Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A64959
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The day of grace in which the chief of sinners may be turn'd and healed / by Nathanael Vincent.
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Vincent, Nathanael, 1639?-1697.
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1669
(1669)
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Wing V406; ESTC R26347
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73,032
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192
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thy thirst and satisfie thy longing Sin is the disturber of thy peace therefore let sin be cast away with hatred and trouble that ever thou didst give it entertainment Come come to me without delay I will be to thee a God I will be all unto thee thou shalt never lack as long as I am all-sufficient Hereupon the soul yields Thou art my haven O my God till I am arrived at thee I am in a storm and every moment in langer to be cast away in thee only through thy Son I can have peace oh therefore let me be glew'd to thee that nothing may cause a separation well may the believing soul return unto its rest since God is his and the peace which is made shall never quite be broken 2. Another lesson which we may learn is this The wretchedness of the ungodly for there is no peace to them Isai 57. 21. There is no peace saith my God unto the wicked And the more wicked the less peace and the longer you continue wicked the less hopes that ever there will be any I grant indeed that 't is ordinary for wicked ones to cry peace to themselves but this false and imaginary peace is as bad nay worse then none at all 1. The peace of the wicked is founded upon ignorance they know not what cause they have to fear and be troubled the sins which they commit the God whom they every hour provoke and the vengeance unto which they are liable is not in all their thoughts These things they are willingly ignorant of 2 Pet. 3. 5. 2. This peace of the wicked many times 't is the consequent of judicial hardness their eyes are shut their consciences are cast into a dead sleep and are become past feeling no wonder if they enjoy a kind of quiet 3. This peace of the wicked is a great hindrance to their obtaining of true peace while they imagine their state is good and safe enough they will not seek to have it alter'd by means of this the strong man armed doth keep the house in more quiet and secure possession 4. This peace of the wicked is but of very short continuance 't is chased away like a pleasant dream or night vision and the succeeding wo and trouble will be the more intollerable because unlookt for it will come upon them A peace the wicked have but 't is without ground and worse then none True peace what have they to do with as long as the wickednesses which are practised delighted in and pleaded for are so many 1. The ungodly have no peace in life The Lord is their enemy he hates them is angry with them walks contrary to them Hark how he proclaims war Ezek. 5. 8. Therefore thus saith the Lord God Behold I even am against thee and I will execute judgments in the midst of thee And as the Apostle sayes If God be for us who can be against us So the words may be inverted If God be against us what doth it signifie who is for us 2. Much less have the ungodly any peace at death The end of the perfect and upright is peace but the transgressours shall be destroyed together the end of the wicked shall be cut off Psal 37. 37 38 Then their hopes will prove a Spiders web their confidence as the giving up of the ghost Perhaps when the snares of death are upon them the pains of hell may get hold of them Conscience may be affrighted and they may be like wild Bulls in a net full of the fury of the Lord and the rebuke of God But if they dye stupid there is the less hope if there are no bands in their death 't is the more certain they will be bound immediately after and thrown into the lake of fire 3. The Judge will not find the ungodly in peace No no they were not diligent or desirous to be cleansed from their spots and filthiness How many sins unrepented of will accompany them to the Tribunal which will prove them enemies to God and which with a lowd united voice will cry for vengeance upon them 4. And will they find any peace in hell into which with a curse they must depart Can there be any ease any rest taken in those devouring flames How many things will the damned have to trouble them All the wrath of God stirr'd up against them The glory of his power manifesting it self in their destruction The reflections of Conscience upon the proffers of peace and life which were once made but madly sottishly despised and which should never never be made more Oh how will they be troubled and bowed down and mourn and wail and weep eternally USE II. Of Exhortation to the Lords Enemies O that you would be perswaded unto peace Many arguments I may fill my mouth with to prevail with you to be reconciled 1. Do but consider seriously what kind of enemy the Lord is and that consideration will make you afraid that he should be your enemy any longer 1. You cannot fly from his reach Though you exalt your selves as the Eagle though you set your nest among the Stars yet from thence the Lord can bring you down Obad. 4. Though you should go down to the bottom of the Sea and hide your selves at the earths centre yet there his hand can take you If you imagine that any refuge can secure you from God that refuge will be found a lye and will deceive you The Lord does fill both heaven and earth nay the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him how then is it possible any should fly from him 2. You cannot resist his power Far stronger creatures then you were not able to withstand the God of heaven The Dragon fought and his Angels but how easily were they overcome After that Jehu had slain Joram and Ahaziah the Kings of Israel and Judah we read that the Elders of Samaria were exceedingly afraid and said behold two Kings stood not before him how then shall we stand 2 Kings 10. 4 So may I say Behold the Angels that excel in strength stood not before the Lord he cast them when they sinned into chains which they can never break asunder And how then shall man be able to stand who dwelleth in a house of clay whose foundation is in the dust and who is crushed before the moth Sinner God will certainly be too hard for thee thou canst no more resist his power then a feather can bear up against a whirlwind or dried stubble defend it self from the fiercest â—ame 3. You cannot bear his indignation How doth David faint and cry out when a little of Gods anger was stirred up against him Remove thy stroak away from me I am consumed by the blow of thy hand Psal 39. 10. And if a little be so intollerable what will the whole weight be The Prophet brings in the unsensible creatures as if they had sense fearing and quaking when the Lord doth shew his wrath Nehem. 1. 5 6. The mountains
hinder thee 2. This Day of Grace is exceeding precious This is the very flower and cream of time What 's the reason the Psalmist begs the Lord would teach him to number his dayes aright Psal 90. 12. What 's the reason one Apostle exhorts See then that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time Eph. 5. 15 16. and another advises Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear 1 Pet. 1. 17. Surely these holy men saw more in time then most in the world are aware of they were sensible the present time contains the Day of Grace and that eternal Glory must now be got or lost for ever If there were no hope at all of being reconciled unto God of obtaining mercy and finding grace alass our time would be of no value But we may without prejudice to truth affirm that time is more precious then gold for now only Christ who is so precious is to be received now only the Soul which is so precious is to be secured The Apostle calls this the accepted time and the day of salvation If now we come the Lord will accept us and give his Son himself and freely all things to us and Salvation which since we are lost we so much need shall not be denied This Salvation is called Salvation of the Soul Heb. 10. 39. The better part the Jewel which the Destroyer principally aims at and designs to make his prey is secured This salvation also is affirmed to be great everlasting and salvation to the uttermost From the greatest evils the heirs of salvation are delivered everlastingly delivered and that good work which is begun in them shall be perfected to the uttermost and all of them shall stand in Glory as so many Monuments of Power and Mercy and Grace unto Eternity And is not the Day of Grace precious since a day of such salvation 3. This Day of Grace is a Day of Power Psal 110. 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power The Arm of the Lord is now revealed in making the report of the Gospel to be believed the same power is exerted in raising a sinner to the life of faith that was shewn in raising up Jesus our Lord from the dead Strong holds are pull'd down reasonings against Religion as if it were either absurd or intollerably burthensom are silenced Those lusts which before bare all the sway have a deadly wound which shall not be healed again Sins dominion is overthrown and the world is overcome 't is now under foot which used to have its seat in the very heart Thus believers find this day a day of power They are powerfully drawn to Jesus Christ and as powerfully upheld and supported by him And of this power the ungodly are not without some taste and experience Mighty convictions and restraints for a while they have but by degrees they grow stupid and get loose again and then fulfil their fleshly and their worldly lusts with the greater eagerness just as water being dam'd up when that restraint is taken away doth run with greater strength and speed for having been restrained 4. This Day of Grace it is but one when this is gone another is not to be expected In Nature there is a vicissitude of day and night even at midnight 't will not be many hours before the morning and the light return Soles occidere redire possunt but the night which follows after the Day of Grace is everlasting The abused light of the Gospel will be followed with that which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The blackness of darkness for ever Life indeed will return again at the general resurrection but another season of mercy will not be vouchsafed The Day of Grace is like the Dove which Noah sent the third time out of the Ark when once 't is flown away 't will return no more What mean the careless world to sport and play and sin away this golden season Every moment that slips by you is irrevocable and 't is but a little while and the whole stock will be spent of this accepted time Oh improve some of it at least before it be all gone If after death you were certain to be sent into the world again and to hear the joyful sound of the Gospel again and that the Lord again would try you and wait that he might be gracious then present carelessness were not altogether so much without apology But since immediately upon your dissolution you must go to your long your eternal home either of weal or wo oh let Eternity which is just at the door be provided for before this your day be ended Thus you have the Properties of the Day of Grace In the fourth place I am to lay down the Reasons why such a Day of Grace is granted Several reasons of this may be assigned 1. One shall be drawn from the Son's Incarnation and taking our nature on him Hence it comes to pass that unto man such kindness is expressed The Apostle sayes Verily he took not on him the nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham Heb. 2. 16. He was made in the likeness of men therefore mankind is the dearer to him There is a difference put between apostate Angels and fallen men I speak even of those that through their own wickedness and folly miss of salvation The reprobate Angels never had a remedy provided nor a Day of Grace afforded Christ assumed not their nature but as soon as ever they had sinned they fell like lightning suddenly in the twinkling of an eye from Heaven to Hell But man was not thus dealt with even those whom the Apostle calls Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction are yet endured with much long-suffering Rom. 9. 22. Their salvation is in it self really possible I say in it self though all things consider'd there is an impossibility of any other event then the destruction of sinners continuing in their rebellions and this real possibility of salvation will make them cast the whole blame of their perdition on themselves that the day of salvation was trifled away and the salvation of that day was neglected This matter may be made more obvious and plain by a similitude The Apostle Paul Acts 27. admonisheth the Centurion who was to conduct him to Rome that the voyage they were about to make would be with much damage and hurt not only of the lading and ship but also of their lives Who can deny that the tarrying in the Haven where they were and where they might have been in safeguard was in it self really possible and they could not reasonably lay the blame of their shipwrack on Gods decree and determination but upon their own rashness In like manner sinners are admonished that if they go on in wickedness 't will be to their hurt and eternal damage not only of their lives but also of their souls Who can deny that the abstaining from such and such sins