Christ carry back but this Now is the cord of this great salvation let down unto you is there none of you that will take a gripe of it will ye flighter after it will ye make this a rejoycing day in heaven that is a fasting day unto you and the way to make it so is to embrace the great salvation Now what say ye to it old men let me speak to you and ask your thoughts of the great salvation Gray Hairs should be a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness old men speak your minds that young men may not have your bad example What say ye of this salvation Is it not a most glorious salvation is it not a most excellent salvation that is in your offer I intreat you speak your minds tell Christ ye are content to take the great salvation otherwise whoever he be that will not partake of this gospel salvation I in the name and authority of Christ our Master denounce eternal and irrevocable war against him put on your harness ye shall not boast when ye put it off again the wrath and fury of God shall come upon you to the uttermost if ye embrace not this great salvation Other wars are but for a time the greatest Captains that ever the earth did carry are now laid down in the sides of the Pit and their swords broken under their head Armies of ten hundred thousand a hundred years time have laid them all in their graves and ended all their contests but there is no discharge of this war that shall be concluded betwixt Christ and you it shall become an eternal and most terrible war which shall be but beginning when time is ended Now peace or war which of them will ye choose Dare ye send a charge to Christ and say ye will defie him I am afraid there will be two things that many of us shall report to day First I am afraid there will be many that will give Pharaohs repot to the offer of the great salvation and say Who is the Lord that I should obey him I tell you who he is He is glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders O embrace him before he go hence and give not Pharaohs report lest ye be drowned in the Sea of his wrath whence there shall be no recovery Secondly I fear there will be many here to day that will give Demas report to this precious offer I will go and forsake Christ and embrace this present world O bad exchange Cursed be he that shall make it Will ye be of Demas humour I fear there hath been many of that humour of a long time but I entreat you once be wise before ye die I confess that proverb Old fools are twice fools I think old men that will not embrace the great salvation I think ye are triple fools What wait ye for is there any thing can afford you any satisfaction but this great salvation Now are ye convinced old men that Christ is waiting for your answer I intreat you before ye go hence speak your minds what ye think of the great salvation is it not a lovely salvation is it not lovely now What say ye to it I am to go away and the offer is to be taken up at this time and it is hard to say if ever ye shall have an offer again I would only say this to you and be sure of it though I should never be a partaker of this great salvation yet I shall be a witness against you that are not partakers of it I tell and declare unto you I shall be a witness against you if ye embrace not the great salvation Now old men are ye perswaded to embrace it let me obtest you by the beauty of Christ come and partake of the great salvation ye that are travelling upon the borders of eternity Now if ye will give no more give this will ye go home and think upon it I shall not be uncharitable nor enter to judge your thoughts I fear there shall be many declared and found guilty amongst us that we have declared unto heaven we will not embrace the great salvation but have troden the blood of the Son of God under foot Now I entreat you every one of you ask of your selves if ye be the persons that will presume in your hearts to do so Now I shall leave it with you let it not be a witness against you I shall leave it with this O come away old men young men old women and maids come and embrace this precious gospel salvation Ye may say ye bid us come but we cannot come I desire no more of you but to come with this Lord I am content to come but I cannot come Come once to that for if once ye be content to receive it it will not be long before ye be able to receive it Now shall Christ depart and will none of you say ye are content to take him will ye charge your own consciences with this 〈◊〉 I content to take Chrst and the great salvation O blest blest blest be he that is the author of this great salvation and blest be he that gets any of the ends of the cord of the great salvation that we sink not under the wrath and fury of the Lord Come and embrace this great salvation and again I say come and embrace it for what can ye have if ye want it and what can ye want if ye have it I shall say no more but close with that word Isa. 62. vers 21. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed to the ends of the World to those that are far off What hath he proclaimed Say ye to the Daughter of Sion Behold thy salvation cometh behold it cometh I say to you that are the ends of the World Salvation is brought hear unto you Stout-Hearted and far from Righteousness the great salvation is brought near unto you and will ye send it away Oh consider what ye are doing And to him that can perswade you to embrace the great salvation we desire to give praise FINIS
THE Great Salvation Offered and Tendered First by Christ himself and then by his Holy Apostles with the inevitable Destruction of all that neglect it In two Sermons Reprinted By that eminent Servant of Christ Mr. Andrew Gray formerly Minister of the Gospel in Glasgow Isaiah 52. 7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that publisheth peace that bringeth good tidings of good that publisheth Salvation London Printed for H. Barnard in the Poultrey 1694. TO THE READER Christian Reader BLessed were those days when Christians whether frown'd or smil'd upon by the World lived by Faith and walked in Holiness and Love and Ministers sought the things of their Lord and Master Iesus Christ and not their own When Gospel-Truth was plainly declared by the Preachers and Reverendly received and not wantonly debated by Hearers When Gospel Ordinances were prised and used for the Enjoyment of God in them When Iesus Christ was all in all in Mens Religion And when the Holy Ghost went forth sensibly in Calling Furnishing and Countenancing Ministers in their Work A great measure of this Blessedness did the Western Parts of Scotland Enjoy especially from the Year 1651 to 1660. Amongst the many bright and shining Stars in Christs Right Hand which he set upon his Candlesticks in that part of Brittain two Youths deserve everlasting Remembrance in the Church Mr. Hugh Binning and Mr. Andrew Gray The former Lived but to the twenty sixth year of his Age of whose Labours though several excellent things are Published his Discourses of some of the Principles of Christian Religion deserve Special Regard They have been often Printed and their Depth Gravity and Excellency deserves a larger Commendation than I can give them Mr. Andrew Gray his Contemporary dyed in the twenty second year of his Age. He was Born of a Noble Family bred up at the Vniversity where he profited signularly in Learning and Polished the excellent Parts God had given him The Saving Grace of God reacht him about the nineteenth year of his Age and at twenty he was called and setled in the Ministry of the Gospel at Glasgow a bright Candlestick in that day with Mr. James Durham and Mr. John Carstairs Ministers of the New Testament of singular Worth After two years painful and successful Labours there the Lord called him to his Rest. His singular Gifts for Preaching his charming way of Delivery both in Voice and Action the power he was endowed with and the great success on Mens Hearts that commonly attended his Labours were so Eminent that he was followed by Multitudes wherever he Preached more than any other Minister in that Land in his Day and became the blessed Instrument of the Converting of many to the Faith of Christ. What is Printed of his Sermons was principally by the Notes taken by some of his Hearers sometimes compared with what he Wrote himself which render them but lean Sceletons of the Discourses of a Minister under such singular Influences and Assistance of the Holy Ghost as he usually was in his Work It is well known what Imperfections attend such posthumous writings and what allowances judicious persons read them with How these two came forth alone thou shalt know A worthy Christian in Lancashire being much taken with Mr. Gray's Sermons he design'd to reprint these two concerning The Great Salvation and to give some hundreds of them to his poor Neighbours for their Souls good This Gentleman finding that the first Publishers of them were two Ministers in Edinburgh one of them being my honoured Father and I also bearing his Name he did not know but that I was one of the persons that first sent them to the Press and therefore he desired me to Preface to them I told him his mistake and that I being very young when Mr. Gray dyed could Testify no more of my own Knowledg but that I had seen him in my Fathers House and Pulpit and that I do well remember the high Character be had from all the godly Ministers and Christians that knew him and that his Death was lamented bitterly as a publick Calamity and a Prognostick of evil to come Although another might be more fit than I to Commend them to the Publick and if it had been put to my cheice I might have pitched on something else of this Author or of another for that Chritable end driven at yet seeing every one is to be left to their own Liberty in good works of this nature I would neither divert his design nor deny his request These two Sermons now again published contain no matters or point of Controversy except the main things of the Gospel be so accounted in this Age wherein angry contention is more minded by many than solid Believing and Holy walking They hold forth the greatest of Truths and best of Tidings The great Salvation wrought out compleatly by the Son of God our Saviour They warn gravely of the greatest commonest and most Damning of all Sins the neglecting thereof They earnestly call to the most important of all Gospel-Duties the believing acceptance of this Saviour with his great Salvation May some of the same Power from on High accompany thy Reading of them that did attend the Preaching of them is the desire of Thy Servant in the Gospel Ro. Trail A SERMON Concerning the GREAT SALVATION Heb. 2. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him THis everlasting Gospel which is preached unto you is that glorious Star which must lead us to the place where blessed Christ doth lye This Gospel and glad tidings of the great salvation is come near unto you And Christ is standing at the everlasting doors of your hearts desiring that ye would open unto him There is that one great request which Heaven this day hath to present unto you and it is that ye would at last embrace this great salvation freely offered by him It is the thing for which ye are called to mourn this day that since the dayes of your fathers and since the beginning of your own dayes ye have stopped your ears from the sweet and chaunting voice of this blessed Chamber Ye would never dance to Christ when he piped Neither would ye weep to him when he lamented But to come to the words which we have read unto you The Apostle in the former Chapter had been discoursing most Divinely of the matchless and incomparable excellencies which are in our Lord Jesus And in the first verse of this second Chapter he draweth forth an Exhortation from his former Doctrine which in short is this That they would take heed to the Blessed Doctrine of the Gospel and not at any time to let it slip out of their minds and that they would keep this Gospel as a jewel of great price and would not sell it but that they would be induced to buy
it And this Exhortation he presseth by two Arguments The first Argument is in the second verse where he saith If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward c. This is if the transgression of the Law which was delivered but by the Ministry of Angels and every disobedience to it was so severely punished let that provoke you to take heed that ye transgress not the precious Gospel which was spoken by the Lord himself The second Argument is in the words which we have read unto you and it is taken from the certain and infallible stroak of the justice of God which shall come upon those who slight this great salvation it is impossible saith he that there can be a City of refuge for those who slight this great salvation Now in the words which we have read there are these six things to be considered I. First That is an evil incident to the hearers of this precious Gospel and great salvation to slight and undervalue it This is clearly presupposed in the words otherwise there had been no ground or access for the Apostle to threaten so terrible things against the slighters of it II. The second thing to be considered in the words is that the stroak and ruine of those who slight this great salvation is certain and infallable it will surely come upon them this is clear from those words How shall we escape As if he had said there is no imaginable way for us to escape if we neglect this so great salvation we may have a City of refuge when we are pursued by the Law or when we are pursued other ways by the justice of God but if once we slight this great salvation there remaineth no city of refuge no door of escape left open unto us for where will the person flee that slighted this great salvation III. There is this third thing whereof we shall take notice from the words that the stroak of the justice of God cometh justly upon them who slight this great salvation and truly it is a most equal and reasonable stroak which is also clear from the words How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation where he puts it home to their consciences as if he had said think ye not that it is just and righteous that if ye slight the great salvation there should not be a door of escape left open unto you He putteth the question home to their conscience to answer yea or no. IV. The fourth thing to be considered in the words is this that the slighting this great salvation is a sin that hath many aggravations which attend and wait upon it And it hath two great aggravations from the words which I have read the first great aggravation in that word of the Text graet salvation as if he had said if it were not a great salvation you might have some cloak or excuse for your slighting of it but seeing it is such a great and external salvation there is now no cloak left for your sin The second aggravation is from the certainty of this salvation in these words which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and confirmed unto us by those that heard him viz. His Apostles whereby he telleth them this great salvation is no notion nor fancy but a most certain sure and real salvation which yet they flight V. The fifth thing whereof we shall take notice from the words is this That there are no persons be whom they will Minister or people who slight this great salvation that shall have a door of escape Hence it is that the Apostle putteth himself among the rest saying How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation that is How shall I Paul escape if I neglect so great salvation and so frustrate the grace of God! VI. Sixthly we would take notice of this from the words That not only heart-dispising of this great salvation but even also the very neglecting of it hath a certain infallible and unspeakable ruine attending upon it Now before we begin to speak to any of these six things which we have observed from these words there are these two things whereunto we shall speak a little for clearing of the words first what is meant here by great salvation Secondly how it is said that Christ was the first preacher of it First we conceive that by the great salvation is understood the Gospel as is clear Ephes. 1. 13. where it is called the Gospel of our salvation and Acts 13. 26. it is called the word of this salvation so that by the words of this salvation is understood the Gosgel and those precious offers which are contained in it And we conceive it may be called a great salvation in these eight respects I. First it is called the great salvation in respect of the price which was laid down for it there being no less price laid down to purchase this great salvation than the blood of the Son of God From whence then doth salvation flow unto you it comes running to you in a stream of the blood of the Son of God this is clear Heb. 9. 12. Neither by the blood of Goats and Calves but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us II. Secondly it is called a great salvation in respect of the many difficulties and oppositions which lie in the way of bringing it about What great impediments suppose ye lay in Christs way before he could accomplish and bring about this great salvation Was not the Justice of God to be satisfied was he not to dye and to be made like unto one of us was he not to lie in the grave and was he not to bear the torments of hell before this great salvation could be accomplished and brought to pass there were such impediments in the way of bringing about this great salvation that if all the Angels in heaven had been set to work they had been all crushed under it had it been but that one great impediment to satisfie the justice and pacifie the wrath of God even that was a pass through which none could go but the eternal Son of God It was so guarded that none durst to adventure to enter it much less could any win through it save he onely who was mighty to save III. Thirdly it is called a great salvation in respect of that high estimation which the Saints have of it O what an high estimation have the Saints of this Gospel salvation there is no mercy which they think comparable to this all other mercies are but little Zoars in comparison of this great mercy and Gospel salvation IV. Fourthly it is called a great salvation in respect of those noble effects which this salvation bringeth about and produceth Some of the great effects of the Gospel David hath cleared Psa. 19. 7 8 9 10. Is not this a great effect
practice of believing Abraham He considered not his own body being dry as an old stick nor the deadness of Sarahs womb He did not consider these things which might have been objections to keep him from believing He might have started at these two objections Alas I am old and that objections could he not answer and my wife is past child-bearing neither could he answer that objection What then did he with them He slighted them both and considered them not Secondly I would say this to you who thus slight it because of discouragements If ye did know the worth of the great salvation which is in this Gospel redemption that is offered unto you although ye had an army of objections to go through ye would go through them all To get a drink of the water of this well of Bethlehem V. The fifth sort of persons who slight his great salvation are those who will not do so much as take care and give pains to hear this great salvation offered unto them for there are some persons who if they come to the Church desire to sit farthest off and so never take care to hear a word of this great salvation and such are dreadful slighters of it Like unto these mentioned Ier. 6. 10. To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear Behold their ear is uncircumcised and they cannot hearken Isa. 28. 12. But they would not hear Jer. 7. 10. who say we are delivered to do all these abominations Yet they did come and stand before him in the house which was called by his name VI. Sixthly Those persons are slighters of this great salvation who when they hear it are no more nay not so much affected with it than if we were telling unto them the most senseless history of Thomas the Rymer or some other old fable Like unto these mentioned Ier. 6. 10. The word of the Lord is unto them a reproach they have no delight in it I would pose you all as in the sight of the Author of this great salvation men or women did you ever set your selves or took ye ever pains to bring up your hearts to the love of this great salvation Was it ever the rejoycing of your hearts that Christ dyed and rose again I do certainly believe it and I am perswaded that there are decrees past in Heaven against many of you That in hearing ye shall hear but not understand and in seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive For God hath made your hearts harder than the Flint or Adamant so that ye 〈◊〉 refuse to return when he doth exhort you Believe me if I may so 〈◊〉 I think there is as much probability that the stones in the wall would hear if we would speak to him as soon as many of you VII Seventhly Those persons are slighters of this great salvation who did never complain that they wanted a right to this great salvation I hope some of you are now convinced that ye never came within the compass of this great salvation I say yet unto you if ye did never spend one hour in secret weeping and lamenting because ye had not aright to this Gospel redemption it is but too probable you never had yet a right to it Yea know it that such of you would little care to let precious Christ depart without any grief of heart I think if this were voiced within this house to day whether or not shall Christ go and depart I doubt if there would be many heart-dissenters though many tongue dissenters Oh I fear there would be many hearts here saying O Christ depart and go thy way Yea there are many Gadarens here who prefer their kine and swine to precious Christ and would beseech him to go out of their coasts VIII Eighthly Those persons slight the great salvation who never took pains to engage their hearts to take hold of Christ and the Gospel Christ is near to you this day The great salvation is near to you and is now even now offered unto you therefore are there any who will take pains to lay hold on it I obtest you all who are here by the beauty and excellency of him who is the Author and of this great salvation that ye come and partake of it I obtest you by all the Joyes of Heaven that ye embrace this great salvation I obtest you by all the terrours in Hell that ye embrace it I obtest you by the promises of the everlasting covenant that ye embrace it I obtest you by all the curses which are written in this book of the covenant that ye embrace it I obtest you by the love you owe to your immortal souls that ye will once be wise and come partake of this great salvation May I now have it saist thou Yea I say unto you all ye may have it to day ye may be partakers of it before ye go hence And so before I proceed any further I do in the name and authority of him who sent me here to day and is the Author of this great salvation freely offer it unto you to day But I know there will be eight sorts of humors within this house today in relation to this great salvation which now is offered unto you 1. I think there will be some of Gallio's disposition here to day that will care for none of these things Yea there are many here who will not give a fig for this rich offer of the great salvation But I say Cursed be that person who putteth on Gallio's temper to day that will care for none of these things 2. I fear there will be many of Pilates humour here to day who will say they find nothing against the man yet will cry forth Take him and crucifie him They find no fault with Christ and yet will be content that he be crucified Now can ye say any thing against Christ who is the Author of this great salvation Produce your strong arguments Are there any here who have any thing to say against him I am here to answer in his name I hope there is not one here who hath any thing to say against the Author of this great salvation And why then do ye not take him See unto your selves that there be none of Pilates humour here to day that will cry out Ye find nothing in Christ why he should not be received and yet will be content that he be crucified 3. There will be many of the Jews humor here to day who cry forth Away with Christ away with Christ and give me Barabas But oh what a hellish word is that Away with spotless Christ away with transcendent Christ and give us the world Now are there any here who will be so gross slighters of this great salvation Will ye slight this great salvation and embrace your idols which shall once prove a crown of thorns unto you 4. There will be some of Felix humor sound here to day that will say O Christ go
away at this time and I will here thee at a more convenient season But I say unto you who will not hear me to day nor embrace this great salvation I shall defie all the Ministers in Scotland to assure you that ye shall get another offer if ye send me away to day There is not one that can or dare engage that the great salvation shall be in your offer any more Therefore I say let none of Felix temper be here to day that will say they will hear Christ at a more convenient season 5. There will be some of Balaams temper to day who will desire to dye the death of the righteous and to have their last end like his yet they desire not to live the life of the righteous But I say unto you ye shall never dye the death of the righteous if ye live not the life of the righteous 6. There will be some of you here to day who I hope at least will be of Agrippas humor that will say Thou hast almost perswaded me to be a Christian I say unto thee O wilt thou quickly out with that word almost and put in that word altogether and say O precious Christ Thou hast altogether perswaded me to be a Christian However if thou come no greater length I intreat thee come this length that so thou mayst cry out I am almost perswaded to embrace Christ the great salvation and may be ere long ye will come further 7. There will be some of Iudas temper here to day who will betray Christ for thirty pieces of silver Yea some would sell Christ Heaven their Idols and all for less then thirty pieces of silver 8. I think there will be many of Esaus profane temper here to day who will sell their birth-right for a mess of pottage Now will ye enquire at your selves Am I the person that will give my birth-right for a mess of pottage doth my heart say I will sell my birth right because I am hungered and ready to dye what will it profit me give me a mess of pottage and I will quit my birth-right I know it there are not a few such here to day Therefore I intreat you enquire at your selves what is your humor Oh shall the great salvation that ye have flighted so long be slighted this day also and shall there be none to embrace it Oh enquire and stand in awe lest the wrath of the most high pursue you Now I shall give you these seven considerations which may provoke you not to slight but embrace this great salvation 1. The first consideration That the not embracing this great salvation is one of the greatest acts of folly that can be Ier. 8. 9. They have rejected the word of the Lord and immediately it is subjoyned And what wisdom is in them And so Solomon doth assure you they cannot be wise who neglect this great salvation Prov. 1. 7. Fools despise wisdom and instruction Therefore may not I say unto you be who ye will though ye were the greatest heads of wit in all this place ye are but stark fools as long as ye neglect this But would you be wise indeed and wise unto eternal life Then I intreat you come and embrace this great salvation 2. The second consideration to provoke you not to slight the great salvation is this that the ruine and destruction of the slighters of it is most certain and infallable Ier. 11. 11. Where speaking of slighting the covenant which is indeed this same great salvation there is a Therefore put to the threatning Therefore thus saith the Lord I will bring evil upon them which they shall not be able to escape I defie you all who are the slighters of this great salvation to find a back door when Justice shall pursue you for there is no door to escape if ye embrace not this great salvation But the earth will disclose your iniquity and heaven will declare your sin 3. Thirdly Let this consideration provoke you not to slight this great salvation that Christ is exceeding serious and earnest that ye should embrace it And I think that Isa. 28. 23. speaketh out his exceeding seriousness where four times he beggeth of his hearers that they would give ear and hear his voice saying Give ear and hear my voice hearken and hear my speech What needeth all these exhortations but that Christ is most serious that they would embrace the great salvation And O that there were a person here to day as serious to the bargain as Christ is But be who ye will that flight this great salvation believe me the day is coming wherein ye shall cry out Alas for my slighting of it Wilt thou therefore think presently with thy self O thou slighter of this great salvation what wilt thou say of thy slighting it When the Devil shall be leading thee in thorow those dark gates of hell O slighter of the Gospel how many alasses wilt thou cry when thou shalt be passing thorow these dark gates into thy everlasting prison Wilt thou not then cry out O me a slighter of the everlasting salvation whether am I now going Alas now for my slighting the Gospel And as thou passest thorow thou shalt meet with numbers of miserable comforters there is not one in that prison who can comfort thee but many dreadful a lasses shalt thou then both cry and hear if thou embrace not this great salvation 4. Fourthly Let this provoke you not to slight the great salvation that ye will get it for a very look O ye within this house to day ye will get this great salvation for one look Isa. 45. 22. Look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth for a very look ye will get this great salvation and do ye ever think to get Heaven at a lower rate 5. The fifth consideration to provoke you not to slight this great salvation any more is this There is not one of you who is a slighter of it but your slighting it shall increase your immortal bonds Man or Woman be who thou wilt when thou art slighting this great salvation thou art but plating a cord wherewith to bind thy soul eternally in these unquenchable flames Isa. 28. 22. Be ye not mockers lest your bonds be made strong I say therefore unto you old men mock not lest your bonds be made strong Old Women near unto your graves mock not lest your bonds be made strong Young men be ye not mockers lest your bonds be made strong Young Women who are in the flower of your time mock not lest your bonds be made strong but now alas will there for all this be a person here to day who will be a moker of this great salvation 6. The sixth consideration to provoke you not to slight this great salvation any more is this Ye know not but that your days may be near unto a close I say you know not but the day of the preaching of this great salvation
you will give ear to them viz. there is a great person come here to day and that is the Mighty Author of this great salvation who hath brought everlasting righteousness with him desiring you to make use thereof it is his desire that you would take his excellent gifts at his hand These I say are the tydings that I have to preach unto you and I hope never to be declared a lyar for what I preach unto you I say yet unto you that Christ the Author of the great salvation desireth to give it freely unto you if you will but take it But O will you not take it I think if you did see an hundred men lying in prison or dungeon without all light bread or water and a great Prince coming to them saying I desire you all to come forth and partake of this great liberty which I bring unto you and every one of them should answer I scorne to come forth at this time would you not think them exceeding great fools And yet I fear this act of great folly falls out in many of your hands to day that when Christ hath given us the keys of your prison doors and they are opened you will not come forth But I must intreat you yet to come forth and shew your selves For who knoweth but we may be commanded to shut your prison-doors again and to seal them with seven seals with an unalterable decree from heaven never to be recalled Wherefore O ye prisoners Go forth go forth from your prison house 2. Secondly I would say this to you that it is not without much ground that this salvation offered to yon is called a great salvation I know a little paper of two or three sheets might contain all the salvations that ever any man obtained but the world would not be able to contain all the books which might be written to the commendation of this great salvation yea unto any who will embrace it I say First if thou find not this salvation above thy faith then go thy way when thou art come But I know thou wilt finde it both above thy faith and hope Secondly if thou find it not above thy desires when thou art come unto it then go thy way again but were thy desires as the sand upon the Sea shoar thou shalt always find more in this salvation than ever thou couldst desire Thirdly if this salvation be not above what thou canst conceive then go thy way when thou art come to it but think of it as thou canst it shall always be above thy thoughts of it Fourthly if this salvation be not above thy opinion of it then go thy way when thou art come unto it but I know thou wilt find it far above thy opinion of it Therefore seeing it is so great a salvation as that all the world could not contain all the books that might be written in the commendation of it O will you embrace it even to day while it is in your offer 3. Thirdly I would say this unto you Be perswaded that there is no sin that will more provoke the Majesty of God to punish you than the sin of slighting this great salvation Bring forth these murderers saith the Lord of the slighters of this invitation and slay them before me I entreat you inquire at your own hearts what you will answer when you are reproved for slighting of it Old men will you ask at your own hearts what you will answer to Christ when he shall propose that question to you Why slighted you the great salvation Old women what will you answer when he shall say to you Why slighted you the great salvation Young Men and young women inquire at your own hearts what you will answer when Christ shall say to you why slighted ye the great salvation Can ye imagine any answer to that question O dreadful shall that wrath of God be that shall be executed upon the slighters of this great salvation 4. Fourthly I would say this unto you that Heaven is waiting to hear what exhortation the offer of this great salvation doth get among you Here is the great salvation here is the offer of it and here is the commendation of it what say you to it Is it not an excellent salvation is it not a free salvation is it not a great salvation is it not an eternal salvation Why then do ye not welcome it Can any of you say any thing to the discommendation of it I know you cannot Yea I dare say your own hearts are admiring it as most excellent and therefore O will ye accept it Alas shall there be none here who will be found accepters of this great salvation so freely offered to day 5. Fithly I would say this to you let all the Angels praise him who is the author of this great salvation All the Saints round about the throne praise him who is the author of this great salvation All those who are expectants of heaven praise him who is the author of this great salvation All ye to whom this offer is made praise him who is the author of this great salvation O heaven praise him who is the author of this great salvation O all ye fowls of the air praise him who is the author of this great salvation O fire hail snow vapours stormy winds and tempests praise him who is the author of this great salvation All the tribes of the earth praise him who is the author of this great salvation our own soul praise him who is the author of this great salvation and all that is within us bless him who is the author of this great salvation O who would not praise him who is the author of this great salvation Are there any here that will refuse to commend him O think upon him and let not this be a day of slighting him Now where are your hearts at this time I will tell you where many of your hearts are they are thinking upon the World But I am sure there are not many of them thinking upon this great salvation Now what resolution mind ye to go away with to day Oh have ye no resolution beyond what ye had when ye came hither to day Are there any here who have this resolution To whom shall we go but to him who is the author of this great salvation who alone hath the Words of eternal life Even the Lord breath it upon you Or is this your resolution that through Christs strength forsake him who will ye will never forsake him Or have ye this resolution That ye will esteem more highly of this great salvation then ever ye did O that the Lord would keep these in the in the imaginations of the thoughts of your hearts for ever But as for you who have no resolutions to embrace this great salvation O wherewith shall I commend it unto you Do not your own necessities commend it But if nothing can perswade you to come away and embrace it
then this place shall be an heap of witnesses against you for it hath heard all the words of the law which he hath spoken unto you John 24. Oh cast your eyes upon these pillars of the house and stones in the walls I take them as so many witnesses that they may speak and testifie against you in the great day of the Lord if ye neglect this great salvation to day Therefore as ye go away be thinking upon it and whether or not ye mind to embrace it now while ye may have it This day I have set life and death before you I have set before you both the great salvation and the great damnation And O that ye had understanding in all these things that ye being wise might be provoked at last to embrace this great salvation the which we do yet again entreat you to think upon Is not heaven looking upon you at this time to see what ye will do with this great offer of salvation which I have this day from the Lord presented unto you Now to him that can perswade you to embrace this great salvation this gospel redemption this blessed mystery into which the Angels desire to pray to him who can bring you back from the pit and can enlighten you with the light of the living To him who hath the keys of your prison Who can open and none can shut and can shut and none can open To him Who hath all power in Heaven and in Earth communicate to him who can deliver you from the power of the Grave and can set you free from all your enemies we desire to give praise Amen SERMON II. Heb. 2. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him THere are two great and most ordinary complaints in these dayes 1. There are many who complain that their estates and persons are in bondage and that they are sold for Slaves to the hands of strangers But O that we could also turn over the complaint to this that our souls are in bondange and that we are yet in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity that so we might be provoked to long for the great salvation that is in our offer 2. There are many complaining and not without much cause that there is now such a toleration of errours But O wilt thou complain also of this that within thy heart there is a toleration of lusts is there not an act of toleration concluded in thy breast that the devil and all his company may reign in thee at pleasure Oh haâ—e ye not need of great salvation Shall I tell you that Christ is courting you to embrace it and that he putteth on all his most glorious robes and manifesteth himself unto you a a suitor making offer of himself and of his great salvation O tell me have ye seen him Or do you think to see him this day What robes hath he on There are five glorious robes wherewith he clothes himself when he condescendeth to manifest himself to his people First He cometh to his own with the garments of salvation according to that word Zach. 9. verse 9. Kejoyce O dauhter of Sion greatly shout O daughter of Jerusalem for behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having salvation Ay your King is come here to day and will ye not fall in love with him when he is cloathed with the garments of salvation Can ye ever have a more conquering sight of Christ than when he is cloathed with such an excellent robe and offering you salvation Secondly He appeareth to his own sometimes in garments dyed in blood according to that word Isa. 63. verse 1. 2. Who is this that cometh up from Edom with dyed garments in blood as one that treadeth the Wine Fat And now I say to you that will not look to Christ when he appears in the garments of salvation have ye a heart to refuse him that hath fought such a combat for you who hath trode the wine press alone and hath stained all his garments with the blood of thy enemies or is there any here who dare refuse his salvation when they see how he treadeth his enemies in anger and trampleth them in his fury and thus sprinkleth their blood upon his garments O tremble at this sight and seek quarter from him in time or he shall dye his garments with the blood of thy mortal soul. Thirdly Christ appeareth unto his own being cloathed with these humble robes of condescendency when he came in the similitude of sinful flesh O what a sight was that to behold the Prince of Heaven cloathed with our nature What a sight was that to behold him that was cloathed with light as with a garment to be cloathed with our infirmities yet he condescended to cloath himself thus that we might have access unto him and be partakers of his gifts O can we refuse him when love hath thus pressed him to put on the beggars weed that he might say to worms ye are my brethren and my sisters Fourthly Christ sometimes manifesteth himself being cloathed with the garments of beauty and ravishing majesty such was the sight that the Spouse got of Christ Song 2. verse 3. As the Apple-tree among the Trees of the Wood so is my beloved among the Sons and Song 5. when she saw him white and ruddy and the Standard-bearer of ten thousand And such was that joyful sight of him when his garment was as the light and white as the Snow which he had at the transfiguration when these glorified ones did come as it were Ambassadours from that higher house to make him a visit And fifthly Christ he sometimes appeareth to his own in robes of dreadful majesty and terrible highness and loftiness when the soul upon the first sight of him remains dead and there remains no more life in them such was the sight Daniel got in his tenth Chapter and such was the sight that Iohn got of Christ Revel 1. verse 17. And I would ask of all that are here what a sight have ye gotten of Christ to day in which of all these robes have ye seen him It is true we are not to look for the extraordinary sights of him but yet if ever thou hast seen him in any of his wooing robes sure he hath appeared matchless and how then shall ye then refuse him But now to come to the words I was speaking unto you of The first thing in the words to wit That there are many who live under the offer of this great salvation that do slight it and do not embrace it And now I shall only add a few things further unto you 1. Let me propose a few considerations to perswade you to embrace this great salvation God forbid we go away before we embrace this gospel salvation and therefore I charge you in his name go not away
unto thee thou art not far from the great salvation come away 2. Is thy desire after the great salvation increased be what it was in the morning Hath thou stronger desires after the great salvation then before thou camest hither that is an evidence thou art not free from it 3. Is thy thoughts of thy necessity of the great salvation greater than they were Thinkest thou that thou hast more need of the great salvation than ever thou thoughtest before And is thy opinion and thoughts of saving thy self less than they were before thou camest hither Art thou forced to cry out None but Christ can save me I say thou art not far from the great salvation wilt thou come away O that you would once seal this Conclusion with much heart-perswasion I am undone without Christ I am undone without Christ who is the Author of this great salvation Are there any of you that are sensible that you are in the fetters of sin and in the bonds of iniquity Are you brought to the conviction of this that you are yet in the gall of bitterness I say if thou be brought to this length to be sensible of thy bonds and art crying out O Redeemer hasten and come away I say if thou be sensible of thy bonds and imprisonment and crying out O thou that wast anointed from eternity to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound O hasten and come away and redeem me even poor me sinking sinning perishing self destroying me thou art not far from the great salvation 4. Art thou a person who beginneth to weep because thou hast been so long a stranger to Christ and the great salvation Old men that are here How long have you been strangers to the great salvation and to the Author of it Now will you shed one tear for your estrangement and cry out Woe is me that Christ and I have been so long a sunder I say if thou hast come that length thou art not far from the great salvation Come away O pitty your selves make haste make haste and come away But now in the third place let me give you some evidences by which you may know more clearly whither or no you have embraced this great salvation that you may know your selves and that you walk not down to your grave with a lye in your right hand The first evidence of a person that hath embraced the great salvation is that he will have an high esteem of the Saviour and Author of the great salvation Hast thou a matchless esteem of matchless Christ the Saviour of the world that is a speaking evidence unto thee thou art a partaker of the great salvation Art thou come to this length that thou cryest out None but Christ none but Christ It is a speaking evidence that thou art come to be a partaker of the great salvation when thou canst cry out that word Exod. 15. 2. The Lord is my strength and my song he alone is become my salvation if Christ hath become thy salvation then it is like he hath become thy song I would ask this of you Were you ever brought this length that you durst nor adventure to praise Christ alone but was forced to call in all the creatures and say O magnifie the Lord with me O that is an evidence that you have embraced his salvation Secondly Those who have embraced the great salvation will study to maintain and keep their grips of it they would study to hold fast so precious a Jewel this is prest Gal. 5. 1. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free yea they will study to walk suitably to this noble mercy at least they will strive and endeavour to do it as is also prest in that same verse I say if thou hast been made a partaker of the Gospel of salvation thou wilt strive to keep thy self from the power of those things that once triumphed over thee Thirdly A person that is a partaker of the great salvation will have a high esteem of this mercy and salvation so Paul when he speaketh of it here he cannot but put some note of excellency to it calling it the great salvation Therefore I say if thou hast embraced the great salvation thou wilt have so high esteem of it that not to be so subjected to it as thou shouldst or to be in subjection to the power of thy lust in any measure will be thy burden and affliction the man will be sorry when he is brought forth from the house of his bondage unto the red Sea he will be sorry that when he should have songs of triumph over his Idols put in his mouth that they should sing songs of triumph over him Fourthly A person that hath embraced the great salvation he will be longing sometimes for the day when this salvation shall be compleat when he shall sing that song with that numerous multitude which cannot be numbered Revel 7. 9. O what a day shall it be when thou shalt begin to sing that song after this saith he I beheld and lo a great multitude of all people which no man could number of all people nations and languages stood before the Throne and before the Lamb cloathed with white robes and palms in their hands and they cryed and how cryed they They cryed with a loud voice They would not mutter the song nor sign silently but cryed with a loud voice And what did they cry they cryed with a loud voice Salvation unto our God who sitteth up the Throne and to the Lamb. I would only ask of you that are partakers of the great salvation what songs shall be put into thy mouth when the waters of Iordan shall divide themselves that the ransomed of the Lord must pass thorow when thou shalt sing that song Psal. 115. 1. Not unto us not unto us but unto thee belongs the glory of our salvation O what a day shall that be when that excellent song shall be put into thy mouth yea what a day shall it be when thou shalt be cloathed with those excellent garments that are made mention of Isa. 6. 10. for he hath cloathed thee with the garments of Salvation and he hath covered thee with the robe of righteousness O what robes are these Did you ever see such excellent robes as these must be I think we will misken our selves O do you not think we will misken our selves when we shall put on those excellent robes Now therefore is the bargain closed or will ye go away before ye take this great salvation Dare ye go out at these doors and neglect the great salvation I would ask this of you think ye it will not be most sad that Christ should tell this in Heaven of you to night I was preached to a pack stones that none of them would love me Will ye not be feared that this report shall be carryed back to Heaven of you for what report can