every day is not a Market day nor every wéek in the yeare a faire week nor every season in ye year a time of Spring or harvest so every day of a mans life may not claime to be ye day of grace Therefore if a man fore-slow it now he foresloweth his own happinesse and putteth off his own peace for ever Excelent is that annotation of Gregory on Job 27. 9. will God heare his cry when trouâ—le commeth upon him Beloved now Gods patience is troubled wilt not yu repent Now Gâ—ds Spirit is troubled wilt not thou obey Now Gods justice is troubled wilt not thou relent Now Gods word is troubled wilt thou â—efuse to harken will God heare his cry He speaketh interrogatively as if he should say Art thou so mad so vaine so foolish to promise to thy selfe being an hypocrite that God will heare thy prayer Oh no then justice commeth to take place Thirdly it is Gods use to do so in other things even upon the contempt of temporall blessings and therefore much more in matters of grace salvation Thus God promised to give Israel the land of Canaan Numb. 12. 22. but the text saith they tempted God ten times that is as some Expositors expound many times or as others ten severall times But whatever the meaning of the text be certainly it was very many times so long till at last he sware in his wrath that they should never enter into his rest Beloved though there be many a hot swearer yt regards not an oath yet certainly if the Lord swear we may beléeve him the word of God is as strong as oaths if he say iâ— upon his word we are bound to beléeve it how much more then when he confirmes it with an oath Therefore if the Lord swear thou shalâ— not how darest thou how canst thou hope oâ— think ever to enter into his rest This was almost fourtie yéeres before he died that ye Lord made this oath against them and God knowâ— how many thousands of them fell short noâ— only of the Land of Canaan but also of the Kingdome of heaven So God tooke Ismael an hundred and seventéene yéers before he died twenty years God offered him grace and repentance but he would not take warning a mocker he was and a mocker he would be for he mocked Isaac when he was a child six yeares old and no meanes would reclaim him before he heard the voice Cast out the bond woman and her sonne Out with him saith God for he shall never be heire with my sonne this was an hundred and seventéen years before Ismaels death And so God took Saul five and thirty or six and thirty yeares before he died according to Iosephus Chronology if it be true nowsoever he tooke him divers yeares before his death for so the Scripture makes it plaine 1 Sam. 15. 29. The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent for he is not a man that he should repent Therefore because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord the Lord also hath rejected thee from being a King And doe not think that thou by thy prayers and crying God mercy canst ever alter him for his counsell is immutable and he is strong in his decrée and cannot change Hetherto Orace and Mercy have béen offered thée which if thou hadst imbraced thou mightest have found Mercy from the Lord and the Kingdome should have béen established and confirmed unto thée but now it is too late for the strength of Israel cannot lie God tooke Esau fiftie years before his death for so long he lived after he sought the blessing with teares but he was a hunting when God was a calling he was following his prophainenesse when God was wooing him to Repentance At last when he called for Repentance and sought it earnestly yea his Soule was carefull for to get it yet he could never obtaine it though he sought it earnestly with teares of fiftie yeares before he died Now if the Lord so severely punish contempt of temporall blessings O how will hâ— punish the contempt of proffers of Grace and Salvation I tell you God will be more strict in revenging of this sinne then of any other sinne he will come with Martiall law against all those that contemne his Gospell Ioh. 3. 18. He that beleeveth not is condemned already Doth Christ preach repentance and salvation and the Kingdome of God and wilt thou not repent and beléeve Martiall Law beloved martiall Law hang him up for he is condemned already Even like a Souldier that revels against his Generall and forsake his Colours they doe not cast him into prison and stay for the Assizes or Sessions but give him Mattiall Law even hang him up So if the Lord sound his Gospell in thine ears and offers thée conditions of peace knocking at the doore of thy heart by his Spirit and thou refuse to open to him thou art condemned already for the strength of Israel cannot lie nor repent Oh therefore take héed now whiles his word sounds in thine ears While his Spirit secretly whispers in thy heart to thée open to him for else thou art condemned for ever Take notice then that God doth commonly give men a day and no man or Angel doth know how long this day lasteth To some it lasteth to their lash gasp to some to their old age and to some it is cut off in their childhood God gave the Angels a day the which because they neglected they are reserved in chains of darknesse untill the great iudgement day God gave Cain a day Gen. 4. During all the time of this day though Cain sinned againe and againe and went on in his sinnes a great while yet heard nothing but a still voice If thou doe well Cain shalt thou not be accepted but if thou dost ill sinne lieth at the dore But when no means will prevaile but Cain will go on adding sin to sin and murder unto all the rest of his sinnes and so let go the season of mercy the Lord tells him from heaven that the day of grace is past the gate of mercy is shut against thée for thou art now accursed from the earth As if the Lord should say Before I gave thée a day of salvation and offered thée mercie but thou wouldst not accept of it but now I have clapt a curse upon thy soule that thou shalt never claw it off So God gave Niniveh a day to repent Ionnah 3. Yet fourty dayes and Niniveh shall be destroyed God gave the Fig-trée a day even three years before he would have it cut down God gave the old world a day of an hundred and twenty years during this time God sent unto them Noah a Preacher of Righteousnesse to call upon them to repent and so set it down also that his Spirit shall not alwaies strive with man but his time shall be an hundred and twenty yeares yet one writs that the Lord cut off twenty of the hundred and twenty yeares because of
THE DANGER Of deferring Repentance Discovered By that reverend and faithfull Minister of the worde William Fenner London Printed for Jo. Stafford and are to be sold by Richard Button at the Horse-shooe in Smithfield 1654. William Fenner Rector of Rochford B· D· Somtims Fellow of Pembrooke Hall·Aetatis 45 A 1648 A SERMON of Mr. William Fenners at Maidstone September 25 1629. PROVERBES 1. 28. Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not finde me THere is a good English Proverbe amongst us that he that neglectes the occasion the occasion will neglect him Solomon wisely begins his Proverbes with it for he bringeth in the Wisdome of his Father in these five particulars first making a generall Proclamation in the 20. verse Wisdome crieth without she uttereth her voice in the streets He compareth God unto a cryer that goeth up and down the Citie from stréet to stréet and from doore to doore crying his commodity even the richest yt ever was which is a Christ a Christ for redemption a Christ for sanctification a Christ to enlighten those that walke in darknesse and in the shadow of death Ho every one that thirsteth here is a Christ for you Secondly here is a mercifull reprehension in ye 22. verse O ye foolish how long will you love foolishnesse and you scornors take pleasure in sâ—orning Foolish indéed to be without Christ foolish to be without grace foolish to chafer away our souls for sin How long yee scorners will you take pleasure in scorning will you still persist in your wickedness never have done with your sins will you never turne back againe but damne your souls for ever O yee foolish how long will you love foolishnesse Thirdly here is a gracious exhortation in ye 23 verse Turne you at my correction lo I wil poure out my mind unto you and make you to understand my words As if he should say Do you not sée how you are going a pace to confusion and that the way you take leadeth unto destruction turne ye therefore turn ye back again for there is a Christ behind you Oturn ye for if ye go on in your sins you perish for ever Fourthly here is a yearning promise made unto the world in the end of the 23. verse Lo I will poure out my spirt upon you and cause you to understand my words As if he should say returne back againe with me you shall have better welcom then you can possibly have if you go on in your sins the devill wil never let you gain so much by your living in your lust as you shall do by repentance for them forsaking of them For behold I will poure out my spirit upon you whereby you shal be farre greater gainers then you shal be by your sins Fifthly here is a grievous threatning against the world even all those that have loytered out the day of grace As time and tide stays for no man no more doth the day of grace Because I have called and you refused I haue exhorted but you have not regarded I have denounced judgments against you for your sins but you have hardned your hearts now a day of woe and miserie shall come upon you a time of vengeance and desolation shall over take you there will a day come wherein there wil be wéeping and crying Mercie Lord mercie but I tell you before-hand what you shall trust to let this be your lesson now I call you will not hear now I stretch out my hands but you wil not regard you shall seeke me eraly but you shall not find me and shall cry but you shall not be heard The words are a thunderclap against all those that procrastinate their repentance and returning home unto God Wherein note first the parties themselvs that do prolong this time of grace they that is they who when God cals on them will not heare when God invites them by his mercies patience forbearance by his Ministers servants by his corrections judgements by all faire means fowl means yet withstand ye means of grace they are the men they shall call but God will not answer Secondly here is there seeking after God they shall call upon me Thirdly here is their earnest diligent seeking unto Gâ—d they shall not only call but séek to and not onely seek but séek as to labour to find nay they shall séek me early even strive to go about it with all hast and flie to repentance but they shall not find me Fourthly here is the unseasonablenesse of the time of their séeking then that is a demonstrative then even a time which ye Lord points at as if he should say you shall sée then these men will be of an other mind then they will be glad to be converted then they will be glad to come out of their sins then they will be glad to get grace séek reconciliation with God but alas they saw not this then but God foresaw it well enough then shall they call but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me Lastly here is the frustration of their hope which hath two things in it First in regard of their selves in regard of the flaw of their séeking it being not aright Secondly in regard of the justice of God who rewards every man according to his works but I will not hear them Whence observe this point of Doctrine DOCTRINE I These that will not heare God when he calleth them God will not hear them when they call upon him Those that will not heare the Lord when he calleth upon them by the ministery of his Word and voice of his Spirit the Lord will not heare them when in their misery they call upon him Thus the Lord dealt with the people in Ezekiels dayes the Lord called them to repentance and obedience but when they stood out neglected the opportunity of grace and seasons of conversion sée how God deales with them though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice yet I will not heare them saith the Lord When men have gone beyond the time of Gods mercy out-rowed ye tide of Gods forbearance wil not return ye Lord sets it down with him selfe that his wrath shal returne upon them he will no longer forbeare they had a time wherein ye Lord did pitie them offered grac and mercy unto them but they neglecting this season and withstanding this proffer of grace God resolves with himselfe they shall never have it againe There was a time wherein God did pittie them but now he will not pity them any more twenty five yéers he called unto them and sought to bring them home but because they stood out and refused the Lord saith I will love Ephraim no more Beloved there is a double day a white day and a black day there is a day of salvation Isa. 49. 9. this is the day in
which ye Lord said to the prisoners Come foorth and to those that lie in their sins repent and beleeve Now if any man will come foorth and humble his soule before ye Lord let him come welcome for it is a day of salvation But there is another day of damnation which is a darke day a black a duskie day wherein ye Lord wil visite the sins of the world and revenge the quarrell of this Covenant Hos. 9. 7. The day of visitation is come yea the day of recompence the people shall know it the Prophet is a foole and the spirituall man is mad Beloved we are fooles and all ye spirituall men under heaven are mad that lay not this day to heart For the day of the Lord is a day of visitation all the world shall rue it though now men sléepe in security If once mercy be rejected and God turn away his eare from a man then grace shal be no more the doore of life shall for ever be shut up against him and when once this day comes he hath lost his owne peace and deprived himselfe of eternall happinesse Now there are three Reasons of this point the first is the law of retaliation of rendring like for like which is ye justest law that can be made with man for to give unto every man according to his works to make him take such as he brings as the heathen call it to give a man quid for quo Now if God call upon thée and thou wilt not heare it is righteousnesse with God yea equity with God that is more that when yu callest on him he should not hear thée for thus runs the tenor of Gods Word Prov. 28. 9. He that turns away his eare from hearing the Law even his prayer shall be abominable He that turns away his eare from Gods Law God will turne away his eare from his prayer He that turns it is spoken in the present tense that is that now turns away his eare his prayer shall be abominable in the future tense yt is the Lord marks what master or servaunt what father or mother what husband or wife what man or woman it is yt turns away the eare of his head or the eare of his heart from hearing his will and obeying of his Commandements the Lord takes speciall notice of it sets it dowue in his Calender records it in his Memoriall kéeping a strict account thereof as if God should say Well is it so I now call and will not this man or that woman answer Do I now stretch out my hands and will not they take care to obey me Well let them alone saith God there is a day comming that I shal be a hearing of them times of sorrow and misery will take hold of them and then they in their aflictions will cry unto me but I will not heare they will beg for mercy but I will not regard they will seek me early but they shall not find me It was on of the Articles of high Treason brought in against Cardinall woolsey that he had the Por and a stinking breath and yet durst come into ye kings presence So it will be an article against thée of high treason before the King of heaven if thou come into his presence with the stinking breath of thy sins living in thy lusts and wallowing in thy filthinesse all thy Prayers are but as so many stinking breaths in ye nostrils of the Lord every duty yt thou performest unto the Lord shall be as so many articles of high treason against thée for to condemn thée becaus thou livest in Rebellion and a traitor against God His prayer shal be abominable he doth not say I wil turn away mine eare from hearing his prayer which turns away his eare from hearing my Law that is the true exposition of the words no like for like is sometimes injustice for if a man should strik a Magistrate a box on the eare it were not justice for him to give him another for it is a greater sin to strik a Magistrate then any other common person therefore a greater Punishment the Law requireth So God doth not say he will turne away his eare from hearing his prayer but wil serve him in a worse kind he will count it abominable yea abomination in the abstract it shall be loathsome yea loathsomnesse it selfe in the worst manner Gal. 6. As a man soweth so shall he reap if thou sow sparingly thou shalt reap sparingly if thou sow a dull eare to Gods Word thou shalt reap a dull care from God to thy prayer For God wil reward every man according to his workes Secondly because of the time of Gods attributes both meâ—cy and justice have their season in this life and when mercy hath acted her part then commeth justice upon the stage and acteth her part so that God with have his attributes manifested to all the sons of men yea to the face of ye whole world There is no Market nor Fair-day yt lasteth alwaies if the Countrey will not come in ye Tradesmen will put up their Wares and he gone but if they come in time they may have a pennyworth otherwise if they come too late they will have none For ye Merchant will not alwaies dwel in Tents but away he goeth and will not stay for them Beloved Gods standing is now open and his shop is set wide unto ye sonns of men if men will not come in cheapen and buy without money whiles God offers his Wares he will put them up and be gone For the Merchant will not lose his Wares which he should do if he should alwaies remaine in the open Aire with them if he alwaies continue in the fieldes expecting Customers his Wares would spotle and rot So it is with God how many swéet Counsels doth he lose how many swéet Exortations how many blessed Sermons holy Sacraments and Sabbaths doth he lose how many checks of Conscience how many days of Grace and motions of his Spirit have béen suandred away in vaine do you thinke that God will lose all these and let them rot upon ye stall with staying for you No no the day of grace mercy will have an end and then ye day of wrath and vengeance will step up To day if ye will heare his voice then harden noâ— your hearâ—s then they hardned their hearts would not be led by Gods mercies to forsake their sinns Therefore he sweare in his wrath that they should never enter into his rest If it be so with you as it was with Israel in the Wildernesse in the day of tremptation you doe not know but yt your sinns may now begin to pluck vengeance upon you I tell you if you harden your hearte this day you do not â—now but this very day ye Lord may clap an Oath upon your beads that you shall never enter into his rest For vne the self-same occasion last not aâ—waies as
their iniquities which were so grievous and provoked him so much that they hasted him to come before he would have done In all this space if they had Repented they should have found Mercy from the Lord but when his time was gone and the day of grace was out the deluge came in upon them and God by his judgements overthrew the whole World Object You may aske me when this day or season of grace doth end or cease Answ. I answer that neither men nor Angels can tell but this I say it may be yet this day of grace lasteth unto thee now it may be God speaketh whom to thy soul now it may be God warnms thy heart and gives thee good purposes and resolutions now it may be the Lord Iesus passeth by thée in a good thought and desire lay hold on it for thy day may cease this very night for ought thou knoweth Luke 17. 22. The time shal come saith Christ when you shall desire to see one of the dayes of the Sonne of man and shall not see it Now is the day of Christ upon you now is Christ offering and preaching himselfe to you but if you let this day passe thou maist desire to have one of the drops of that Blood that hath béen offered to thée and yet never have it thou maist desire to féele one rap of that Spiret that hath knockt at thy heart and yet goe without it thou maist intreat for one dram of that mercy that hath béen offered and thou hast rejected but it shall never be granted to thée God may clap that fearefull sentence upon thée Now henceforth never grow fruit more on thee never Repentance come into thy heart more If now thou wilt not repent and be converted the Lord may set it down in his decrée from this day forward that thou maist fumble about thy sinnes but shalt never get victory over them thou maist ever be mourning for thy corruptions but never mourne aright for them thou maist blunder about Repentance but never doe the worke Ezekiel 24. 23. You shall not mourne nor weepe but you shall pine away for your iniquities and mourne one towards another There is many a soule for contemning of God and not taking up Repentance while they may have it this plague of God is come upon them that they are ever repenting and are never able to Repent ever poring upon their sinnes but never able to come out of them they pray and pray against them but their prayers moulder away under them for they shall pine away for their iniquities What is the reason He sheweth in the 13. verse Because I would have purged thee and thou wast not purged thou shalt not be purged any more Because I gave thée line upon line precept upon precept motion upon motion Sacrament upon Sacrament Sabbath vpon Sabbath and Ordinance upon Ordinance because I used all faire means and foule means I awaked thy conscience and stirred up the motions of Grace in thée but becâ—use I would have cleansed thée and thou wast not cleansed thou shalt never be cleansed A fearfull sentence it is if mens hearts were soundly oppened to consider rightly of it And as there is a Personall day so there is a Nationall day if the Nation turne unto God during that time then that Nation shall find mercy but if they neglect that day then God will hide those things from their eyes that belong to their peace as Christ saith of Ierusalem Luke 19. 42. O Ierusalem if that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that did belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eies in this thy day if thou hadst known it during that day it had béen happy for thée but now the day of grace is gone the Lord hath concealed it from thée and thou shalt never perceive it more Some mens day of grace God endeth even in their very child-hood therefore if there be any little ones any Children here in this congregation that are of age to know what belongs to an exortation to them I spake that they take héed how they rebell against the commandement of a Father or a Mother or Master against the teaching of Gods word for though you be children yet God may inflict judgments upon your heads for not only the day of grace but also the day of lfe may be cut off from children as 2 Kings 2. 24. Four and twenty children were torne in pieces for mocking the Lords Prophet Some mens day of grace is not shut up untill their youth some not untill their old age some not untill they are a dying and if they refuse then they are like yea sure to perish for ever I know the day of grace may have severall returns but at last Gods Exchequer will be finally shut up Object May not a man be called at the eleventh or twelfth houre of the day The day of grace lasteth alwayes and doth not the Apostle call the day of life the day of grace 2 Cor. 6. 2. Answ. It is true the Lord calleth men at the eleventh twelfth houre but yet looke and you shall sée in the twentieth of Matthew that they were not called at the first houre nor at the second nor third houre nor at the sixt and ninth houre he doth not say he found the same men that he found at the first and third sixth and ninth houres but he saw others standing jdle No those that were called at the first houre came in at the first houre and they that were called at the third houre came in at the third houre and they that were called at the sixth and ninth houre came in at ye sixth and ninth houre Well doth God call thée in thy childhood in thy youth or in thy middle age now at the first or sixth or ninth houre now come in and labour in Gods vineyard and work out your salvation with feare and trembling and make use of the season of grace now whilst it is upon you for if thou be called at the first houre the sixt is for another and not for thée if thou be called the sixt hour the ninth hour is for others and not for thée if thou be called the ninth hour the eleventh hour is for others not for thée The text saith He came found others standing jdle in the market place and said unto them Why stand ye here jdle and they say unto him no man hath hired us as if they should say We never had any means of salvation we have had no Ministers to preach unto us but now God calls upon thée to come in this is thy houre look unto it If God call thée sée thou come in whether it be at the first or third houre at the sixth or ninth houre lest the Lord in his wrath clap hardnesse of heart upon thy soule Object But you will say that the day of life and the day of grace are paralleld and likened one to another and
therefore there is hope so long as a man remains in the congregation of the living Answ I answer it is true indéed that the day of grace lasteth as long as the day of life 1. In regard of others for others are so to estéeme of it the Minister is to look to his people as to a people to be converted as long as they live 2 In regard of a mans own selfe he is so bound to believe for the commandement of faith standeth in force on a man so long as he liveth and therefore infidelity and despaire cease not to be sinnes till a man is actually in Hell when he is in hell then they are no sinnes because then he is not commanded to believe but are part of the punishment of the damnes but whilst a man lives it is a sin for men are now bound to lay hold upon Christ and to beléeve at what houre of their life soever 3. It may be said to last all a mans life long because it is bounded within the compasse of life for no man hath a day of grace after this life But what is the meaning of all those Scriptures which shew how God doth deliver up men unto the Spirit of guidinesse and unto the Spirit of slumber And what means the hardening of mens hearts searing of mens consciences but only to shew that the day of grace may end unto a a particular man ten twenty thirty nay fourty yeares before his death 1. Because God may harden a mans heart Jerem 13. 10. and deale with them as with Israel in the Rocks so shut up their hearts that they shall never melt at any Sermon never be wrought upon by any judgment God having closed them up in a rocky heart that he saith of them Can the blackmore change his skin or the Leopard his sports then may they do good that are accustomed to do evill The blacknesse of the blackmore is only in the outside of the skin yet all the art under the heavens cannot blot it out So if once hardnesse possesse thy soule all the preaching of the Ministers and all the means of grace in the world can never bring it unto that frame and temper as to make it melt under the hand of God I tell thée thou that usest to come unto Sermons day after day and refusest to repent living still in thy sinns there is no hammer nor béetle in the world more hard then thy heart as those men and women that sit under the preaching of the word and heare ye doctrine of life like raine from above beating and knocking on their consciences and on their hearts to awaken them out of their sins and yet notwithstanding will not repent at last they prove to be deafe Adders that stop their ears against the word charme the charmer never so wisely 2. God may feare mens consciences Doth thy conscience tell thée thou art a luke-warmling and wilt thou not be reformed Doth thy conscience tell thée that thy prayers and all thy religion is rotten and unsound and that thy Repentance is hypocriticall and nought and that for all thy vaine hopes thou art but a dissembler and yet remainest in thy sinns and wilt thou not be bettered hereby Take héed for that man that runs on in sinne against the voice of his owne conscience that man sins the sinne of Saul 1 Sam. 13. 8. God bid him stay seven dayes untill Samuel came Saul stayes full seven dayes within one houre at last his lust began to bawl What shall I stay for a Prophet thus long Stay sayes his conscience Why sayes Saul I wayted for him so long even seven dayes lacking but one houre Stay saith God to his conscience for the word of God bids thée stay so long he stayed one day and two dayes and six dayes and seven dayes but one houre Stay saith his conscience no he would not but I forced my selfe saith the text as if he should say I hardened my heart to do it though the word of the Lord bid me stay and not do it yet I forced my selfe to do it What was this mans sinne Was it his offering of sacrifice and calling upon God by prayer No the Lord commands us to call upon him in time of distresse and being commanded it was lawfull Was it his sinne to meddle with the Priests office No for he did but appoint the sacrifice the Priest offered it What was it the breaking of one houres time No for he had sinned more against God then so but this was his sinne that he went against his own conscience when God stood in the way when conscience stood in the way conscience said stay but he would not stay God bid him stay but he would not stay and this is the sinne of many thousands amongst us mens consciences tell them that they must not be drunkards mens consciences tell them that they must not be worldlings they must not be swearers they must not be luke-warm professors they must pray better then they do and have other faith then yet they have if ever they meane to be saved wilt thou yet against thy conscience force thy selfe to go on in thy sinnes from day to day and never be reformed take héed lest the Lord be provoked to set thy sinne upon thy head and shut up thy heart and conclude thy eternall destruction Object Suppose I go one in my sins and follow my wicked courses now what if I seeke him hereafter and humble my soule before him with fasting and prayer and when I lie upon my death-bed I send a ticket unto my Minister to pray for me will all this do me no good Answ. Surely no saith God Jerem. 15. 1. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me yet my affections could not be toward this people cast them out of my sight Dost thou lie sick upon thy death-bed were Samuel Job or Daniel the Minister of thy Parish and thou shouldst send thy ticket unto them desiring them to remember thée in their prayers if Noah stood in the Pulpit and Iob and Daniel were here before the Lord for to plead for thée yet he would not heare thée Object But suppose I humble my selfe by fasting and prayer will not God hear â—hat Answ. No if thou neglect the day of grace Ier. 14. 12. when they fast I will not hear them and when they offer oblations I will not accept their cry but I will consume them by the sword by famine and by pestilences you may set up your fastings prayers and humiliations you may lament and mourne and pine away your selves in your sins but it is not all your prayers and fastings it is not all your lamentation and mourning that will do you good so long as the counsell of the Lord is rejected Because I called and ye would not answer therefore you shall call but I will not hear thy thought that the Lords eares would alwayes be open and that when they called the Lord would
have answered and that the day of grace would ever remaine but God saith I will not hear them they would never have sought if they thought the Lord would not heare them but all their séeking was in vaine Ob. You will say at what time soever a sinner repenteth he shall have mercy An. It is true if thou repent from the bottom of thy heart but thou maist come with many a degrée of repentance and yet never repent whilest thou livest if thou repent from thy heart and root out thy sins then God will put away thy sins but thou maist go on in repentance and calling upon God and performing many duties of Religion and yet is hardened looke how much Religion will stand with selfe-love so much thou maiest have after the day of grace is gone selfe-love may make a man flie to prayer and run after Sermons and go on in many holy duties and give over many sins looke how farre selfe-love may drive thée unto holy duties so farre thou maist goe and yet notwithstanding remaine hardened O therefore let us not delay nor put off the time of grace nor let goe salvation while it may be had then shall they call but I will not answer he doth not set downe when this time is it may be 〈◊〉 is now it may be not this seven years it may be not till thy death Doct. 2. It may be this very day even this very Sermon this very houre may be thy day that art now in thy sins that if thou repent not at this very one Sermon thou neglectest eternall life for ever lose the benefit of this Sermon at this time and thou maiest lose eternall Salvation and never have it more The theife that rob'd this day how doth he know but this one robery may bring him to the gallows So the man that sins this day how doth he know but that this very dayes worke may bring him to hell Deuteronomy 32. 35. To God belongs vengance their feet shall slide in due time Therefore if a man sin against him he may stand to day and to morrow and many dayes but when the due time comes even the time which God hath set then up goes his héels he shall slide and break his neck thy houre-glasse runes in heaven and thou séest not when the sand comes to the bottome but when t is out then down thou goest to hell for euer There was one resolved to kill Julius Caesar such a day the night before a friend sent him a letter to acquaint him with it but being at supper and busie I will not look upon it now saith he to morrow is a new day The next day when he should have read his letter he was stab'd Whence this proverbe came in Gréece To morrow is a new day God sends thée a letter and a message from heaven to day repent and come out of your fins or for ever to hell to day he converted and sanctified or for ever be hardened Dost thou refuse to harken to day and puttest it off untill to morrow it may be to morrow may be a day of Gods wrath and then thou mayest be hardened seared and bound over unto the great day of Gods vengeance to morrow God may set the decrée upon thy soul that thou shalt never repent Therefore if thou refuse this thou refuseth all for what knowest thou but this very day may be thy day The reason is because Gods patience is in his owne breast and who can tell how long it will last Hast thou Momus his glasse-window to looke into Gods secret counsell hast thou a key-hole to looke into Gods treasurie canst thou stand on tiptoe to looke over Gods shoulder to looke into Gods decrée to sée how long his patience will last It may be God hath suffered thée till this day thou art guilty of ten thousand sinnes and yet he is patient towards thée God hath stayed thus long for thée that hast sworne I know not how many oaths God hath born thus long with thée that hast told I know not how many lyes prophaned I know not how many Sabbaths contemned I know not how many Ordinances and sleighted I know not how many Iudgements yet Gods patience is in his owne brest it is the long sufferance of God Thou maiest say I would faine have it to morrow and this seven yéeres but alasse it is his long sufferance and not thine and how dost thou know when he will conclude it it may be this day as well as to morrow Joel 2. 13. Rent your hearts and not your garments saith the Prophet for the LORD he is gracious and mercifull This word for hath a great deals of force in it First it is a descriptivum for he is gracious and a mercifull God therefore rent thy heart and let thy Soule burst within thée that thou hast sinned against him for he is a mercifull God and it may be he will pardon all thy sinns and heale all thy rebellions committed against him Secondly it is an upbraiding for upbraiding thée for thy sinnes rent thy heart therefore why he is a patient God wilt thou go on in thy sinns against such a patient God and rebell against such a loving Father that hath loved thée with so much compassion â—ent thy heart for he is patient Thirdly it is a comfort and incouraging for rent thy heart for there is encouragement for thée to repent give over thy sinns and goe to the Throne of grace For there is much mercie to welcome thée and great patience for to bid thée come home and aboundance of grace for to incourage thée therefore rent thy heart and come home unto the Lord for he is patient and long-suffering Fourthly it is a forewarning for rent your hearts for the Lord is gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnesse yet his mercy lasteth yea his patience endureth yet he hath all his attributes and yet he is pleased to manifest the same still tendring grace and mercy unto thee Oh! turne unto him while these endure or else thou shalt perish for ever Fiftly it is a threatning for now he is gracious now he is mercifull but his mercy will end his patience will end and then if thou hast not rent thy heart before it will be too late then Therefore as ever thou lovest thine own soule now rent thy heart and turne unto God It is Gods own proclamation The Lord slow to anger and of great mercy forgiving iniquity and sin Yea what man soever he be that humbles his soule before him he shall find grace and mercy with him yea aboundance of mercie pardoning iniquity transgression and sinne yea any thing Let but a soule come prostrate before him humbling his soule he will pardon his sinné But as it followeth in the words He will by no meanes cleare the guiltie if notwithstanding all Gods patience and mercie thou goe on in thy sinnes the Lord will never forgive thee but will visit thy
sinues upon thée unto the third and fourth generation because thou hast withstood the day of grace Beloved men run on in their sins as if so be an Augel from heaven should cry unto them and tell them yet God will be good unto them yet God will shew them mercy and forbeare them Beloved let your consciences answer if you ever heard the Lord God say to any of you thus long I will forbeare you No Gods patience is in his own breast and therefore no man knows how long it will last Reas. 2. A second reason is because Gods patience giveth no marks or inkling of it before it ends commonly when God strikes a man with death he giveth some signes or warnings of it before as sicknesse and paines and gray hairs and many sorrows c. Now because thy life is in Gods hands thou carest not for it but venturest to goe on in thy sins hoping to have some warning though thousands be cut off without it but the day of grace may come to an end and yet thou never have any inkling or warning of it beforehand commonly when God strikes a man with death he tells him of it before-hand by aches and pains as if the Lord should say Now thou shalt die now will I take thée out of the world But when the Lord taketh away the day of grace from a man though the spirituall man may take some notice of it yet there is no sensible apparition of it but after the day of grace is set upon a man he may be as strong and lustrie as before he may come to Church as well after as before performe religious duties and do many good things as well after as before as Saul went on in duties of Religion as well after Samuel had pronounced the Lords doome upon him how many times was he offering sacrifice unto the Lord after the Prophet told him that he was a man rejected how many good spéeches came from him as when Samuel met him he salutes him with these words Blessed be thou of the Lord I pray thee turne againe with me that I may worship the Lord A man would have thought that Saul had beene a good convert No no before al this his judgment and doome was set upon him God steales upon him and saies nothing he claps his plague upon their souls and holds his peace Isaiah 42. 14. I have a long time held my peace I have beene still and refrained my selfe now will I cry like a travelling woman I will destroy and devoure at once The Lord shewes here how he deales with men they goe on in their sinnes but the Lord holds his peace they provoke him every day but the Lord refraines his anger but now all at once his wrath breateth foorth upon them Psal. 64. 7. God will shoot an arrow at them suddenly their stroke shal be at once The Lord suddenly shoots a swift arrow at thée no sooner it is shot but it enters into thy bowels When the Lord comes upon a man he comes suddenly when he ends the day of grace upon him he doth it suddenly He ended the day of grace on the Scribes and Pharisées even in the very Sermon time While Christ was preaching unto them they were delivered up to hardnesse of heart so many were delivered up to hardnesse of heart in the time of Hosea's prophecie Hosea 4. 17. Epharim is joyned to jdols let him alone saith God as if he should say Sermou let him alone Preacher let him alone Spirit let him alone Christ let him alone let him alone Beloved if we stand out against God and reject the day of grace the Lord may say Word let such aman alone and never convert him Christ let such a man alone and never redéeme him Spirit let such a man alone and never sanctifie him Sacraments let such a man alone and never seale up any comforts unto him a fearefull signe that men are come to this hours do we not sée that men come to the Word and the Word lets them alone in their sins do not men come to the Sacrament and the Sacrament leaves them still in their filthinesse men come unto good dtuies but good duties let them alone and do them no good and this is the condition of many thousands in the world Therefore oh thinke upon this you that have made a league with your sinns and an agréement with hell hear this delivered to you this day that the day of grace may be ended and God may come and clap his curse upon men and never give them any inkling of it at all A third Reason is because God reckons upon every houre if God kept not a strict account of time how many Sermons you have had how many mercies you have enjoyed how many crosses he hath warned you by if God kept not a true talle and account of every houres time you might rub on many dayes and moneths and yéeres and spend much time in fulfilling of your lusts but God kéepeth a reckoning of these things yea of every houre and of every minute Act. 17. 30. The times of ignorance God regarded not but now he admonisheth all men to repent Alas when men live in their sins through blindnesse and ignorance and know not God the Lord takes no such strict notice of them but lets them goe on longer and longer but when the Lord send them his Word and Gospel and affords them the meanes of grace he doth the more strictly looke unto them and takes the more exact account of them before they had the meanes of grace the Lord winked at them and did not so narrowly watch them but looked over mens ignorance as the originall hath it but now God sends his Word and Gospel he admonisheth all men to repent he winks at never an houre but sets downe how oft thou hast had exhortation from thy Minister how often thou hast had warning by sicknesse and afflictions how often thou hast had chéeks from thine owne conscience how many admonitions thou hast had from thy friends how many times thou hast had the sound of the Gospel to sound in thy eares to bring thée home unto God John 2. 7. 11. This is the first beginning of miracles that Jesus did John 4. 58. This is the second miracle that Iesus did saith the Text God sets downe this is the first this is the second time This is the second Epistle I wrote to you saith Paul Oh this is the third time I wrote unto you 2 Cor. 13. that when I come I will not spare so God sets it downe in his catalogue this is the first time that I have warned this man this is the second time this is the third time that when I come I will not spare the Lord counts how long he hath sought unto thée and intreated thée by his mercies how long he hath allured thée by his Word how long he hath warned thée by his judgements how oft he hath smote