have answered and that the day of grace would ever remaine but God saith I will not hear them they would never have sought if they thought the Lord would not heare them but all their séeking was in vaine Ob. You will say at what time soever a sinner repenteth he shall have mercy An. It is true if thou repent from the bottom of thy heart but thou maist come with many a degrée of repentance and yet never repent whilest thou livest if thou repent from thy heart and root out thy sins then God will put away thy sins but thou maist go on in repentance and calling upon God and performing many duties of Religion and yet is hardened looke how much Religion will stand with selfe-love so much thou maiest have after the day of grace is gone selfe-love may make a man flie to prayer and run after Sermons and go on in many holy duties and give over many sins looke how farre selfe-love may drive thée unto holy duties so farre thou maist goe and yet notwithstanding remaine hardened O therefore let us not delay nor put off the time of grace nor let goe salvation while it may be had then shall they call but I will not answer he doth not set downe when this time is it may be 〈◊〉 is now it may be not this seven years it may be not till thy death Doct. 2. It may be this very day even this very Sermon this very houre may be thy day that art now in thy sins that if thou repent not at this very one Sermon thou neglectest eternall life for ever lose the benefit of this Sermon at this time and thou maiest lose eternall Salvation and never have it more The theife that rob'd this day how doth he know but this one robery may bring him to the gallows So the man that sins this day how doth he know but that this very dayes worke may bring him to hell Deuteronomy 32. 35. To God belongs vengance their feet shall slide in due time Therefore if a man sin against him he may stand to day and to morrow and many dayes but when the due time comes even the time which God hath set then up goes his héels he shall slide and break his neck thy houre-glasse runes in heaven and thou séest not when the sand comes to the bottome but when t is out then down thou goest to hell for euer There was one resolved to kill Julius Caesar such a day the night before a friend sent him a letter to acquaint him with it but being at supper and busie I will not look upon it now saith he to morrow is a new day The next day when he should have read his letter he was stab'd Whence this proverbe came in Gréece To morrow is a new day God sends thée a letter and a message from heaven to day repent and come out of your fins or for ever to hell to day he converted and sanctified or for ever be hardened Dost thou refuse to harken to day and puttest it off untill to morrow it may be to morrow may be a day of Gods wrath and then thou mayest be hardened seared and bound over unto the great day of Gods vengeance to morrow God may set the decrée upon thy soul that thou shalt never repent Therefore if thou refuse this thou refuseth all for what knowest thou but this very day may be thy day The reason is because Gods patience is in his owne breast and who can tell how long it will last Hast thou Momus his glasse-window to looke into Gods secret counsell hast thou a key-hole to looke into Gods treasurie canst thou stand on tiptoe to looke over Gods shoulder to looke into Gods decrée to sée how long his patience will last It may be God hath suffered thée till this day thou art guilty of ten thousand sinnes and yet he is patient towards thée God hath stayed thus long for thée that hast sworne I know not how many oaths God hath born thus long with thée that hast told I know not how many lyes prophaned I know not how many Sabbaths contemned I know not how many Ordinances and sleighted I know not how many Iudgements yet Gods patience is in his owne brest it is the long sufferance of God Thou maiest say I would faine have it to morrow and this seven yéeres but alasse it is his long sufferance and not thine and how dost thou know when he will conclude it it may be this day as well as to morrow Joel 2. 13. Rent your hearts and not your garments saith the Prophet for the LORD he is gracious and mercifull This word for hath a great deals of force in it First it is a descriptivum for he is gracious and a mercifull God therefore rent thy heart and let thy Soule burst within thée that thou hast sinned against him for he is a mercifull God and it may be he will pardon all thy sinns and heale all thy rebellions committed against him Secondly it is an upbraiding for upbraiding thée for thy sinnes rent thy heart therefore why he is a patient God wilt thou go on in thy sinns against such a patient God and rebell against such a loving Father that hath loved thée with so much compassion â—ent thy heart for he is patient Thirdly it is a comfort and incouraging for rent thy heart for there is encouragement for thée to repent give over thy sinns and goe to the Throne of grace For there is much mercie to welcome thée and great patience for to bid thée come home and aboundance of grace for to incourage thée therefore rent thy heart and come home unto the Lord for he is patient and long-suffering Fourthly it is a forewarning for rent your hearts for the Lord is gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnesse yet his mercy lasteth yea his patience endureth yet he hath all his attributes and yet he is pleased to manifest the same still tendring grace and mercy unto thee Oh! turne unto him while these endure or else thou shalt perish for ever Fiftly it is a threatning for now he is gracious now he is mercifull but his mercy will end his patience will end and then if thou hast not rent thy heart before it will be too late then Therefore as ever thou lovest thine own soule now rent thy heart and turne unto God It is Gods own proclamation The Lord slow to anger and of great mercy forgiving iniquity and sin Yea what man soever he be that humbles his soule before him he shall find grace and mercy with him yea aboundance of mercie pardoning iniquity transgression and sinne yea any thing Let but a soule come prostrate before him humbling his soule he will pardon his sinné But as it followeth in the words He will by no meanes cleare the guiltie if notwithstanding all Gods patience and mercie thou goe on in thy sinnes the Lord will never forgive thee but will visit thy
therefore there is hope so long as a man remains in the congregation of the living Answ I answer it is true indéed that the day of grace lasteth as long as the day of life 1. In regard of others for others are so to estéeme of it the Minister is to look to his people as to a people to be converted as long as they live 2 In regard of a mans own selfe he is so bound to believe for the commandement of faith standeth in force on a man so long as he liveth and therefore infidelity and despaire cease not to be sinnes till a man is actually in Hell when he is in hell then they are no sinnes because then he is not commanded to believe but are part of the punishment of the damnes but whilst a man lives it is a sin for men are now bound to lay hold upon Christ and to beléeve at what houre of their life soever 3. It may be said to last all a mans life long because it is bounded within the compasse of life for no man hath a day of grace after this life But what is the meaning of all those Scriptures which shew how God doth deliver up men unto the Spirit of guidinesse and unto the Spirit of slumber And what means the hardening of mens hearts searing of mens consciences but only to shew that the day of grace may end unto a a particular man ten twenty thirty nay fourty yeares before his death 1. Because God may harden a mans heart Jerem 13. 10. and deale with them as with Israel in the Rocks so shut up their hearts that they shall never melt at any Sermon never be wrought upon by any judgment God having closed them up in a rocky heart that he saith of them Can the blackmore change his skin or the Leopard his sports then may they do good that are accustomed to do evill The blacknesse of the blackmore is only in the outside of the skin yet all the art under the heavens cannot blot it out So if once hardnesse possesse thy soule all the preaching of the Ministers and all the means of grace in the world can never bring it unto that frame and temper as to make it melt under the hand of God I tell thée thou that usest to come unto Sermons day after day and refusest to repent living still in thy sinns there is no hammer nor béetle in the world more hard then thy heart as those men and women that sit under the preaching of the word and heare ye doctrine of life like raine from above beating and knocking on their consciences and on their hearts to awaken them out of their sins and yet notwithstanding will not repent at last they prove to be deafe Adders that stop their ears against the word charme the charmer never so wisely 2. God may feare mens consciences Doth thy conscience tell thée thou art a luke-warmling and wilt thou not be reformed Doth thy conscience tell thée that thy prayers and all thy religion is rotten and unsound and that thy Repentance is hypocriticall and nought and that for all thy vaine hopes thou art but a dissembler and yet remainest in thy sinns and wilt thou not be bettered hereby Take héed for that man that runs on in sinne against the voice of his owne conscience that man sins the sinne of Saul 1 Sam. 13. 8. God bid him stay seven dayes untill Samuel came Saul stayes full seven dayes within one houre at last his lust began to bawl What shall I stay for a Prophet thus long Stay sayes his conscience Why sayes Saul I wayted for him so long even seven dayes lacking but one houre Stay saith God to his conscience for the word of God bids thée stay so long he stayed one day and two dayes and six dayes and seven dayes but one houre Stay saith his conscience no he would not but I forced my selfe saith the text as if he should say I hardened my heart to do it though the word of the Lord bid me stay and not do it yet I forced my selfe to do it What was this mans sinne Was it his offering of sacrifice and calling upon God by prayer No the Lord commands us to call upon him in time of distresse and being commanded it was lawfull Was it his sinne to meddle with the Priests office No for he did but appoint the sacrifice the Priest offered it What was it the breaking of one houres time No for he had sinned more against God then so but this was his sinne that he went against his own conscience when God stood in the way when conscience stood in the way conscience said stay but he would not stay God bid him stay but he would not stay and this is the sinne of many thousands amongst us mens consciences tell them that they must not be drunkards mens consciences tell them that they must not be worldlings they must not be swearers they must not be luke-warm professors they must pray better then they do and have other faith then yet they have if ever they meane to be saved wilt thou yet against thy conscience force thy selfe to go on in thy sinnes from day to day and never be reformed take héed lest the Lord be provoked to set thy sinne upon thy head and shut up thy heart and conclude thy eternall destruction Object Suppose I go one in my sins and follow my wicked courses now what if I seeke him hereafter and humble my soule before him with fasting and prayer and when I lie upon my death-bed I send a ticket unto my Minister to pray for me will all this do me no good Answ. Surely no saith God Jerem. 15. 1. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me yet my affections could not be toward this people cast them out of my sight Dost thou lie sick upon thy death-bed were Samuel Job or Daniel the Minister of thy Parish and thou shouldst send thy ticket unto them desiring them to remember thée in their prayers if Noah stood in the Pulpit and Iob and Daniel were here before the Lord for to plead for thée yet he would not heare thée Object But suppose I humble my selfe by fasting and prayer will not God hear â—hat Answ. No if thou neglect the day of grace Ier. 14. 12. when they fast I will not hear them and when they offer oblations I will not accept their cry but I will consume them by the sword by famine and by pestilences you may set up your fastings prayers and humiliations you may lament and mourne and pine away your selves in your sins but it is not all your prayers and fastings it is not all your lamentation and mourning that will do you good so long as the counsell of the Lord is rejected Because I called and ye would not answer therefore you shall call but I will not hear thy thought that the Lords eares would alwayes be open and that when they called the Lord would
sinues upon thée unto the third and fourth generation because thou hast withstood the day of grace Beloved men run on in their sins as if so be an Augel from heaven should cry unto them and tell them yet God will be good unto them yet God will shew them mercy and forbeare them Beloved let your consciences answer if you ever heard the Lord God say to any of you thus long I will forbeare you No Gods patience is in his own breast and therefore no man knows how long it will last Reas. 2. A second reason is because Gods patience giveth no marks or inkling of it before it ends commonly when God strikes a man with death he giveth some signes or warnings of it before as sicknesse and paines and gray hairs and many sorrows c. Now because thy life is in Gods hands thou carest not for it but venturest to goe on in thy sins hoping to have some warning though thousands be cut off without it but the day of grace may come to an end and yet thou never have any inkling or warning of it beforehand commonly when God strikes a man with death he tells him of it before-hand by aches and pains as if the Lord should say Now thou shalt die now will I take thée out of the world But when the Lord taketh away the day of grace from a man though the spirituall man may take some notice of it yet there is no sensible apparition of it but after the day of grace is set upon a man he may be as strong and lustrie as before he may come to Church as well after as before performe religious duties and do many good things as well after as before as Saul went on in duties of Religion as well after Samuel had pronounced the Lords doome upon him how many times was he offering sacrifice unto the Lord after the Prophet told him that he was a man rejected how many good spéeches came from him as when Samuel met him he salutes him with these words Blessed be thou of the Lord I pray thee turne againe with me that I may worship the Lord A man would have thought that Saul had beene a good convert No no before al this his judgment and doome was set upon him God steales upon him and saies nothing he claps his plague upon their souls and holds his peace Isaiah 42. 14. I have a long time held my peace I have beene still and refrained my selfe now will I cry like a travelling woman I will destroy and devoure at once The Lord shewes here how he deales with men they goe on in their sinnes but the Lord holds his peace they provoke him every day but the Lord refraines his anger but now all at once his wrath breateth foorth upon them Psal. 64. 7. God will shoot an arrow at them suddenly their stroke shal be at once The Lord suddenly shoots a swift arrow at thée no sooner it is shot but it enters into thy bowels When the Lord comes upon a man he comes suddenly when he ends the day of grace upon him he doth it suddenly He ended the day of grace on the Scribes and Pharisées even in the very Sermon time While Christ was preaching unto them they were delivered up to hardnesse of heart so many were delivered up to hardnesse of heart in the time of Hosea's prophecie Hosea 4. 17. Epharim is joyned to jdols let him alone saith God as if he should say Sermou let him alone Preacher let him alone Spirit let him alone Christ let him alone let him alone Beloved if we stand out against God and reject the day of grace the Lord may say Word let such aman alone and never convert him Christ let such a man alone and never redéeme him Spirit let such a man alone and never sanctifie him Sacraments let such a man alone and never seale up any comforts unto him a fearefull signe that men are come to this hours do we not sée that men come to the Word and the Word lets them alone in their sins do not men come to the Sacrament and the Sacrament leaves them still in their filthinesse men come unto good dtuies but good duties let them alone and do them no good and this is the condition of many thousands in the world Therefore oh thinke upon this you that have made a league with your sinns and an agréement with hell hear this delivered to you this day that the day of grace may be ended and God may come and clap his curse upon men and never give them any inkling of it at all A third Reason is because God reckons upon every houre if God kept not a strict account of time how many Sermons you have had how many mercies you have enjoyed how many crosses he hath warned you by if God kept not a true talle and account of every houres time you might rub on many dayes and moneths and yéeres and spend much time in fulfilling of your lusts but God kéepeth a reckoning of these things yea of every houre and of every minute Act. 17. 30. The times of ignorance God regarded not but now he admonisheth all men to repent Alas when men live in their sins through blindnesse and ignorance and know not God the Lord takes no such strict notice of them but lets them goe on longer and longer but when the Lord send them his Word and Gospel and affords them the meanes of grace he doth the more strictly looke unto them and takes the more exact account of them before they had the meanes of grace the Lord winked at them and did not so narrowly watch them but looked over mens ignorance as the originall hath it but now God sends his Word and Gospel he admonisheth all men to repent he winks at never an houre but sets downe how oft thou hast had exhortation from thy Minister how often thou hast had warning by sicknesse and afflictions how often thou hast had chéeks from thine owne conscience how many admonitions thou hast had from thy friends how many times thou hast had the sound of the Gospel to sound in thy eares to bring thée home unto God John 2. 7. 11. This is the first beginning of miracles that Jesus did John 4. 58. This is the second miracle that Iesus did saith the Text God sets downe this is the first this is the second time This is the second Epistle I wrote to you saith Paul Oh this is the third time I wrote unto you 2 Cor. 13. that when I come I will not spare so God sets it downe in his catalogue this is the first time that I have warned this man this is the second time this is the third time that when I come I will not spare the Lord counts how long he hath sought unto thée and intreated thée by his mercies how long he hath allured thée by his Word how long he hath warned thée by his judgements how oft he hath smote