Disciples hath but a small number of those that believe in him aright or according to the Reuelation which God hath given us of his Son as long therefore as they have an evil Heart of Vnbelief it will make them to depart from the living God Heb. 3.12 Secondly This Impenitency and Hardness which is occasioned by Unbelief is very provoking to God and admits of very great Aggravations under the Gospel because thereby Men shut their Eyes against the clearest and most manifest Light and harden their Hearts against the most importunate Calls and Invitation to Repentance The former times of Ignorance God winked at saith the Apostle Acts 17.30 that is God was willing to pass by and overlook in agreat Measure the Ignorance and Impenitence of the Heathen World in respect of what he doth now under the Gospel by which he commands all men every where to repent so that Repentance is become a more express Command and strictly enjoyn'd Duty now than formerly and therefore Impenitency is a Sin much more inexcusable and provoking in Christians than it was in Heathens considering what Means and Motives the Gospel affords to Repentance What helps and assistances it doth offer towards their Conversion and Amendment which the World was never made acquainted with before God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son c. Heb. 1.1 2. Him hath he sent as a Physician to call and invite you to Repentance and through him forgiveness is preach'd and promis'd to all that in good â—arnest repent of their Sins and endeavour to amend and live better for time to come Acts 5.31 Him hath God exhalted with his right Hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance to Israel and Forgiveness of Sins Nay the drawing us to Repentance in order to our Forgiveness is the main Purpose and Design of the Gospel and of all its Precepts and Commands Threats and Promises Now for any Man who believes the Gospel and understands the end and Design thereof to stop his Ears against so many gracious Calls and Invitations to harden his Heart against so much Love and Goodness to remain stupid and insensible under so many powerful Motives and Inducements as the Gospel affords him in order to his Repentance must needs be a high Aggravation of his Guilt and mighty Provocation to God It provok'd him so far against the Israelites that he swore in his Wrath they should never enter into his Rest Heb. 3.11 Impenitency therefore hath been always look'd upon as a very great and dangerous Sin insomuch as some have thought it to be the Sin against the Holy Ghost of which our Saviour saith it shall never be forgiven either in this World or in the World to come Matth. 12.32 But however 't is acknowledged by all to be equally fatal and dangerous to the Souls of Men for no Sin shall be pardoned unless it be throughly repented of and the longer any Man continues in a sinful State the less hopes he gives of his Repentance every day than other and consequently the further off from the hopes of Pardon To be sometimes overtaken with a Fault or surpriz'd against our Wills by a Temptation is the Frailty and Infirmity of humane Nature and may draw forth pity in God as well as Man but wilfully to run or fall into a Sin and when we are once fallen to lie and wallow in it as Swine do in the Mire when we have done amiss not to be sorry for it but to laugh at good Counsel and Advice or fly in the Face of those that shall admonish and reprove us for our Faults this is that which aggravates a Crime and adds mightily to the Guilt of it whereby Sin becomes as the Apostle doth express it exceeding or out of Measure Sinful This is that which provokes the Almighty and stirs up his Anger and Displeasure against his Creatures this makes him to whet his Sword and bend his Bow and prepare in readiness the Instruments of Death Had Judas repented throughly and in good earnest we have reason to think his Condition had been less desperate for the same most precious Bloud of the Crucified Jesus was able to atone for his Guilt that betray'd him as well as for theirs that murder'd and put him to Death but we read of the Repentance of the one and not of the other or if he repented it was without hopes of Pardon and purpose of Amendment which therefore ended in Death Christ dyed for all but only the Impenitent for no Sin in it self is too great for Pardon if repented off and forsaken in time but 't is impenitency which puts Venom into every Sin and makes the Sting so deadly and Mortal and binds us over to everlasting Punishment for except ye repent ye shall all Perish saith our Saviour Luke 13.3 and again Repent and be converted that your Sins may be blotted out saith St. Peter Acts 3.19 Implying that they that do not Repent shall certainly Perish and no hopes to have our Sins Pardon'd and blotted out unless we actually turn from them and forsake them in time In a word Repentance is all along in the Gospel made the chief condition of Forgiveness without which no Sin can be Remitted no hopes of Salvation given to the Sinner whether living or dying Thirdly Let me in the next place disswade you from this great Sin of Impenitency and Hardness of Heart and thereby reinforce the exhortation of the Holy Ghost in the Text by shewing you the great and absolute necessity of a Timely Repentance or of redeeming the present time to that purpose and my request is that every one that reads this would apply it home to his own Soul and Conscience and make a particular Application thereof for his own Use and Benefit in as serious a manner as if God himself should address to him by Name as he did to Job out of the Whirlwind Job 38.1 or as Christ did to Saul upon his Journey to Damascus Acts 9.4 For the exhortation is the Holy Ghost's and therefore to be lookt upon as the Advice of God rather than Man First Now my Advice in Conjunction with that of the Holy Ghost's in the Text is this That you would no longer stop your Ears nor harden your Hearts against the Calls of God or Voice of his Ministers when they exhort you to repent and turn from the evil of your ways and to amend the wickedness of your Lives but that you would find some time to bethink your Selves of your Spiritual Estate in order to that which is Eternal and to secure the interest of your immortal Souls by making a timely provision for them which can be done no other way than by setting about the great and necessary work of Repentance and good Living which through Faith in the Merits of your Blessed Redeemer is the
Estate But alass Unless our Hopes of Happiness are firmly settled and well grounded they will most certainly deceive and disappoint us in the end for 't is only Repentance for Sin past and a Life of Holiness and new Obedience for time to come that can give us good Hope through Grace 2. Thess 2.16 And make us Partakers of that Glory which hereafter shall be Revealed 1. Pet. 5.1 They are such only who truly Believe Repent and obey the Gospel and spend some considerable part of their Lives in so doing that can have any solid Hopes or Comfortable expectations of their future Safety and well being whereas the confident Hopes of bad Men and presuming Sinners which Job calls the hope of the Hypocrite shall perish and like a Spiders Web deceive those that shall trust to it Job 8.13 But now to come more closely to the matter in Hand If we would have our Repentance to be Repentance unto Life or such as will entitle us to the Pardon of our Sins and acceptance with God we must take the Holy Ghost's advice in the Text not to harden our Hearts nor stop our Ears against his Calls and Invitations to this Duty but we must set about it presently to day while it is called to day v. 13. because to morrow 't is possible may be too late We must resolve to Repent immediately and without delay before we have provok'd God too far or tempted him to give us up as he hath done many others to a hardned and impenitent Estate for 't is possible a Man may outlive the Seasons of Grace and Sin away the acceptable Time and Day of Salvation he may sink and plunge himself so far into that depth of Guilt and Wickedness by adding one Sin and provocation to another as it will be scarce possible to recover himself out of the Snare of the Devil or to free himself from the gall of Bitterness and Bond of Iniquity be sure not without a great deal of Trouble and Difficulty nor till after a long time spent in deep Sorrow and Contrition and in the painful acts of Mortification and Self-Denial The time past can never be recall'd and time to come is very uncertain the present time is only ours and what we can be most sure of and therefore we should be careful not to let it slip from us without improving it to the great ends and Purposes of Religion to the reconciling our Selves to God perfecting the work of Repentance and giving all Diligence to make our calling and Election sure To which purpose I shall apply this Advice which the Holy Ghost gives us in the Text To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts c. The words contain First An Exhortation to Belief as appears by the Context exprest here by Hearing or Harkning to the Voice of God Secondly A disswasion from Impenitency or Hardning our Hearts through Unbelief both which are in the third place reinforc'd by the Authority of the Holy Ghost whose Exhortation this is Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts From which words I shall discourse unto you on the Three following Particulars First That Unbelief is one great Cause of Impenitency or Hardness of Heart Secondly That Impenitency or Hardness of Heart is a Sin very provoking of God and admits of great Aggravations under the Gospel Thirdly I shall endeavour to disswade from this Sin and reinforce the Exhortation of the Holy Ghost by laying before you the great and absolute necessity of Repentance and improving the present Time in order thereunto First Unbelief is one great Cause of Impenitency and Hardness of Heart Infidelity hath been judg'd the root of all Sin especially in Christians for did they really and heartily believe the great and important Truth of that Religion they make profession of wherein the motives and arguments to a good Life are so very strong and powerfull and the threats and disswasives from Sin and Vice are so convincing and amazing 't is scarce possible they should allow themselves in those Vile and Sinful courses which are so rise among Christians or give such small hopes of their Repentance as many do Did they believe in good earnest there was a God a God of that infinite Power and Purity hating of all Sin and threatning to punish it in the most severe and terrible manner they would not dare to affront him and fly in his Face with their horrid Oaths and Curses Blasphemies and Imprecations as frequently they do they would not live without God in the World nor cast off all Fear and Reverence to his Holy Name and Righteous Laws Did they believe in Christ as the Son of God and Saviour of the World they would not with the Jews murder and crucifie him afresh by their oft repeated Sins and Impieties nor do despite to the Spirit of Grace by quenching his holy Motions or resisting the checks of their own Conscience Did they believe a future Judgment and Life to come they would stand in greater awe thereof and be afraid to provoke him that will be their Judge and call them to a strict account for all the Actions of their Lives past for all the neglects of his Grace contempt of his Mercy and Defiance of his Judgment they would not then increase their Accounts nor swell them up into such a frightful Mass of Guilt as will make them one day stand amaz'd at the Sight thereof Did they believe there was a Heaven for the reward of good Men and a Hell for the Punishment of the Bad they durst not make so light of either but become more Carefull and Sollicitous to secure the Happiness of the one and avoid the unspeakable Torments and Miseries of the other But all Men have not Faith saith our Saviour no nor all Christians neither they do not heartily believe what they profess for while they profess to know God in their Works they deny him being abominable disobedient and unto every good work Reprobate Tit. 1.16 The effect commonly points out the Cause and the Action usually discovers the Principle from whence it flows and if so we may justly suspect the greatest part of the Christian World to be void of that Faith they make Profession of and to believe as little of their Religion as they practise of it Their Lives and Actions bespeak many of them to be rather Atheists than Christians and downright Infidels than true Believers for true Faith or the through Belief of the Doctrine of Christ would influence their Lives in another guise manner than what is commonly observed in the World it would make them live better be more shy of Sin and cautious of offending if therefore Men would examine their Hearts and Souls or search into the Root and bottom of their Actions they would find a great deal of Infidelity or Unbelief to lurk there and that Christ among all his Nominal Professors and
grow rather worse than better We meet with too many instances daily for to confirm us in the belief of this Truth and I am sorry to think that there should be any among you of this Parish to make up the Number some of whom I have visited in their Sickness been witness to their Vows and Promises solemnly made to God of new and better Obedience who yet have started aside like a broken Bow and behaved themselves falsly in God's Covenant Psalm 78.37 57. Such I do earnestly desire and in the name of God seriously charge to remember from whence they are fallen to call to mind the many Vows and Promises made to God in the time of their Trouble and Distress and to make Conscience of the Performance thereof as considering that the bitterness of Death is not yet past and they know not how soon God may reduce them to the like or worse Circumstances lay his Hand more heavy upon them and fill their Souls with far greater Horrour and Amazement in the remembrance of their Vile Hypocrisie and abominable Dissimulation And how then can they hope God should hear their Cries and accept their Vows who have been already so false and treacherous to their Word and Promise the last Estate of such Men and Women 't is to be fear'd will be worse than their First Luke 11.26 Thirdly Consider further you that are apt to put off the thoughts of Death and of Repentance with it if you cannot endure the serious thoughts of dying now how will you be able to bear up under the near Approaches and feeling Apprehensions thereof when Death shall overtake and sieze you in good earnest and there shall be no hopes to escape or avoid it what Oh! what will you then do The Apprehensions of Death to a sick Man are very Awful and Terrible but much more so to one that finds himself unprovided for it to one that is unfit to give up his accounts to God or appear with Comfort before his Great and Dreadful Tribunal If the great and necessary duties of Repentance and Amendment Mortification and Self denial be judg'd so hard and troublesome to you now do you think the Trouble and Difficulties thereof will wear off and grow less by your delays or shall you be better able to master or overcome them when you shall want both Time and Strength to go through with them He that thinks seriously of Death and a future Judgment to ensue thereupon methinks cannot be so much forsaken of his own Sense and Reason as not to judge it necessary to make the best and most timely preparation for them that he can and to use all the helps and assistances of Religion for that end and purpose For God's Sake Sirs consider of these things in time and bethink your Selves in good earnest before the Evil days come and the Years draw nigh wherein you shall say I have no pleasure in them Eccles 12.1 and let the Advice of the Holy Ghost in the Text prevail with you though mine cannot To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts Remember your immortal Souls are in danger every hour every Moment that you live in any known wilful Sin and refuse to repent of it Life is short frail and uncertain Eternity is at Hand and hastens upon you apace Heaven and Hell are at the end of your Lives and stand ready to receive you according as you have fitted and prepared your Selves either for the one or for the other those Spirits which you carry in your Bosoms must live for ever for ever I say in perpetual Bliss or endless Woe and we have all but a little time before us to secure our Eternal State in therefore be sure to find time to endeavour and set about it whatever you neglect do not neglect the things that belong to your Everlasting Peace let not the Cares the Business and the Troubles of the World much less the vain and foolish Pleasures and Pastimes thereof misimploy your time and take you off from this one thing needful and most necessary You that are Poor and Mean in the World ought to do this you ought to find some time to make Provision for your Souls as well as for your Bodies and to labour as diligently for the Bread of Life as for the Meat that Perishes for according to the Apostle Meat is for the Belly and the Belly for Meat but God will destroy both it and them whereas the Bread of Life which comes down from Heaven is able to nourish your Souls unto Eternal Life so as never to hunger or thirst more Alas What signifies it for you to drudge and toyl and take pains to maintain your Bodies and in the end to lose your Souls for want of setting apart some time and bestowing some care upon them But especially you that are above the wants and necessities of the World and have so much time and leasure lying on your Hands that you complain thereof and know not well how to get rid of it or pass it away except it be by Drinking or Gaming by going to Plays and running into bad Company to divert your selves such as you be sure will be Inexcusable before God if instead of laying hold of the present Opportunity to make ready your Accounts against the Judgment of the great Day you shall swell and increase them by a Life of Sloth and Vanity Luxury and Profaneness To such as you therefore I address my self not as the Rich and Great ones of the World for as such commonly you are apt to Despise our Counsel and think your selves above Reproof but as Frail Dying Mortal Men who must shortly Die as well as others have your Dust mingled with that of the meanest and all your Pride and Greatness Niceness and Delicacy converted into Stench and Rottenness and the Dishonours of the Grave and moreover as having many more Talents to be accountable for than your Poor and Indigent Neighbours Is not the Day of your Death as certain as that of your Birth or present Life and tho' you are loth to think of Dying and willing to put off the Evil Day far from you as a melancholy prospect and Unwelcome entertainment as a Subject that is apt to damp your Mirth and unsuitable to your brisk and gay humours Yet consider the putting off the thoughts of Death will not prevent its Approach or make it less Terrible when it comes nay quite otherwise it will make the surprize thereof more dreadful and amazing and render you so much the more unfit to grapple and encounter with the King of Terrours Ecclesiasticus 41.1 O Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lives at rest in his possessions unto the man that hath nothing to vex him and that hath prosperity in all things yea unto him that is yet able to receive meat The more unwilling you have been to think of and prepare for Death now the more