An Exhortation to Sinners
O garrn, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Ye men of this world, ye spirits that are in prison, held captive to iniquity, under the prince of this world; in a covenant with death, at an agreement with hell, without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, without God in the world; who have said, We will not have this man to rule over us; let us break his bonds asunder, and cast his cords from us; who are joined to idols, have chosen you other gods, are following after other lovers; who walk after the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; having your conversation in the lusts of the flesh, fulfillmg the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, and being still, as you were by nature, the children of wrath, in the gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity.
O ye sons of death, ye children of the night and of darkness, hear, and your souls shall live; to you also is the word of this salvation sent; even the strangers, and those who are afar off, that will lay hold on the covenant, and choose the thing that pleaseth God, these also shall have a name in his house, even the glorious name of sons and daughters. The Lord hath sent a word into Jacob, and it shall light upon Edom, and Amalek, and the uncirecumeised Philistines, even as many of them as the Lord our God shall call, Acts ii. 39,
Hearken, O people, you that are polluted in your blood, written in the earth, free among the dead; come in, let your covenant with death be made void, and your agreement with hell be disannulled, strike a league with the Almighty, and your names also shall be written amongst the living in Jerusalem.
Stand ye before the Lord, come, let us reason together.
Where are you? What is your portion and inheritence? Ye are cursed with a curse. Fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, this shall be the portion of your cup, Psa. xi. 6. What are you seeking? whither are you travelling? After a few years’ of your vanity are over, where must your dwelling: be? Who can dwell with the devouring fire? Who. can dwell with everlasting burnings? Look before you, behold that smoking furnace, that burning lake, that bottomless pit which is gaping for you, and. which, at your next step, may swallow you up. Escape. for your lives; why will ye die? Turn and live. Do you believe the resurrection from the dead, the judgment to come, and the invisible world? Is. it to the spirit of a man, as to the spirit of a beast? Doth it perish with his carcass? Dieth a manasa. dog dieth? Dieth a wise man as a fool dieth? Fall all things alike to all, just and unjust, good and bad, after this life as well as in it? Do you believe the scriptures? Are they but a. fable? If you hope they are, are you sure they are? Dare you venture your souls upon it? Whilst the: saints venture on the truth, dare you venture your souls on the falsehood of it? Dare you stand forth, and say, If this word be not a lie, let me. be damned for ever; I am content that the everlasting worm shall gnaw my heart, that the infernal fire shall burn. my flesh, and bones, and soul for ever and ever, if it prove not at last a mere forgery and imposture. Do you believe the scriptures to be true indeed? if you do, what do they preach to you? Do they speak any thing, if not this, That there is another life and death, besides that which is within the ken of mortal eyes; that the other life, and the other death, are eternal; that upon your being found within or without the covenant of God, hangs your eternal judgment, either for life or death; that whilst you are-in a covenant with death, and in a course of iniquity, you are without the covenant of God, and can have no benefit by it; that under sin, and out of covenant; out of covenant, and out of Christ; out of Christ, and under condemnation?
- Ave there any things, which that word which you profess to believe to be as true, and to stand as sure as heaven and earth; are there any things which this speaks more plainly, than these things, and such like ?. What, and yet secure ma state of sin! Aliens from God, enemies of all righteousness, and — yet in quiet! Are you resolved to sell eternity for time, life for death, a soul for the pleasures of sin? Is this the choice you have made, and are you resolved to stand to it? Let me have this world, my portion here, my good things here, and then let me be damned in the other world: let me sin here, and suffer hereafter: let me laugh ‘here, and lament hereafter: let me flourish, and prosper, and live at ease, and in honour, and in pleasure, and at liberty here; and let my prison, and my pain, and my anguish, and my plagues be beneath; there let me be torn, let me burn, let me roar, let me die, so I may be rich, and be merry, and rejoice a while here; let time be my heaven, and eternity be my hell: speak in earnest, is this your choice? Or that you may not be put to it to make anew choice; will you take upon you to make a new gospel? And, dividing what God hath joined together, will you join what he hath divided? Will you write this for gospel — Holiness and hell, sin and glory, Christ and the curse, the devil and the crown: let the wicked hold on his way, and the unrighteous his thoughts, let him still run away from the Lord, and he shall have mercy; and from his God, and he will abundantly pardon? Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto death, and few there be that find it; but broad is the gate, and wide ‘is the way, that leadeth unto life, and the whole world are going in thereat? Blessed are the proud in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven? Blessed are they that laugh now; blessed are the froward, the merciless, the impatient in heart, the persecutors for righteousness’ sake’; for great is their reward in heaven? Within shall be the dogs, and the swine, the whoremongers, the sorcerers, the drunkards, the ruffians, the blasphemers, the gallants, the idolaters; and whosoever loveth and maketh’a lie? and without shall be the lambs, and the doves, the holy, and the humble, and the meek, and the merciful, and the upright in heart, and the poor in spirit, and peacemakers, the persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and whosoever loveth truth, and’ maketh God his trust: these shall go into everlasting fire, but’ the ungodly into life eternal? 5
Are these the articles of your creed’? Is this your gospel? If it be, oh! what’is your heaven? If it be not, if the old gospel must stand, oh! where are your souls? Are your souls lost, and are they not worth the recovery? Why will’ye die?» Turn and live; oh! when shall it once be? Sh
As an ambassador for Christ, to whom is’ committed the word of reconciliation; having hinted to
you what is law, so in the name of the eternal God,
I publish to you the everlasting gospel.. The Lord God having entered into a covenant of life, with the first Adam, for himself and all mankind in him; this covenant being broken, whereby.
sin hath entered, and death by sin, and all the world
is now become guilty before God; bound over to the vengeance of eternal fire, and under an utter impossibility of recovery, by aught which that covenant can:
do, hath out of his abundant grace, made a new covenant, on which whosoever shall lay hold, shall ‘be delivered out of the state of death and wrath, into a state of life and blessedness. What the law could not do, being weak, through the flesh, God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, Rom. viii. 3. and with him this gracious grant, that whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life, John ii. 16. And this is the covenant which hath been declared unto you. “This new covenant is a marriage covenant; I will betroth thee unto me.for ever, yea, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in loving kindness, and in mercies, Hos. ii. 20. In it the Lord makes offer, and. invites you to accept of a husband and a dower: the husband is the King’s son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and with him the lost kingdom, and all that belongs. to the kingdom ef God for a dower. Liberty for the captives, the opening of the prison to them that are bound; riches to the poor, eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, healing to the diseased, and life to the dead.
And whoever among you all, who are persons under the law, held by the cords of your sins, whose souls are fast bound in fetters of iron, who are willing that your covenant with death be made void, and your agreement with hell be disannulled, and will join yourselves to the Lord, and be brought within the bonds of this covenant, all the blessings of this covenant are made over, and stand sure unto you.
The grant is made, the deed is drawn and sealed; the Lord hath set to his seal, come you in, and seal the counter part; set to your seal, and the match is made up. Christ, and with him all things are yours, and you are his. Accept and live, refuse and die for ever.
Come on then, sinner, what sayest thou? Dost thou consent? Dost thou accept? Or, as Laban to Rebekah, Will thou go with this man? Let me espouse thee to this one Husband; only let me first tell thee, the matter is solemn, and thou must be serious. It is for life, it is for eternity.
Consider, therefore, and let thy heart, lying prostrate before the Almighty, come in and make answer to these demands, which from him, and in his great and dreadful name, I make unto thee.
I. Wilt thou have Jesus for thy Husband? Understand before thou answer. The taking of Christ
for thy Husband, implies — Intimate union — ingenuous — subjection- — total dependence.
1. Intimate union; by choosing and accepting him for thine, and resigning and giving up thyself to him for his own; to live with him, in the dearest conjugal affection for ever.
2. Ingenuous subjection; by a free and cheerful putting thyself under him, as thy Lord whom thou wilt obey, and be subject to, in all things. The wife must be subject to her husband; yet not as a slave by constraint, but freely and by consent.
3. Total dependence; holding him as thy Head, expecting nothing, owning nothing, but what descends upon thee from him: depending on him for all things; the bearing of thy debts, thy discharge — from thy bonds, and thy whole provision for a livelihood and maintenance.
Consider, then, what sayest thou? Doth thine heart choose, and accept, and resign up itself unto Christ “Dost thou choose him as a Husband ?.
AN EXHORTATION ‘TO SINNERS. rat oes
Thou canst choose him as a Refuge, to hide thee from danger; thou canst choose him as a Friend, to help thee in thy need; but dost thou choose him for thy Husband? Wilt thou cleave to him; love, honour, and obey him? Dost thou understand his manner, — the law of his house, his family order and discipline? Dost thou know his commands and expectations; how holy, how spiritual, how strict, and
self-denying, how humble and submissive he expects
thy whole carriage should be? Wilt thou be at his
finding? Wilt thou look unto him, and lean upen
him for all thou needest? Shall all thy desire be
to him, and thy dependence on him? “Thou. art a bondman, who shall be thy redemption? Thou art
a malefactor, who shall be thy satisfaction? ‘Thou
art a leper, whence dost thou look for cleansing?
Thou art a beggar, whence dost thou expect an
inheritance? Wilt thou lean upon thy Beloved for
all? Shall he be thy wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and inheritance? Wilt thou. do him this honour, to trust him for all this; to cast. all thy burdens, thy care, thy fears, thy. sins, thy.
guilt, thy hopes upon him? Canst thou say, O my
God, I have sinned, I have sinned, thy law have I
broken, thy love have I slighted, I have fallen from
thee, and run over to thine enemies; I have fallen
under thy displeasure, wrath is provoked, justice hath taken hold of me, my, soul is undone? How
dreadful is thy controversy with me! And I have
nothing to answer but this, My Jesus shall answer
for me.
O my Jesus, thou hast wooed and invited sinners unto thee; thou hast sent forth thy messengers, and thy word into the highways and hedges, into the gaols and hospitals of fe WORT among the poor,
D the blind, and the bound, and the diseased, and those who are in debt and distress; to take from among them a wife for thy bosom. Behold, thy word hath found among the captives this wretched adulteress, my poor harlot soul, which hath dealt. treacherously with thee, and hath followed after other lovers, hath fallen among thieves and robbers, is bruised, wounded, and undone; having prodigally spent and wasted all that I had.
But, behold, I come at thy word; if thou sayest, I have no pleasure in thee, if thou spurn me with thy foot, and trample me in the dirt, or send me back to my prison, and leave me to bear the shame of. my sins, I must be silent and speechless.
But wilt thou receive me? wilt thou take me into thine house? shall I be called by thy name? wilt thou love me, and be joined unto me? wilt thou be surety for thy servant? wilt thou that my debts be upon thee, my bonds be upon thee, my wants, my sins, my sorrows, my fears, my plagues, my help, my soul be upon thee? Wilt thou, Lord, and can I say thee nay? wilt thou take them, and can I refuse to lay them upon thee? I consent, Lord, I consent to thee; be thou my husband, and my helper; love me, discharge me of this guilt, loose me from these fetters, cleanse me from this filthiness, and then ask what thou wilt, impose upon me whatever thou pleasest: love thee, honour thee, obey thee? Oh! what is my love? what is my obedience, that thou shouldst accept, or I should deny it to thee?’ It is but little that I can do, this heart is so false and so feeble, that I amafraid how I undertake for it, but such as it is, take it to thee, I bestow it wholly upon thee, with this promise, that if thou wilt help me, I will love thee; if thou wilt help me, I will be subject to thee, and lay up all my hopes and expectations with thee. Now soul, now that thou knowest what it means, now say, wilt thou have Christ for thy Husband? IL. Wilt thou take him for better for worse, for richer for poorer? Though thy Lord be a King, yet his kingdom is not of this world: He came not to be ministered unto, but minister; he came to serve and to suffer, and all those that will follow him, must suffer with him. He came not’to divide lands, and spoils, and crowns, and temporal dignities, and honours amongst - his disciples; but crosses, and prisons, and scourges, and wants. Thou wilt join thyself to the Lord, but wilt thou take up thy lot with him? Thou wilt live with him, and abide with him; but dost thou know where he dwells, and what. his entertainment is? Sometimes he hath bread, and sometimes. he is hungry; sometimes he hath clothes, and sometimes is naked; sometimes he hath a house, and some times he hath none; sometimes he hath friends, and sometimes he hath none; he is sometimes used kindly, and sometimes as coarsely; sometimes it is Hosanna, and sometimes Crucify; sometimes he is cried up as a king, sometimes cried out against as a devil; and as it is with the master, so will it be with the scholar; as with the Lord so with the disciple; where he is, thou must be also. Canst thou say, Whither thou goest, I will go with thee; where thou feedest, I will feed with thee; where my Lord dwelleth, if in a tent, if in a cave, if in a dungeon, 2 if in a wilderness, wherever my Lord dwelleth, let me dwell with him? Consider what thou sayest, and be not over hasty. May be thou dost not yet know what hunger, and thirst, and nakedness ean; what 2n2 the wrath of man, what their reproachings, and spittings, and stripes, and bonds mean; may be thou hast thought, this may be far enough off, and may never come upon me; or hast taken up a resolution ‘through thoughtlessness, not weighing how sharp and how pinching they may be to thee. But suppose thou wert now just come to it; and that thou sawest, that thy first foot Christ-ward would he the parting point betwixt thee and all that is dear.unto thee in the world; that thy first step heaven-ward would be into the fire, or the water, or into. the camp of the Philistines, whose faces were all filled with fury against thee. Hast thou yet such a far deeper sense of the eternal sufferings, thou art in danger of; such a settled belief, of thy absolute necessity of Christ to thy escaping these; such a high value of the love of Christ, and the everlasting salvation thou expectest by him, as does overbalance and swallow up the sharpest and the quickest sense thou hast or canst have of the greatest things thou shalt
suffer by him? Hast thou cast up all afflictions imaginable, and then put thy soul to it? Now resolve what to do; either this, or no Christ; either this, or no crown; either this cross, or the curse; either the wrath of man, or the wrath of God; scorpions, and dragons, and devils; shrieking, and howling, and gnashing of teeth for ever and ever. Confess Christ, and be confessed by him; suffer with Christ, and reign with him; weep with Christ, and rejoice with him; die with Christ, and live for ever; deny Christ, forsake Christ, and perish for ever. Hast thou thus put thyself to it? And after the most solemn debate thou hast had, what. is the result? Now tell me, Christ, or no Christ? Wilt thou have Christ for better for worse, how dear soever he cost thee?
{1L. Wilt thou forsake all others? wake
‘Thou hast three husbands that lay claim to thee, sin, the world, and the devil. Wilt thou renounce, and be divorced from all these? There is no compounding betwixt Christ and them, he or they must go.
The renouncing of sin stands,
1. In the disengaging of the heart from it. 2. In the engaging of the heart against it.
1. In the disengaging or loosening of the heart from sin. It is a hearty willingness to let it go; a willingness to part is our parting with sin. A breaking the peace, the cutting off the league betwixt sin and the soul, when a sinner stands so clearly convinced of the worth of Christ, of the value of a soul, of the enmity of sin against Christ and the soul, of the unworthiness of sin, with all its pleasures and advantages, to be laid in the balance with Christ, is willing to be rid of it. What is there in it? what can it do for me? how long will it last me? where will it lead me? O the tail of these locusts, the sting, the sting that I see there! Can I want a Christ? or can I hope that he will dwell with such neighbours? Can I bear the loss of my soul? or can it escape if these escape? I sec it is vain to think of keeping both Christ and lusts, it is vain to think of saving both my sins and my soul; it is all one, as to be saved, and to be damned; I may as well bring heaven and hell together. Well, let them go; henceforth hold thy peace, sin, plead no more with me for entertainment, be a stranger for ever to me, henceforth I know thee no more. —
2. In the engaging of the heart against sin. When the heart is not only content to let it depart, but
2Dd3
gives it a bill of divorce, and sends it away. When
it can want it, and cannot bear it. When it deals with it, as the Egyptians with Israel; at first they have only leave given them to be gone, but at length they thrust them out. They were urgent upon them, “that they might send them out of the land in haste, for they said, We be all but dead men,” Exod. xi. 33.
Begone sin, I am but a dead man if thou abidest with me; and so it will no longer court it as a friend, but curse it as an enemy; fears it, hates it, and is resolved to be its mortal enemy; and to this end is determined to use all God’s means, 1. To discover; 2. To destroy it.
(1.) To use all God’s means to discover it; to bring to light the hidden things of darkness. Sin goes under a disguise; it is hard to know friends from enemies; they had need have their senses about them, and well exercised too, that can discern ‘betwixt good and evil, Heb. v. 14. Who can understand his errors? Psa. xix. 12. Sin lies in the dark. ‘The heart of man is desperately wicked, who can know it?” There is too much wickedness, and it lies too deep to be discerned by every eye; he that means in earnest to cast out must first search out his iniquities. ‘“Let us search and try our ways,” Lam. iii. 40. ile must search the scriptures which describe these enemies, and mark them out, what they are, and how many, and how you may know them, wherever you find them, and under: what disguise soever they appear; must search the heart, where, if they walk no more openly, they will hide themselves, that they be not discovered or suspected.
Thou art a focl, a self-deceiver, sinner, who takest thyself to be an adversary to sin, and takest no care to find it out; much more who willingly hidest it out of sight. He takes part with sin who will not take pains to know it. I hate the devil and all his works, I repent, I forsake all my sins; and though I have done iniquity, by the grace of - God, I will do so no more. ‘Thus vain men tall, but dost thou know what thou sayest? What is sin? Dost thou know a friend from an enemy, good from evil? What are thy sins? what hast thou done? wherein hast thou transgressed? what are those that have done thee mischief? what are their names? May be thou wilt say their name is Legion, for they are many.
In many things I have transgressed, m many things I have offended; but in what things? Dost thou know thine enemy when thou seest him? or wouldst thou know him if thou couldst? Dost thou make any search or inquiry after him? When thou readest of a proud heart in the scriptures, art thou able to say, There is one of them that have done meé mischief? or of a covetous heart, There is another of them? or of an envious, malicious, froward heart, There are more of them? or of a hard and hypocritical, ignorant, unbelieving heart, This is he, this is my great enemy? or if thou canst not tell, dost thou ask, Is not this he? Are not these they O that I could understand mine errors, Lord, make me to know my transgressions.
- Sinners, never make yourselves believe you are enemies to sin till you make narrow and particular inquiry after it; after all sin, the several kinds of it, whether of omission or commission, whether outs ward or spiritual, open or secret, greater or smaller, sins of ignorance or knowledge, of infirmities or presumption; your beloved, your most pleasing sins, your most gainful lusts, whatever they be, you can. never renounce till you resolve to make a diligent search after them.
(2.) To use all God’s means to destroy and overcome them. He that hides his enemy, and he that
will spare him when he hath found him, is not an enemy but a friend. He that says, I will destroy, and will not use his weapons, either knows not what he says, or says what he never means, Thou sayest thou wilt renounce and resist all thy sins, but art thou in earnest? What course dost thou mean to take? Wilt thou take God’s way? He bids thee hear, believe, pray, fast, mourn, strive, watch, &c. Wilt thou hearken to his counsels? Wilt thou be
healed of thy diseases? But wilt thou take the counsel of the Physician? Wilt thou use his medi-.
cines? Thou wilt overcome thine enemy, but wilt
thou take heed of him? Wilt thou fight against
him? Wilt thou take in all the help that is offered thee? Wilt thou not only believe, and lean upon God for his help, but wilt thou pray, and lift up thy heart for his help? Wilt thou not only pray
against thy sins, but watch against them? against
the occasions, temptations, and beginnings of sin? Wilt thou use all God’s means, and against all thy sins? Shall not thine eyes spare any of them? Wilt thou make thorough work with them, root and branch, old and young? Shall there be neither the lowing of the oxen, nor the bleating of the sheep heard with thee? Wilt thou destroy the
greater, and dash the little ones also against the
stones? = Wilt thou avenge thyself of thine adversaries, and
wilt thou never again agree with thine. adversaries?
AN EXHORTATION 1U SINNERS. 32)
Wilt thou never again say, Is it peace, Jehu? Is it peace, Jezebel? So if thy sins say to thee, Is it peace, soul? wilt thou answer, What have you to do with peace? get you behind me. Wilt thou neither make a truce with sin, nor embrace a parley, nor entertain a treaty for peace with it? Wilt thou not draw back thine hand, nor put up thy weapons, nor give over thy watch, nor go off thy guard, till all thine enemies become thy footstool; all this is included in the renouncing of sin.
Beware you be not mistaken here, this is the damnation of the world, their mistakes about repentance. They easily say, I repent of my sins, forsake the devil and all his works; and they as easily persuade themselves that they do as they say. But did they understand what there is in this repentance, a searching out their sins, dividing their souls from them; a painful and watchful shunning and resisting them in their whole course; did they know what their particular sins are, how near they are to their hearts, how they have been nursed in their bosoms, and how hard it will be now to part; even this covetousness must go, even this sensuality must go, these dear pleasures, these beloved gains, these pleasant companions, must all be sent away, not one to be spared, not so much as once more; did they understand this, they would then see what wind all their good words be. ‘They as much mean to pluck their eyes out of their heads, to tear their flesh off their bones, as to repent, if this be repentance. Well, now say, wilt thou repent? Wilt thou now renounce sin?
Wilt thou renounce the world also? By the world understand all the substance of the world, houses, lands, money, and whatsoever worldly possessions; all the shadows of the world, its honours, pleasures, pomps, with all its glory; the men of this world, the friendship of the world, all fleshly relations, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children; all sinful companions and societies whatsoever is in and of the world.;.
- These are then renounced, when we are resolved that they shall neither be our gods or idols — our devils or tempters. 1, Not our gods, Then we make the world a god to us, when we make it our happiness or end. When we bless ourselves in it, and count that our very life consists in the abundance of the things which we possess. When we devote ourselves to it, making it as the blessedness, so the great business of our life. He that can want the world, and yet be blessed; he that can want, or have the world, and yet not serve it; he hath renounced it, even whilst he hath its though it is his still, yet it is not his god. 2, Not our devils or tempters, The world tempts in a double way: by objects and instruments. As objects, which, by something that is apprehended. desirable in them, entices and invites out the heart after them; or by something apprehended.as formidable affrights us out of our way. Thus pleasant meats tempts the glutton, and wine the drunkard, and a lion in the streets the coward. Also by instruments: as under-devils, or the devil’s instruments, or agitators, by which he betrays and beguiles unstable souls. In the former sense the things of the world, in the latter, the men of the world, are temptations and tempters to us. He renounces the world that will not be tempted by the world; that takes up
with Christ, and will not be bribed off by worldly advantages, nor proselyted by worldly companions. — anes tt ot NG
He that is resolved for Christ, though with the loss of all, and with the displeasure of all the
world; he that.can be poor for Christ, that can be
vile for Christ, that can go hungry and naked with Christ, that can go alone with Christ, and that even then, when it is but turning away from Christ, and he may be rich and honourable, and be clothed, and be filled, and have company enough, as much as he desires, — he forsakes the world.:
He that can renounce the world, whenever it comes to be a case, either Christ must be forsaken, erall things for Christ; he that can, whose heart
is brought to it, he hath renounced the world. -What sayest thou now soul?
Thou wilt have Christ, but what if thou must. leave all behind thee? What if he say to thee, Sell all that thou hast, and follow me? Canst thou be poor? Canst thou be naked? Canst thou be hungry for Christ? Thou wilt have Christ, but how wilt thou leave thy companions? What will all thy carnal friends say of thee? He is a fool, he is mad, he is beside himself, How wilt thou look thy father or thy mother, or thy wife in the face, who are all against it? who will be persuading, beseeching thee, weeping over thee, hanging upon thy neck; or it may be, scoffing and reviling, to discourage and hold thee back. What sayest thou now? Art thou yet for Christ? Wilt thou forsake them all, cast off all that stands in thy way?
Wilt thou forsake the devil also? But I need not now ask’ thee that, that is done already: farewell devil, when once sin and the world are cast out. If thou wilt not be tempted to sin; if the world ceases to be a temptation, the devil were as good cease to be a tempter.. There be many that say, I defy the devil, and yet defy not sin and the world. Wise men! They like not the devil, but yet will follow his will; they hate the devil, and yet are never well longer than they are dancing in his chains. Defy the devil, and yet love sm! Such defiance is his delight. Let sin be defied, let the world be despised, and the devil is conquered.
IV. Wilt thou cleave unto Christ from henceforth unto death? “at |) dete, Oe
Thou wilt have Christ, but when? Shall this be the marriage-day? Wilt thou from henceforth be
the Lord’s, or when shall it be? Must it be to-mor-
row, or next month, or next year, or some time or other, thou knowest not when? May we not take thy promise as they did the prophecy, ‘Is it not for many days to come? is it not of the times that are afar off,” Ezek. xii. 27. To-morrow thou wilt, hereafter thou wilt; as good as thou hadst said nothing, As good thou hadst said “Never,” as “Not yet.” Speak, soul, wilt thou give thyself to the Lord? wilt thou presently? if thou wilt, how long wilt thou abide with him? wilt thou not endorse on thy deed of gift a power of revocation? wilt thou not repent, not return again from heaven to earth? wilt thou be chaste, and play the harlot no more? wilt thou be faithful to the death, obedient to the death? Is
this thy voice, I have opened my. mouth to the Lord, and I cannot go back? As the Lord liveth, nothing but death, no not death itself, shall part. thee and me, I am persuaded, I am resolved, “that neither life nor death, angels nor principalities, nor owers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor ieight, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall AN EXHORTATION TO SINNERS. iso
separate me from the love of God, or withdraw me from Jesus Christ my Lord.”
Now soul, gather up all this together, stand thou before the Lord, the God of all the earth, and this once more say, Wilt thou have Jesus Christ for thy Husband? Dost thou choose him for thy Lord? wilt thou cleave to him in love? wilt thou lean upon him for righteousness and strength? for righteousness to pay thy debts, and for strength to pay thy vows? wilt thou be subject to him? thou knowest the commandments, how holy, how strict they are. Wilt thou obey them in all things? wilt thou exercise thyself to godliness in the strictness of it? wilt thou be a thorough-paced disciple? wilt thou not content thyself with such a cold or luke-warm indifferency in religion, as thy lazy flesh will bear; as thy credit, thy safety, or the temper of the times will bear? Wilt thou follow thy Lord fully? Wilt thou take up thy lot with Christ, be it better or worse? Shall his Father be thy Father, his inheritance, be thy inheritance? yea, and his sufferings thy sufferings? his stripes, his bonds, his poverty be thine? wilt thou espouse not his crown only, but his cross too? wherever he goes, wilt thou go? where he dwells, wilt thou dwell? wilt thou say, Wherever my Lord is, there let his servant be? Wilt thou forsake all others? all thy sins? Wilt thou be made clean? Wilt thou give up thy fleshly lusts to be purged out? Does thy heart stand disengaged from every sin? Is there not any one iniquity, concerning which thy heart says, Let this stay with me? Wilt thou search out thy sins? Wilt thou accomplish a diligent search, sweep every corner, search every chamber of thine heart and
life? Wilt thou go down to the bottom of thy great
QE deep, to find out what lodges there? Wilt thou faithfully endeavour no more to allow thyself in any known iniquity? Wilt thou use all God’s means for the conquering and casting them out? Wilt thou forsake the world? Wilt thou cast away thine idols? shall thy mammon be no more a god, nora demi-god to thee? shall it neither carry away thine heart from him, nor so much as share with him in it? Wilt thou not bow down to this golden image, nor serve it? Wilt thou no longer serve thy greedy appetite? Shall thine heart no longer go after thy covetousness? wilt thou abandon thine estate, thy pleasures, thine honours, thy friends and companions, so far as any of these divide or entice, or steal away thy heart from thy Lord? Whenever they say, Come away, wilt thou say, Get you hence? Wilt thou forsake the devil? wilt thou fear, and fly from, and no longer hearken to his temptations? wilt thou no longer regard his promises nor his threatenings? his flatteries nor his frowns? Coming off from the tents of all these, wilt thou cleave unto thy Lord from henceforth, from this day forward, and not depart from him for ever? Wilt thou hold on thy course? wilt thourun out thy race? wilt thou be faithful to the death? wilt thou hope to the end for the grace that shall be brought unto thee at the revelation of Jesus Christ?
What sayest thou? If thou sayest No; as the ‘Lord liveth, thou speakest this word against thine own life. If thou refusest to enter into this covenant, thou sayest, I will not be the Lord’s, I will none of him, I will not live; let death, and wrath, and chains, and plagues be my portion for ever. I will not be the Lord’s, I will not leave my sins, and my pleasures, and my companions for his love; that is, I will be a fool, and a beast, and a devil; I will die, and will not, see life. Mistake not thyself, be not deceived, it is a matter of life and death tha‘ is before thee. It is whether heaven or hell, a Goa or no God, a Christ or no Christ, a soul or a lost soul, everlasting life or everlasting fire shall be thy portion, that stands now to be determined, by thy consent or refusal; look to it, be wise, this once for eternity. Consent, and thou art blessed; consent, and he is thine, and with him the kingdom. Thy Lord hath given his consent already, view the handwriting, the whole new testament, which is written in blood, and sealed as it is written. There thou hast his “I will,” in every line almost, visible before thee, put to thine hand, and it is done, What sayest thou? Dost. thou consent? Shall thy heart come in, and put to thy hand, and subscribe for thee — I will? Let that be done, and then say after mex —
A FORM OF WORDS EXPRESSING MAN’S COVENANT-ING witH God.
O most dreadful God, for the passion of thy Son, I beseech thee, accept of thy poor prodigal now prostrating himself at thy door. I have fallen from thee by mine iniquity, and am by nature a son of death, and a thousand-fold more the child of hell by my wicked practice; but of thine infinite grace thou hast promised mercy to me I oanuhy warts auc Christ, if 1 will but turn to Saee swath, re en ea all my heart: therefore upon thecal “i? ues of thy gospel, I am now in; and, throwing down my weapons, submit myself to thy mercy.
And because thou requirest, as the condition of my peace with thee, that I should put
The terms from A = which we must tum, away mine idols, and be at defiance
are sin, Satan, the
Press rd aie or with all thine enemies. which I acmust be this re- knowledge I have wickedly sided with as against thee, I here from the bottom of my heart renounce them all, firmly covenanting with thee, not to allow myself in any known sin, but conscientiously to use all means that I know thou hast prescribed, for the death and utter destruction of all my corruptions. And whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the world, I do here resign my heart to thee who madest it, humbly protesting before thy glorious Majesty, that it is the firm resolution of my heart, and that I do unfeignedly desire grace from thee, that when thou shalt call me hereunto, I may practise this my resolution, through thy assistance, to forsake all that is dear unto me in this world, rather than to turn from thee to the ways of sin, and that I will watch against all its temptations, whether of prosperity or adversity, lest they should withdraw my heart from thee, beseeching thee also to help me against the temptations of Satan, to whose wicked suggestions I resolve, by thy grace, never to yield myself a servant. And because my own righteousness is but filthy rags, I renounce all confidence therein, and acknowledge, that I am of myself a hopeless, helpless, undone creature, without righteousness or strength.
And forasmuch as thou hast of thy bottomless Thetermstowhich Mercy Offered most graciously to me, Uther uithwate “or Wretched sinner, to be again my God — ree through Christ, if I would accept of — thee: I call heaven and earth to record this day.
AN EXHORTATION TO SINNER». 329
that I do here solemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God, and with all possible venera~ gy. saimate 1s tion, bowing the neck of my soul under Goa, he, Rather the feet of thy most sacred Majesty, [ ne must be aus do here take thee the Lord Jehovah, tae eee Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for my portion and chief good, and do give up myself, body and soul, for thy servant, promising and vowing to serve thee La holiness and righteousness all the days of my life.;
And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the only means of coming UNtO 4, nedioteterms thee, I do here upon the bended knees sre either principal,
or less principal, of my soul accept of him as the only be, nivel... Je new and living way, by which sinners she must thus be may have access to thee, and do here solemnly join myself in the marriage-covenant to him.
O blessed Jesus, I come to thee hungry and hardly bestead, poor, and wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked, a most loathsome, polluted wretch, a guilty, condemned malefactor, unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord, much more to be solemnly married to the king of glory. But since such is thine unparalleled love, I do here with all my power accept thee, and do take thee for my Head and Husband, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, for all times and conditions, to love, honour, and obey thee before all others, and this to the death. I embrace thee in all thine offices: I renounce mine own unworthiness, and do here avow thee to be the Lord my righteousness, I renounce mine own wisdom, and do here take thee for mine only guide. I renounce mine own will, and take thy will for my law.
And since thou hast told me, that I must suffer if I will reign, I do here covenant with thee to take my lot, as it falls with thee, and by thy grace assisting, to run all hazards with thee, verily supposing, that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me.;
And because thou hast been pleased to give me The tess princ. thy holy laws, as the rule of my life, ais, are thelews of and the way in which I should walk
be thus accepted. tg thy kingdom; I do here willingly put my neck under thy yoke, and set my shoulder to thy burden, and subscribing to all thy laws, as holy, just, and good. I solemnly take them, as the rule of my words, thoughts, and actions; promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel, yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life according to thy direction, and will not allow myself in the neglect of anything that I know to be my duty.
Only because through the frailty of my flesh, I am subject to many failings; I am bold humbly to protest, that unallowed miscarriages, contrary to the settled bent and resolution of my heart, shall not make void this covenant; for so thou hast said.; Now Almighty God, searcher of hearts, thou knowest that I make this covenant with thee this
day, without any known guile or reservation, be- — seeching thee, that if thou espiest any flaw or false- — hood therein, thou wouldst discover it to me, and
help me to do it aright.
And now glory be to thee, O God the Father, whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father, that ever thou shouldest find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners. Glory be to thee, O God the Son, who hast loved me, and washed me from my sins in thine own blood, and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer. Glory be to thee, O God the Holy Ghost, who by thine Almighty power hast turned about my heart from sin to God.
O dreadful Jehovah, the Lord God omnipotent, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; thou art now become my covenant Friend, and I, through thine infinite grace, am become thy covenant servant, Amen. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.