as to Die for Sinners We cannot tell what calls for wondering and this calls not for wondering from us O the height O the bredth O the length O the depth of this Mystery That the Son of GOD should have been put so sore to it as to die for Sinners and not only to die but to drink the Cup of the Fathers Wrath Who can hear this declared and no wonder at the hearing of it O wonder O wonder at it Sirs wonder at the hearing of it And Secondly I shall say this from it by way 〈◊〉 â—xhortation Is it so That our LORD JESVS CHRIST was put to so Great Sufferings Wa then I would Exhort you to look how ye should look upon Sin if sin should not be very Detestable to you and very abominable if ye should not be at very much Pains to forsake Sin that brought our Blessed LORD JESUS CHRIST to undergo such Great Sufferings which would have brought you to such sad Condemnation and ly under the Wrath of GOD Eternally and Eternally And therefore Sinners we think and there were no more to be a Motive to press you to forsake your Sins and to hate every False Way and to hate the very least Word and Thought of it that this might be a Motive that it brought out LORD JESUS CHRIST to undergo such Great Sufferings Sirs Love to Him will call for this call ye that Love the LORD hate Evil Psalms 97.10 But then there is another Vse that I would make of Exhortation Was our LORD JESVS CHRIST brought to so many and Great Sufferings and has be undergone them so cheerfully Yea He has undergone it And is He satisfied to see the Travel of his Soul O Sirs Do not yet then do what ye can do to Disappoint him while he is making offer of his Blood to Wash you Do not that which will make him rew that he shed his Blood for the like of you For when it is so that ye do nor give him a suitable Meeting ye give him just ground to rew for ye have done what in you lyes to make his Sufferings of none Effect But the Vse that I shall mainly insist on at this time is another of Exhortation and that is Our LORD JEVSVS CHRIST is doing now as he did after his Resurrection when he came out of the Grave when his Disciples gathered together in a Chamber for fear of the Jews he came in there among them and says Peace be unto you in that 20 of John 21 verse in the beginning of that Chapter there was some word of his Resurrection Now there was some of them that affirmed that he was risen yet still they thought it was but a Notion and a Mistake although there was Angels come down from Heaven and gave Testimony that He was risen yet some of them could not believe that but when he comes in among them What says he to Thomas even that which he says to us the day He holds out his Hands and the Hole that is in his Side he shews forth his Hands and his Side and says Be not Faithless but Believe and that is the thing reach hither your Hands into the Hole of my Side and be not Faithless but Believe and that is the thing that I am come here for the day as a Messenger of the Living GOD to let you see this Day the Wonderfull Condescending Love of CHRIST and to say unto you Reach hither the Hand of your Faith and take a look of this Bloody Saviour who was Crucified come put in your Fingers put in your Hand in the Hole of that Bloody Side of his and be not Faithless but Believe That is the Great Thing that CHRIST calls for that is the Great End wherefore he would have his Sufferings told us Wherefore That it might bring his People to a close with Him to give Him Credit and to Believe in Him Therefore now we come here and that which we say to you we bid you reach hither your hand and be not Faithless but Believe that is the Great End wherefore he would have his Sufferings told to close with this Suffering LORD JESUS CHRIST Come to him and be no more Faithless but Believe and say with that Man Thomas my Lord and my God Whenever that was presented to him he could no longer stand out And this Argument prevail not with you I wonder what will prevail with you when the Sufferings of CHRIST is laid out unto you Therefore says Thomas my Lord and my God I can stand no longer for now I have seen the Wonderfull Love of GOD now I see the Wonderfull Love of CHRIST which made him undergo all these Great Sufferings now I have seen the wonderfull excellency of a Saviour Now therefore Sirs ye man give me leave to insist here a little for this is the Great Scope wherefore CHRIST keeps up a Preached Gospel that ye might believe that ye may be saved and brought to a Closing with JESUS CHRIST Therefore In the First Place I do here summond you of all Ranks of Persons unto a scrious Frame and unto a Composure of Spirit suitable unto the Message that I am to Declare unto you I summond you Men and Women and I come now to you and I present before you a Bloody CHRIST a Suffering Saviour I come to you as he did to his Disciples I say unto you as he said to his Disciples Reach forth your hands unto a Bloody Saviour take a look of him beleevingly Look unto him and Close with him Look to him who hath said Look unto Metall ye Ends of the Earth and be saved Isaiah 45.22 O Sirs Come and take a Look of this suffering CHRIST take a Look of him Therefore I shall First tell what sort of Persons I summond I summond you Old Persons that has even had a Profession all your Time and yet never Closed with him ye that has even made a fashon of closing with JESUS CHRIST and yet to this Day has never done it I summond them at this Day at this present Time that they come and take a Look of this suffering JESUS CHRIST that they stretch out the hand of their Faith and close with him and that they come and say my Lord and my God Secondly I summond them that is without that has never yet been hankering about to do it and them that has made many Mints but never came cleanly off in the doing of it I summond you to come hither and stretch out your hands and be not Faithless but Believe I summond you Whoremongers Adulterers Drunkards or whateve ye be as ye heard in the Forenoon come to him O sinners come hither and reach hither your hands and be not Faithless but Believe and close with this suffering JESUS CHRIST Will ye let him go away and not take the Offer off his hand and he no get meikle Thanks for his Offer Shall he have that to say that ye would not take the Offer and
enemies He will have about with them He will once make them hing their Heads and think Shame of Themselves for what they have done It may be that there is many here that desires never to see that Day It is like and it is like also that there is some here may see that Day that if the Question were speired would Answer Lo this is our God and we have Waited for Him and we will be Glad and Rejoyce in His Salvation But there is even some Folk that has been Stout in Wronging CHRIST and his People I say who knows how soon they may be put quite out of Countenance with GOD's Appearing They will be saying in that Day When saw we Thee Hungry and Fed Thee not When saw we Thee in Prison and Visited Thee not They would fain deny every Ill Turn that they have done to his People but it will not be with them Sirs I do not Grudge much that I see not many of these Folk that they call Gentils here I shall never Repine at that which CHRIST Rejoyces in I Thank Thee O Father who has Revealed these Things unto Babes What is come of them all There is never one of the Lords and Lairds and Great Men for Him There is few of the Great Men as ye call them for Him We hear little tell of their Religion that was the Carriers on of Religion where are they all now We man even tell them that there are a whein poor People in the Land that are sticking to Him The poor of the People shall Trust in Him and there were no moe And it is a great Mercy GOD has taken a Sacrifice and a Noble Sacrifice at the very first beginning He took a Nobleman at the beginning that Worthy Great-man the Merquess of Argyle and he got a Minister too to Seal his Covenant and a very Worthy-man he got a Gentleman a very Eminent Considerable Gentleman Wariston that Worthy Gentleman he Dyed for the Covenant He has taken one of all Ranks to Seal the Covenant and his Truths and then after that he took the Commons he took many of them that were Poor Men that he brought out and honoured them with Scaffolds and gave Testimony for the Cause and Covenant of GOD and ever since that Day there is ay some Body that follows him and ay 〈◊〉 Body that GOD takes Testimony from some with Fyning and some with Confyning and some with imprisonment Ye that is Young Ones it may be ye will speir the Question Wherefore was it that all that was and how came it that their Preachings was upon Hill-sides and that Persecution was It may be the Days is coming it will be told And we tell you it the Day from this Hill-side it will be told and the Young Ones will speir how could that be co the Bairns Was that in Covenanted-Scotland What was the Cause of this There bude to be some Abominable Provoking Cause of this And it will be Answered It was even the Sins of his People that had provoked him he gave them up to their Enemies and they shut out all the Godly-Ministers and they sent in upon them a whein Wicked Ungodly Unconscionable Perjured Men to fill up their Room and the Godly were put to the Wilderness Well when the Time of Delivery comes think ye not but it will be a fell Story to tell the Bairns off O when our Stories is read there will be uncouth Things in it to be read and the very worst of Men how ready soever they be now to Persecute shall be made to drie their Shame Their Shame shall be from Generation to Generation and their Posterity shall think Shame to say that such a Man was my Qurcher or such a Man was my Grand-father And it may be many of you no see that Day We cannot tell it may be so and other ways too GOD has done as great Things for us And I assure you it may fall out so that the LORD give his Enemies a dead stroak Ay says Enemies we never knew that GOD would have done such a Thing They say among the Heathen the LORD has done Great Things for them Ay says the People of GOD ye see he has done Great Things for us whereof we are Glad They had never mind of a Sorrowfull Day then that they had they were all forgotten Now we shall not detain you any longer Let us go and call upon the LORD that he would give us a Word 〈◊〉 Time and a Blessing Let us Pray FOLLOWS THE SERMON Ye will find it written in the 53. of Isaiah at the 5. Verse But He was wounded for our Transgressions He was bruised for our Iniquities the chastisement of our Peace was upon Him and with His Stripes we are Healed c. I Find the most part of you a Company of Stupid Hearers Our LORD may have Designs that we know not off But for us for ought we see we may say Why is this Was it to go and Offer CHRIST to a Company of Careless Persons that Cares not for Him and that are not affected with the Offer But His Thoughts are not like our Thoughts He knows what his Design in this is Well we have pitched upon this Scripture as thinking that if any thing may readily affect your Hearts and melt your stony Hearts within you we may have some Purposes to speak off that which may do it O that GOD would help us and that his Right Hand might be Revealed in this Preached Gospel Then the Words that we have read take them up in these four or five Particulars For the whole Story is of CHRIST and his Sufferings and of a Covenant of Redemption between the Father and the Son as ye may gather almost from every word of the Chapter and the Persons for whom he Suffered and what Case they were in how little they could do for the getting of his Love manifested to them So we have somewhat spoken of CHRIST He was Wounded He was Bruised He Suffered Secondly Ye have somewhat spoken of the Elect for whom CHRIST was Wounded and Bruised What were they They were Transgressors they were Sinners they were Men that were full of Diseases and Putrifying Sores Thirdly Ye have the Benefits what they were that resulted to these Elect Sinners by his Sufferings There is two of them they are mentioned in the words read they are there mentioned Peace and Healing Two Great Benefits Fourthly Ye have how this comes to pass What made CHRIST to be Wounded How came He to be Wounded It was for Sinners it was for a number of Transgressors and that points at that which was the Eternal Transaction between the Father and the Son when they closed the Transaction concerning the Salvation of Sinners The Father requires the Son to Die Says the Son I undertake it Therefore the Father keeps Him at his Undertakings He will have the Son who entered Surety be as good as his Word and He will
Way to satisfie him to close with him And then Fourthly Ye have many Calls to call you I tell you sirs Ye are called by your frequent Sick-beds Sickness in your Persons and Sickness in your Families all these things is calling you The Mercies of GOD is calling you The Judgements of GOD is calling you and ye have the Torments of Hell calling you Ye have your Vnbelieving Sinfull Hearts calling you your Backsliden Hearts calling you What then Sirs Will ye not give 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your Lust and close with him and imbrace him Ye have the Angels calling you It s said that the Angels they rejoyce at the Conversion of one Soul And ye have the Devil by all his Temptations calling you so ye have many Calls to close with this Suffering LORD JESUS CHRIST Fifthly Close with him Why Because he takes it as a great Proof of your Sincerity even when once ye begin to say My Lord and my God Therefore close with him and then I would have you closing with him as ye would not be found Guilty of Trampling Vnder foot the Blood of the Covenant and counting it an Vnholy Thing Even that Blood by which Sinners are to be saved But now I come to the Last Thing that I proposed and that is To speir what ye have to say to it What say ye to it Have ye any thing to say against what we have been speaking to you Have ye any thing to say against what He suffered Of against what he did after He suffered When he said Thrust in your hands in my Side and be not Faithless but Believing Or will ye be like Thomas after he had gart him see him he crys My Lord and my God Well Sirs What will ye all do Tell me what ye think of all that has been said of a Suffering CHRIST this Day What Effect has it now upon you And what Effect shall it have afterwards Will ye leave this Place without Closing with JESUS CHRIST What say ye to it What say ye Have ye any Objections Yes says some I have Three Objections What is these Objections that hinders me I have many Doubts in my Bosom that I dar not presume Wherefore dar ye not I have been such a Great Sinner I tell you then Sinners in the Name of the LORD ye that have these Fears and Doubts come away and let not that hinder you but let it put you to make the more use of the Master Come away to Him Though your Sins were as Scarlet and as Crimson ye shall be made White as Snow in that first of Isaiah 18. verse Therefore let none speak that He is Vnwilling He is not Vnwilling to help any of the Elect for whom he suffered so many things I say never think that ye have that of your selves and that it belongs to Free-will as the Blasphemous Quakers says ye have GODs Command for it and ye have GODs Warrand for it and ye have GODs Intimation and these are his Revealed Duties that he bids you do But what will ye say further What shall I do Let me see what I shall do Be serious in going about that which you have Revealed in the Word of GOD to be your Duty and that is all that the Gospel calls for and that you close with JESUS CHRIST Secondly Say ye I would fain close with him but I fear I break to Him again this ye had spoken to in the forenoon I have closed with him but I have broken again and I never ingage in that Duty but I break in some thing I never put my hand to that but I am crossed in it I like you all that berter of that that it is so Resolve in CHRISTs strength and he will keep you and all the Devils in Hell shall not get you to break it O! but say ye I have been trysted to make many Promises and I have broken them all and I fear that I do so again I say ye must Resolve again in CHRISTs strength and the hand of Zerubabel that hath laid the foundation he shall finish it Go not from this Place till you close with him We dow not leave you till ye give your Consent Turn again unto Me saith the LORD and I will Heal your Backslidings Well Sirs What have ye more for your Discouragements Will ye come and Close with him He hath sent me this Day to bid you come and Close with Him He who hath stopped so low as to make Offer of Himself to Sinners and has undergone such Great Sufferings It shall be counted the Greatest Rebellion against The GOD that made you that can be done when he has done all this to purchase Salvation and has brought it to your hands I pray you Sirs sit down there or I will speak no more and ye would not take it But there is a second Objection Says some I cannot close with him ye bid us close with him â—ut we cannot it is al 's far from us as to touch these Skyes we call do nothing in it Wa What says the LORD to that Poor Man that had the wothered hand He bids him stretch it out I cannot wad he say but yet what says the LORD to him Stretch out thy hand And we bid you in his Name make a Mint and shew your Good-will aâ—d he will help you to do it and ye would but make a Mint at it and ye would but say LORD I believe with the Faith that I have and as I can I believe LORD help my unbelief It s a strange matter Sirs ye will not try The Man might have said What needs me stretch but my wothered hand I ken that I cannot stretch it out But yet CHRIST bids him stretch it out as he can and he makes his Mint Effectual Ye that says ye cannot do so meikle as to make a Mint make the Mint and GOD will make these Mints Effectual Ye that says ye cannot do so meikle as to make a Mint make the Mint and GOD will make these Mints Effectual and ye may find him And therefore and ye dar not or think ye caâ—not get Grips of Him yet will ye give Him a Look Look unto Me all ye Ends of the Earth and be saved Isaiah 45.22 For I am GOD and there is none else This is all that he requires that ye would give him a Look Well What have ye to say in the Third Place I will not close with him that is the Truth of the Matter I will not part with the World I will not Serve Him I will not Obey his Commands I am not Resolved upon that yet I will not leave the World that I have had so meikle Advantage in no no I will not close with him let you say what you will Woes me that is a sore Matter will ye not have him Let Ministers say what they will will ye not have him What 's the Reason or that Have ye any thing to say against him He is
able to declare of himelf that it is not his fauit that makes you Vnwilling O say ye He is a hard Master there is no Living with Him I will not get my Idols entertained in his Service He is an uncouth hard Master there is no Living with Him and I dow not part with my Idols my Lusts and with my Sin and ye would have the plain truth of it I think there is neither Man nor Wife that ever has a blyth day in his Service and therefore I must take my hazard whatever come on the back of it I must Sin and I must take mine Advantage in these things Well Sirs I say there is meikle more Advantage to be had in closing with CHRIST I shall say but Two Things to this First He will get better nor ever stood on your feet to serve him and them that will be blyth of him and that will be both seen and heard Secondly I tell you that he is a very Good Master but the Reason why ye do not believe ye know not the heartsom hours in secret the People of GOD hath with him Ye do not believe but because ye heard thir things spoken to already I shall forbear and speak only to a word and so I have done Sirs I think that we have met with a strange piece of Providence I cannot tell what it means for we designed to have spoken the LORDs Word else where this Day but we have beyond our Expectation bâ—en brought here again and I would fain think that the LORD had done it for some Design that he had for catching of some Souâ—s to himself or at least it is to make many inexcusable in the Great Day Well it s by chance that we are brought here I say this Day and I have been presenting unto you a bloody wounded and bruised CHRIST O he is all Crushed with the Wrath of GOD He was forced to cry What shall I do My Soul is Sorrowfull even unto Death and what shall I do This Wounded CHRIST He has purchased Sarvation unto Sinners and hath sent us here this Day as his Ambassadors to make Offer of him and we have been telling you of the Terms Have we prevailed with you Sirs What say ye to it We are come in his Name and we may not leave you like a Knotless-threed but as I am an Ambassador and Messenger of the Great King and therefore I dar not leave you Here is my Warrand we are his Messengers and here is my Blaze upon my Breast We are his Messengers we come forth in the Kings Great Name He who is KING of kings that made Heaven and Earth and He by whom they shall be judged one Day It is in his Name that we come forth And I Summond and Charge you all as ye will Answer before The Great GOD and as ye would be found of Him in Peace as ye would one Day look him in the Face and no cry Hills and Mountains fall upon you to close with him We Charge you by the Love of JESVS CHRIST that put him to suffer all these Things Secondly We Charge you by the Torments of Hell that surely shall follow upon Disobeyers We Charge you under the pain of suffering the Wrath of the Everlasting GOD We Charge and Obtest you by the Love of Him who was Dead and is now Alive and Lives for evermore We Charge you by Him who hath the Keys of Hell and Death and the Keys of Heaven We Charge you that ye come and tell us what ye Resolve to do or are ye Resolved to live as ye have done Are ye Prayerless Godless Livers Will ye leave off that Are ye Drunkards Will ye leave off that Will ye yet Drink more What Resolve ye to do Are ye Swearers Will ye yet swear more Are ye Repenting Or Resolve ye to live a while longer in your Sins Will ye continue in these things and keep your Idols and your Corruptions Are ye Resolved upon that or upon the other hand Will ye come this Day and make a Resignation of all your Select unto the LORD and close with this Suffering CHRIST before his Wrath come upon you Have ye drawn buck will ye draw back more Or will ye come to Him We say Sirs for our part we are but Men and it may be some of you 〈◊〉 seen our Infirmities But we come this Day in CHRISTs stoom We are come here in his Name at this Time and by his Orders and Authority We Charge you to come and Close with JESUS CHRIST upon his own Terms What say ye to 〈◊〉 We Charge your Consciences that ye come and Close with 〈◊〉 We Charge you under the Pain of Death We Charge you under the Pain of the Highest Rebellion We Charge you under the Pain of the Just Vengeance of GOD. We Charge you under the Pain of the Indignation of that Wrath that shall come upon Rebels to Close with this Bloody Saviour JESVS CHRIST What say ye to it We Charge you to it We Offer Him to you We lay the Offer to every Mans Door to every Mans Conscience we Command Charge you to come and Close with Him And we desire the LORD GOD of Heaven that he would confirm this Argument And if ye will not close with him he will make every Mans Conscience stand as a Thousand Witnesses against him in the Great Day that Neglects this Offer that Despises and makes Light of it Now what say ye to it Men and Women that has had many Preachings preached to you We think its very like and GOD had sent this Preaching to some Places of the Land where there is not so great a Profession of Religion we would not have gotten heard what we had been saying there would have been such a din amongst them O that Grosness of the Hearts of Siners that makes Light of this Great Offer What say ye to it We intreat you we beseech you to give an Answeer Say to it We must have an Answer and we desire not to take a Denyal No no that 's no the Answer that ye will not do it We man have another Answer from you For we are sent to be Peremptor with you this Day And we Charge you to come and take Him and close with Him this Day For ye cannot tell if ever ye shall have the Offer again after this Day the 20. day of February We say we cannot tell if ever we shall have the Opportunity to speak to you again after this Day What think ye Sirs that it is for nought that we come out to Preach when we are in such hazard and when we are looked on as Traitors and Rebels in every one of thir Meetings it s not a small Business this Therefore GOD calls us to be Serious and no to Trifle it till we get our Business done And therefore Men and Women will you come and close with him Dear Friends will ye say to it
Dear Beloved Friends will you let CHRISTs Death and Pains he underwent in his Sufferings perâ—wade you to take CHRISTs Offer For we wound fain have you to close with him for your own Life and Salvation we prâ—â—s it upon you and as he is offered so take him Ye man promâ—â—e this say to it What say ye to it Say to it Dear Friends give your Answer say to it What say ye to it Say to him we seek not your Answer Say to him say something to the LORD For as the LORD lives ye man say something yea or nay What say ye to him Close with him or as the LORD lives I say ye shall Curse the Time that ye came here to all Eternity for Refusing CHRIST this Day in his Offer Therefore speak to GOD this Day as ye would not have him to speak in Wrath to you Sirs say that ye will be the LORDs Say that ye will enter into as Everlasting Covenant with Him never to be forgotten or as the LORD Lives these Stocks and this Water and that Brae and the Earth that ye sit on shall he a Witness against you and this Tent and I and these Clouds that is above your Heads shall be a Witness against you Eternally Therefore now Sirs come and take the Of fer and tell GOD that from this Day forward ye Resolve to be for Him Say to it What say ye Think ye that it is for nought that we come out upon such a Business and spend the Lives in the Discharging of our Commission We are Discharged to come here but it is for your Immortal Souls that we are come here Therefore in the Name of The LORD JESUS CHRIST We Charge you let it be your Work to close with him Say Sirs What say ye to it Say Old-men Young-men with ye close with him Say Young-bairns the Youngest of you all will ye close with him Say to it LORD I would be content to close with him Iâ— ye will not then the Sun Moon and Stars shall be a Witness against you Will ye speak to him Will ye cast away your Idols and say What have I to do with Idols any more Will ye say so Sirs Now I betake my self to him he shall be my GOD and I resolve that it shall be so that he shall be my GOD and my King Say so Sirs Will ye say Old-men and Young-men Will ye say Old-women and Young-women Say to it Answer GOD who is biding you close with him Say with Good David Thou art my GOD and my King for Thou hast Established my Throne and put a Crown upon my Head and He hath made with me an Everlasting Covenant well ordered in all things and sure He found him to be a Saviour when he was quite lost Well them will ye say to it Sirs we are but Fool Creatures Poor Sinfull Men like your selves and it may be sometimes ye have seen our Weakness But we say we are come here this Day not in our own Strength But we tell you we are come here Cloathed with His Authority at this Time We are not come here this Day in our own Name but in the Name and Authority of our Master as we are Ambassadors of JESUS CHRIST we beseech you to close with Him We would fain fall down upon our Knees and that would prevail with you to gar you say the thing We would fall down upon our bare Knees before you O Sirs say to it What should you say Say even that Word which Thomas said My Lord and my God and say with David O my Soul though est said unto the Lord that thou art my God But I said moreover the Lord shall be my God Say with the Church in that 50 of Jeremiah and 5. verse What is that Come say they let us enter our selves into an Everlasting Covenant with GOD which shalt never be forgotten Well Sirs I say this Day ye must either enter into an Everlasting Covenant with Him never to be forgotten We man even leave you Sirs and we dow not think of leaving till ye come to a close with Him Is there any here that will not Close with Him We fear that this be the Ill Turn that we were speaking of in the Morning Without question the Word will be the Savour of Death unto Death to some al 's well as it will be the Savour of Life unto Life unto others Well Sirs take heed what ye are Doing go to Him and Close with Him We would fain have you Closing with Him I would think it Heartsom if there were many of you going alone and trying how it is with you every one of you Try your selves about it and the LORD perswade you so to do To Him be Praise