The Reformed Pastor, Chapter 6 · Section 5
SECT. V.
2. AND now Brethren, what have we to do for the time to come, but to deny our lazy contradicting fleſh, and rouze up our ſelves to the buſineſs that we are engaged in. The harveſt is great, the labourers are too few; the loyterers and contentious hinderers are many; the ſouls of men are precious; the miſery of ſinners is great; and the everlaſting miſery that they are near to is greater; the beauty and glory of the Church is deſirable; the joy that we are helping them to, is unconceivable; the comfort that followeth a faithful ſteward-ſhip is not ſmall; the comfort of a full ſucceſs alſo will be greater; to be co-workers with God and his Spirit, is not a little honour; to ſubſerve the blood-ſhed of Chriſt for mens ſalvation is not a light thing: to lead on the Armies of Chriſt through the thickeſt of the enemies, and guide them ſafely through a dangerous wilderneſs, and ſteer the veſſel through ſuch ſtorms, and rocks, and ſands, and ſhelves, and bring it ſafe to the harbour of Reſt, requireth no ſmall skill and diligence: the fields now ſeem even white unto harveſt, the preparations that have been made for us are very great; the ſeaſon of working is more warm and calm, then moſt ages before us have ever ſeen: we have careleſly loytered too long already; the preſent time is poſting away; while we are trifling, men are dying, & how faſt are men paſſing into another world? And is there nothing in all this to awaken us to our duty, and to reſolve us to ſpeedy and unwearied diligence? Can we think that a man can be too careful and painful under all theſe motives and engagements? Or could that man be a fit inſtrument for other mens illumination, that were himſelf ſo blind? or for the quickning of others, that were himſelf ſo ſenſleſs? What Sirs, are you that are men of wiſdom as dull as the common people? and do we need to heap up a multitude of words to perſwade you to a known and weighty duty? One would think it ſhould be enough to ſet you on work, to ſhew a line in the Book of God, to prove it to be his will? or to prove to you that the work hath a tendency to mens ſalvation? One would think that the very ſight of your miſerable neighbours ſhould be motive ſufficient to draw out your moſt compaſſionate endeavours for their relief? If a cripple do but unlap his ſores, and ſhew you his diſabled limbs, it will move you without words? and will not the caſe of ſouls that are neer to damnation move you? O happy Church, if the Phyſicians were but healed themſelves! and if we had not too much of that Infidelity and ſtupidity which we daily preach againſt, in others! and were ſoundlyer perſwaded of that which we perſwade men of, and deeplyer affected with the wonderful things, wherewith we would affect them! Were there but ſuch clear and deep impreſſions upon our ſouls, of thoſe glorious things that we daily preach, O what a change would it make in our Sermons, and in our private courſe! O what a miſerable thing it is to the Church and to themſelves, that men muſt preach of Heaven and Hell, before they ſoundly believe that there are ſuch things! Or have felt the weight of the Doctrines which they preach! It would amaze a ſenſible man to think what matters we preach and talk of! What it is for the ſoul to paſs out of this fleſh, and go before a righteous God, and enter upon unchangeable Joy or Torment! O with what amazing thoughts do dying men apprehend thoſe things! How ſhould ſuch matters be preacht and diſcourſt of? O the gravity, the ſeriouſneſs, the unceſſant diligence, that theſe things require! I know not what others think of them, but for my part, I am aſhamed of my ſtupidity, and wonder at my ſelf that Ideal not with my own and others ſouls, as one that looks for the great day of the Lord; and that I can have room for almoſt any other thoughts or words, and that ſuch aſtoniſhing matters do not wholly take me up: I marva…l how I can preach of them ſlightly and coldly! and how I can let men alone in their ſins! and that I do not go to them and beſeech them for the Lords ſake to Repent, how ever they take it, and whatever pains or trouble it ſhould coſt me! I ſeldom come out of the Pulpit, but my Conſcience ſmiteth me that I have been no more ſerious and ſervent in ſuch a Caſe.
It accuſeth me not ſo much for want of humane ornaments or elegancy, nor for letting fall an unhanſom word But it asketh me How couldſt thou ſpeak of Life and Death with ſuch a Heart? How couldſt thou Preach of Heaven and Hell, in ſuch a careleſs ſleepy manner? Doſt thou believe what thou ſaiſt? Art thou in earreſt or in jeſt? How canſt thou tell people that ſin is ſuch a thing, and that ſo much miſery is upon them and before them, and be no more affected with it? ſhouldſt thou not weep over ſuch a people, and ſhould not thy tears interrupt thy words? ſhouldſt thou not cry aloud, and ſhew them their tranſgreſſions? and intreat and beſeech as for life and death. Truly this is the peal that Conſcience doth ring in my ears, and yet my drouzie ſoul will not be awakened! O what a thing is a ſenſeleſs hardened heart! O Lord ſave us from the plague of Infidelity and Hard-heartedneſs our ſelves, or elſe how ſhall we be fit Inſtruments of ſaving others from it! O do that on our own ſouls, which thou wouldſt uſe us to do on the ſouls of others! I am even confounded to think what difference there is between my ſickneſs apprehenſions, and my Pulpit and diſcourſing apprehenſions of the life to come? That ever that can ſeem ſo light a matter to me now, which ſeemeth ſo great and aſtoniſhing a matter then; and I know will do ſo again when death looks me in the face, when yet I daily know and think of that approaching hour! and yet thoſe fore thoughts will not recover ſuch working apprehenſions? O Brethren ſure if you had all converſed with neighbour-death as oft as I have done, and as often received the ſentence in your ſelves, you would have an unquiet Conſcience, if not a reformed life in your Miniſterial diligence and fidelity; and you would have ſomething within you that would frequently ask you ſuch queſtions as theſe: Is this all thy Compaſſion on loſt ſinners? wilt thou do no more to ſeek and to ſave them? Is there not ſuch and ſuch, and ſuch a one, O how many round about thee, that are yet the viſible ſons of death? What haſt thou ſaid to them or done for their recovery? ſhall they dye, and be in Hell before thou wilt ſpeak to them one ſerious word to prevent it? ſhall they there curſe thee for ever that didſt no more in time to ſave them? ſuch cries of Conſcience are daily in mine ears, though the Lord knows I have too little obeyed them. The God of Mercy pardon me, and awake me, with the reſt of his ſervants that have been thus ſinfully negligent, I confeſs to my ſhame, that I ſeldom hear the Bell toll for one that is dead, but Conſcience asketh me What haſt thou done for the ſaving of that ſoul before it left the body? There is one more gone to Iudgement: what didſt thou to prepare them for Iudgement? and yet I have been ſlothful and backward to help the reſt that do ſurvive. How can you chuſe, when you are laying a Corps in the grave, but think with your ſelves, Here lieth the body, but where is the ſoul? and what have I done for it, before it departed? It was part of my charge, what account can I give of it, O Sirs, is it a ſmall matter to you to anſwer ſuch queſtions, as theſe? It may ſeem ſo now, but the hour is coming when it will not ſeem ſo. If our hearts condem us. God is greater then our hearts, and will condemn us much more …even with another kind of Condemnation then Conſcience doth. The voice of conſcience now is a ſtil voice, and the ſentence of Conſcience is a gentle ſentence, in compariſon of the voice, and the ſentence of God. Alas! Conſcience ſeeth but a very little of our ſin and miſery, in compariſon of what God ſeeth. What mountains would theſe things appear to your ſouls, which now ſeem mole hils? What beams would theſe be in your eyes that now ſeem motes, if you did but ſee them with a clearer light? (I dare not ſay, As God ſeeth them) we can eaſily make ſhift to plead the Cauſe with Conſcience, and either bribe it, or bear its ſentence: but God is not ſo eaſily dealt with, nor his ſentence ſo eaſily born. Wherefore we receiving (and preaching) a Kingdom that cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may ſerve God acceptably, with reverence, and Godly fear: for our God is a Conſuming fire, Heb. 12. ult. But becauſe you ſhall not ſay, that I affright my ſelf or you with bug bears, and tell you of dangers and terrors when there are none, I will here add the certainty and ſureneſs of that Condemnation, that is like to befal the negligent Paſtors, and particularly that will befall us that are here this day, if we ſhall hereafter be wilful neglecters of this great work; How many will be ready to riſe up againſt us to our Condemnation?
1. Our Parents that deſtinated us to the Miniſtry may condemn us, and ſay, Lord we devoted them to thy ſervice, and they made light of it, and ſerv'd themſelves.
2. Our Maſters that taught us, our Tutors that inſtructed us; The Schools and Univerſities that we lived in, and all the years that we ſpent in ſtudy, may riſe up in judgement againſt us, and Condemn us: For why was all this, but for the work of God?
3. Our Learning and Knowledge and Miniſterial gifts will condemn us▪ For to what are we made partakers of theſe, but for the work of God?
4 Our voluntary undertaking the Charge of ſouls will condemn us; For all men ſhould be true to the truſt, that they have undertaken?
5. All the Care of God for his Church, and all, that Chriſt hath done and ſuffered for them, will riſe up in judgement againſt us, if we be negligent and unfaithful, and condemn us: For that we did by our neglect deſtroy them for whom Chriſt dyed.
6. All the ſevere Precepts and Charges of holy Scripture, with the Promiſes of Aſſiſtance and reward and the threatnings of puniſhment, will riſe up againſt the unfaithful and condemn them; For God did not ſpeak all this in vain.
7. All the Examples of the Prophets and Apoſtles and other Preachers recorded in Scripture, will riſe up againſt ſuch and condemn them: even this pattern that is ſet them by Paul, Acts 20. And all the examples of the diligent ſervants of Chriſt in theſe latter times, and in the places about them. For theſe were for their imitation, and to provoke them to a holy emulation in fidelity and Miniſterial diligence.
8. The Holy Bible that is open before us, and all the Books in our ſtudies that tell us of our duty, directly or indirectly, may condemn the lazy and unprofitable ſervant: For we have not all theſe helps and furniture in vain.
9. All the Sermons that we preach to perſwade our people to work out their ſalvation with fear and trembling, to lay violent hands upon the Crown, and take the Kingdom as by force, to ſtrive to enter in at the ſtrait gate, and ſo to run as they that may obtain, &c. will riſe up againſt the unfaithful and condemn them. For if it ſo nearly concern them to labour for their ſalvation, doth it not concern us who have the charge of them to be alſo violent, laborious, and unwearied in ſtriving to help on their ſalvation? Is it worth their labour, and patience, and is it not alſo worth ours?
10. All the Sermons that we preach to them to ſet out the danger of a natural ſtate, the evil of ſin, the need of Chriſt, and Grace, the Joyes of heaven, and the torments of hell, yea and the truth of Chriſtian Religion, will riſe up in Judgement againſt ſuch and condemn them. And a ſad review it will be to themſelves, when they ſhall be forc't to think Did I tell them of ſuch great dangers and hopes in publike, and w…ld I do no more to help them in private? What tell them daily of threatned damnation, and yet let them run into it ſo eaſily? Tell them of ſuch a Glory, and ſcarce ſpeak a word to them perſonallly to help them to it? Were theſe ſuch great matters with me at Church, and ſo ſmall when I came home?] All this is dreadful ſelf-condemnation.
11. All the Sermons that we have preached to perſwade other men to ſuch duties, as neighbours to exhort one another daily, and plainly to rebuke them, and parents and maſters to do it to their children and ſervants, will riſe up in Judgement againſt ſuch, and condemn them. For will you perſwade others to that which you will not do (as far as you can) your ſelves? When you threaten them for neglecting it, you threaten your own ſouls.
12. All our hard cenſures of the Magiſtrate for doing no more, and all our reproofs of him for permitting Seducers, and denying his further aſſiſtance to the Miniſters, doth condemn our ſelves if we refuſe our own duty. What muſt all the Rulers of the world be ſervants to our ſloathfulneſs, or light us the candle to do nothing, or only hold the ſtirrup to our Pride, or make our beds for us, that we may ſleep by day-light? Should they do their part in a ſubordinate office to protect and further us, and ſhould not we do ours who ſtand neareſt to the end?
13. All the maintenance that we take for our ſervice if we be unfaithful will condemn us: For who is it that will pay a ſervant to take his pleaſure, or ſit ſtill or work for himſelf? If we have the Fleece, it is ſure that we may look to the …lock. And by taking the wages, we oblige our ſelves to the work.
14. All the honour that we expect or receive from the people, and all the Miniſterial Priviledges before mentioned will condemn the unfaithful: For the honour is but the encouragement to the work, and obligeth to it.
15. All the witneſs that we have born againſt the ſcandalous negligent Miniſters of this age, and the words we have ſpoken againſt them, and all the endeavours that we have uſed for their removal, will condemn the unfaithful. For God is no reſpecter of perſons: If we ſucced them in their ſins, we ſpoke all that againſt ourſelves. And as we condemned them, God and others will condemn us, if we imitate them. And though we be not ſo bad as they, it will prove ſad to be too like them.
16. All the Judgements that God hath executed on them in this age before our eyes, will condemn us if we be unfaithful: Hath he made the idle Shepherds and ſenſual drones, to ſtink in the noſtrils of the people? and will he honour us, if we be idle and ſenſual? Hath he ſequeſtred them, and caſt them our of their habitations, and out of the Pulpits, and laid them by, as dead, while they are alive, and made them a hiſſing and a by-word in the Land? and yet dare we imitate them? Are not their ſufferings our warnings? and did not all this befall them for our examples? If any thing in the world ſhould waken Miniſters to ſelfdenyal and diligence, one would think we had ſeen enough to do it! If the Judgements of God on one man ſhould do ſo much, what ſhould ſo many years judgement on ſo many hundreds of them do? Would you have imitated the old world, if you had ſeen the flood that drowned them! Would you have taken up the ſins of Sodom, Pride, Fulneſs of bread, Idleneſs, if you had ſtood by and ſeen the flames of Sodom! This was Gods argument to deter the Iſraelites from the Nations ſins, becauſe, for all theſe things they had ſeen them caſt one before them. Who would have been a Iudas that had ſeen him hanged and burſt? and who would have been a lying ſacrilegious hypocrite, that had ſeen …nanias and Saphira dye? And who would not have been afraid to contradict the Goſpel, that had ſeen …l…mas ſmitten blind? And ſhall we prove ſelf-ſeeking, idle Miniſters, when we have ſeen God ſcourging ſuch out of his Temple, and ſweeping them away as dirt into the Channels? God forbid! For then how great, and how manifold will our condemnation be?
17. All the Diſputations and eager conteſts that we have had againſt unfaithful men, and for a faithful Miniſtry, will condemn us, if we be unfaithful? And ſo will the Books that we have written to thoſe ends. How many ſcore, if not hundreds of Catechiſms are written in England? and yet ſhall we forbear to uſe them? How many Books have been written for Diſcipline, by Engliſh and Scottiſh Divines? and how fully hath it been defended? and what reproach hath been caſt upon the adverſaries of it through the Land? And yet ſhall we lay it by, as uſeleſs, when we have free leave to uſe! O fearful hypocriſie! What can we call it leſs? Did we think when we were writing againſt this ſect, and the ſect that oppoſed Diſcipline, that we were writing all that againſt our ſelves? O what Evidence do the Book-ſellers ſhops, and their own Libraries contain againſt the greateſt part, even of the godly Miniſters of the Land! The Lord cauſe them ſeaſonably to lay it to heart.
18. All the daies of faſting and prayer that have been of late years kept in England ſo a Reformation, will riſe up in Judgement againſt the unreformed, that will not be perſwaded to the painful part of the work. And I confeſs it is ſo heavy an aggravation of our ſin, that it makes me ready to tremble to think of it. Was there ever a Nation on the race of the earth that hath ſo ſolemnly and ſo long, followed God with faſting and prayer as we have done? Before the Parliament began, how frequent and ſervent were wein ſecret: After that for many years time together, we had a monethly Faſt commanded by the Parliament: beſides frequent private and publike Fa…s on the by. And what was all this for? What ever was ſometime the means that we lookt at, yet ſtill the end of all our Prayers was Church-Reformation, and therein eſpecially theſe two things; A faithful Miniſtry; and Exerciſe of Diſcipline in the Church: And did it once enter then into the hearts of the people, yea or into our own hearts to imagine, that when we had all that we would have, and the matter was put into our own hands, to be as painful as we could, and to exerciſe what Diſcipline we would, that then we would do nothing (but publikely preach) that we would not be at the pains of Catechizing and Inſtructing our people perſonally? nor exerciſe any conſiderable part of Diſcipline at all? It aſtoniſheth me to think of it! What a depth of deceit is it, the heart of man! What, are good mens hearts ſo deceitful? Are all mens hearts ſo deceitful? I confeſs I told many ſouldiers and other ſenſual men then, that when they had fought for a Reformation, I was confident they would abhorr it and be enemies to it, when they ſaw and felt it: thinking that the yoak of Diſcipline would have pincht their necks: and that when they had been catechized and perſonally dealt with, and reproved for their ſin, in private and publike, and brought to publike confeſtion and repentance, or avoided as impenitent, they would have ſcorned and ſpurned againſt all this, and have taken the yoak of Chriſt for tyrannie: But little did I think that the Miniſters would have let all fall, and put almoſt none of this upon them, but have let them alone for fear of diſpleaſing them, and have let all run on as it did before.
O the earneſt prayers that I have heard in ſecret daies heretofore for a Painful Miniſtry, and for Diſcipline! As if they had even wreſtled for ſalvation it ſelf? Yea they commonly called Diſcipline, The Kingdom of Chriſt; or the Exerciſe of his Kingly office in his Church; and ſo preached and prayed for it, as if the ſetting up of Diſcipline, had been the ſetting up of the Kingdom of Chriſt. And did I then think that they would refuſe to ſet it up when they might! What is the Kingdom of Chriſt now reckoned among the things indifferent!
If the God of heaven that knew our hearts, had in the midſt of our Prayers and Cries on one of our Publike monethly Faſts, returned us this anſwer with his dreadful voice, in the audience of the Aſſembly, You deceitful hearted ſinners; what Hypocriſio is this, to weary me with your cries for that which you will not have if I would give it you! and thus to lift up your voices for that which your ſouls abhor! what is Reformation, but the inſtructing and importunate perſwading of ſinners to entertain my Chriſt and Grace as offered them, and the Governing my Church according to my word? and theſe which are your work, you will not be perſwaded to when you come to find it troubleſom and ungreatful! when I have delivered you, it is not me but your ſelves that you will ſerve; and I muſt be as earneſt to perſwade you to reform the Church in doing your own duty, as you are earneſt with me to grant you liberty for reformation? and when all is done, you will leave it undone, and will be long before you will be perſwaded to my work. I ſay, if the Lord or any Meſſenger of his, had given us in ſuch an anſwer, would it not have amazed us, and have ſeemed incredible to us, that our hearts ſhould have been ſuch as now they prove! and would we not have ſaid as Hazael, Is thy ſervant a dog, that he ſhould do this thing? Or as Peter, Though all men forſake or deny thee, I will not! Well Brethren! too ſad experience hath ſhewed us our frailty: We have denyed the troubleſom and coſtly part of the Reformation, that we prayed for! But Chriſt yet turneth back, and looketh with a merciful eye upon us. O that we had yet the hearts, immediately to go out & weep bitterly, and to do ſo, as we have done, no more, leſt a worſe thing come unto us, and now to follow Chriſt through labour and ſuffering, though it were to the death, whom we have ſo far forſaken.
19. All the Judgements upon the Nation, the coſt, the labour, the blood, and the deliverances, and all the endeavours of the Governors for Reformation, will riſe up againſt us if we now refuſe to be faithful for a Reformation, when it is before us, and at our will.
I have ſaid ſomewhat of this before. Hath God been hewing us out a way with his ſword, and levelling oppoſers by his terrible Judgements, and yet will we ſit ſtill or play the ſluggards? Have England, Scotland and Ireland paid ſo dear for a Reformation, and now ſhall ſome men treacherouſly ſtrangle it in the birth, and others expoſe it to contempt, and overrun it? and others ſit ſtill and look on it as a thing not worth the trouble: How many thouſand perſons may come to the condemnation of ſuch men? The whole Countries may ſay, Lord we have been plundred, and ruined or much impover ſhed, we have paid taxes theſe many years, and it was a Reformation that was pretended, and that we were promiſed, in all; and now the Miniſters that ſhould be the inſtruments of it do neglect it: Many thouſands may ſay, Lord we ventured our lives in obedience to a Parliament, that promiſed Reformation, and now we cannot have it. The ſouls of many, that have dyed in theſe wars may cry out againſt us, Lord it was the hopes of a Reformation that we fought and ſuffered for, in obedience to thoſe Governors that profeſſed to intend it; and now the Paſtors reject it by their idleneſs. The Parliament may ſay, How long did we ſit and conſult about Reformation; and now the Miniſters will not execute the power that is granted them? The Nation may ſay, How oft did we beg it of God, and Petition the Parliament for it, and now the Miniſters deny us the enjoyment of it? Yea God himſelf may ſay, How many prayers have I heard! and what dangers have I delivered you from! how many! and how great! and in what a wonderful manner! And what do you think it was, that I delivered you for? Was it not that you ſhould do my work! And will you betray it, or neglect it after all this? Truly Sirs, I know not what others think, but when I conſider the Judgements that we have felt, and the wonders of Mercy that my eyes have ſeen, to the frequent aſtoniſhment of my ſoul, as I know it is great matters that theſe things oblige us to, ſo I am afraid leſt they ſhould be charged on me as the aggravations of my neglect. I hear every exaſperated party ſtill flying in the faces of the reſt, and one ſaith It was you that killed the King, and the other ſaith It was you that fought againſt a Parliament, and put them to defend themſelves, and drencht the land in blood. But the Lord grant that it be not we, if we prove negligent in our Miniſtry, and betray the Reformation that God hath called us to, that ſhall have all this blood and miſery charged on us, yea though we had never any other hand therein: And that the Lord ſay not of us, as of John, even when he had deſtroyed the houſe of Ahab by his command, becauſe he accompliſhed not the Reformation which that execution tended to, Yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Iezrael on the houſe of Jehn, Hof. 1. 4. O Sirs, can we find in our hearts to loſe all the coſt and trouble of the three Nations, and all to ſave us a little trouble in the Iſſue, and ſo to bring the guilt of all upon our ſelves. Far be it from us if we have the hearts of Chriſtians.
20. Laſtly, if we ſhould yet refuſe a Reformation, in our Inſtructing of the Ignorant or our exerciſe of Chriſts Diſcipline, how many Vows and Promiſes of our own may riſe up in Judgement againſt us and condemn us… 1. In the National Covenant thoſe that entered into it did vow and Promiſe moſt ſolemnly before the Lord and his people, that Having before our eyes the Glory of God, and the advancement of the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Ieſus Chriſt—we would ſincerely, really and conſtantly endeavour in our ſeveral places and callings the Reformation of Religion …n Doctrine, Worſhip, Diſcipline and Government—and we did profeſs our true and unfeigned purpoſe, deſire and endeavour for our ſelves and all others under our power and charge, both in publike and private, in all dutes we ow to God and man, to amend our lives, and each one to go before another in the Example of a Real Reformation. And this Covenant we made as in the preſence of God the ſearcher of all hearts with a true intention to perform the ſame as we ſhall anſwer at the great day when the ſecrets of all hearts ſhall be diſcloſed. O dreadful caſe then that we have put our ſelves into, if infinite mercy help us not out! May we not ſay after the reading of this as Ioſi…h after the reading o… the Law, a Kings 22. 13. 2 Chron. 34. 21. Great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled againſt us, becauſe we have not done according to this Covenant. Could a people have deviſed a readrer way to thruſt themſelves under the curſe of God by ſuch a ſolemn dreadful Covenant, and when they have done ſo long, ſo wilfully, ſo openly to violate it? Doth not this plainly bind us to the private as well as the publike part of our duty? and to a Real Reformation of Diſcipline in our practice? Again therefore I muſt needs ſay, what a bottomleſs depth of deceit is the heart of man! O what heavy charges have we brought againſt many others of theſe times for breaking this ſolemn Vow and Covenant (from which I am far from undertaking to acquit them) when yet we that led the way, and drew on others, and daily preach't up Reformation and Diſcipline, have ſo horribly violated this Covenant our ſelves, that in a whole Countrey it is rare to find a Miniſter, that hath ſet up Diſcipline or private Inſtruction. And he that can ſee much done towards it in England, hath more acquaintance, or better eyes then I have.
2. Alſo in our frequent ſolemn Humiliation days in the time of our deep diſtreſs and fear, how publikely and earneſtly did we beg deliverances, not as for our ſakes, but for the Church and Goſpel ſake, as if we had not cared what had become of us, ſo that the Reformation of the Church might go on, and we promiſed if God would hear and deliver us, what we would do towards it. But O how unfaithful have we been to thoſe Promiſes! as if we were not the ſame men that ever ſpoke ſuch words to God! I confeſs it filleth my own ſoul with ſhame, to conſider the unanſwerableneſs of my affections and Endeavours to the many fervent prayers, rare deliverances, and confident Promiſes of thoſe years of adveſity! And ſuch experiences of the almoſt incredible unfaithfulneſs of our hearts, is almoſt enough to make a man never truſt his heart again; and Conſequently to ſhake his Certainty of ſincerity: Have we now, or are we like to have any higher Reſolutions, then thoſe were which we have broken! And it tends alſo to make us queſtion in the next extremity, even at the hour of death, whether God will hear and help us any more, who have forfeited our Credit with him by proving ſo unfaithful. If ſo many years publike humiliations ſpurred on by ſuch calamities as neither we nor our fathers for many Generations had ever ſeen, had no more in them then now appears, and if this be the iſſue of all, how can we tell how to believe our ſelves hereafter? It may makes us fear leſt our caſe be like the Iſraelites, Pſal 78. 34, 35, 36, 37, 43, 42, 57. Who when he ſlew them, then they ſought him, and they returned, and enquired early after God: and they remembred that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer, Nevertheleſs they did flatter him with their mouth: and they lyed unto him with their tongues; For their heart was not right with God, neither were they ſtedfaſt in his Covenant. They remembred not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the Enemy.—But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aſide like a deceitful bow.
3. Moreover, if we will not be faithful in duties that we are engaged to, our own Agreements and Engagements which remain ſubſcribed by our hands, and are publiſhed to the view of the world, will riſe up in judgement againſt us and condemn us. We have engaged our ſelves under our hands near three years ago, that we will ſet up the exerciſe of Diſcipline, and yet how many have neglected it to this day without giving any juſt and reaſonable excuſe? We have now ſubſcribed another Agreement and Engagement, for Catechizing and Inſtructing all that will ſubmit. We have done well ſo far; But if now we ſhould flag and prove remiſs and ſuperficial in the performance, Our ſubſcriptions will condemn us; this days humiliation will condemn us. Be not deceived: God is not mocked: it is not your Names only, but your hearts and hands alſo that he requireth: There is no dallying with God by feigned Promiſes; He will expect that you be as good as your words. He will not hold him guiltleſs, that by falſe Oaths, or Vows, or Covenants with him doth take his holy Name in vain? When thou voweſt a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleaſure in fools; pay that which thou haſt vowed. Better it is that thou ſhouldſt not vow, then that thou ſhouldſt vow and not pay; ſuffer not thy mouth to cauſe thy fleſh to ſin: neither ſay thou before the Angel, that it was an Error; wherefore ſhould God be angry at thy voice, and deſtroy the work of thy hands, Eccleſs. 5 4 5, 6.
And thus I have ſhewed you what will come on it, if you ſhall not ſet your ſelves faithfully to this work, to which you have ſo many obligations and engagements? and what an unexcuſable thing our neglect would be, and how great and manifold a condemnation it would expoſe us to. Truly Brethen, if I did not apprehend the work to be of exceeding great moment, to your ſelves, to the people, and to the honour of God. I would not have troubled you with ſo many words about it, nor have preſumed to have ſpoken ſo ſharply as I have done. But when it is for life and death men are apt to forget their reverence, and courtefie and complements, commonly called Good manners! For my part I apprehend this as one of the beſt and greateſt works that ever I put mine hand to in my life. And I verily think that your thoughts of it are as mine: and then you will not think my words too many or too keen. I can well remember the time when I was earneſt for the Reformation of matters of Ceremony: and if I ſhould be cold in ſuch a ſubſtantial matter as this, how diſorderly, and diſproportionable would my Zeal appear! Alas, can we think that the Reformation is wrought, when we caſt out a few Ceremonies, and changed ſome veſtures, and geſtures, and forms! O no Sirs! it is the converting and ſaving of ſouls that is our buſineſs: Thats the chiefeſt part of the Reformation that doth moſt good, and tendeth moſt to the ſalvation of the people. Let others take it how they will, I will ſo far ſpeak my conſcience for your juſt encouragement, as to ſay again, that I am verily perſwaded that as you are happily agreed and combined for this work, ſo if you will but faithfully execute this Agreement, together with your former Agreement for Diſcipline, you will do much more for a true Reformation, and that peaceably without meddling with controverted points then I have heard of any part of England to have done before you, and yet no more than is unqueſtionably, your Duty.