THE PREFACE.

TIS a singular Instance of the Divine Providence, that he should call home the Labourers to Rest and Reward, while yet their Labours are employed in the Vineyard. The Reverend Dr. Manton now rests from his Labours; the Comfort and Conscience of his Works follow him, but the Usefulness of them yet abides with us. This Mantle dropp'd from our Prophet when he was taken up, and we hope the good Spirit will convey by it a double Portion of Grace to us who are left behind.

Let it not affright thee, Reader, to hear a dead Saint speak, a dead Minister preach; for 'tis the same Spirit of Life and Power which once breathed from the Pulpit, that now breaths from the Press; the same Gospel which once dropp'd from his gracious Lips, flows now from his sanctified Pen.

Although the serious Perusal of these spiritual Discourses, will more effectually commend them to thy Acceptance, than the most elaborate Recommendation of the Pre­facer; yet I must not betray the Truth in concealing what the observing Reader will soon discern; Acquired Learning humbly waiting upon Divine Revelation; great Ministerial Gifts managed by greater Grace; Warm Affections guided by a so­lid Iudgment; Fervent Love to Saints and Sinners, kindled by a burning Zeal for the Interest of a Saviour; and a plain Elegancy of Stile adapted to the meanest Ca­pacity, yet far above the Contempt of the highest Pretender.

I can sincerely aver, that it's no part of the Design of this Epistle, to conciliate a Reputation to these Writings from the acknowledged Repute of their Reverend Au­thor: Divine Truths need not those vulgar Artifices, they carry their own Creden­tials in themselves: nor yet to greaten the Author by magnifying his Works. Grace kept him above those Temptations, when labouring at the Footstool; and Glory has advanc'd him beyond their reach, now triumphing at the Throne. It was then his suf­ficient Honour to be an Earthen Vessel filled with Heavenly Treasure, that he might fill and enrich others; and he is now engaged, to his greater Satisfaction, in blessing that ever-blessed God, who served his gracious Counsels of him in the honourable, though despised Work of the Ministry.

That which I have in my Eye, is to lead thee into the Admiration of our Lord Iesus Christ, who when he ascended up on high, gave Gifts unto Men, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the Work of the Ministry: To all he has given some, to none has he given all; but wisely divided to every Man severally as he will, 1 Cor. 12.11. Where he has given least, they have a Competency; where he has bestowed most, there is no Redundancy: none shall have cause to boast of his Ten Talents; none reason to murmur that he has but One: but that which we must ever adore and admire, is, that where he has bestowed most liberally Ministerial Abilities, he has also bequeathed sanctifying Grace to keep them humble, to secure them against Pride, and preserve them in a meek Dependance upon himself: That [Page vi] he should give them a due Proportion of Ballast to keep them steady, lest they should overset with bearing too great a Sail: That he should make and keep them lowly in their own Eyes, who are precious in the Eyes of others, and gracious in his. And still further, to admire his Power that has wrought such glorious things by weak In­struments; saved them that believe, by (what the World accounts) the Foo­lishness of Preaching; dismantled the strong-holds of Sin and Satan, by the gen­tle breathing of the Word and Spirit▪ subdued proud, broken and softned hard Hearts, not by Might, not by Power, not by the Secular Sword, but by the soft Whispers of Grace, by melting, bleeding, tender Affections.

I have yet a further Reach in this Address, both upon Preachers, and their Hearers.

1. To the former I would humbly offer, that they would so Preach, so Pray, so Labour, as they that are convinced they are all this while a dying; that are passing every Moment from the Improving of, to the Accounting for their Talents. Dying Ministers preach living Sermons. It deserves our Observation, that God who ho­noured his Servant Ezekiel with abundance of glorious Revelations and Visions, enough to have swell'd a Bubble till it broke, to have lifted up a poor Worm above its measure, should yet always use to him that abasing Term, Son of Man; warning him, and in him all his faithful Ministers, to fulfil their Ministry; to work while it's called To Day; that whatever their Hand findeth to do, they should do it with all their Might, because there's no Work, nor De­vice, nor Knowledg, nor Wisdom in the Grave, whither they are going, Eccles. 9.10. How joyfully will a Minister receive the Summons to his Audit, when a good Conscience shall afford him this Testimony, I have fought a good Fight, I have finished my Course, I have kept the Faith? 2 Tim. 4.7. How edifying would their Preaching be, could they carry these Thoughts with them into the Pulpit; The Eye that now sees me, shall see me no more; The Ear that now hears me, shall in a little while hear me no more: There must be a last Time that I must speak in Christ's Name to this People, and this may be that last Time? O with what fervent Prayer, with what Earnestness of Affection, with what yearning Bowels to perishing Sinners, with what Zeal for their Conversion would they engage in their Master's Service, were their Souls impregnated with lively quick Apprehensions, that the Graves are ready to receive them.

2. Nor would it less affect the Hearers, and awake their Conscience to improve the Labours of their Ministers, could they maintain upon their Hearts a vigorous Sense, that they are dying apace from their faithful Ministers, and they from them; to Repent, Pray, Believe, work out their Salvation, make their Calling and Ele­ction sure, at another rate of Diligence than what is usually found amongst them.

Reader, I will engross thee no longer to my self: Be no more my Reader, but the Author's; there thou wilt find much better Entertainment. And yet because I would not lose thy good Company,

First, It must be a ravishing Sight to behold Divine Grace in all its Dimensions; Grace working in the Heart of God towards lost Man; and Grace working in the Heart of renewed Man towards God. Let us therefore fix our Meditations upon Ti­tus II.11, 12, 13, 14. where we shall meet with, (1.) The whole Duty of Man, viz. The Grace of God teaching us, that denying Ungodliness and worldly Lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this pre­sent World. A Word sutable, seasonable to our present Day, wherein the Vigor of Religion runs out into Leaves; when empty Notions, too high for this World, and [Page vii] too low for the next, have eaten out the Life and Power of Practical Godliness; when we dispute and quarrel our selves out of our Charity each to other, and our Obe­diential Love to our God; when the Name of Grace is abused to Gracelesness, and Professors can believe any thing, and practise nothing. But Grace would teach us other Lessons: as first, to live soberly, and temperately to our selves; not p [...]r­verting the Ends of Divine Bounty and Indulgence, to make provision for the Flesh, to be Food for devouring Lusts, Fewel for the Fire of raging Corruptions; but mo­derately to serve our Bodies, that they may serve our Souls, and both serve our God. Secondly, to live righteously towards all Men; giving to all their Due, in all Relations, Superiours, Inferiours and Equals; owing nothing to any Man but Love; a Debt which we must always pay, and always owe; That we may adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour in all things, ver. 10. This is that which re­commends Religion to the Sons of Men; 'tis this Well-doing, which puts to si­lence the Ignorance of foolish Men, 1 Pet. 2.15. For Men are not much concern'd what we are to God, if we be unjust, false, treacherous, unfaithful, and over-reaching towards our Neighbour. And thirdly, that we demean our selves in all the Turnings of our Conversation, holily towards God. Let our conscientious discharge of First-Table-Duties, be the Test of our Uprightness in those of the Se­cond: Let our Honesty and Sincerity in those of the Second, evidence our Holiness in those of the First. (2.) Come we now to that pleasing View of the Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all Iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar People, zealous of good Works. Where we find a twofold Design of Christ in his Death and Sufferings: 1. He had a noble Design for us; he dealt with God, gave himself for us to him. 2. He had a Design upon us too, that he might purify us to himself. He redeems us from this present World, as well as from Wrath to come, Gal. 1.4. Redeems us from our selves, as well as from Sin and Satan: Takes us not only out of the Hands of the Law and Iustice, but out of our own; That they who live, should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him that died for them, and rose again, 2 Cor. 5.15.

Secondly, Because Faith is a Grace that has always the labouring Oar, a Grace that bears the Heat and Burden of the Day; that has the World and the evil One to overcome: and that it may be victorious over those, must first learn to lay hold on God's own Strength, and overcome him too. And because this Grace unites us to Christ, and then draws Virtue from Christ to maintain that Union, and support the spiritual Life: and because it ventures far, flies high, and runs great Risques, and has therefore great need of good Security; let us again read our Author's glorious Discourses upon Heb. 6.18. That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong Consolation, who have fled for Refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before us. A Word from a God that cannot lie, is a sufficient Security for Faith to rest upon: Upon this single Security we might safely venture the Weight of all our Souls, the stress of all our Concerns: 'Tis upon this alone the Apostle, Titus 1.1, 2. encourages us to lay the Hope of eternal Life, even upon the Promise of him that cannot lie. But our gracious God knowing the weakness of our Faith, the Fears and Iealousies of guil­ty Souls, has added his Oath to his Word, that from such double Security we might have strong Consolation. O happy Souls, for whose sakes God will vouchsafe to swear! O miserable Sinners, who will not give credence to a swearing God! a God that swears by Himself, because he has no greater thing to swear by. Had he sworn [Page viii] by the Heavens and Earth, they shall perish, and with them the Security had perish'd; but he swears by Himself, As I live, saith the Lord! And Faith having got this Ground to place its Engine upon, is able to overturn the World. What has it not been able to suffer, when Divine Truth is its Warrant? What has it not been able to do, when the same Truth is its Security? It has subdued Kingdoms, wrought Righteousness, obtained Promises, stopped the Mouths of Lions, quench­ed the Violence of Fire, escaped the Edg of the Sword, grew strong out of Weakness, waxed valiant in Fight, and turned to flight the Armies of Aliens, Heb. 11.33, 34. I will add, it has routed Legions of Devils, triumph'd over Death, the Grave and Hell; challeng'd the whole World to come in, and lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect; for it has a God to justify the belie­ving Sinner; a Christ that died for the Sinner once, and lives for ever at the Right Hand of God, to make Intercession for him, Rom. 8.33, 34. Now then, let Faith know its Security. The Oath of Man, when yet every Man is a Liar, puts an end to all Controversies amongst Men: Let the Oath of God, who can no more l [...]e than he can die, put an end to our slavish Fears, perplexing Doubts, all our suspicious of God and his Word; and let the Soul return to its Rest, for God has dealt graciously with it.

But I have forgot my self, and wrong'd thee too, (Christian Reader) whilst we wander, and lose our selves in these pleasing Anticipations. For more abundant Sa­tisfaction in these and many important Truths, I refer thee to the following Discour­ses; only have Patience to be advertised of two or three smaller Matters.

1. Rest fully assured, that though these Pieces are Posthumous Births, they are not Spurious, but the Legitimate and Genuine Offspring of the same Father, with those that were first born: They carry the Lineaments, the Signature, the Image of their Elder Brother, and have been compared Line by Line, Word by Word, with the Author's Manuscripts, by an unquestionable Voucher.

2. Let it not offend thee, that the same Truths, and perhaps in the same Words, are repeated, which frequently happens in the Course of any Man's Ministry, when the same Subject has been formerly handled; and yet Care has been taken, as much as could possibly be, to prevent all Nauseousness: yet sometimes it could not be done, without disjointing and mangling the Sermons.

3. Be so just as not to impute the Crimes of the Printer to the Author or Publi­sher, which yet are such as an ordinary Charity may pardon, or a small Ingenuity correct. The rest is only to commit thee, Reader, and these Discourses, to the Blessing of our gracious God, with whom remember