456 OfCoverflom,or7urning unto God. $ a c r. IX. Imite thee with more flupidity, more fenflefnéffe, and fo at .1áj} thou fall into an hopelellè condition,that all means ufed for recovery, do make thy ficknefte more defperate. TV. 4. Therefore it is more difficult if thou delayeft, becaufe thedivet bath thereby got the tironger poffefúon on thee ; for every man hath either God and his fpirit dwelling in him , whereby be becomes a lively Temple, and his honk, and fo all things areaccording to hisgovernment, or elfe the Divel he hath a full poffef ìo ofbtu,; but now his hold in thee is ilronger and Monger, as thou delayft,and there- fore it will be the more hard to cif' him out, when he hath had fo many yearspot feffion. The dive's that polfeffed the man from the wombup, could not becaft oüc but by force extraordinary way. The divel was in7udus his heart long beforet yet faith the Scripture, The Dive! entered into hie heart, John 13. 27. How is that Washe not beforethere? Yes, but now more thenever; he had finned more,. and refilled the grace of Chrifl more, and therefore God gave him up to the greater power of the Divel : And chus it will be with thee; the more thou pull off, the more thou delayeft, the greater Tyranny and raign will Satan have over thee. Fifthly , Therefore tarn now to God, becaafe thefooter thougoefi to him, the more fervice andhonour thou wilt bring tohim. Suppofe a man be called at the twelfth hour, yet how little can he do for God before night? Alas thou haft lived a long while in the fervice of finand fatan, and thou needell even r,112etbufalems age todo Godfervice, for all thediffer vice and difhonour thou haft done him. Paul becaufe he had been very aetive for the Divel, and fo laboured more then many' Of his equals in pulling down the Church; therefore whenonce converted, feehow he rejoyceth as a gyant to run his race, and he laboureth afterward more then all to build the Church. Oh then think the greatellhonour thouartcapable of, is to do the Lordswork : Angels rejoyce in this; and all the while thou arc in the courte offin, then thou art doing the Divels fervice : Although now there be nogreater delight to thee, then fulfilling the loftsof the flefb, yetwhen thou art once turned to God, thouwilt labour abundantly in the workofGod, and it will be an heavy trouble to thee that thou hall been an enemy fo long to God, and promoted the work ofhisadverfary. Therefore get betime into the vine-yardof theLord, nd lò thouwilt have time to do him the more fervice. 6. Sixthly , Thefooter thou turneflto god thou Wilt prevent the morefn, andfo the more ¡home adtroi6Io officer-c. Thofe chat havegone far in thewales of wicked- mile, they have the greater falls, and fotheir brokenbones put them into the more pains ere they can be healed. On what a deal of peace would Manaffes,andMa- ry Magdalenhaveenjoyed, if they bad been converted in their younger years I So if Taal bad been betioiesdrawenhome untoGod, he had cot had all that trouble andgriefunpick forperfecuting the Church of God, Thofc that are aged women, they fay,have the forer and more dangerous travails,if they hod never any Children before: and thus they havethe more difficultcouverions, the greater anguìfh and painof Confcience,who havelived long in fin, and committed great ones. Hence is that, Rememberthy Creator intheelides of thyyouth: and it is good tobear the yoke in theyouth; fo it is here,it is good to feel the bitterncffe offin betimes; it is good inouryounger years to feel how fad a thing it is todtfpleafe God;this advan- tage hashearly converfion. So then,let youngones hearken to fermons, lec them attend towhat the MinillersofGod exhort; forconverGondoth not onely belong [oche old, but to theyoung; yea commonly converGon is boner wrought upon the younger lore of people, for they havenot refilled the grace of God fo much, they havenot provoked God to give them up to their ownhearts lui s and delires, as many aged ¡ruffian's have. 7 Sevenihly, Suppofe thy converfron and turningto God for the future, were not onely poffiblc, but lure ; ifit were infallibly revealed to thee, that God would be- fore thy deathmake himfelfknown in a gracious manner to thee, yet how unfit is old age, or a difeafed lick body to.turn to God? When thou hall given the Divel all
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