Imatges de pàgina
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man, in the name of God, every morning thou arisest, and every night thou liest down, that thou art uncertain to be out of hell till the next day. Alas! it is enough to amaze a poor Christian, that is indeed converted, when he doth but find himself in doubt of it; how much more should it awaken them that are yet in the flesh? Many a one that truly feared God, having wanted assurance at the time of death, O how terrible hath it made death to them! To look before them and think they must be gone, and they know not whither; to think that it is but one day or two more, and my soul will be among angels or devils, and I know not which of the two it will be! O what a dreadful thought is this, even to many that are converted, for want of assurance at the time of death! But alas! this is but a small matter in comparison of the case of the unconverted: for as soon as the soul is out of the flesh, all the fears of the godly are at end, and they shall never more have a doubting thought; but for the rest, if you should die with never so great confidence, death would dispel it all; and as soon as you were out of the body, your eyes would be opened to see that which would never let you have a thought of hope or comfort more. I speak none of this of myself. "When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish; and the hope of the unjust man perisheth "." "For what is the hope of the wicked, though he have gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry, when trouble cometh upon him?" "So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope shall perish; whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand; he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure "." "The eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost *." Take this home with you then, and let it cause you to have no rest till you are truly converted, that till then you are never certain to be one day or hour more in safety.

7. From all this you may see another sad consideration, which is, That as long as a man is unconverted, he hath no ground for one hour's true peace or comfort, but hath reason to live in continual terror, and to be the grief of all that know his misery. For should a man be merry that is in such a Job xxvii. 8. u Job viii. 13. 18.

s Prov. xi. 7.

* Job xi. 20.

case as this? O no, if his eyes were opened, it would certainly affright him, either out of his sins, or out of his wits. Many worldly vanities and sensual delights such men may have, to delight their thoughts; but this is their weakness, and not their happiness. Some malefactors when they are to be hanged, will make themselves drunk beforehand, that death may not be terrible to them; but this is but a medicine against repentance, and not against hell. So do thousands of poor sinners make themselves drunk with merry company, and false conceits, and worldly businesses, and fleshly pleasures; but though this do ease their hearts awhile, and keep away the feeling of their misery, it will not do so long, but only till the hope of cure be past. Brethren, the desire of my soul is to advance the consolation of the saints, and to take from you no peace or hope, but what death will take from you, if it be not done before; and if I had any hopes that your merry days would last after death, and would not end in everlasting sorrow, I would not be one that should interrupt your mirth. Truly you should hold on in your careless, drowsy course for me, if I did not see the after-reckoning; but seeing the case is such as I have proved, with all that are unconverted, I must say to all in that condition, that mirth is very unsuitable to your state, and laughter doth ill become you. And if ever a man might say of it, as Solomon, 'Thou art mad,' it is when it appeareth in the face of such a man that stands all the while on the very brink of hell. What! be merry in the power of satan, under the wrath of God, before you are pardoned, and before you know whether ever you shall be saved, or escape the everlasting pains of hell? O doleful mirth! What wise man would be partner with you in such pleasure? Now sirs, I beseech you that are in this case, for your poor souls' sake, when you are next among your merry companions, let this thought come into your mind, 'O, but I am not yet converted.' When you are next in your worldly cares and businesses, or careless of your souls, bethink you then, 'O, but I am not yet converted.' And every day and night wherever you are, whatever you do, O think still, I am yet unconverted; that so you may look about you, and come to yourselves, and get into that condition, wherein you may have cause indeed to be merry. Methinks

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every time you hear the bell toll, it should frighten you; every time you go among the sick, or see any brought to the grave, it should frighten you: yea, every thing that you look on, should be matter of terror to you till you are out of this condition. Sure there is no believing friend that you have that knows your case, but must needs pity you. They are bound to lament you. Only this comfort doth yet remain, that a sufficient remedy is provided in the blood of Christ, which will recover you, if you do not proceed to make light of it. This is all your comfort, that your case is not remediless, as long as you are under the calls of grace. Take heed, in the name of God take heed, of going on any longer in that condition, lest you make it remediless; there is yet a possibility of your salvation, but not without your conversion; you have to do with a merciful God, and that you find by experience, or else you had not been here now. But O go not out of the reach of mercy: never did God's mercy save one unconverted soul, any other way than by converting them. And the greater are your possibilities now, and the more freely the blood of Christ is offered you, the greater will be your sorrow if you lose all this, and by neglecting it, do make your case remediless.

8. Consider further, The warnings that the unconverted have of their danger, are so many, and so great, that if they be neglected, they will multiply their misery. To be an unconverted man among the Turks or heathens, is no wonder, any more than to be in the dark at midnight. To be unconverted among Papists, is not so much wonder, any more than to miss your way by moonshine: but to be unconverted in the midst of Gospel-light, this is a sin that hath no excuse, and a misery that liveth in despite of the remedy. All the preachers that have told you of your misery, and persuaded you to return, shall be witnesses against you: yea, all the examples of the wicked that have gone before you, that were set forth for your bettering, shall be witnesses against you. The way to hell is a beaten road, and most of the world do tread it continually; and therefore you might have known and avoided it, when God had told you how to know it. God hath not left you in darkness, but you shut your eyes; the light shines round about you, and you will not see; you have Bibles, and you have other good books, and

you have teachers, and you may have neighbours that are able and willing to help you, but you will not make use of them. O sirs, consider I beseech you, to get well to heaven, is a business and not a play. It is a matter to be inquired after, and prayed for, and learned with all diligence and care, and not to be put off with heartless shews. Hear then, O hear the call of God that soundeth in thine ears, to bring thee to conversion: wilt thou run on when God is calling after thee? He calleth by his word; he calleth by his ministers; he calleth by his judgments, and by his mercies, by conscience, and by his Spirit; and will you stop your ears, and slight them all? Many an one hath come in at the first call that ever they had by the preaching of the Gospel, and you have had an hundred and an hundred, and yet will not return! Believe it, sirs, the calls of God will convert you, or confound you: his word will not return in vain: you cannot resist his grace after all this warning, at such easy and cheap rates as many others in the world may do. Your impenitency and wilfulness hath the more obstinacy in it, by how much the greater light you do resist. If the Gospel do not convert you, you will wish you had never heard or read it. Hear what Christ himself saith of those that were not converted by his word. "Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your word, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet; verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city." Christ did upbraid the cities where his works were done, because they repented not: "Woe to thee Chorazin, woe to thee Bethsaida, for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they had repented long ago, in sackcloth and ashes; but I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And thou Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee", &c.' The Lord grant that I may never hear Christ upbraiding any of this congregation with the warnings that they did neglect. It is a heavy case, that when Christ sendeth to men the Gospel of salvation, they must be upbraided with it, be

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cause they would not be saved by it. And that Sodom and Gomorrah, those places of abomination that bore the most remarkable plagues of God, being consumed with fire and brimstone from the Lord, should yet speed better in the day of judgment, than many of our poor people that sit under our teaching from day to day. In a word, sirs, remember this, all unconverted sinners that so lived and died, shall be condemned, but those that had the greatest means and warnings, shall have the greatest condemnation.

9. Consider further, That the further men go on in an unconverted state, the deeper is their sin, the harder is their cure, and the greater will be their punishment. It is not a state wherein you may safely abide, no, not a day, if you were sure to have time for repentance. Is it a small thing to go on in sin, and to add to that heap that is so great already, and to increase that mountain which is so insupportable? As long as you are unconverted, you live in the continual abuse of God, and all his mercies: you abuse him most unworthily, for you prefer the unworthy creature before him, as if he and his glory were no better than this earth, nor so good neither: you abuse him by denying him that which is his own; you deny him your hearts; you deny him your service; that which he hath made and redeemed; you deny him that which none can lay claim to but himself. You abuse his word by rejecting it; you abuse his sabbaths by profaning them; you abuse his image in his servants by contemning it; you abuse his name by taking it in vain; you abuse his mercy, and all his creatures by beholding them in vain, and receiving them in vain; and by advancing them into the throne, and giving them that which is not their due: though you worship not sun and moon, yet you worship meat, and drink, and ease, and money: and thus you live in the abuse of all things, and besides the rest, you abuse your own souls. They were made for the High God, and fitted to love him and honour him, and live to him here, and to see his face in glory hereafter; and all unconverted men do abuse them to the basest drudgery of the devil: they make them sinks of sin, and dunghills to receive the excrements of the earth. God hath advanced you above the beasts that perish, and made you for a life with angels in his glory, if you would but believe it, and set your hearts

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