Four useful discourses viz. ... /Four usefull discourses viz. ... /

First, In the First place, Hence we see cause, the Ministers of the Gospel especially, see cause bitterly to Lament the want of this in their Auditory ordinarily. It's true, There are few that are faithful Preachers of ⟨p. 192⟩the Gospel, but they do find that God doth at sometime or other Convince Men, and somewhat stir their Hearts: O, but this is that that they have cause bitterly to complain of, that those things that they deliver to them, that are the Precious and Glorious things of Jesus Christ, yet though they stir them a little for the while, yet they do not rest upon them. It was a Complaint of Chrysostom, saith he, We Ministers are in a worse Condition, than any Work-men whatsoever: Take a Carpenter, he comes and works, and leaves his Work over-night, and comes the next day and finds it where it was as he left it; his Work is no more forward, neither backward. Oh! But it is not so with us Preachers, for we come and work upon the Hearts of People, and we bring it into a reasonable good forwardness, and we leave it one Night and come the next day; but woe to us, we find it not where we leave it: We work upon their Hearts one Lords Day, and it may be they go away with some Resolutions, that they will break off their evil way, and they will attend to the Ministry of the Word; but before the next Lords Day, they are quite off again: They are got again into some wicked Company or other, and they begin to harden their Hearts against those Blessed Truths; so that our Condition is worse than any Work-mans whatsoever. But though it be a sad Condition for the Ministers of the Gospel, yet know it is a sadder Condition for your selves: You that heretofore have heard those Blessed things of the Gospel, and your Hearts have been taken with them, have they rested upon you? I put this to you in the Name of God, I say, Hath the Peace of the Gospel rested upon your Hearts? It may be, some of you may know Two or Three years ago, God began to work upon you, you began to have some Enlightening of ⟨p. 193⟩Jesus Christ, and of the Kingdom of God; and you began to say, Blessed are those that shall be partakers of those things, but have these rested upon you. Hath not the Ministry of the Gospel been to some of you like a Ship, that when it is Sailing in the Water, it makes a great Impression for the present, but let the Ship be gone and the Water is as smooth as ever it was?