Montauk
May the 15 1760
Ephesians 5. 14
Wherefore he sayeth awake thou that
sleepest and arise from the dead and
Christ Shall give thee Light —
we may at once Perceive from these words, the Infinite goodness and condescension of God towards us rebels for we have willfully Departed from god our Maker and in
Departing from him, we Depart from our own
happiness yea we forfeit all blessedness and every Mercy, and we Can Claim nothing at the Hands of god Better
than Damnation, and god might have justly left us in our misery With
everlasting Shame and confusion of Face, and when he had thoughts of mercy he might have By us
and Placed his love on the fallen Angels who are greater in Power than men
they are likelier to serve him
Better than we; But behold his mercy is towards the fallen Children of Adam,
and there is no other reason Can be given why he does, so but this
because he will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion — and this his Pity to us, is brought about in a way that Men or Angels
could never find out or invent, it must needs be in and through the Death of his only begotten Son here is unparalleled Love that god So Loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son into the World that whosoever believeth in Shall not perish but have everlasting Life, this is good News good News unto miserable Children of Fallen A. that there is a Saviour given a might [illegible][guess: y] Saviour —
and in further Speaking upon
this text I Shall Endeavour, as god Shall help. to give
the Import of it, in Several particulars.
and here first In general
It Plainly implies, that man as he
is fallen Creature from God, is fallen
asleep Spiritually, he is stupefied
thereby, yea he is fallen Down Dead in
trespasses and in Sins —
And here I Shall endeavour to represent two Sorts of People in that are the world, and
distinguish them one from the other. the one is Believer, and up
unbeliever, Yet Both are asleep,
The one is in a Sleep, yet not in a Dead Sleep but it is a
Sinful and abominable Sleep
The other is in a Dead Sleep a very Dangerous Sleep, they Lie
exposed to everlasting
destruction by it —
But Secondly this text Plainly represents unto us the Infinite Mercy of God to us; in Sending his own Dear Son
to awake us out of this Dangerous yea
destructive Sleep —
And lastly I Shall Conclude with the Improvement of the whole and have first. — there is Such a thing as Believers being asleep and when they are So, they are unfit to Serve god. Yea they are disobeying and dishonouring of him — we Read of ten virgins, in Matthew 25 that were Slumbering and Sleeping while the Bridegroom tarried till there was a great Cry or a Loud Call made, unto them, it Seems in Such a Language as this awake thou that
sleepest and arise from the Dead
for behold the Bridegroom Cometh go ye out to meet him. and then when they
heard this Heavenly-Voice, and understood it they immediately
rose with great
confusion and Trembling. it Seems and when they Came to look about
themselves they found
everything out of order, their Lamps were unprepared they are gone out, altogether unfit to Meet the Bridegroom with — and Now there is everything to do — and a very Short time to do it in for the forerunner or the Voice of the Bridegroom is already entered into the Ears of the virgins, he that ha[illegible][guess: th]
behold I Come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man
according as his works Shall be — is now on his way, just at the Doors, to reckon with the Virgins — O! me think there was great
exercise of heart and mind among the Virgins at that season —
and further — to illustrate this Point of Truth, let us Compare spiritual Sleep with Natural Sleep, and See what resemblance there may be — and here, we know by experience and observation, that a man, that is asleep is altogether unfit for business at that
season he is not Doing the least
business for
himself for his Relations or his Neighbours or his King. for he has desisted and laid
aside all
business while he Sleeps — So is a Christian when he is Spiritually asleep — —
again when a man is asleep
he is Ignorant and senseless of
all the Carryingson and
[illegible][guess: Con]
of the world
he is Ignorant of the agreeable
conversation that his Neighbours
have, the News from abroad
has no Affect upon him; he has
no
fellow feeling with his
Neighbours either in Joy or Sorrow
So is a sleepy
Christian. he
knows not what a Sweet conver
sation they Enjoy one with
the other that one awake what Trade they
carry on to Heaven, and what
returns they have from that
Blessed Country, and what
Communion they have
with god, or what fellowship
they have one with other nor
what Joys or Sorrows they
meet with
in their travel—
like unto Thomas etc. — — —
the means of grace have but
little effect on them —
Again a man that is asleep is defenseless, he is exposed to many Danger's he is liable to be taken by his Enemies —
a soldier
must watch
So, is a Christian
that is asleep — they are liable to all Dangers — — — watch
and Pray —
again a man that is asleep may Dream Dreams, They may have
pleasant, and frightful Dreams they may Dream of prosperity and Peace — — of adversity and Sorrow — —
So may a Christian Dream many things
Now let us Bring Peter as an instance, one that has Slept, and See what was the fruit of his Sleep, and also one that has awaked out of this Sleep and what was the fruit of it
Now let us consider the State of those
that are in a Dead Sleep —
those that are unregenerate are in a Dead Sleep, Dead in
trespasses
and in Sins, a very Dangerous Sleep, they are liable
to all the miseries of this life to Death itself and to the Pains of Hell forever, and in this State and condition it is impossible for them to please god, for they have no life or godliness therefore they Can't do the work of god Acceptably, they
are Dead and So all their Services are Dead by reason of Sin, — they have no sense of god, they have no right apprehensions of heaven or Hell, they have no fear of god; and no love to him,
no love to his word no love to his ordinances, nor to his Commandments Laws or his Precepts
yea they have relish for divine
things, Spiritual things are
foolishness with them, the Voice of Charmers from Christ Charming Never so wisely unto them in the Tender Bowels of compassion move them not, and the Dreadful Thunders and
Lightnings of gods fiery Law from Mount Sinai, Don't make them afraid — and the goodness and Mercy of god, that Daily attends Don't Lead them to repentance, and the judgements of god Don't make to consider — All the reason is because they are in a Dead Sleep, they have no heart
for Heart for god or to his ways Doesn't this greatly argue
the Stupidity and deadness in Such Souls. — — and consequently Such are in a very dangerous Sleep they lie upon very Slippery Places
they are liable to be Cut asunder every Moment by the
justice of god, the axe is
laid to the root of every Tree, and every Tree that bringeth not good fruit, Shall be hewn Down and cast into everlasting Fire — — And Secondly and lastly this Text represents unto us
the
astonishing Love and condescension of the great God whose Name alone is Jehovah, in Sending his own Son into the world,
after our willful apostasy from god, that whosoever believeth in him should
perish. but have everlasting Life — here is Love indeed god freely
gave his Dear Son to Sinners to Save them. and the Son freely
accepts and undertakes the great work Redemption
the Dear Lamb of god Leaves the bosom of his Dear Father As it were bids farewell to all the Heavenly Hosts, and comes Down to this benighted World
clothed with human
body like our own — took upon him
the Iniquity of the children
of men— became the Son
of man that we the Sinful
children of men might be
come the Sons of the living
god — he laid Down
his Life. and Died the
accursed Death of the cross
that we might be made
Alive unto god —
all this was done to awake
those
that were Sleep, and to
raise that were Dead
2ly this Text promises
a glorious promise of Light
Rev. Sir,
I Conclude you have
to them that hear and obey the Voice of Christ
awake
those that Sleepeth and
arise from the Dead and Christ
Shall give thee Light —
To Conclude let us Improve the whole and hear
first, is it So as we have heard, that there is Such a thing
as Christians
slumbering and Sleeping —
first then examine yourself and if thou art Sleeper, hear the Voice of Christ, and obey,[illegible: [guess: }]]
arise and Trim your Lamps, and Christ Shall give you Light, — for all thy Work is to do —
and behold the bridegroom Come. go ye out to meet him
awake by a true repentance and arise by faith in Christ
Hear the Voice of God in his word, — in the preached
gospels In his Laws Precepts and
commands — In the gospel
institutions and ordinances —
to the wicked In the curses of god Law — In the melting Invitations of the
gospel — —
In the Creation — — In the Providence of god In mercy
— in health and
prosperity In judgements ˄ sickness
etc. O! Sleeper isn't here Enough to awake you, hear the voice of Christ in these things, and arise from all sin to righteousness, from all the fruits of the
flesh to the fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5.22
1 Corinthians 6. 9
backsliders awake and arise—
Luke 15
and ye all Receive the
promise of glorious Light, of Life and light at last to the Heavenly Jerusalem.
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Revel — Behold I Come
My friends we are not to live here only to gratify our Carnal senses
etc.
But the great End of our Being is to glorify god, our future State depends upon our Behaviour in this life
according as we behave in this World So Shall our Rewards be in the World to Come
Here
I Shall consider the Parts of the Parts of Text 1 There are 2 rewards
and then Improve the Whole by
way of Inquiry —first to Saints — and then to Sinners
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