saies again vers 18. I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven As if he should say I foresaw this when I sent you out that it would be so I knew that he would come down as swift as the lightning Beloved this Freedom makes sinners vomit up Devils where it comes what a wonderful thing is this 7. That the dead should be raised would you not Wonder to see a man raised from the dead If so be that any of you should stand in a Church-yard and while you are looking upon a grave and think of the person that lies dead and buried there and how many years ago it is since he died and that now he were rotten and consumed to see him come forth and stand up and live Why now such a marvellous work is done by this Freedom it hath spiritually opened the graves of many thousand Souls and blessed be God we are not without some such that live and walk amongst us at this day and that are with us in this Congregation Beloved do but turn your eyes now and look upon such a man and such a woman that fears God and you have this wonderful sight before you concerning whom it may be said as in Eph. 2. 1. And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins By this Freedom God shews Wonders to the dead the dead arise and praise him Psal 88. 10 11 12. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead shall the dead arise and praise thee Selah Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave or thy faithfulness in destruction Shall thy wonders be known in the dark and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness Why yes God doth so in this case that I am upon And therefore if you that have any Relations any Children any Friends that are for the condition of their Souls stark dead you cannot perceive the least motion or breathing in them towards God or any thing that is good Why 't is true indeed if you be spiritually alive your selves you can't but do that which persons use to do for their Friends that are dead you cannot but mourn for them and in this sense you may and you must do that which would be a great sin in another sense you may pray for the dead and you may be stirred up to it by the consideration of the wonderful nature of this Freedom that it is a thing that will put life into the dead You may look upon a wicked Child or Relation it may be so far gone in sin that they are even past hope as we use to do upon people when they are dead oh as long as they were alive tho very sick yet while there 's life there is hope as we use to say but when we see they are dead then hope is gone Yea but as to this I am speaking of how know you but Christ may come to the grave of that dead Soul and raise it as he did to Lazarus So beloved we that are Ministers of Christ we preach of this Freedom to you and as to divers of you we are afraid we preach to the dead and one would think Why then what hope is there were it not as good to give over Oh no! Preach we must for all this in hope that you may live we are sure that if God please to give you this Freedom tho you have it not yet when it comes it shall do Wonders in you 't will fetch you out of your graves Our Preaching to sinners 't is like Ezekiels prophecying to the dry bones cap. 37. God brought him and set him down in the midst of a Valley full of them vers 1 2. and when he had been viewing them well and seen what a sad Spectacle there was now Son of man can these bones live saith he dost think 't is possible that ever they should live And he answered O Lord God thou knowest As if he should say O Lord that 's with thee who can resolve that but thy self verse 3. Well in vers 4. Come do thou prophecy upon them saith God and keep on prophecying and see what I will do by it Now vers 7. the Prophet prophesied as he was commanded As if he should say That I did and that was all that I could do but mark what wonderful success here was see vers 7 8 9 10. and you read in vers 10. that they lived c. The Lord bless our preaching as he blessed Ezekiels prophecying here 8. That Death it self should be killed Is not this a strange thing You know what a killing thing Death is you have heard of many and seen many that have been slain by it it is a killing all over the World Whether you consider Death naturally or spiritually what a great destroyer ' t is But now that there should be something that should cause Death it self to dye would not this be a wonder why this Freedom doth it it kills the bodily death by the Resurrection of the body it kills the spiritual Death by their being risen with Christ it kills the eternal Death by giving them eternal Life You have two Verses in Joh. 11. 25 26. that speak to this says our Saviour there I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me tho he were dead yet shall he live And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never dye See also 1 Cor. 15. 54 55 56 57. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 9. That a man should be made able to do all things Would you not Wonder to see a man that is so able It may be you will not believe that there is any such man in the World Nay that if he could do all things he would not be a man and 't is true if you take all things in the largest sense he cannot do all things that God can do but he can do all things through God that he hath to do Phil. 4. 11. A true Christian is in some sense weak and yet strong as Paul saith When I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12. 10. And says our Saviour to the man that brought to him his Son possessed with a Devil beseeching him to help him Mark 9. 23 If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth As if he should say Art thou got into Freedom if so there 's nothing that thou hast to do but thou maist go through with it by faith in me A man that hath this Freedom and improves it as he should do he can be poor he can be rich he can do and he can suffer he can live
live without light they are dark men and women in their Souls Another thing that Christ preaches to them is in ver 24. the Lord open your hearts in the reading of it I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins Dying in ones sins is the saddest death that a man can die that person dies to die As the children of God die to live so these they die to die again When they die the natural death they die the Eternal death they die to be damned to be separated for ever from the Lord as those that he will never have any thing to do with more but in a way of tormenting them for their living and dying in their sins And these of all that die out of the World are the persons whose death is to be most lamented If God takes away any of your Relations or Friends or Neighbours if you have but good hopes that they died in Christ 't is comfortable but this same dying in sin Oh! that 's the terrible that 's the lamentable death as you say of some persons sometimes that died in some horrible way Oh! such an one he came to a sad end so do all that die in their sins A sad end the Lord knows One were better never to have been born than to die such a death But I pray mark here what is it that will bring people to such a death Why says Christ If ye believe not that I am he ye shall die in your sins If ye abide Unbelievers if you don't come to me own me give up your selves to me as sure as can be saith he this will be your case ye shall dye in your sins There be some that die to their sins that 's a good death and all Gods Children dye so There be some that die in their sins that 's a sad death as you have heard and all Reprobate Sinners die so There be some that die for their sins eternally and such are all they that die in them and the way to die in them and for them is to live in them These and such kind of things Christ is here preaching I have but named that which I conceive to be most needful for you Well now what 's the success of Christs preaching to his Hearers Why you may observe it was this That of those that heard him some were complying and some were cavilling The Lord grant that all of you may be of the first sort and none of the second Some were complying Hearers This kind of Doctrine took upon their Souls v. 30. As he spake these words many believed on him Oh that there might be such a presence and power of God in our Assembly here that as we are speaking you might be believing applying taking home the Truths of the Gospel so as to be converted to Christ Now these kind of Hearers Christ encourages and bids them go on as they had begun and they should have a Threefold Priviledg The first of them is in v. 31. They should be Disciples indeed not in name and in shew only but in reality q. d. I 'le own you for sincere ones such as Nathanael was concerning whom Christ said John 1 48. Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile You have some that do offer towards Christ begin as if they would follow his Rules and Doctrine but they don't continue in his Word and so shew that they are not Disciples indeed none of the right kind of Professors The other Two Priviledges which Christ saith these shall have are in v. 32. 1. Ye shall know the Truth i. e. have experimental knowledg of the Truths of God God and Christ would reveal themselves further and further to them in the matters and mysteries of salvation He promises inward and sound illumination to them that they should have another manner of knowledg of spiritual things than they have who have nothing but what swims in the brain 2. That the Truth which they should have an understanding of should make them free not like those that abide in slavery and bondage but they should have a state of Freedom Now amongst these Hearers some as I said were cavilling Hearers And this is the sad success that the Word hath upon some that it sets them but a cavilling at what is delivered And thus the Gospel is the favour of life to some and the savour of death to others Now the carnal and unbelieving Hearers take occasion unjustly to cavil at Christ from those last words which he spake to his complying Hearers in the Text shall make you free As if they should say Why then pray what do you make of us We perceive that you count us Slaves or Bond people Your Disciples and Followers shall be taken out of the company of such as are in thraldom why then be-like we are no Freemen Here they thought they had a great advantage against Christ see v. 33. They answered him We be Abrahams seed and were never in bondage to any man How sayest thou Ye shall be made free This that they said was not true in the letter and as to the outward bondage that they had never been in bondage to any man for had they not been in bondage in Egypt and in bondage in Babylon And they were at this present under Tribute and subjection to the Romans Note that a cavilling Spirit is a lying Spirit too They that are given to the one sin are given also to the other But Christ did not mean this in the letter or of any outward bondage but of bondage by sin that they were in And so v. 34. he doth explain himself Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin i. e. is in bondage to it and so will find himself to be at last v. 35. when he shall see that he must not abide any longer among the Children and Sons of God but shall be sent away as the Servant or he that is bound to his Master is afterwards sent out of the house while those that are the sons and Free ones are kept in as those that have a Right and a Priviledg to stay as I that am Gods natural Son do and shall abide for ever in my Father's house together with all his adopted Children who believe on me This 36th Verse to which I am now come is Christ's drawing a conclusion from all this applying this that he had been speaking about Bondage and Freedom to their case that they if they had had Grace might have made a saving use of it for their own everlasting good If the Son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed i. e. If I who am the Son of God and therefore am free and can give freedom to others if I make you free ye shall be free indeed Wherein you have 1. The name by which Jesus Christ calls himself the Son of God or as 't is in the Greek that Son that is such a Son as none is
to save those who are to be saved You must take notice that this willingness of Christ to save sinners may be considered two ways 1. There is an absolute willingness in Christ to save some sinners and these sinners are those whom God hath from all eternity chosen to life and who thereupon do come to Christ that they might have life being awakened and stirred up thereunto by the inward and effectual working of Gods Spirit and Grace upon their hearts Now there is in Christ an absolute willingness to save all such he is fully resolved to be wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption to them Joh. 6. 37. 2. There is a conditional willingness in Christ to save other sinners yea all sinners yea even those that shall never be saved by which Christ stands ready to receive and pardon and imbrace them in case they come to him and repent and believe the Gospel which they never doing through the hardness and impenitency of their hearts to which they are justly left they are eternally lost tho Christ could have saved them and would have saved them if the Condition had been performed Luk. 13. 34. Secondly it will appear that this Freedom is in Christ abundantly if we consider how he and his Salvation are magnified and extolled in Scripture You shall find the Word of GOD speaking very honourably of both as indeed he and his Salvation deserve the highest Praise When Christ himself as a Redeemer is spoken of see the great commendation that is given of him I shall need to lead you but to that one Epistle to the Hebrews for it See chap. 4. 15. and chap. 7. 26. and chap. 8. 1 2 6. and chap. 9. 14. And then as he himself who is the Saviour is thus set forth with such magnificent Expressions So the Salvation and Redemption that comes by him likewise Heb. 2. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation He speaks of it as that which cannot be told what manner of thing 't is for the Worth and Value of it he is so taken up with the admiration of it that he wants a fit comparison to set it out by So great salvation as if he should have said I cannot tell you how great 't is 't is so great And in 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot He makes all the Silver and Gold and precious things of the World as nothing to this Redemption which the Blood of Christ hath purchased for us Thirdly there must needs be abundant Freedom in Christ if we consider that this Redemption of his doth more good to them that partake of it than ever the Fall of Adam did them hurt It was indeed an unspeakable deal of misery that was brought in by the Transgression of our first Parents by it came Sin by it came Death and Condemnation Beloved there is no evil either of Sin or of Punishment either in this World or in that to come but it is the woful effect and fruit of that Fall Oh that God would shew us what a miserable condition we are in by the Fall Oh how ignorant is the World of this How unawakened about it Little do the most consider where it is that Adam hath left them what wretched cursed Creatures they are upon that account and Oh how little care do People generally take or how little haste do they make to get out of it How secure do the most continue upon that sinking ground as if there were no danger towards them Well but now this Redemption by Christ hath more good in it for them that are or shall be delivered by it than that had hurt in it This second Adam sets them into a better condition than ever they were before they fell He doth not only make up their loss again but with the greatest advantage Read that excellent place Rom. 5. 15. to the end Fourthly 'T is such abundant Redemthat is in Christ that he can save those that despair of ever being saved not only can he save those who deserve to be damned but even such as despair of being saved Oh how many be there that have lain under most dreadful fears of everlasting condemnation that when they have been brought to see their sins as it were set in order before them and to see the wrath of God as it were flaming against them they have concluded that they should as certainly go to Hell as if they were there already And Oh the bitter cryes that they have had upon this Oh the anguish and sorrow that their Souls have been filled with What shall become of me c. They have roared by reason of the disquietness of their hearts they could not tell how to eat or drink or sleep for the fearful looking-for of Judgment and of Wrath that should devour them and yet after all this have been saved the great Redeemer hath given them rest from their fear and from their sorrow and from the hard bondage wherein they were made to serve Heb. 2. 15. And it may be here may be some or other amongst you that are full of trembling thoughts and very ready to speak about your Salvation as if there were no hope I know that many poor Souls do go under this load they can't tell how to think that they shall ever be saved Oh but consider there is such abundance of Freedom in Christ that he can save those who despair of being saved and therefore be revived in thy hopes thou poor disheartned Soul and because of this say as Jonah did chap. 2. 3 4. For thou hadst cast me into the deep in the midst of the seas and the floods compassed me about all thy billows and thy waves passed over me Then I said I am cast out of thy sight yet I will look again toward thy holy temple 3. This Freedom is in Christ freely the very word doth carry this along with it Christ doth not release Souls as men use to give Freedom to the Bodies of them they have kept in prison if they will have their Liberty they must pay their Fees That which God speaks of Cyrus in Isa 45. 13. is eminently true of Christ He shall let go my captives not for price or reward Christ doth not ask Souls What will you give me if I will do this for you But he is willing to do it for nothing he bids them come and buy but 't is without money and without price he is as glad to free poor sinners as they are to be freed by him And there be three Reasons why Christ doth all freely in the Work of Redemption pray mark them 1. Because he redeems them out of love therefore he aims at no reward What is it that brings Christ to this Work why 't is Love Isa 63. 9. in his love and in his pity he
put themselves upon such unwearied labours as they do but to provide for their Life and when they are sick and fallen into some dangerous disease what 's the great and the greatest fear that then most have Oh that their Life will be gone they prize Life so that when we would set out the doing of a thing with the greatest care we use to express it thus We did it as for our Lives and Life is such a precious thing that tho one lives in a great deal of pain and misery yet one is very loath to leave it And we shew what an high esteem we have of Life by the rejoycing that we have in us when any of our dear Relations have been dangerously sick and it hath pleased God that they have recovered again oh how glad are we that their Life is preserved that they shall continue longer with us and then when any one of them are taken away by Death why the sorrow and grief that follows upon that and the mourning that we make for deceased Friends confirms the truth of this that Life is an excellent thing Well now this Freedom by Christ is Life Joh. 6. 33. He giveth Life to the World and chap 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me that ye might have Life that is that you might have Freedom by me And here I will speak a little about this suitableness of this Name how suitable it is that this Freedom by Christ should be called Life You know Life puts a quickning Principle into them that have it so doth this Freedom by Christ Take notice of four things here 1. It puts Life into our Souls Souls do not live spiritually and unto God till they come into this Freedom Eph. 2. 1. they are only such as are interested in it that are passed from Death to Life Now to have a Soul that is dead within one is a dreadful thing and dead in the worst sense of all too for the Soul to be dead so as that it was never quickned 'T is true Gods Children complain many times how dead their hearts are and what great need they have of quickning and oh how much do they pray that they might not be so dead as they are as you shall see David often doth in Psal 119. 25 37 40 88 107 149 154 146 159. Yea but here is something to be considered that tho they are dead now it may be yet they have been quickned 't is not a deadness that is from want of Life but from want of liveliness but the deadness of those that are not made Free by Christ is such that speaks they were never quickned and so their Souls are dead in the worst sense of all they have no spiritual Life in them 2. This Fredom by Chrst it puts Life into Ordinances There be some that find the Ordinances of Christ living things as David saies Psal 119. 50. that he had found the word to be a living word But who are they that have this Experience Why they which are made Free by Christ I tell you opportunities and means of Grace are other manner of things to them than they are to others You that are yet in the Bondage of Sin you can speak nothing that such an Ordinance was blest to you at such a time and then another at another time you cannot say Oh the sweet Communion that I had with God upon such a Sabbath and at such a Sermon You had such a meeting with Jesus Christ and there were such incomes from the Lord upon your Spirits and such drawings out of your hearts towards God that you would not for the whole World but you had been there but they that are made Free there be those amongst them that can say so I my self heard a good man say once after Prayer had been made to God by a Minister in the company of some Christians who were together to that purpose that he would not for all the World but he had been there that time And what do you think made David speak that in Psal 84. 10. A day in thy courts is better than a thousand but because he being one that belonged to Christ found Life in the Ordinances Oh! this is that which makes Gods people desire to come to Ordinances and to bless God for them because they do find Life conveyed to their Souls by them that 's a notable place in 1 Cor. 1. 18. That the preaching of the Gospel is the power of God to whom why to us that are saved i. e. that are partakers of this Freedom by Christ one of the names of which as you have heard is Salvation 3. This Freedom by Christ puts Life into our Communion I mean that converse which we have one with another when we are in company together Oh! if we are but made Free by Christ and then come into one anothers society we are fitted by it for a living Discourse together for the having of some heart-warming conference each with other If there be two or three or more of these persons met together 't is to be hoped that they wont part one from another without some spiritual good to one anothers Souls Their being thus related one to another in the Freedom that Christ gives to believers will stir up their hearts to heavenly Communication to help one another forward in the ways of God They whose Priviledg and State this is they carry spiritual heat about them so that when they come into the company of others they 'l glow as Mary and Elizabeth when they come together Luke 1. they did as it were sparkle in their gracious Discourse one with another When they that are in the Bondage of sin and strangers to Christ meet together many times there you shall have the Language of Hell in their mouths corrupt Communication that discovers what they are for their Speech bewrays them and others of them tho they are civilized yet their talk 't will be but earthly oh how their breath smells of the earth If one strive to get them into any discourse that is above the things of this World oh what dead companions they are then you put them out of their Element and if you would not have them speak of things below then you stop their mouths they must say nothing for they savour not the things of God And tho 't is true that Hypocrites may hold discourse about good things if they be persons that have parts and gifts and brain knowledg yet oh there 's no Life in that Communion they are not in this state of Freedom by Christ that should put Life into it and make them speak of good things from a Principle within but now Christs redeemed ones they are living companions and Communion with them is sometimes as it were a corner of Heaven If they can but once get into gracious discourse together as that is to often somewhat hard to do what for want of coming oftner together and by
spots will be all out Thou Child of God shall have no more of this deadness no more of this hardness and unbelief of heart here thou canst not pray one quarter of an hour without vain thoughts there thou shalt praise and glorifie him to all eternity without the least distraction Oh! what a Priviledge will this be when sin and you shall be quite parted Now you hear of it in every duty but there you may be good as long and as much as you will and no evil to hinder you Paul's complaint is now at an end as to himself because he is at home Rom. 7. 21. Priviledge 5. They who are made free by Christ are made nigh to God Eph. 2. 13. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the Blood of Christ As the people of Israel whom he redeemed out of Egypt are called a people near to God Psal 147. 14. You know 't is counted a Priviledg to stand near to an earthly King in some cases The Queen of Sheba pronounced the Servants of Solomon happy upon this account 1 Kings 10. 8. But as Christ said once of himself a greater than Solomon is here here 's the King of Heaven and Earth that is the most high God and these are near to him whatsoever is dear to us is near to us Now the Saints are very dear to God How dear is a Friend to you And how dear are your Children to you And how dear is the Apple of your eye to you Why by these names the Lord calls his people in the Scripture Yea beloved the Lord is very near to them when they think he is far off from them Psal 73. 23. don 't make account that God is at such a distance from you you that belong to him as many times you do you think he is gone away so that he will never return and all that while he is hard by you if you could but see him remember what he saith in Isa 41. 10. Fear thou not for I am with thee c. Priviledg 6. This Freedom brings Union with Christ Eph. 5. 30. it joyns those to him who are redeemed by an inseparable bond Christ is in them and they are in him therefore Paul saith Gal. 2. 20. that Christ liveth in him and 't is said of the Saints that Christ dwells in their hearts by Faith Eph. 3. 17. and Christ and they are not to be considered as two but as one he owns them as his Members and you know they are one with the head as his Wife and she is one with the Husband Now what an unspeakable Priviledg is it to be united to Jesus Christ and what greater honour can a Soul desire or enjoy than this is If you have such a deal of comfort from those earthly Relations in which you stand one to another as some of you have tho this is a Union of a low degree in comparison of this yet you find there is much sweetness in being joyned to a loving Wife or a loving Husband Oh what is it to be joyned to the Lord Jesus Christ Obj. But you 'l say What 's a bare Vnion if there be no Communications from him if Christ doth not give out that which he is and that which he hath to us there 's many a one that is joyned to another in an uniting Relation that is little the better for it Ans Yea but to be sure they who are one with Christ shall be the better for it for in the next place Priviledg 7. From this Union flows Communion with Christ and a communication from Christ of abundance of good things to them I will instance in some 1. They partake of his likeness and image to this you read that they were of old predestinated Rom. 8. 29. Hence they are said to have put on Christ as soon as ever he brought them into this Freedom he began presently as I may say to draw his Picture upon them and they grow more and more like him every day by resembling of him in his Graces and walking The Saints desire to live no other life but that which is suitable to the life that Christ led and they would fain imitate and follow him in his holy conversation they 〈◊〉 mightily taken with it all their trouble is that they can reach it no more 2. They partake of his fulness Joh. 1. 16. 'T is their Priviledg being made free by him to be fetching from him what they need for tho he hath it in himself yet he doth not keep it to himself no he means to be liberal of what he hath to all his Members He is not like the Rich covetous men of the World that tho they have abundance yet they hoard it up they have no readiness in them to distribute but Christ is all for distributing and that which his redeemed ones have had and shall have from him is an unknown deal 3. They partake of his Death and Resurrection Rom. 6. 5. They dye to sin by the vertue of Christs Death and they live to God by the vertue of Christs rising again For beloved Christ did not do those things barely that they should end in himself that none should have a fellowship with him in them But his design was that his Death should bring forth another Death and his Resurrection another Resurrection in the Souls of his people that they should feel in themselves that he died by their being crucified to sin and crucified to the World and that they should feel in themselves that he rose by their newness of life and by their setting their affections upon things above Now this is a great Priviledg to have the experience of these things within us people talk how Christ died and rose again but where is our conformity to this Oh! how little doth the power and the virtue of this come to us 4. They partake of his Righteousness I mean 't is imputed to them as their own that perfect unspotted obedience of his 't is to cover all the unrighteousness that is in them 2 Cor. 5 ult Oh beloved what a thing is this that a righteousness that is just as the Scripture would have it without the least defect wherein all the holy rules and commands of the word are fulfilled to a tittle that this should be made over to one with as great and sure an interest in it as if one had done all this in ones person why thus 't is with those whom Christ hath made free 5. They partake of his Intercession the Lord Jesus is at the right hand of the Father on their behalf Heb. 9. 24. he is speaking good words to God for them continually and his intercession is powerful Oh with what great Arguments can Christ back all the requests that he makes to his Father for them even from what himself hath done and suffered and satisfied 6. They shall partake with Christ in his Glory many of them are
Soul what art thou that thou lookest so coy upon Jesus Christ I would fain have thee understand thy self a little Why I pray thee consider what Portion is Jesus Christ like to have with thee if he should have thee What canst bring to him Canst thou bring any thing to him but a broken ruin'd undone condition 'T is true thou hast a deal of thine own but what is it A deal of sin a deal of misery a deal of deformity a deal of poverty If these things will make thee rich thou hast enough of them but as for any thing else thou hast it not nothing at all to render thee desirable or lovely in Christs eyes and yet doth he offer love to thee and woo thee as heartily as if thou wert some great and excellent person and hadst riches and beauty and worthiness tho alas if ever he have thee he must clothe thee from top to toe And yet wilt thou refuse him why I marvel at thy Pride You know 't is counted an odious thing by the common Proverb that goes among us to be Poor and Proud so sinner what art so Proud and yet art so Poor The Lord in mercy shew thee what thou art 6. You will be guilty of Cruelty to your selves I might stand upon that of Cruelty to us the Ministers of Christ who take all this pains with you as though God did beseech you by us to pray you in Christs stead to be reconciled unto God Beloved if we should spend our strength and spirits as we do in earnest intreaties of you to close with Christ and you should not be perswaded would you not shew in this a great deal of hardness of heart against Christ's Embassadors in suffering them to weary and wear out themselves in pleading with you to repent and believe the Gospel and all in vain I tell you the account of this will lie heavy upon you another day that you should let our Strength and Spirit and Labours run to waste You must needs think that the pains that the Ministers of Christ take with you in this kind of work are very spending to their outward man their Strength is not the strength of Stones nor their Flesh of Brass therefore there should be some pity towards them and you should not by your delays and backwardness to imbrace their Message put a kind of necessity upon them even to lay out themselves beyond their strength But now to come nearer to you What Cruelty do you shew to your selves by not closing with Christ Saith Wisdom that is Christ himself Prov. 8. 36. He that sinneth against me sinneth against his own soul The great hurt of all is that which you do your selves by refusing of Christ you are with your own hands making weapons of Death to destroy your selves If you would study which way in all the World to do your selves the greatest mischief 't is in this to neglect this great Salvation I tell you In this you take the shortest cutt that can be to manifest that you have no greater enemy than your selves And this is the reason why the Lord will condemn at the last day every Christ-refusing sinner for self destruction Oh Sirs you are not in a right sense self-lovers till you are Christ-receivers 'T is true you have a carnal self love but that 's but a love to sin 't is not a love to the soul and therefore 't is not the right self-love which teacheth one to look after ones own everlasting Salvation next to the Glory of GOD. 7. You 'll be guilty of undervaluing the highest mercies Consider you are offered as precious things as God himself can give to his Creatures what can he give more than Himself and his Son and Spirit his everlasting Love and everlasting Life his Pardon his Promises Why you 'll be found despisers of all these if you don't come to Christ And what is it nothing in your account to be a Child of God to have all your sins blotted out to be justified and sanctified and saved Is it nothing to be delivered from the curse of God and the wrath to come Methinks you should be dealing with your own thoughts a little thus Why what shall I let these great things go a great God and a great Saviour and a great Reward Certainly Friends if you undervalue these things 't is because you overvalue other things you overvalue your sins and you overvalue the world and you overvalue your own righteousness If you could but count these loss you would count Christ to be gain Phil. 3. 7. 8. You 'll be guilty of Hypocrisie What! do you come hither and seem to be a people that would close with Christs offers of Grace and yet when all comes to all you will not do it What Hypocrisie what double dealing is this You put us in hope by your attendance upon the Means that you will give up your selves to Christ and upon this account we are glad to see every one of you here hoping that you will be willing to list your selves into the number of Christ's true Disciples and now what won't you be sincere Shall your faces be towards him and your hearts against him Will you not be as you seem Pray be down-right with us give in your Souls to what you are about This is no place to dissemble with God and with his Ordinances and therefore as in 1 Pet. 2. 1 2. Laying aside all guile and hypocrisies As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby 9. You 'll be guilty of Vnbelief You that close not with Christ you believe him not We tell you he came into the world to save sinners we tell you that there is mercy and pardon and life for you if you come unto him but you believe not our report if you close not with him you believe not the Scripture you believe not the Gospel See 1 Joh. 5. 9. This is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son Shall God testifie these things concerning Christ which we preach to you and shall he not be believed Will you make God a liar vers 10. 10. You 'll be guilty of Foolishness What not to accept of an offer that is so much for your good Is there any wisdom in this Do you use to do thus about the things of the World Come eat of my bread Forsake the foolish Prov. 9. 5 6. Observe here we shall be among the fools till we close with Christ 11. You 'll be guilty of Presumption You talk of your hope to be saved what and not close with Christ Why 't is high presumption in you a tempting a daring of God 12. You 'll be guilty of Vnprofitableness Why till you close with Christ what good do you do This is that which must enter you into a holy fruitful life without this you have not laid the foundation of any spiritual walking Glorifying of God begins here hence it