Farewell Exhortation to the Church and People of Dorchester

THE PREFACE TO THE READER.

IT is warranted, and grounded upon the light both of nature and Scripture, 2 Cor: 12. 14. That Parents should lay up for their Children, and leave such an estate behind them, that their posterity after them may comfortably be provided for, which as it is requisite for the outward subsistence of Children in temporal regards: So it is most necessary for spiritual Fathers (which the word of God tells are not many, 1 Cor: 4. 15. how many Instructours soever there are) I mean for the faithful Ministers of Christ, to leave a good stock & heritage of God's Testimonyes for his people committed to their charge, and their children in the faith: which care as it was always needful so especially •• is in these times, wherein there is so much Apostasy & departing away from the faith & truth. In this regard we find it to have been the practice of the most precious servants of the Lord, that in their old age they have left their c • gneas cantiones, their swans songs (as they are called) which they sung not long before they •• parted this life, as Moses did Deut: 32. the occasion of which song is set dow • Deut: 31. 27, 29. I know your reb • llion and your stiff neck: behold while I am yet alive with you, ye have been rebellious against the Lord, & how much more after my death? and ver: 29. I know that after my d • ath ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way that I Commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days, because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord &c: Therefo •• ver: 26. Moses commanded the Levites to take the book, and to put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant, for a witness against them upon any apostasy of theirs. And is there not as great need that such like course shou • d • e t • k • n by Go • s faithful servants and M • nisters to leave some works as it were in the A • ke of the Covenant, some monuments & witnesses aga • nst the back sliders in these days? Much like to this is the example of J • shua before his death, as appears Josh. chap: 23, and 24. wherein he warns them against their apostasy most sweetly & pathetically, and particularly remarkable is that Josh. 24., 25, 26. Joshua made a Covenant with the people, and set them a statute, and Ordinance in Shechem, and Joshua wrote those words in the book of the Law of God, and took a great stone, and set it there under an Oak that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord, and said unto all the people, behold this stone shall be a witness unto us, for it hath heard all the words of the Lord, which he spake unto us, least ye deny your God.

Thus it hath pleased the Lord in mercy • guid • the spirit of this Reverend Minister & servant of Christ, no • being stri •• • n in years, and sollic • tous about the state of the Lord's flock commit • d to his charge, what may befall them after his departure in such times as these, to leave this precious treatise, as a jewel, little in bulk, but great in virtue & value, as a witness that may survive after his departure, and it may serve both as a warning & a testimony not only to the Congregation of Dorchester, but to all the Congregations & Churches of Christ here or else where, that shall have the perusal of it, and it may be as Joshuas stone, and a standing witness against such amongst us as shall deny the Lord & his truth now both preached & professed by God's grace amongst us▪ Many of the Lord's living witnesses are either killed or deceased and taken up to heaven, and those few that are surviving have very nigh finished their Testimony, and are following the others apace: Therefore it is very precious & desirable, if as many of them as may be, when they can no longer testify vivâ voice, with a lively voice, they may do it mortuâ, or with a dead voice, (or by writing) which is many times effectual and of great use: as it was the speech of that wise King Alphonsus, mortuous esse consulendos, ab ijs quarendam veritatem, optimos{que} eos esse consiliarios, that is that we should ask counsel of the dead, (meaning the books of wise and good men departed) and that the truth is to be sought of them, and that they are the best counselors: and before him Demetrius Phalereus in Plutarch w • seely admon • she • Ptolomeus Philadelphus, the great Patron of learning, and the learned men of that age, ut demortuorum sapientum libros sibi compararet, quod quae aliquando consiliarij neque libere admonere metu paenae vellent, aut etiam sine periculo aliquo non auderent, de illis in libris eorum abunde et libere scriptum ess • t. That is, that he should get the books of learned men departed, that of those things which sometimes his counselors neither freely would admonish him for fear of punishment, or perhaps without some danger durst not, I say of those things it was plentifully & freely written in their books. So we cannot tell how near suc • times may be, wherein neither friends nor ministers either will or dare make known unto us the blessed will of God: in such times doubtless godly books will speak freely to us, yea in whatsoever times that saying is most true, nullus amic us est magis liber quam liber, no friend is more free then a book is. Finally I commend unto thy piety & prac • ise Christian Reader, this pious treatise of this Reverend & judicious servant of the Lord, to which (at the request of a friend, in sincere respect of the Author, & just estima •• on of the work) I have prefixed a short preface, as the paper would permit; now I shall conclude undoubtedly with that speech of our Savior Joh. 13. if ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them, so I commend both thy kn • wledg & pr • ct 〈…〉 h • reof to the grace of God in Christ.

TO THE CHURCH AND INHABITANTS of DORCHESTER in New-England, Mercy and Peace in CHRIST JESUS.

MY dearly Beloved in Christ, It was the desire and purpose of th • Blessed Apostle 2 Pet: 1. 12, 13. an • he engaged himself by pr 〈…〉 that it should be his endeavor 〈…〉 as h • should live in the body, to be always putting the people in ••••• brance of such things as did concern the Everlasting good of th 〈…〉 , and 〈…〉 ld also endeavor that they might have the same in rom 〈…〉 example is my warrant, and should be my Incentive▪ 〈…〉 okation to end • avour the like, (as far as my Tenuity & slender abilities c • n 〈◊〉 ) concerning yourselves. For which cause as now by the space of two & tw • nty years and upwards, I have been putting you in remembrance of sundry Truths & duties of the Gospel, by word of mouth, so no small part of my intent in this present undertaking is, that you might remember the Lord and your own duty, not only whilst I shall live, but also after my decease. And as it was some motive to the blessed Apostle, to be the more diligent during life, as knowing that h • must shortly dy, and lay down this Tabernacle, 2 Pet: 1. 14. And another Apostle is the more diligent & earnest, because the time of his departure was at hand 2 Tim: 4. 5, 6. and our blessed Savior afore them, would not f • yle to work the works of him that sent him, whilst it was day, because a night was coming when no man could work. John 9. 4. In like sort I was the more desirous to perform this service (such as it is) for the good of your souls, as knowing that it will not be long (consi • ering my years) afore the time come when I can be serviceable here no more. But th • ugh you cannot always have my endeavors by word of mouth, yet what is here presented to your vi • w, may be always with you whensoever you shall t •• se to call for it: And as it is said of Abel, that being dead, he yet speaketh, Heb: 11. 4. So why may not I be speaking to you in these poor papers for the good of your souls, whe • in person I shall be removed fr • m you by bodily deat • ▪ So you have my Apology for my present undertaking, and a manifestation of my Scope and aim th • rin.

Be pleased therefore I beseech you, to give me leave to commend to your consideration & acceptance in the Lord, a few! nes of Christian counsel & advise, for the good of your precious and immortal sou •• s; which I desire to leave with you as the best Legacy I can beque •• h to you, 〈◊〉 you may read and practice the same when I am taken from you: And I beseech you receive it as from one that doth unfeignedly love you, or at the least doth wish he had a heart that could do it, and thinks he could be right heartily glad of the welfare & salvation of all your souls; and that when you • nd I must all appear before the Lord's Tribunal, we might then rejoice and have comfort together in Christ Jesus for evermore, as finding that our •• bour, whether mine in preaching, or yours in hearing, whether mine in writing, or ••• rs in reading, hath not been in vain. With such an heart I desire to tender to 〈…〉 and directions ensuing, and I desire that so and no otherwise y 〈…〉 and recei •• the s 〈…〉 e, which Exhortation & directions are expessed in these Seaven particulars that 〈◊〉 .

FIRST of all, I beseech yo • , Be not • leighty, but Serious in the great work of Sorrow for your Sins, of Contrition and Humiliation of Soul in sight and sense thereof, For you must needs confess there is not any amongst you but hath cause enough to be sensible of sin, and deeply affected therewith. For the Scripture is most true that tells you that all have sinned, Rom. 3. 23. and 5. 12. and that there is not a just man upon the earth that doth good & sinneth not, Ecc • . 7. 20. and that if you say you have no sin, you deceive yourselves, & the truth is not in you, 1 John 1. 8. Now if there be sin in you, shall there not be grief & sorrow because of the same? Is not sin the most proper cause of sorrow? when you can truly say you have no sin, then you will have no cause of sorrow; but this you can never say, whilst you are here upon earth. And sure it is, sin is a dishonor & grief unto God himself, and to his holy Spirit, Gen: 6. 5, 6. Psal. 95. 10. Eph • . 4. 30. and if it be so to him, shall it be no grief to you? shall your sins be a burden to the Lord, Isaiah 1. 13, 14, 24 and he be pressed under them, as a cart is pressed that is full, of sheaves, Amos 2. 13. and shall you be unsensible of any burden therein, and securely go on, as if there were no cause of grief or mourning for this thing? Never say you love the blessed God, if it be so with you; If your sin which is such a dishonor and injury and grief to him, be not a grief to you also. If you be of those that must be saved by Christ, then it was for your sins, as well as for the sins of others that Christ was Crucified, and put to endure all those doleful & bitter sufferings in the garden, and upon the C • oss, M •• 26, & 27. For all his s • fferings were for the sins of those that must be saved, • sa. 53. 5, 6, 8. And can you believe & remember & consider these his sufferings, and look upon him as one whom you have pierced, & • et for all this remain without true Contrition & grief of heart? believe it t • en your hearts are very hard indeed. What? kill Christ, and not be grieved? and look on him whom you have pierced, and yet not mourn, no • be in bitterness for all this? Is this possible? or may it not rather be concluded from Zech. 12. 10. that those that do not bitterly mourn for their sins, as the cause of Christ's sufferings, that such hard hearted creatures are none of those that must be saved by Christ, nor have part and portion in the saving benefits of his passion? He that was a man after God's own heart, you may find him complaining that his iniquities were gone over his head, and were as an heavy burden, too heavy for him, Psal. 38. 4. and that therefo •• he would declare his iniquity & be sorry for his sin, verse 18▪ And • ess • d Paul though a man of much grace & holiness, yet because of sin, that was still dwelling in him. cries out, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Rom: 7. 14, 17, 20, 23 24. Yea & both he & Davi • , & other Saints have lamented with much sorrow & tears, the sins & iniquities of other men, Psal 119. 136, 158. Ph •• . 3. 18, 19. 2 C • r: 2. 4. & 12. 21. Ezek 9. 4. 2 Pet. 2. 7, 8. And if so, then judge in yourselves, what hearts those men have, who are so unlike these men of God, that they have no heart to grieve & mourn for their own sins, and much less for the iniquities of others. And if Heaven be a place of wiping away men's tears from their eyes, Rev: 7. 17. & 21. 4. are they ever like to come there who have tears innow for other causes, but none for their sins? But what should I speak of coming to heaven? the truth is, without Compunction of heart & sorrow of soul for a man's sins, he is never like to attain to any truth of la • ing grace upon earth. For can a child be born, where there never was any travailing pains? can there be a crop of corn at harvest, where the ground was never plowed, no • broken up? Is not the way to Canaan through the w • ld • rn • ss? doubtless through th • wilderness you must go, if ever you will come to Canaan And what was that wilderness? a terrible place surely, yea a place wherein were fiery flying Serpents, and Scorpions, and drought, Z 〈…〉 . 8. 15. a land of de • arts, and of p • ts, and of the shadow of death, Jer: 2. 6. and yet through this wilderness must Israel go, before they c • uld enter into the good land. In like sort, a soul must go t • rough a wilderness-like conditi • n, that is, • e • ust be afflicted w • t • • ight and sense of spiritual misery & sin, b • f • re • e c • n attai • to any state o • saving • est & grace in Christ Jesus For the Scripture tell us that they to whom Christ Jesus is sent, are poor, broken-h •• rted, capt • ves, p 〈…〉 , blind, and bruised creatu • e • , •• k 4. 18. I •• 61. 1. yea that they mourn in Zion, do sit in ashes, in mourning and •• a spirit of • eavi • es • , 〈◊〉 and in a lost estate, and to those is the Lord • esus sent to seek & save them, and to preach the Gospel to them, Luke 19 10. Isai. 61. 1. Luke 4. 18. But for others, that do not feel themselves sick of sin, but are secure & hard hearted, as if they were righteous and whole & well, to those the Lord Jesus himself tells us that he is no phycisian for the healing of them, Mat. 9. 12, 13. and if Christ who is the only phycisian to cure souls, be not sent unto 〈…〉 n, do not heal them nor call them, how is it possible that they should ever 〈◊〉 healed? how is it possible that they should be converted & called? The 〈…〉 h is, the ruin of many professors ariseth hence, that they are too slight 〈…〉 at their first coming on to profession; as the stony ground d 〈…〉 word with joy, but wanting depth of earth, and the stony heart not being • hroughly broken & mollified, therefore they continued not, but in time of try • ll & temptation fell away, Mat: 13. 5, 6, 20, 21. and so that proverb is fulfilled in them, soon ripe and soon rotten. The house will never stand, that is built upon the sand and loose earth, without digging deep that it may be founded on the Ro • k, Luk 6. 48, 49. that is, that profession of Christianity, will not endure, that is not begun in serious an • deep humiliation. And though there be men that count all sorrow for sin to be Legal, and not suitable, to the spirit of grace in the Gospel, yet it is better for you to believe the word of God, which makes mourning for sin, yea bitter mourning, as for an only Son, or the loss of ones first born, to be the effect & work of the spirit of grace poured forth upon God's people, Zech: 12. 10. & therefore not a mere legal business, as some would make it. They may repent that ever they did so much repent, & look upon their sorrow for sin, as Christ upon his enemies, Lord forgive me for I knew not what I did. But when Christ shall appear to comfort mo • rners, and to inflict that which long since he deno • nced, even woe to the 〈◊〉 laugh, for they shall wa • l & weep, Luke 6. 25. then these men will be of another mind, and wish they had had experience of more true mourning and sorrow for si •• . And therefore my Bel • ved, if you mean to reap in joy, see that you sow in tears, Psal. 126. 5, 6. I mean, if ever you expect to have grace or glory, the salvation of God in this or in another world, see to it that the fallow ground of your hearts be thoroughly plowed up, that you may not sow among thorns, • er, 4. 3, 4. See to it that you be truly sensible of sin, and broken hearted, and as it were sick with sorrow for it, that so Christ & his Righteousness, may be highly esteemed by you, that you may believe in him, and in due time be comforted by him: In a word see to it, that you be not destitute of that godly sorrow that worketh Repentance to salvation, not to be repented of, 2 Cor: 7. 10. If now you mourn in an holy and spiritual manner, the Lord Jesus hath pronounced that you are blessed, and shall be comforted, Mat: 5. 4. But otherwise, expect not but that sorrow & mourning will seize upon you, if not now, then at such a time when you shall not be able to put them off, no • find any comfort therein. And as we say of winter, that, winter is seldom or never lost, so may we say of sorrow for sin it will not be always lest, but will certainly come, either at one time or another either now in this life; or hereafter when it will be worse to be born. As Moses said to those Tribes, Numb: 32. 23. even so may I say to you, you have si • ned, and be sure your sin will find you out. It may be sweet & 〈…〉 present, but assure yourselves it will be bitterness in the latter end, 〈◊〉 : 2. 26. and at the last will bite like a Serpent, and sting ike •• Adder, Pro: 23. 32 yea be bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two edged word, Pro: 5. 3, 4. But oh how much better is it, to feel the bitterness of the sorrow here, where mercy and forgiveness • ay • e had, then here to • e hard-hearted & secure, and then to feel sorrow remediless in Hell!

2. Labor to be men of Sound Judgment and Understanding in the things of Religion, and make account that all Error is sin, as being frequently forbidden by the Lord, Jam. 1. 16. Mat. 16. 6, 11, 12. & 24. 4. 1 John 4. 1. In so much as as that s • me errors do no less then subvert the soul, Acts 15. 24. excluding out of Heaven, as other horrid works of the flesh, Gal. 5. 19, 20, 21. a 〈…〉 de ••• c • ion to them that hold thm, 2 Pet: 2. 1. & 3. 16. and others which are not so fundamental, but are as hay & stubble upon the foundation, yet even these do so hazard a man's salvation, that though • e may be saved holding the foundation, yet his work shall be burnt, and he shall suffer loss a 〈…〉 saved, •• t so as by •• re, 1 C • r: 3. 15. Wherefore as you love your own souls, take heed of erroneous doctrines & opinions; but contena earnest • y for the Faith, that was once •• live •• d to the Saints, Jude 3. Believe not every Spirit, but try the spirits w • ether they be of God, for many • alse prophets are g • ne out into the wor •• 1 J 〈…〉 4. 1. Yea your zeal for the Truth, and against the contrary should be such, that if any come to you and bring not the doctrine of truth, you should not receive him into your house, nor bid him Go • 〈…〉 ed 2 John 10. But if he were an Angel from heaven, • old • im • ccursed. Gal. 8, 9. Therefore believe not them that think a man may be saved in any Religion, & that it were good to h 〈…〉 all Religions free, and that opinions have no great danger in them. These are but the devises of Satan, that so pe • nicious errors might more easily be entertained, as not being greatly suspected: but believe the world of God which tells you otherwise, in the places cited, and in Mai 〈…〉 15. Acts 20. 29. where false Teachers are compared to gr •• vous and rave 〈…〉 g wolves, And if you can believe that sheep may do well enough though ravening wolves be let in amongst them, then you may believe that false doctrine and they that teach it are no ways dangerous to the souls of men; But if the one be contrary to experience & common sense, and therefore may not be believed, then neither may the other. Wherefore my beloved, take heed you be not plucked away with any error of the wicked, and fall from your own steadfast • ess, 2 Pet: 3. 17. But be diligent in the search & study of the holy Scriptures, the want whereof, is the cause of error, Mat: 22. 29. Acquaint yourselves with principl •• of Catechism, and be well grounded therein; for commonly they that • all to erro • r, are defective in the knowledge of Catechistical points. Make conscience to obey the Truth which you do already know; for such have a promise to know the truth, John 7. 17. And live not in, nor foster any sinful lust in your hearts or lives, for this makes captives to false doctrine, and them that teach it, 2 Tim: 3. 6. And be sure you get down the pride of your hearts, & be low & little in your own eyes; for babes shall have the truths of Christ revealed to them, whereas with proud & self-conceited ones it shall be otherwise, Mat: 11. 25. 1 Cor: 3. 18. If you shall be wise in your own conceit, which God forbid, never think yourselves Christians indeed in such a case, for there is more hope of a fool then of such, Pro: 26. 12. I think he said well and wisely, who said that to be a true Christian without humility, was as hard as to be a man without a soul: and sure I am, • e said very well, and very wisely, who tells us that God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the h • m • le 1 Pet 5. 6. James 4. 6.

3. C • ntent not yourselves to live without the faithful Ministry, and other holy appointments & Ordinances of Jesus Christ. But make account there is somewhat in it, and much too, when Pastors & Teachers according to God's heart shall f • ed h •• p • o • le with knowledge & understanding are promised as special blessing • to the people of God, Jer: 3. 15. Isai. 30. 20. and are gifts reckoned amongst the principal fruits & benefits of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, Eph. 4. 8 11, 12. On the other side, our Savior tells us that when the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch, Mat: 15. 14. & therefore he bewails & pities the condi • ion of such people who were as sheep that had no shepherd, and bids us make it one of our prayers, that the L ••• of the harvest, would • hrust forth laborers into his Harvest, Mat: 9. 36, 38. Some may think, (and so much I grant is publ • shed •• pr • nt) that when our Savior speaks of a ministry, and of baptism to contin • e, and to have his presence therewith, till the e • d of the world, M •• : 28. 19, 20. that by the word englished, The end of the world, He m 〈…〉 s no more but the end of that age that th • n was, whe • the Apostles were upon the earth, But by the like reason they may cal • the harvest when the Elect shall be gathered by the Angels into the glory of Heaven, and when the wicked shall be cast as tares into Hell fire, they may with as good reason call this Harvest the end of that age when the Apostles lived, for th • s also is called the end of the world • , Mat: 13. 30, 39, 40. and if it were absurd to call this Ha • vest the end of that age, it is no better to translate & expound the word so in the 28 of Matthew for the phrase is the same in both places; to omit the mention of other places also, where the phrase is used, as it is rightly englished for the end of this world, and not for the end of the Apostles age. The Apostle tells us, that the Lord's Supper must be observed till the Lord come, 1 Cor: 11. 26. and that the delivering up of the Kingdom as administered by external Ordinances shall not be till the end, 1 Cor: 15. 24. but till that time, this way of administering Christ's Kingdom shall continue. God forbid that you should be of their mind who think the use of Ordinances to be too low a dispensation for them that have attained those excellent & high attainments of grace, and of Christ in the Spirit which they speak of, For was there ever time, or will there ever be a time of more excellent spiritual attainments then in the primitive Church at Jerusalem when it is expressly said, that great grace w •• s upon them all, Acts 4. 32, 33. and yet at this time of so great grace, they did not live without ordinances or above them, as having attained too high attainments to attend upon God in the use of such low dispensations; no b • t they continued in the Apostles Doctrine, and fellowship, and breaking of bread, & prayers, Acts 2. 42. If through profaneness, or worldliness, or high flown imaginations of excellent attainments, you shall once think an able ministry, & Christ's Ordināces to be of no great necessity, believe not that your hearts are in a right frame in such a case; for how should they, when they are so contrary to the heart of him who was a man after God's own heart, I mean David, who often bewails it & laments it as a great misery, when he was deprived of Sanctuary-enjoyments, as you may see in Ps • . 42. & 43. & 63. & 84. so that he was so far from counting it an excellency to live without these things, or to please himself in such a condition that he bewails such a thing as one of the greatest miseries. It is not like but er • long I shall betaken from you: and then (if not sooner) see that you do your utmost endeavor to obtain a faithful and an able Minister, to be set over you in the Lord: and acknowledge him & your ot • er Elders your Overseers & Rulers as the Scripture calls them, A • t • 20. 28. 1 Tim. 5. 17. And therefore be content to Obey them, and S •• mit you • selves to them in the L • rd. 1 Th • s 5. 12, 13. Heb: 13. 7, 17. And though it be now a time when ma • y think, that no great abilities are requisite in a minister, or preacher of the word but that ordinary brethren may suffice for such employment, yet you shall do better to be of his mind, who counts a man fit for such work, to be one of a thousand, J • b 33. 23. which imports • l at such men are not very common, but • are men. And otherwise what need was there for Paul to cry out oh who is sufficient for such things: 2 Cor: 2. 16. Sure there was little reason for such an exclamation, if ability to read English be sufficient, but one would think that speech implies, that such abilities and sufficiencies are requisite for this work, as are not very easy to be • ound. Sure it is, the Rule requires that such men should be able to deliver, the whole Counsel of God, Acts 20. 27. and to be able not only to deliver some truths, and by So •• d doctrine to Exhort, but also to Convince gainsayers, 1 Tit. 1. 9. and if the ordinary sort of people can do this, I am much mistaken. They that would not much care if learning and Schools of Learning amongst Christians were suppressed, are but too like that wretched Julian the Apostate, who forbad all the children of Christians to be trained up in such Schools; and his reason was quia proprijs pennis ferimur, we are beaten o • strickē saith he as it were with our own weapons. For he was vexed to see the learning and eloquence of some Christians, as Basil, Gregory & others; and how they by learning were able to withstand the Argutia, or cunning subtleties of the Gen • iles; and therefor to hinder Christian Religion, and in savor to Gentilism, • e devised this devise, Theodor, l 3. C 8. Sozom. l 5. C 17. Socrat. l 3. C 10, & C 14. Carion, Chron. p. 278. Symson History, bock 1. Cent. 4. p. 60. And therefore judge in yourselves whether it be not sad and lamentable that professed Christians should be so like to this wretched Apostate and enemy of Christ. Amongst the sins of the house of Jerobo • m, which were causes to •• t it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth, this is reckoned for one, that he made of the lowest of the people Priests, so that whosoever would might b • consecrated to such employment, 1 King. 13. 33, 34. And therefore I exhort you, pr • ze the Ministry, & an able ministry as an Ordinance of Jesus Christ; and do not think it can be well with you if either you have none or none of any competent abilities; but remember what the Apostle tells you R • m: 10. 13, 14, 15. that as calling upon God is the way & means of salvation and without faith there can be no calling upon God, so not any faith without hear ••• g, nor bearing without a Prea • her, not any preach except they be sent, If there •• re you desire salvation, you must see that you call upon the name of God that y •• may be saved; and if you desire to call upon G • d, you must see that you be believers; and if you would be believers, you 〈◊〉 see the necessity of hearing sent preachers, as the way & means to believing, even as believing & calling upon God is the way & means to Salvation. And when God shall be so gracious unto you as to bestow such a man upon you, see that you dearly love him & reverence him in the Lord, holding such in reputation, Phil. 2. 29. and counting their very feet to be beautiful, Rom: 10. 15. or otherwise the Lord will require it of you as a disrespect offered & done to him, who hath said, He that heareth & receeiveth you, heareth & receiveth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me, Luke 10. 16. John 13. 20.

4. Think it not enough to serve the Lord yourselves alone in your own persons, but be sure to have special care that your Children & families may serve him also, and therefore remember to Instruct them and teach them the word and will of God, and to pray for them and with them, for God's blessing to be upon their souls. For the former of these, there is express Cōmandement & charge, Eph. 6. 4. Psal. 78. 5, 6. Pro. 22. 6. Deut: 6. 6, 7. In which last Scripture, every householder is Commanded of God to have the words of God in his heart, and that he teach them diligently to his children, talking of them when he sitteth in his house, and when he walketh by the way, when he lieth down & when he riseth up.

And therefore, if your children & servants be not instructed & taught in the word of God, you will not be able to give any good answer for it before the Lord, having lived in the neglect of so express & plain, so serious and solemn a Commandment. The truth is you have but little love either to God, or to your children, or to yourselves, if you make not conscience of this duty. For love to God would both provoke to keep his Commandments, of which the teaching of your children is one, and would stir up the soul that hath it to desire & endeavor that God might be honored & served as much & by as many persons & people as possibly it could attain unto. And therefore how can you say that you love God, when you do not your best endeavor that others, at least your own children & households may do▪ him service? Would you have God to have no service but by yourselves, o • whilst yourselves are alive? You know yourselves must not live always; therefore it would be some Testimony of your love to his Majesty, if you be careful to train up a posterity for the Lord, and so to teach them in his ways, that your seed may serve him when yourselves shall be dead & gone. As for your ch • ldren, you know they are born i • sin, and so children of wrath by nature▪ and without Regeneration & holiness must never see the Kingdom of God; and can you love them, and not endeavor to help them out of this woeful & wretched condition? I think he loves his child, or his friend but little, that seeth him lie fast asleep w • th • n the flood-marks & reach of the tide, and so every hour in danger to be swept away & drowned in the waters and waves of the Sea, and▪ for all this can endure yet to let him alone and never endeavor to awake him and rouse him up, that he may escape that apparent & imminent danger. Judge then in yourselves what love there can be in you to your poor children when you take no care, or make no conscience to save their souls from the deluge of destruction, and from their sins of heart & life, whereby they are in daily danger to be swept away with that deluge, & to be overw • elmed with destruction. Please not yourselves as if you loved them sufficiently in that you are careful to provide them meat & clothes, and other necessaryes for the body. For Turks & Indians can do so; and should not you be better and do better th • n they? Will you do no more for the souls of your children then Pagans & Infidels would do for the souls of theirs? Very bears and other brute beasts, yea and the Sea-monsters, are not so unnatural, but that they have some care of their young ones, Lam: 4. 3. Only this care of theirs reacheth no further but to the flesh or body, as indeed they have no immortal Scules to care or be cared for. But I beseech you, let your care & love to your children reach further, even to do your utmost endeavor to help forward the salvation of their precious and immortal souls; else never say you do truly love them. Nay in such case you cannot say you do truly love yourselves. For the neglect of this duty will be your own disadvantage, and will further your own discomfort, both in this & in another world. If children be duly instructed when they are young, there is hope they will walk according thereto when they shall be grown, Pro: 22. 6. and will not this be a comfort & joy of heart to any godly Parent? the holy Ghost tells us that the wise Son maketh a glad Father, Pro. 10. 1. & 23. ver. 24, 25. & ver. 15, 16. But on the other side, who knoweth not, that the Father of a fool hath no joy, Pro: 17. 21, 25. and that a child left to himself bringeth his Mother to shame, Pro: 29. 15. Unless therefore you love your own sorrow & shame, you must not leave your childrē to themselves, neglecting to instrust them in the word & ways of God, but as you love yourselves & your own comfort, you must be careful of this duty; for this means is conducible to such an end, and the neglect hereof, doth tend to the contrary. Consider seriously of this one thing, viz when poor ch • ldren shall be plagued & damned in Hell for their sin, and the wa • t of grace, and when the Parents also s • all be in the same conditi • n a • for their other si • s, so for this amongst the rest, t • at they have neglected this duty to their children, and died without Repentance for it, what a miserable & weefull day will that be? what a hearing will it be to poor tormented souls to hear their children cry out against them thus, or to the like purpose, viz

All this is no more then may well be imagined & supposed to be the woeful condition of many poor children & their Parents, in another world. And if all this seem a light thing in the eyes of any Parent or householder, I may say, the Lord be merciful to such a man, for his heart is very hard. J • shua was otherwise minded, for he is resolute that he and his house will serve the Lord, J • sh. 24. 15. and David giveth grave and godly Instructions to his Son Solomon 1. Chron: 28. 9. that he should know & serve the Lord, and so Pro: 4. 3, 4, 5. And of Abraham, God himself gives T • stimony, that he knew that he would Command his children & his household, to keep the way of the Lord, and to do Judgment & Justice, Gen: 18. 19. and why are these examples recorded, but for imitation? Yea our Savior tells us, that those that are the children of Abraham, will do the works of Abraham, Jo • n 8. 39 Therefore as ever you desire to be known unto yourselves or others to be the children of Abraham by a true & lively faith, so see that you be careful to tread in his s • eps and to do his works, as in other things wherein he is propounded as a pattern, so in this particular of instructing & well ordering of your children & families. But alas, all your instructing will avail nothing, unless God do give the blessing; and therefore you must also be diligent and faithful in the practice of prayer for & with your families. Husbands & Wives must live in peace, that their prayers be not hindered, 1 Pet: 3. 7. Cornelius pray • d in his house, Acts 10. 30. David by prayer is said to • less h • s house, 1 Chron: 16. 43 Ab •• ham prayeth earn • stly for Ishmael, oh that Ishmael might live in thy sight, Gen: 17. 18. and who can think but • e pr • yd for Is • ac also, and for t • e rest of his children? There is a dreadful Imprecatiō for the wrath of G • d to be p • ur • d out upon th • f 〈…〉 es that call not on G 〈…〉 Name, J • r 10. 25. oh see that you be not of that number, f • r the wrath of God is terrible and intolerable. Pray without ce 〈…〉 & re • ember that • very creature is sanc •• fied by the w •• d •• God & Prayer, 1 •• m. 4. 4, 5. S • •• at your • eat & yo •• marriage, of whic • he there • specially speaks, and by like reason, your buying & selling, y • ur plowing •• d • owing, your sowing & mowing and reap • ng, yo •• feedi • g cattle and keep ••• she • p▪ your planting orchards & garders, your b • ki • g •• d brewing, your b • ildi • g houses or outho • ses, you • fencing in grou • d or other business what ever, you cannot have any holy o • sanctified use thereof, if the word of God in your families, and prayer there be neglected. Therefore teach your children the word of God, firstly the princ • ples of Catechism, and afterwards high • points, and pray that they, and your endeavors with them & for them may be blessed. Tell them, so many of them as have been Baptized, and tell it them as soon as they shall be able to learn, what a solemn Covenant there is be • ween the God of heaven & them, whereby the Lord takes them to be his own, Ezek. 16. 8. yea to be his Children, Sons & daughters unto him, Ezek. 16. 20, 21. sai 43. 8. and engageth himself to be a God to them, Gen: 17. 7. and this even from their Infancy, or mothers womb, Psal. 22. 10. Isai. 46. 3. Tell them also that in their Baptism, this Covenant between the Lord & them was solemnly confirmed & sealed; for it was so with the Circumcised, Gen: 17. 11 Rom. 4. 11. and it is no less with the Baptized. Yea and tell them that they were Baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Mat: 28. 19. and therefore do now bear the name of God upon them, and so are not their own but his, as being ca • led by his name, Deut: 28. 9, 10. Isai. 43. 7. & 63. last; And if they be the Lord's, and be called by his name, and have him to be their God by Covenant, they may be well assured that all the rich blessings of that Covenant shall be their Inheritance forever, if it be not through their own default, because the Lord is the Faithful God that keepeth Covenant and Mercy with them that love him and keep his C • mmandements, even to a thousand geneeations, Deut: 7. 9. Psal. 105. 8. So that if they do not break Covenant wit • him, He will never break with them. But on the contrary, you must not fail to tell them that if they for their parts shall walk contrary to their Covenant, in the ways of sin & unbelief, and shall continue impenitently therein, this will be a great aggravation of their sin in the sight of God, and will bring upon them the sorer and more dreadful judgments, as breach of Covenant hath ever done, Deu • 29 25, and 31. 16, 17. Judges 2. 20. Jer: 11. 10, 11. Ezek. 16. 8, 32, 38, 59. and their Baptism, which if they kept their Covenant, might be unto them a pledge and seal of salvation, will now be altogether fruitless & unprofitable, as if it were no Baptism, Rom: 2. 25, 28. and the condition of the children of Turks or Indians or other Pagans, which were never Baptized, but are strange •• from God and from his Covenant, will be no worse, nor more uncomfortable then theirs; or rather theirs will be far • worse, their sins be • ng against more mercy and being violations of the Covenant, which was confirmed & seal • d in their Baptism. Tell them seriously of these things, and press upon them the remembrance, consideration, and conscience of their Baptism & Coven • nt, and the great engagement that lieth upon them thereby. Take account of them • ow th • y profit by hearing Sermon▪ Suffer them not to profane the Sabbath or Lord's day, by spending it in idleness, or misspending any part of that holy time in play, but remember that in the fourth Co • mandement, the householder is charged to keep that day holy, and to see that Son & daughter, man and maid may do the like. • ea the Mother & mistress of the • ouse is not exempted from this duty; for Solomon was instructed by his Mother, Pro: 31. 1. &c: and Timothy by his Mother and Grandmother; for he knew the holy Scriptures of a child, 2 Tim: 3. 15. and how should that be but by his Mother an • Grandmother being believers, 2 Tim: 1. 5. for his Father was a Greek, Acts 16. 1. And every Virtuous woman will open her mouth with Wisdom, (viz in her house amongst her children and servants, for in the Church she must be silent, 1 Cor: 14. 34, 35.) and the Law of Grace is in her tongue, Pro: 31. 26.

Mothers, you are more with your children whilst they are little ones, then their Fathers are, therefore be still teaching them as so on as ever they are capable of learning. You are at much pains with the bodies of your children, and suffer not a little while you bear them in your wombs & when you bring them into the world, and will you not be at some pains for the saving of their souls? You are naturally of tender and dear affection to your children, and God misl • kes it not that it be so; but will you show no affection to them in respect of their souls, which is the principal matter? will it not move you to think that the children of your own bowels should everlastingly perish, and be in inconceivable misery world without end? I beseech you have pity upon the • ; and do your best to teach them, and pray for them, weep for them, and wrestle with God for them, who kn • wes but the prayers and tears of a faithful Moth • r may be the salvation of the child's soul?

5. Content not yourselves with the name of Christians or of Church-members, nor with mere profession or an external form of Religion, but see that you be Religions •• sincer • ty & • ruth, • ainly follow •• g • fter and showing forth the powe • of godliness, and avoiding what •• ever is contra • y thereunto, or • ay hinder t • erein. For God requir • th truth • n the it war a p • rts, Psal 51▪ 6. and courts not • ing true religion or godliness which is but exte • nal or outward but that • nly which is •• ward in the heart & s •• rit, and inner man, R • m • . two last. The Pharisees were j • st & righteous before • en, and • ade 〈◊〉 show outwardly, but their bearts w •• hin being full of Hypocrisy & iniquity, therefore t • e Lord ab • ord them, & all their • eemingly-gl • rious performanc • ▪ L • ke 10. 15. Mat: 23. 27, 28. Think with your selve▪ that▪ God kn • weth the heart, 〈◊〉 • 1. 24. & 15. 8. Psa. 44. 21. Rev. 2. 23. So that though you • ay d • ceive • en and your own selves, yet him you can • o • deceive Thi 〈…〉 yourselves that though Hypocrisy may lie hid & unknown for a time, yet it shall not always do so, but in time shall be revealed & brought to light, Luke 12. 1, 2▪ 1 Cor: 4. 5. Think with yourselves, that all professors are not sound but there are many yea very many that are otherwise; fo • many are called, so as to be amongst the g • ests of God • t the marriage feast, and yet of them that are thus called, there are few that are • hosen, and that have indeed the wedding garment, Mat: 22▪ 10, 11, 12, 14. And lastly think this with yourselves that of all punishments, the punishment of hypocrites is amongst the greatest fo • when the dreadful wrath of God is expressed against that man, Mat▪ 24. it is said, be sh • ll have his portion with Hypocrites, verse 50. which intimates, that the portion of Hypocrites shall be most dreadful & terrible. To be Baptized, to be a membet of the visible Church of Christ, to be admitted to the Lord's Table & to all other privileges of the Church, To be outwardly blameless & no ways scandalously vicious for Adulery, Fornication, Lasciviousness, Drunkenness, Profaneness, Swearing, Scoffing at godliness, or such like, To be frequent in prayer, in reading the Scriptures & good books, in hearing Sermons, and repeating them afterward, in Sabbath-services & other duties of God's worship, All this may be & the heart not right • n the sight of God; for all this is but the form of godliness, which possibly may be, where the power of godliness is wanting, 2 Tim: 3. 5. The pith & power of Religion & godliness is another thing, and consisteth chiefly in that which is inward in the heart & soul; as, In a true sight & sense of a man's own sin & vileness, even of that which is inward in the heart, 1 King. 8. 38. Rom: 7. 14, 21, 23, 24. with an unfeigned self-loathing, or abhorring of a man's self because of the same, and in all true humility • nd low though • ghtedness of a man's self: In true self-denial, when the will of a man is so subdued to the will of God, as that he can be content that God's will should take place afore his own, whether that will of God be manifested in the Scriptures or in Providences, and whether it should be submitted & yielded unto by doing, or by suffering: In Faith unf • ined, and the life of faith, when a man adhereth and cleaveth to God in Christ, and to the precious promises of his grace, even then when sense & carnal reason do speak contrary, and when in the eye of flesh & blood there is▪ little or no appearance of any such thing as the promise holdeth forth: In the practice of Mortification▪ when a man is continually be • ting • own his corruption, & striving in the strength of C • rist from day today that his fl • sh with the affections & 〈◊〉 thereof may b • Crucified and killed, maintaining a combat and wa •• against sin, and unfeignedly de 〈…〉 g that no iniquity might have dominion ove • him, but that the old man and all the body of sin might be destroyed: In the spirituality of duty, when a man endeavoreth to do all that he doth, whether of the first or second Table, whether in his general or particular calling, 1. In obedience to God that hath so commanded, 2. With the heart & soul and not alone with the outward man, 3. In sense of a man's own infirmity and not in his own strength▪ but • n the strength of Christ, 4. With an heart desirous to please and glorify God therein, 5. Never taking contentment in anything he doth, further then the Spirit of Christ doth thus carry him forth in all,

6. Feeling need of the pardoning grace of God in the blood and Intercession of Christ, for the best of his performances, 7. Looking up thereunto for the same and for all his acceptance: In heavenly mindedness, when a man's affections and conversation are so in Heaven▪ that he takes no cont •• tment in the best of all the comforts that are under the Sun, but counts them all vanity & vexation of spirit, having many thoughts and holy actings of spirit towards God and Christ, longing for death, and loving the appearing of the Lord Jesus, and this not out of p • ngs of impatience as not willing to do or suffer the will of God, but from unfeigned hatred of his own sin & corruption, and from earnest desire to be freed from it, and to obtain the enjoyment of more full communion with God and Jesus Christ then in this life can be attained unto, These and such like are the things wherein true Religion and the power of godliness consists▪ but in mere bodily exercise & external shows and performances, in the • it consisteth not. Oh then strive earnestly after the one, and content not yourselves with the other. In these days and in this country, profession is somewhat common, Authority through the goodness of God countenancing Religion, and ministering Justice against all known ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. You have therefore so much more need to take heed and beware, least your Religion reach no further but to the profession & the external form thereof. this for the causes mentioned being so common, and the eye of man being able to reach no further. It is true the condition of many amongst you (and so in other parts of this Country) is such as necessarily puts you on to have much employment about the things of this life, and to labou • with care & pains taking in the works of husbandry, and other worldly business for the maintenance of yourselves & your families, the Lord having laid this burden on man, that 〈…〉 swe •• of h • face he m • st eat his bread un •• ll he dy & experience shows that it is an easy thing in the midst of worldly business to loose the life and power of Religion, that nothing thereof should be lef • but only the external • orm, as it were the carcass or shell, worldliness having eaten ou • the ke • ell, and having consumed the very soul & life▪ of godliness. While the man in 1 Kings 20. 40. was busy here and there, he whom he should have kept was missing and gone: So while many men are busy here & there about worldly employments, the power and life of Religion, which they should have carefully kept, is utterly lost and quite gone. The deceitfulness of riches, and cares of this life, do as thorns choke the seed of the word in many professors, that they become unfruitful, Mark 4. 19. As Demas forsook Paul through love of this present world, 2 Tim: 4. 10. and Ezekiel's hearers could not hear the word with profit, because their heart went after their covetousness, Ezek. 33. 31. Oh therefore take heed, I do beseech you, least it be so with any of you, least earthly cares and encumbrances should dull your spirits, and take off their edge in the things of greatest importance, and lest by these things all the vigor of Religion should be wasted and worn out, and nothing be left but a dry & sapless formallity, a spiritless & powerless profession. You would be more happy if you could make a virtue of necessity, I mean if you could turn all the acts of your particular callings, all the employments that God hath laid upō you about these earthly things, if you could turn them all into so many acts of Religion and Obedience towards God. Which is not a thing impossible, for the Apostle expressly requires it of Servants, that what ever they did ( viz: in the labors of their callings) they should do it as unto Christ, as to the Lord and not unto men, Eph. 6. 5, 6 7. Col. 3. 22, 23. And if servants may do their works and duties of their places with such a spirit, why may not masters do theirs with the like spirit, and Parents theirs, and children theirs, and husband & wives theirs, and every man & every woman perform their earthly employments in such fear of God, in such singleness of heart, in such respect to the Cōmandement, that all these may be so many several acts of Obedience towards God, so many parts & expressions of the power & practice of godliness? If Adam had not sinned, his dressing & keeping the garden Gen: 2. 15. would have been so: and doubtless with our blessed Savior it was so; for he was subject to Joseph & Mary as a child to his parents, Luke 2. 51. and it is like he wrought with Joseph at the work of a Carpenter, and therefore he was not only called the Carpenters son, but the Carpenter Mark 6. 3. and his Religious & pious spirit would doubtless do all these external and earthly business with respect to God and in obedience to him. And the truth is, it is not only the object about which actions are conversant, but the heart wherewith they are done, and the grounds of doing them, with the ends that are aimed at therein, that makes them acts of Religion truly pleasing to God; So that if these be not right and spiritual, then preaching & praying, • earing & repeating Sermons, & such like will be no better then acts of profaneness & ungodliness, and in the issue be charged upon the doers as so many But on the contrary, civil employments if they be performed with spiritual minds, upon such spiritual grounds, and to such spiritual ends as they might and ought, then these employments even these will be accounted & approved of, as acts of religion & godliness, or obedience towards God, and as such will be pleasing in his sight. Wherefore, to make an end of this, let it be your care, and the Lord help you that you may do it effectually, that earthly or worldly employments may not destroy nor diminish the life and power of godliness & religion, but that the life & power of religion may breath and be put forth in all your earthly & civil employments.

6▪ Above all other things be careful in all your desires and endeavors to make out after the enjoyment •• God himself, and of Communion with his blessed Majesty, as your summum bonum▪ your chi • f good. For you are utterly undone if your hearts come not up to this, even to desire and choose the blessed God himself for your portion and for all your happiness, but shall sit down as contented or satisfied with anything else that falls short of God. They that are far from God shall perish, he destroyeth all them that go a whoring from him, Psal. 73. 27. And amongst all the miseries of an unregenerate state, this is reckoned as the sorest & worst, that such men are without God in the world, Ephe. 2. 12. Think with yourselves how at the last day the dreadful doom of the reprobate will chiefly be this, that they shall eternally be separated from the favorable presence of God, Ma • . 25. 41. 2 Thes. 1. 9. which doth evidently demonstrate that to enjoy communion with the blessed God, is of all things the most desirable for any of the sons of men. Imagine all the good in the whole world to be gathered into one storehouse, and there to be laid up in one heap, you know he that were far from that storehouse and had no part there must needs be miserable; and even so is such a soul as is without the enjoyment of God. If the Sun should depart out of the world there would be nothing left but dreadful darkness upon all the Creation, all light being now placed in the Sun: and if the fountain be dried up or stopped, all the streams must needs fail. In like sort take away the enjoyment of God from any soul, and all that is left must needs be nothing worth, but even a lump of vanity & evil. For the best of creatures without God are but vanity, yea & vexation of spirit. You may believe him that by large experience had found it so, and gives us his report & testimony of what he had found, Eccles. 1. 2. and 12. 8. And the time will come when his words will be found of others to be a truth, if now it seem not so. When sickness comes when old age comes, when the temptations of the D • vel do assault you, when the pangs of death are upon you, oh then what will all these things avail you in that day? they will surely be then as Jobs friends, dry & empty pits, miserable comforters and physicians of no value Job 6. 15. &c: & 13. 4. & 16. 2. Yea then it will be found that all things else besides God are but vain things, that cannot profit nor deliver for they are vain, 1 Sam: 12. 21. The Prodigal when absent from his fathers face & family, may seek to fill his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, but he will find that it will not be, that those husks will not satisfy, but that for all them he will begin to be in want, and be ready to perish through hunger, and all because he is absent from his fathers house, where there is bread enough and to spare, Luke 15. I tell you true my beloved, if a man could enjoy the world at will, the greatest confluence of creature-comforts that ever man enjoyed, yet if he have not the fruition of the favor of God, all these things would stand him one day in little or no stead, but in the fullness of all his sufficiency, he shall be in straits, Job 20. 22. and the creatures will yield him no more content & satisfaction then a bed which is shorier then that a man can stretch himself on it, and a covering which is narrower then that he can wrap himself in it, Isai. 28. 20. Oh then as you love your souls, take heed of resting in any creature, and of looking no further then to them. Do not spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not, Isai. 55. 2. do not hew out unto yourselves the C • sternes, the broken C • sternes of one creature or another, that can hold no water, but make out in the desires and longings of your souls after God himself, who is the fountain of living waters, Je • 2. 13. Do not wander in the outgoings of your hearts after this or that inferior good, and neglect th • Lord who is the principal, for that would be to be like them that wandr • d and wen • from mounta • n to h • ll f • rgetting their r • s • ng pl • ce, Jer: 50. 6. Re • e • ber David who at one time in his pr • sperity though • t he should never be mov •• , the Lord had made his mounta • n to st 〈…〉 g▪ but when God did once hide his face he was troubled, Psal. 30. 6. 7. and t •• g • eat mountain of all his outward prosperity could not preven • th • t troubl • . You will do more w • s • lie if you follow him when •• said, • is sou • f • l 〈…〉 har • af • er God, • s • l. 63. 8. or him that said. • t is g 〈…〉 for me to draw • igh to God, Lord whom have I •• heaven but thee? an • the • e is none upon ea • th that I • esire bes • des thee, • s • l 73. 25, last or him that could say, the Lord is • y portion saith my soul, therefore will 〈…〉 • ope in him, Lan. 3. 24. For if you do not go a who • ing in your aff •• nce or aff • ction after other things, but • raw near to G •• and cho •• e •• m alone for your portion▪ you will never repent of sucha choice, but will see cause to rejoice in it, and with thankfulness to acknowledge, that your lines are fall • n to you in pleasant pla • es, & that in God you have a good • y herit ••• , Psal. 16. 5, 6. This is the good part, the best part, that can be chosen, and they that have gr • c • to make their choice of it, it shall never be taken from th • m, Luke 10. 42. But in God as in the fountain of life, in whose light they shall see light, and who makes them drink of the River of his pleasures, in him, and in his favor they shall be abundantly satisfied, Psal. 36. 7, 8. 9. & 17. 15. and their souls sh • ll one day be f • lled as with marrow and fatness, and their mouths shall praise the Lord with joyful lips, Psal. 63. 5. It is no great matter if the comfort of creature • shall fail them, if they shall be compassed about with miseries & distresses on every side, yea if they wa • k in the valley of the shadow of death, yet having God with them and his favor towards them, they need not to fear for any of these things but may comfort themselves and rejoice in God in the worst condition that can befall them, and at such times be even filled with joy and with the Holy-Gh • st, Hab: 3. 17, 18. 1 Sam: 30. 6. Psal. 23. 4. Acts 13. 52. Loe friends what it is to have the enjoyment of God. Wherefore if you be wise draw near to G •• , and make hi • your portion. You see it will be good, yea best for you so to do; and the Lord help you that you may do it unseinedly and effectually, without d • lay and without declining. Do you not consider what a great & heinous Idolatry it is, when men choose unto themselves other Go • s besides the Lord Je • ovah, the only true & living God? It is you know the first Commandment of the ten, T • ou shalt have no other God's • ut Mee? and to love the Lord above all, even with all the heart and with all the soul, & with all the mind & with all the s • rength, this is the first and great Commandment Mat: 22. 37. Beware therefore that no love of any creature what ever it be, • uch less the love of any Sin, beware I say that no love to any of the • e be predominant in your souls above the love of God: you will be v • le Idolat •• s if it be so w • th you. Be • ar • that there be no Idols in your hearts, for this may b • as bad Idolatry as that which is more apparent & open. See to it that in j • dgment and afl • ction you do truly acc • unt it your chiefest happiness • to e • j • y the Lord, and that you make him your chief • st good and your l • st end. If sin be (as it is) an aversion or turning away of the soul from God to something else besides him & above him, then in the work of g • ace there is a conversion and turning of the soul towards God again, as to the b • st and c • eif • st go • d of all. If it be not thus with you, you will not be ab • e to clear it up to your own consciences that any saving work of grace is wrought in your souls: for how should you, when yet there is something else, which your souls do prefer before God? The very r • ason why you • ear and pray, why you do any duty • f one kind or another, yea why you do d • sire to live and breath on earth, the very r • as • n of all these things, i • your • earts be right is chiefly this, that you may s •• k the Lor • hi • self, as t • e fi • st cau • e and last end, • ha • yo • may honor h • m and do for him, and be happy in t • e inj • ym • nt of • i • . They in • e • o. 7. fasted and mourned many a time in this and in that month, even those seventy years; and yet saith God, did ye at all fast unto me, even unto me, verse 5. It seems their fasting was neither with h • arts that desired nor aimed to honor God, nor to enjoy communion with God, and therefore all their fasting is rejected, because God was not sought therein. If you do not seek the Lord in your doings and performances, nor make him the end of your desires & endeavors, but that t • ere be something else that your hearts do more esteem then him, and can rest contented withal, though without him, then I must needs say your state in grace is very questionable, or rather unquestionably unsound. For if any man love the world, (sure if he love the same better then God) the love of the Father is not in him, 1 John 2. 15. It is (and must needs be so accounted, even) a vile dishonor & notorious contempt against the all-sufficient and blessed God, when any creature whether a man's self, or ought else is more respected and esteemed then he. Therefore though many say, who will show us any good, yet let your hearts say, Lord lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, and this shall be to us more gladness of heart, then in the time when their corn and their wine increased, Psal. 4. 6, 7. CHRISTIAN, thou that readest these lines, Lift up thy heart unto God, and pray that he would give thee such an heart that thou mightest in sincerity say, Oh that above all things I might have the enjoyment of God! oh that above all things I migh be to the honor of God.

7. But how should men that are sinners have any access to God, or enjoy Cōmunion with him. It is true, of themselves they cannot, yet the • e is hope in Israel concerning this thing, because JESUS CHRIST the Eternal Son of God hath taken on him the nature of man, and in that nature hath fulfilled all Righteousness, and been Obedient to the death, even the death of the Cross: and so giving his life a ransom for many hath made Reconciliation for the sins of the people, that now by the merit of his death & Obedience, that d • stance that sin bad made between the soul & God, might be taken away, and sinners have access to Go • by him, who otherwise could have no Communion with him. You know what is written, that Christ hath suffered, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, 1 Pet: 3. 18. and so by him we have access unto the Father Eph • s 2. 18.

This therefore is the seventh and last though not the least part of my advice unto you in the Lord, That with all seriousness and up • igh • ness you choose this Lord Jesus, and him alone as the only and All-sufficient way & means for your enjoyment of God the chief good. For this Lord Jesus is the only Advocate and Mediator between God and the souls of men. And as there is but one God so there is but one Mediator between God & men, the Man Christ J • sus, 1 Tim: 2. 5. He is the way, the truth and the life, there is no coming to the Father but by him, John 1 • . 6. To enjoy God it is true is our life, for in his favor is life, yea his loving kindness is better then life itself, Psal. 30. 5. & 63. 3. But it is as true, that this life cannot now be had but through Christ, so that he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life, 1 John 5. 12 If you desire Communion with God and shall sue unto him that you may enjoy it, (and you are most wretched & accursed if you do it not) yet in such case the Lord will speak to you in language like to that of the Lord of Egypt unto Jacob's sons, never see my face except your brother be with you, never look to see the face of God to your comfort in this or in another world, except Jesus Christ be with you, and that you present yourselves before God in his Satisfaction & Mediation. You may not think, oh let such thoughts be far from you, that you can have access to God or be accepted of him, for anything that you have wrought or can work. You know but little of yourselves if you do not know, that the best of your performances have need of pardon through the blood of Christ, and therefore they are not able to purchase any pardon or favor for you in the sight of God; no, no, it is Christ alone that must do this for you▪ you and you • works must be washed in his precious blood, and so cleansed from the uncl • aness that is in you & them, or else both you & they will be rejected of God as most abominable in his sight. It is Christ alone that is the true High Pri • st t • at bears the iniquity of the holy things of God's people, that through his Holiness they may be accepted before the Lord. Exod: 28. 38. which otherwise they could not be. It is he that is that true Golden Allar that Sanccist •• all gif • s, that are offered upon him. It is he that offers Incense wit • the pr •• ers of all Saints, and perfumes them with his Merits and Intercession, that so they may ascend with acceptance before God out of his hand, Rev: 8. 3, 4. Wherefore of necessity you must disclaim all thought of any worth in yourselves, or in the best of your doing • , and look for all acceptance of your persons & performances through Jesus Christ and through him alone, as that blessed Martyr John Lam • ert cried out at his death, none but C •• ist, none but Christ. When Christ was in the world he was always careful to honor the Father, & now the Father would have all men to h • nour him, even as they honor the Father; and we are plainly told, that he that h • n • u • eth not the Son, he honoreth not the Father which sent him, J ••• . 5. 23. And of the honor that we should do unto the Son, this is the Summ, t • at we acknowledge all our interest in God, and so in all good to be only through him and accordingly through him alone to look for it, and to behave ourselves as those that so do. If you shall through grace do thus, this will be greatly for the honor of Jesus Christ, wherein you have a notable & pregnant ex • mple of blessed Paul, as having gone before you in this way of giving hono • r to the Lord Jesus. For sometimes you have him say that he esteemed not to know anything save Jesus Christ and him Crucifyed, 1 Cor: 2. 2. Sometime you hear him say, God forbid that I should glory in anything save in the Cross of our Lo • d J • sus Christ, Ga • ▪ 6. 14. and sometime he tells you that the things that were gain unto him, those be accounted loss for Christ, ye • doub • less he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Chris • Jesus his Lord, for whom he suffered the loss of all things, and did count them but dung that he might win Christ, & might be found in him, not having his own Righteousness which was of the Law, but that which is by the faith of Christ, even the Righteousness which is of God through fai • h, that he might know him, and so forth as is more largely expressed in that 3. of • hill. verse 7, 8, 9, 10. A worthy pattern, and worthy to be followed; Yea & that which is followed by all them that are believers in truth, for unto all such this Lord Jesus is very precious, as 1 Pet: 2. 7. yea he is exalted and ex • olled, and is very high; Isai. 52. 13. they count him white & ruddy, the chiefest amongst ten thousand, so that he is very excellent in their eyes from top to to • , his head, his eyes, his cheeks, his lips, his legs & all have surpassi • g excellency in them in their esteem, and what ever he be to others, to them he is altogether lovely▪ C • nt: 5. 10, 11. &c: Wherefore if you do not dearly love and highly prize the Lord Jesus Christ, never count yourselves to be true believers or true Christians, for in truth you are then far from it. Therefore be wise merchants, and fell all that you have to purchase this pe • rl: let the choicest of creature-comforts, the best of your own righteousness, and the sweetest of sins, even the right eye and all, be low & little base & bitter, in your esteem, in comparison of Jesus Christ. Accept him gladly as your only Lord and Sav • ou • . Take his yoke • upon you, for it is easy and his burden light, and be not of them that say (in heart at least) we will not have this man to reign over us, Luke 19. 14. but count it (for so you well may) not only your duty but your happiness to be under his blessed and gracious government; you will find this to be a though • sand times better, then to be left to yourselves, to fulfill or follow your own wills. Consider how sweetly & lovingly he invites poor souls to come to him, professing that he will • n no wise reject them that so do, but promising that he will entertain them & gave them rest, John 6. 37. Mat: 11. 28 29. Yea and how he lays the blame of me • s eternal death & pe • dition upon themselves, because they will not come unto him that they may have life, J •• n 5. 40. but he • old have gathered them, as an henn doth chickens under her wings, and they w • uld not Mat: 23. 37. Be afraid therefore least a promise of eternal life and rest being left you in Christ Jesus, any of you should seem to come short of it, H •• : 4. 1. That God should sea • his Christ into the world to save sinners, and sinners should • neglect to come to this Christ or to accept of him, as if they had no need of him, or could do well enough without him, this will doubtless be the damnation, the great & deep damnation of a world of men at the last day, J • hn 3. 19. Kindness and grace despised must needs provoke & procure the heavier wrath. Men had better to have been Turks or other Infidels, and never have heard of the name of Jesus of Nazereth, the Son of God the Savior of the world; then living under the Gospel where they have heard of these things, yet to live and dy in their unbelief without union & communion with Christ, and in a continued neglect of him; yea it had been good for such men if they had never been born Oh take heed and be afraid that it be not so with you or any of you; and again I say take heed and be afraid of such a thing.

But when you are once come to Christ, as I hope many of you are, then let all your life be a life of faith, in the frequent actings and exercises thereof upon this Christ, that from him in whom all fullness dwells, you may receive continual supplies of grace, according to all your occasions & needs, while you are in the wilderness of this world, you cannot do better then to be always leaning upon your beloved. In yourselves you are f • eble & weak▪ yea you have need of much and continual supplies of grace, and Christ hath sufficient and abu • dant fullness for you. Make all your addresses unto God (and you are not right if those addresses be not frequent & many, but let them all be made) in this Christ's Mediation and Name; so you shall find acceptance with the Father, as this Christ hath promised J • hn 16. 23. but otherwise you may not look for any such matter.

And being redeemed to God by his blood, and reconciled by his death, you must now make account that you are not your own, but his; and therefore you must no more live to your serves, but to him that died for you and rose ag • m, and heerunto the love of Christ should constra • n you, 1 Cor: 6. 20. 2 Cor: 5. 14, 15. He hath dearly loved you, how can you be so unthankful as not to love him again? And if • ou love hi • , you must ke •• his Commandments▪ for himself gives this as a bad • and token of such as love him, J • hn 14. 21, 23. Your love its true is l • ttle worth, and cannot be pr • fitable to him at all: But thi • must needs be ackowledged that he is well worthy of your love, were it never so good. And you shall be no losers by loving him; for he loves the • th •• love him, P •• 8. 17. and the Father loveth them also J • hn 14. 21. & 16 27. and both Father & Son will come to him that truly loveth Christ, and will man • fest them • elves to such a one, and make their abode with him, John 14. 21, 23. Yea they that love him & keep his Commandments, shall continue in h • s love, even as he keepeth his Fathers Commandments and countinueth in his love. John 15. 10. His love moved him to lay down his l • fe, for you▪ and your love to him should be such as to suffer any affliction, yea to lay down your lives for his sake, if he shall call you unto it. If you love any creature how dear or near so ever it may be, yea if you love your own lives better then him, he will never own you for his, nor account you his disci • le • ▪ Mat: 10. 37. Luke 14. 26. and how much less if you love any sin so dearly that you cannot leave it for Christ's sake, but still retain it and live in it? Therefore see that you love him, and love him above all. Let your thoughts be much taken up in holy musings & meditations of him. Long for his presence in the comings in and gracious workings & fillings of his spirit. Let it be your grief, if at any time his face be hid from you. and count it a wearisome time till he show himself again: with the loyal spouse of Christ it is so Cant: 3. & 5. and that heart is no better then the heart of an harlot, that hath not many thoughts of her husband when absent from her, but can bear his absence though it be never so long, without grief, with few and seldom thoughts of him, & small desires of his coming. He is now absent from you all in regard of his bodily presence; but he hath promised his spiritual presence, which is as good if not much better, Mat 28. 20. John 16. 7. And besides his supporting, assisting, & sanctifying presence by that Spirit, there are (especially to some souls and at sometimes) such spiritual consolations afforded in sense of their enjoyment of Christ, they are said to be filled with comfort, and to be exceeding joy full in all their tribulation, 2 Cor. 7. 4. to be filled with peace and joy in believing, Rom: 15. 13. to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, & to be filled with all fullness of God, Ephe. 3. 19. Yea that Christ brings them into the banqueting house and his banner over them is love, that he stays them as with flag • ns and comforts them with apples, they being sick of love, that his left hand is under their head, and his right hand doth embrace them, Cant: 2. 4, 5, 6. that in regard of the sweemes of his love he is unto them as a bundle of myrrh and doth lie all night between their breasts, Cant▪ 1. 13. and many such things which that book of the SONG doth express. Therefore if you love him, these consolations of his Spirit must not be small with you, Job 15. 11. but you must highly prize them, earnestly desire them, and pray for them, and be diligent in the use of the word and Ordinances wherein they are wont to be dispensed and count it as the Apostle counts it, Rom 14. 17. a great part of the Kingdom of God to enjoy these joys of the Holy G • ost.

But I most tell you the truth, it is but a small pittance of the comforts of Christ in comparison, that in this world you can enjoy. No, no, Jesus Christ is not here, he hath left this world and is gone unto the Father, and here we can see him no more. His choicest saints cannot see him in fullness, till the time come that they be removed hence, and then they shall see him, yea and • e like unto him, for they shall set him as he is 1 John 3. 2. and then shall all weakness and imperfection be done away, and perfection come instead thereof, 1 Cor: 13. 10. Yea then shall be fulfilled the promise that he hath promised, that having prepared a place in heaven for his redeemed, he will come again & take them to himself, that where he is there they may be also John 14. 2, 3. and then shall appear the full performance of tha • prayer of his, when he prayed unto the Father, that those whom he had given him • ight be with him where he is to behold his glory which is given unto him by the Father John 17. 24 When this time shall come, then, my dearly beloved you may be happy in the full fruition of Christ; but before that time it cannot be. While you are at home in the body, you are absent from the Lord, 2 Cor. 5. 6. Therefore take not up your rest on this side Jordan: Count not yourselves to have atta • ned what is to be attained, for you have yet no more but the first fruits, Rom 8. 23 the full harvest is yet to come. Oh long for the harvest, long for your departure, and for the appearing of Christ. You know who said, it was his d • sire to depart and to be with Christ, which was far better, Phil. 1. 23. You know it is the description of all the godly, that they love the appearing of J • sus Christ, 2 Tim 4. 8. Yow know it is their prayer, when he said he would surely come quickly, Amen say the • , even so come Lord J • sus, R •• 22. 20. My hearts desire is, my dearly beloved, that you may be like minded that you may sincerely love the Lord Jesus, truly desiring the fullest enjoyment of him and of the Father through • im, and heartily hating what ever is countrary thereto; and that you may be prese • ved unto his •• avenly Kingdom, having your hearts directed unto the love of God & to the patient waiting for Christ, and that you may be found of him in peace without s • ot and bla • e • ess, yea unblamable in holiness before God the Father at the come •• ng of our Lord J • sus Christ with all his saints.

For these ends I have writ • to you as here you see, and I think I have done it out of an unsei • ned desire of the good of your soul. Weaknesses I doubt not there are herein, as als • in everything that comes from me. If what is here presented to you had been 〈…〉 ter I could well have be • eemed it you, yet such as it is I come • end it to your serious consideration and God's blessing, and so leave it with you. Yet this I must desire that you would not give these things the reading only, and so dis • n • s • them w • th a bare approval or disapprovall, but that what is according to God, you would seriously endeavor the practice thereof. As our Savior said, if you know these things happy are you if you do the • J •• 13. 17. Even so say I to you. The directions are not many in number, but only seven, and so not hard to be remembered for the substance of them: and yet as I conceive, they are all of great importance, and not any of them that can be safely neglected. If you be destitute of godly sorrow & humiliation for sin, and true humility of mind, If you be not sound in the faith, but corrupt in your judgmen • s in the great things of Religion. If you lightly esteem the Ministry and Ordinances of Jesus Christ, If you neglect the religious ordering of your families and good of posterity, If you content yourselves with the form of godliness without the power thereof, If you choose not God himself as your last end and chief good, and Jesus Christ as the way & means for the enjoyment of God, If in all or any of these you shall be careless & culpable, and shall so cont • n • e without care or conscience of am • ndment, I tell you true it will be no less then the endangering of your precious souls to be utterly lost in everlasting woe; and so m • ch the more because you have had this warning also, besides all that you have had formerly by one mean • or by another. But if the Lo • d shall help you to endeavor Obedience according to the will of God, as God in Christ shall be glorified thereby, So it will be greatly to your own comfort, and to mine also in the day of Jesus Christ; In whom I rest,

Faults escaped, thus amended.

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