" Hast thou thus requited me, for all the favours and kind- " nesses thou hast received from me? Have I rpj vn-r'£<; eoc " queened thee when thou wastdead in trans- htl(£n with
gress.ons? Did I descend upon thee in the £^ chyM_ " preaching ot the gospel, and communicate " life, even the life of God, to thee ; leaving " others in the state of the dead ? Have I shed forth such rich " influences of grace and comfort upon thee ? Comforting thee " in all thy troubles, helping thee in all thy duties ; satisfying " thee in all thy doubts and perplexities of soul ; saving thee, and " pulling thee back from so many destructive temptations and " dangers ? What had been thy condition, if I had not come " unto thee ? Could the world have converted thee without me ? u Could ministers, could angels, have done that for thee which " I did ? And when I had quickened thee, and made thee a w living soul, what couldst thou have done, without my exciting " and assisting grace ? Couldst thou go on in the way of duty, if " I had not led thee ? How wouldst thou have waded through " the deeps of spiritual troubles, if I had not borne thee up ? " Whither had the temptations of Satan and thine own cotfrup- " tions carried thee before this day, if I had not stood thy Friend, " and come in for thy rescue in the time of need ? Did I ever " fail thee in thy extremities ? Did I ever leave thee in thy dan- " gers ? Have t not been tender over thee, and faithful to thee ? " And now, for which of all these kindnesses, dost thou thus •; wrong and abuse me ? Why hast thou wounded me thus by
o44j the fountain of life. serm. xlii.
" thy unkindness ? Ah ! thou hast ill requited my love ! And " now thou slialt eat the fruit of thy doings. Let thy light now " be darkness ; thy songs turned into howlings ; the joy of thine " heart, the light of thine eyes, the health of thy countenance, t( even the face of thy God, and the joy of salvation, be hid from " thee."
This is the fruit of careless and loose walking. To this sad issue it will bring thee at last, and when it is come to this, thou shalt go to ordinances, and duties, and find no good in them ; no life-quickening comfort there. When thy heart which was wont to be enlarged, and flowing, shall be clung up and dry ; when thou shalt kneel down before the Lord, and cry, as Elisha, when with the mantle of Elijah, he smote the water, "Where is the " Lord God of Elijah ?" So thou, where is the God of prayer? Where is the God of duties ? But there is no answer : when like Samson, thou shalt go forth and shake thyself, as at other times ; but thy strength is gone ; then tell me, what thou hast done in resisting, quenching, and grieving the Holy Spirit of God by im- pure and offensive practices ? And thus you see what engagements lie upon you from the Spirit also to walk uprightly, and keep the issues of life pure. I could willingly have enlarged myself upon this last branch, but that * a judicious hand hath lately improved this argument, to which I shall refer the reader. Thus God hath obliged you to circumspect and holy lives.
Secondly, You are under great engagements to keep your lives pure ; evenj'rom yourselves, as well as from your God-. As God hath bound you to purity of conversation, so you have bound your- selves. And there are several things in you, and done by you, which wonderfully increase, and strengthen your obligations to practical holiness.
First, Your clearer illumination is a strong bond upon your souls, Eph. v. 8. " Ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in " the Lord ; walk as children of the light" You cannot pretend, or plead ignorance of your duty. You stand convinced in your own consciences before God, that this is your unquestionable duty. Christians, will you not all yield to this ? I know you readily yield. AVe live, indeea, in a contentious, disputing age. In other things, our opinions are different. One Christian is of this judg- ment, another of that : but doth he deserve the name of a Chris- tian that dare once question this truth ? In this we all meet and close in oneness of mind and judgment, that it is our indisputable duty to live pure, strict, and clean lives. " The grace of God, " which hath appeared to you, hath taught you this truth clearly,
• Mr. Polewheel's treatise of quenching the Spirit.
SEltM. XLII. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 545
" and convincingly," Tit. ii. 11, 12. " Vou have received how fc' you ought to walk, and to please God," 1 Thes. iv. 1. Well then, this being yielded, the inference is plain and undeniable; that you cannot walk as others, in the vanity of their mind; but you must offer violence to your own light. You cannot suffer the corruptions of your hearts to break forth into practice, but you must slight, and put by the notices and rebukes of your own con- sciences, Jam. iv. 17. " He that knoweth to do good, and doth it " not, to him it is sin.1' Yea, sin with a witness. Aggravated sin. Sin of a deeper tincture than that of Heathens. Sin that sadly wastes and violates conscience. Certainly, whoever hath, you have no cloak for your sin. Light and lust struggling together, great light and strong lusts : these make the soul a troubled sea that cannot rest. O but when masterless lusts overbear conscience, this impresses horror upon the soul. This brake David's heart, Psal. Ii. 6. " Thou hast put knowledge in my inner parts," q. d. Ah, Lord ! I went against the rebukes of conscience, to the com- mission of this sin. I had a watchful light set up within me. I knew it was sin. My light endeavoured lovingly to restrain me, and I thrust it aside. Besides, what pleasure in sin can you have ? Indeed, such as for want of light know not what they do, or such, whose consciences are seared, and past feeling ; they may seek a little pleasure (such as it is) out of sin : but what content or plea- sure can you have, so long as your light is ever breaking in upon you, and smiting you for what you do ? This greatly increases your obligation to a precise, holy life. Again,