The Sinners Last Sentence, Chapter 37
CHAP. XXXVII. Arguments againſt Omiſſions. God deſerves our poſitive Obedience before all others; and true Sanctification cannot be without it.
7. COnſider God deſerves your poſitive Obedience as well as your Negative. Friend, if God hath thy negative Obedience, ſome other hath thy poſitive, (for I cannot ſuppoſe thee idle all the time of thy life) either the Devil, or the World, or the Fleſh: Man cannot live without a Maſter, whoſe work and buſineſs he will do. Now let thy Conſcience judge which of theſe deſerves thy Service beſt. If as Alexander ſaid (when asked of his Kingdoms, who ſhould inherit them after his death,) Let them be given to the moſt worthy. Thou wilt for the future give thy Affections and Converſation to the moſt worthy, I doubt not but thou wilt quickly give them to God. For the Devil, ſurely thou wilt not for ſhame put him in compoſition with God. Is not he an old Serpent, ſolicitous night and day with his wiles, and ſnares, and devices, to deceive thee? And is not he a roaring Lion, ſeeking continually how he may devour thee? 2 Cor. 11.3. Eph. 6.11. Rev. 12.9. 1 Pet. 5.8. Is not his emnity ſuch againſt God, that he hates thee for his ſake, and improves all his power and policy to bring thee to be a partaker of the ſame miſery and wretchedneſs with himſelf? and is he fit to be thy Maſter? Art thou willing to be his Servant? yet I muſt tell thee, if thou wilfully neglecteſt the work of God, thou art of thy Father the Devil, if the Devil and his works thou doſt, Joh. 8.44. And remember, the Redeemer had not died to ſubdue the Devil to us, if it had not been cruel bondage for man to be enſlaved to him, Heb. 2.
For the world, what is in it that ſhould deſerve thy ſervice? I am ſure God made the World for thee, and not thee for the World; and the end is more excellent than the means: God made the World to ſerve thee, and not thee to ſerve the World. Is it Riches that thou payeſt thy Homage to? Ah how infinitely inferior are they to thy ſpiritual Soul! Is it not a rare lovely ſight to ſee a noble Heaven-born immortal Spirit truckle, and bow, and ſubmit, and be a drudge and ſlave to white and yellow duſt, to the guts and garbage of the Earth? Is not this a fine ſight thinkſt thou, for thy Love and Deſires, and Joys and Delights, like Moles to be grovelling in the Earth, when high and noble Objects worthy of them are always before thee expecting them?
Or is it the Honour of the World which thou adoreſt? Doſt thou know what an Idol thou haſt ſet up in thine heart? A Vapor, a Wind, the ſtinking breath of a company of ignorant vile people, who underſtand nothing of true worth or excellency. Where is this? or what is this God whom thou worſhippeſt? a faſhion, foreign, 1 Cor. 7.31. a mathematical Figure, ſomewhat in ſhew, nothing in ſubſtance, foreign, a fancy, Act. 25.23. that hath an exiſtence in the brain, but no where elſe. It's as an eccho to the Ear, which is a voice, a buz, a hum, and no more. It's as a Picture to the Eye, which hath ſome ſhape, but no life. In brief, honour of the World is ſo poor, ſo pitiful, ſo inconſiderable a thing, that a wiſe man would not give a farthing for it.
Or is it Pleaſure, that bewitching Bait, that ſugred Poiſon, which hath caught and kill'd many? Thou knoweſt not what thou doſt, when as the Apoſtle ſaith, Thou ſervest divers lusts and pleaſures, (Tit. 3.2, 3.) reckoning it as the miſery of man by nature. What is this pleaſure, but the ſatisfaction of thy ſenſes, and the delight thou haſt therein, which the Beaſts may enjoy above thee. Let Conſcience judge, are brutiſh Pleaſures worthy to domineer and bear ſway over a mind that is large enough to graſp both Worlds, and an heart capable of the Joys and Pleaſures of glorious and bleſſed Angels? Reader, if the World were worthy to be thy Maſter, or its Treaſures, or Honours, or Pleaſures, did deſerve thy Service, the Redeemer might have ſpared his pains and paſſion, when he gave himſelf to this preſent evil World, Gal. 1.4.
Or is it the Fleſh thou art ſo fond of? why, that's but a poor piece; it's deceitful, and will cozen thee, Jer. 17.9. It hath ſuch a depth of deceit in it, that neither thou nor any other Creature can fadom it. And is it good to be a Servant to ſo treacherous a Maſter? it's dying, and will forſake thee, Pſal. 73.25. It muſt ſhortly be laid in the duſt, become food for Worms; nay, be turn'd into duſt. And canſt thou think this clod of Clay, this lump of Earth, this ſink of Filthineſs, this receptacle of crawling Vermine, a fit Maſter to rule over a Soul that is of Coeleſtial extraction, of a ſpiritual angelical Nature, and of an eternal duration. Surely, Reader, thou art no debtor to the Fleſh, to live after the Fleſh, Rom. 8.12. Thou oweſt thy Fleſh nothing, but care and watchfulneſs to keep it under, and to ſubdue it, that it lord it not over thy Spirit. If thou ſerveſt the Fleſh once, thou ſerveſt it too much by once; for thou art no debtor to it, and doſt not ow it the leaſt Service imaginable, but in ſubordination to thy Soul and Saviour: Surely then, if neither the Devil, nor the World, nor the Fleſh deſerve thy poſitive Obedience, God muſt. Reader, let me come up a little cloſer to thee; I pray who hath laid moſt Obligations on thee, God or they? To whom art thou moſt indebted to God or to them? Did they give thee thy Being, when thou waſt nothing? Did they form thee and faſhion thee in thy Mothers Womb? Was it by them that thou waſt born? Did they look after thee in thine Infancy, and cauſe Mercy all along to grow up with thee? Have any of them protected thee in thy Dangers, ſupported thee in thy Difficulties, ſupplied thee in thy Wants, or deliver'd thee out of thy Diſtreſſes? Who ſpreads thy Table, and bleſſeth thy Food to thee every day? Who makes thy Bed, and commandeth ſleep for thee every night? Whoſe mercy is it thou liveſt, Gods or theirs? and through whoſe compaſſion is it that thou art not conſumed? Whoſe viſitation is it that preſerveth thy Spirit? Who defendeth thee night and day from Devils and damned Spirits, who watch continually to drag thee to their own Den and Dungeon of Darkneſs, and who hath relieved thee with all the Mercies which ever thou haſt enjoyed? and is all this nothing to ingage thee to his Service? Doth all this care of thee deſerve nothing from thee again to God? But, Friend, to come up one ſtep nearer to thee; Did God, or any of them, ſend his only begotten Son to redeem thee out of the hands of the Law and Divine Juſtice, and to purchaſe for thee a ſtate of Peace, and Love, and Adoption, and everlaſting Life? Did they, or any of them, bear the Curſe of the Law, and the Wrath of an infinite Majeſty, and the Rage of the Fiends of Darkneſs, to deliver thee from them, and to make thee bleſſed? O Reader, where are thy Wits? what is become of thine Underſtanding? If he that ſends thee in all the good thou enjoyeſt, and freeth thee from all the evil thou eſcapeſt, doth not deſerve all thou haſt and art; who doth I know not. Haſt thou laid the thouſandth part of thoſe Obligations on any Child or Servant thou haſt, which God hath on thee? Didſt thou make them? doſt thou preſerve them? canſt thou redeem them? Alas, thou art but a poor Inſtrument in the hand of God, to convey ſome ſmall matters to them; yet thou expecteſt poſitive as well as negative Obedience from them; and why ſhould not God, who hath laid ſuch millions of Obligations on thee, look for the like from thee? Once more, to whom wilt thou call in thy day of Diſtreſs? To whom wilt thou cry in thy time of trouble, to God, or any of thoſe three fore-mentioned? Maſters, is it to them, or to God that thou wilt lift up thy Hands, and Eyes, and Heart on thy ſick, on thy dying Bed, when all thy Friends and Kindred will be inſignificant and helpleſs to thee, and Devils will wait on thee to devour thee? Who is it that offereth thee an unchangeable ſtate of Pleaſure and Happineſs upon excellent and equitable terms, that intreats, and invites, and wooeth, and courteth thee to accept of freedom from miſery, and Hell flames, and eternal damnation; and alſo to embrace his tenders of fulneſs of joy, and a Crown of Life, and a Kingdom of Glory for ever and ever? Ah Friend, little doſt thou know how much thou oweſt the bleſſed God. I am ſure thou canſt not deny him any part of thy Heart or Life, if thou wilt give him what he deſerves, thy Conſcience muſt tell thee that it is his due. And then if thou wilt give every one his due, why ſhouldſt thou put by the glorious Lord? If thy Friends, thy Neighbours, thine Enemies, all muſt have their due: I beſeech thee do not deny God, but let him have thy poſitive Obedience, which is unqueſtionably his due.
8. Conſider Sanctification, Repentance, or ſound-ſaving Converſion, conſiſteth in poſitive as well as negative Holineſs; nay, more eſpecially and principally in poſitive Holineſs, as that which conſummateth and perfecteth the work. And how then canſt thou have any grounded hope that thy condition is ſafe without it? When the Prophet mentions that Repentance which is never to be repented of, that Repentance which ſhall find Mercy, and obtain Pardon; he enjoyneth both, Iſaiah 55.7. An averſion from Sin, and a Converſion to God, as their ſupream and chiefeſt good. When the Apoſtle mentions that Sanctification, which is the inſeparable concomitant of Juſtification, and the conſtant effect of our Union with Chriſt, he mentions both. Reckon ye alſo your ſelves to be dead unto ſin, (freed from it Laws, as a dead Wife from the Laws of her Huſband, and diſabled unto its Service, as a dead man is unto the actions of life; here is negative Holineſs,) but alive unto God, (obliged unto his Laws, as a living Subject is unto the Laws of his Soveraign, and enabled unto his Service, as a living man is unto actions that are ſuitable to life; here is poſitive Holineſs,) through Chriſt. This is the root upon which Sanctification groweth as the fruit, Rom. 6.11. So verſ. 18. Being then made free from Sin, ye became the Servants of Righteouſneſs. Being deliver'd from the former Uſurper, they became obedient to their rightful Lord, and ſerved him.
Now, Friend, what wilt thou do for an evidence of Repentance and Sanctification, which are of ſuch abſolute neceſſity, that thou canſt not be ſaved without them, Luke 13.3. Heb. 12.14. If thou neglecteſt poſitive godlineſs, indeed thou mayſt flatter thy ſelf with an hypocritical Repentance, but a ſincere one reſpects both parts of the Law. An Hebrician obſerves that in the word Tamim, which ſignifieth upright or perfect; there is a great Tau, to note that an upright man obſerveth, the whole Law, from the firſt to the laſt letter thereof. He may be too critical, but this is certain, the true Penitent chooſeth the way of Obedience, as well as refuſeth the way of Diſobedience. He is deſcribed by this Character, He chooſeth the things that pleaſe God, Iſa. 56.4. He doth not only refuſe the things that diſpleaſe God, but alſo chooſe the things that pleaſe him; yea, and becauſe they pleaſe him. The natural Votary is, what he is, from the good temperament of his body, which makes him more gentle and pliable than otherwiſe he would be. The moral Religioniſt is, what he is, from the improvement, or rather miſimprovement of his natural Reaſon. The Civilian is, what he is, from fear of man, or out of reſpect to man; He is ſtill in the bond of Iniquity; but he is ſo careful to line his Fetters, that they do not clink to the diſturbance of others, or to his own ſhame. But the true Chriſtian is what he is from Conſcience of, and love to the Will of God; and as he at his firſt implantation into Chriſt brings forth this good fruit, ſo he continueth in it to the end of his life. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the ſame bringeth forth much fruit, Joh. 15.5.
As Naturaliſts obſerve of the Bees, that they are laborious in their youth, and do not diſpenſe with themſelves to be idle in their age; but as they increaſe in dextrouſneſs, ſo alſo in laboriouſneſs, being more early at work than the younger; nay, when their Bodies are over-ſpent, and their wings ragged, they will venture abroad to work, though they often prove too weak to return home. Thus the right Convert flouriſheth as the Palm-Tree in his youth, and is fat and flouriſhing, and brings forth fruit in his old age, Pſal. 92.12, 13, 14.