Time of the Spirit to bear our Infirmities, and to bring all Things about for Good to us, Ver. 28. And from all this the Believer in Jefus Chrift, hath Ground of Triumph and Boafting before the perfect Vitory. Even as Paul doth in the Name of Believers, from Ver 31. to-the End. Upon thefe Confiderations, he that cryed out not long ago, O miferable Man, who shall deli ver me? doth now cry out, Who fball condemn me? The diftreffed Wrestler becomes a victorious Triumpher: The beaten Soldier becomes more than a Conqueror. Oh, that your Hearts could be perfwaded to hearken to this joyful Sound! to embrace Jefus Chrift for Grace and Salvation; how quickly would a Song of Triumph in him swallow up all your prefent Complaints and Lamentati ons? Sentence of Abfolution in Jefus Chrift, and gets its Eyes opened to fee that Body of Death and Sin within, that perfect. Man of Sin diffused throughout all the Members; then it bemoans it felf with Paul, Ob miferable Man, who sball deliver me from this Body of Death? Rom. vii. 24. I am delivered from the Condemnation of the Law, but what Comfort is it, as long as Sin is so powerful in me? Nay, this makes me often fufpect my Delivery from Wrath and the Curfe, feeing Sin it felf is not taken away. Now, if you could be perfwaded to hearken to Jefus Chrift, and embrace this Gofpel, O! what abundant Confolation should ye have? What a perfect Answer to all your Complaints? They would be fwallowed up in fuch a Triumph, as Paul's is here. This would difcover unto you a perfect Remedy of Sin and Mifery, that ye fhould complain no more; or at least no more as these without Hope. You fhall never have a Remedy of your temporal Miseries, unless ye begin at eternal, to prevent them. all other Things shall be added unto you: Seek firft to flee from the Wrath to come, and ye fhall escape it; and beside, the evil of Time-afflictions shall be removed: Firft, remove the greatest Complaints of Sin and Condemnation, and how eafie is it to answer all the Lamentations of this Life, and make you rejoice in the midft of them. All the Complaints amongft Men, may be reduced to one of these three. I hear the most Part bemoaning themfelves thus; Alas for the Miseries of this Life, this evil World! Alas for Poverty, for Contempt, for Sicknefs! Oh miferable Man that I am, who will take this DifSeek firft the Kingdom of God, and cafe away? Who will fhew me any good Thing? Pfal. iv. any temporal Good? But if ye knew and confidered your latter End, ye would cry out more; ye would refuse to be comforted, though thefe Miferies were removed. But I hear fome bemoaning themselves more fadly, they have heard the Law and the Sentence of Condemnation is within them; the Law hath entred and killed them: Oh! What fball I do to be faved? Who will deliver me from the Wrath to come? What is all prefent Afflictions and Miferies, in respect of Eternity? Yet there is one Moan, and Lamentation beyond all thefe, when the Soul finds the You have in this. Verfe three Things of great Importance to confider, the great and gracious Privilege, the true Nature, and the fpecial Property of a Chriftian. The Privilege is one of the greateft in the World, because 'tis of eternal Con fequence and Soul-concernment: The U 2 Na Sin Nature is moft Divine, he is one that is fider the Estate all Men are into by Na- ing Deftruction from the Prefence of the Lord, and the Glory of his Power? If it were duely apprehended, it would weigh down a Man's Soul, and make it heavy unto Death. This Condeinnation includes both damnum & pænam poenam damni & poenam fenfus, and both are infinite in themfelves, and eternal in their Continuance. What an unpleasant and bitter Life would one lead,that were born to a Kingdom, and yet to be banished it, and lofe it? But what an incomparable Lofs is it, to fall from an heavenly Kingdom, which Heart cannot conceive, and that for ever? In God's Favour is Life, and in bis Prefence are Rivers of Pleasures for evermore. When your petty Penny-loffes do fo much afflict your Spirits, what would the due Apprehenfion of so great a Lofs do? Would it not be Death unto you, and worse than Death, to be fe parated from this Life, to be eternally banifhed from the Prefence of his Glory? If If there fhould be no more punishment but this only; if the wicked were to endure for ever on Earth, and the godly whom they defpifed and mocked, were tranflated to Heaven, what Torment would it be to your Souls to think upon that Blessedness which they enjoy above? And how foolishly ye have been put by it for a Thing of no Value? What would a rich Man's Advantages and Gains be to him, when he confidereth what an infinite Lofer he is? How he hath fold a Kingdom for a Dung-hill? Now if there were any Hope, that after fome Years his Banichment from Heaven might end, this might refresh him, but there is not one Drop of fuch Confolation: He is banished, and eternally banished from that glorious Life in the Prefence of God, which thefe do enjoy, whom he defpifed If a Man were shut up all his Life time in a Pit, never to see the Light once more, would not this be Torment enough to him? But when withall there is fuch Pain joyned with this Lofs; when all this Time, he is tormented within with a gnawing Worm, and without with Fire: Thefe Senfes that did fo greedily hunt af ter Satisfaction to themfelves, are now as nfible in the feeling of Pain and Torment; and when this shall not make an End, but be eternal; O! whofe Heart can confider it? It is the Comfort and Eafe of bodily Torments here, that they will end in Death. Destruction destroys it felf, in deftroying the Body, but here is an immortal Soul to feed upon, and at length the Body fhall be immortal, that Deftruction cannot quite deftroy it, but shall be an ever lafting Destruction, and living Death. This is the Sentence that is once paft againft us all in the Word of God, and not one Jot of this Word fhall fall to the Ground: Heaven and Earth may fail fooner. Ye would think it were an ir repealable Decree, if all the Nations in the Earth, and Angels above conveened to adjudge a Man to Death, did pals Sentence upon him: Nay, but this Word that is daily fpoken to you, which paffeth this Sentence upon you all, is more certain; and this Sentence of Death must be executed, unless ye be under that bles fed Exception made here, and elfe where in the Gofpel. I befeech you confider what it is to have fuch a Judge condemnning you. Would not any of you be afraid, if ye were under the Sentence of a King? If that Judginent were above your Head, who of you would fit in Peace and Quietnefs? Who would not flee from the Wrath of a King, that is like the Roaring of a Lion? But there is a Sentence of the KING of Kings and Nations above your Heads: Who would not fear thee, to whom it doth appertain, Ở King of Nations! It is not a great Man that can destroy thy Body that is against thee; it is not he who hath Power to kill thee, and he hath also a great Defire so to do; this were indeed much: But it is the great and eternal JEHOVAH, who lifts up his Hand to Heaven, and fwears he lives for ever, he is against thee: He who hath all Power over Body and Soul, is againft thee, and fo is obliged to improve his Omnipotency against thee: He can kill both Soul and Body, and caft them into Hell, and by vertue of this Curfe he will not fpare thee, but pour out all the Curfes in this Book. Thou would be at no Peace if thou wert declared Rebel by the King and Parliament; but alas! that's a fmall Thing; they can but reach thy Body, nay, neither can they always do that; thou may flee from them, but whither canft thou flee from him? Thou cannot go out of his Dominions, for the Earth Earth is his, and the Sea, and all that endure what Chrift endured? Do ye think therein is: Darkness cannot hide theeye can bear Wrath according to God's from him; he may fpare long, becaufe Power and Juftice? And yet the Judghe can certainly overtake when he pleafes: ment is come upon all Men to this Men may not, because they have no Af- Condemnation. But, alas! who fears - furance of finding. I beseech you then, him according to his Wrath? Who confider this, it is of Soul-confequence; knows the Power of his Anger? Ye and what bath a Man gained, if he fleep fecure, as if all Matters were paft gain the World, and lofe his Soul? If and over your Head. We declare unto the Gainer be loft, what is gained? And you in the Lord's Name, that this Conit is of eternal Confequence, and what is demnation is yet above you, because you many thousand Years to this? You can have not judged your felves: It is preachlook beyond all thefe, and might comforted unto you that ye may flee from it, but your felves in Hope; but you cannot fee fince ye will not condemn your felves, to the End of this, there is ftill more be- this righteous Judge muft condemn you. fore than is paft; nay, there is nothing paft, it is ftill as Beginning. O that ye would confider this Curfe of God that ftands regiftrate upon us all; What Effects had it on Chrift, when he did bear it? It made his Soul heavy to Death, it was a Cup that he could fcarcely drink; he that fupported the Frame of this World, was almost near fuccumbing under the Weight of this Wrath; it made him fweat Blood in the Garden: He that could do all Things, and fpeak all Things, was put to this, What fball Ifay? When this Condemnation was fo terrible to him, who was that mighty One upon whom all Help was laid, what shall it be to you? No Man's Sorrow was ever like his, nor Pain ever like his, if all the fcattered Torments were united in one; but becaufe he was God he overcame, and came out from under it. But what do you think fhall be the Eftate of these who shall endure that fame Torment? and not for three Days, or three Years, or fome thousands of Years, but beyond Imagination, to all Eternity. I beseech you cofider this Condemnation which ye are adjudged unto, and do not ly under it. Do ye think ye can 4 Now, fince it is fo, that fuch a condemnatory Sentence is paft on all Men, what a Privilege muft it be, to be delivered from it, to have that Sentence repealed by fome new Ae of God's Mercy and Favour? David proclaims him a blessed Man, whofe Sins are forgiven and covered; and indeed he is blefled who elcapes that Pit of eternal Mifery, though there were no more; though there were no Title to an Inheritance and Kingdom above, to be delivered from that Wrath to come upon the Children of Difobedience, this is more Happiness than the Enjoyment of all earthly Delights: What would a Man give in Exchange for his Soul? Skin for Skin, and all a Man bath be will give for his Life: Thefe Riches and Advantages and Pleasures that Men Tpend their labour for, all these they will part with in fuch a hazard. The covetous Man he will caft his Coffers over-board ere he lose his Life: The voluptuous Man he will fuffer Pain and Torment in cutting off a Member, ere he die. But if Men knew their Souls, and what an Immortality and Eternity expects them, they would not only give Skin for Skin, and all that they have for their Soul, but their their Life alfo: Ye would choofe to die a thousand Deaths to escape this eternal Death. But what shall a Man give in Exchange for bis Soul, Mat. vi. 26.pened, to judge them by, as alfo the though he would give, yet what hath he to give? There are two Things endears any Privilege to us, and heightens the Rate of it; the Neceffity of it, and the Precioufness of it: And these two are eminent here. Is it not neceffary to be, to live, and have a Being? All Men think fo, when they will give all they have to redeem themselves: All other Things are accidental to them, they are nearest to themselves; therefore all muft go ere themfelves go. But I fay this is more neceffary, to be well eternally, than to be fimply; to escape this Condemnation, than to have a Being. And this fhall be verified in the raft Day, when Men fhall ary for Hills and Mountains to fall on them, and fave them from the Wrath of the Lamb, Rev. vi. 16. Men will choose rather not to be, than to fall in that Wrath. O how acceptable would a Man's first nothing be to him in that great Day of Wrath? Who fhall be able to ftand in it? when Kings and Princes, bond and free, great and small, fhall defire Mountains to grind them into Powder, rather than to hear that Sentence of Condemnation, and yet fhall not obtain it. O bleffed are all they that truft in bim, when bis Wrath is kindled but a little, Pfal. ii. 12. Ye toil and vex your felves, and spend your Time about that Body and Life, but for as precious as they are to you now, ye would exchange them one Day for Immunity and Freedom from this Wrath and Curfe. How will that Man think bis Lines are fallen in pleafant Places? How will be defpife the Glory of earthly Kingdoms, though all united in one? who confiders in his Heart how all Kings, all Tongues and Nati ons muft ftand before the Judgment-feat of God, and the Books of his Law be Books of their Confciences, to verifie his Accufation, and precipitate their own Sentence; and then in the open View of all the Sons of Adam, and the Angels, all Secrets be brought out, their Accufation read as large as their Lifetime, and as many Curfes to be pronounced against every one, as there be Breaches of the Law of God, whereof they are found guilty; and then all these will seek into Corners, and cry for Mountains, but there is no Cover. ing from his Prefence. What do ye think the Man will think within himself who will ftand before God, and be abfolved in Judgment by Jefus Chrift, notwithftanding his Provocations above many of them? What will a King then think of his Crown and Dominions, when he reflects on them? What will the poor perfecuted Chriftian then think of all the Glory and Perfection of this World, when he looks back upon it? O know, poor foolish Men, what Madness is in venturing your Souls for Trifles, ye run the hazard of all greatest Things for a poor Moment's Satisfaction. Ye will repent it too late, and become wife to judge your felves Fools, when there is no Place tomend it. But this Privilege is no more neceffary than it is precious: Your Souls are now kept captive under that Sentence of everlasting Imprisonment, ye are all Pri foners, and know not of it. What will ye give in Ranfom for your Souls? Your Sins and Iniquities have fold you to the righteous Judge of all the Earth, as Malefactors, and he hath paft a Sentence of your perpetual Imprisonment under Satan's Cuftody in Hell. Now what will you give |