Gospel which you enjoy leads you to the Fountain of pardon and peace Iâ—a 53. 5. By his stripes we are healed The voice of the Gospel is peace peace to every one that believeth a rational peace founded upon the full satisfaction of Christ Ephes. 1. 7. In whom we have redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his Grace Here you see Justice and Mercy kissing each other God satisfied and the Sinner justified for Conscience demands as much to satisfie it as God demands to satisfie him if God be satisfied Conscience is satisfied O blessed are the people that hear this joyful sound Psal. 89. 15. And doubtless it is a joyful sound to every convinced humbled Soul Beautiful upon the Mountains are the Feet of them that bring good tydings that publish peace It is a Gospel worthy of all acceptation 1 Tim. 1. 15. it brings with it a fulness of blessings among the People O England O Dartmouth Provoke not thy God to extinguish this blessed light Great is our wantonness and ominous is our barrenness and ingratitude Yet a little while the light is with you walk whilst ye have the light lest darkness come upon you for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth John 12. 35. Should God blow out this light whither will you go Who shall pour in Balm to your distressed bleeding Consciences ' II. Inference Hence in like manner it follows that the greatness heinousness of past sins is no bar to believing and accepting Christ upon Gospel terms Let no sinner be dismaid by the atrocity and heynousness of sins past from coming unto Jesus Christ for remission and peace I am awar what mischievous use Satan makes of former sins to discourage Souls from the work of Faith by heaping them together he raiseth up a Mountain betwixt Christ and the distressed Soul but behold this day Christ leaping over these Mountains and skiping over these Hills Could this objection be rouled out of the way sinners would go on in hope but certainly if God have given thee a broken Heart and a willing Mind the greatness of thy sin need not discourage thee from believing For 1. thou hast sufficient encouragement from the sufficiency of the causes of pardon whatever thy particular enormities have been there is a sufficiency in the impulsive cause the Free Grace and Mercy of God Exod. 34. 6 7. Micah 7. 18 19. Isa. 55. 7 8 9. It is well there is Mercy enough in God to heal and cover all and there is no less sufficiency in the meritorious cause of pardon the Blood of Jesus Christ which taketh away all sin 1 Iohn 1. 7. 1 Iohn 29. And it must needs be so because it is Divine Blood Acts 20. 28. Neither is there any defect in the applying cause the Spirit of God who hath already begun to work upon thy Heart and is able to break it and bow it and bring it home fully to Christ and to compleat the work of Faith upon thee with power thou complainest thou canst not mourn nor believe as thou wouldst but he wants no ability to supply all the defects of thy repentance and faith Well then if the mercy of God be sufficient to pardon the sin of a Creature if the Blood of Christ the Treasures and Revenues of a King be able to pay the debts of a Beggar if the Spirit of God who works by an Almighty Power be able to convince thee of righteousness as well as sin Iohn 16. 9. I say if all the three causes of forgiveness be sufficient every one in its kind the first to move the second to purchase and the third to apply what hinders but thy trembling Conscience should go to Christ and thy discouraged Soul move onward with hope in the way of believing whatever thy former enormities have been 2. If God raises glory to his Name out of the greatness of the sins he pardoneth then the greatness of sin can be no discouragement to believing but so God doth he raiseth the glory of his Name from the multitude and magnitude of the sins he pardoneth Ier. 33. 8 9. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against me and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against me And it shall be to me a name of joy a praise and an honour before all the Nations of the Earth which shall hear all the good I do unto them And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it As a cure performed upon a Man labouring under a desperate Disease it magnifies the Physitian and spreads his Name far and near The Devil envies God this glory and thy Soul this comfort and therefore scares thee off from Christ by the aggravations of thy sins David was willing to give God the glory of pardoning his great iniquities and with that very argument moves him for a pardon Psal. 25. 11. Pardon mine iniquitie for it is great You see there are strange ways of arguing in Scripture which are not in use among Men this is one Lord pardon my sin for it is great he doth not say Lord pardon it for it is but a small offence no but pardon it because it is great and the greater it is the greater Glory wilt thou have in pardoning it And then there is another way of arguing for pardon in Scripture which is peculiar and that is to argue from former pardons unto new pardons when Men beg their pardon one of another they use to say I never wronged you before and therefore forgive me now but here it is quite otherwise Lord thou hast signed thousand of pardons heretofore therefore pardon me again such is that plea Numb 14. 19. Pardon I beseech thee the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven them from Egypt even until now 3. As great sins as those that now stare in the Face of thy Conscience have been actually forgiven to Men upon their humiliation and closing with Christ. Poor sinners under trouble of Conscience are apt to think there is no sin like theirs God forbid I should diminish and extenuate sin but certain I am that Free Grace hath pardoned as great Sinners as thou art upon their repentance and faith What think you had you had a Hand in putting Christ to Death would not that sin have been as dreadful as any that now discourages you Yea certainly you would have thought that an unpardonable sin and yet behold that very sin was no bar to their pardon when once they were pricked at the Heart and made willing to come to Christ Acts 2. 36 37 38. 4. If it be the design and policy of Satan to object the greatness of your sins to prevent the pardoning of them then certainly 't is neither your duty nor interest
Adam which are as the Sand upon the Sea shore that not only so many persons but all that they have done must come into Judgment even the very thoughts of their Hearts which never came to the knowledge of Men their Consciences to be interrogated all other Witnesses fully heard and examined how great a day must this day of the Lord then be The Second Vse But the main Use of this Point will be for Exhortation that seeing all the offers of Christ are recorded and witnessed with respect to a day of account every one of you would therefore immediately embrace the present gracious tender of Christ in the Gospel as ever you expect to be acquitted and cleared in that great day take heed of denials nay of delays and demurs For if the word spoken by Angels were stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Heb. 2. 2 3. The question is put but no answer made How shall we escape The wisdom of Men and Angels cannot tell how to enforce this Exhortation I shall present you with Ten weighty Considerations upon the matter which the Lord follow home by the blessing of his Spirit upon all your Hearts I. CONSIDERATION Consider how invaluable a mercy it is that you are yet within the reach of offered Grace The mercies that stand in offer before you this day were never set before the Angels that fell no Mediator was ever appointed for them Oh astonishing mercy that those Vessels of Gold should be cast into everlasting Fire and such Clay Vessels as we are thus put into a capacity of greater happiness than ever they fell from Nay the mercy that stands before you is not only denied to the Angels that fell but to the greatest part of your fellow Creatures of the same rank and dignity with you Psal. 147. 19 20. He sheweth his Word to Jacob his Statutes and his Iudgments unto Israel he hath not dealt so with any Nation and as for his Iudgments they have not known them praise ye the Lord. A mercy deservedly celebrated with a Joyful Allelujah What vast Tracts are there in the habitable World where the name of Christ is unknown T is your special mercy to be born in a Land of Bibles and Ministers where it is as difficult for you to avoid and shun the Light as it is for others to behold and enjoy it II. CONSIDERATION Consider the nature weight and worth of the mercies which are this day freely offered you Certainly they are mercies of the first Rank the most ponderous precious and necessary among all the mercies of God. Christ the first born of mercies and in him pardon peace and eternal Salvation are set before you it were astonishing to see a starving Man refusing offered bread or a condemned Man a gracious pardon Lord what compositions of sloath and stupidity are we that we should need so many intreaties to be happy III. CONSIDERATION Consider who it is that makes these gracious tenders of pardon peace and Salvation to you even that God whom you have so deeply wronged whose Laws you have violated whose mercies you have spurned and whose wrath you have justly incensed His patience groans under the burden of your daily provocations he loses nothing if you be damned and receives no benefit if you be saved yet the first motions of Mercy and Salvation to you freely arise out of his Grace and good pleasure God intreats you to be reconciled 2 Cor. 5. 20. The blessed Lord Jesus whose blood thy sins have shed now freely offers that blood for thy Reconciliation Justification and Salvation if thou wilt but sincerely accept him ere it be too late IV. CONSIDERATION Reflect seriously upon your own vileness to whom such gracious offers of Peace and Mercy are made Thy sins have set thee at as great a distance from the hopes and expectations of pardon as any sinner in the World. Consider Man what thou hast been what thou hast done and what vast heaps of guilt thou hast contracted by a life of sin and yet that unto thee Pardon and Peace should be offered in Christ after such a life of Rebellion how astonishing is the mercy The Lord is contented to pass by all thy former Rebellions thy deep died Transgressions and to sign an Act of Oblivion for all that is past if now at last thy Heart relent for Sin and thy Will bow in obedience to the grâ—at commands and call of the Gospel Isa. 55. 2. 1. 18. V. CONSIDERATION Consider how many offers of mercy you have already refused and that every refusal is recorded against you How long you have tried and even tired the patience of God already and that this may be the last overture of Grace that ever God will make to your Souls Certainly there is an offer that will be the last offer a striving of the Spirit which will be his last striving and after that no more offers without you no more motions or strivings within you for evermore The Treaty is then ended and your last neglect or rejection of Christ recorded against the day of your account and what if this should prove to be that last tender of Grace which must conclude the Treaty betwixt Christ and you what undone wretches must you then be with whom so gracious a Treaty breaks off upon such dreadful terms VI. CONSIDERATION Consider well the reasonable mild and gracious nature of the Gospel terms on which Life and Pardon are offered to you The Gospel requires nothing of you but Repentance and Faith Acts 20. 21. Can you think it hard when a Prince pardons a Rebel to require him to fall upon his Knees and stretch forth a willing and thankful Hand to receive his Pardon Your Repentance and Faith are much of the same nature Here is no legal satisfaction required at your Hands no reparation of the injured Law by your doings or sufferings but an hearty sorrow for sins committed sincere purposes and endeavours after new obedience and a hearty thankful acceptation of Christ your Saviour and for your encouragement herein his Spirit stands ready to furnish you with Powers and Abilities Prov. 1. 23. Turn ye at my reproof behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you I will make known my Words unto you and Isa. 26. 20. Lord thou hast wrought all our Works in us VII CONSIDERATION Again consider how your way to Christ by Repentance and Faith is beaten before you by thousands of sinners for your encouragement You are not the first that ever adventured your Souls in this path multitudes are gone before you and that under as much guilt fear and discouragement as you that come after can pretend unto and not a man among them repulsed or discouraged here they have found rest and peace to their weary Souls Heb. 4. 3. Acts 13. 39. Here the greatest of sinners have been set forth for an ensample to you
knock and no opening and these things are very common especially among the unconverted that live under a lively Gospel rouzing Ministry of this Christ complains Matth. 11. 16 17. Whereunto shall I liken this generation They are like unto Children sitting in the market-place and calling to their fellows saying We have piped unto you and you have not daunced We have mourned unto you but you have not lamented q. d. Neither the delicious airs and melody of Gospel grace nor the mournful and dreadful threats of damnation to unbelievers avail any thing to open your Hearts to embrace me no voices from mount Gerezim or mount Ebal will prevail with you Ah how many sad witnesses unto this truth have I now before mine Eyes But God forbid it should be thus all round No no there be some Souls who hear and open even every one that hath heard and learned of the Father Iohn 6. 45. When the Spirit of God puts forth his Power with the Word then and not till then it becomes successful 4ly Sometimes Christ knocks with a thick succession of Convictions a quick repetition of his calls Some men have had thousands of Convictions in a few years for in this case the Lord saith as it is Exod. 4. 8. If they will not harken to the voice of the first sign yet they may believe the voice of the latter sign And yet sometimes neither the former nor the latter avail any thing How oft would I have gathered thy Children and ye woul not Matth. 23. 37. How often Intimating the many calls Christ gave Ierusalem to come unto him yet all in vain Obstinate sinners Christ hath been knocking and calling at some of your Consciences from your very Child-hood thousands of Convictions have been tryed upon some of you and yet to this day your Souls are shut fast against him The Lord hath waited from year to year for your answer by this signifying how loath he is to part with you such a time thou wast upon a sick-bed nigh unto Death at such a time under such a Sermon and then Christ knockt at thy Soul if all this be in vain so many Convictions as you have stifled so many fagots you carry with you to Hell to increase your flames and torments yet commonly those quick repetitions and redoublings of the stroaks of Convictions end well and it is a good sign when one Conviction revives another and the Lord keeps the Soul still waking But O take heed and try not his Patience too long lest the next stroak be more dreadful than all the former not to open your Hearts but smite dead your hopes for Heaven 5ly Sometimes Christ knocks intermittingly knocking and stopping a call and silence and that at a considerable time and distance a conviction this day and it may be not another in many Months There be some aged sinners that have not had more than one or two remarkable rouzings of Conscience in fifty or sixty years time and then no more Dont think that the Lord will make his Spirit always strive with Men Gen 6. 3. no there is a time when God saith to the Word convict the Conscience of that Man or Woman no more not a stroak more by way of Conviction but henceforth be thou for Obduration not to open but to shut him up Isa. 6. 10. Reader bethink thy self how long was it since thy Conscience was rouzed and awakened O saith one seven or ten years ago I heard such a Sermon which tore my Conscience to pieces I fell under such a sad providence which rouzed and awakened all my fears but since that time all hath been still and quiet the Lord give a second awakning lest you awake with the flames of God's wrath about you I observe it is usual when God works upon any very early he knocks thus intermittingly now the Conscience is active and full of trouble then the vanities of Youth extinguish these Convictions again but the Lord follows his design and at last the Conviction settles and ends in Conversion 6ly Christ sometimes knocks with both Hands at once with the Word and with the Rod together the latter in subserviency to the former and if ever the Soul be like to open it will open then when Ordinances and Afflictions work together The Word smites the Conscience with Conviction and at or about the same time providence smites the outward-man with some affliction to make the Word work effectually or under some smart affliction a suitable word is seasonably directed to the Conscience and thus Iuncta Iuvant the one assisteth the other and both together produce the desired effect Thus the Lord wrought upon the Thessalonians 1 Thes. 1. 6. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord having received the Word in much affliction A Child dies an Estate is lost or a Sickness seizeth at the time when Conscience is prepared by a Conviction from the Word or Afflictions have prepared it for the Word The Rod upon the Back helps the Word to work upon the Heart and if both these working in fellowship will not do the work there is little hope that any thing will do it 7ly Every knock of Christ disturbs the sinful rest of the Soul it rouzeth guilt in the Conscience and puts the inner-man into great distress and trouble before Christ comes and knocks at the door of the Heart all is still and quiet within the Soul is in a quiet sleep of sinful security no fears or troubles molest its rest Luke 11. 21. When a strongman armed keepeth his Palace his goods are in peace But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted The armour which Satan puts into the Hands of sinners to defend themselves against the Convictive stroaks of the Word are the general Mercy of God the outward Duties of Religion partial Reformations c. But when Christ comes by effectual Conviction he disarms the sinner of all these pleas and then the Soul sees what broken Reeds it leaned upon When the Commandment came saith Paul sin revived and I dyed Rom. 7. 9. i. e. all my vain hopes expired no artifice of Satan can any longer quiet the sinners Conscience he apprehends himself in a miserable condition meditates an escape farewel now to sound and quiet sleep no peace till out of danger 8ly Every effectual knock of Christ gives an allarm to Hell and puts Satan to all his shifts and arts to secure the possession of the convinced sinner The Devil is a jealous Spirit and when his interest is in danger he bestirs himself to purpose the time of Conviction is an hour of temptation We wrestle not with flesh and blood saith the Apostle but against Principalities against Powers against the Rulers of the darkness of this World against Spiritual wickedness or wicked Spirits in high-places or about heavenlies Eph. 6. 12. The strife betwixt Satan and the Soul is
the sincerity of Christ in those gracious offers he makes unto coming Souls Be satisfied he speaks his very Heart in them to thee the Devil labours to sow jealousies and beget suspicions in the Hearts of poor convinced sinners that they will not find such a welcom entertainment with Christ as he seems to promise them in those encouraging Scriptures Matth. 11. 28 29. Iohn 6. 37. But that something else lies hid in those Scriptures as a mystery which they understand not and so by shaking the assenting act labours to hinder the accepting act of Faith this is a case as common as it is sad the Lord help poor Souls to avoid this snare lest in stead of honoring Christ by a resolved adherence to him they make him a lyer and impute insincerity to the God of truth For he that believeth not hath made him a lyer IV. Direction Fourthly Look up to God for power to enable you to come to Christ in this supernatural and difficult work of Faith. Dont think Faith is of the growth of thine own Heart No Man can come unto me saith Christ except my Father which hath sent me draw him There is a legal Spirit working under Evangelical pretences in many Souls they look within them to find that which is quite above them the Apostle points you to the fountain of Faith in Eph. 2. 8. It is not of your selves it is the gift of God. 'T is one of the greatest difficulties in the World to believe For if the power of God must be owned as the cause of every new degree of Faith in the greatest believers in the World as is plain Luke 17. 5. The Apostles said unto the Lord Increase our Faith. How much more is the production of Faith it self and the first vital act thereof to be ascribed to the Almighty Power of God V. Direction Fifthly Keeping thine Eye of Expectation upon that Almighty Power pray and plead with the Lord assiduously and importunately for the exerting of that Power upon thy Soul and give not over thy Suit till thou feel that Power coming upon thee The time of believing is a time of earnest pleading thine own danger and necessity and the Spirit of the Lord improving them will abundantly furnish thee with Pleas and Arguments to enforce this Suit. Such as these 1. Lord I have thy call and invitation yea I have thy command to encourage me to believe it is not presumption therefore in thy poor Creature to come after thou hast invited and commanded me hadst thou not encouraged me I durst not have moved towards thee Lord whose Word is it 1 Ioh. 3. 23. is it not thine own This makes my Faith an act of obedience 2. Yea Lord I have thy promise as well as thy command made upon no other condition but my coming to thee blessed Jesus hast not thou said Iohn 6. 37. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out An invitation is much but thy promise is more 3. O my God I have not only thy command making it my duty to believe and thy promise to encourage me to that duty but I have the examples of other sinners that came unto thee long ago and thou didst not reject them nor do I abuse those examples in drawing incouragement from them for it was thy very design in recording them that they might be so many patterns to all that should hereafter believe on thee 1 Tim. 1. 16. 4. O my God I am shut up under a plain necessity I have no other way to take thus stands the case with me I am beaten off from all other refuges there is no help for me in Angels nor Men in duties or self-righteousness in thee only my Soul can find rest I am shut up to thee as to the only door of hope Gal. 3. 23. here I must speed or perish my Soul is burthened and wearied I know not how to dispose of it but into thy Hands nor where to lay the burden of my guilt but upon thee if I miss here I am gone for ever 5. Lord I am willing to renounce and abandon all other hopes refuges and righteousness and to stick to and rely upon thee only Duties cannot justifie me tears cannot wash me reformation cannot save me nothing but thy righteousness can answer my end I come to thee a poor naked Creature saying as the Church Hos. 14. 3. Asshur shall not save us c. for in thee do the fatherless find mercy Thus plead it with God and still remember you are pleading for Life yea for your eternal Life VI. Direction Sixthly Labour to make a resolved adventure upon Christ amidst all those encouragements let the issue be what it will resolve to venture though you have not the least degree of assurance that you shall be accepted and pardoned This is that brave and noble act of Faith which carries the Soul to Christ much as Hester came to the King Yet will I go in to the King and if I perish I. perish Hest. 4. 16. It pities me to think how the saving act of Faith is grosely mistaken in the World the generality think it is enough for them to believe that Christ died for sinners and therefore for them as well as any other but you see Faith is another matter O there are great difficulties and mighty wrestlings in the Work of Believing 't is a great matter for a poor convinced sinner in the face of so much guilt and viâ—eâ—ess and amidst such manifold damps and discouragements from Satan to cast and adventure himself upon Christ and that upon such self-denying terms but the pinch of necessity will bring the Soul to this for now it reasons with it self as the Lepers did 2 Kings 7. 4 5. If we go to the Camp of the Assyrians we can but dye and if we abide here we must certainly dye thus here if I sit still in the state of Nature and still continue demurring and delaying my damnation is unavoidable to Hell I must go and if I cast my self upon Christ I can but be rejected but he hath said He will not cast out those that come unto him in this way of Faith there is a possibility of Salvation yea there dawns from it a strong probability this therefore is my only way To him I will go and if I perish I perish VII Direction Seventhly Never measure the grace of God nor the mercy of Christ by the rule of your own narrow conceptions and apprehensions of him but believe them to be far greater than your contracted and narrow understanding represents them to you Our casting of the pardoning power and mercy of God into the mould of our own thoughts disfigures and alters them so that they look not like themselves but with a very discouraging aspect upon our Souls by this Satan keeps off many a Soul from coming to Christ the Lord knows how to forgive thee though thou scarce knowest how to forgive thy self for the
so others have found who have had the very same fears you have I say the question is not whether you be able but whether you be heartily willing Christ asks but your Will he will provide Ability the greatest Believer in the World cannot say I am able to suffer this or that for Christ but the least Believer in the World must say I am willing the Lord assisting me to endure and suffer all things for his sake and this is the Second thing included in opening to Christ. 3ly The Third thing which perfects and consummates the whole act is an entire choice of of Jesus Christ upon all those terms prescribed by him the entireness of the choice without halfing or dividing excepting or reserving makes the consent full and effectual There is a twofold consent of the Will to Christ. 1. One partial and with exception 2. The other entire and without any reservation I. There is a partial consent which is always hypocritical defective lame and ineffectual thus the hypocrite consents to the offer of Christ he is really willing to have the pardons of Christ and the glory purchased by Christ but to part with his beloved lusts and to give up his earthly enjoyments that his Will cannot consent to II. There is a full and entire consent of the Will called a believing with all the Heart Acts 8. 37. Now this integrity and fulness of the Wills choice is that which closes the match betwixt Christ and the Soul and frees a Man from the danger of hypocrisie And there are three things which make the consent to and choice of Christ compleat and full 1. When we give up all we are and have to him 2. When we derive and draw all we want from him 3. When we are ready to deny any thing for his sake 1. We do then heartily consent to be Christs when we give up all we are and have to him so that after this choice of Christ we look upon our selves thenceforth as none of our own but bought with a price to glorifie God in our Body and Soul which are his 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. Soul and Body is all that we are and both these parts of our selves do now pass by an act of our own consent into the Redeemers right we are not to have the dispose of them that belongs to him that purchased them You know in all purchases property is altered you did live as your own followed your own Wills Lusts Passions were under the dominion and at the beck of every Lust but now the case is altered Titus 3. 3. We our selves were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures So many Lusts so many Lords but now the case is altered we have given our selves to Christ no more to be swayed this way or that against his Word and the voice of our own Conscience Thus our Souls and Bodies are his hallowed dedicated things to Christ Temples for God to dwell in and then all other things follow of course if I am the Lords then my time my talents and all that I have is his 2ly As we must give up all to Christ so we must derive and draw all we want from him else your choice of Christ is not entire and full God hath stored up in Christ all that you want a suitable and full supply for every need and made it all communicable to you 1 Cor. 1. 30. Who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness sanctification and redemption All the believers fresh springs are in Christ Have I any difficult buisness to do that requires counsel Then I must repair to Christ the Fountain of Wisdom Am I under any guilt Then I must repair to Christ for righteousness Is my Soul defiled by corruption Then must I go to Christ for Sanctification Do I groan under troubles of Soul or Body temptations afflictions c. then must I relieve my self by the Faith and Hope of that compleat Redemption and final deliverance procured by Christ from all these if you consent to be Christs you must not look for Justification partly upon his Righteousness and partly upon your own Graces and Duties but must make mention of his Righteousness even of his only If there be but one Conduit in a Town and not a drop of Water to be had elsewhere then all the Inhabitants of that Town repair thither for Water In the whole City of God there is but one Conduit one Fountain and that is Christ there 's not a drop of Righteousness Holiness Strength or Comfort to be had else where Then do we fetch all from Christ when we live upon him as the new born Infant doth upon the Mothers Breast 3ly Then is our consent to and choice of Christ intire and full when we are ready to deny give up and part with any thing we have for his sake reckoning nothing to be lost to us which goes to the glory of Christ how dear soever our Liberties Estates or Lives are to us if the Lord have need of them we must let them go thus you read Rev. 12. 11. They loved not their lives unto the death These three things shew saving Faith to be another manner of thing than the World generally understands it to be and it is impossible for any Mans Will to open to and receive Christ upon terms of such deep self-denial as these until there be 1. A Conviction of our sin and misery 2. A Discovery of Christ in his glory and necessity 3. The drawing Power of the Spirit upon the Soul. 1. Conviction of our sin and misery makes these terms of Religion acceptable poor sinners stand huckling with Christ excepting and objecting against his terms until the Lord have shaken them by Conviction over Hell made them to see the dreadful danger they are in and then the next cry is Men and Brethren what shall we do Acts 2. 37. q. d. Prescribe any means impose upon us the greatest difficulties we are willing to comply with them 2ly Nor will Souls ever comply with these terms of the Gospel until a discovery have been made to them of Jesus Christ in his glory and necessity when a Man feels his wants and sees a compleat remedy his Will then complies and bows readily and freely the convinced sinner sees a full and suitable supply in Christ for all his wants a compleat Saviour in whom there is nothing defective but in all respects according to the wish of a sinners heart 1 Cor. 1. 24. 3ly To all this must be superadded the powerful drawings of the Spirit in the vertue whereof the Will comes home to Christ Iohn 6. 44. No Man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him When these things are past upon the Soul then it hears Christs voice his powerful call which breaks asunder all the ties and bonds betwixt a Man and his Lusts a Man and his Earthly enjoyments and without these things the Will is
from that Sermon by which Christ spake effectual Conviction to him crying O sick sick my Soul is distressed because of sin There is indeed a great difference in the depth and degrees of this contrition and humiliation it soaks deeper into some Hearts than others and holds them longer under it but certain it is whoever hath heard the convincing voice of Christ he feels so much sorrow for sin as for ever separates him from the love of it III. Effect Thirdly This voice of Christ rouzes and awakens the careless and sluggish mind to the greatest solicitude and thoughtfulness after deliverance and escape from the danger that hangs over it Acts 16. 30. Trembling and astonished he cried out Sirs what must I do to be saved All the powers of the Soul run into solicitude and care about deliverance You shall generally observe in convinced and humbled sinners three evident signs of extraordinary solicitude about Salvation 1. There is a strong intention of their minds and thoughts they stand night and day like a Bow at the full bent their thoughts are still poring upon this matter their sleep departs for their sin and danger is ever before them 2ly It appears by their searching inquisitiveness about the way of escape the question they still carry with them from company to company where they meet with any whom they judge able to resolve or direct them is this What course shall I take What shall I do Is there any hope for such a one as I Did you ever know a Soul in my condition 3ly It appears by the little notice they take at this time of their outward troubles and afflictions which it may be are strong and sharp enough to overwhelm them at another time but now they take little notice of them Sin lies so heavy that it makes heavy afflictions lye light IV. Effect A fourth Effect of the voice of Christ is encouragement and hope puting the Soul upon the use of means in order to the attainment of Christ and Salvation for it is an inviting as well as a convicting voice and this is a remarkable difference betwixt the voice of Christ and the voice of Satan with respect to sin Satan labours to cut off all hope and strike the Soul dead under despair of mercy as well knowing that if he can cut off hope all emotions and endeavours of the Soul after Christ are effectually stopt and at a dead stand but how much convincing terrors soever there are in the voice of Christ there is always something left behind it upon the Heart to breed and support hope And truly the Soul amidst these sad circumstances hath great need of some encouragement accordingly the Lord usually after sharp convictions sets on upon the Soul such a word as that Iohn 6. 37. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out for I came down from Heaven not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me Wherein Christ offers the most rational satisfaction and greatest encouragement imaginable that a poor convinced sinner if he be made willing shall certainly find an hearty welcom and acceptation with Christ. For mark how he argues it on purpose for the satisfaction of such Souls I came not down from Heaven to do mine own Will but the Will of him that sent me The force of the encouragement lyes here I and my Father are one one in Will and one in Design our Wills never did nor possibly can jar and clash one with another that would be utterly repugnant to the perfect unity that is betwixt us Now saith he I came down from Heaven not only to do my own Will which must necessarily be supposed to be intently set and strongly enclined to receive and save all convinced and willing sinners this being the very end of my Incarnation and Death but also to do the Will of my Father who hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted and anointed me to preach good tydings to the meek Isa. 61. 1. and therefore no such Soul can rationally doubt of a welcom reception with me And because the fears and jealousies of a convinced Conscience are great and many and the Devil sets in with them to aggravate them beyond the hopes of mercy therefore it is usual with the Lord at such a time as this to direct the convinced and trembling sinner to such a Scripture as that Heb. 7. 25. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him c. Making the fulness of Christs saving power to shine with a chearful beam into the dark and distressed Soul of a sinnner from such a word as that V. Effect A fifth Effect or consequent of Christs powerful voice is an attractive efficacy or sweet allicion of the Soul to Christ by that power and efficacy which it communicates to the Soul Iohn 6. 44 45. No Man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him Every Man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me Mark it this voice speedily puts the Soul into motion after Christ coming follows hearing When once the Soul hath heard the voice of God away it comes from all the engagements in the World all bonds and ties betwixt the Soul and sin break asunder and give way nothing can hold it from Christ. There is a strange restlesness in the Spirit of Man nothing but Christ can centre and quiet it VI. Effect And then lastly The last Effect of Christs voice or call is sweet rest and consolation to the inner Man. When once the Soul is come home to Christ by the efficacy of this heavenly call or voice it enters into peace Heb. 4. 3. We which have believed do enter into rest not only shall but do enter into rest As the first Effect of Christs voice was terror and great trouble to the Soul so the last Effect is peace it puts the Soul into the most excellent position in the World for comfort and joy it never stood upon such ground before for this vocation stands betwixt predestination and glorification Rom. 8. 30. Moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified See here into what a blessed Mount of vision the voice of Christ calleth the Souls of sinners where let the Soul look backward or forward from eternity to eternity there is nothing but a vision of peace before its Eyes This call of God points it backward to Gods eternal choice which by this very call it is now manifest he made of that Soul before the World was and it also points forward to that eternal glory unto which God is leading it These are the Effects of this Almighty voice of Christ and these the special instructions sealed by it upon the Hearts of Men. But now this voice of Christ is not heard at all times but in some
will clear up the mistakes of both VII Motive Obedience to Convictions will not only produce peace at Death but it will give you present ease present relief and refreshment in hand No sooner did David resolve to obey the voice of his Conscience in confessing his sin but he had sensible ease in his own Spirit Psal. 32. 5. So Isa. 32. 17. the fruit of Righteousness is peace quietness and assurance for ever On the contrary you find in Iob 20. 20. Wicked Men have no quietness in their Bellies that is in their Consciences For Guilt lies boking there as a Thorn doth in the Flesh And what is Life worth without ease To live ever in pain to live upon the Rack is not worth while to live If then you love ease and quietness obey your Consciences Pull out that Thorn I mean that Sin that sticks fast in thy Soul and akes in thy Conscience Who would endure so much anguish for all the flattering pleasures of sin VIII Motive Convictions followed home and obeyed are the inlets to Christ and Eternal Salvation by him they are the first leading work of the Spirit in order to union with Christ Iohn 16. 8. till you obey and yield up your selves to them Christ is shut out of your Souls he knocks but finds no entrance at your peril therefore be obedient to their calls All the while you parly with your Convictions and demur to their demands Christ stands without offering himself graciously to you but not admitted so that no less than your Eternal Happiness or Misery depend on your Obedience or disobedience to the Voices and Calls of your Convictions IX Motive Obey your Convictions Honour their Voices and restrain them not then shall your Consciences give a fair testimony for you at the Judgment seat of Christ You read 1 Pet. 3. 2I Of the answer of a good Conscience towards God than which nothing can be more comfortable This gives a Man boldness in the day of Judgment 1 Iohn 4. 17. Believe it firs 't is not your Baptism your Church-priviledges the Opinion Men have of you but the testimony of your Consciences that must be your comfort I know Men are not justified at Gods Bar by you own Obedience nor any exactness of Life 't is only Christ's Righteousness that is the Sinners plea but yet your Obedience to the Calls and Voices of God and Conscience are your evidence that you are in Christ. X. Motive Lastly Consider what a choice Mercy it is to be under such Calls and Convictions of Conscience as are yet capable of being obeyed 'T is not so with Mens Convictions after this Life Conscience convinceth in Hell as well as here but all its Convictions there are for torment not recovery Oh 't is a choice Mercy your Convictions are yet Medicinal not purely Poenal that you are not malo obfirmati so fixed in the state of Sin and Misery as the damned are but may yet enjoy the saving benefit of your Convictions but this you will not enjoy long therefore I beseech you by all that is dear and valuable in your Eyes Reverence your Consciences and let go the Lords Prisoners that lye bound within you III. USE I next come to expotulate the matter with your Consciences and propound a few Convictive Queries to your Souls this day I cannot but look upon this Assembly with Fear Jealousie and Compassion I am afraid there be many of you in this wretched case Men and Women that hold the Truths of God in Unrighteousness though the Wrath of God be revealed from Heaven against all them that do so Let me Demand I. Demand Do not some of you stand convinced by your own Consciences this day that your Hearts and Lives your Principles and Practises are vastly different from the People of God among whom you live and whose Characters you read in Scripture Do not your own Consciences tell you that you never took that pains for your Salvation you see them dayly to take that there be some it may be in your Families nay possibly in your Bosoms that are serious and heavenly whilst you are vain and earthly that are in their Chambers upon their knees wrestling with God whilst you are in your Beds or about the things of the World And doth not Conscience sometimes whisper thus into thine Ear Soul thou art not right something is wanting to make thee a Christian Thou wantest that which others have and except something further be done upon thee thou wilt be undone for ever If it be so let me advise thee to hearken diligently to this voice of Conscience Don't dare to adventure to the Judgment-seat of God in such a case Ponder that Text Matth. 21. 32. and let the disparity your Conscience shews you betwixt your own course and others awaken you to more diligence and seriousness about your own Salvation How canâ—t thou come from the Alehouse or thy vain Recreations and find a Wife or Child in Prayer and thy Conscience not smite thee It may be they have been mourning for thy ' in s whilst thou haft been committing them It may be there lives not far from thee a Godly poor Man who out of his hard and pressing Labours redeems more time for his Soul in a week than ever thou didst in thy Life O hearken to the voice of thy Conscience Else thou art he that holdest Truth in Unrighteousness II. Demand Did thy Conscience never meet thee in the way of Sin as the Angel of the Lord met Balaam with a drawn Sword brandishing the threatnings of God against thee Did it not say to thee as a Captain once said to his Soldiers about to retreate he cast himself down in their way saying if you go this way you shall go over your Captain You shall trample him first under your feet Stop Soul stop said thy Conscience this and that Word of God is against thee If thou proceed thou must trample upon the Soveraign Authority of God in this or that Command yet thy impetuous Lusts have hurried thee forward Thou wouldst not fairly debate the case with thy Conscience and then did not thy Conscience say to thee as Ruben spake to his Brethren Gen. 42. 22. Spake I not unto you saying do not sin against the child but you would not hear therefore also his blood is required of you If this have been your course of sinning verily you are the persons that have held the Truths of God in Unrighteousness and against you the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven III. Demand Have you not seen the Wrath of God revealed from Heaven against other Sinners that have gone before you in the very same tract and course of sin in which you now go and yet you persist in it notwithstanding such dreadful Warnings Thus did Belteshazzar though he saw all that the God of Heaven had done to his Father Dan. 5. 20 21 22. You have seen great Estates scattered and their Owners that got