Before thou readest these directions, I advise thee, yea, I charge thee, before God and his holy angels, that thou resolve to follow them, as far as conscience shall be convinced of their agreeableness to God’s word and thy state; and call in his assistance and blessing that they may succeed. And as I have sought the Lord and consulted his oracles what advice to give thee, so must thou entertain it with that awe, reverence, and purpose of obedience, which the word of the living God requires.
Now, then, attend: “Set your heart unto all that I shall testify unto you this day; for it is not a vain thing—it is your life.” This is the end of all that has been spoken hitherto, to bring you to set your heart upon turning to God. I would not trouble you, nor torment you before the time,” with the thoughts of your eternal misery, but in order to your making your escape. Were you shut up under your present misery without remedy, it were but mercy to let you alone, that you might take in that little poor comfort which you are capable of in this world; but you may yet be happy, if you do not wilfully refuse the means of your recovery. Behold, I hold open the door to you; arise, take your flight: I set the way of life before you; walk in it, and you shall live, and not die. It grieves me that you should be your own murderers, and throw yourselves headlong, when God and man cry out to you, as Peter in another case to his Master, Spare thyself.”
The destruction of ungodly men is wilful. God that made them crieth out to them, as Paul to the distracted jailer when about to murder himself, “Do thyself no harm.” The ministers of Christ forewarn them, and follow them, and would gladly have them back; but, alas, no expostulations or entreaties will prevail, but men will hurl themselves into perdition, while pity itself looketh on.
What shall Tsay? Would it not grieve a person of any humanity, if, in the time of a raging plague, he should have a remedy that would infallibly cure all the country and recover the most hopeless patients, and yet his friends and neighbors should die by hundreds about him, because they would not use it? Men and brethren, though you carry the certain symptoms of death in your faces, yet I have a receipt that will cure you all infallibly. Follow but these directions, and if you do not then win heaven, I will be content to lose it.
Hear then, O sinner, and as ever thou wouldst be converted and saved, embrace this following counsel.
DirecrioN LI. Set it down with thyself as an undoubted truth, that it is impossible for thee ever to get to heaven in this thy unconverted state.
Can any other but Christ save thee? and he tells thee he will never do it except thou be regenerated and converted. Doth he not keep the keys of heaven; and canst thou go in without his leave? as thou must, if ever thou come thither in thy natural condition, without a sound and thorough conversion. y ‘ Direction II. Labor to get a thorough sight and lively sense and feeling of thy sins.
Till men are weary and heaven laden, and pricked at the heart, and quite sick of sin, they will not come to Christ, in his way, for cure, nor to purpose inquire, “What shall we do?” They must set themselves down for dead men, before they will come unto Christ that they may have life. Labor, therefore, to set all thy sins in order before thee; never be afraid to look upon them, but let thy spirit make diligent search. Inquire into thine heart, and into thy life; enter into a thorough examination of thyself and all thy ways, that thou mayest make a full discovery; and call in the help of God’s Spirit, in the sense of thine own inability hereunto, for it is his proper work to convince of sin. Spread all befores thy conscience, till thy heart and eyes be set weeping. Leave not striving with God and thine own soul, till it cry out under the sense of thy sins, as the enlightened jailer, “What must I do to be saved?” To this purpose,
Meditate on the number of thy sins. David’s Allcine’s Alarm. 9
heart failed when he thought of this, and considered that he had more sins than the hairs of his head. This made him cry out for the multitude of God’s tender mercies. Look backward; where was ever the place, what was ever the time, in which thou didst not sin? Look inward;- what part or power canst thou find in soul or body but it is poisoned with sin; what duty dost thou ever perform, into which this poison is not shed? O how great is the sum of thy debts, who hast been all thy life running upon trust, and never didst or canst pay off one “penny! Look over the sin of thy nature, and all its cursed brood, the sins of thy life. Call to mind thy omissions and commissions; the sins of thy thoughts, words, and actions; the sins of thy youth, and the sins of thy riper years. Be not like a desperate bankrupt, that is afraid to look over his books. Read the records of conscience carefully. These books must be opened sooner or later..
Meditate on the aggravations of thy sins, as they are the grand enemies of the God of thy life, and of the life of thy soul: in a word, they are the public. enemies of all mankind. How do David, Ezra, Daniel, and the good Levites, aggravate their sins, from the consideration of their opposition to God and his good and righteous laws, and of the mercies and warnings against which they were committed! O the work that sin has made in the world! This is the enemy that has brought in death; that has robbed and enslaved man; that has done the work of the devil, and digged hell. This is the enemy that has turned the world upside down, and sown dissensions between man and the creatures, betwixt man and man, yea, between man and himself, setting the animal part against the rational, the will against the judgment, lust against conscience; yea, worst of all, between God and man, making the sinner both hateful to God and the hater of God. O man, how canst thou make so light of sin? This is the traitor that thirsted for the blood of the Son of Gad, that sold him, that mocked him, that scourged him that spit in bis face, that tore his hands, that pierced his side, that pressed his soul, that mangled his body, that never left him till he had bound him, condemned him, nailed him, crucified him, and put him to an open shame. This is that deadly poison, so powerful of operation that one drop of it, shed on the root of mankind, has corrupted, spoiled, poisoned, and ruined his whole race. This the bloody execu- tioner that has killed the prophets, burnt the martyrs, murdered all the apostles, all the patriarchs, all the kings and potentates; that has destroyed cities, swallowed empires, and devoured whole nations. Whatever weapon it was done by, it was sin that caused the execution. Dost thou yet think it but a small thing? If Adam and all his children could be dug out of their graves, and their bodies piled up to heaven, and an inquest were made what matchless murderer were guilty of all this blood, it would be all found in sin. Study the nature of sin, till thy heart incline to fear and loathe it; and meditate on the aggravations of thy particular sins, how thou hast sinned against all God’s warnings, against thy own prayers, against mercies, against corrections, against clearest light, against freest love, against thine own resolutions, against promises, vows, and covenants of better obedience. Charge thy heart home with these things till it blush for shame, and be brought out of all good opinion of itself. Meditate on the desert of sin. It crieth to Heaven; it calls for vengeance. Its due wages are death and damnation; it brings the curse of God upon the soul and body. The least sinful word or thought lays thee under the infinite wrath of God. O what a load of wrath, what a weight of curses, what treasures of vengeance, have all the millions of thy sins deserved! O judge thyself, that the Lord may not judge thee.
Meditate on the deformity and defilement of “sin.” It is black as hell, the very image and likeness of the devil drawn upon the soul. 1 John, 3:8, 10. It would affright thee to see thyself in the hateful deformity of thy nature. There is no mire so unclean, no plague or leprosy so noisome as sin, in which thou art plunged and rendered more displeasing to the pure and holy nature of the glorious God than the vilest object can be to thee. Couldst thou take up a toad into thy bosom; couldst thou cherish it, and take delight in it? But thou art as contrary to the pure and perfect holiness of the divine nature, till thou art purified by the blood of Jesus and the power of renewing grace.
Above all other sins, consider these two.
1. The sin of thy heart. It is to little purpose to lop off the branches while the root of corruption remains untouched. In vain do men lave out the streams, when the fountain is running that fills up all again. Let the axe of thy repentance, with David’s, go to the root of sin. Study how deep, how permanent is thy natural pollution, how universal it is, till thou dost ery out, with Paul, upon thy body of death. The heart is never soundly broken till thoroughly convinced of the heinousness of its original and deep-rooted depravity. Here fix thy thoughts; this is that which makes thee backward to all good, and prone to all evil; that sheds blindness, pride, prejudice, and unbelief into thy mind; enmity, inconstancy, and obstinacy into thy will; inordinate heats and colds into thy affections; insensibleness and unfaithfulness into thy conscience; slipperiness into thy memory; and, in a word, hath put every wheel of the soul out of order, and made it, from a habitation of holiness, to become a very hell of iniquity. This is what hath defiled and perverted all thy members, and turned them into weapons of unrighteousness, and servants of sin; that hath filled the head with carnal and corrupt designs; the hand with sinful practices; the eyes with wandering and wantonness; the tongue with deadly poison; that hath opened the ears to tales, flattery, and filthy communication, and shut them against the instructions of life; and hath rendered thy heart the cursed source of all deadly imaginations, so that it poureth out its wickedness without ceasing even as naturally as a fountain doth pour forth its waters, or the raging sea doth cast forth mire and dirt. And wilt thou yet be in love with thyself, and tell us any longer of thy good heart? O never leave meditating on the desperate contagion, the original corruption of thy heart, till, with Ephraim, thou bemoan thyself; and with the deepest shame and sorrow smite on thy breast, as the publican; and, with Job, abhor thyself, and repent in dust and ashes.
2. The particular evil that thou art most addicted to: find out all its aggravations, set home upon thy heart all God’s threats against it; repentance drives before it the whole herd, but especially sticks the arrow in the beloved sin, and singles this out, above the rest, to run it down. O labor to make this sin odious to thy soul, and double thy guard and resolutions against it, because this doth most dishonor God and endanger thee.
Dirtcrron IIL. Strive to affect thy heart with a deep sense of thy present misery.
Read over the foregoing chapter again and again, and get it out of the book into thy heart. Remember when thou liest down, that, for aught thou knowest, thou mayest awake in flames; and when thou risest up, that by the next night thou mayest make thy bed in hell. Is it nothing to thee to live in such a fearful case, to stand tottering on the brink of the bottomless pit; and to live at the mercy of every disease, that, if it but fall upon thee, will send ” thee forthwith into the burnings? Suppose thou sawest a condemned wretch hanging over Nebu-chadnezzar’s burning fiery furnace by nothing but a thread which was ready to break every moment, would not thy heart tremble for such a one? Thou art the man: this is thy very case, O man, woman, that readest this, if thou be yet unconverted. What if the thread of thy life should break—and thou knowest not but it may be the next night, yea, the next moment—where wouldst thou be then; whither wouldst thow drop? Verily, upon the breaking of this thread, thou fallest into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, where thou must lie while God hath a being, if thou die in thy present case. And doth not thy soul tremble as thou readest? Do not thy tears bedew the paper, and thy heart throb in thy bosom? Dost thou not yet begin to smite on thy breastand bethink thyself what need thou hast of a change? O what is thy heart made of? Hast thou not only lost all regard to God, but all love and pity to thyself?
O study thy misery till thy heart cry out for Christ as earnestly as ever a drowning man did for a boat, or the wounded for a surgeon. Men must come to see the danger and feel the smart of their deadly sores and sickness, or Christ will be to them a physician of no value. The manslayer hastens to the city of refuge, when pursued by the avenger of blood; but men must be even forced and driven out - of themselves, or they-will not come to Christ. It was distress and extremity that made the prodigal think of returning. While Laodicea thinks herself rich, increased in goods, in need of nothing, there is little hope. She must be deeply convinced of her wretchedness, blindness, poverty, and nakedness, before she will come to Christ for his gold, raiment, and eye-salve. Therefore hold the eyes of conscience open, amplify thy misery as much as possible, do net flee the sight of it for fear it should fill thee with terror. The sense of thy misery is but as it were the suppuration of the wound, which is necessary to the.cure. Better now to fear the torments that abide thee, than to feel them hereafter. -
Direction IV. Settle it upon thy heart that thou must look out of thyself and away from thy own doings for help.
Never think thy praying, reading, hearing, confessing, or amending, will do the cure; these must be attended to, but thou art undone if thou rest in them; thou art a lost man if thou hope to escape drowning on any other plank but Jesus Christ. Thou must unlearn thyself, and renounce thine own wisdom, thine own righteousness, thine own strength, and throw thyself wholly upon Christ, or thou canst not escape. While men trust in themselves, and establish their own righteousness, and have confidence in the flesh, they will not come savingly to Christ. Thou must know thy gain to be but less, thy strength but weakness, thy righteousness rags and rottenness, before there will be an effectual closure between Christ and thee. Can the lifeless body shake off its grave-clothes, and loose the bands of death? Then mayest thou recover thyself, who art dead in trespasses and sins, and under an impossibility of serving thy Maker acceptably in this condition. Therefore, when thou goest to pray or meditate, or to do any of the duties to which thou art here directed, go out of thyself, call in the help of the Spirit, as despairing.to do any thing pleasing to God in thine own strength; yet neglect not duty, put thyself in the way of the Spirit. While the eunuch was reading, then the Holy Ghost did send Philip to him. When the disciples were praying, when Cornelius and his friends were hearing, then the Holy Ghost fell upon them and filled them all.
Direction V. Forthwith renounce all thy sins.
If thou yield thyself to the practice of any sin, thou art undone. In vain dost thou hope for life by Christ, except thou depart from iniquity. Forsake thy sins, or thou canst not find mercy. Thou canst not be married to Christ except divorced from sin. Give up the traitor, or you can have no peace with heaven. Thou must part with thy sins or with thy soul; spare but one sin and God will not spare thee. Thy sins must die, or thou must die for them. If thou allow of one sin, though but a little, a secret one, though thou mayest plead necessity, and have a hundred shifts and excuses for it, the life of thy soul must go for the life of that sin. And will it not be dearly bought?..
O sinner, hear and consider: if thou wilt part with thy sins God will give thee his Christ. Is not this a fair exchange? 1 testify unto you this day, that if you perish, it is not because there was never a Saviour provided nor life tendered, but because, with the Jews, you prefer the murderer before the Saviour, sin before Christ, “and love darkness rather “than light.” Search thy heart therefore with candles, as the Jews did their houses for leaven before the passover. Labor to find out thy sins; enter into thy closet, and consider, What evil have I lived in; what duty have I neglected towards God; what sin have I lived in against my brother? And now strike the darts through the heart of thy sin, as Joab did through Absalom’s. Never stand looking upon thy sins, nor rolling the morsel under thy tongue, but cast it out as poison, with fear and detestation. Alas, what will thy sins do for thee, that thou shouldst hesitate to part with them? They will flatter thee, but they will undo thee and poison thee while they please thee, and arm the justice and wrath of the infinite God against thee. They will open hell for thee, and pile up fuel to burn thee. Behold the gibbet that they have prepared for thee. O serve them like Haman, and do upon them the execution they would else have done upon thee. Away with them, crucify them and let Christ only be Lord over thee. y
Direction VI. Make a solemn choice of God for thy portion and blessedness.
With all possible devotion and veneration avouch ~ the Lord for thy God: set the world, with all its glory, and paint, and gallantry, with all its pleasures and promotions, on the one hand; and set God, with all his infinite excellences and perfections, on the other; and see that thou do deliberately make thy choice. Take up thy rest in God. Sit thee down under his shadow. Let his promises and perfections turn the scale against all the world. Settle it upon thy heart, that the Lord is an all-sufficient portion, that thou canst not be miserable whilst thou hast God to live upon. Take him for thy shield and exceeding great reward. God alone is more than all the world; content thyself with him. Let others possess the preferments and glory of the world; place thou thy happiness in the favor of God, and in the light of his countenance. ”
Poor sinner, thou hast fallen off from God, and hast engaged his power and wrath against thee; yet know, that of his abundant grace he.doth offer to be thy God again in Christ. What sayest thou; wilt thou have the Lord for thy God? Take this counsel, and thou shalt have him; come to him by Christ, renounce the idols of thy pleasures, gain, and reputation; let these be pulled from their throne, and set God’s interest uppermost in thy heart. Take him as God, to be chief in thy affections and purposes; for he will not endure to have any set above him. In a word, thou must take him in all his personal relations and in all his essential perfections.
1. In all his personal relations. God the Father must be taken for thy Father. O come to him with the prodigal: “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am not worthy to be called thy son; but since, of thy wonderful mercy, thou art pleased to take me, that am of myself most vile, even a beast and no man before thee, to be a child, I solemnly take thee for my Father, commend myself to thy care, and trust to thy providence, and cast my burden on thee. I depend on thy provision, and submit to thy corrections, and trust under the shadow of thy wings, and hide in thy chambers, and fly to thy name. I renounce all confidence in myself; I repose my confidence in thee; I declare my engagement with thee; I will be for thee, and not for another. God the Son must be taken for thy Saviour, thy Redeemer, and thy righteousness. He must be accepted, as the only way to the Father, and the only means of life. O then put off the raiment of thy captivity, put on the wedding garment, and go and marry thyself to Christ. “Lord, I am thine, and all I have, my body, soul, and estate. I give my heart to thee; I will be thine undividedly, thine everlastingly. I will set thy name on all I have, and use it only as thy goods, during thy leave, resigning all to thee. I will have no king but thee to reign over me. Other lords have had dominion over me; but now I will make mention of thy name only, and do here take an oath of fealty to thee, promising to serve and fear thee above all competitors. I disavow mine own righteousness, and despair of ever being pardoned and saved for my own duties or graces, and lean solely on thy all-sufficient sacrifice and intercession for pardon, and life, and acceptance before God. I take thee for my only guide and instructor, resolving to be directed by thee, and to wait for thy counsel.”
Lastly, God the Spirit must be taken for thy sanctifier, for thy advocate, thy counsellor, thy comforter, the teacher of thy ignorance, the pledge and earnest of thy inheritance. Awake thou North wind, -and come, thou South, and blow upon my garden.” Come, thou Spirit of the Most High; here is a temple for thee; here do thou rest for ever; dwell here; lo, I give possession to thee, full possession; I send thee the keys of my heart, that all may be thine. I give up the use of all to thee, that every faculty and every member may be thy instrument to work righteousness and do the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
2. In all his essential perfections. Consider how the Lord hath revealed himself to you in his word. Will you take him as such a God? 0, sinner, here is the most blessed news that ever came to the sons of men: “The Lord will be thy God,” if thou wilt but close with him in his excellences. Wilt thou have the merciful, the gracious, the sin-pardoning God to be thy God? “O_yes,” saith the sinner, “1 am undone else.”” But he farther tells thee, I am the holy and sin-hating God; if thou wilt be owned as one of my people, thou must be holyholy in heart, holy in life; thou must put away all thy iniquities, be they ever so dear, ever so natural, ever so necessary to the maintaining of thy worldly interest. Unless thou wilt be at enmity with sin, I cannot be thy God. Cast out the leaven. Put away the evil of thy doings; cease to do evil; learn to do well.” Bring forth mine enemies, or there is no peace to be had with me. What doth thine heart answer? Lord, I desire to have thee as such a God; I desire to be holy as thou art holy, and to be made partaker of thy holiness. I love thee, not only for thy goodness and mercy, but for thy holiness and purity. I take thy holiness for my” happiness: O be to me a fountain of holiness; set on me the stamp and impress of thy holiness: I will thankfully part with all my sins at thy command. My wilful sins I do forthwith forsake; and for mine infirmities that cleave unto me, though I would be rid of them, I will strive against them continually: I detest them, and will pray against them, and never let them have rest in my soul.” Beloved, whoever of you will thus accept the Lord, he shall be your God. Again, he tells you, “I am the all-sufficient God.” Will you lay all at my feet, give up all to my disposal, and take me for your only portion? Will you own and honor my all-sufficiency? - Will you take me as your happiness and treasure, your hope and bliss? Iam a sun and a shield all in one; will you have me for your all? Now what dost thou say to this? Doth thy soul long for the onions and flesh-pots of Egypt 2 Art thou loath to change thy earthly happiness for a portion in God; and though thou wouldst be glad to have God and the world too, yet canst thou not think of having him, and nothing but him; but hadst rather take up with the-
earth below, if God would but let thee keep it as long as thou wouldst? This is a fearful sign. But now, if thou art willing to sell all for the pearl of great price; if thine heart answer, Lord, I desire no other portion but thee; take the corn, and the wine, and the oil who will, so I may have the light of thy countenance; I fix upon thee for my happiness; I gladly venture myself on thee, and trust myself with thee; I set my hope in thee; I take up my rest with thee; let me hear thee say, I am thy God, thy salvation, and I have enough, all I wish for; I will make no terms with thee but for thyself; let me but have thee sure; let me be able to make my claim and see my title to thyself; and for other things, I leave them to thee; give me more or less, any thing or nothing; I will be satisfied in my God.” Take him thus, and he is thy own.
Again, he tells you, I am the sovereign Lord; if - you will have me for your God you must give me the supremacy. You must not make me second to sin or any worldly interest. If you will be my people I must have the rule over you; you must not live at your own pleasure. Will you come under my yoke? Will you bow to my government? Will you submit to my discipline, to my word, to my rod? Sinner, what sayest thou to this? “Lord, I had rather be at thy command than live at my own will; I had rather have thy will to be done than mine; I approve of and consent to thy laws, and account it my privilege to be under them. And though the flesh rebel, and often bieak its bounds, I have resolved to take no other Lord but thee. I willingly take the oath of thy supremacy, and acknowledge thee for my Sovereign, and resolve all my days to pay the tribute of worship, obedience, love, and service to thee, and to live to thee to the end of my life.” This is a right acceptance of God.
To be short, he tells you, I am the true and faithful God. If you will have me for your God you must be content to trust me. Will you venture yourselves upon my word, and depend on my faithfulness, and take my bond for your security? Will you be content to follow me in poverty, and reproach, and affliction here; and to tarry till the - next world for your preferment? Will you be content to labor and suffer, and to tarry for your returns till the resurrection of tlfe just? My promise will not always be instantly fulfilled; will you have the patience to wait? Now, beloved, what say you to this? Will you have this God for your God? Will you be content to live by faith, and trust him for an unseen happiness, an unseen heaven, an unseen glory? Do your hearts answer, “Lord, we will venture ourselves upon thee; we commit ourselves to thee; we cast ourselves upon thee; we know whom we have trusted; we are willing to take thy word; we prefer thy promises before our own posAlletne’s Alarm. 10
sessions, and the hopes of heaven before all the enjoyments of earth; we will do thy pleasure—what thou wilt here, so that we may have but thy faithful promise for heaven hereafter.” If you can in truth, and upon deliberation, thus accept of God, he will be yours. Thus there must be, in a right - conversion to God, a closing with him suitable to his excellences. But when men close with his mercy, but yet love sin, hating holiness and purity; or will take him for their benefactor, but not for their sovereign; or for their patron, and not for their portion; this is no thorough and sound conversion.
Direcrion VII. Accept of the Lord Jesus in all his offices, as thine.
Upon these terms Christ may be had. Sinner, thou hast undone thyself, and art plunged into the ditch of most deplorable misery, out of which thou art never able to escape; but Jesus Christ is able and ready to help thee, and he freely tenders himself to thee. Be thy sins ever so many, ever so great, or of ever so long continuance, yet thou shalt be most certainly pardoned and saved, if thou dost not wretchedly neglect the offer that in the name of God is here made to thee. The Lord Jesus calleth thee to look to him and be saved. ‘ Come unto him, and he will in nowise cast thee out.” Yea, he beseecheth thee to be reconciled. He crieth in the streets; he knocketh at thy door; he inviteth thee to accept of him, and live with him. If thou diest, it is because thou wouldst not come to him for life. ” + Now accept of an offered Christ, and thou art made for ever; now give thy consent to him, and the match is made; all the world cannot hinder it. Do not stand off because of thy unworthiness. I tell thee, nothing can undo thee but thine own unwillingness. Speak, man; art thou desirous of the honor? Wilt thou have Christ in all his relations to be thine, thy king, thy priest, thy prophet? Wilt thou have him and bear his cross? Take not Christ without consideration, but sit down first and count the cost. Wilt thou lay all at his feet? Wilt thou - be content to run all hazards with him? Wilt thou take thy lot with him, fall where it will? Wilt thou ‘ deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow him?” Art thou deliberately, understandingly, freely determined to cleave to him in all times and conditions? If so, thou shalt never perish, but art passed from death unto life. Here lies the main point of thy salvation, that thou be found in thy covenant-closure with Jesus Christ; and therefore, if thou love thyself, see that thou be faithful to God and thy soul here.
Direction VIII. Resign all thy powers and faculties, and thy whole interest to be his.
“They gave their own selves unto the Lord.” “Present your bodies a living sacrifice.” The Lord seeks not yours, but you; resign therefore thy body, with all its members, to him; and thy soul, with all its powers, that he may be glorified in thy body and in thy spirit, which are his.: In a right closing with Christ all thy faculties are given up to him. Thy judgment says, Lord, thou art worthy of all acceptation, chief of ten thousand: happy is the man that findeth thee. All the things that are to be desired are not to be compared with thee.” Prov. 3:13-15. The understanding lays aside its corrupt reasonings and cavils; and its prejudices against Christ and his ways. It is now past questioning, and determines for Christ against all the world. It concludes it is ‘“good to be here,” and sees such a treasure in this field, such a value in this pearl, as is worth all. Matt. 13: 44-46. “QO here is the richest prize that ever man was offered; here is- the most sovereign remedy that - ever -mercy prepared; he is worthy of my esteem, worthy of my choice, worthy of my love, worthy to be embraced, adored, admired, for evermore. Rev. 5:12. I approve of- his articles: his terms are righteous and reasonable, full of equity and mercy.” Again, the will resigns. It stands no longer wavering, but is peremptorily determined: Lord, thy love hath overcome me, thou hast won me, and thou shalt have me. Come in, Lord; to thee I freely open; I consent to be saved in thine own way. Thou shalt have any thing—nay, have all, let me have but thee.” The memory gives up to Christ: “Lord, here is a storehouse for thee; out with this trash; lay in the treasure; let me be a repository of thy truth, thy promises, thy providences.” The conscience comes in: “Lord, I will ever side with thee; I will be thy faithful registrar; I will warn when the sinner is tempted, and smite when thou art offended; I will witness for thee, and judge for thee, and guide into thy ways, and will never let sin have quiet in this soul.” The affections also come in to Christ: “0,” saith Love, “I am sick for thee.” 0,” saith Desire, “now I have what 1 sought for; here is the Desire of nations; here is bread for me, and balm for me: all that I want.” Fear bows the knee with awe and veneration: “Welcome, Lord, to thee will I pay my homage; thy word and rod shall command my motions; thee will I reverence and adore; before thee will I fall down and worship.” Grief likewise puts in: “Lord, thy displeasure and thy dishonor, thy people’s calamities and my own iniquities, shall be what shall set me a weeping. I will mourn when. thou art offended; I will weep when thy cause is wounded.” Anger likewise comes in for Christ: “Lord, nothing so enrages me as my folly against thee, that I should be so besotted as to hearken to the flatteries of sin and the temptations of Satan against thee.” Hatred, too, will side with Christ: I protest mortal enmity to thine enemies, that I never will be a friend to thy foes; I vow an eternal quarrel with every sin: I will give -no quarter; I will make no peace.” Thus let all thy powers yield to Jesus Christ.
Again, thou must give up thy whole interest to him: If there be any thing that thou keepest back from Christ, it will be thy undoing. Luke 14: 33. Unless thou wilt forsake all, in preparation and resolution of thy heart, thou canst not be his disciple. Thou must hate father and mother, yea, and thine own life also, in comparison with Him, and as far as it stands in competition with him. In “a word, thou must give him thyself, and all that thou hast, without reservation, or else thou canst have no part in him.
Direction. IX. Make choice of the laws of Christ as the rule of thy words, thoughts, and actions.
This is the true convert’s choice. But here remember these three rules: 1. You must choose them all, there is no getting to heaven by a partial obedience. None may think it enough to take up with the -cheap and easy part of religion, and let alone the duties that are costly and self-denying, and oppose the interests of the flesh; you must take all or none. A sincere convert, though he makes most conscience of the greatest sins and weightiest duties, yet he makes true conscience of little sins and of all duties. 2. You must choose Christ’s laws for all times, for prosperity and adversity. A true convert is resolved in his course; he will stand to his choice, and will not set his back to the wind, and be of the religion of the times. “I have stuck to thy testimonies; I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes always, even to the end. Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever. I will have respect to thy statutes continually.” 3. This must be done deliberately and understandingly. The disobedient son said, “I go, sir; but he went not.” How fairly did they promise, All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee we will do it!” And it is likely they spake as they meant. But when it came to the trial it was found that there was not such a heart in them as to do what they had promised.
If you would be sincere in closing with the laws and the ways of Christ, study the meaning, and breadth, and extent of them. Remember that they are spiritual; they reach the very thoughts and inclinations of the heart; so that, if you will walk by this rule, your very thoughts and inward motions must be under government. Again, they are very strict and self-denying, quite contrary to your natural inclinations.. You must take the strait gate, the narrow way, and be content to have the flesh curbed from the liberty it desires. In a word, they are very large, for “thy commandments are exceeding broad.”
Rest not in generals, for there is much deceit in them, but bring down thine heart to the particular i commands of Christ. Those Jews, in the prophet, seemed as well resolved as any in the world, and called God to witness that they meant as they said: but they rested in generals; when God’s command crosses their inclination, they will not obey. Art thou resolved, in the strength of Christ, to set upon the conscientious practice of every duty that thou findest to be required of thee, and to set against every sin that thou findest to be forbidden? This is the way to be sound in God’s statutes, that thou mayest never be ashamed.
Observe the special duties that thy heart is most against, and the special sins that it is most inclined to, and see whether it be truly resolved to perform the one and forego the other. What sayest thou to thy bosom sin, thy gainful sin? What sayest thou to costly, hazardous, and flesh-displeasing duties? If thou haltest here, and dost not resolve, by the grace of God, to cross the flesh and be in earnest, thou art unsound.’
Direction X. Let all this be completed in a solemn covenant between God and thy soul.
Set apart some time, more than once, to be spent in secret before the Lord—in seeking earnestly his special assistance and gracious acceptance of theein searching thy heart, whether thou art sincerely willing to forsake all thy sins, and to resign thyself, body and soul, unto God and his service; to serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of thy life.
Compose thy spirit into the most serious frame possible, suitable to a transaction of so high importance. Lay hold on the covenant of God, and rely on his promise of giving grace and strength, whereby thou mayest be enabled to perform thy promise. Trust not to thine own strength, to the strength of thine own resolutions; but take hold on his strength.
Being thus prepared, on some convenient time set apart for the purpose, enter upon the work, and solemnly, as in the presence of the Lord, fall down “on thy knees, and open thy heart to him in words like those of the covenant, or soliloquy, annexed to these directions.
Direction XI. Take heed of delaying thy conversion, but make a speedy, an immediate surrender of thy heart to God. gi
“I made haste, and delayed not.” Remember and tremble at the sad instance of the foolish virgins, that came not till the ‘” door of mercy was shut; and of a convinced Felix, who put off Paul to another season; and we never find that he had such another season. O come in while it is called to-day, lest thou shouldst be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; lest the day of grace should be over, and the things which belong to thy peace should be hidden from thine eyes.” Now mercy is wooing thee; now Christ is waiting to be gracious to thee, and the Spirit of God is striving with thee; now ministers are calling; now conscience is stirring; now Christ is to be had, if accepted. O strike in with the offers of grace; now or never. If thou make light of this offer, God may swear in his wrath, thou shalt not taste of his supper.
Direction XII. Attend conscientiously upon the word, as the means appointed for thy conversion.
“Attend, I say, not customarily, but conscientiously; with this desire, design, hope, and expectation, that thou mayest be converted byit. To every sermon thou hearest come with this thought: “O I hope God will now come in; I hope this day may be the time, this may be the man by whom God will bring me home.” When thou art coming to the privileges of God’s house, lift up thy heart thus to God: ‘” Lord, let this be the Sabbath, let this be the season wherein I may receive renewing grace. O let it be said that this day such a one was born unto thee.”
Objection. Thou wilt say, I have been long a hearer of the word, and yet it hath not been effect- ual to my conversion. Answer. Yea; but thou hast not. attended upon it in this manner, as a means of thy conversion, nor with this design, nor praying for and expecting the happy effect from it.
Direction XIII. Strike in with the Spirit when he begins to work upon thy heart.
When he works convictions, O do not stifle them, but join in with him, and beg the Lord to give you saving conversion. “Quench not the Spirit;” do not reject him, do not resist him. Beware of stifling convictions with evil company or worldly business. When thou art in anguish on account of sin and fears about thy eternal state, beg of God that you may have peace only in thoroughly renouncing all sin, loathing it in thy inmost soul, and giving thy whole heart, without reserve, to Christ. Say to him, Strike home, Lord; leave not the work in the midst. O go to the bottom of my corruption, and let out the life-blood of my sins.” Thus yield up thyself to the working of the Spirit, and hoist thy sails to his gusts.
Direcrrox XIV. Set upon the constant and diligent use of serious and fervent prayer.
He that neglects prayer is a profane and unsanctified sinner. He that is not constant in prayer is but a hypocrite, unless the omission be contrary to his ordinary course, under the force of some instant temptation. This is one of the first things conversion appears in, that it sets men a praying. Therefore sct to this duty; let not one day pass over thee wherein thou hast not, morning and evening, set apart some time for solemn prayer in secret. Call thy family also together daily and duly to worship God with thee. Woe be unto thee, if thou be found among the families that call not upon God’s name.
But cold and lifeless devotions will not reach half way to heaven. Be fervent and importunate. Importunity will carry it; but without violence the kingdom of heaven will not be taken. Thou must strive to enter, and wrestle with tears and supplications, as Jacob, if thou wouldst gain the blessing. Thou art undone for ever without grace, and therefore thou must set to it, and resolve to take no denial. That man who is fixed in this resolution says, “Well, I must have grace, or I will never give over till I have grace; I will never cease earnestly pleading, and striving with God and my own heart, till he doth renew me by the power of his grace.”
Direction XV. Forsake thy evil company, and forbear the occasions of sin,
Thou wilt never be turned from sin till thou wilt decline and forego the temptations of sin. I never expect thy conversion from sin, unless thou art brought to some self-denial, so as to flee the occasions. If thou wilt be nibbling at the bait, and playing on the brink, and tampering with the snare, thy soul will surely be taken. Where God doth expose men, in his providence, unavoidably to temptation, and the occasions are such as we cannot remove, we. may expect special assistance in the use of his means; but when we tempt God by running into danger, he will not engage to support us when we are tempted. And, of all temptations, one of the most fatal and pernicious is evil companions. O what hopeful beginnings have these often stifled! O the souls, the estates, the families, the towns, that these have ruined! How many poor sinners have been enlightened and convinced, and been just ready to escape the snare of the devil, and have even escaped it; and yet wicked company has pulled them back at last, and made them seven-fold more the children of hell! In a word, I have no hopes of thee, except thou wilt shake off thy evil company. Thy life depends upon it: forsake this, or thou canst not live. Wilt thou be worse than the ass of Balaam, to run on when thou seest the Lord with a drawn sword in the way? Let this sentence be written in capitals upon thy conscience: “A comPANION OF FOOLS SHALL BE DESTROYED.” The Lord hath spoken it, and who shall reverse it?
And wilt thou run upon destruction, when God himself doth forewarn thee? If God doth ever change thy heart, it will appear in the change of thy company. O fear and flee the gulf by which so many thousand souls have heen swallowed up in perdition. It will be hard for thee indeed to make thy escape. Thy companions will be mocking thee out of thy religion, and will study to fill thee with prejudices against strictness, as ridiculous and comfortless. They will be flattering thee and alluring thee; but remember the warnings of the Holy Ghost: “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, cast in thy lot among us; walk thou not in the way with them, refrain thy foot from their path; avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For the way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not at what they stumble. They lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk privily for their own lives.” My soul is moved within me to see how many of my hearers and readers are likely to perish; both they and their houses, by this wretched mischief, even the haunting of such places and company, whereby they are drawn into sin. Once more I admonish you, as Moses did Israel: Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men.” O fly them as you would those that had the plague-sores running in their foreheads. These are the devil’s panders and decoys; and if thou dost not make thy escape they will draw thee into perdition, and will prove thy eternal ruin.
Direction XVI. Set apart a day to humble thy soul in secret by fasting and prayer, to work a sense of thy sins and miseries upon thy heart. Read-some faithful exposition of the decalogue, and write down the duties omitted and sins committed by thee against every commandment, and so make a catalogue of thy sins, and with shame and sorrow spread them before the Lord; and if thy heart be truly willing, join thyself to the Lord in a solemn covenant, like that hereto annexed. -
A Short Soliloquy
What meanest thou, O my soul, to go on thus; art thou in league with hell; hast thou made a covenant with death; art thou in love with thy misery? “Is it good for thee to be here?” Alas, what shall I do; shall I go on in my sinful ways? Then certain damnation will be my end. And shall I be so besotted as to go and sell my soul to the flames for a little ale and a little ease; for a little pleasure, or gain, or satisfaction to my flesh? Shall I linger any longer in this wretched state? No; if IT tarry here I die. What then? Is there no help, no hope? None, except I turn. But-is there any remedy for such woful misery; any mercy, after such provoking iniquity? Yes, as sure as God’s oath is true, I shall have pardon and mercy yet, if immediately, and unfeignedly, and unreservedly, I turn by Christ to him.
I thank thee upon the bended knees of my soul, O most merciful Jehovah, that thy patience hath waited for me hitherto; for, hadst thou taken me away in this state, I had perished for ever. And now I adore thy grace, and accept the offers of thy mercy; I renounce all my sins, and resolve by thy grace to set myself against them, and to follow thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life. Who am I, Lord, that I should make any claim unto thee, or have any part or portion in thee?
Yet, since thou holdest forth the golden sceptre, I am bold to come and touch. To despair, would be to disparage thy mercy; and to stand off when thou biddest me come, would be at once to ruin myself and rebel against thee, under the pretence of humility. “Therefore I bow my soul to thee, and with all possible thankfulness accept thee as mine, and give up myself to thee as thine. Thou shalt be Sovereign over me, “my King and my God:” thou shalt be on the throne, and all my powers shall bow to thee; they shall come and worship before thy feet. Thou shalt be my portion, O Lord, and I will rest in thee.
Thou callest for my heart. O that it were any way fit for thine acceptance. I am unworthy, O Lord, everlastingly unworthy to be thine; but since thou wilt “have it so, I freely give up my heart to thee: take it; it is thine: O that it were better. But, Lord, I put it into thine hand, who alone canst mend 1t: mould it after thine own heart; make it as thou wouldst have it, holy, humble, heavenly, soft, tender, flexible; and write thy law upon it.
“Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly;” enter in triumphantly: take me up to thee for ever: I give up myself to thee; I come to thee as the only way to the Father, as the only Mediator, the means ordained to bring me to God. I have destroyed myself, but in thee is my help; “save, Lord, or I perish.” I come to thee worthy to die and to be damned. Never was the hire more due to the servant, never was penny more due to the laborer, than death and hell, my just wages, are due to me for my sins. But I flee to thy merits; I trust alone to the value and virtue of thy sacrifice, and the prevalence of thy intercession. I submit to thy teaching; I make choice of thy government. Stand open, ye everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in.”
O thou Spirit of the Most High, the comforter and sanctifier of thy chosen, come in with all thy glorious train, all thy courtly attendants, thy fruits and graces; let me be thine habitation; I can give thee only what is thine own already; but here, with the poor widow, I cast my two mites, my soul and my body, into thy treasury, fully resigning them up to thee, to be sanctified by thee, to be servants to thee. They shall be thy patients; cure thou their malady. They shall be thy subjects; govern thou their motions. Too long have I served the world; too long have I hearkened to Satan; but now I renounce them all, and will be ruled by thy dictates and directions, and guided by thy counsel.”
O blessed Trinity: O glorious Unity! I deliver up myself to thee: receive me; write thy name, O Lord, upon me, and upon all that I have, as thy property; set thy mark upon me, upon every member of my body, and on every faculty of my soul. I have chosen thy precepts; thy law will I keep in mine eye, and study to obey it. According to this Alleine’s Alarm.
rule do I resolve, through thy grace, to walk; after this law shall my whole -man be governed; and though I shall not perfectly keep one of thy commandments, yet I will allow myself in the breach of none. I know my flesh will hang back; but I resolve, in the power of thy grace, to cleave to thee and thy holy ways, whatever it costs me. I am sure I cannot come off a loser by thee, and therefore I will be content with reproach, and difficulties, and hardships here; and will deny myself, and take up my cross, and follow thee.” Lord Jesus, thy yoke is’ easy, thy cross is welcome: as it is the way to thee, I lay aside all hopes of worldly happiness; I will be content to tarry till I come to thee. Let me be poor, and low, and despised here, so I may but be admitted to live and reign with thee hereafter. Lord, thou hast my heart and hand to this agreement: be it as the laws of the Medes and Persians, never to be reversed. To this will I stand; in this resolution, through grace, I will live and die; “I have sworn,” and will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments;” I have given my free consent; I have made my everlasting choice: Lord J esus, confirm the contract. Amen.