The Door of Salvation Opened by the Key of Regeneration, Treatise · Application · Application 3
THirdly, This doctrine may be uſeful by way of exhortation, and that to two ſorts of perſons.
1. To the unregenerate: If without regeneration men and women can never obtain ſalvation, then it exhorteth thee, Reader, if in a ſtate of nature, to minde and labor for this ſecond birth, as ever thou wouldſt eſcape the ſecond death. Doſt thou not perceive by the word the living God, That except thou art converted, thou canſt in no wiſe enter into the Kingdom of God! Matth. 18.3. Alas! what then is like to be thy caſe, ſhouldſt thou die in this condition? Aſſure thy ſelf, that all thy Friends and Lands, honors and pleaſures; yea, all the help which this whole world can afford thee, cannot keep thee one quarter of an hour out of Hell.
This Law, this ſtanding Law of Heaven, That except a man be born again, he cannot ſee the Kingdom of God, is like the Law of the Medes and Perſians, which cannot be altered; By their Law, That which was written in the Kings Name, and ſealed with the Kings ſeal, might no man reverſe, Eſth. 8.8. Friend, is not this written, not onelyonly in the name, but with the very hand of the King of Kings, (I ſay unto thee) and ſealed with his own ſeal, Verily, verily? and doeſt thou think, poor worm to reverſe it, to turn the truth of the Eternal God into a lie: I tell thee, (and I would ſpeak it with reverence to the higheſt Majeſty) that God himſelf cannot do it. 'Tis his perfection, that it is impoſſible for him to lye, Tit. 1.2. His hand cannot but make good, what his mouth hath ſpoken. His will and word have joyned regegeration and ſalvation together, and his faithfulneſs and truth will not ſuffer them to be parted aſunder. Therefore think of it timely, and turn to God truly; otherwiſe there is a neceſſity of thy periſhing everlaſtingly.
Thou doeſt not know, as ſtrong and luſty as thou art, how ſoon death may come behinde thee, and throw thee; and, O 'twill be thine eternal overthrow: though, as on Sodom, thy morning be Sunſhiny; yet thou canſt not tell how ſoon it may overcaſt; nay, it may be followed with flakes of fire before night. Sure I am, that God hath given thee no leaſe of thy life, and that others have died of the ſame age and likelineſs tolive; and why thou ſhouldſt promiſe thy ſelf a priviledge beyond others, that thou ſhalt live longer, I know no reaſon, unleſs this, That the Devil and thine own heart have conſpired together to murther thy ſoul, by getting thee to future, and put off thy converſion till thou comeſt to Hell-fire, and then thy ruine will be paſt remedy. Suppoſe the ſame voice ſhould come to thee which did to Hezekiah; Set thine houſe in order, for thou ſhalt die, and not live: (meaning ſpeedily) What woulſt thou do? thy houſe is not in order; thy ſoul, Man, is all out of order, and therefore death would come to thee, as Abijah to Jeroboams wife, with heavy tidings, with ſuch news as Samuel brought to Eli, which will make thy ears to tingle, and thine heart to tremble. Ah, how will he do to die, that never knew how to live! The black Uſher of death will go before, and the flaming fire of Hell will follow after. Didſt thou but believe the word of God as much as the Devils do, thou couldſt never depart this life in thy wits, who haſt not led thy life according to Gods will.
One would think, the noiſe of this murthering piece, of this great Cannon, Death, (though it ſhould not be very near thee) might awaken and affrighten thee: when that deluge of wrath cometh, that the fountain of fury from below is broken up, and the flakes of fire from above are rained down, thou haſt no Ark, no Promiſe, no Chriſt to ſhelter thy ſelf in: For Regeneration is the plank caſt out by God himſelf, to ſave the ſinking ſinner, by bringing him to the Lord Jeſus, and thou wanteſt it. Doſt thou not ſee that thy Sentence of death (if thou continueſt ſo) is already paſſed in the High-Court of Heaven, entred and engroſt in the Book of Scripture! and God knoweth how ſoon the word of command may be given to ſome diſeaſe for thy execution.
What comfort therefore canſt thou take in all the creatures, while thou wanteſt this new creation? It is reported of Xerxes, Plutarch. in vit. Themiſt.the the greateſt of the Perſian Monarchs, that when the Grecians had taken from him Sardis, a famous City in Aſia the leſs, he commanded one every day at dinner to cry before him with a loud voice, Sardis is loſt, Sardis is loſt. It ſeems to me, that thou haſt far more cauſe to have a Friend without, or Conſcience within to be thy Monitor, every day, and every meal to ſound in thine ears, Friend, Thy Soul is loſt, Thy Soul is loſt.
Certainly, ſuch a voice might mar thy greateſt mirth, ſauce every diſh with ſorrow, make thy moſt delicate meat a medicine, and thy ſweeteſt drink diſtaſtful to thee. O, didſt thou but know what it is to loſe thy ſoul, thy God, thy Chriſt, thine Heaven, and all for ever; thou wouldſt in the night be ſcared with dreams and viſions, and in the day be frighted with fears and terrors.
When Ʋriah was bid by David to go down to his houſe and refreſh himſelf; he anſwered, The Ark, and Iſrael, and Judah abide in Tents, and my Lord Joab, and the ſervants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields: ſhall I then go into mine houſe to eat and drink and lie with my wife! As thou liveſt, and as thy ſoul liveth, I will not do this thing. 2 Sam. 11.11. Mark, The good man could take no pleaſure in relations or poſſeſſions, becauſe the natural lives of others were in danger; nay, he forſwears the uſe of thoſe comforts for that very cauſe. How then canſt thou ſolace thy ſelf with lying vanities, when thine Eternal life is (not in jeopardy, but) loſt really, and thou canſt not aſſure thy ſelf one day for its recovery!
Shouldſt thou ſee a condemned priſoner (which knoweth not whether he ſhall be hanged on the morrow, or the day after) hawking or hunting, ſprucing himſelf, or ſporting with his jovial companions; what thoughts wouldſt thou have of ſuch a man? wouldſt thou not think, ſurely this man is mad, or deſperate! were he not beſide himſelf, he would minde ſomewhat elſe, ſince he is ſo near his end. But, Friend, turn thine eyes inward, and ſee whether there is not infinitely more reaſon, why thou ſhouldſt wonder at thine own folly and madneſs, who art by the word of the dreadful God condemned, not to be hanged, but to be damned; not to the gallows, but to the unquenchable fire, and canſt not tell whether this night, or to morrow morning juſtice ſhall be done upon thee, and yet thou art buying and ſelling, eating and drinking, pampering the periſhing body, never minding or thinking what ſhall become of thy poor precious ſoul to eternity!
The wiſe mans advice is, that if thou art indebted to men, and liable to their arreſt and impriſonment, thou ſhouldſt not give ſleep to thine eyes, nor ſlumber to thine eye-lids, before thou haſt made thy peace, Prov. 6.1, 2, 3, 4. What ſpeed ſhouldſt thou then uſe, when thou art infinitely indebted to the Almighty God (at his mercy every moment, liable continually to be arreſted by that ſurly Serjeant Death, and by him to be hurried into the dark priſon of Hell) to agree with thine Adverſary while thou art in the way; and to get the black lines of thy ſins croſt with the red lines of Chriſts blood, and ſo for ever blotted out of the Book of Gods remembrance! As the Chamberlain of one of the Perſian Princes uſed to ſay to him every morning, Ariſe, my Lord, and have regard to the weighty affairs for which the great God would have you to provide. So ſay I to thee, Awake, O man, out of thy carnal ſecurity, and have regard to the great end, for which thou waſt born, and the great errand for which the great God hath ſent thee into the world.
Reader, that thou mighteſt avoid the endleſs wo of the damned, and attain the matchleſs weale of the ſaved, I ſhall do two things in the proſecution of this exhortation. I ſhall both give thee ſome helps towards regeneration, and remove ſome hindrances.
Firſt I ſhall offer thee three helps unto holineſs, and thereby unto Heaven.
Secondly, I ſhall anſwer three objections, which probably may ariſe in thine heart.
If thou haſt any real deſire, after thine eternal welfare, ponder them ſeriouſly, and practice them faithfully; And the good Lord make them ſucceſsful. O how happy might it be for thee, if the getting of a regenerated nature, were the main taske of thy whole time! Believe it thou wilt have no cauſe to repent of it.
For the helps towards Regeneration, and thereby towards Salvation: