyh»j^, his hopes are living, when his body is languishing, his hopes are flourishing: his hope is a living hope, 1 Pet. i. 3. but the other's is a (lying, a damning, soul undoing hope. " When a wicked man dielh, his expectation shall pe- rish and the hope of unjust men pf risheth," Ptqv xi. 7. " It shall be cut off, and prove like the spider's web," Job \\\\. 14. which he spins out of. 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,'* Jio xi. 20. Wicked men are hxed in their carnal hope, and will not be beaten out of it ; they hold it fast, they w ill not let it go ; yea, but death will knock off their fingers ; tho' we cannot undeceive them, death and judgment will : when death strikes his dart through thy liver, it will pierce thy soul and thy hopes together. The unsancti- lied have hope only in this life, I Cor. xv. 19. and there- fore "are of all men most miserable." When death comes it lets them out into the amazing gulph of endless desparation. 3. " There is a blasphemy in it." To hope we shall be saved, though we cominuc 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, /^a. xxvii. 11. 1 Cor. vi. 9. In a word, he hath told you, that whatever you be or do, nothing shall avail you to salvation, without you "be- come new creatures," Go/, vi. 15. Now; to say God is mercifulr and we hope will save us nevertheless, is in eft^ct to say, " We hope God will not do as he says.'* We musfnot set God's attributes at variance ; God is resolved to glorify his mercy, but not to the prejudice of his truth, as the presumptious sinner will find to his ev- erlasting sorrow.
Objection. Why, but we hope in Jesus Christ, we put our whole trust in God, and therefore doubt not but we shall be saved.
Answer, \ . " This is not to hope in Christ but against Christ." To hope to see the kingdon* of God ^viihuut being born again, to hope to find eternal life in the broad
4i Q/t/ic Xeccssih/ ^3/" Conversion.
way, is to hope C'lrist will prove a f:ilse propHet. It is Z^avm'* plea. "I hope in thy word." /^6c//;« cxix. 8 1. bat this hope is against t!ie word. Shew nie a word of ^ Chriat for thy hope, that he will save thee in thy ignor- ance 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, saiih the text, " they will lean upon the Lord.*' Mic. iii. 1 1 God will not eTuKire to be made a prop to men in their sins ; the Lord rejected those presumptuous sin- iiers that went on siill in their trespasses, and yet could stay themselves upon hracTs God, /.sa. xviii. 1,2 as a man should shake off the briers (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 that cherishes men in their sins.
Objection. Would you have us to despair ?
Jm7ver. You must despair of ever com.ing to heaven as you are, ^cts ii. 37. that is while you remain uncon- verted. You must despair of ever seeing the Lee of God without holiness : but you must by no mieans des- pair of finding mercy, upon your thorough repentance and conversion ; neither may you despair of attaining to repentance and conversion in the use of God's means.
Fifthhu " Without this, all that God hath done and suffered, will be as to you, in vain,'* John xiii. 8. Titus ii. 14. that is, it will no way avail to your salvation. Majiy urge this as a sufficient ground for their hopes, t'lat 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 ; '1st, What hath Christ doneforyou? 2d, 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, ha. xlii. 1 . shews his commission
Of the Neeessity of Conversion. 45
from him, acts in his name, and pleads his co^«mand for his justification, John x. 18, 26, and vi. 38,40. and God "has committed all things unto him," entrusted his own glory and the salvation of souls with him/' Mattheiv xii. 27. 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 coun- sels, and to offer violence to all his attributes.
First, "to overturn all his counsels,'* of which this is the order, that men should be brought '* through sancti- fication to salvation, '^^hess. ii. 13. He hath chosen them that they should be holy," £/ih. i. 4. They arc chosen to life through sanctification, 1 Pet. i. 2. If thou canst repeal the law of God*s immutable counsel, or cor- rupt him whom the Father hath sealed, to go directly against his commission, then, and not otherwise, mayest thou get to heaven in this condition. To hope that Christ will save thee whilst unconverted, is to hope that Christ will falsify his trust. Be assured, Christ will save none in a way contrary to his Father's will.
Secondly, " To offer violence to all his attributes." 1 . <' To his justice:" for the righteousness of God*s judg- ment lies in " rendering to all according to their works," Romans 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 right- eous ? 2. ''To his holiness.'* If God should net only save sinners, but save ihem in their sins, his most pure and'Strict hoiiness would be exceedingly defaced : the unsanctified is in the eyes cfG-.-d's holiness, worse than a swine or viper, iVa/^/zcw^xi'. 34. 2 Pei. ii. 22. It would be offering the extremest violence to the infinite purity of the divine nature to have .«^uch to dwell with him ; they cannot stand in his judgment '^they cannot abide his presence " Psalm i\ 5. and v. 4,5. If holy David would not endure such in his house, no nor his sight, Psalm cxxxi. 3 7. can we think God will? 3. "To his veracity." For God hath declared from heaven, that " if any shall say he shall have peace, though hr
46 Of the NecessUy r/ Conversion.
go on in the imagination of his heart his wrath shall snnoak against that man,*' Deut xxix. 1 9, 20. that '' they (only) that Confess and forsake their sins shall find mer- cy." Proverbs xxviii. 13. that " they that shall enter in- to his hill, must be of clean hands and a pure heart," P&o/w xxiv. 3, 4. Where were God's truth, if, not- withstanding all this, he should bring men to salvation without conversion ? C) desperate sinner ! that darest to hope that Christ will lie to his Father, and "falsify his word to save thee. 4. '' To his wisdom :" For this were 10 throw away the choicest mercies on^hem who would not value them, nor were any way suited to them.
First, " They would not value them." The impeni- tent sinner puts but little price upon God's great salva- tion, Matthetvyi^Lii. 5. He sets no more by Christ than the whole by the physician, Mattheio ix- 12. He prizes not his balm, values not his cure, tramples upon his blood, Hebrews x. 29. Now would it stand with wisdom to force pardon and life upon those who w^uld give no thanks for them ? Would the all-wise God, when he hath forbidden us to do it, '' throw his holy things to dogs, and his pearls to swine, that would, as it were, but turrt again and rend him ?" Mattheiv vii. 6. This would make mercy to be despised indeed. Wisdom requires that eternal life be given in a way suitable to God's honour and that God should secure his own glory as well as man's felicity. — God would lose the praise and glory of his grace, if he should cast it away on them that were not only unworthy but unwilling.
Secondly, " They are no ways 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. Alas ! what should an unsanctified creature do in lieaven ? He could take no content there, because nothing suits him : The place doth not suit him, he would be quite out of his ele- ment ; the, company doth not suit him : " What com- munion hath darkness with light," corruption with per- fection, filth and rottenness with glory and immortality ? The employment doth not suit him ; the anthems of heaven fit not his mouth, please not his ear. Canst thou
Of the Necessity of Conversion. 47
charm thy beast with music ? Or wilt thou brmg him to thy organ, and expect that he should make thee nielody or keep time with the tuneful choir ? Spread thy t^ibles with delicates before a languishing patient, and it will give him great offence. Alas 1 if the poor man thinks a sermonlong. and says of the sabbath, "What a wea- riness is it I Afa/. i. 31 how miserable would he think it to be held to it to all eternity ?
5. '' To his immutabilitvj or else to his omnisciency or omnipotency :*' For this is enacted in the conclave of heaven, and enrolled in the decrees of the ccurt above, " that none but the pure hi heart shall ever see God," Matthew v. 8. This is laid up with him and seal- ed among his treasures. Now, if Christ yet biJng any to heaven unconverted, cither jie must get them in without his Father's knowledge, (and then where is his omnisciency ?) or against his will (and then where \% his omnipotency ?) or he must change his will, (and then where is his immutability ?)
Sinner, wilt thou not give up thy vain hope of being aaved in this condition ? Saith Bildad, " shijll the earth be forsaken for thee ? or the rocks moved out of their place ?" Job xviii. 4. May I not much more reason so with thee? Shall the laws of heaven be reversed for thee ? Shall the everlasting foundations be overturned for thee? Shall Christ put out the eye of his P^nher'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 ? O the impossibility, absurdity, and blasphemy that is in such a confidence ! To think Christ will ever save thee in this condition is to make thy Saviour to be- come a sinner, and to do more wrong to the infinite Ma- jesty than all the wicked on eiirth, or devils in hell ever did, or could do : and yet wilt thou not give up such a blasphemous liope ?
II. " Against his word." We need net say, " Who shall ascend into heaven, tobring down Christ from above? Or, who shall descend into the deep, to bring up Clnist from beneath ? The word is nigh us." Romans x. 6 7, 8. Are you agreed that Christ shall end the contro- versy I Hear then his own wordt : ^' Except you be con-
48 Of the Necessitij of Conversion.
verted, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven," Matthew xviii. 3. " You must be born again," John iii. 7. " If I wash thee not thou hast no part in me," John-^ii. 8. " Repent or perish," Luke xiii. 3. One word one would think, were enough from Christ ; but how often and earnestly doth he reiterate it ! " 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. without which man is no more fit for the kingdom of heaven than a beast is for the king's presence-chamber. And wilt thou yet believe thy own presumptuous confi- cjence, directly against Christ's words ? He must go quite agai 1st the law of his kingdom and rule of his judgment, 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," Paalm xcv. 1 1. Hebrews iii. 4 1. And wiltthou not yet believe, O sinner ! that he is in earnest ? Canst thou hope he will be forsworn for thee ? The covenant of grace is confirmed by an oath, and sealed by the blood, Hebrews vi. 17. and ix. 16, 18, 19. Matthew -^yi^i. 28. butallnmst be made void, and another way to hea- ven found out, if thou be saved living and dying uns tnc- lified. Men cannot be savetl while unconverted, except they could get another covenant made, and the whole fr^me of the gospel, which was established for ever with such dreadful solemnities, quite altered : and would not they be distracted to hope that 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 thatnames the name of Jesus must depart from iniquity," 2 Tiin. ii. 19. and deny all ungodliness. And he that hath hope of life by Christ, must " paiify himself as he is pure," I John iii. 3. Tit. ii. 12. other- wise Christ would be thought a favourer of sin. The liOrd Jesus would have all the world to know, that though hc/iardons sin, he will not /irotect it. if holy David shall say, " Depart from me all ye workers of iniquity/*
Of the Necessity o/'CoNVERSIO^^ 49
Fsalm vi. 8. and shall shut the doors against^ them, Psalm ci. 7. shall not such much more expect it from Christ's holiness 1 Would it be to his honour to have the dogs to the table, or lodge the swine with his children, or to have Abraham's bosom to be a nest of vipers ?
V. "Against his oflices." 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, "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 ungod- ly, (so continuing;) and take those to reign with him " that would not that he should reign over them," Luke xix. 2f . this would be quite against his office. He there- fore reigns that ho may "put his enemies under his feet," 1 Cor.kv. 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 people. Psabn xlv. 5. and ex. 3. Whet king would take rebels in open hostility into his court ? What were this but to betray life, kingdom, government, and altogether ? If Christ be a king,'he must have hon- our, homage, subjection, Sec. Mai. i. 6. Now to save men while in their natural enmity, were to obscure his dignity, lose his authority, b'ing contempt on his gov- ernment, 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 ; for his salvation is spirit- ual : 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 neither be Lord nor Jc^.us. To save men from the punishment, and not from the power of sin, were to do his work by halves, and be an imper* feet Saviour. His office as the deliverer, is, " to turn away ungodliness from Jacob'* Ro?7i. xl. 26. He "is sent to bless men in turning them froir. their iniquilies," Acts. iii. 26. " To make an end of sin," Dan. ix. 25. so thit he should destroy his own designs, and nuhfy his offices, to save men abiding in their unconverted state. E
50 OftJie Necessiii; (^TConvehsion.
Application. Arise then: What meanest thou, O sleeper I Awake, O secure sinner 1 lest thou be consum- ed in thine iniquities ; say as the lepers, "H we sit here \ve shall die," King.^ vii. 3, 4. Verily, it is not more cer- tain 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, Osluf^gard, 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 seaj 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 unchangeable necessity of the change of thy con- dition except thou art resolved to abide the worst gf it, and try it out with the Almighty. If thou lovest thy life, O man, arise and come away. Methinks I see the Lord Jesus laying the merciful h-tndsof a holy violence upon thee ; methinks he carries it like the angels to Lot, Gen. xix. 15. Sec. '* Then the angels hastened Lot, say- ing, Arise lest thou be consumed. And while he ling- ered, the men laid, hold upcnhis hand, the Lord being inerciful unto him, and they brought him without the city, and said, Escape for thy life, stay not .in all the plain, escape to the mountains, lest thou be consumed." O, lio'.v wilful will thy destriicticm be, if thou should yet harden thyself in thy sinful state 1 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 ine to have delivered my own soul. What ! shall I go away without my errand ? Will none of you arise and follow me ? Have I been all this while speaking to the wind ? Have I been charming the deaf adder, or allaying the troubled ocean with arguments? Do I speak to the trees and rocks, or to men ? To the tombs and monu^ anents of ihe dead, or to a living auditory ? If you be men, and not senseless stocks, stand still and consider whither - you are going : If you have the reason and understand- ing ofmeTi, dare not to run into the flames, and fall into hell with yiur eyes open, but bethink yourselves, and set
Of the Neccssiiij of Co^' version. b 1
to the work of repentance. What! men, and yet run into the pit, when the very beasts would not be forced in ? What, endowed with reasen, and yet dally with death and hell, and the vengeSnce of the Almighty ! Are men herein distinguished from the very brutes, that they have no foresight of and care to provide for the tl.ings to come : And will you not hasten your escape fiom eter- nal torments? O ! shew yourselves men, and let rcusdii prevail with you : is it a reasonable ihino^ for you U* "contend against the Lord your Maker r' /.sa. >;iv. 9. or "to harden yourselves a»2;ainst his word," Joh ix. 4.. ^^s though " the strength of Israel would lie i" 1 Sa??:. XV. 29. Is it reubonahle that an understanding cieatui'e should lose, yea, live quite against ihe vei y end of his being, and be as a broken pitcher only fit for the dung- hill ? Is it reasonable thiit the only thing in this woild that God hath made capable of knowing his will, and bringing him glory, should yet live in ignorance ot his Maker, and be unserviceable to his use ? Yea, should be engaged against him, and spit his venom in tlui face of his Creator ? " Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O eanh," and let the creatures without sense be judge if this be reason, that man, whom God hath "nourished and brought up, should rebel against him," ha. i. 2. Judge in your own selves : is it a reasonable undertaking for briers and thorns to set themselves in battle agaii'ist ihe devouring Wvct ha. xxvii. 4. or for "the potsherd of the earth to strive with its maker?" You will say, Thi-i is not reason, or surely the eye of reason is quite put out : and if this be not reason, then there is no reason that yon should continue as you are, but it is all the reason iu the world you should forthwith turn and repent.
What shall I say ? I could spend myself in this argu- ment. O that you would hearkeij to me ! That you would presently set upon a new course ! Will ycu be made clean? when shall it once be? What! will nobody be persuaded ? Reader, shall I prevail with thee for one? wik thou sit down and consider the forem^ntion- ed argument, and debate it. v/hether it be not best to turn : come, and let us reason top;ether : Is it good for thee to be here ? wilt thou sit till tiic tide comes in upon
rZ
Of the Nccessiii) ^2/^ Conversion.
thee ? Is it good for thee to try whether God will be so i^ood 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 great- est part will be as they have been, and do as they have done. I know the drunkard will turn to his vomit again, und the deceiver to his deceit again, and the lustful wan- , ton, to his dalliance again. Alas ! that I nnust leave ycu where you were, in your ignorance or looseness, or in your lifeless formality and customary devotions ! How- ever, I will sit down and bemoan my fruitless labours, and spend some sighs over my perishing hearers.
O distracted sinners ! What will their end be ? what will they do in t'.e day of visitation ? "Whither wilt ihey flee for help ? Where will they leave their glory f" Isa. X. 3. Ilow powerfully hath sin bewitched them I how clieciually 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 tcke 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 : Some- times tliat the terror of the Lord will persuade them ; yet neither will do this. 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, but 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 sinsjtoforegotheirevil
The Marks of the UisCOnverted. 5q
company, their injemperance, their unjust gains, kc. I cannot prevail with them to set up prayer in iheir fami- lies and closets, yet they will promise me, like the fro- Avard son, that said, " 1 go, Sir, but went not," Matt, xxi. 30. I cannot persuade them to learn tlie principles of religion, though else, " they would die without know- ledge," Job xxxvi. 12. I tell them their misery, but they will not believe but it is well enough : If I tell them particularly, I fear, for such reasons, their estate is bad, they will judge mc censorious; or if they be at present a little awakened, are quickly lulled asleep by Satan again, and have lost the sense of all. • Alas, for my poor hearers I Must they perish at last by hundreds, when ministers would so fain save them ; What course shall I use with them, that I have not tri- ed ? " 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 n)e, yet do thou hear nie : O that they may yet live in thy sight 1 Lord save them, cr else they perish. iMy heart wcidd melt to see their houses on fire about their ears, when ihcy were fast asleep in their beds ; and shall not my soul be mov- ed within me to see them fulling into endless perdition 1 Lord have compassion, and save them cut of the burn- ing; put forth thy divine power, and the work will be done ; but as for me, I cannot pfo\ ail.
CHAP. IV.
She%ving the marks of the Uxc on verted.
WHILE we keep aloof in general, there is little fruit to be expected, it is the hand fij;hl ihat doth execution. David is not awakened by the prophf:t's hovering at a distance in parabolicol iiisinuaticns , he is forced to close with him, and tell him plainly, ** Thcni art the man," Few w ill in words deny the necessitv of* the new birth, but they have a self-deludir.j? conhdeTice that the work is nor now to do. And becr-use thfcy know themselves free from that gross hypocrisy which K 2
54 The Marks of the Unconverted.
takes up religion merely for a colour to deceive others, and for covering of wicked designs, they are confident of their sincerity,and suspeclnot that more close hypocrisy (wherein the greatest danger lies) by which a man dc- ceiveth 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, disagreeable"ness, or the necessity of the undeceiving work that I am now upon. Alas, for my unconverted hearers ! They must be un- deceived or undone. But how shall this be effected ?
" Help, O all-searching Light, and let thy discerniBg eye discover the rotten foundation of the self-deceiver ; and lead me, O Lord God, as thou didst the prophet, into the chambers of imagery, and digthrough the wall of sinners hearts, and discover the hidden abominations ihat^re lurking out of sight in the dark. O 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 Jon- athan no sooner tasted the honey but his eyes were en- lightened ; so grant, O Lord, that when the poor de- ceived 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 mayestheal them."
This must be premised before we proceed to the dis- covery, that it is most certain men may have a confident persuasion that their hearts and states be good, and yet be unsound. Hear the Truth himself, who shews in La- odicea's case, that men may be *' wretched and miserable, •and poor, and blind, and naked," and yet not knovr it ; yea, they may be confident they are *' rieh, and increased in grace," i?ex'. iii. 17. "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness," Pror. XXX. 12. 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 for a sufficient evidence. They that have no better proof than barely a strong persuasion
The Marks of the Unconverted. bo
that they are converted, are certainly as yet strangers to conversion.
Bat to come more close ; As it was said of the adhe- rents to Antichrist, so here ; some of the unconverted carry their marks in their foreheads, more openly, and some in their hands, more covertly. The apostie reck- ons 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. — Efih. v. 5,6. '* For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in -the kingdomof Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedient^ — Hev. xxi. 8. " But the fearful, and unbelieving,»ad abominable and murderers, and whoremongers, zxJHk- cerers, and idolaters, and all liars, ^hall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone ; which is the second death." — I Cor. vi./O, 10. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idola- tors, or adulterers^ nor effeminate, nor abusers of them- selves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God:" see Ga/. v. 19 — 21. Woe to them that have their names written in these black rolls ; such may know as certainly as if God had told them from heaven, that they are unsanctified, 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 t7hc/<?an. These are ever reckoned among the goatsy and have their names, whoever is left out, in all the before-mentioned catalogues, -t/zA.v. 5. /?c^i;. xxi. 8. 1 Cor. vi. 9. 10.
2. T\\Q Covetous. These are ever branded for /rfo/a/^r*, and the doors of the kingdom are shut against them by- name, Efih. V. 5. Col. iii. 5. I Cor. vi. 6, 10.
3. Drunkards. Not only such as drink away their reason, but withal (yea, above all) suc^ as are too strong
56 The Alarks of the Uncokvrrted.
even for strong drink : the Lord fills his mouth with woes at^ainst these, and declares they *' have no inher- itance in the kingdom of God/'/sa.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 en- trance into his hill ; but their portion is with the father of lies, whose children they are, in the lake of burnings, Psalm XV. I, 2. Rev. xxi. 8, 27. John viii. 44. Prov, vi. 17.
5. Sivearcrs. The end of these, without deep and speedy repentat^ce, is swift destruction, and most cer- tain and unavoidable condemnation, ./am(?s v. 12. Zech. V. U2,3.
6. Railers and Backbiters^ that love to take up a re- proach against their neighbour, and fling all the dirt they can in his face, or else wound him secretly behind his back, Psalm xv. 1, 3. I Cor. vi. 10 and v. 1 1.
7. Thieves^ extoriioners, and cp/iressors^ that grind the poor, over-reach their brethren when they have them at an advantage ; these must know that ^* God is the avenger of all such," 1 Thess. iv. 6. Hear, O ye false and purloining, and wasteful servants ; hear O ye de- ceitful tradesmen ; hear your sentence ; God will cer- tainly hold his door against you, and turn your treas- ures of unrighteousness into treasures of wrath, and make your ill-gotten silver and gold to torment you, like burning metal in your bowels, 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. James v. 2, 3.
8. "All that do ordinarily live in the profane neglect of God*s nvorshifi ;* that hear not his word, that call not on his name, that restrain prayer before God, that mind not their own nor their families souls, but *' live without God in the world," John viii. 47. Job xv. 4. Psalm xiv. 4. and Ixxix. 6. Efih. ii. 12. and iv. 18.
9. "Those that are frequenters and lovers oi' com/iany.'* God hath declared he will be the destroyer of all such, and that they shall never enter into the hill of his rest, Prov. xiii. 20. and ix. S. Psalm xv. 4.
10. Scoffers at religion, that make a scorn of precise '.valking, and mock at the messengers and diligent ser-
' ^ The Marks of the Unconverted. 57
vants of the Lord, and at their holy profession, and make themselves merry with the weakness and failings of pro- fessors. Hear, ye despisers your dreaded doomjPrcx'. xix. 29. and iii. 34. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16.
Sinner, consider diligently, whether thou art not to be found in one of these ranks; for if this be thy case, " thou art in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity ;*' for all these do carry their marks in their foreheads, and are undoubtedly the sons of death. And if so, the Lord pity our poor congregations ! O, how small a num.ber will be left when these ten sorts are taken out 1 Alas I on how many doors, on. how many faces must we write, *'Lord have mercy on usl" Sirs, what shift do you 'make to keep up your confidence of your good state, when God from heaven declares against, and pronounces you in a state of damnation ? I would reason with you as God with them, " How canst thou say, I am not pol- luted?" Jer. ii. IS. " See thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done " Man, is not thy conscience privy to the tiHcks of deceit, to thy chamber pranks, to thy way of lying ? Yea, are not thy friends, thy family, thy neighbours, witness to thy profane neglect of God's worship, to thy covetous practices, to thy envious and malicious carriage ? May not they point at thee as thou goest. There goes a gaming prodigal : there goes a drunken A'abal^ a companion of evil-doers : there goes a railer, a scoffer, or a loose liver. Beloved, God hath written it as with a sun-hcam in the book by which you mu«,t be judged, that these are not the spots ©f his chil- dren I and that none such, except renewed by converting grace, shall ever escape the dauination of hell
■ O that such as you would now be persuaded to "re- pent, and turn from all your transgressions, or else ini- qui^y'xvill be your ruin 1" Ezek. xviii. 30. Alas, for pcor hard'='ned sinners ! Musi I leave you at last where you were? Must I leave the tipler still at the ale-bench? Myst I leave the wanton still at his dalliance ? Must I leave the malicious still in his venom, and the drunkard still at his vomit ? However, you must know that you havf been warned, and that I am clear of your blood. And, '^ whether men will hear, or whethec-they will for-
58 The Marks of the Unconve:!itei^.
bear," I will leave the scriptures wi^h them, either as thunderbolts to awaken them, or as searinj^- irons to hard- en them to a reprobate sense, Psalm Ixviii. 21. " God shall wound ihe head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goes on still in his trespasses," Prov. xxix. 1. " He that beinjj often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without rem- edy," r/za/z. i. 24 &c. "Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretclied out my hand, and no man re- f^ardedj Sec. I will mock at your calamity, when your de- . struction cometh as a whirlwind."
And n»w I imagine many will begin to bless them- selves,and think all is well, because they cannot be charg- ed with the grosser evils before mentioned ; but I must further tell you, that there are another sort of unsanctifi- ed 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 undiscovered till death and judg- ment bring all to light. Those self-deceivers, seem to come even to heaven's gate with full confidence of their .admission ; and yet are shut out at last, Matt.\n> 22.
Brethren beloved, I beseech you deeply to lay to heart, and firmly retain this awakening consideration, that multitudes miscarry by cherishing some secret sin, that is not only hidden from others, but, for want of searching their own hearts, even from themselves. A man may be free from open pollutions, and yet perish at last by some secret unobserved iniquity. And there be these twelve hidden sins, througli which souls go down by numbers into the chambers of death ; these you must search carefully for, and note them as black marks, wherever they be found discovering a graceless and un- converted state : And as you love your lives, read care- fully with a holy jealousy of yourselves, lest you should be the persons concerned.
1. "Gross ignorance" O how many poor souls doth this sin kilLin the dark ! Hosea iv. 6. 'while they think verily they have good hearts, and are in the ready way to heaven ! This is the murderer that dispatches thous-
The Marks of the Unconverted. 59
acids in a silent manner, when, poor hearts I they sus- pect nothing, and see not the hand that destroys them. You shall find, whatever excuses you have for ignorance, that it is a soul undoing evil, Isa. xxvii. II. 2 Thesa. i.
-8. 2 Cor. iv. 3. Ah I would it not have grieved a man's heart to have seen that woeful spectacle, when the poor protestants were shut up, a multitude together, in a barn, and a butcher comes with cruel hands, warmed in human blood, and leads them one by one, blindfold, to a block where he slew them, poor innocents ! one after another by scores in cold blood ? But how m/Uch more should
* your hearts bleed to think of the hundreds in great con- gregations that ignorance doth butcher in secret, and lead blindfold to tho block ! Beware thisbr none of your case. INlake no plea for ignorance ; if you s])are that sin, know that it will not spare you ; ahd would a man take a murderer to his bosom ?
2. " Secret reserves hi closing with Christ." To for- sake all for Christ, to " hate father and mother, yea, a man's own life" for hii?i, "This is a hard saying," Luke xiv, 26. Some will do much, but they will not be of the religion that will undo them ; thc) never come to be entirely devoted to Christ, uor fully to resign to him : they must have t .c ^weet sin ; they m.ean to do themselves no harm ; they have secret exceptions for life, liberty, or estate. Many take Christ thus, hand over head, and never consider his seif-denying terms, nor cast up thc cost ; and this error in the foundation mars all, and secretly ruins them forever, Luke xiv. 28. Matt, xviii. 21.
• 3. " Formality in religion " Many stick in the dark, and rest in the outside of religion and in the external performances of holy duties, Matt, xxiii. 25. and this oftentimes doth most efl^ctually deceive men, and doth more certainly undo them than open looseness, as it was rn the Pharibce's ease, 71/tz;;. xxiii. 31. They hear, they fast, tlicy pray, they givealrrs, and therefore will
. not believe but their case is good, Luke xviii. 3 I . v. here- as, resting in the work done, and coming short cf heart- work, and the inward power and life of religion, they fail at last into the burning, from the flattering hopes and confident periuasions of their being in the ready war to
6o The Marks of the Unconverted
heaven, Mdtt.yn. 22,2.1. O dreadful case, when a man's religion shall serve only to harden him, and effec- tually to delude and deceive his own soul !
5. *' The prevalence of false ends in holy duties,** 3/a/r. xxiii. 25. This was the bane of the Pharisee. O how many poor so\als arc undone by this, and drop into hell before they discern their mistake 1 They perform good duties, and so think all is well ; but perceive not Unit they are actuated by carnal motives all the while. When the main thing that doth ordinarily carry a man o'4it to religious duties, shall be really some carnal end, as to satisfy his conscience, to %ti the repute of being religious, " to be seen of men,'* to shew his own gifts and piu'ts, to avoid ihe reproach of being a profane and irreligious person, or the like ; this discovers an un- sound heart, /ro.9(?a X. I. Zech, Vn 3,6. O professor! if you would avoid self deceit, see that you mind not on- ly your acts, but withal, yea, above all, your ends.
5. " Trusting in your own righteousness," Xz/A^exviii. 9. This is a soul undoing mischief, Rom x. 3. When men do trust in their own righteousness, they do indeed reject Christ's. Beloved, you had need be watchful on every hand ; for not only your sins but your duties may undo you. It m.iy be you never thought of this.: but so it is, that a man may as certainly miscarry by his seem- ing righteousness and supposed graces, as by gross sins ; and that is, when a man doth trust in these as his righte- ousness before God, for the satisfying his justice, appeas- ing his wrath, procuring his favour, and obtaining of his own pardon ; for this is to put Christ out of office, and lYiake a saviour of our own duties and graces. Beware of this, O professors I You are much in duties : but this one fly will spoil all the ointment. W^hcn you have done most and best, be sure go out of yourselves toChristi Faalm cxlii 2. Phil. iii. 9. ha. lxiv.6. jYch. xiii. 22.
6. " Asecretenmity against the strictness of religion.*' Many moral persons, p'.nctualto their formal devotion have a bitter enmity against preciseness, and hate the life and power of religion, Phil, iii, 6. compared with Acts ix. I. They like not this forwardness, nor that men should keep such a stir in religion ; ihey condemn the strictness of religion as singularity, indiscretion, and in-
The Marks of the Unconverted. Gl
temperate zeal ; and with them a lively preacher, or a lively christian, is but a heady fellow. 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 30 much as will save them (as they suppose) they look no farther, and so shew thelnsclves short of true grace, which will ever put men upon as- piring to farther perfection, Phil. iii. 13. 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 oftentimes under the fair covert of forward profession ! Luke viii. 14. Yea, such a power of deceit is there in this sin, that many times, when every body else can see the man's world- liness and covetousness, he cannot see it himself, but hath so many colours, and excuses, and pretences for his eagerness on the world, that he doth blind his own eyes, and perish in his self-deceit. How many professors be there, with whom the world hath more of their hearts and affections than Christ ; " who mind earthly things," and thereby are evidently after the flesh, and like to end in destruction! Rom. vii. 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 mindedness, for want of a narrowobservation of the work- ing of their own hearts. Did they but carefully search, they would quickly find that their greatest content is in the world, ZwAv xii. 19. and their greatest care and main endeavor is to get and secure the world ; which are the certain discoveries of an unconverted 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 la'A^ul comforts, as by the most unlawful courses. Matt. xii. 5. Luke xiv. 10,24.
9. "Reigning malice andenvy against those that dis-' respect them, and are injurious to them," 1 John ii. 9, U . O how do manv that seem to be religious, remem- F
63 Tne Marks of ike Unconverted.
bep injuries and carry grudges, and will return Tnen-as good as they bring, rendering evil for evil. loving'lo lake revenge, wishing evil to them that wrong them, directly Hgainsi the rule of the gospel, the pattern of Christ, and the nature of God, Rom. xii. 14. 17. 1 Pet. ii. 21, 23. .Vt'/:. ix. 17. Doubtless where this evil is kept, boiling in the heart, and is not hated, resisted, moriified, but doth habnually prevail, that person is in the very gall of bitterness, and in a state of death. Matt, xviii. 34, 35. I John iii. 14, 1 5.
Reader, dolh nothing of this touch thee ? Art thou in none of the fore-mentioned ranks ? () search, and search again ; take thy heart solemnly to task : woe unto thee, if after thy profession thou shouldest be found under the power of ignorar.ce, lost in formality, drowned in earthly mindedness, envenomed with malice, exalted in an opin^- ion of thiae own righteousness, leavened with hypocri- sy and carnal ends in Gcd's service, inabittered against strictness ; this would be a sad discovery that all thy re- li«-ion were in vain. But I must proceed.
10. *' Unmortified pride." When men love the praise oi men more than the praise of God, and set their hearts upon men's esteem, applause, and approbation, it is most certain they are yet in their sins, and strangers to true conversion, JohnyX\. 43. Gai.i. iO. O how secretly doth this sin live and reign in many hearts, and they know it not, but are very strangersto themselves 1 Jo/m ix. 40.
11. "The prevailing- love of pleasure," 2 Tim. iii. 4. This is a black mark. When men give the flesh the lib- erty that it craves, and pamper and please it, and do not deny and restrain it ; when their great delight is in grat- ifying their bellies, and pleasing their senses. "Whatever appearances they may have of religion, all is unsound, /i?07«. xvi. 18. 7Y^. iii. 3. A flesh-pleasing life cannot be pleasing to God. " They that are Christ's have cru- cified the flesh," and are careful t > cross it, and keep it under as their enemy, Gal. v. 24. 1 Cor. ix. 25,27.
12. '' Carnal security, or a presumptuous ungrounded confidence that their condition is already good," Rev. iii. 16. Many cry, j^eace, and safety, when sudden de- struction is coming upon them, I T/ie^s. y. 3. this was
The Marks of the Unconverted. ^>o
that which kept the foolish virgins sleeping when ihey. should have been working ; upon iheir beds, when they should have been at the markets, Matt. xxv. 5, 10. Pro-c. 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, O that these foolish virgir.s had no successors ! V/here is the place, yea, where is the house almost, where these do not dwell I Men are wil- ling to cherish in themselves, upon ever so lii^ht grounds, a hope that their condition is good, and so look not out after a change, and by this means perish in their sins. Are you at peace ? 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 car- nal peace doth commonly prove the m.ost mortal enemy of the poor soul; and whilst it smiies and kisses, and spf aks fair, doth fatally smite it, as it were, ir.ider the iifth rib.
By this time mcthink?,! hear my readers crying out with the disciples, " Who then shall be saved V Set out from among our congregations all those ten ranks of the profane on one hand, a.id then besides, take cut all the twelve sorts of close and self deceiving hypccriics on the other hand, and tell me then whether it be not a rem- nant that shall be saved. Hov; few will be the sheep that shall be left when all these siiall be separated, and set among the goats 1 i'or my part, of all my numcro\is hearers, I have no hope to see any ef them in heaven, tiiat are to be found -i^^ong 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 read- eth these lines. If thou find any of these marks upon him, thou must ^.vonounce him utterly unclean, ic v. 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 prejudice blind thee. I sub- poena thee from the court of heaven to come and eive
64' The Marks of the Unconverted.
in evidence : I require thee in the name of God to go with rne to 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 altogether hold thy peace at such a time as this ? I adjiire thee by the living God, that thou tell us the truth, A/att. 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 prizei and dcliglit in God above all other things, or not ? Come put it to an issue.
How long shall this soul live at uncertainties ? O Con- science 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 r.ieans by which this thorough change of the new birth was wrought in his soul ? Speak, Conscience ; or if thou canst not tell time and place, canst thou shew scripture- evidence that the work is done ? Hath the man beeri ever taken off from his false bottom, from the false hopes and false peace wherein once he trusted? Hath.he been deeply convinced of sin, and of his lost and undone con- dition, and brought out of himself, and off from his sins, to give up himself entirely to Jesus Chist ? Or, dost thou not find him to this very day under the power of ignorance, or in the mire of profaneness. Hast thou not found upon him the gains of unrighteousness ? Dost then not find him a stranger to prayer, a neglecter of the word, a lover of this present world ? Dost thou not, often catch him in a lie ? Dost thou not find his heart fernienetd with malice, or burning with lust, or going after his covetousness 1 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 creature, or else he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Beloved, be not your own betrayers, do not deceive your ov/n hearts; nor set your hands to your own ruin, by a wilful binding of yourselves. Set up a tribunal in
Miseries of the Uxco>,-vektei5. 0*5"
your own breasts, bring the word and conscience to- gether : " To the law and to the testimony," I&a. viii. ^0.- hear what the word concludes of your estates : O follow the search till you have found how the case stands; mis- take here, and you perish. And such is the treachery of the heart,'the subliky of ihe tempter, and the deceitfu^- ncss 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 be mistaken, that it is a thousand to one but you will be deceived, unless you be very careful and thorough and in»partial in the enquiry, into your spiritual condition : () ! therefore ply your work, goto 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 most arch cheats iivthc world to deal with, a world of counterfeit coin is going; huppy is he that takes no counterfeits for gold. Satan is master of deceit ; he can draw to the life, he is perfect in the trade, there is no-, thing 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 ex- amine you and prove your reigns, Psalm xxvi. 2. and cxxxix. 23, 2i. IV other helps suffice not to bring all ta an issue, but you are still at a loss, open your cases faith- fully to some godly and faithful minister, Mai. ii. 7 lest not till you have put the business of your eternal wel- fare out of question, 1 Fet. ii. 10. O searcher of hearts, put thou this soul upon, and help him in his search 1
C II A P. V.
Shelving the Miseries of the Unconverted.
SO unspeakably dreadful is the case of every uncon- verted soul, that I have sometimes thought if I could but convince men that they are yet unregenerate, the .vork were in a measure done. .But I sadly experience, that such a spirit of sloth and
C^ Miseries ()f ^/^t* Ukconverted.
slumber (Roni. xi. 8. Matthew xiii. 15.) possesseththe impenitent, that though they be convmced that they are yet unconverted, yet they oftentimes carelessly sit still; and what through the avocation of sensual pleasures, or hurry of worldly business, or noise and clamour of earth- ly cares, and lusts, and affections, Luke xiii. 14. the voice of conscience is drowned, and men go no farther than some cold wishes and general purposes of repenting and amending, j^cts xxiv. 15.
It is, therefore, 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 mise- yy of this state.
But here ! find myself aground at first putting forth. What tongue can tell the heirs of hell sufficiently of iheir misery, unless it were Dives'-s in that flame ? Luke xvi. 24. Where is the ready writer, whose pen can de- cypher their misery that *'are without God in the world ?'* £/ih. ii 12. This cannot be fully done, unless we knew the infinite ocean of that bliss of perfection which is in God ; which a state of sin doth exclude men from. " Who knoweth (saith Moses) the power of thine anger ?'* Paalm xc. 1 1 . 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 that . hath the least degree of spiritual life and stnse.
But this is yet the more posing difficulty, that I am to speak to them that are without sense. Alas 1 this is not the least part of man's misery upon him, that he is dead, stark dead in trespasses and sins, Efihts. ii. 1.
Could I bring paradise into view, or represent the kingdom of heaven to as much advantage as the tempt- er 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 gulph of Tophet, in all its ter- rors, and open the gates of the infernal furnace, alas ! he hatli no eyes to see it, Matthenu xiii. 14, 15. Could I paint out the beauties of holiness, or glory of the gospel to the life ; or could I bring aboveboard the more than diabolical deformity and ugliness of sin, he can no more judge of the loveliness and beauty of the one, and the niihiness and huteiViincss ca the olhcrj th^'.n a blind m;;n
Miseries of the Unconverted. 6?
ef colours. He is alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in hini, because of the blindness of his heart, Efih. iv. 18 he neither doth, nor can knew the things of God, because they are spiritually discern- ed, 1 Cor. ii. 14. his eyes cannot be savingly opened but by converting grace, Mts xxvi. 1 8. he is a child of dark- ness, and walks in darkness, I John i. 6. << yea, the light in him is darkness," Matt. vi. 3.
Shall I ring his knell, 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 appal his coun- tenace, and loosen his joints, and make his knees smite one against another ? Yet alas I he perceives me not, he hath no ears to hear. Or shall I call up the daugh- ters 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, and cordials of the divine promises, so exceed- ing great and precious? It will not affect him savingly, unless I couW find him ears. Matt. xiii. 15. as weil as tell him the news.
Which way shall 1 come at the miserable objects that I have to deal with ? Who shall make the heart of stone to relent? Zech. vii. 11,12. or the carcase to feel and move? That God alone, who "is able of stones to raise up children unto Abraham," Matt. iii. 9. that raiseth the dead," 1 Cor. i. and melteth the moimtains," A^tfu i, 5. and strikes water out of the flints, Deut. viii. 15. that loves to work like himself, beyond the hope and be- lief of man ; that peopleth his church with dry bones, and planteth his orchard with dry sticks ; he is able to do this. *' Therefore I bow my knee to the most high God," Efth. iii. 14. and as our Saviour prayed at the se- pulchre of Lazarus., JbAn xi. 38, 41. and the Shunamite 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 hinder thee ! tlru hast the keys of death rixl htl»,
63 31hcrlcs if ike UNCo:^;vE^vTi:^.^
pity thou the poor souls that lie here entombed, and roH awLvy the j^rave-stones, and say, as to Lazarus, 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 eyes that death itself hath closed ; thou that formedst the ear, canst restore the hearing: say l|iou to these ears, Ejihfihatlia^ and they shall be opened. Give ihou eyes to see thine excellencies, a taste that may relish thy sweetness, a scent that may savour thine ointments, a feeling that may discern the privilege of thy favour, the burden of thy wrath, the intolerable weight of unpar- doned sin : and give thy servants order to prophesy to the dry bones ; and Let the effects of this prophecy be us those of the prophet when he prophesied the valley of dry bones into a living army, exceeding great," isrcA*. xxxvii. 1, 8cc.
Bui I must proceed, as I am able, to unfold, that mys- tery which, I confess, no tongue can fully unfold, no heart can thoroughly comprehend. — Know, therefore, that while thou art unconverted,
1st, '* The infinite' God is engaged against thee." It is no small part of thy misery that thou art without God, Efih. ii. 12. How doth Micah run crying after the Da- nites, " Ye have taken away my gods, and what have I jnovcV* Judg. xviii. 23 24. O what a mournii-g then must thou lift up that art without God, that canst lay no claim to him without daring usurpation ! Thou mayest say of God as Sheba of David, " We have no part in Da- vid, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse,'*^ 2 Sam XX; i. How pitiful and piercing a moan is that of Saul in his extremity ! " The Philistines are upon me,, and God is departed from me i" 1- Sam. xxvii. 15. But what will .you do, O sinners, in the day of visitation ! Wither will you flee for help ? Where will you leave your glory ? Isd. x. 3. What will you do when the Phil- istines ai'e upon you ; when the world shall take its eter- nal leave of you ; when vou must bi(i vour friends, houses and lands farewell for evermore ? What will you do then, I say, that have no God to go to ? Will you call on him ? Will you cry to him for help ? Alas ! he will not own you, Frw, i. 28, 29. he >Yill not take ^yi
Miseries of the U:sico:sV'EiiTBD. 69
notice of you, but send you away with " I never knew you," Matt. 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, '* 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 an understanding to know any thing." ^c.
But thou art not only without God, but God is against thee, Ezek.y. 8,9. JVa/mm ii. 13.. O ! if God would but stand neuter, though he did not own or help the poor sinner, his case were not so deeply miserable, though God should give up the poor creature to the will of his enemies, to do their worst with him ; though he should deliver him over to the tormentors, Matt, xviii. 34. that devils should tear and torture him to their utmqst power and skill, yet this were not half so fearful. But God will set himselfagainst the sinner; and believe, ''it is a fear- ful thing to fall into the hands of the living Gcd,'* Bed. X. 21. there is no friend like him, no enemy like him : as much as heaven is above the eartlx, omnipotcncy above impotency, infinity above nullity, so much more horri- ble is it to fall into the hands of the living God, than in- to the paws of bears or lions, yea, furies or devils. God himself will be thy tormentor ; thy destruction shall rome from the presence of the Lord, 2 Thess. i. 9. *' Tophetis deep and large, and the wrath of the Lord like a river of brimstone, doth kindle it,'* ha. xxx. 33. *' If God be, against thee, who shall be for thee ? if one man sin against another, ihe judge i=ha)I judge him ; but if a man sin ag^'inst the Lord, who shall intreai for him ? 1 Sam. ii. 15. Thou, even thou art to be feared : rnd who shall stanrl in thy sight when onCe thou art angrv?'* Psabn Ixxvi. 7. ^* Who is that god that shall deliver you out of his hands?" Dan. iii. 15 Can mamn^on ? " Riches profit not in the day of wrath," Pro-u. xi- 4. Can Kings or warriors? No: '* Thrv shall cry to the mountains aiid 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 tiie great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand ?" Rev, vi. 1 '^. ^ "
yO Miseries of the UnconverteiJ.
Sinner ! methinks this should go like a dagger tx) thy heart, to know that God is thine enemy : O whither wilt thou go ? Where wilt thou shelter ? There is no hope for thee unless thou lay down thy weapons, and sue out thy pardon ; and get Christ to stand thy friend and make thy peace : if it were not for this, thouniight- est go into some howling wilderness, and there pine in sorrow, and run mad for anguish 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 for thee, than he is now against thee; but if thou wilt not forsake thy sins, nor turn thorough- ly, and to some purpose to God, by a sound conversion, the wrath of God abideth on thee, and he procluimeth himself to be against thee, as in the prophet Ezekiel^ chap. V. 8. " Therefore, thus saiih the LordGod, Be- Iiold, I, even I am against thee.'*
I. " His face is against thee,'* Ps-ffZ/n xxxiv. 16. <'The 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 v/as the con- sequence ! Ezek. xiv. 8. "• I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and v/iil cut him off froni the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am tKe Lord."
IL " 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 haired ? Jer. xv. 1. " Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be towards this pGT)ple ; cast them out of my sight." Zech. xi. 8. " My soul loathed them, and their souls also abhorred me."
HL *' His hand is against thee," 1 Sam. xii. 14, 15, 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 v.'ill make mine arrows drur^k with blood," i^c. Deut. xxxii. 40, 41.
So exact is ju'stice, that it will by no means clear the
Miseries of ihe,U j<ico^vBRTBi>: 71
guilty, Exodus xxxiv. 7. Cod Avill not dischargee thee, *' he will not hold thee j^uiltless," Exodtis xx. 8 but will require the whole debt in person of thee ; unless thou canst make a scripture-claim to Christ, jmd his satisfac- tion. When the enlightened sinner looks on justice, and sees the balance in wliich he is to be weighed, and the sword by which he must be executed, he feels an earth- quake 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 mcrcvi and so lulls it asleep in sin. Di- vine justice is very strict, it must have satisfaction to the utmost farthing; it denounceth " indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish to every soul that docth evil, Rom, 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 sen^seof his misery, is more terrible tlian 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 murdsier. When justice sits upon life and death, O what dreadful work doth it make witji the wretched sinner! ** Bind him hand and foot, cast him into outer darkness ;• there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth," Matt, xxii. 13. " De- part from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire," Matt. XXV. 4 1 . This is the terrible sentence that justice pro- nounccth. Why sinner, by this severe JAistice must thou be tried 1 And as Godliveth, this killing sentence shalt thou hear, unless thou repent and be converted.
Secondly, " The holiness of God is full of antipathy against thee," Psalm v. 4, 5. He is not only angry with thee, but he hath a fixed, rooted, habitual displeasure against thee, "he loathes thee," Zech. xi. 8. and what is done by thee, though in substanilTe commanded by him, i:?a. i. 14. Mai. i. 10. God's nature is infinitely contrarv to sin, and so he cannot but hate a sinner cut of Christ.
O, what misery is this, to be put of the favour, yea, under the hatred of God ! Ecclcs. v. 6. Hos. ix. 15. that God who can as eaiily lay aside his nature, and cease to be God, as not be contrary to thee, and detest thee, ex- cept thou be changed and renewed by grace. O sinner;'
?i2 Miseries of the Unconveeteb.
howdarest thou to think of the bright and radiant sun of purity, of the beauties, the glory of holiness that is in God 1 " the stars are not pure in his sight," Job. xxv. 5. " He humbles himself to behold tilings that are done in heaven," Psalm cxiii. 6. O those light and sparkling eyes of his ! What do they spy in thee ? And thou hast no interest in Christ neither, that he should pUad for thee. Methinks he should hear thee crying out (aston- ished) with the Bethshemites, " Who shall stand before this Lord God 1" I 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 destruction of them that obey not the gospel, 2 Thess. i. 8, 9. O man ! Art thou able to nmke thy part good with thy Maker? No more than a silly reed against the cedars of God, or a little cockboat against the tumbling ocean, or the children's bubbles against the blustering winds.
Sinner, the power of God*s anger is against thee, Psalm xc. 11. and power and anger together make fear- ful work ; it were better thou hadst all the world in arms against thee, than to have the power of God against thee. There is no escaping his hands nor breaking his prison. <' The thunder of his power who can understand ? Job. xxvi. 14. Unhappy man that shall understand it by feeling it ! " If he will contend with him, he cannot an- swer him one of a thousand. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength : who hath hardened himself against him and prospered ? which 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 ; which conimandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars ? Behold he tskcth 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. 5. Isfc. And art thou a fit m^tch for such an antagonist ? " O I consider this, you that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you," Psalm 1. 22. Submit to mercy, let not dust and stubble stand out flo-ainst the Almighty j set not briers and thcrns ae-ainst
Miseiies of the UNco^'VERTED. 73
iiim in battle, lest ho go through them and consume them together ; but lay hold of his strength, that you may " make peace with him," Isa. xxvii. 4,5. "Woe unto 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 instru- ments of death and made all things ready," Psalm vii.
12, 13. Plis counsels are against thee to contrive thy destruction, «7(?r. xviii. 1 1. He laughs to see how thou wilt be taken and ensnared in the evil day, Psalm xxxvii.
13. "The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that day is coming." He sees how thou wilt come down mightily in a moment ; how wilt thou wring thy hands, tear thy hair, eat thy flesh and gnash thy teeth for an- guish and astonisment of heart, when thou seest thou art fallen remedlessly into the pit of destruction.
Fifthly, " The truth of God is sworn against thee," Psalm xcv. 11. If he be true and faithful, thou must perish if thou goest on, Luke xiii. 3. Unless he be false to his word, thou must die, except thou repent, Ezek. xxxiii. 11- "If we believe not, yet he abidcth faithful, he cannot deny himself," 2Tiin.\\. 13. that is, he is faithful to his threatenings as well as promises, 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. 8. that "if thou livest after the flesh thou shaltdie," Rom.y'm. 13. that "except thou be converted, thou shalt in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven," Matt. xviii. 3 and he 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 it is to unbelievers for strong consterna- tion and confusion. O sinner, tell me what shift dost thou make to think of all the threatenings of God's word, that stand upon record against thee ? Dost thou believe they are truth or not ? If not, thou art a wretched infidel, and not a christian ; and therefore give over the name and hopes of a christian. 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 faithfulness of God is G
74 Miseries of the Unconverted.
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 unsanctified : 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 ihee, and ovcrtiike thee, {Deut. xxviii. 15.) except thou repent ; '' Heaven and earth shall pass away, but one jot or tittle of this word shall never pass away," Mult. 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 im- .penitent sinner, to thy terror, that all ihe attributes of the infinite God are bound in an oath to destroy thee, Heb. iii. 1 8. O man I what wilt thou do ? Whither wilt thou flee ? If God's omnisciency can find thee, thou shalt not escape ; if the true and faithful God will save his oath, perish you must, except thou repent and believe. 1 f 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.'* " The whole creation (saith Paul) groaneth and travail- eth in pain," Rom. viii. 22. But what is it the creation groaneth under? Why, the fearful abuse that it is sub- ject to, in serving the lust of unsanctified men. And what is it that the creation groaneth for ? Why, for free- dom and liberty from this abuse ; for the '* creature is very unwillingly subject to this bondage," Rom. viii. 19,21. If the unreasonable and animate creatures had speech and reason, they would cry out under it as a bon- dage unsuflfsrable to be abused by the ungodly, contrary to their natures and the ends that the great Creator make them for. While the Lord of hosts is against thee 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 conver- sion the controversy being taken up between God and him, he makes a covenant of peace with the creatures or him, Job xxi. 21, 24. Ilosea ii. 18, 20.
Miseries of the Unconverted. 75
III. " The roaring lion hath his full power upon thee,'* 1 Pet. V. 8. Thou art fast in the paw of that lion that is greedy to devour ; in the snare ot the devil, led captive by him at his will, 2 Tim. ii. 26. This is the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience; Ji-fih. ii. 2. his drudges they are, and his lust they do. He is the ruler of the darkness of this world, Efi'h. vi. 12. that is of ig- norajit sinners that live in darkness. Vou pity the poor Indians that worship the devil for their God, but little think it is your own case. Why, it is the common mis- ery of all the impenitent, that the devil is their God, 2 Cor. IV. 4. Not that they do intend to do him homage and worship, they will be ready to defy him, and him that should say so by them ; but all tl-.is while they serve him, and come and go at his beck, and live under his gov- ernment : " His servants ye are to whom you yield your- selves to obey." Rom. vi. 16. Doubtless the liar intends not a service to Satan, but his own advantage ; yet it is he that stands in the corner unobserved, and putteth the things in his heart, .4'f /* v. 3. Johns'iu.. 44. Questionless Judas, when he sold his master for money, and the Chal- deans and Sabeans, when they plundered Job, intended not to do the devil a pleasure, but to satisfy their own covetous thirst, yet it was he that actuated them in their wickedness, ^/o/^7^ xiii. 27. Job i. 12, 15, 17. Men may be very slaves and common drudges for 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 dark- ness to light ? Why, thou art under the power of Satan, Jets xvi. 18. Dost thou live in the ordinary and wilful practice of any known 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, ^c/m viii. 40,41. O dreadful case \ However Satan may provide his slaves with divers pleasures, Tit. iii. 3. yet it is but to draw them into endless perdition. The serpent comes with the apple in his mouth, O ! but (with Eve) thou seest not the deadly sting in his tail. He that is now thy tempter will one day be thy tormentor. O, that I coud but give thee to see how black a master thou scrvcst, how filthy ' drugery thou dost, how. merciless a tyrant thou grat-
76 Miseries of ike UNcoNVEitiit£>.
ifiest, all whose pleasure is to set thcc on work to make thy percUlion and danination sure, and lo heat the fwf- nace hotter and hotter, m which thou must burn for mil- lions 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 uncon- verted, none of thy sins can be blotted out, Actsni. 19. Ihey are all upon the score against thee. Regeneration and remission are never separated ; the unsanctified are -•uiquestionably unjustified and upardoned, I Cor. vi. 11. \ Pet. I. 2. Heh. ix. 14. Beloved, it is a fearful 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 liis. Look upon an enlightened sinner who feels the weight of his own guilt, O how frightful are his looks, IiOvv fearful are his complaints ! His comforts are turned into wormwood, and his moisture into drought, and his sleep is departed from his eyes.
How light soever you may m*ke of it now, you will one day find the guilt of unpardoned sin to be a heavy burden, it is a mill-stone, " whosoever falleth upon it shall be broken; but upon whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder," Matt. xxi. 44. What work did it make with our blessed Saviour! It pressed the very blood out of his veins, and broke all his bones ; and if it did this in the green tree, what will it do in the dry ?
O think of thy case in time ! canst thou think of that threat without trembling, " Ye shall die in your sins ?" John viii. 24. O better were it for thee to die in a jail, in a ditch, in a dungeon, than to die in your sins. It- death, as it will take away all other comforts, would take away thy sins too, it were some mitigation ; but thy sins will follow thee when thy friends leave thee and all worldly enjoyments shake hands with thee ; thy sins will not die with thee, 2 Cor. V. 10. i?<?-y.xx. 12. asaprison- cr's other debts will, but they will goto judgment with thee, there to be thy accusers ; and they will go to hell with thee, there to be thy tormentors. Better to have so many fiends and furies about thee, than thy sins to fall upon thee and fasten upon thee. O the work that these will make thee I O look over thy debts in time, how
Miseries of the U^c6y{VBv*.T^j). 77
much thou art in the books of every one of God's laws : how is every one of God's commandments ready to ar- rest thee, and seize thee by the throat, for the innume- rable 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 mayest despair of ihyself, and be driven to Christ, and *' fly for refuge to lay hold of the hope that is set before thee." Heb. vi. 18.
V. "Thy raging lusts do miserably enslave thee." While impenitent,ihou art a very servant of sin ; it reigns over thee, and holds thee under its dominion till thou art brought within the bonds of God's covenant, Jo/in viii. 34,56. Tifus iii. 3. Rojn. vi. 12, 14. and vi. 16, 17. Now there is not 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 sec a company of poor creatures drudging and toiling, only to heap «p fag- gotvto burn themselves ? Why this is the constant em- ployment of all sin's drudges: even while they bless themselves in their unrighteous gains, while they sing and swill in pleasures, they are but treasuring up wrath and vengeance for iheir eternal burning ; ihcy are but laying in 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 is death ! i?c7«. vi. 23.
What a woeful spectacle was the poor wretch who was possessed with the legion I Would it not have griev« ed thy heart to have seen him among the tombs cutting and wounding himself? Mark v. 5. This is tliy case, such is thy work, every stroke is a thrust at thy heart, 1 Tim.\\. 10. Conscience indeed, is now asleep, but when death and judgment shall bring thee to tiiy senses, ''then thou wilt feel the raging smart and anguish of eve- ry v/ound.
VI. " The furnace of eternal vengeance is heated
-_ready for thee," ha. xxx. S3. "Hell and destruction
open their mouths upon thee, they gape and groan for
thee," chafi. v. 1 8. waiting as it were, with a greedy eye,
as thou standcst on the brink, when ibou wilt drop i".
G 2
78 Miseries of the UNcoNVERTEr>.
If the wralh of man l>e " as the roarinpj of a lion." Prov. XX. 2. "more heavy than the sand," chafi. xxvii. 3 what i3 the wrath of the infinite God ? 1 f the burning furnace, heated in Nebuchadnezzar's fiery rage, when he coni- manded it to be made seven times hotter, was so fierce as to burn up even tliose that drew near it to throw the three children in, Dan. ii. 19,22. how hot is that burn- ing oven of the Almighty's fury ? Mai. iv. I . surely this is seventy times more fierce. "Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong in the day that I shall de'c^l with thee, saith the Lord of hosts ?" -EzeA-. xxii. 14. Canst thou abide everlasting burnings ? Canst thou dwell with consuming fire ? ha. xxxii. 14.
() sinner 1 stop here and consider ; if thou art a man, and not a senseless block, consider ; bethink thyself where thou standest ; why upon the very brink of this furnace. "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, thero is but a step between thee and it," I &;?:.xx. 3. Thou knowest not, when thou liest down, but thou may- est be in it before the morning : thou knowest not, when thou risest, but thou mayest drop in before night. Barest thou make light of this ? Wilt thou go on in such a dread- ful condition as if nothing ailed thee ? If thou puttest it off and sayest, " This doth not belong to me ;" lock again over the foregoing chapter, and tell me the truth ; •are none of these black marks found upon thee ? Do not blind thine eyes, do not deceive thyself ; sec thy misery whilst thou mayest prevent it. Think Nvhat it is to be a vile outcast a damned reprobate, a vessel of wrath, into which the Lord will pour out his tormenting fury while he liatha being, Rom. ix. 22.
VIL " The lav/ discharges all its threats and curses atthee," Ga/. iii. 10. Z)<fwr. xxviii.^ O how dreadful doth it thunder 1 it spits fire and brimstone in thy face ; its words are as dravai swords, and as the sharp arrows of the mighty ; it demands satisfaction to the utmost, and cries, justice^ justice : it speaks blood, and war, and wounds and death against thee, O the execrations, and plagues, and deaths that this murdering piece is loaded with ! (read Deut. xxviii. 15. &c.) and thou art the matk at which this shot is levelled. " O man, away to thj strong hold/' 2ec^, in- 12, ^way from thy sins; haste
Miseries of ike UNCONVEiiTKL-. 'Tv
to the sai^ctuary, the city of refuge, Heb. xiii. 13. evert the Lord Jesus Christ ; hide thee in him, or else thok art lost without any hope of recovery.
VIII. ^'Tlve gospel itself bindeth the sentence of eternal damnation upr# thee," MarA: xvi. 16. Ifthoii continucst in thine in^ penitent and unconverted state, know that the gospel denounceth a much sorer condem- nation than ever would have been for the transgression only of the first covenant. Is it not a dreadful case, to have the gospel itself thunder out threats of damnation? To have " the Lord roar frona mount Sion agamst thee ? Jccliii, 16. "Hear the terror of the Lord: he that believelh not shall be damned. Except ye repent ye shall airperish,"ZwA-e xiii. 2. '' This is the condemna- tion that light is come into the world, and men love dark- ness rather than light," John iii. 1 9. " He that believeth not, the wrath of Godabideth on him," Johnni. 36. "If the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every trans- gression and disobefUence received a just recon pense of reward, how sliall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ?" ^t'6. ii. 2,3. "He that despised Moses's law, died without mercy. Of how much sorer punish- ment shall he be thought worthy, who hath trampled under foot 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 mayest remedy it, than blind and harden thyself till, to thy eternal sorrow, thou shalt feel what thou wouldst not believe : and if it be true, what dost thdu mean to loiter and linger in such a case as this ?
Hear what the Lord saith : " Fear ye not me, sailh the Lord, will ye not tremble at my presence V* 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. 1 9. What, are ycu 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
30 Miseries o/' ^//t' U x c o n v ert ed .
devouring wrath, as if you were indifferent whether you did escape or endure it ? O madness of folly I Solomon's m tdman, that casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, and saith, " Am I not in jest?" Prov. xxvi 18. There is nothinjj so distracted as the wilful sinner, Luke xv. 16. that gdeth on in his unconverted state, without sense, as if nothini^ ailed him. The man that runs on the can- non's mouth, and sports with his blood, and lets out his life in a frolic, is sensible, sober, and serious, to ium that i^oeth on still in his tresspasses, /*««//« Ixviii. Jl. for "he stretches out his hand against God, and strengthens himself against the Almighty : he runneth upon him, even upoi^ his neck, upon the thick bosses of bis buckler," Job xv. 25,26. Is it wisdom to dally with the second death, or to venture into the lake that burnetii* with fire and brimstone ? Rev. xxi. 8. as if thou were but going to wash thee, or swim for thy recreation? What shall I say ? I can find out no expression, no com- parison, whereby to set forth the dreadful distraction of that soul that continues to go on in sin.
Awake, awake, E/ih v. 14. O sinner! arise and take thy flight: There is but one door thou mayest 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 out of hell, than that thou shalt without fail be in it, but a few days and nights from hence O set thy heart to think of thy case. Is not thine everlasting mis- ery or welfare that which doth deserve a little consider- ation ? Lookagain 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 has 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 present life thou shouldst be wise enough to forecast thy business, foresee thy danger, and prevent thy mischief; but in matters of everlasting consequence shouldst be slight and careless as if they little concerned thee ?
Miseries of the Unconverted. 81
Why, is it nothing to thee to have all the attributes of God engaged against thee ? Canst thou do well without his favour ? Canst thou escape his hands or endure his vengeance ? Dost thou hear the creation groaning under thee and hell groaning for thee, and yet think thy case good enough ? Art thou in the paw of the lion, under the power of corruption, in the dark noisome prison, fet- tered 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 thun- derbolts, as if they were but the report of children's pop- guns, or thou wert to war with their paper pellets ? 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. Artf thou such a leviathan, as that the scale of thy pride should keep thee from thy Maker's coming to 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 ? Doth 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 21,23. Well, if the threats and calls of the word will not frighten thee, nor awaken thee, I am sure death and judgment wiii. O, 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 them, and their wives, snd their children, the lions had the mastery of them, i^nd brake all their bones in pieces, or ever they came at the bottom of the den, Dan. vi. 24-. what shall he cfene with thee when thou fallest into the hands of the living God, when hfc shall g* :pe thee in his iron arms, and grind ^[k! crush thee in a thousand pieces in his wrivUv?
8:2 Directions for Conversion.
O do not then content! with God I " Repent and be converted," so none of this shall come upon thee, Ua. Iv. 6,7. * 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 rnercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
CHAP. VI.
Containing Directions for Conversion.
IMark x. 1 7. And there came one and kneeled to him^ aJid asked him^ Good Master y ivhat shall I do that I may in- herit eternal life ?
BEFO RE thou readest Xhtse 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 ihey may succeed : and as I have sought the Lord, and consulted his oracles what advice to give thee, so must thou entertain it with that awe, reverence, and purpose of obedience, that the word of the living God doth re- quire.
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 making use of God's means for your con- version. I would not trouble you, nor " torment you before your time," with the forethoughts of your eternal misery, but in order to your making your escape. Were you shut up under your present misery without remedy, it were but mercy (as one speaks) to let you alone, that you might take in that little poor comfort that you are cap'ible of in this world ; but you may yet be happy if you do not wilfully refuse the means of your recovery : Behold, I hold open the door to you ; arise, take your iiight : i'set the way of life before, you, walk in it, and " yqu shall live, and not die," Z)ewr. xxx. 19. Jer. vi. 16. It grieves me to think you should be your own murder-
Directions for Cojs\tsrsion. 83
ers, and throw yourselves headloni:^, when God and man cries out to you, as Peter in another case to his nJ^ster, *' Spare thyself.'*
Hear then, O sinner ! and as ever thou wouldst be converted and saved, embrace the following counsel.
Direct. I. " Set it down with thyself as an undoubted truth, that it is impossible for thee ever to get to hea- ven in this thy unconverted slate." Can any other but Christ save thee? and he tells thee he never will do it, except thou be regenerated and converted, Matt xviii. 3. John iii 3. Doth he not keep the keys of heaven ? and canst thou get in without his leave? As thou must," if ever thou come thither in thy natural condition, with- out a sound and,thorough renovation.
Direct. \1, "Labour to get a thorough sight and lively sense and feeling of thy sins." Till men are weary «nd heavy laden, and pricked at the heart, and quite sick of sin, they will not come unto Christ, in his way, for ease and cure ; nor to purpose enquire, " V\ hat shall we do?" Matt. ix. 12. and xi. 28. .4cts ii. 2>7 . They must set themselves down for dead men before they will come unto Christ that they may have life, Jcfn 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, Psalm Ixxviii. 6. Inquire into thine heart and into thy life ; enter into a thorough ex- amination of thyself, and all thy ways, Psa/tn cxix. 59. that thou mayst make a fiill discovery : and call in the help of God's Spirit, and a sense of thine own inability hereunto, for it is his proper work to convince of sin, JohJi xvii. 8. spread all before the face of thy conscience, till thy heart and eyes be set abroach : leave not striving with God and thy ov/n soul, till it cry out under the sense of thy sins, as the enlightened jailor, " What must I do to be saved ?" Jets xvi 30. To this purpose, " Meditate on the numerousness of thy sins." Da- vid*8 heart failed when he thought of this, and consider- ed that he had more sins than hairs. Psalm Ix. 12. This made him cry out upon the multitude of God*s tender mercies, PsolviW. I. The loathsome carcase doth not more hatefully swarm with crawling worms, than an unsanctified soul with filthy lusts; they fill the
84 Directions for Conversion.
head, the heart, the eyes, the mouth o{ him. Look back'.rard : Where was ever the place, what was ever the time, in which thou didst not sin ? Look inward ; What part or power canst thou lind in soul. or body, but it is poisoned with sin? What dqty dost lliou ever per- form, inlo which poison is not shed ? O, how great is the sum of thy debis, who hast been all thy life running behind hand, and never didst nor canst pay off one pen- ny ! Look over the sins 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 ac- tions, the sins of thy youth, and those of thy riper vears ; be not like a desperate bankrupt, that is afraid to look over his books : Read the records of conscience carefully. These books must be opened sooner or la- ter, Rrv. XX. 12.
" Meditate on the aggravations of thy sins, as they are grand enemies of the God of thy life ; and the life of thy soul ; in a word, they are the public enemies of all mankind.'* How do David, Ezra, Danid, and the •c'ood Lniites aggravate their sins, from the considera- tion of their injuriousness to God, their opposition to his good and righteous laws, the mercies, the warnings they were committed against? Mh. 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 backed the devil, that hath digged hell, Rom.y. 12. 2 Pet. ii. 4. Jolm viii. 34. This islhs enemy that turned the world upside down, and >.o^s cth dissention between man and the creatures, be- twixt mim and man, yea, between man and himself, set- ling the sensitive part against the rational, the will a- •:>"ihist 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 him, Zech. xi. 8. O man 1 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 nailed his hands, that pierced his side, that pressed his soul, that mangled his body, that never left till he had bound him, condemned him, iVailed him, crucified him, and put him to an open shame,
Directions for Conveesiok. 83
Isa. liii. 4, 6. This is that deadly poison, so powerful of operation, as that one drop of it shed on the root of mankind) hath corrupted, spoiled, poisoned, and undone his whole race at once, Horn. v. 18, 19. This the com« mon butcher the bloody executioner, that hath killed the prophets, burnt the martyrs, murdered all the apos- tles, all the patriarchs, all the kings and potentates; that has destroyed cities, swallowed empires, butchered and devoured whole nations. Whatever was the weapon it was done by, sin was it that did the execuiion, Rom. vi. 23. Dost thou yet think it but a small thing ? If Adam and all his children could be dug out of their graves, and their bodies piled up to heaven» and an in- quest were made, what matchless 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 inclines to fear and loath 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 correction, against the clearest light, against the free'st love, against thine own resolutions, against prorr.- ises, vows, covenants of 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, iirra ix. 6.
'' Meditate on the desert of sin." It crieili up to heaven ; it calls for vengeance, Gen. xviii. 21. Its clue wages is death and damnation ; it pulls the cui se 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.yixx. 36 O, what a load of wr.ith, what a weight of curses, what a treasure of vengeance have all the millions of thy sins then deserved ! Rom.M. S. Jatne^y.^^. O judge thyself, that the Lord may not jvidge ihee, I Cor. xi. 31.
** Medicate upon 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 hateful deform- ity of thy nature, than to see the dcvti. There is no mire so unclean, no vomit so loathsome, no carcase-car-
H
86 Directions for Conversion.
rion so offensivCj no plague or leprosy so noisome as sinf in which thou art rolled, and covered with its odious filth, whereby thou art rendered more displeasing to the pure and holy nature of the glorious God than the most iihhy objects, composed of whatever is hateful to all thy senses, can be to thee, Job xv. 15, 16. Couldst thou take up a toad into 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 it is to thee. Matt, xxiii. 33. till thou art purified by the blood of Jesus, and the power of reneW' ing grace.
" Above all other sins, fix the eye of thy consideration on these two." 1. *' The sin of thy nature." It is to little purpose to lop the branches, while the root otori- ginal corruption remains untouched. In vain do men lave out the streams, when the fountain is running that fills up all again. Let the acts of thy repentunce (with Davi(Vs) go to the root of the sin, Psahn li. 5 . The heart is never soundly broken till thoroughly 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, i?ow. vii. 15. that sheds blindness, pride, preju- dice, unbelief into thy mind ; enmity, inconstancy, ob- stinacy into thy will ; inordinate heats and colds into thy affections ; insensibleness, benumbedness, unfaith- fulness, into thy conscience ; slipperiness into thy mem- ory ; and in a word, hath put of every wheel of thy soul out of order, and made it of an habitation of holiness, to become a very hell of iniquity, James ii. 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 and corrupt designs, Af/c. ii. 1. the hand with sinful practices, Ua. i. 16. the eyes with wandering and v/antonncss, 2 Pet.\\.^ \ 4. the tongue with deadly poison, James iii. 8 that hath opened the ears to tales, flattery, and evil communication, and shut them against the in- structions of life, Zech.y'ii. II, 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,
Directions for Co^vEusioy. 87
2 Fa. ii. 14. even as naturally, freely, and un-vfeariedly as a fountain doth pour out its waters, Jer. vi. 7. or the raging sea doth cast forth mire and dirt, Tsa. Ivii. 20. And wilt thou yet be in love with thyself, and tell us any longer of thy good heart ? O, never leave medita- ting on the desperate contagion of original corruption, (ill with jEfi/n-aim, thou bemoan thyself, Jer. xxxi. 18. and with the deepest shame and sorrow smite on thy breast, as the publican, T.uke xvili. 18. and v/ith Job ab- h6r thyself, and repent in dust and ashes, Job xlii. 6,2.
The particular evil that thou art now addicted to :" Find outatl its aggravation, -et home upon thy heart all God's threats against it : Repentance drives before it the whole herd; but especially slicks the arrow in the beloved sin, and smgles this out i-bove the rest, to run it down, Psalm xviii. 22. O labour to make this sin odious to thy soul, and double thy guard and resolutions against it, bec:\use this hath, and doth most dishonour God, and endanger thee.
Direct. III. ''Strive to affect thy heart with a due sense of thy present misery " Read over the foregoing chapter again and again, and get it out of the book into thy heart. O, study ihy misery till thy heart cries out for Christ, as earnestly as ever a drowning man did for a boat or the wounded for a surgeon. Men must come to see ihe danger, and feel the smfirt 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 of them- selves, or else they will not come to Christ. It was dis- ti'essand extremity that made the prodigal think of re- turning,/.wA-^ xv. 16. 17. While Z.ao(i/cca thinks her- self rich, increased in goods, in need of nothing, there is little hope : she must be deeply convinced of her wretchedness, blindness, poverty, and nakedness, before she will come to Christ for his gold, raiment, and eye- salve. Rev. iii 17, 18. therefore hold the eyes of con- science open, amplify thy misery as much as possible, do notfiee the sight of it for fear it should fill thee with terror. The sense of thy misery is but as it were the suppuratioa of the wound, which is necessary to the
^8 Directions for CoNVERsroN*
cure. Better fear the torments that abide thee novTr than feel ihem hereafter.
Direct. IV. " Settle it upon thy heart that thou arf under everlasting inability ever to recover thyself." Never think thy praying, reading, hearing, confessing, amending, will -vvork the cure ; these must be attended to, but thou art undone if thou restest in them, Rom. x. 3. T!iou art a lost man if thou hopest to escape drown- ing on any other plank but Jesus Christ, ^c^5 iv. 12. Thou must unlearn thyself, and renounce thy own wis- dom, thy own righteousness, thy own strength, and throw thyself wholly upon Christ, as a man that swims casts * 'himself upon the water, or else thou canst not escape. AVhile men trust in themselves, and establish their own righteousness, and have contidence in the flesh, they will not come savingly to Christ, Lukeyi\m. 9. PhiL'ni. 3. — Tliou must know thy gain to be but loss and dung, thy strength but weakness, thy righieoi\sness rags and rottenness before there will be an effectual closure be- tween Christ and thee Phil. iii. 7, 8, 9. 2 Cof . iii. 5 /va. Ixiv. 6. Can the lifeless carcase shake off its grave- clothes and loose the bands of death ? Then mayest ihou recover thyself, who art dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore, when thou goest to pray or meditate, or do any of the duties to which thou art here directed, go out of thyself, and call in the help of the Spirit, as des- pairing to do any thing pleasing to God in thy own strength ; yet neglect not thy duty- but lie ai tlie pool, and wait in the way of the Spirit — While the Eunuch was reading, then the Holv Ghost did send Phili/} to him, >^cts viii. 28. 29 when the disciples were praying, chafi. iv. 31. Avhen Coifielius and his friends were honr- ing. chap. X. 44. then the Holy Ghost fell upon them, and filled them all. Strive to give up thyself to Christ ; strive to. pray, strive to meditate, strive an hundred and a hundred times, strive to do it as Veil as thou canst ; and while thou art endeavoring in the way of thy duty, the Spirit of the Lord will come upon ihe^ and help thee to do what of thyself thou art utterly' unable toper- form, ProTy. i. 23.
Direct. V. *' Forthwith renounce all thy sins." If thou yield thyself to the practice of any sin, thou art
Directions for Conversion. 89
uadone, Rom. vi. 1 7. In vain dost thou hope for life by Christ, except thou depart from iniquity, 2 Tim. ii. 19. Forsake thy sins, or else thou canst not find mercy, Prov. xxviii. 23. Thou canst not be married to Christ, except thou be divorced from sin ; give up that traitor, or you can have no peace in heaven ; cast the head of ^heba over the wall ; keep not Delilah in the lap : thou must part with thy sins or with thy soul ; if thou spare even one sin. God will not spare thee. Never nake excuses, thy sins must die, or thou must die for them, Paalm Ixviii. 21. If thcJu allow of one sin, though but a little, a secret one, though thou mayest plead necessity, and have an hundred shifts and excuses for it, the life of thy soul must go for the life of that sin. Ezek. xviii. 2 I . and will it not be dearly bought ?
O sinner I 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 nut because there was not a Sa\iour provided, nor life tendered, but because thou prefcrredst (with the Jew) the murderer before the Saviour, sin be fore Christ, and "lovedst darkness rather than light,'* Jc//(«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 I neglected towards God? What sin have I lived in against my broth- er ? — And now strike the darts through the heart of thy sin, as Vbrtd did through Abhalom^s., 2 ^am. xviii. 14. Never stand looking upon thy sin, nor rolling tlie sweet morsel under thy tongue. Job xx. 12. but spit it out l^s poison, with fear and detestation. Alas I what will thy sins do for thee, that thou shouldst stick at parting with them ? They will flatter thee, but they will undo thee, and cut thy throat while they smile upon thee, poison tnce 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. O serve them like Hu7mn^z.n<X execute them as they would have done H 2
90 Directions for Conversion.
thee : away Mfiih them, crucify them, and let Christ only be Lord over thee. •
Direct. VI. " Make a solemn choice of God for thy portion and blessedness," Dent, xxxi. 1 7. With all pos- sible devotion and veneration avouch tlwi 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 excellencies and perfections, on the other, and see that thou dodeliberale- ly make thy choice, /o^A.xxvi. 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 whilst thou hast God to live upon : take him for thy shield and exceeding great reward. God alone is more than all the world, content thyself with him t Let others carry the preferments and glory of the world, place thou th/ happiness in his favour, and in the light of his couMtenance, Psalm iv. 6, 7.
Poor sinner I thou art fallen off from God, and hast provoked his power and wrath against thee ; yet know that of his abundant grace he doth offer to be thy God in Christ, 2 Cor. vi. 1 7, 18. What sayesi thou, man? Wilt thou have the Lord for thy God ? Why, take this counsel and thou shalt have liim, come to him by his Christ, John xvi. 6.. renounce the idols of thy own plea* 'sures, gain and reputation, 1 Thess.i. 9. let these be puK led out of their throne, and set God's interest upper- most in thy heart. Take him as God, to be chief ill ll\y affections, esti.nations, ip,tentions, for he will not en- dure to have any set above him, Rom. i. 24. Psalm Ixxiii.. 25.
Direct. Wl. " Accept of the Lord Jesus in all his. offices, with all his inconvcnicn.ces, as thine." Upoa these terms Christ may be had. Sinner, thou hast un-; done thyself, and art plunged into a state of most deplo-- rable misery, out of which thou art unable to get ; but Jesus Christ is able and ready to help thee, and freely tenders himself to thee, Heb. vii. 25. John iii. 30. Be thy^ sins ever so many, ever so great, or of ever so long con- tinuance, yet thou sl^alt be most certainly pardoned aud
Directions for Conversio.^. 91
saved, if thou dost not wretchedly neglect the offer that, in the name of God, is here made to ihce. The Lord Jesus calleth thee to look to him and be saved, ha. xiv. 22. to " come unto him, and he will in no wise ci.si ihec out,'* John vi. 37. yea, he is a suitor to thee, and be- seeches thee to be reconciled, 3 Cor. v. 20. he crieth in the streets, he knocketh at the door, he wooelh ihee to accept of him, and live with him, Prov. i. 20. Ktv 'in. 20. If thou dicst, it is because thou would'st not come to him for life, John v. 40.
Now accept of an offered Christ, and thou art made for ever ; now give up thy consent to him, and the match is made, all the world cannot hinder it. Do not stand off because of tby unworthincss, man; I tell thee, no- thing in the world can undo thee hut thy unwillingness. Speak, man, art thou desirous of the match ? Will 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. W^ilt thou lay at his feet ? W ilt thou be content to run all hazards with him ? Wilt thou take thy lot with him, fall where it will? Wiltthon "deny thyself, and take up thy cross, and follow him ?" Art tliou deliberately understanding- ly, freely, fixedly determined to cleave to him in all limes and conditions ? If so, my soul for thine, thou shah never perish, but art passed from death unto life, Johnm. 15. Here lies the main point of thy salvation, that thou be found in thy covenant-closure with Jesus Christ ? and therefore, if thou lovest thyself, see thai thou be faithful to God, and thy soul here.
Direct. VJII. " Resign up all thy powers and facul- ties, and thy whole interest, to be his.'* " They gave their own selves unto the Lord," 2 Cpr. viii. 5. '* Pre- sent your bodies a living sacrifice," liom. 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 he glorified in thy body, and in thy spirit, which are his, 1 Cor. vi. 20.
Again ; thou must give up thy whole interest to him^ If there be any thing that thou keepest back from Christ,. U will be thy undoing, Luk^ xiy. 33. Unless thou wiH.
92 Directions for Conversion.
forsake all (in i^^eparation and resolution of thy heart) thou canst not be his disciple