A Gospel Glass, Treatise · Chapter 40
CHAP. XL. Motives to make ſueh uſe thereof.
ANd now (to haſten to a concluſion) O that it would pleaſe God to make my words as an Hammer, Motives to let our hearts be broken for and from our Sins.to break the Rocks! O that I may be thus uſefull to your Souls! O that ſomewhat at laſt may be hinted, that may, through the bleſſing of Go…, break your hearts for, and from ſin! that may promote your Repentance for your own, and your othermens ſins! And indeed unleſs your hearts be broken for ſin, they will never be broken from ſin; But the more bitterneſs of Spirit you are in for ſin, the more probability there is you will not return unto ſin. When men have furfetted upon a Diſh, and are greatly afflicted and pained by it, the more unlikely they are to return again unto that Diſh. That is certain (ſaith Mr. Burroughs) either a mans ſin will make an end of his mourning, or his mou…ning will make an end of his ſin. Yea, if your hearts be not broken for other mens ſins, they are not kindly broken for your own ſins. You will never put it out of all doubt that your ſorrow is right and genuine, unleſs you mourn for others, as well as your own, ſins; for it will alwayes be objected, that if Sin as Sin were your Burden, if Sin as diſhonouring God, as wounding Chriſt, as grieving the Spirit, then other mens ſins being reſlexions on the Authority and Will of the great God, Father, Son, and Spirit, ſhould have ſome conſiderable weight upon your Souls. The truth is, others ſins become thine if thou knoweſt them, and mourneſt not for them. O then! In what a caſe are all the hardned jolly Profeſſours, who can make a ſport of Drunkeneſs, Uncleanneſs, Superſtition, Perjury, &c. in others. Conſider therefore by the Help of this Glaſs others ſins, as well as thine own to help on thy brokeneſs of heart for and from ſin. Pſal. 119.158.Behold (with David) the tranſgreſſour, and be grieved; becauſe they keep not Gods word: Let your Souls (with Lot) be vexed: there are greater ſins found among Profeſſours in England, than were in Sodom: Let thy Soul be (as his was) as in Hell, as upon the Rack. How can you evidence that you are tranſlated from death to life, becauſe you love the Brethren, whilſt you are not troubled to ſee them wounding and damning their ſouls by their ſins: you are grieved to ſee any Friends of yours in great hazards and dangers by the Sword, by Sickneſs, by Fire; but the Souls of your Friends are in the greateſt danger, yet you lament not the ſight of theſe deplorable ſpectacles. God forbid that any of you ſhould have grounds of hope to gain Liberties and outward Privileges by others provocations, whilſt all their ſins become yours, whilſt you are not humbled for them. But to lay before you ſome Conſiderations, that may (ſet home by the Spirit) draw water out of the Flint.
1. God is greatly incenſed.Should not your hearts be broken for and from ſin, ſeeing ſin hath ſo incenſed God againſt the Land of your Nativity? Can you retire from the World, and ſeriouſly conſider the Prints of Gods diſpleaſure againſt poor England, and yet remain impenitent? Is it nothing to you, that God hath for many years been withdrawing from his Sanctuary in England? O! Your Miniſters have had miſcarrying Wombs, and dry Breaſts: Though they roſe early, and ſate up late, were much in watchings, and in labours, for the Converſion and Edification of Souls; yet how ſeldome have any been under the Pangs of the New Birth? How ſeldome were any pricked at the heart? How ſeldome have any cryed out, What ſhall we do to be ſaved? And for others (concerning whom we hoped better things) How have they ſhed their Leaf? How have they pined and withered away, as to Practical Godlineſs? How have they loſt that Seriouſneſs, that Heavenlyneſs, that Power of Godlineſs, which before they ſeemed to have had? Your Miniſters ſaw this, and lamented it, they acquainted you with it, invited you to remember from whence you are fall'n, to repent, and do your firſt works; But yet You returned not unto the Lord. Should not this pierce your very hearts? Is it nothing to you, that not only your ſelves, but ſo many Profeſſours in England, ſhould loſe their faithful and painful Miniſters? Is it nothing to you, for God to call home by Death, and otherwiſe, ſo many of his Embaſſadours, whom you have grieved, whom you have deſpiſed and affronted, and who have been more burthened with your Pride, Earthlineſs, Diviſions, Senſuality, &c. than they are with their preſent Poverty and Diſhonours, under which they lye? What doth it portend, ſave War and Hoſtility, when Embaſſadours are called home? And may not you fear, that the wrath of God is, and will be againſt you, till there be no remedy? They mocked the Meſſengers of God, 2 Chron. 36.16.and despiſed his Words, and miſuſed his Prophets, untill the wrath of the Lord aroſe againſt his people, till there was no remedy. If God will treat with you no more: believe it, he will fight with you. And O! O! O! Who will ſet the Bryars and Thornes againſt him? He will goe through them, he will conſume them in his wrath. Is it nothing to you, that there is yet ſuch a Spirit of Diviſion in the Land? O! What heats and heart-burnings, what animoſities and jealouſies are there? ſo that a Brother cannot truſt a Brother. Is it nothing to you, that God hath been ſo long contending with the Land, by the Sword, and by the Peſtilence, and ſo lately by Fire? Is it nothing to you, that God permitted that dreadful Fire in London to break forth about Three of the Clock on a Lords Day morning? Did he not thereby cauſe his Sabbath in a manner to ceaſe in London? Did not he make his holy Day of Reſt, a Day of labour and diſquiet? Did not he hereby as it were anticipate his Peoples conventions to expiate him, and ſo drew them as it were off from the Remedy, that his hands being looſened, he might puniſh, 2 Chron. 7.12. Deut. 9.14. Jer. 2.2.and not be prevailed with to pardon? May we not ſay with Jeremiah, even upon this account, The Lord hath ſwallowed up all the Habitations of Jacob, and hath not pittied, he hath thrown down in his wrath the ſtrong Holds of the Daughter of Judah, he hath brought them down to the ground? Is it nothing, that at the ſame time, God ſhould ſend forth ſuch a boyſterous Wind, to fann and blow up the Fire, Eaſt, Weſt, South, and North, God therein executing the Judgement threatned againſt Elam, Jer. 49.36.of bringing the four Winds from the four Quarters of Heaven, &c. If the puniſhment of one Element (ſaith a late Writer) be dreadful, as the Water was to the old World; and the Air is in Peſtilential Infections; and the Earth was, when it opened its mouth to ſwallow up Corah, and his company; how dreadful is Gods puniſhing a Land or Perſon with double and treble Judgements in one? What vengeance is that like to prove, which hath Gods Armies of Fire and Wind united? Is it nothing, that the Fire burned at ſome time contrary to the Wind, and as it were in oppoſition to it, and was then as uncheckable, as when it had the Winds raiſing and chaſing it? Is it nothing, that in the drought of the ſeaſon, and the want of water, God ſeem'd to hinder the application of Remora's to both Wind and Fire? Was not therein the Judgement executed upon England in its heart, which God threatned againſt the Chaldeans, a drought is upon her Waters, and they ſhall be dryed up; Jer. 50.38.for it is a Land of graven Images, and they are madd upon their Idols? Is it nothing, that the rational and probable anticipations of the conſtagrating progreſſes of the Fire, which might have been, were hid from the eyes of thoſe, whoſe intereſt it would have been to have improved them? Did not God at that time take courage from the mighty, and wiſdome from the wiſe? Is it nothing, that London, the great Bulwark of the Reformed Religion, againſt the aſſaults and batteries of Popery and Prophaneſs, is in a great meaſure deſtroyed? But (above all) Is it nothing, that generally there is ſo little ſenſe of any of theſe Judgements? The Wine of Aſtomſhment is given us to drink, and we reel to and fro like Drunkards; But alas! 2 Chron. 7.14.Who humbleth himſelf, and prayes, and ſeeks Gods face, and turns from his wicked wayes, that God may heal our Land?
2. The ſins of any one of us may be the Incendi… aries.Should not your hearts be broken for and from your ſins, ſeeing the ſins of any one of you in particular may have been the great Incendiary? This is certain, God hath, for the delinquency of one man, yea for one ſin, brought Plagues upon many. If any thing will move thine heart, this will; but nothing will without Gods concurſe: The Lord faſten this nayl, the Lord fix this upon thy Soul, and let it be as Frontlets between …ine eyes day and night. When Achan was guilty of one ſin, and that a ſecret one, when he had ſtoln a wedge of Gold, when he had impropriated it to his own uſe, which God had deſtined to another, he troubled the whole Church of God: the Armies of Iſrael fell before the men of Ai, the generation of Gods curſe, yea Joſhua, their Prince became dejected, and his communion with God was thereby for a while broken. And the Lord ſaid unto Joſhua, get thee up; Joſh. 7.10, 11, 12, &c. 22.20.wherefore lyeſt thou on thy face? Did not Achan the Son of Zerah commit a treſpaſs in the accurſed thing, and wrath fell on all the Congregation of Iſrael? And that man periſhed not alone in his iniquity. The iniquity of Peor, though committed long agoe, yet raiſed a cloud of wrath, which was ready to empty it ſelf upon the whole Church of God for it many years after. Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, Joſh. 22.17.from which we are not cleanſed to this day, although there was a Plague in the Congregation of the Lord? The Gibeonites (who had craftily ſecured their Lives, by an exchange for their Liberties) got an Oath from Saul, and almoſt 500. years after, when this Covenant was broken, in the ſlaying of many of them, and Saul was dead, the flouriſhing Church of God ſuffered three years Famine for this Perjury. Then there was a Famine in the dayes of David, 2 Sam. 21.1.three years, year after year, and David enquired of the Lord: And the Lord anſwered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody houſe; becauſe he ſlew the Gibeonites. Manaſſeh ſinn'd, and that coſt the Liberties and Lives of many, good as well as bad: Notwithſtanding the Lord turned not from the fierceneſs of his great anger, 2 Kings 23.26.wherewith his anger was kindled againſt Judah, becauſe of all the Provocations that Manaſſeh had provoked him withall. Pharaoh refuſed to give liberty to Gods Church, to worſhip their God, and this brought unparallel'd Judgements and Plagues upon the whole Land of Egypt. Amalecks abuſe of Gods people was not forgotten for an hundred years; but God took up an everlaſting quarrel with them; till he had rooten them out of the Earth; Thus ſaith the Lord of Hoſts, 1 Sam. 15.2.I remember that which Amaleck did to Iſrael, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Yea, the Sins of one good man; have brought down Plagues upon many. David (whether out of curioſity, or vainglory, or confidence in an arm of fleſh) would needs number the people, (a little ſin in compariſon of what we are guilty of) yet it coſt the lives of 70000. by the Peſtilence. So the Lord ſent a Peſtilence upon Iſrael, &c. 2 Sam. 24.15.and there dyed of the people, from Dan even to Beerſhe…a, ſeventy thouſand men. Solomon was a good Prince, and yet by his ſins he brought miſerable confuſions on the moſt conſiderable part of the Church of Iſrael, by that great revolt which it occaſioned. Wherefore the Lord ſaid to Solomon, 1 Kings 11.11.For as much as this is done of thee, and thou haſt not kept my Covenant, and my S…atutes, which I have commanded thee, I will ſurely rend the Kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy Servant. Eli, a good man, and a good Magiſtrate, yet becauſe too indulgent to his Children, (a Vice common, but ſeldome conſidered and bewailed) what a fearful Plague brought he upon his Poſterity, as well as himſelf? And the Lord ſaid unto Samuel, Behold I will do a thing in Iſrael, 1 Sam, 3.11, 12, 13, 14.at which both the ears of every one that heareth it ſhall tingle. In that day I will perform againſt Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his Houſe: When I begin, I will alſo make an end; for I have told him, that I will judge his Houſe for ever, for the iniquity which he knoweth; becauſe his Sons made themſelves vile, and he reſtrained them not. And therefore I have ſworn unto the Houſe of Eli, that the iniquity of Elies Houſe ſhall not be purged with ſacrifice nor offering for ever. Luk. 11.50, 51. Mat. 23.35, 36.The blood of all the Prophets, (ſaith Chriſt) which was ſhed from the Foundation of the World, ſhall be required of this Generation, from the blood of Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias, which periſhed between the Altar and the Temple: Verily, I ſay unto you, it ſhall be required of this Generation. And yet who holds up his hand to Gods Barr, and cryes, Guilty, Guilty? Who ſaith as David, when the Angel forraged among the People, 2 Sam. 24.17.Let thy hand be againſt me; for theſe ſheep, What have they done? We are quickſighted enough, yea too much, to eſpye and aggravate the ſins of others: We expect fearful Plagues for others Adulteries, Drunkenneſſes, Swearing and Blaſpheming; But the Lord hearkeneth when we will own our Sins to be the Incendiaries, Jer. 8.6.ſaying, What have I done? And What have I done, to ſtop the mouths of ſo many of Gods faithful Miniſters, to unſheath the Sword, to bring forth the deſtroying Angel, to kindle the dreadful Fire in London? Are there not ſuch ſins amongſt us, for which God hath plagued much people? If ſecret ſins of particular Perſons, have drawn down wrath on whole Nations, Why not thy ſcandalous ſins? Say no more, Such Oppoſition, Oppreſſion, Idolatry, uncleaneſs, &c. will bring in miſery, as an armed man: but ſay, there is danger leſt God ſhould make an utter end of poor England for my pride, for my unthankfulneſs, for my truſting in an Arm of fleſh, for my back-ſlidings: O! how many have I cauſed to fall by the Sword? and how many by the Peſtilence? And how many have I cauſed to be ruined by the Fire? Verily, if thou art guilty of no other ſin, ſave pride, yet thou canſt not clear thy ſelf from being one of Englands Incendiaries. O! how was the wrath of God upon Jeruſalem, and Judah, becauſe Hezekiah's heart was lifted up? But Hezekiah rendred not again according to the benefit done unto him; 2 Chron. 32.25.for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah, and Jeruſalem.
3. No Repentance, no returns of mercy, but more wrath.Should not your hearts be broken for and from your ſins, ſeeing without repentance the mercies you are deprived of, becauſe of your ſins, will never be returned, or not in mercy, yea greater judgements will follow? Unleſs you return unto God, from whom you have departed, God will not return unto your Souls. If ye forſake him, 2 Chron. 15.2.he will forſake you, imports as much as, if you continue to forſake him, he will continue to forſake you. If you repent not, God will not return your liberties, your trade, his own Ordinances in purity and power, or at leaſt he will not return theſe, or any other mercies, you have ſinned away, in mercy: But you may expect greater judgements than ever yet you ſaw, to fall, not only upon your ſelves and families, but upon the Land. Think not that they were the greateſt ſinners in England, upon whom the Sword, or Peſtilence, or Fire fell: Remember Christs I tell you Nay, Luk. 13.3, 5. Luk. 6.25.but except you repent you ſhall all likewiſe periſh. Wo unto you that laugh now, for ye ſhall mourn and weep: And will you run the hazard of this dreadful Wo? Will you run the hazarding of periſhing all, and altogether? Is it not better to mourn now, than to cry and howl in the pit of Hell for ever? God hath determined within his own breaſt, nay he hath expreſſed this to be his pleaſure to the Children of men, that ſooner, or later, all ſhall mourn for ſin, either in this life, or in the next: And is it not better to feel the weight here, than on a death bed, or in Hell? What ſaid a Ruffian once; when in the midſt of his jovial Companions he clapt his hand on his breaſt, and cryed out well, one day I muſt know what a wounded Conſcience meaneth. God is reſolute in this, you ſhall one time or other find it an evil and bitter thing to provoke him. And ſhall this conſideration nothing move you: I know this ſhould not be the chief ground of your ſorrow: But yet Chriſt was no legal Preacher, when he cryed out, ſin no more leaſt a worſe thing happen to you. Go thou ſluggard to the Ant, provide in Summer for the Winter. But O the great cheats that poor ſouls put upon themſelves! they hope, though they repent not, though they remain careleſs, worldly, &c. yet others are not ſo careleſs as they: though they faſt not, yet they hope ſome do: though they ſpend not days in prayer, they hope others do; and they hope to fare the better for them. This is like the Doctrine of Rome: the Romaniſts teach that there are ſome opera paenalia, ſome penitential works, that you may have others to do for you, and yet fare as well as if you did them your ſelves; But for my part I ſhall as ſoon believe that I ſhall be cured of the ſtone in the bladder, or of a filthy Leproſie by anothers taking Phyſick for me, as that I ſhall be ſaved by anothers repentance. O! what folly is this to take relief and ſanctuary in others fervent Petitions and deprecations of wrath, whilſt thou thy ſelf cryeſt out, Soul take thine eaſe, ſtore is laid up for thee by others? Alas! how doſt thou know what others are a doing? Doe they blow the Trumpet, when they go to faſt? the more likely it is that they be Hypocrites. But hath not God ſaid, Ezek. 9.4.Go through the midſt of the City, through the midſt of Jeruſalem, and ſet a mark (only) upon the foreheads of the men, that ſigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midſt thereof? and again, Son of man, when the Land ſinneth againſt me by tranſgreſſing grievouſly, then will I ſtretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the ſtaff of the bread thereof, and will ſend a famine upon it, Ezek. 14.13, 14.and will cut off man and beaſt from it. Though theſe three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they ſhould deliver but their own Souls, by their righteouſneſs, ſaith the Lord God.
4. Impenitents loſe all they do and ſuffer for God.Should not your hearts be broken for, and from your ſins, ſeeing ſo long as you are impenitent, all you do, and ſuffer for God is abominable in his ſight? Hardneſs of heart is a naſty diſeaſe; it is like a Leproſie, that makes all to ſhun a man: If you had ſuch a diſeaſe, that all would abhor you, would it not humble you to the very duſt? your impenitency makes you neither fit company for God, nor his Saints: you are loathſome in the ſight of both, whilſt you are under ſo much guilt, and yet inſenſible of it. A tender broken hearted Chriſtian is lovely in Gods, and his peoples, eyes; but how ugly a ſight is it to ſee a daring, bold, inſenſible ſinner, perſiſting in a courſe of ſin, without repentance? If the wicked will turn from all his ſins, that he hath committed, and keep all my ſtatutes, &c. in his righteouſneſs that he hath done ſhall he live, &c. But when the righteous turneth away from his righteouſneſs, Ezek. 18.21, 22, 24. 2 Ep. of John v. 8. Gal. 3.4. Their perſons are loathed.and committeth iniquity, and doth according to all the abominations, that the wicked man doth, ſhall he live? all his righteouſneſs that he hath done ſhall not be mentioned. And is it nothing to you to loſe the things you have wrought? Is it nothing to ſuffer, and to ſuffer ſo many things in vain?
5. Should not your hearts be broken for, and from your ſins, ſeeing ſo long as you are impenitent God doth not only loath your ſervices, but he cannot take any delight in your perſons, yea you cannot be reſtored into his love and favour? without Repentance there is no Remiſſion: Repent ye therefore, and be converted, Act. 3.19.that your ſins may be blotted out. And what? have you no mind to be forgiven your own and your other mens ſins? Deus no… infund it oleum miſericordiae niſi in vas contritum. Bernard.have you no will to be at peace with God, and to be reſtored into his love and favour? Are you content that all theſe, and innumerable ſins more ſhould be charged upon your Account? O then! beg of God to break your hearts for, and from your ſins. A broken veſſel, a broken heart, will hold beſt the oyl of mercy. The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God! thou wilt not deſpiſe.
6. But their Repentance would exceedingly pleaſe God and refreſh his Miniſters.Should not your hearts be broken for and from your ſins, ſeeing your Repentance will be ſo pleaſing, and ſo reviving to your even brokenhearted Miniſters? Your Repentance will more pleaſe God, than all your ſins have diſpleaſed him. Though your ſins have very much diſpleaſed him, yet he was loth to depart from you, he hath departed only gradually; But if you will repent he will readily return: in his departure he hath gone as it were a Snayles pace, but if you will return, he will return with ſpeed, he will turn towards you, and fall upon your Necks, and kiſs you, and not upbraid you with any of your former miſcarriages. And O! what a refreſhing will it be to your fainting Miniſters to ſee you returning Prodigals? Believe it, our Chains would be worn as Bracelets and Jewells, and our Exiles would be a Paradiſe to us, did we ſee you putting your mouths in the duſt, and crying out becauſe of all your Provocations. It is your ſecurity, your ſeeking great things for your ſelves, your pride, your fooliſh expectations of our returns, whilſt you, and we are ſo unfit for ſuch a mercy, that is our greateſt burden, and lies heavier on us than the wrath of any, ſave of God Almighty. God knoweth, who knoweth the ſecrets of our Souls, that we could be contented to be baniſhed from the face of men, ſo that you were delivered from the power of your luſts: If you live and ſtand faſt in the faith, we live, and though we have nothing, yet we poſſeſs all things, joying and rejoycing to ſee your Zeal, your Repentance, your Indignations and Revenges againſt your ſins. But we is unto us, we fear we have ſpent our Lungs, our Time, our Studies, our Life in vain upon you, whilſt we behold your benummedneſs, your inſenſibleneſs of all the tokens of Gods diſpleaſure, by reaſon of your tranſgreſſions. And will you add affliction to the afflicted? Is it not enough that we are turned out of the Vineyard, where we loved our work better than our lives; Is it not enough that we are caſt forth from among our People and Friends to ſeek bread for our ſelves and little ones from door to door? But will you have a greater hand in our miſery than any others? Will you lay the greateſt load of trouble upon us, whilſt others oppreſs our outward man, will you go on to vex our Spirits? Have pitty upon us, O Children! whom we have begotten in the Goſpel: you call us your Spiritual Fathers, you did receive us as Angels, yea as Jeſus Chriſt, you would have plucked out your eyes to do us good; O! now what do we beg? not to have your eyes out, but fill'd, fill'd with tears, Gal. 4.15.and your hearts fill'd with ſorrow for, hatred and indignation againſt, your ſins? Weep not for us; but weep for your ſelves: And is there not a cauſe? Your tears will be our meat and drink: a great part of our joy will ariſe from ſeeing your godly ſorrow: Hagar was not more refeſhed with her fountain, than we ſhall be to find your heads as waters, and your eyes as fountains of tears, and you weeping day and night for your own and others provocations. Let it ſuffice you that you have ſo long grieved us and Chriſt by your Security, Self-love. Worldlineſs, Pride, and Paſſions. O that now the Egyptians, that we have ſeen among you, may be ſeen alive no more! Let us not be haſtned to our graves by your impenitencies and ſtubborn departures from God. We are troubled to find ſtill among you and upon you, thoſe very ſins, which have laid Kingdoms and Churches waſt, and yet you ſecure: as if the Lord had powred out a Spirit of ſlumber upon you: thoſe very ſins, which overthrow the Churches of Judea and Aſia are found among you, and will you not repent, and do your firſt works? It grieves us to the heart to ſee ſins run through you, as water through a Mill, and you regard it not. We beſeech you out of love to God, to your own Souls, and to us and our comforts, that you would ceaſe to do evil, and learn to do well: Be moved with fear, and prepare an Ark. The old world would not believe Noah; But the Lord made them to know he was a Prophet of Righteouſneſs. We pitty your Souls, we are troubled to ſee what confidence you put in uncertain Signs and Prognoſtications, which beget careleſsneſs and ſecurity in you, and how little you fear the threatnings of moſt dreadfull Judgements againſt thoſe very ſins you have lived in: many a ſad thought we have about you, whilſt we ſee your fickleneſs, inconſtancy, ſtupidity, and ungrounded, (becauſe unſcriptural) hopes. O! return, return, repent, repent; that we may be able to ſay, ye are our joy, our Crown, our rejoycing in the day of Chriſt.
7. …, or …ver, for ought they know.And Laſtly, Should not your hearts be broken for and from your ſins, even by what may be ſeen in this Glaſs, ſeeing now God gives you not only time to Repent, but an opportunity of Repentance, and ſuch an one, as if you neglect it you may never have the like again? When time and the means are married and lodged together (ſaith one) they beget opportunity. Now time, and means meet together to effect your Repentance. If this opportunity be loſt, you may never have another: and if you ſhould never have any other, your caſe is deſperate. Opportunities cannot be pray'd, or wept back again. Heb. 12.17.Eſau's inſtance puts it out of all doubt. In Gods opportunity it is an eaſie thing to repent; but if this opportunity ſhould be loſt by you, (which God forbid) it may be impoſſible for you to repent, See Mr. Fenners danger of deferring repentance folio 35, 36.God may juſtly give you up to Judicial impenitency. It may be God doth now by this Treatiſe ſpeak home unto thy Soul, now it may be God warms thy heart, now it may be God works in thee good thoughts and deſires; Now is thy day of grace; But (to uſe the words of one of the chiefeſt of Englands late Alarming Preachers, with ſome little variation) If thou let this day paſs, thou maiſt deſire to have one of the drops of that blood, that hath been offered to thee, and yet never have it: thou mayſt deſire to feel one drap of his ſpirit, that hath knockt at thine heart; and yet go without it: thou maiſt intreat for one dram of that mercy, that hath been offered, and thou haſt rejected; but it ſhall never be granted to thee: God may clap that fearfull ſentence upon thee, Now henceforth never grow fruit more on thee, never repentance come into thine heart more. If now thou wilt not repent and be converted, the Lord may ſet it down in his decree, that from this day forward thou mayſt fumble about thy ſins; but ſhall never get victory over them: thou mayſt ever be mourning for thy corruptions; but never mourn aright for them: thou mayſt blunder about repentance, but never do the work. You ſhall not mourn, Ezek. 24.23.nor weep; but you ſhall pine away in your iniquities. There is many a Soul for contemning of God, and not taking up repentance, while he may have it, upon whom this plague of God is come, that they are ever repenting, but never able to repent; ever poring upon their ſins, but never able to come out of them; they pray and pray againſt them, but their prayers moulder away under them; for they ſhall pine away for their tranſgreſsions. What is the reaſon? Ezek. 24.13.Why? becauſe I would have purged thee, and thou waſt not purged, thou ſhalt not be purged any more. May not God ſay to thee thus? Becauſe I have given thee line upon line, precept upon precept, call upon call; not only outward, but inward calls, ordinance upon ordinance, providence upon providence, book upon book, motion upon motion: Becauſe I have uſed all means, fair means, and foul means; I have plainly ſhewed thee thy ſins by my Word and Rod, and by this glaſs, I have awakened thine own Conſcience, yea and ſtirred up, as by other Sermons and Treatiſes, ſo by this, good thoughts and deſires in thee; becauſe I would have cleanſed thee, and thou waſt not cleanſed, thou ſhalt never be cleanſed. Is not this a fearfull ſentence? Alas! Thy heart is very hard, and thy Conſcience very much ſeared, if the reading hereof doth not make thee quake and tremble. What ſhall I ſay? Now is the Axe laid to the root of the Tree. Mat. 3.10.Thine opportunity is now: If thou paſs by this Now, thou art gone for ought I can tell; thou mayſt be chopt off preſently. O! Neglect not the preſent Now, leſt thou be cut off for ever. Thou art in danger of being preſently cut down, if thou doſt not preſently repent. Every Tree which bringeth not forth, (in the preſent tenſe) good fruit, is (even for the preſent) hewn down, and caſt into the Fire. I ſhall conclude with the words of the Apoſtle, The Earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them, by whom it is dreſſed, receiveth bleſsing from God: Heb. 6.7, 8, 9.But that which beareth thorns and bryars, is rejected, and is nigh unto curſing, whoſe end is to be burned: But, Beloved, we are perſwaded better things of you, and things that accompany Salvation (ſuch a repentance as cannot be ſeparated from Salvation) though we thus speak: yea therefore we thus write.
Soli Deo ſit Gloria.
ERRATA.
Such Senſe-ſpoyling Miſtakes, as (notwithſtanding the great care of the Printer and Corrector) occurr in the firſt 19. Sheets of this Glaſs, the Candid Reader is deſired to correct thus,
PAge 2. Line 18. for ſaid, read ſaw. p. 37. l. 20. for buy, read by. p. 39. l. 20. for ſelf ſeizings, read ſelf-ſeekings. ibid. l. 17. after joyn'd, adde, and muſt be taken. p. 52. l. 20. for they, read he. p. 56. l. 15. for ſure, read ſave. p. 84. l. 23. for poiſed, read poſed. p. 106. l. 10. for begin, read began. p. 123. l. 21. for ſalocy, read ſawcy. p. 124. l. 25. after want, adde, are ſuch. p. 134. l. 32. for meetings, read meltings. p. 158. l. 1. dele an. p. 161. l. 28. for of, read as are. p. 168. Marg. for illi, read illis. p. 182. l. 26. for to, read too. p. 194. l. 13. for foreign, read foreign. ibid. l. 16. for foreign, read foreign. p. 202. l. 5. for ſaneſti, read ſanaſti. p. 225. Marg. for affectionibus, read afflictionibus. p. 250. l. 11. for for, read or. p. 269. l. 23. after to, adde do. p. 299. l. 20, 21. dele rather.
End of the text · Lewis Stuckley, A Gospel Glass (1667)