66z. A Form of Exl,ortation to the.Godry in tl,eir Sick.nefs. A Form of Ex/,ortation to tbe God!J i11 their Sick.nefs. DEar Friend, Though N•wrc teacheth us to have compallion on your flcfh which lyeth in pain i'et Faitb teache..rh us to fee the ncarnefs of your Happinefi, and to Rejoycc with you in hop; of your cndle[s }oyes, which feem to be at hand. We muO: Re joycc with you as your friC1 1 d 1 that Love you, and therefore arc partakers of your welfare : And we mufl Rejoycc wi1h you as your fellow-travellers and fellow-fouldiers, that are going along with you to the fame feJiciry, ind if we arc left behind for a little \\'hile, yet hope ere long to overtake you, and never to be fepara– ted from you more. This is the day for which:Chrifi bath be<n fa long preparing you; And which you have fa long forefccn, and have be~n {o long preparing for your fclf. T his is the day. which you thoug~t o~ in all your pra~ers ~nd patience, in all your I.abours and fulferin~s, your felf-denyal and mowticauon, fince God d1d bnng yoll to your {elf and hun. Now you are gomg to fee the thingi which you have believed; and to potTefs the things which you have (aught and hoped for; To lee the hnal difference between the Righteous and the wicked; between a Holy and a worldly life; be– tween the veffels of mercy and of w•·~Jh. Your Time is hafting to an end, and Endleji Bleffednefs mu{\ fu"eed it. 0 now what a mercy is it to have a ChriiH That you are not to encounter an uncon· quered D eath ; nor to go to ~od without a Mediator: But that Death is by Chrift difariped of its 1\ing; ·and that you may boldly refign your foul into the hands of your Redeemer, and commend it to him as a member ofhirnfdf ~ Now what a cafe had your foul been in, if you had no lnterce.ffor? If you had been to anfwer for )'OUr fins your felf only, and had not a Saviour to be your Advocate, and anfwer for you~ Now you may better perceive than ever you have done, what God did for you when he opened your eyes, and hun1blcd, and changed, and renewed your heart? and how great a mercy it is to be a pt.nitcnt Bdiever? You mly now tee more fully than ever heretofore, what Cod intended for you when he converted you ! When he forgave all your fins, and jufiified you by his· Grace, and adopted you for his child, and an heir of life, and fcaled you with his Spirit, and fanel:ified and [,. parate;:d you to himf~lf. Now what a cafe were you in, if you were yet in your fins, and in rhe bond age of Satan, and had not this cviden'e of your title to eternal life? If you had your heart now to fatten, and to humble and to convert, and your faith and juftification all to feek, and all your-pre~ parations tOr Heaven to make~ If you had all this to do, with a pained body, and a difiralted mind, in fo fhort a time, with God, and Eternity, and D eath before you, ready wit_h terror to ov.crwhclm your fi>uls? If now you were to feek for an intcrefi in Chrifi, and for the pardon of all your fins, and your peace with God were yet to make1 If you had all your life pafi to look back upon , as confuml·d in fin, and when Time is at an md, muft cry out of all that is pafi as lofi:? This is the cafe that God in jufiice might have left you to~ But what an unfpeakable mercy is it 1 that you have al– ready been Reconciled to that God that you arc going to! and that the fins which now -would have been your terror, arc all forgiven through the blood of Chrifl: ! That you,can look back upon your Time, fince the day of your Converfion, a'> fpent in faithful Devotednefs to God, and in a believing preparation for your endle!s lite ; and in godly fincerit)', notwithfianding your manifold finful im– perfeCl:ions, which Chrill: hath undertaken to anf\vLr for himfclf. Though you have nothing of your own to boafl: of; and no works that will junifie you accordin~ to the Law at the B.ar ofGod ; but you need a Saviour and a Pardon for the fadings cv,n of the bell: that ever you did : Yet mufl: you with thankfulncfs remember that Grace which hath begun crcrnal life within you, and prepared and fealed you to the full pofTe!lion of it. for alhhe mercy that is in God, and for ~11 the Glory that is Gal. 4 • 4 6. in Heaven, and for all the Merits and fatisfaction of Chrifi, and for all the fulnifs and freenefs of the Rom.s.x6,1 7 . Promife, if God had not given you a believing penitent heart, and fanCTificd and fcaled you by the Rom. 8. 9· Spirit of his Son, all this could have afforded you lit~le comfort; but would have aggravated your 1 Per. l· 7· mifcry, as it did your flo. Seeing then that many of the rr>ick_ed, would be glad to dye 1hedea1h •f the Righteous ; and when it U too latt, they would aU be gJ,d if theirl<o~tte,. end might be l;ke hjf; how glad fhould you be, that God by fuch a life, bath prepared yo•1 for fuch an end 1 And though a humble foul bath Hill. an eye upon its own unworthinefs, and Suan is ready to aggravat~ our RoUl. 1· 1 • 1 1· fins, in order to our difcouragcment and fear ; yet muH you rernrrnber what an honourable vJdory Rom.1' 10~u. grace bath had over them : And look on thein as Chtill d1d, as the advantage of his grace: that Rom.S.H 36. where fin ab_oundcd, there gr.1ce bath fuperaboundcd: You have had fomething to humble you, and. to Ephef.r.6,7. fi1ew you that you were a child of Ad.:zm: And you have h:ad !Omething for grace to contend wHh, ~ :z.. 5, 7• 8 · and to conquer ; and for Chrift to pJ.rdon ! Bids him thrcugh whom you havi: had the viCtory. Had ~~[~.'3;.1~!:'· you not drflrved Hell, Chrifi could not have {avtd you fronJa drfervEd HeU; and t?e Song of!he Lamb =.Cor. a. 9 • would. not have been {i, fwcct to you, in the t.verlafiing remembrance and expenence of h1s grace: Luke 15.4,6, You have fiuned ai a Man, and he hathpardoned M Got/. You have been weak,_ and nothing: but ,4· his grace hath been JU.fficient for you, and by hU jlrength yot~ can do all things. He hath as dear Mp 1ttll.tB.u. a Love to you norv in his exaltation, .as he had upon the Crofl, when he was bleeding for your fins. • <<.J· 9· And
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