Of [ervi11g God, roitb from that Wrath, what then would have been his Condition to· all Eternity? Would not fuch Thoughts as thefe are make you tremble ? Suppofe a Man were faft chained to the top of fame high Rock hanging over a bottomlefs Gulf. though he knew and was affured that he fhould not fall into it, being immoveablY, fafi:cn'd there, yet when he looks down that deep and dangerous Precipice, and fees the Gulf foam in!f ~nd raging under him, will not~ cold Fear d:ill thro~gh his Heart to tlunk, 0. If I were not here faftned by a ftrong Cham to thts immoveable Rock, what would become of me? Even fo Believers, you that are moft affi.1red to <::fcape Hell, this is your Condition; you are fafi:ned to the Rock of Ages by t,he unchangeable Promife of God that will ever hold you faft; but yet every time you look down into the bottomlefs Gulf that is under you, were thoufands are [wallowed up to all Eternity; doth not fuch a Thought as this is frieht you to think ? 0 ! if I were not faftned to this immoveable Rock, if God had not made an cvcrlaftiug Covenant ~ith me, ordered in all things and fure, I fhould alf~l h~ve been fwa\lowed up With the rcft of the World, and have gone down q~nck t'ltO Hell. Why, alas, we are all of us held over the Lake of Fire and Brimftooc: in the Hands of God; fame he holds in the left Hand of his common Providence, and others of them he holds in t he right Hand of his fpecial ·Grace; thofe whom he holds only in the Hands of his Providence he lets fall and drop one after another int~ Hell, where the_y are fwa~lo.wed up .a~d loft Eternally; thofe that h: holds m the Hands of hts ~race, It IS true It ts impoffible upon that Suppofilton that ever they f11ould fall mto Hell, yet when they think, 0 jf we were not upheld, yea, how poffi.blc It was that they fhould not have been up~ held ; .this apprehe!lfion mull: needs il:rike ~hem with Fear an~ Terror, though not with a pcrplexmg Doubtfulnefs concern.I~g the fafecyof their Condition, yet with a doubtful apprehenfion of the poffi.bility of what would have been their Condition if God had held them over Hell only, by the Hand of his common Providence. • BecJufe ( ).) Fifthly, Confider thovgh you are af{ured that you flutll cfcapt this Eternal Death tbrJ ejctpe }'t it will be tt narrow e{cape, and that may ca11;{e Fear: It will be an cfcape with ve~ lhJr~ very much Labour and Difficulty, though you are held in the Hands of God, ro~t~lf. yet he leads you along to Heaven by the Gates of Hell, and this is fufficient to eau re Fear. Our way to Heaven is fo ftrait, the Rubs in it fo many, our Falls by them fo frequent, our Enemies fo potent, that though our affurance may make us not to fear but that in the end, we fhall ef,~pe Hrlt; yet it will be high pre· fumptiOll for us not to fellf how we may efcape It. The Apojlle brings in the Sal~ vat ion of the Elet\: themfelvcs with a fcarcely, 1 Pet. 4· J 8. if the RighteMs fcarcely be favcd . Why nowthisfcarcelydoth not imply that there is any uncertainty in the End, but only it implies the great difficulty in. the meanS of obtaiHiug of it. So then the End is certain, that is, a Believer's SJlvation from Hell, an.d that is juft caufe of rejoycing; but the Means are very difficult and bborious, and that is juft caufeof Fear. Well then, briefty to apply it in one Word; Though y ou are ajfured, through Faith, of the Par4M of your Sim, yet tremble at the thought of that Wrt!th tAd Hrfl that you h4ve tfcapcd. lt is obfcrved that thofe are the fixed Stars that tremble moft So Chriftians, who are fixed immoveably in the unchangeable Love of • God, as Srttrs fixed to the Heavens in their Orbs , yet they are moft of all in Trepidation and Trembling when they reflect upon, themfclves and think, that inftead of being Stt1.rs in Heaven, they migh~ have been Ftrebrands in Hell. Thofe to me are fufpicious Profelfors that t:nake a great blaze.with their Joys in the appre~ henfions of their Right to Heaven, but never tremble under the apprehcniions of their Deferts of Hell. Wilt there Having fhewed you upon what account God is to be feared as he is a confomihg U in the Fire, in the next place I fhall fhew you what there is in t~e confide:ation o.f God, c~fidtf~~d as our God, that may enforce a holy Awe and Fear of htm; and mdeed If ever ~~u~aod it was necelfary to prcfs Men to a due Fear and Awe of God it is fo now, Jince dut ma.J ' on the one Hand the open Prophanenefs of Ungodly Men, and on the other Hand uu(e us to the pert Saucincfs of fome notional ProfeJIOrs, are apt to t~ink that Communion fe" him, with God confifts in a familiar Rudenefs, doth plainly teftdie to all the World that there is little Fear or Reverence of him in their Hearts. And no~v whilft I am !hewing what reafon there is that God's dearett Children fhould fea~;;:,'i;.~
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=