Ver. 5. xxvth Cbeiptér of St: MATTHEW. 2 9 nefs, and fin not ; for fame have not the knowledge of God I fpeak this to your .fisame. 'Tis all reafon, and more than time, that you lhould thorowly route up your felves from the condition of fin wherein you have gone. 'Tis a !flame fuch lhould be among Chriftians ; fuch as fnort Rill upon, the bed of Security, when the light of the Gofpel fhineth round about them: Oh ! when God calleth,,Awake, and rife from the dead ; if not, Ged may punifh you by your own fin. One of his heavi- er judgments is a Spirit of flamber, and deep fleep, Rom. I I. 8. And then what will the end of it be? you may deep, but your damnation fleepeth not, z Pet. 2. 3. Cer- tainly we lhould commiferate the cafe of fuch, efpecially if they berelated to us ; and reek to awaken them from the fleep of fin, that they may be brought home to Chrift. Oh poor carders Creatures ! they fear not God, nor think of his, wrath, nor make preparation to ftand before the Son of Man at his Coming. (2.) There are others apt to ¡lumber now and then, though for the main they have chafen the better part. To there the Apoftle fpeaks, 17hef. 5. 6. Therefore let as not fleep as do others, but let us watch and be föher. There is great need ; Our Adverfàry watcheth : The Devil is obferving all our motions and Poftures ; if we fall afleep, we are expofed as a Prey to him. There are many that mind our fpi- ritual harm. If we had no Enemy without, there is Ho flis-doineJficus, a bofom Enemy ; and we are prone as others tobe hardned through the deceitfulnefs of fin. Therefore you may not fleep as do others. You have another Spirit in you, and if you are Gods Children you have other obligations : Rom. r 3. r r. ''Tis high time to awake out of fleep; for your Salvation is nearer than when you firfl believed. When you firft gave your names to Chrift, you thought no labour too much, no pains too great : How vigilant and 'diligent then ; and will you fleep now ? Your courfe beginneth to draw to an end, and you are almoft ready to let fail for the other World, that you may meet with Chrift. Oh ! now you 'have fhaken off the fleep of fin, fhake off the ffeep of (loath too ; ¡hall we be drowfie and cold at lall? I. I (hall give you the Signs of this Sin. 2. Motives againft it. 3. Direíitions to avoid it. Firfi, The Signs. I. Senflefnefs, in not difcerning and weighing the things that befall us, good of evil. An Inftance of the one we have, Her 7. 8. For ¡he did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oyl. The Lord is very liberal to us ; . yet little notice is taken of it. An Inftance of the other we have, Ifa. 42. 25. Tet he laid it not to heart. In Mercies we neither confider their Author, nor their End, nor their Caufe. Their Author; we are like Swine, that eat the Acorns, but never look up to the Oale from whence they fall. 'Tis fàid of the Church, the bath doves eyes ; they peck and look upward. VVe lhould fee God in every Mercy. A drowfie unattentive Soul heedeth it not, but is (wallowed up in prefent delights and en- joyments, and looketh no further. 'Tis our Priviledge above the Bears to know the firft Caufe. Other creatures live upon God, but are not capable of knowing. God. Idolatry and Prophanenefs had never crept into the world, if men had kept up the fenfe of Gods bounty. Some never regard the End of Mercies, which is to draw in our hearts to God ; therefore called the Cords of a man, Hof. 6. 4, being fo many bonds and ties upon us. What honour bath been done to God for this and that mercy? I allude to that in Hefl. 6. 3. See how David reafoneth, 2 Sam. 7.2. I dwell in an houfe of Cedar, but the Ark of God within Curtains. When the Heart is urging to Duty upon this fcore, God bath been good to me, given me food and rayment, and plentiful provifion for the comfort of this life, what have I done for God? Not only the Impenitent abufe mercy, Rom. 2. 4, but Da- vid loft his awe of God, becaufe he had not a 'thankful fenfe of the mercies of God, '2 Sam. 12, 7, 8. So for corre&ive Providences: The Body is a tender part with moft men, though they are fenfrble of the fmart of the lath, yet they do not confider the hand that ftriketh, nor the deferving procuring Caufe; they do not look upward nor inward ; they do not fee the hand of God in it, Ifa. 26. r r. When his hand is lifted up they will not fee : look upon it as a chance, r Sam. 6.4. Yob had explicite thoughts of God, yob. r. 23. The Lord hath given, and the Lord bath taken.. Nor the Caufe, Lam. ?. 39. Wherefore doth a living man cemplain ? aman for the punifhinent of his fins? If Sicknefi cometh, if a Relation be taken away, Wan Eftate
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