Two Treatises, Treatise 2 · Part 1
Think of theſe things.
Firſt, Some think themſelves too great to think on ſuch things, they have great cares and many incumbrances.
Secondly, Many think they are not great enough, when they are riſen to ſuch a height in honour or eſtate, then they wil mind it: and ſome too young, another time wil ſerve. All theſe put it off to another time. A death-bed, there they appoint Conſcience to meet them and debate the buſineſs.
Two great general Deceits run thorow mens hearts.
Firſt, They pretend that they wil comply with the Goſpel; Few will ſay in plaine termes, We wil not have Chriſt reign over us, or, We wil never hear any more of this matter, but they wil appoint another time, as they judge moſt convenient, not conſidering that the time they dreame of, may not come at all, or if it does it may be no time for this; the time for this work may be paſt.
Secondly, They act for the world, as if their being rich & great did depend upon a day; but as if the buſineſs of their ſouls had no dependance on the advantage of time; but the Scripture ſpeaks otherwiſe, it has ſet thee a day for thy ſoul, which if thou neglect thou ſhalt loſe; but for the world, that may be had in the laſt place. Matthew 6. Firſt ſeek the kingdom of God, and the righteouſneſs thereof. Great men, mind this, you have but a day, you may neglect the time, and God wil be as ſtrict with you as others in this, and you have many hindrances, and leſſe helps then others. Therefore not many rich, &c.
Secondly, To poor; you have a day too, although not to be rich and honourable, yet to be happy, if you neglect it not.
It is a word of exhortation to you al; to old ones, you have ſpent a great deal of time, and what proviſion have you made for Eternitie? If your day be not over, yet you cannot expect, that yours will laſt long, you cannot expect to enjoy many daies in the fleſh, and if this be a truth which you have heard from the Word, you are in a great deal of danger, and it is high time for you to awake.
2 It ſpeaks alſo to you that are Young ones, and bleſs your ſelves in the prime of your daies, & beginning of your ſtrength; it ſpeaks to you in that of the Wiſe-man, Ec. 12 1. Remember now thy Creator.
Do not ſay, In my old Age, no, but do it in thy Youth; nor yet, I wil do it in my Youth, but not yet; but ſet about it now. I ſay to thee as Chriſt did to Judas, What thou doeſt, do it quickly. Do not ſay, Thy Years are but few yet, and thy daies are but begun; for ought thou knoweſt the day of Grace may be almoſt done, although the daies of thy life are but begun; this Goſpel-day is nearer to an end then thou art aware of: thou haſt no aſſurance of life, but much leſſe aſſurance of this; if You didſt believe this, how would it rouſe up your ſpirits, and provoke you to take heed of every opportunity for your ſouls?
5. If it be ſo, then take heed of ſlighting convictions, and the ſtruglings of conſcience, for theſe are the critical times of your lives, then you are near to making or marring, now is the time or never. And although thou art called to be ſerious t all times, yet more eſpecially now thy eternal happineſſe lies at the ſtake; and when God begins to ſtruggle with thee, it will be ſeen in a ſhort time whether thou wilt be eternally happy or miſerable. This part of thy life is like to thoſe Critical days which Phyſitians obſerve, when either the Diſeaſe abates, and breaks, or kills: So now, either thou wilt grow better or worſe after this, either the day will break, and darkneſſe will fly away and ſcatter or elſe the night will begirt thee, and thy darkneſs will be much blacker then it was. Have a care therefore all you who come to the Ordinance and finde any ſtirrings upon your Conſciences, leſt you neglect this time.
Firſt, Becauſe now God is near unto you, I may draw an exhortation out of the Apoſtles words, Acts 17.27. Now feel after God if happily you may finde him, for he is not farre from you; he is now with you, and in you, by his enlightning and convincing power, now is the time if ever for ſuch a word to take place, as we have, Iſa. 55.6. Seek him whiles he may bee found. If ever God were neare you in a way of mercy, it is now; he is not only near you by his Goſpel, but in it, he comes in it, and with it; he ſends the ſpirit with the Word, if thou doeſt flight theſe motions, thou mayeſt never find him ſo near thee; if he once go out of his Word and leave thee without a convincing light and power, he then will go further and further from you, and then wee may ſay, Woe to you, when God is departed from you, Hoſ. 9.12. This is one of the firſt ſteps of Gods forſaking Souls, when he forſakes the Word under which they ſit, and it is in order to that dreadfull ſentence, Matth. 25.41. Depart from me ye curſed, &c. O therefore as you would not hear that dreadfull Sentence then, fear it now; loſe God now, and thou art like to loſe him for ever; But if thou wouldeſt keep him now and poſſeſſe him then, ſo keep and cheriſh his Convictions: take heed of ſlighting theſe, for it is a ſlighting of God, and if thou ſlight him while he is near thee, thou wilt drive him further off quickly.
Be more careful now then ever, becauſe the day ſpends apace, it haſtens away more then ever; you know when the ſun comes at the higheſt, he declines apace; when the days are at their length, they do ſhorten quickly, & when it is noon, the ſun haſtens to his bed. This time of Gods ſtirring with thee by Conviction is as thy Noonday; if thou ſlight that, thy day will decline apace, it will not be long ere it be night, therefore while it is not only day, but noon-day, work; for there is but a little time betwixt Noon and Night. Nay let me tell thee, thy day of Grace is not like the Natural day, or year. You know that the ſun is as long deſcending as aſcending, and therefore the after-noon is as long as the fore-noon: But it will not be ſo with thee; thou mayeſt have a long morning, and a ſhort noon, and a ſpeedy night. It may be long ere God does begin to ſtrive with thee; he may let thee live twenty, thirty, or forty years before he comes thus near thee; all this while is but as thy fore-noon; and then he may come near thy Conſcience, This is the noon of thy day, and here he may continue ſtrugling with thee for a year, a month, a week, a day, nay perhaps but one hour, as with Felix, with whom God ſtrugled but one hour in one Sermon: and if thou wilt not now hear, the night ſhall gather upon thee, and thou ſhall be ſhut up under darkneſs, God wil reſolve to ſtruggle but a little while, and he will not be ſo long in departing as he was in coming; but if noon be paſt, night comes ſuddenly; he may be long a coming, but quickly gone from thee.
3 Be more careful now becauſe God proportions the length of our day to the clearneſſe of the means which thou enjoyeſt, and to the ſtrength of thy Convictions. If God give men lettle means, then he allows them the more time; if he gives them more means, he gives them the leſſe time for this great work. I do believe, that under the Law when things were dark, and in former days, when the Goſpel was but little preacht to what now it is, God did give men a longer and larger ſpace for Repentance then he does now, Matth. 3.10 he waited longer upon ſinners then now he does or will. And as he proportions to the means, ſo to our Convictions. If he do ſtrive much with a Soul and cauſe Convictions to fal thick and ſtrong upon it, it is an Argument that he intends to contend but a little while with that ſoul if he ſlight them. He will ſpeedly convert that Soul or harden it. As we ſee in Felix, God did ſtrive but a little while, but it was in a notable way, he made him tremble, but we do not find that he did ſtrive any more after that fit was over. We ſee ſomething of this in Nature, thoſe places and people who lye directly under the ſun, and have moſt of the heat and fervour of it, have not ſo long daies in ſummer as they who live more remote from in; as we in England have longer daies at Midſummer, then they that live under the Line; and they in Scotland have longer then we: So it is like to be with thee, if thy means be choice, and thy convictions ſtrong, thy nay is like to be ſhorter; have a care therefore that thou doſt not ſlight the one, or the other.
4 Be careful now, becauſe thou doſt not know whether ever God wil ſtrive any more with thee, if now thou ſlighteſt theſe, theſe may conclude thy day, and ſeal up thy condition; thou haſt no ſooner an intimation by theſe that thy day is begun but thou haſt a hint that it may be ending. The ſame word which begins to open thine eyes, tels thee, that it is not long ere they may be ſhut again. God ſtands at thy heart and knocks, he promiſes thee, That if thou wilt open he wil come in, but he does not promiſe thee to continue knocking; if thou wilt open ſaies he, I wil come in; if thou wilt not open, I wil be gone. I wil leave thee. Say not to the Word, Come again, for perhaps it wil never come ſo again; God wil not have thee deal ſo with thy neighbour, Prov. 3.28. and doſt thou think he wil be dealt ſo withal? Is it not a great Mercy that he wil come once to thee? Is it not a baſe and unworthy thing for thee to think that the great God of Heaven and Earth ſhould waith upon ſuch a vile wretcht as thou art? Nay, is it not juſt that the Lord ſhould reſolve to offer thee life no more, and that be ſhould diſdainto follow thee any longer, who haſt refuſed him once, and again? therefore be careful, becauſe convictions ſlighted provoke the Lord to withdraw them, and once withdrawn it is a queſtion whether ever they wil come again.
5 Be careful now, becauſe if this day be loſt, all is loſt, it is ſuch a loſs as include in it all other loſſes; it is the loſſe of God, of happineſs and comfort of thy Soul, of eternal life, of that ſalvation which thou haſt perhaps hoped for. It is a loſs not to be ſupplied, becauſe when this is paſt, comes a night, and in it no man can work or walk This night is a very black night indeed, there is no light in it at all. God made a leſſer light to rule the night, as wel as a greater to rule the day; he did not leave the night wholly deſtitute; ſo that although the night be not a time to travel in, yet if a man be caſt behind in his journey, he may find his way by the light of the moon, or ſtars; theſe do borrow a light of the ſun, and they do help in his abſence, and give notice that he is not wholly gone: But this night hath no light to rule it; darkneſs, blackneſs of darkneſs rules in it; There is no working in this night, becauſe no light; the word which is left behind gives no light to the foul when God hath withdrawn; he carries away all light with him, all true ſaving light; ſo that a man ſhal never ſee any thing aright. He leaves no light in providences, in Ordinances, in afflictions; they do not all of them bring a man to ſee God, or his own condition aright: But all theſe things do become to the Soul as thoſe falſe fires in the night, which do lead men out of their way. The word does but harden the heard, and blinde the eyes, and miſlead men, and fil them with falſe preſumptuous hopes, which when they awake wil deceive them. O now if there be a day, and after this day a night, and this night may come ſo ſuddenly, thou doſt not know how ſoon, and this night have no proviſion for it, how great folly and indiſcretion is it for to ſpend the light of this precious day, and to neglect thoſe ſtirrings of God upon thy conſcience, by which thou art …olicited to return to him! Now and Ever, Now or never.
6. If ſo, then if it be time for ſome, I am ſure it is high time for others; if it were time for them to awake, becauſe ſalvation was coming nearer to them, then I am ſure it is time for them to awake from whom ſalvation is departing, Rom. 13.11. There is no dallying with light when it comes, becauſe it is uncertain how long it wil continue; but there is much leſſe reaſon to dally with that which is certainly going. There are ſome that are but in the morning of this day, others are in the noon of it, others again in the wane of it; Now if he that hath but ſeen the morning of it, may ſoon be benighted, and he that hath the light of the noon may ſoon be overſhaddowed with darkneſs, and no man hath reaſon to bee ſecure becauſe of his day; how much leſſe ſhalt thou, becauſe in all probability thou art near to night. O therefore, you who have ſpent much of your time, and have lived long under the means, and yet you are either without any Convictions, or have almoſt loſt thoſe which you have had, if there be any ſpark of light or affection found ſtirring in you, blow it up; reſolve now to improve that little time that is left; you may poſſibly do more by that inch which is left, then by all that thou haſt enjoyed already; a little time ſpent for God, and for the intereſt of thy ſoul, may be of more advantage to thee, then the many Months, and Years, which have been layed out for the profits, honours, or pleaſures of the World; and that I may quicken you to this, Conſider, that as every one hath an uncertain time to look after this great work, and it is very uncertain how long or ſhort the day of Grace wil be; ſo there are many of you who certainly have but a ſhort time, by al ſigns and tokens you are upon the very borders of darkneſs and death, You have the Symptoms of a people who are even come to the laſt hour of the day; if your day be not quite done, it is almoſt; and although we cannot expreſly ſay of particular perſons that your day is over, neither would I preach it if I could, yet we may, and ſhew you in what danger you are, that we may warn you. I ſhal lay down ſome things which do ſpeak a people neer to the night; I beſeeeh you go along with me, and make application to your own hearts, and ſee whether theſe things do concern you or not, and how far.