still on this side Jordan; having made their gold their god, they cannot think of parting with it. They would, if possible, carry the world out of the world. But what saith the apostle ? ' We brought nothing with us into this world, and it is certain'' — see how he asse- vereth and assureth it, as if some rich wretches made question of it — ' we can carry nothing out,' nothing but a winding-sheet, 1 Tim. vi. 7. Oh, how should this alarm us to make sure our calling and election,^ to make sure our interest in Christ, to make sure our covenant-relation, to make sure a work of grace in power upon our souls, to make sure the testimony of a good conscience. Gal. iv. 5-7, to make sure our son- ship, our saintship, our heirship, &c., Kom. viii. 15, 16 ; for these are the only things that will go with us into another world. In the Marian persecution there was a woman who, being convened before Bonner, then Bishop of London,^ upon the trial of religion, he threatened her that he would take away her husband from her. Saith she, Christ is my husband. I will take away thy child. Christ, saith she, is better to me than ten sons. I will strip thee, saith he, of all thy out- ward comfort. Yea, but Christ is mine, saith she, and you cannot strip me of him. Assurance that Christ was hers, and that he would go with her beyond the grave, bore her heart up above the threats of being spoiled of all, Heb. x. 34. When a great lord had shewed a sober, serious, knowing Christian his riches, his stately habitation, his pleasant gardens, his delightful walks, his rich grounds, and his various sorts of pleasure, the serious Christian, turning himself to this great lord, said: My lord, you had need to make sure Christ and heaven, you had need make sure something that will go with you beyond the grave, for else when you die you will be a very great loser. 0 my friends, I must tell you, it highly concerns you to make sure something that will go with you beyond the grave, or else you will be very great losers when you come to die, God having given you an abundance of the good things and of the great things of this world, beyond what he has given to many thousands of others. But,
7. The seventh word of advice and counsel is this. Look upon all the things of this luorld, and value all the things of this luorld noio, as you luill certainly look upon them and value them luhen you come to lie upon a sick-bed, a dying-bed, 1 Cor. vii. 29-31. When a man is sick in good earnest, and when death knocks at the door in good earnest, oh, with what a disdainful eye, with what a weaned eye, with what a scornful eye does a man then look upon the honours, riches, dignities, and glories of this world ! If men could but thus look upon them now, it would keep them from being fond of them, from trusting in them, from doting upon them, from being proud of them, and from venturing a damning either in getting or in keeping of them. But,
8. The eighth word of advice and counsel is this, In all places and companies carry your soul-preservatives still about you — viz., a holy care, a holy fear, a holy jealousy, a holy watchfulness over your own thoughts, hearts, words, and ways. Pro v. iv. 23, and xxviii. 14 ; Gen. vi. 9, andxxxix. 9, 10 ; Ps. xvii. 4, xviii. 23, and xxxix. 1, &c. You
1 2 Pet. i. 10 ; 2 Cor. v. 17; 2 Sam. xxiii. 5; 1 Thes. v. 23; 2 Cor. i. 12. ' Foxe's Acts and Monuments.
THE EPISTLE DEDICATOKY. 283
know that in infectious times men and women carry their several pre- servatives about them, that they may be kept from the infection of the times. Never were there more infectious times than now. Oh the snares, the baits, the infections that attend us at all times, in all places, in all companies, in all employments, and in all enjoyments, so that if we do not carry our soul-preservatives about us, we shall be in imminent danger of being infected with the pride, ill customs, and vanities of the times wherein we live. But,
9. The ninth word of advice and counsel is this. Live not at uncer- tainties as to your spiritual and eternal estates^ There are none so miserable as those that are strangers to the state of their own souls. It is good for a man to know the state of his flock, the state of his family, the state of the nation, the state of his body ; but above all to know the state and condition of his own soul. How many thousands are there that can give a better account of their lands, their lordships, their riches, their crops, their shops, their trades, their merchandise, yea, of their hawks, their hounds, their misses, than they can of the estate of their own souls ! 0 my friends, your souls are more worth than ten thousand worlds. Mat. xvi. 26, and therefore it must be the greatest prudence, and the choicest policy in the world, to secure their everlasting welfare, and to know how things stands between Grod and your souls, what you are worth for eternity, and how it is like to go with you in that other world. Whilst a Christian lives at uncer- tainties as to his spiritual and everlasting estate, as whether he has grace or no grace, or whether his grace be true or counterfeit, whether he has an interest in Christ or not, a work in power upon his soul or not, or whether God loves him or loathes him, whether he will bring him to heaven or throw him to hell — how can any Christian who lives at so great an uncertainty delight in God, rejoice evermore, triumph in Christ Jesus, be ready to suffer, and desirous to die ? Job xxvii. 10 ; Phil. iv. 4 ; 2 Cor. ii. 14 ; Phil, i, 23, All men love to be at a certainty in all their outward concernments ; and yet how many thousands are there that are at a marvellous uncertainty as to the present and future state of their precious and immortal souls ! But,
10. The tenth word of advice and counsel is this. Set the highest Scripture examples and patterns before you, of grace and holiness, for your imitation, 1 Cor. iv, 16. In the point of faith and obedience set an Abraham before you. Gen. xii. and xxii. ; in the point of meek- ness set a Moses before you, Num. xii. 3 ; in the point of courage set a Joshua before you. Josh. i. ; in the point of uprightness set a David before you, Ps. xviii. 23 ; in the point of zeal set a Phinehas before you ; and in the point of patience set a Job before you. Make Christ your main pattern, ' Be ye followers of me, as I am of Christ,' James V. 11, 12, and 1 Cor. xi. 1. And next to him set the patterns of the choicest saints before you for your imitation.2 The nearer you come to those blessed copies that they have set before you, the more will be your joy and comfort, and the more God will be honoured, Christ
^ See my ' Box of Precious Ointment.' In that glass you may read the state of your souls. — [Vol. iii. p. 233, seq. — G.]
' Prmcepta docent, exempla movent, Precepts may instruct, but examples do per- suade.— [As before. — G.]
284 " THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.