THE Sole and Soveraign Way OF ENGLAND'S being saved , Humbly proposed

By R. P. Minister of the Gospel .

LONDON , Printed by W. G. and are to be sold by J. Hancock , at the three Bibles in Popes-head Alley , N. Ponder at the Peacock in Chancery-lane , and W. Adderton , at the three Falcons in Duck-lane . 1671.

THE Treatise here ensuing , being calculated , not onely for the weal of greater Communities , as Nations , Cities , Towns , but also of lesser Societies , as Families , yea and particular persons : In tenders of my service to your Self , and your so worthily Honoured Lady , I make bold here , what it is , to present it : and the rather , because it pleases the Lord , by a distemper , which so often renews its onsets upon you , to give you so frequent memento's of that Turn , which Moses declares to be the inevitable fate of all indefinitely . Thou turnest man to destruction , and sayest , Psal. 90. 3. return ye children of men . Thus we run here a short round , and soon come to our races end ; fetch but a turn , as it Comparat oursum vitae nostrae gyro ▪ &c. Calv. in loc. were , and then return back again . Now may the Lord be pleas'd so to sanctifie those frequent memento's of your bodies turn to destruction , as to advance more and more thereby that happy turn of conversion , here treated of , and so thereby bring you more and more under the shines of his face , and comfortable displayes , and refreshing beams of his favour . I have often thought , and sometimes upon occasion declar'd , that however things appear to common sense , yet certainly that is best for us here , that state , that condition , those dispensations , be they what they will , though never so afflicting , that are most effectual , and have the fairest and most essential influence , as to the advancing of our spiritual good here , and our eternal happiness hereafter ; that is best for us in our way , and where we take up onely for a while , that doth advantage us most at our journeys end , and where we must stay and abide by it for ever ; that , not which pleases us best for a moment , but profits us most for ever , for things are here , and are so to be counted of here , as they relate to eternity , and as to what is spiritual and everlasting , which being the main and chief , and that which is of greatest concern , is in every thing to be the rule of the rest . And because afflictions many times are most conducing here , hence the Lord is pleas'd often to afflict those most here , which he intends most good to hereafter . And truly let our present condition be what it will here , if the Lord does but please to mould it for our eternal weal hereafter , it is an act of infinite mercy . Lord , lance here , sear Domine hîc ure , hîc seca , mod● in aeternum parcas . here ( cry'd Austin ) so thou spare but hereafter ; so truly it matters not much what God does with us here , so he spare but hereafter . And by what he does with us , or to us here , does but the more fit us , and the better mould us for Feliciter infelices , infeliciter felices . himself , and glory hereafter . How many are happy in being seemingly miserable , while others are miserable in being seemingly happy ? because their seeming happiness hinders their real ; for having Psal. 55. 19. no changes , therefore they fear not God : so that to live still in prosperity , as is said of Nabal , and not to experience those 1 Sam. 25. 6. changes as others do , nor be in those troubles as others are , as is said of the foolish Psal. 75. 5. and the wicked , is no such desireable state , as many deem , but dangerous . It is said of our Edward the fourth , Never lived Prince whom adversity more hardened Difficile est in honore esse sine tumore , in praelatione sine elatione , in dignitate sine vanitate . Bern. to action , nor prosperity softened to voluptuousness . Edward the sixth was wont to say , No danger to the godly , unless by wealth & prosperity . And we see David himself , though a man after God's own Psal. 30. 5. heart , yet in his prosperity he grew secure . It is said of Moab , He hath been Jer. 48. 11. at ease from his youth , and he hath settled on his lees , and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel ; neither hath he gone into captivity , that is , he hath not been hurried up and down from place to place , Non immutavit habitationem , non suit ●edibus suis pulsus , &c. nullam adversitatem ▪ expertus est . Theodoret. i●s locum . as Israel was , &c. and what follows ? therefore his tast remained in him , and his sent is not changed : his pride , impiety , and impurity still continued : for it is said , he magnified himself against the Lord , and we have heard of the pride of ● . 26. 29. Moab , &c. Even as Wines not being drawn off their lees , and put into other vessels , are not meliorated , but retain their first tast and sent . So we read of others , who being settled on their lees , Zeph. 1. 12. and not being emptied from vessel to vessel , they say in their hearts , The Lord will not do good , neither will he do evill , that is , they grew stark Atheists , boldly scorn God and men , deny God's providence , and make as if he was a very Idol , and regarded not , nor took notice of the affairs of men ; and others , because God kept silence , and did not punish them , Ps. 50. 21. they thought God such a one as themselves . Now certainly , it was better our lives were made up of nothing but changes , than to come to such a pass , and not to have our souls blest and enrich'd with so great a good , as the fear of God , which is said to be the treasure of Kings , and Is. 33. 6. which the Lord hath declar'd to man from heaven to be his wisdom , and which , Job 28. 28. issuing forth into obedience to God's commandements , Solomon , the wisest King that ever was , and one inspir'd by God , hath concluded , and left upon record , Eccles. 12. 13. to be the whole and all of man . Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quia hoc omnis homo , vel hoc omne , homo est . Fear God and keep his commandements , for this is the whole duty of man . It is in the Hebrew onely , this all man , that is , as it may be rendered , this is all man , or all this is man , man indeed , and this only is truly and properly man , that which speaks man indeed . And without this , man at his best state , as to the very quintessence , and greatest confluence of all Psal. 39. 5. other things , is but altogether vanity . And this was that which King David his father , when he was to dye , left him in charge for to do , as whereby to shew himself a man , which he therefore the rather commends unto others : Now the 1 King . 2. 1 , 2 , 3 days of David drew nigh , that he should dye , and he charged Solomon his Son , saying ; I go the way of all the earth , be thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & eris in virum , i. e. praesta●te ▪ virum . Pisc . strong therefore , and shew thy self a man : and how must he do it ? And keep the charge of the Lord thy God , to walk in his ways , to keep his statutes , and his commandements , &c. And we can never indeed shew our selves men , unless we do this , but are as brutes . Man that is in Psal. 49. ●● . honour , and understandeth not , i. e. so as to fear God , and depart from evill , which is the onely true wisdom and understanding , is like the beasts that perish . And God is said to tread down such as dirt , and — 119. 118 , ● . ● . to put them all away as dross yea to take them away as dung , till it be all gone , 1 King . 4. 10. though never so great , but the godly he hath set apart , as persons of honour for Psal. 4. 2 , 3. himself , to be for his honour , and high and excellent uses here , and then to be happy in and with himself for ever hereafter . And O that the Grandees and great ones of the world would at length know , and be throughly convinc'd of this ! that this is man , and this is true greatness , and grandeur indeed , To fear God , and keep his commandements , to pay to him , who is their maker , owner , and benefactour , all due observance ; to look upon the study and glory of God as the importantest imployment , and accordingly to give up themselves to it ; to have honourable apprehensions , and highest estimations of him , strongest affections towards him , and wholly to devote and dedicate themselves to him ; to have the very drift , aim , and bent of their lives for God and his glory , and heaven and salvation ; so to serve , honour , and please God here , as to come to enjoy him for ever hereafter . And as for the honours and profits of the world , and the sensual pleasures and delights of the flesh , to contemn them , and the rather , when Nemo dignus nomine hominis , qui unum diem velit esse in voluptate . Tullius . Major sum , & ad majora natus , quam ut mancipium sim corporis mei . Seneca . that a very heathen could say , that he deserv'd not the name of a Man , that would wast but one day in pleasure ; and another , that he was greater , and born to greater things , than to be his bodies bondslave . And when Titus the Emperour , though a Pagan , sitting on a time in company , could cry out , O my friends , I have lost a day , in regard he had spent it without doing some good . To think O amici mei perdidi diem , &c. that book worthiest reading , which is of God's own inditing , and which King Alphonsus is said , notwithstanding all his other imployments , to spare time to read fourty times over , and that with Comments and Glosses ; and which Queen Elizabeth , after her Coronation , being presented with , receiv'd with both hands , and kissing it said , that it had ever been her chiefest delight , and that it was a book she would often and often read over . To be looking , not so much to the things which are seen , for they are temporal , but the things not seen , for they are eternal , and to give them the preeminence ; to be thinking where you shall be thousands of years hence ; and after your fluctuating condition for a few moments here , what must be your standing and eternal estate for ever hereafter . To judg , that but for the concerns of Gods glory , and your soul 's here , and the fruition of that future good hereafter , it was not worth the while to have been born . To have the resolves of your hearts continually to obey God , and their desires to enjoy him ; not onely to know what is virtuous , but to be virtuous , the actual possession of one virtue being preferrable to the bare speculative knowledg of all . The more God honours and does for you , the more to honour and do for him , and not to be like those great persons and wits , who unmindful of that 1 Cor. 4. 7. are ( as The Honourable Robert Boyl . an Honourable person expresses it ) like those ungrateful clouds , that obscure the Sun that rais'd them ; and so do they the glory of that God , who advanc'd them to that height : but to resemble and be like those winged Cherubims in the Tabernacle , whom ( as the same Honourable person expresses it ) all the Gold and Jewels that glittered about , and all the clouds of incense that fum'd before them , could never divert from a fixt posture towards the Ark of the Testimony , which contain'd the law and the mercy seat . So to be still eyeing of God , and to have your whole life nothing else as it were , but a continual attendance upon him , and a converse with him , and having made him your portion , to devote all you have , and are , to him and his service ; and as you receive more than others from him , so to work more for him . It was an excellent speech to this purpose , that of Henry the Great , King of France , and savour'd much of true grandeur , and nobleness of spirit indeed : When I was born ( says he ) there were thousands of others born besides , what have I done for God more than they ? and so that of King James , in his book dedicated to Prince Henry , that he would have him remember , that he differ'd not in stuff , but in use from the rest of the people , and that by God's ordinance , Kings as well as others were bound to read the Scriptures . This is 〈◊〉 17. 18 , 19 , 20. now the true grandeur , and that which exalts great ones indeed , and renders them the glory and delight of the places where they live ; as is said of Titus , before mentioned , that for his virtues , and his sweet and prudent government , Deliciae humani generis . Princeps bonus , orbis amor . he was stiled the delight of mankind ; and his Motto was , All the world falls in love with a good Prince . It is said of King Edgar , that he was a man indeed but of little stature , but his excellent virtues stiled him honor & deliciae Anglorum , honor & rosa Regum , Anglici orbis flos & decus , &c. And the love and favour of Religion made our Edward the sixth , to be called another Josias , and occasioned that lugubrous Epicede at his death .

Although Gold ( as one well observes ) comes from the earth , none despises it ; and though dross and rust comes from the Gold , none regards it : the virtuous coming from mean parentage are honourable , and the vitious from noble , Tota licet v●● teres , &c. are contemptible . The very Heathens had such a notion of virtue , as being the — Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus . Juvenal . onely true Nobility ; it 's Virtue , not Escutcheons ; grace , not race or place , that truly ennobles : and how much more then piety , called in sacred Writ , the glory of God , Rom. 3. 23. the life of God , Eph. 4. 18. the divine nature , 2 Pet. 1. 4. and what indeed is Godliness , but Godlikeness , a sparkle as it were of the divine nature , a ray of the very glory of God himself , a sacred and heavenly impress of God upon the soul , framing it and the whole man to live according to God . It is the souls application of it self to God , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . its end , and in its actings as its exemplar ; a following of God , and bringing of a man to be after his own heart ; and therefore as God is the best of Beings , piety must needs be the best of blessings : and it is the presence or absence of this , which , as the main , makes a man indeed something or nothing , great or mean , honourable or vile , truly happy or miserable . What are glorious garments Quid prodest esle , quod esse non prodest ? upon a dead carcass , sweet flowers upon a dead corps ? and such are riches and honours , and learning without religion . And hence it is said of Augustus , that the name of piety was more esteemed Gratius ei suit nomen pietatis , quam potestatis . O religio gloriosa , mirabilis , quae mens cogitare ? quis intellectus plene cognoscere , quae lingua sufficienter , & dignè extollere te potest ? O Margarita praefulgida , rutilantior auro , splendidior Sole , tu thesaurus super autum , Angelis & Deo hominem reddens conformem , res nobilissima sub coelo , in coelo . &c. Bernard . of him , than the name of power ; and this made Bernard to break forth into such high encomia of piety . O piety , glorious , admirable , what mind can think , what intellect can understand , what tongue can sufficiently and worthily extoll thee ! O shining pearl , more bright than gold , more splendid than the Sun , a treasure above Gold , rendring man like unto Angels , yea God himself , the noblest thing under heaven , yea in heaven . And when this shall come to be the blessing of Nations , and what the Scriptures tend to convince of , great ones shall come to be convinced of too , and accordingly steer their course , viz. that we cannot be happy or wise , but by being good , nor avoid the greatest of miseries , but by avoiding of sin ; then shall Nations be advanc'd , and lift up in true grandeur indeed , and then we may ( as the forementioned Honourable person expresses it ) expect to see indeed the golden Age elsewhere then in Poets dreams . And now that this may be more and more the blessing of You , and your family , and that its grandeur and glory , which is the glory of heaven , of Angels , yea of God himself , and that all your changes , and daily experiences of your frailty and mortality , may be more and more influenc'd , to be subservient to the promoting of that which is the whole and all of man , as also that all spiritual blessings especially , may be more and more multiplied upon you and all yours , is and shall be the prayer of him who is

SAlvation is the most sutable , and the most desireable mercy for sinners , for sinful persons , for sinful Nations . Salvation , as it imports deliverance from evil , ( and that it imports most properly ) is a very great mercy ; but as it implies the gift and injoyment of good , of the highest good , so it is far better . Temporal salvation is a signal favour , but how unspeakable a favour is Eternal ! Now , as questionless , salvation , with all the appurtenances , and consequents of it , is the greatest mercy that can be desired , so the greatest question that can be asked , is that of the Jaylour , Sirs , what must we do to Acts 16. 31. be saved ? Reader , the worthy Authour of the ensuing Discourse , having , I doubt not , well weighed , and deeply laid to heart , the doleful condition of many thousand souls in city and countrey , who remain in a state of sin , and persist impenitently in the practice even of the grossest sins , considering also with himself ( possibly with others ) the dangerous state of the whole Kingdom , by reason of those ( much to be lamented ) overflowings of sin , ( he , I say , having laid to heart , and considered these things ) hath studied , and in this Treatise freely held forth a remedy , indeed an unfailing , and the onely remedy , whereby the souls of men may be saved and delivered from wrath and damnation , and the whole Kingdom from ruine , destruction , and desolation . There needs no more for the saving either of persons , or Nations , but the Lords effectual turning of our hearts from sin , by the working of his powerful grace in us , and the sweet manifestations of his favourable grace towards us , or ( as the Authors Text hath it ) the causing of his face to shine upon us . A remedy compounded of these two Gospel-ingredients ( both the fruits of Christ's bloud and death ) for the cure and help of sin-sick dying souls , and Kingdoms ; thou wi●t find ( Christian Reader ) ready at hand , for thine and the Kingdom 's benefi● , in the doctrinal part of this book , if thou hast an heart to make use of it . And that thine heart may be drawn out , to make a right use of it , thou wilt find it stor'd with many clear directions to guide thee ; with strong reasons to convince thee , with many cogent motives to quicken thee , all fetcht from , and grounded upon the holy Scriptures ; many Texts whereof are not onely ( as th●y all are ) pertinently alledged , but solidly , pithily , and largely paraphrased and expounded . I commend all to the blessing of God , and thy diligent perusal , praying that all may turn , not onely to thy souls profit , and everlasting salvation , but to the temporal salvation of these Kingdoms , from those impending evils of punishment , which our abounding evils of sin threaten us with , and may quickly bring down upon us , unless the Lord God of hosts ( according to his super abounding goodness ) turn us again to himself , and cause his face to shine upon us ; then , and not till then , we shall indeed be saved , or dwell safely , and be quiet from fear of evil . This ( Christian Reader ) is the apprehension , this the daily petition , of

WE learn from the story of the Fall , that man was first a fugitive from God , and then an exile ; first Adam ran to the bushes , and then God drove him out of Paradise ; and ever since , besides the aversion of mans own heart , there lieth a legal exclusion on Gods part : Man in this condition is become a stranger to God and his own happiness , and not only a stranger , but an enemy ; but though we are enemies to God , we cannot make good our quarrel against him , the Lord of Hosts will be too hard for poor worms : Alas ! what will our many lusts do against his mighty Angels ? God cannot be overcome , yet such is his Grace , he is ready to be reconciled ; Turn unto me saith the Lord of Hosts , and I will turn unto you saith the Lord of Hosts . Zech. 1. 3. The same stile is used both in the exhortation and the promise . 'T is the Lord of Hosts who inviteth us to turn to him , by a serious repentance , and the Lord of Hosts who promiseth to reward us with all manner of felicity and happiness : If we turn not we find him a dreadful adversary ; but if we have an heart to return to him , we shall find him as powerful and delightful a friend ; Woe to him that striveth with his Maker : But blessed he that submitteth to him . We keep off from him out of carnal liberty , not liking the strictness of his precepts ; and also out of legal bondage , fearing the strokes of his Justice ; and we are hardened in our alienation from God by patching up a sorry happiness in the creature apart from him ; our remedy must be fully correspondent with our disease , therefore our cure consists in turning from the creature to God , from self to Christ , from sin to holiness . Do this , and it shall be well with you : sin shall be pardon'd , and everlasting happiness shall be your portion : But who is sufficient for these things ? The legal exclusion is taken off by the merit of the Lord Jesus , and the straying disposition is cured by the all powerful and converting grace of his Spirit ; and in conversion we find him to be the Lord of Hosts , aswell as in destruction , as he conquereth and subdueth mans heart to himself , for surely God never made a creature too hard for himself : But his grace must be sought after by us , in the use of all holy means ; Gods complaint against his people was , that they would not frame their doings to turn unto the Lord ; surely , they do the work of Christianity , who most labour in this very thing , especially in a time of general defection and corruption of manners , when a people temptingly and daringly put it to the tryal , whether God will be so severe against sinners as his word representeth him to be ; in such a time we need cry aloud , both to God and men ; to God , that he may turn us by his preventing grace , and turn to us by his rewarding grace ; to men , that they may speedily recover themselves by repentance , lest iniquity be their ruin . This is the design of the religious Author in this useful and savoury Treatise , which is now put into thy hands , as much of it as my occasions would give me leave to peruse , seemed to be woven with such a constant texture of solidity and piety , that I could not but recommend it to thy acceptance , and the Lords Blessing .