your estates for the reformation of religion for the getting of the truthâ— and ordinances of God to be in freedom amongst us We know that both the state and necessity of our brethren cals for free liberal hearts and you that have the crown of glory in regard of age c. are to go before others be you free to lay out for them Remember it is reported of the Romans for the honor of them that at the very time that Hanibal was in the feild they would be purchasing of those fields when their enemy was there and would give a round sume for them Be not so distrustful but be willing to disburse in this way that may be so much for the reliefe of our brethren in Ierland and for the setting up of the gospel there though for the present there be some hazards Ordinarily those that are Old are ful of fears and distrust but of al they should be the freest from them And in the last place 10. Let your praiers be and your imbracing of the gospel so for the present as you may have hope when you die that you shal leave the gospel as an inheritance to your children afterwards with what comfort may an aged man or woman die unlesse they may have hope the gospel shal be left to their children Not many years since when old people died that had any sight in the waies of God they died with trembling hearts for they thought Now I am going and what miseries my Child may be brought to see I know not it may be he may be brought up in popery and Idolitry but now when you die you may have a hope to leave the Gospel as an inheritance to your Children especialy if your prayers be strong and your imbracements of it as it ought to be It is said of Justin the younger that he ran mad with this conceite that the Roman Empire should decay in his time he was so extreamly perplexed with such a thought So it should be with every generation what that the gospel should decay and the entail and evidence of it be cut off in my time it should go near every one of us and therefore incourage your selves and let there be a youthful vigour in your spirits to see to propagate the Gospel that you may have hopes to leave it to your posterities when you are gone and it is not longe you shal have it for consider you have had a blessed talant of grace in the time God hath afforded to you I dare say that there was never eighty years since the world began so happy for the revelation of the mistry of Godlyness as hath bin for these last eighty years they that have lived them have had such an eighty years that cul out any eighty years since the begining of the world never had a nation such an eighty years as this nation hath had therefore know that you have much to answer for and remember this If you have any Godliness at al you have made many covenants and vows to God in your times fulfil them before you dy die not in Gods debt you have put up many praiers and every prayer is an ingagement to you in the waies of Godliness and if you thus beautify your Crown when you come to die O! how sweet wil death be to you your pilow wil be soft when you come to die if you can say so according to your measure as Christ did in Joh. 17. Father glorifie me with thy selfe I have finished the work thou hast given me to do Think but with your selves you that are ancient if you were to die whether you are able to say thus as Christ did for so you may say in your measure though not so perfectly as Christ did Father glorifie me with thy selfe I have finished the work thou hast given me to do Thou knowest it hath bin my care in the daies of my poor pilgrimage to finish this great work thou gavest me to finish in this world O! How sweet wil death be to such an one that shal die so ESE 3 One word to you that are young and so I have done al Is it such a crown of Glory to be found Old in the waies of righteousness Do you then begin to be Godly betimes that if you live in this world you may have this crown set upon your heads when you are ancient for is it not better for you to be plants of Gods house then weeds upon the dunghil Those that are wicked are but as weeds upon a dunghil but you that are Godly are as plants in Gods own orchard in the last of the Romans 3. We find that Andromicus and Junia are commended because they were in Christ before saint Paul They were in Christ before me It is an honorable thing to be in Christ before others this is honorable when you are yong and then going on in the waies of Godliness al your young time and so in your midle age and til you come to be Old Here in my text you have this crown prepared for you for so saith the Holy Ghost here The hoary head is a crown of Glory if it be found in the waies of righteousness FINIS
Gods rich grace even in this one branch of the Gospel his beginning the work of Reconciliation Vse 2. And then Another Use of it may be this To teach us not to think much but to begin to seek peace even with our inferiors learn we by the example of God that if there be falling out between one neighbor and another or between one friend and another not to think much to begin the work of peace We think it would be a dishonor for us to yeild so far we say what is he not my inferior shal I send to him Why it is Gods glory to do it God doth not only do it to us but he accounts it his glory so to do It is a great part of the glory of God that he is willing to yeild to us and to send to us about tearms of Reconciliation And shal that which makes God to be glorious be accounted a dishonor to thee shal it make thee unglorious when it makes God to be glorious If it be an excellency in God suerly it is no baseness no dishonour in thee What a proud heart hast thou that thou shouldest think that that doth debase thee too much which makes God to be a glorious God that that which doth set so much glory upon God should in thy thoughts put dishonor upon thee as if thy honor were to be higher than the honor of God himself Certainly those men that are of such implacable dispositions at least they wil never yeild to begin to make up their peace with others but they wil stand it out to the uttermost though their consciences tell them that they themselves have done a great deal of wrong and that they could be willing there were a peace only they wil not begin This proud and stout spirit in men is an argument that they have not been accquainted with Gods reconciling of himself unto them for Gods beginning to be reconciled unto thee wil make thee to begin reconciliation with thy inferior You wil say why should not he begin first It is true why should he not it is his duty indeed and so it is our duty to begin with God but suppose he doth not begin thou shouldest rather pitty him and look upon him in so much the more miserable Condition and know that though thou hast the advantage of him yet thou art to be like unto God in this particular USE 3. Thirdly A third Use of Gods beginning the work of Reconciliation with us is the Use that the Apostle himself makes in Rom. 5.10 If when we were enimies to God we were reconciled unto him by the death of his Son how much more being reconciled we shal be saved by his life here you see the Apostles inference upon Gods gratiousness in himself he being willing to be reconciled when we were enimies much more being reconciled we shal be saved as if he should have said al the goodness of God towards poor wretched sinful Creatures when we were desperate enemes to him and never thought of coming in to be reconciled unto him yet the Lord himself finds out a way and begins the work of making peace between him and our souls surely then being reconciled unto him we shal be saved What shal God when we were a going on in a desperate way of enmity against him shal this God come then to us and have thoughts of peace and Love and mercy to us surely when we are reconciled when we have hearts in some measure to love this God and to serve and fear him he wil not cast us off certainly no it is better with us now than before When we were enemies unto him and desperate enemies it had been then no wonder if God had cast us off and sent us to our own places to lie for ever under the infinite burden of his wrath but the Lord had then thoughts of peace towards us it is therefore now far otherwise with us though it is true we have many corruptions in us but we can appeal unto God that our Souls love him and that the desire of our hearts are to fear and serve him we can in some measure be able to say Lord thou that knowest al things knowest that there is nothing in the world our Souls desire more than to overcome these Corruptions there is no burden in al the world like unto the burden of sin there is nothing so grievous to us as this that we have such vile hearts and natures that can serve him no better than we do and if God should ask us what we would have from him we can say in the sincerity of our souls Lord thou knowest we would not ask Riches or Honors to be Kings and Princes in the world but Oh that we might be delivered from the remayner of the corruption that is in our hearts from such and such distempers of our Souls whereby we dishonor thy name continually Certainly if the hearts of men be in this disposition they may gather a comfortable argument to themselves and conclude thus There was a time that I went on as a dsperate enemy unto God and I lived without God in the world and never minded the power and the majesty and the Dominion of God over me but as if I were born to nothing else but to sin against God I followed my own lusts with al manner of greediness but behold then even at that time the Lord had thoughts of mercy towards me and he took me perhaps when I came to the hearing of the word with a purpose to contemne and despise it and to ieer at it yet at that very time he took me and spake to my heart and shewed me Jesus Christ and his mercy and then he broke my heart now the Lord knows though when I come to the word I profit not as I should yet I come with a heart desiring to profit and I would fain know the mind of God in it and before I come I go to God and desire him to shew me some part of his wil Wil God now cast me off when being a disperate enemy to him he had thoughts of mercy towards me wil he cast me off for those infirmities that I have now I know I have not a heart opposite to that Grace though I have a heartful of distempers I am not an enemy unto God as I was before and an enemy to his people and ordinances No my heart is towards him my heart is towards his people and towards his Ordinances and was God reconciled to me then even whil'st I was an enemy and wil he now cast me off for weaknesses and infirmities Certainly it cannot be O make much of that place of the Apostle If when we were enemies unto God we were reconciled unto him much more saith he certainly now God wil not cast us off but we shal be saved That is a third use that we may make of Gods begining the work of Reconciliation USE 4. A Fourth is this
Was God beginning with us and did he so begin with us then let not us be backward with God let us not hang off in any duty when God cals us to do it but presently come in let it not be long before we perform any duty let us not stand out and defer with God and say I wil and I wil hereafter certainly that Soul that comes to understand the goodness of God how God began with us in making of peace before ever we had thoughts of it it wil be a mighty argument to put the Soul on to make hast to the doing of any duty which God calls for and to be speedy in the Service of God because he was pleased at first to begin But we pass that of Gods beginning to be reconciled unto us and come to that which is indeed the main in this point of Reconciliation in the Text and even the principal of al the Doctrines that are in the Gospel To wit That God was in Christ Reconcileing the world to himself CHAP. 12. Doct. Our Reconciliation with God is made in Christ Seven things propounded for opening the Doctrin YOu have read much of the blessedness of Reconciliation what a happy condition it is to be at peace with God especially in these times of war and trouble when there is so little peace in the Land And you have read that God begins the work But how doth he do it observe it is not God meerly considered as Creator of Heaven and Earth that infinite first being of al things But the first thing propounded in the first Chapter to be opened is this It is God in Christ reconciling him to the world God and man were enemies an enmity and a breach there was and the breach was infinitely wide and dreadful how shal God and man now come to be reconciled you wil say the Lord is a God of infinite mercy and he sees his poor creatures must needs perish eternally if he come to take advantage against them therefore it may be God was willing to pass by al and so free of himself and his own free Grace to be reconciled to such and such creatures as have sinned against him and so Reconciliation was made up No this was not the way there is more required than this Let God and the creature be put together without any Further Consideration and al the mercy of God on the one side and al the Cries and tears and repentings of the creature on the other side this wil never make up a peace This you must know is the Doctrine of the Gospel that man having made a breach betwixt God and himself and consider God meerly in himself as he is himself without relation to a Mediator and then take al the mercy of God on one side and al the tears and repentings the Cries and Prayers of the creature on the otherside and both these together can never make peace What must there be more you wil say That which we have in the Text God in Christ reconciling the world It is not God in himself reconciling the world to himself but it is God in Christ So that there must come somthing between God and us as to the matter of Reconciliation or otherwise there can never be a Reconciliation made This thing I have often had occasion to treat of and I am very willing upon every occasion to set this before those that I am to preach unto for this is the great truth of the Gospel and truly al our preaching should be even to bring this truth home to the hearts of people and whatsoever we preach if it be not in order to this we lose our labor and God hath little glory from what we do except it be in order to this or as it may be some way a fruit of it So then the point is this Doct. Our Reconciliation with God is made in Christ As we read of Jonah when the storms and tempests werein the Sea and when the waves roared and when the ship and the Marriners and al were like to be swallowed up when jonah was cast into the sea presently there was a calm So the stormes and tempests of Gods everlasting wrath are up against a Sinner and the waves of that wrath are ready to swallow him up But now Christ is cast into the heart of a man and Christ being presented as one standing between God and man al comes to be at a Calme When the Disciples were upon the Sea and the Sea troublesome yet when Christ came and rebuked the Sea and the winds all was stil So when there are troubles of Conscience nothing can rebuke those troubles of Conscience nothing can bring in peace and quiet into the soul but only Christ coming into the heart God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself There is nothing more plain in the Scripture than this that it is God in Christ that reconciles the world to himself It is evident enough in the text but I wil give you a Scripture or two for it and then proceed to the opening of the point That place in Rom. 5 1. is most cleer Being justified by faith we have peace with God How through our Lord Jesus Christ no peace with God but through our Lord Jesus Christ It is an easy matter for us to say so but to apprehend the necessity of this that it must be through our Lord Jesus Christ that we have peace with God to apprehend this cleerly and throughly it is a great matter and those know much of the minde of God that know this experimentally and powerfully In Eph. 2.13.14 In Jesus Christ you that were far off are made nigh through his blood for he is our peace This is spoken in two regards he is our peace with God it is apparent that it must be spoken in that regard for so it follows in verse 18. through him we have access unto the father but it is spoken of Christs being our peace in regard of uniting us to the Church of God to be made one with the people of God but no saith God here is a reconciliation are conciliation with God and then a union with the people of God with the church of God the partition wal is broken down through Christ and those that were as doggs before are now set up at the table and there is a peace made between Gods people and us for so Christ makes peace that way in taking away the enmity that the people of God might be one together as wel as they are one with God So in Collo 1 21 22. You that were somtimes alienated and enimies in your mindes by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled How In the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blamless and unreprovable in his fight and that in verse the 20. is remarkable for this purpose have saith he made peace How through the blood of his Cross by him to reconcile althings
satisfie you for what they have done This is appearent for in the Scripture where ever there is any speaking of Reconciliation you have mention of our being reconciled to God as wel as Gods being reconciled to us and indeed the Scripture doth make more mention of our Reconciling being enemies to God than of any thing of Gods working Reconciliation for us And that place that I quoted before in the Collosians is exceedging cleer for this namely that Christ hath undertaken for our Reconciliation for you heard before in Collo 1.20 That he had made peace through the blood of his Cross He hath undertaken to satisfie and the undertaking of it cost him his blood our Reconciliation cost Christs death But then in verse 21. He saith further You that were somtimes alinated and enemies in your minds by wicked works so it is in your Books but in the Original it is Enemies in your minds in wicked works not that you came to be enemies by your works for that is the advantage indeede that the adversaries have and say it is not a sinful Nature in us but we come by action to act wicked habits but it is you are enemees in your minds in works that is you did lay out al the enmity of your minds against God you have natural enmity in your minds against God and in your minds you do lay out and improve this strength of your enmity in your wicked works against God But saith he you that were thus allienated and enemies in your minds in wicked works he hath reconciled to present you holy and unblameable and inreprovable in his sight Here are two waies by which Christ reconciles us unto God he hath reconciled us by the blood of his Cross and then in the Body of his flesh through death to present us holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight he hath undertaken this latter as wel as that other and he hath undertaken that we shal not remain enemies unto God eternally but that there shal be a time when we shal be brought in to God and have gracious dispositions put into us so as we shal become frieâ—ds unto God and friends unto al that are Gods There are many that speak much of Christ in regard of his satisfaction and what the transaction was between God and him and they think that because Christ hath undertaken to satisfie Gods wrath what need we care for any thing what is it though we live as we list it is to no purpose what we do whether we do il or whether we do wel for Christ hath done al in the work of Reconciliation But my Brethren see the mistake Christ hath not only undertaken satisfaction and to reconcile God unto us but he hath undertaken with God the Father likewise to reconcile us unto him not to satisfie God alone but to bring us into a gracious fram and disposition of heart likewise and therefore except Christ do both the truth is he doth neither It is true the one may be done from al eternity Christ may undertake the one and undertake that he wil do the other also but until Christ hath actually done the other thou canst not conclude that he hath done the former That man that perswades himself that Jesus Christ hath done the former when as he hath not done the latter deceivs himself and therefore to beleeve in Christ as a Reconciler is to beleeve in Christ as undertaking these two things First undertaking with God the Father to make satisfaction unto him And then Secondly undertaking for us to bring us in to the Father likewise and as Christ must do the one as well as the other so he wil be as faithfull in the performing the Second as he was in the undertaking and dischargeing the First Few people think of this they think much of Christs undertaking to satisfie Gods Justice and so to Reconcile them unto God but they have seldome thoughts of this that Christ hath also undertaken to chang their hearts and to make them friends unto God But you that go on in wicked works being enemies to God in your minds in wicked works perhaps you think God wil be Reconciled unto you through Christ and when you die you shal be saved through him Remember this point That Christ the Reconciler hath undertaken with God the Father both to satisfie his Justice and to subdue your hearts so that you shal no longer be enemies unto him and therefore if Christ have not done the other in your hearts it is an evident argument that for ought that yet appears he never undertook to satisfie the Justice of God for you O! what an argument is here for men to be restless and unquiet in their natural condition You that go on in a sinful and ungodly way you may certainly know that there is for the present no evidence that Jesus Christ hath undertaken with the Father to make any Reonciliation for you for if he had he hath also undertaken on your parts to bring in your hearts to the Father and to make you friends with him as wel as him friends with you On the other side any of you that find the work of the Spirit in your hearts that begin to find Christ subduing your hearts unto God that whereas heretofore you did live in waies of enmity unto God but now you begin to find the power of Christ in his word beating down those proud hearts of yours you find Christ changing of your minds and so bringing of your hearts into subjection unto God Bless God for this and know that this is part of Chists undertaking with God the Father and in that he doth this in your hearts it is an Evidence that he hath undertaken to satisfie Gods Justice for all your sins Thus you see how Christ is a Recâ—â—â—â—â—er and Mediator CHAP. 16. How what Christ hath done for Our Reâ—oncilition come to be made Ours 1. Christ the head of the second Covenant There is a fourth thing which I propounded in the twelfe Chapter and that is How we come to be reconciled to God in Christ It is true Chist hath done it you see But how do we come to have what Christ hath done made ours that so we may be reconciled unto God In a word thus Christ is looked upon by God the Father as the Head of the Second Covenant and so we are looked upon in him as Covenanters and as joyned together in one body in him this is the way of Christs Reconciling God us the way of the Conveyance of al the fruits of that Reconciliation unto us This is the Councel of God concerning the Children of men that they may come to be reconciled and saved As his Son hath undertaken the thing so it is not only that he should stand between the Father and us It s remarkable there must be a Union between him and us and he must present us to God the the Father as one Body with
were honorable So is the Reconciliation between God and us it is so honorable a Reconciliation that it wil be the glory of God before the Angels and Saints to al Eternity and it is that which God doth much rejoyce in as being exceedingly pleased with it seeing his honor is made up in this Reconciliation That is a fifth Consequence from hence Consequence 6. Sixtly Followeth this If we be reconciled to God in Christ Hence our Reconciliation is in such a way as doth altogether debase man and though it be upon honorable tearms yet it is in a way wherein man hath no cause to glory in himselfe It is the greatest way for the lowing and humbling of man that posibly can be there could be no way devised wherein man should be reconciled to God and yet be abased so much as he is in this way of Reconciliation when he truly Considereth it For it is true we are reconciled but how we began it not our selves we did nothing in it our selves al was done by Christ therefore in Rom. 3.27 saith the Apostle where is bousting It is excluded by what Law of works no but by the Law of Faith God indeed hath done great things for us but al that which is done for us is not thankworthy to our selves it was al done without us God was in Christ Reconciling the world to himselfe and therfore though it is in honorable tearms in respect of God yet when we seriously Consider of it we have ground and Cause sufficient to be abased in our selves even to the very dust And then Consequence 7. Yet further Our Reconciliation being in Christ Hence it follows That it is a most firme and lasting Reconciliation an everlasting Reconciliation as it is in Christ here is the ground of the Everlastingness of it Hence it is that there is nothing can make a Breach again between God and us so as we should become Enimies againe unto him so that when we understand this Reconciliation with these properties and Consequences then we understand aright what it is to be Reconciled unto God Consequence 8. There is one Consequence or poperty mor of this Reconciliation that I must ad to what I mentioned before And that is this That if it be in Christ that we are Reconciled unto God Then certainly the work of Reconciliation is a very difficult work it is a mighty hard thing Heaven and Earth must be moved before this can be done and God even shakes the Heaven and the Earth in this work It was the difficultest work that ever God himself undertooke and the difficultest work the Son undertook for when he undertook it you find that he did sweat at it and before he had done it it cost him his very hearts blood therefore it was not an ordinary and slight work to reconcile God man together but a most difficult work because it was in Christ CHAP. 19 Three Reasons why God would be Reconciled to the world in Christ and no otherway 1. Because God the Son is most glorified this way 2. Because God the Father is most glorified this way 3. Because there was no such way as this to melt the hearts of sinners Or to encourage them to come to God BUt there yet remains to shew you the Reasons Why God would Reconcile himself to the world this way in Christ and no other way And for that I shal only give you these Three Reasons Reason 1. First Because in this way the Father glorified his Son had it not been for this way of Attonement we had but little understood the glory of the second Person in Trinity No nor indeed of the Third Person nor the distinction of the Persons and therefore before the Gospel came to be made known to the Sons of men the distinction of the Persons in Trinity was very little made known And in those places wherein the Gospel is not revealed and made known there is nothing fully known of the distinction of the Persons in the Trinity Now for the glory of the Trinity and more especially for the glory of the second Person the Son of God who is the special Person in the work of Reconciation hath God chosen this way of Reonciliation It is true indeed the Third Person and the Spirit is sent by Christ and in the Consummation of the work of Reconciliation the glory of that Person appears but the main weight of the work lies upon the Son and for the glory of the Son of God hath he appointed this way to be Reconciled to the world And indeed it is such a work as the Son himself doth exceedingly glory in and accounts this to be a great part of his glory that he is appointed by God the Father to be the Mediator to reconcile God and man together I besech you observe this this work of Reconcilation betweene God and us it is that which Christ himself doth glory in and it is that which he counteth next unto the glory that he hath Personally with the Father as he is generated of him from all Eternity next unto that Jesus Christ glories in this that he is appointed to be a Mediator between the Father sinful man And that Christ himself doth glory in this work I wil give you a Scripture or two to prove it That place which we have in the 13. John 31. is remarkable for this Therefore when he was gone out Jesus said Now is the Son of man Glorified God is glorified in him Glorified now When It was when Judas betrayed him and when he was going to shed his blood and to die for the sin of man and to Compleat and Perfect this work of Attonement or Reconciliation Now saith he is the Son of man Glorified as if so be he should have said I was indeed designed by the Father from all Eternity to undertake this work of Reconciliation and I came into the world for this very end that I might do it and all this while I have been a doing of it in a way of preparation but the main work is stil behind for me to accomplish and perfect this work of Reconciliotion but now it is at hand Now I am going to die and this my death wil bring an end to the work and now saith he is the Son of man glorified yea here is the glory that I expected from al Eternity this is the glory that I rejoyced in when I was in the Bosome of the Father for then I knew of this I knew I was appointed to be a Mediator I knew it would cost me my Blood when I should come to compleat that work and now the time is come when it is to be performed and therefore now the Son of man is glorified I say Jesus Christ accounteth it his glory that he is appointed to stand as a Mediator between God and us And therefore you shal find that when the Scripture speaks of Christs being appointed for this work by God that
pleasure in the death of a sinner c. As I live saith the Lord God They were pineing away in their wickedness lying down in their sins now as I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn and therefore turn turn O! turn Why wil ye die As if a poor sinner should lie down and say the Lord is provoked against me and he wil not be reconciled to me No the wrath of God is out against me he wil revenge himself of me the Lord looks upon a sinner lying in this manner and he bids his servants go and say to him the Lord swears by his own life and saith to this sinner As I live I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner I swear by my self because I have no greater to swear by CHAP. 66. The Sixt Argument Manifesting the exceeding willingness of God and Christ to be reconciled to sinners ANother Argument is this wherein God doth manifest in his word that above al works that are pleasing to him and that he would have people most to respect in this world is the work of beleeving in his Son and laying hold upon him and so upon that mercy of his that he doth offer in his Son and that is the great work that he is more pleased withal then al the works they do and not doing that it is the greatest offence whereby they can offend God they cannot offend God more in doing any thing in the world And this shews the willingness of God to be reconciled unto sinners God being pleased with a sinner that doth come in to take hold of his mercy And that you have in John 6.29 This is the work of God that ye beleeve on him whâ—â—â—â—â—ch sent by way of excllency above all other therâ—â—â—â— as if God should say If you should do the 〈◊〉 famous work that ever man did in this world I would not delight in it I would not care for that in comparision of this work of comming in and beleeving in my Son Is there a man that should be the great Conqueror of the whole world a man that were famous in al the world Let a poor Soul a penitent heart come in and close with Gods grace in Jesus Christ and rowl it self upon mercy in Christ for Reconciliation this poor Soul though the meanest that were possible to be immagined in the whole Nation is a more glorious work in Gods Eye then the most glorious work of the greatest Conqueror of the earth If thou wert able to rule the Sea if thou wert able to govern al the world if thou wert able to command the Heavens it would not be such a glorious work in the Eyes of God as that is to come and lay hold upon his Son as he is tendred in the Gospel If you should give al your Almes to the poor and your body to be burnt yet it were nothing to the work of beleeving in his Son In John 3 God is most displeased with not beleeving in his Son As if God should say it 's true you are naturally enemies to me and you have lived in waies of enmity against me O! you have provoked me al your daies when you were yong a drunken unclean prophane Youth a Lyar a Swearer a Sabboth-breaker c. but yet you live to hear the voice of the Gospel sounding in your ears and to have the offer of Jesus Christ to your Souls for the pardon of your sins Now be it known to you al the Oaths that ever you swore al your Blasphemies al your Drunkenness al your Uncleaness al al your Sabboth-breaking put them altogether they wil not provoke me so much as rejecting of my Grace in Jesus Christ that I tender to you That is the condemnation of the world al the other iniquities wil not sink you down so deep in Hel as not comming to beleeve in Jesus Christ to lay hold upon the Grace of God that is tendred to you in the Gospel Now is not God very willing to be reconciled when he shal manifest himself thus unto sinful men CHAP. 67. The Seventh Argument Manifesting the exceeding willingness of God and Christ to be reconciled to Sinners YEt further God manifests himself willing to be reconciled in this that when he sees that notwithstanding al these expressions that have been before that we have spoke of if sinners wil not come in God he wil seek them seeing they wil not seek to him God seeks himself to sinners First that is a point that you have heard before that God is aforehand with us God comes to us because we wil not seek to him If a man be fallen out with another he should come and seek to him but he wil not because he hath such a stout heart Wel saith he that I may convince him that I am not such an austeer man as he conceivs me to be I wil seek to him first and I wil not only seek to him but I wil go to him and beseech him and that you have in the Text Christ is said to come to save and to seek that which was lost we were al lost and we would not seek to him but he was fain to come yea he came from the bosom of his Father He came into the world and his great Errand was to seek those that were lost and when he had found them he beseeches them to be reconciled unto him CHAP. 68. The Eight Argument Manifesting the exceeding willingness of God to be reconciled to sinners FUrther God manifests himself willing to be reconciled in this in the waies of his dealing with wretched sinful men in sending his Grace to allure the hearts of sinners the Lord sends his mercy to spread al the beauty and lustre thereof before the Sons of men al the excellency and Glory of it before the Soul that it may entice the Soul of the sinner to come in unto him he doth not meerly send and seek to him but that he might overcome the hearts of men with love and mercy this is Gods way to cause his mercy to stand before the Soul and to spread the beauty and excellency of it that it move and entice and allure the hearts of men that so God as it were by coards of Love might draw the hearts of poor sinful men unto him If God did but scare men so come in to him it were somwhat but it is this which we have cause to bless God for if the Lord come in never such a terrible way to force us to come in that so there might be made up peace between God and us the Lord besides that way of terror and wrath though somtimes he wil use that way to stop men in the course of their sins and to force them to come in he goes forth and doth send his mercy to stand before the Soul and to spread the beauty excellency and glory of it before the heart of
upon their death beds when Gods justice is out against them and Gods wrath upon them and they see themselves plunging into the bottomless gulfe then they wil pray and cry for mercy Oh! thou shewest thy selfe to be a stranger to the waies of God and to the minde of God and to the covenant of God if thou wert one of Gods people then thou wouldest know that when God is in a way of Mercy then is the best time of praying for one Mercy lets in another and then is the best time of praying I would argue thus Is it more likely that God when the day of his patience and longe sufering continues to thee that then he should deny thee mercy I say is it like he should deny thee mercy then and yet when the day of his wrath and justice cometh then he should bestow Mercy upon thee what an absurd apprehension of things is here Thou criest God wil deny thee Mercy and grace now now is the day of his long-suffering patience and wil he deny it now and yet is he like to give it thee when the day of his wrath and justice cometh upon thy sick bed and death bed that may be the day of vengance of wrath If thou hast wisdome to thy soul seeke God whilst Mercy is coming and while he is in a way of Mercy that is the fittest time to pray and therefore take it this day and be convinced you carnal hearts that have no minde to pray but when they are in their afflictions but those hearts are most spiritual that can pray most when God is coming most in mercy to them but the time of affliction is the most unlikly time of getting any thing from God I had thought to have spoken divers things about that USE 2. If this be so when God is in a way of mercy one mercy wil let out another hence al the Saints of God are taught and admonished to observe and take diligent notice of the connexion of Gods mercies towards them for certainly this is Gods way to them one mercy maketh way for another and if thou belongest to God that hath been his way to thee all thy life time even from his Electing thee only now it is thy duty to be observant how God hath made one mercy a door of hope to another mercy and it is a special work to observe Gods waies towards a Christian a special work of the Sabbath many of you especially you that are not book-learned you say you know not how to spend the Sabbath after the publique exercise is done but must walk up and down the streets c. here is a work for them that are not book-learned to spend the Sabbath in If thou beest godly then sometimes every Sabbath recollect all the waies of Gods merciful providence towards thee ever since thy Youth and Childhood and how one hath had a connexion to another how one mercy hath let in another mercy and that lets in a third and that third a fourth and you shal see how the track of Gods goodness hath been towards you al your daies and that wil be a most sweet meditation for you wherein God shal have a great deal of Glory the 92. Psalme is a Psalme appointed for the Saâ—â—ath and you shal find that it is a Psalme of contemplation of the works of God and the waies of Gods mercies trwards his people it is a special way to understand the connexion of things and the connexion of causes how one cause hath dependance upon another cause and that upon another and that upon another and this is the difference between Sence and Reason the bruit Beasts that have only sence they taste the sweetness of a thing but they never enquire after the cause but now the more rational any man is the more desires kindle in him to find out the connexion of causes If this be a sweet thing to a soul in a natural way to find out the connexion of causes O! how sweet is it to a gracious soul to find out the connexion and concatination of al the mercies and goodnesses of the Lord towards him in al the passages of his life and do it the rather because that the truth is Brethren this that I am speaking of now it is that wherein a principal part of the glorious inheritance of the Saints consisteth in the glory of Heaven wherein the happiness of the glorified souls there shal consist it wil be this that eternal Sabbath that shal be spent in Heaven wil amongst other things be spent in this work that I am speaking of in a contemplation of al the connexion and concatination of Gods merces towards those that are now in Heaven Now they have been connected and concatinated ever since they have had a being and so brought up to that height of glory Oh! what an infinite content the Saints shal have when God shal reveal al when they shal see into the councels of God and the wil of God so freely and into al his waies how they were chosen from al eternity and so to eternity and there they shal see every passage of Providence that they did not understand the meaning of before how it made way to such a mercy and that to another and that to another and so til they were brought to that fulness of glory they shal I say be eternally contemplating thus of the connexion of Gods mercies and praising and blessing of God that did thus work and coennex things together for their good If thou hopest to come to Heaven to be thus excercised to give God glory there Oh! begin this work here for we pray Gods wil may be done on earth now as it is done in Heaven As on the contrary it wil be a great part of the torment of the damned that they shal there see how one work of Justice made way for another how one passage of Gods Providence made way to one Judgment and that to another and that to another and so til they were plunged into the bottomless pit for ever and the very sight how God wrought from one to another wil be torment enough to them Wel that is the Second to consider of the connexion of Gods mercies A Third Use of the Point is this USE 3. If this be so hence we are taught to entertain every mercy of God kindly and to make much of al Gods mercies if we belong to God every mercy comes but as a Messenger of further mercy Oh! entertain it wel entertain it kindly imbrace it make good use of it Indeed when the Prophet Elisha knew the Messenger of the King came to do mischief to him he bids them entertain him roughly at the door hardly at the door but Brethren every mercy that cometh to us if we be godly it cometh as a Messenger of good tidings it cometh to bring more mercy with it and therefore let us entertain it kindly at the door let us