admit of such Objections to the discouraging of their own Souls For this VVord in no wise cutteth the Throat of all Objections and it was dropt by the Lord Jesus for that very end and to help the Faith that is mixed with Unbelief And it is as it were the sum of all Promises neither can any Objection be made upon the unworthyness that thou findest in thee that this Promise will not asoile But I am a great sinner sayst thou I will in no wise cast out sayes Christ. But I am an old sinner sayst thou I will in no wise cast out sayes Christ. But I am a hard hearted sinner sayst thou I will in no wise cast out sayes Christ. But I am a back-sliding sinner sayst thou I will in no wise cast out sayes Christ. But I have served Satan all my dayes sayst thou I will in no wise cast out sayes Christ. But I have sinned against Light sayst thou I will in no wise cast out sayes Christ. But I have sinned against mercy sayst thou I will in no wise cast out sayes Christ. But I have no good thing to bring with me say'st thou I will in no wise cast out sayes Christ. Thus I might go on to the end of things and shew you that still this promise was provided to answer Objections And doth answer them But I say what need it be if they that are coming to Jesus Christ are not sometimes yea oft-times heartily afraid that Jesus Christ will cast them out I will give you now two instances that seem to imply the truth of this observation In the Nineth of Matthew at the Second Verse you read of a man that was sick of the Palsie and he was coming to Jesus Christ being born upon a bed by his Friends He also was coming himself and that upon another account than any of his friends was aware of even for the pardon of sins and the Salvation of his Soul Now so soon as ever he was come into the presence of Christ Christ bids him be of good chear it seems then his heart was fainting but what was the cause of this fainting but the guilt and burden of his sins therefore he proceeds Be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee I say Christ saw him sinking in his mind about how it would go with his most Noble part and therefore first he applies himself to him upon that account For though his friends had Faith enough as to the cure of the Body yet he himself had little enough as to the Cure of his Soul Therefore Christ takes him up as a man falling down saying Son be of good Cheer thy Sins are forgiven thee That about the Prodigal seemes pertinent also to this matter When he was come to himself he said how many hired Servants of my Father have Bred enough and to spare and I perish for Hunger I will arise now and go to my Father Heartily spoken But how did he perform his Promise I think not so well as he promised to do And my ground for my Thoughts is because his Father so soon as he was come at him fell upon his Neck and Kist him Implying methinks as if the Prodegal by this time was dejected in his mind and therefore his Father gives him the most sudden and familiar token of Reconciliation And Kisses were of old time often used to remove Doubts and Fears Thus Laban and Esau Kiss Jacob. Thus Joseph Kissed his Brethren and thus also David Kissed Absolom Gen. 31. 55. chap. 33. 1 2 3 4 5 6. chap. 48. 9 10. 2 Sam. 14. 33. 'T is true as I said at first setting out he spake heartily as sometimes Sinners also do in their beginning to come to Jesus Christ But might not he yea in all probability he had between the first step he took and the last by which he accomplished that journey many a thought both this way and that as whether his Father would receive him or no As thus I said I would go to my Father but how if when I come at him he should ask me Where I have all this while bin VVhat must I say then Also if he asks me What is become of the portion of Goods that he gave me VVhat shall I say then If he asks me Who have bin my Companions VVhat shall I say then If he also shall ask me What hath bin my Preferment in all the time of mine absence from him VVhat shall I say then Yea and if he ask me Why I came home no sooner What shall I say then Thus I say might he reason with himself And being Conscious to himself that he could give but a bad Answer to any of these Interogatories no marvel if he stood in need first of all of a Kiss from his Fathers Lips For had he answered the first in Truth he must say I have bin a haunter of Taverns and Alehouses and as for my Portion I spent it in Riotous Living my Companions were Whores and Drabs As for my preferment the highest was that I became a Hoggard and as for my not coming home till now Could I have made shift to have staid abroad any longer I had not lain at thy Feet for Mercy now I say these things considered and considering again how prone poor man is to give way when truly awakned to despondings and heart-misgiveings no marvel if he sink in his mind between the time of his first setting out and that of his coming to his Father 3. But Thirdly methinks I have for the confirmation of this Truth the consent of all the Saints that are under Heaven to witt That they that are Coming to Jesus Christ are oft-times heartily afraid that he will not receive them Quest. But what should be the Reason I will Answer to this Question thus First It is not for want of the revealed VVill of God that manifesteth grounds for the Contrary for that there is a sufficiency of yea the Text it self hath laid a sufficient Foundation for incouragement for them that are Coming to Jesus Christ. And him that Cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Secondly It is not for want of an Invitation to Come for that is full and plain Come unto me all ye that Labor and are heavy Laden and I will give you Rest Mat. 11. 28. Thirdly Neither is it for want of a manifestation of Christs willingness to receive as those Texts above named with that which follows declareth If any man Thirst let him come unto me and drink Joh. 7. 37. Fourthly It is not for want of exceeding great and precious Promises to receive them that Come Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord Almighty 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. Fifthly It is not for want of Solemn Oath and Ingagement to save them that
and that he will have with him in his Kingdom to behold his Glory as these Scriptures declare This is the will of the Father that sent me that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day And I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my Hand my Father that gave them me is Greater than All and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers Hand As thou hast given him Power over all Flesh that he should give Eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him Thine they were and thou gavest them me and they have kept thy word I pray for them I pray not for the world but for those that thou hast given me for they are thine And all mine are thine and thine are mine and I am glorified in them Keep through thine own Name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are Father I will that those whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me for thou lovedst me before the Foundation of the World John 6. 39. Chap. 10. 28. Chap. 17. 2 6 9 10 24. All these sentences are of the same import with the Text and the All 's and Manies those they c. in these several sayings of Christ are the same with All the given in the Text. All That the Father giveth So that as I said before the word All as also other words must not be taken in such sort as our foolish fancies or groundless opinions will prompt us to but do admit of an enlargment or a restriction according to the true meaning and intendment in the Text. We must therefore diligently consult the meaning of the Text by compareing it with other the Sayings of God so shall we be better able to find out the mind of the Lord in the Word which he has given us to know it by All that the Father giveth By this word Father Christ describeth the person giving by which we may learn several useful things 1. That the Lord God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is equally concerned with the Son in the Salvation of his People True his acts as to our Salvation are divers from those of the Son he was not capable of doing that or those things for us as did the Son he Died not he Spilt not Blood for our Redemption as the Son but yet he hath a hand a great hand in our Salvation too As Christ saith The Father himself loveth you and his love is manifest in chusing of us in giving of us to his Son yea and in giving his Son also to be a ransom for us Hence he is called The Father of Mercies and the God of all comfort For here even the Father hath himself found out and made way for his grace to come to us through the sides and the heart Blood of his well beloved Son Col. 1. 12. The father therefore is to be remembred and adored as one having a chief hand in the Salvation of sinners We ought to give thanks to the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light for the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the World 1 Joh. 4. 14. Col. 1. 12. As also we see in the Text the Father giveth the sinner to Christ to save him Secondly Christ Jesus the Lord by this word Father would familiarize this given to us Naturally the Name of God is dreadful to us specially when he is discovered to us by those names that declare his Justice Holiness Power and Glory but now this word Father is a familiar word it frighteth not the sinner but rather inclineth his heart to love and be pleased with the remembrance of him Hence Christ also when he would have us pray with Godly boldness puts this word Father into our mouths Saying when ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven concluding thereby that by the familiarity that by such a word is intimated the Children of God may take more boldness to pray for and ask great things I my self have often found that when I can say but this word Father it doth me more good than when I call him by any other Scripture Name and 't is worth your Noting that to call God by this relative Title was rare among the Saints in Old Testament times seldom do you find him called by this name no sometimes not in three or four whole books but now in New-Testament times he is called by no name so often as this both by the Lord Jesus himself and by the Apostles afterwards Indeed the Lord Jesus was he that first made this name common among the Saints and that taught them both in their Discourses their Prayers and in their Writings so much to use it it being more pleasing to and discovering more plainly our interest in God than any other Expression for by his one name we are made to understand that all our Mercies are the off-spring of God and that we also that are called are his children by adoption All that the Father giveth This word giveth is out of Christs ordinary Dialect and seemeth to intimate at the first sound as if the Fathers gift to the Son was not an act that is past but one that is present and continuing when indeed this gift was bestowed upon Christ when the Covenant the Eternal Covenant was made between them before all worlds Wherefore in those other places when this gift is mentioned it is still spoken of as of an act that is past As All that He hath given me to as many as thou hast given me Thou gavest them me and those which thou hast given me Therefore of necessity this must be the first and chief sence of the Text. I mean of this word giveth otherwise the Doctrine of Election and of the Eternal Covenant which was made between the Father and the Son in which Covenant this gift of the Father is most certainly comprized will be shaken or at leastwise questionable by erronious and wicked men But again this word giveth is not to be rejected for it hath its proper use and my signifie to us First That though the act of giving among men doth admit of the time past or the time to come and is to be only spoken of with reference to the time yet with God it is not so Things past or things to come are alwayes present with God and with his Son Jesus Christ He calleth things that are not that is to us as though they were and again known unto God are all his works from the foundation of the world All things to God are present and so the gift of the Father to the Son although to us it is an act that is past Rom. 4. 17. Acts 15. 10. Secondly Christ may Express
what shall we do No Stubborness of mans will can stand when God hath absolutely said the contrary shall-come can make them come as doves to their windows The Lord spake unto Manasseth and to his people by the Prophets but he would not hear no he would not but shall Manasseth come off thus no he shall not Therefore he being also one of those whom the Father had given to the Son and so falling within the bounds and reach of shall-come At last he comes indeed He comes Bowing and Bending He humbled himself greatly and made Supplication to the Lord and prayed unto him and he was intreated of him and had mercy upon him 2 Chro. 33. The Thief upon the Cross at first did rail with his fellow upon Jesus Christ but he was one that the Father had given to him and therefore shall-come must handle him and his rebellious will And behold so soon as he is dealt with all by vertue of that absolute promise how soon he buckleth leaves his railing falls to Supplicating of the Son of God for mercy Lord saith he remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdome Mat. 27. 44. Luk. 23. 40 41 42. Object 4. They shall come say you but how if they be blind and see not the way for same are kept off from Christ not only by the obstinacy of their will but by the blindness of their minde now if they be blind how shall they come Answ. The question is not Are they blind but are they with in the reach and power of shall come if so That Christ that said they shall-come will find them eyes or a guide or both to bring them to himself If they shall-come they shall-come no impediment shall hinder The Thessalonians darkness did not hinder them from being the Children of Light I am come said Christ that they that see not might see And if he saith See ye blind that have eyes who shall hinder it Ephes. 5. 8. Joh. 9. 39. Isa. 29. 18. Chap. 43. 8. This promise therefore is as I said abig-bellied promise having in the bowels of it all things that shall accur to the compleat fulfilling of it self They shall-come But 't is objected that they are blind well shall-come is still the same and continueth to say they shall-come to me Therefore he saith again I will bring the blind by a way that they know not I will lead them in paths that they have not known I will make darkness light before them and Crooked things straight these things will I do unto them and not forsake them Isa. 42. 16. Mark I will bring them though they be blind I will bring them by a way they know not I will I will and therefore they shall-come to me Object 5. But how if they have exceeded many in sin and so made themselves far more abominable They are the Ring-leading Sinners in the County the Town or Family Answ. What then Shall that hinder the execution of shall-come It is not Transgressions nor Sins nor all their Transgressions in all their sins if they by the Father are given to Christ to save them that shall hinder this promise that it should not be fulfilled upon them In those days and at that time saith the Lord the iniquities of Israel shall be fought for and there shall be none and the sins of Judah and they shall not be found Jer. 32. 30. Not that they had none for they abounded in Transgression 2 Chron. 33. 9. Ezek 16. â—8 but God would pardon cover hide and put them away by vertue of his absolute promise by which they are given to Christ to save them And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against me and I will pardon all their iniquity whereby they have Transgressed against me And it shall be to me for a name of joy a praise and an honour before all the Nations of the Earth which shall hear of all the good that I do unto them and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I procure to it Jer. 33. 8 9. Object 6. But how if they have not Faith and Repentance how shall they come then Answ. Why he that saith they shall-come shall he not make it good If they shall-come they shall-come and he that hath said they shall-come if faith and repentance be the way to come as indeed they are then faith and repentance shall be given to them for shall-come must be fulfilled on them First Faith shall be given them I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. There shall be a Root of Jesse and he shall rise to raign over the Gentiles and in him shall the Gentiles trust Zeph. 3. 12. Rom. 15. 12. Secondly They shall have repentance He is exalted to give repentance They shall come weeping and seeking the Lord their God And again with Weeping and Supplication will I lead them Acts 5. 30 31. Jer. 31. 9. Chap. 50. 5. I told you before that an absolute promise hath all conditional ones in the belly of it and also provision to answer all those qualifications that they propound to him that seeketh for their benefit And it must be so for if shall-come be an absolute promise as indeed it is then it must be fulfilled upon every of those concerned therein I say it must be fulfilled if God can by Grace his absolute Will fulfil it Besides since Coming and Believing is all one according to Joh. 6. 35. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst Then when he saith they shall come 't is as much as to say they shall believe and consequently repent to the saving of the Soul So then the present want of faith and repentance cannot make this promise of God of none effect because that this promise hath in it to give what others call for and expect I will give them an heart I will give them my spirit I will give them repentance I will give them faith Mark these words If any man be in Christ he is a new Creature But how came he to be a new Creature since none can Create but God why God indeed doth make them new Creatures Behold saith he I make all things new And hence it follows even after he had said they are new Creatures And all things are of God that is all this new Creation standeth in the several operations and special workings of the Spirit of grace who is God 2 Cor. 5. 17 18. Object 7. But how shall they escape all those dangerous and damnable opinions that like rocks and quick sands are in the way in which they are going Answ. Indeed this age is an age of errors if ever there was an age of errors in the world but yet the gift of the Father laid claim to by the Son in the Text must needs
was Anointed when on Earth to be a Saviour Luk. 3. 22. 3. He did the Works of a Saviour As First He Fulfilled the Law and became the End of it for Righteousness for them that believe in him Rom. 10. 3 4. Secondly He laid down his Life as a Saviour He gave his Life as a Saviour He gave his Life as a Ransom for many Mat. 20. 28. Mar. 10. 45. 1 Tim. 2. 6. Thirdly He hath Abolished Death Destroyed the Devil put away Sin got the Keys of Hell and Death is Ascended into Heaven is there accepted of God exalted of God and bid Sit at his Right Hand as Saviour and that because his Sacrifice for our Sins pleased God 2 Tim. 1. 10. Heb. 2. 14 15. Ephes. 4. 7 8. Joh. 16. 10 11. Acts 5. 30 31. Heb. 10. 12 13. Fourthly God hath sent out and proclaimed him as Saviour and tells the World that we have redemption through his Blood that he will Justifie us if we believe in his Blood and that he can Faithfully and Justly do it Yea God doth beseech us to be reconciled to him by his Son which could not be if he were not Anointed by him to this very End and also if his Works and undertakings were not accepted of him as considered a Saviour Rom. 3. 24 25. 2 Cor. 5. 18 19 20 21. Fifthly God hath received already Millions of Souls into his Paradice because they have received this Jesus for a Saviour and is resolved to cut him off and to cast him out of his presence that will not take him for a Saviour Heb. 12. 22 23 24 25 26. I intend brevity here therefore a word to the Second and so conculde How it appears that he hath Power to cast out This appears also by what follows First The Father for the service 〈◊〉 he hath done him as Saviour 〈◊〉 made him Lord of all even Lord 〈◊〉 Quick and Dead For to this 〈◊〉 Christ both Died and Rose and Revived that he might be Lord both of the Dead and Living Rom. 14. 9. Secondly The Father hath left it with him to quicken whom he will to wit with saving Grace and to cast out whom he will for their Rebellion against Him Joh. 5. 21. Thirdly The Father hath made him Judge of Quick and Dead hath committed all Judgment unto the Son that all Men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father Joh. 5. 22. Fourthly God will Judge the World by this Man the day is Appointed for Judgment and he is Appointed for Judge He hath Appointed a day in the which he will Judge the World in Righteousness by that Man Acts 17. 31 32. Therefore we must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive for the things done in the Body according to what they have done If they have closed with Him Heaven and Salvation if they have not Hell and Damnation And for these Reasons he must be Judge First Because of his Humiliation because of his Fathers Word he humbled himself and he became Obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross Therefore God hath highly Exalted him and given him a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow both of things in Heaven and things on Earth and things under the Earth and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father This hath respect to his being Judge and his Sitting in Judgment upon Angels and Men Phil. 2. 7 8 9 10 11. Rom. 14. 10 11. Secondly That all Men might honour the Son even as they honour the Father For the Father Judgeth no Man but hath Committed all Judgment unto the Son that all Men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father Joh. 5. 22 23. Thirdly Because of his Righteous Judgment this work is fit for no Creature it is only fit for the Son of God For he will reward every Man according to his Ways Rev. 22. Fourthly Because he is the Son of Man He hath given him authority to execute Judgment also because he is the Son of Man Joh. 5. 27. Thus have I in brief passed through this Text by way of explication my next Work is to speak to it by way of Observation but I shall be also as brief in that as the Nature of the thing will admit All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Joh. 6. 37. ANd now to come to some Observations and a little briefly to speak to them and then conclude the whole The words thus Explained affords us many some of which are these First That God the Father and Christ his Son are two Distinct Persons in the God-head Secondly That by them not Excluding the Holy Ghost is contrived and determined the Salvation of some of fallen Man kind Thirdly That this contrivance resolved it self into a Covenant between these Persons in the God-head which standeth in giving on the Fathers part and Receiving on the Sons All that the Father giveth me c. Fourthly That every one that the Father hath given to Christ according to the mind of God in the Text shall certainly come to him Fifthly That coming to Jesus Christ is therefore not by the will wisdom or power of man but by the gift promise and drawing of the Father All that the Father giveth me shall come Sixthly That Jesus Christ will be careful to receive and will not in any wife reject those that come or are coming to him And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out There are besides these some other Truths implyed in the Words As Seventhly They that are coming to Jesus Christ are oft-times heartily afraid that he will not receive them Eightly Jesus Christ would not have them that in Truth are Coming to him once think that he will cast them out These Observations lie all of them in the Words and are plentifully confirmed by the Scriptures of Truth but I shall not at this time speak to them all but shall pass by the first second third fourth and sixth partly because I design brevity and partly because they are touched upon in the Explicatory part of the Text. I shall therefore begin with the Fifth Observation and so make that the first in order in the following discourse First Then Coming to Christ is not by the will wisdom or power of Man but by the gift promise and drawing of the Father This Observation standeth of two parts First that coming to Christ is not by the Will Wisdom or Power of Man Secondly But by the Gift Promise and Drawing of the Father That the Text carrieth this Truth in its bosom you will find if you look into the Explication of the first part thereof before I shall therefore here follow the Method propounded First That coming to Christ is not by the will wisdom or power of man this
I am coming and that I could not be but that the Father draws me and I am coming to such a Lord Jesus as will in no wise cast me out Further Satan were I not elect the Father would not draw me nor would the Son so graciously open his bosom to me I am perswaded that not one of the non-elect shall ever be able to say no not in the day of judgement I did sincerely come to Jesus Christ. Come they may feignedly as Judas and Magnus did But that is not our question Therefore O thou honest-hearted coming sinner be not afraid but come As to the Second part of the Objection about sinning the sin against the Holy Ghost The same argument overthrows that also But I will argue thus First Coming to Christ is by vertue of a special gift of the Father but the Father giveth no such gift to them that have sinned that sin therefore thou that art coming hast not committed that sin That the Father giveth no such gift to them that has sinned this sin Is evident 1. Because such have sinned themselves out of God's Favour They shall never have Forgiveness Matth. 12. 32. But it is a special Favour of God to give unto a Man to come to Jesus Christ because thereby he obtaineth Forgiveness Therefore he that cometh hath not sinned that Sin 2. They that have sinned the Sin against the Holy-Ghost have sinned themselves out of an Interest in the Sacrifice of Christ's Body and Blood There remains for such no more Sacrifice for Sin But God giveth not Grace to any of them to come to Christ that have no share in the Sacrifice of his Body and Blood Therefore thou that art coming to him hast not sinned that Sin Heb. 10. 26. Secondly Coming to Christ is by the Special Drawing of the Father No Man cometh to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him But the Father draweth not him to Christ for whom he hath not alotted Forgiveness by his Blood Therefore they that are coming to Jesus Christ have not sinned that Sin because he hath alotted them Forgiveness by his Blood Joh. 6. 44. That the Father cannot draw them to Jesus Christ for whom he hath not alotted Forgiveness of Sins is manifest to Sense For that would be a plain Mockery a Flam neither becoming his Wisdom Justice Holyness nor Goodness Thirdly Coming to Jesus Christ lays a Man under the Promise of Forgiveness and Salvation But it is impossible that he that hath sinned that Sin should ever be put under a Promise of these Therefore he that hath sinned that Sin can never have Heart to come to Jesus Christ. Fourthly Coming to Jesus Christ lays a Man under his Intercession For he ever Liveth to make Intercession for them that come Heb. 7. 25. Therefore he that is coming to Jesus Christ cannot have sinned that Sin Christ has forbidden his People to pray for them that have sinned that Sin and therefore will not pray for them himself But he prays for them that come Fifthly He that hath sinned that Sin Christ is to him of no more Worth than is a Man that is Dead For he hath Crucified to himself the Son of God Yea and hath also counted his Precious Blood as the Blood of an Unholy Thing Heb. 6. chap. 10. Now he that hath this low Esteem of Christ will never come to him for Life But the Coming-Man has an high Esteem of his Person Blood and Merits Therefore he that is coming has not Committed that Sin Sixthly If he that hath sinned this Sin might yet come to Jesus Christ then must the Truth of God be overthrown which saith in one Place He hath never Forgiveness and in another I will in no wise cast him out Therefore that he may never have Forgiveness he shall never have Heart to come to Jesus Christ. It is impossible that such an one should be Renewed either to or by Repentance Heb. 6. Wherefore never trouble thy Head nor Heart about this Matter He that cometh to Jesus Christ cannot have sinned against the Holy Ghost Sixthly Thy Fears that Christ will not Receive thee may arise from thine own Folly in Inventing yea in thy Chalking out to God a way to bring thee Home to Jesus Christ. Some Souls that are coming to Jesus Christ are great Tormentors of themselves upon this account They conclude that if their Coming to Jesus Christ is right they must needs be brought Home thus and thus As to instance 1. Sayes one If God be bringing of me to Jesus Christ then will he load me with the Guilt of Sin till he makes me Roar again 2. If God be indeed a bringing of me home to Jesus Christ then must I be assaulted with dreadful Temptations of the Devil 3. If God be indeed a bringing of me to Jesus Christ then even when I come at him I shall have wonderful Revelations of him This is the way that some Sinners appoint for God But perhaps he will not walk therein yet will he bring them to Jesus Christ But now because they come not the Way of their own Chalking out therefore they are at a loss They look for Heavy Load and Burden but perhaps God gives them a Sight of their lost Condition and addeth not that heavy Weight and Burden They look for fearful Temptations of Satan but God sees that yet they are not fit for them Nor is the Time come that he should be Honoured by them in such à Condition They look for great and glorious Revelations of Christ Grace and Mercy But perhaps God only takes the Yoke from off their Jaws and lays Meat before them And now again they are at a loss yet a-coming to Jesus Christ I drew them saith God with the Cords of a Man with the Bands of Love I took the Yoke from off their Jaws and laid Meat unto them Hos. 11. 4. Now I say if God brings thee to Christ and not by the Way that thou hast appointed then thou art at a loss and for thy being at a loss Thou mayst thank thy self God hath more ways than thou knowst of to bring a Sinner to Jesus Christ But he will not give thee before-hand an Account by which of them he will bring thee to Christ Isa. 40. 13. Job 33. 13. Sometimes he hath his Way in the Whirlwind but sometimes the Lord is not there Nah. 13. 1 King 19. 11. If God will deal more gently with thee than with others of his Children grudge not at it Refuse not the Waters that go softly lest he bring upon thee the Waters of the Rivers strong and many even these two smoaking Fire-brands the Devil and Guilt of Sin Isa. 8. 6 7. He said to Peter Follow me And what Thunder did Zacheus hear or see Zacheus come down said Christ and he came down sayes Luke and Received him Joyfully But had Peter or Zacheus made the Objection that thou hast made and Directed the Spirit of the Lord as
thou hast found glory in him glory that Surmounts and goes beyond Thou art more glorious than the mountaines of pray Psal. 76. 4. Fifthly What shall I say thou hast found Righteousness in him Thou hast found rest peace delight Heaven glory and eternal life Sinner be advised Ask thy heart again saying Am I come to Jesus Christ For upon this one question Am I Come or am I Not Hangs Heaven and Hell as to thee If thou canst say I am come and God shall approve that saying Happy Happy Happy man art thou but if thou art not come what can make thee happy Yea what can make that man Happy that for his not coming to Jesus Christ for life must be damned in Hell The Third Use a Use of Encouragement COming Sinner I have now a word for thee be of good comfort He will in no wise cast out Of all men thou art the blessed of the Lord the the Father hath prepared his Son to be a Sacrifice for thee and Jesus Christ thy Lord is gone to prepare a place for thee Joh. 1. 29. Heb. 10. Joh. 14. What shall I say to thee thou comest to a full Christ thou canst not want any thing for Soul or body for this World or that to come but it is to be had in or by Jesus Christ As it is said of the Land that the Dannits went to possess So and with much more truth it may be said of Christ He is such an one with whom there is no want of any good thing that is in Heaven or earth A Full Christ is thy Christ. First He is full of Grace Grace is sometimes taken for love and take it so here He is full of love never any loved like Jesus Christ. Jonathans love went beyond the love of Women but the love of Christ passes knowledge It is beyond the love of all the Earth of all Creatures even of Men and Angels His love prevailed with him to lay aside his Glory to leave the Heavenly place to cloth himself with flesh to be born in a Stable to be laid in a Manger to live a poor life in the World to take upon him our sicknesses infirmities sins curse Death and the Wrath that was due to man And all this he did for a base undeserving unthankfull people yea for a people that was at Enmity with him For when we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly For scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die But God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us Much more then being now justified we shall be saved by his life For if when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Rom. 5. 6 7 8 9 10. Secondly He is full of Truth Full of grace and truth Truth that is faithfulness in keeping promise even this of the Text with all other I will in no wise cast out Hence it is said that his words be true and that he is the faithfull God that keepeth covenant And hence it is also that his promise is called Truth Thou wilt fulfill thy truth unto Jacob and thy mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn unto our Fathers from the days of old Therefore it is said again that both himself and words are Truth I am the Truth the Scriptures of Truth thy Word is Truth thy Law is the Truth and my mouth aith he shall speak truth Joh. 14. 6. Dan. 10. 21. Joh. 17. 17. 2 Sam. 7. 28. Pro. 8. 7. Psal. 119. 142. Eccles. 12. 10. Isa. 25. 1. Mal. 2. 6. Acts 26. 25. 2 Tim. 2. 12 13. Now I say his word is truth and he is full of truth to fulfill his truth even to a Thousand Generations Coming sinner he will not deceive thee come boldly to Jesus Christ. Thirdly He is full of Wisdome He is made unto us of God Wisdome Wisdome to manage the affairs of his Church in general and the affairs of every coming sinner in particular And upon this account he is said to be head over all things 1 Cor. 1. Ephes. 1. Because he manages all things that are in the world by his Wisdom for the good of his Church all mens Actions all Satans Temptations all Gods Providences all Crosses Disappointments all things what ever are under the hand of Christ Who is the Wisdom of God and he ordereth them all for good to his Church And can Christ help it and be sure he can nothing shall happen or fall out in the world but it shall in despite of all opposition have a good tendency to his Church and people Fourthly He is full of the Spirit to communicate it to the coming Sinner he hath therefore received it without measure that he may communicate it to every member of his body according as every mans measure thereof is allotted him by the Father Wherefore he saith that he that comes to him Out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living water Joh. 3. 34. Tit. 3. 5 6. Acts 1. Joh. 7. 31 32 34 35 36 37 38. Fifthly He is indeed a store-house full of all the graces of the Spirit Of his fulness have all we received and grace for grace Here is more Faith more Love more Sincerity more Humility more of every Grace and of this even more of this he giveth to every Lowly Humble Penitent coming Sinner wherefore coming Soul thou comest not to a barren wilderness when thou comest to Jesus Christ John 1. 16. Sixthly He is full of Bowels and Compassion And they shall feel and find it so that come to him for Life He can bear with thy Weaknesses he can pity thy Ignorance he can be touched with the Feeling of thine Infirmities he can affectionately forgive thy Transgressions he can heal thy Back slidings and Love thee Freely His Compassions fail not And he will not break a bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax He can pity them that no Eye pities and be afflicted in all thy Afflictions Mat. 26. 41. Heb. 5 2. Chap. 2. 18 19. Mat 9. 2. Hos. 14. 4. Ezek. 16. 5 6. Isa. 63. 9. Psal. 78. 38. Psal. 86. 15. Psal. 111. 4. Psal. 112. 4. Lam. 3. 22. Isa. 42. 3. Seventhly Coming Soul the Jesus that thou art coming to is full of Might and Terribleness for thy Advantage He can suppress all thine Enemies He is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth He can bow all Men's Designes for thy Help He can break all Snares laid for thee in the Way He can lift thee out of all Difficulties where-with thou may'st be surrounded He is Wise in Heart and Mighty in Power Every Life under Heaven is in his Hand yea the Faln Angels tremble before him And he will save thy Life Coming-Sinner 1 Cor. 1. 24. Rom. 8. 28. Mat. 28. 18. Rev. 15.
if my Covenant be not with Day and Night and if I have not appointed the Ordinances of Heaven and Earth then will I cast away the Seed of Jacob. But Heaven can not be measured not the Foundations of the Earth searched out beneath his Covenant is also with day and night and he hath appointed the Ordinances of Heaven therefore he will not cast away the Seed of Jacob who are the coming ones but will certainly save them from the dreadful Wrath to come Jer. 33. 25 26. chap. 50. 4 5. By this therefore it is manifest that it is not the greatness of sin nor thy long continuance in it no nor yet thy back-sliding nor the pollution of thy Nature that can put a bar in against or be an hinderance of the Salvation of the coming sinner For if indeed this could be then would this solemn and absolute Determination of the Lord Jesus of its self fall to the ground and be made of none effect But his Counsel shall stand and he will do all his pleasure That is his pleasure in this for this promise this irreversible conclusion ariseth of his Pleasure and he will stand to it and will fulfil it because it is his pleasure Suppose that one man had the sins or as many sins as an hundred and another should have an hundred times as many as he yet if they come this word I will in no wise cast out secures them both alike Suppose a man hath a desire to be saved and for that purpose is coming in truth to Jesus Christ but he by his debauched Life has damned many in hell why the dore of hope is by these words set as open for him as it is for him that hath not the thousandth part of his Transgressions And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Suppose a man is coming to Christ to be Saved and hath nothing but sin and an ill-spent life to bring with him Why let him come and welcome to Jesus Christ And he will in no wise cast him out Luk. 7. 41. Is not this Love that passeth knowledg is not this Love the wonderment of Angels and is not this Love worthy of all acceptation at the hands and hearts of coming sinners Secondly That which is implyed in the words is First The coming Souls hath those that continually lie at Jesus Christ to cast them Secondly The coming Souls are afraid that these will prevail with Christ to cast them off For these words are spoken to satisfie us and to stay up our Spirits against these two dangers I will in no wise cast out First For the First Coming Souls have those that continually lye at Jesus Christ to cast them off And there are three things that thus bend themselves against the coming sinner First There is the Devil that Accuser of the brethren that accuses them before God day and night Revel 12. 10. This Prince of Darkness is unwearied in this work he doth it as you see day and night that is without ceasing He continually puts in his Caveats against thee if so be he may prevail How did he ply it against that good man Job if possible he might have obtained his destruction in Hell fire He objected against him that he served not God for nought and tempted God to put forth his Hand against him urging that if he did it he would Curse him to his face and all this as God witnesseth He did without a Cause Job 1. 9 10 11. chap. 2. 4. 5. How did he ply it with Christ against Joshua the high Priest And he shewed me Joshua said the Prophet the high Priest standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him Zech. 3. To resist him that is to prevail with the Lord Jesus Christ to resist him Objecting the uncleanness and unlawful Marriage of his Sons with the Gentiles for that was the Crime that Satan laid against them Ezra 10. 18. Yea and for ought I know Joshua was also guilty of the fact but if not of that of Crimes no whit inferior for he was Cloathed with filthy Garments as he stood before the Angel neither had he one word to say in vindication of himself against all that this wicked one had to lay against him But notwithstanding that he came off well but he might for it thank a good Lord Jesus because he did not resist him but contrariwise took up his cause pleaded against the Devil excused his infirmity and put justifying Robes upon him before his Adversaries Face And the Lord said unto Satan The Lord Rebuke thee O Satan even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem Rebuke thee Is not this a Brand pluckt out of the Fire And he answered and spake to those that stood before him saying Take away the filthy Garments from him and to him he said Behold I have caused thine iniquities to pass from thee and will Cloath thee with chang of Raiment Again how did Satan ply it against Peter when he desired to have him that he might sift him as Wheat that is if possible sever all Grace from his heart and leave him nothing but flesh and filth to the end he might make the Lord Jesus loath and abhor him Simon Simon said Christ Satan hath desired to have you that he might sift you as Wheat But did he prevail against him No But I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not As who should say Simon Satan hath desired me that I would give thee up to him and not only thee but all the rest of thy Brethren for that the word you imports but I will not leave thee in his hand I have prayed for thee thy saith shall not sail I will secure thee to the Heavenly Inheritance Luk. 22. 30 31 32. Secondly As Satan so every sin of the coming-sinner comes in with a Voice against him if perhaps they may prevail with Christ to cast off the Soul When Israel was coming out of Egypt to Canaan how many times had their sins thrown them out of the mercy of God had not Moses as a Type of Christ stood in the breach to turn away his VVrath from them Psal. 106. 23. our Iniquities testify against us and would certainly prevail against us to our utter rejection and Damnation had we not an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous 1 Joh. 2. 1 2. The sins of the old World cryed them down to Hell the sins of Sodom fetched upon them Fire from Heaven which devoured them the sins of the Egyptians cryed them down to Hell because they came not to Jesus Christ for Life Coming-sinner thy sins are no whit less than any Nay perhaps they are as big as all theirs VVhy is it then that thou livest when they are dead and that thou hast a promise of Pardon when they had not Why thou art coming to Jesus Christ and therefore sin shall not be thy ruin Thirdly As Satan and