pleads with young ones to husband their youth well Eccl 12. begin There will be many encumbrances of life afterward which now burthen them not and when old age siezeth them it will greatly unfit them for it who did not engage in it before 2. Whiles the Gospel is dispensed to them powerfully and faithfully This is another special season Here observe 1. That the Gospel Ministry and Ordinances are the ordinary instruments by which God Converteth Sinners He hath seen meet to make this the appointed way of promoving the Salvation of men 1 Cor. 1. 21. Rom. 10. 17. Where he sendeth not these it is an awsul sign that he hath none of this work to do there 2. That they are the Gospel truths by the dispensation whereof he useth them as instruments They are moral instruments and therefore their business is to treat with men and the matter of the treaty is these great truths that declare the Counsel of God and the way wherein Sinners may come to enjoy him in and through Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 2. 2. 3. Hence the faithful dispensation of these truths is that which gives men all the advantage to seek and find God Their work is an Embassy 2 Cor. 5. 20. And the business is Reconciliation which is to be advanced by opening the terms and urging of them suitably If then they are faithful and do seriously and solemnly pursue this design there is all that can be expected of instruments by way of information and excitation Legal Preaching sufficeth not for this but Preaching Christ and the way of Peace by him and the more there is of this the more is the advantage of such a people 4. Hence when these fail this advantage is greatly impeded If then the Gospel is no longer Preached among a people it is a Judgment and a sign of his departure If instead of such dispensations there be such who Preach false Doctrines who blow up men with opinion of their own abilities who corrupt the pure stream of Gospel Truth or Proach unprofitable things needs must these impede this affair 3. Whiles the Spirit is pleased to accompany the means with his powerful influences This is a special finding time And here observe 1. That our sincere seeking of God depends on the Spirits operation He first seeks us if ever we seek him We must have a principle of Grace for it else we cannot do it and that must derive from him who is the God of all grace 1 Pet. 5. 10. All our own moral powers can never exert this 2. There are times when he is more plenteously poured out upon men Not only is there a more powerful Ministry at one time than another but also more of the efficacy of Grace on the hearts of men when Sinners come flocking in apace at the call of the Gospel and the reason why it is so at any time is because the Spirit sets in powerfully with the means They may be the same and the labour in dispensing them as great Isa 33. 15. 3. There are times when he applieth himself to this and that person in particular as he did to Lydia Act 16. 14. And this is not always but at certain seaâ—sons which are arbitrary and he acts his liberty therein This he doth sometimes to one sometimes to another and when it is so it is an happy opportunity he is now very near and ready to be found when he stands at the door and knocks it is but opening to him 4. There are times of his withdrawing in both respects He sometimes lets a faithful Ministry be an unprofitable one to such as sit under it his Servants toil all night and catch nothing they complain as he Isa 49. 4. I have laboured in vain c. And then it becomes an hardning Ministry as Isa 6. 9 10. a savour of death 2 Cor. 2. 16. It will be hard finding of God at such a time as this 5. And there are times when after a great while he cometh again The Spirit withdraws and mens hearts grow hard but afterwards sometimes he comes again before he utterly giveth them up they have awakenings and remorces and now he is also near 4. When God brings his Judgments on a people And here 1. These Judgments whether publick or personal are Testimonies of Gods displeasure at men for neglecting to seek him He herein witnesseth his righteous anger at them and the reason is because they have not sought him but something else instead of him Jer. 2. 17. Isa 57. 17. If they had not forgotten him he had not fallen upon them 2. The proper design of these Judgments is to awaken them to seek him A professing people may so far provoke him as to fall upon them in his fury and make his Judgments a Sword to cut them off but it is not so at first they are part of his Discipline hence called his Corrections and God speaking after the manner of men tellâ— them what he expected Zeph. 3. 17. I said thouâ— wilt receive instruction c. 3. He is wont to stir up some at least of his Servanâ—â— to take this occasion to be earnest with men He affecteth them and makes them to cry aloud they see his anger and are afraid and upon it blow the Trumpet Thus in the times of the Apostasy of Israel and Judah God sent such Prophets to them who dealt faithfully with them 4. And he usually toucheth mens hearts at sucâ— times Indeed it is a natural operation of Judgments to put men upon thoughtfulness but thâ— Spirit is wont to set in and put such a people atâ—least many of them upon enquiring after hiâ— mind and to affect them with Convictions of sinâ— and fear of his Wrath. And this is a great advantage now to seek him 5. If all this be neglected he is hereby grievouslyâ— incensed It is an high provocation and he now thinks of withdrawing Hos 5. 15. Nay someâ— times it arrives at that that because all means aâ—ineffectual and they grow worse by them he deâ—clares resolutely to come at them in this way nâ— more but abandon them to destruction Ezek. 2â— 13. And then what a wo case are they in USE 1. For caution Let none from the prâ—mises conclude that his time is past I know somâ— troubled hearts are apt to be shaken by such awâ—ful truths and the adversary is ready to set iâ— and perswade them that their day is done anâ— so sink them into despondency To prevent this â—â— me offer these things 1. That none hath Scripture warrant so to conclude Gods purposes concerning individual persons on this account are reserved with himself nor hath he given us any Rules in Scripture to determine it concerning our selves or others there being but one Sin there branded for unpardonable all others may be forgiven Mat. 12. 31. Now we are to â—â—tch our hope and regulate our selves in our duties by the revealed will of God 2. The arguments that such are wont to
amends for all the pains that we can be at in seeking after it USE III. Let it be for a word of Consolatiâ— to all such as are pardoned Are all such blesseâ— men how should the apprehension of this comfort our hearts and certainly if we do not finâ— more sweetness in it than in all that is delight fâ— in this world we never felt the burden of Guâ— thereby and may well question whether we aâ— forgiven or no. Are you delivered from wraâ— to come and can any thing else damp your joyâ— is not here enough to ballance yea to swallow 〈◊〉 all other sorrows whatsoever And that you maâ— suitably express this joy of yours take these twâ— words of direction 1. Bless God for this wonderful gift This 〈◊〉 none of the least of the arguments which the Psâ—mist useth to stir up his Soul to bless God in Psâ— 103. 3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities And theâ— is abundant matter of thankfulness in it whethâ— we consider the free benignity which it discoveâ— God owed it not to us he hath not indulgâ— every one with it and we did no more to obtâ— it than they he not only offered it to us bâ— drew us to accept it he gave his only Son to pâ—cure it for us and he sent his Spirit into oâ— hearts to apply it to us or if we consider 〈◊〉 greatness of the benefit it self which is uncoâ—ceivable And can we sufficiently admire blâ— 2. Let us study to live as becomes pardoned â—es What manner of Conversation ought we to â—ad in the world to whom God hath given his â—e forgiveness Shall we not loath Sin more by â—e consideration of the great pardon that is given 〈◊〉 Shall we not abstain from it with the more â—re and abhorrence by considering what it cost â—e Son of God to procure a Remission of it for 〈◊〉 Shall we not make it our constant care and â—deavour to please and serve that God who hath â—alt so bountifully with us Shall we not love â—m who hath so loved us And if we do indeed â—ve him according to this obligation it will cerâ—inly make us willing and unwearied in seeking 〈◊〉 express this love suitably in dayly Dying unto â—n and Living unto Holiness and pursuing of this 〈◊〉 our days Gods forgiveness extends to all Sin DOCTRINE II. GOD'S forgiveness extends to all Sin This is implyed in the threefold expression of Sin â—ere used which contain under them not only â—e errours that men are apt to fall into but also â—e crooked and perverse nature and actions which â—ey are chargable with yea the bold proud and â—gh handed Transgressions which they rebelliously perpetrate against God Give me leave first 〈◊〉 explain the Doctrine and then to give the reasoâ— for it 1. In the Explication we may premise Thâ— there is one Sin which in the Gospel is exempâ—ed from forgiveness and but one It is true 〈◊〉 Sin impenitently persisted in unto death leavâ— the Sinner unpardoned for there is neither Saâ—ing Repentance nor forgiveness to be obtainâ— in another World by one that dies in his Sins bâ— it is not because former impenitency may not 〈◊〉 pardoned upon Repentance but because the Sinâ— hath by persisting in it lost the opportunity of 〈◊〉 day of Grace But there is one that in it 〈◊〉 puts the man in this life out of all hope of pâ—don and that is called The Sin against the Hâ— Ghost of which our Saviour so speaks Mark 〈◊〉 28 29. This is that which is called the Sin 〈◊〉 Death which puts the man out of our Prayeâ— 1 Joh. 5. 16. And this is that which is describâ— to us Heb. 6 4 5. Nor indeed is this Sin unpâ—donable because its Guilt out-bids the value of 〈◊〉 Atonement but because by it the man puts hiâ—self out of the road of forgiveness according 〈◊〉 the Divine Ordination and by a malicious â—nouncing of the Gospel and the Spirit of Gâ— in it after great illuminations and an high pâ—fession he provokes God to give him over to haâ—ness of heart and searedness of Conscience wheâ— by he is Sealed to final impenitence there beâ— a total and final withdrawing of the Spirit froâ— him Concerning which I shall only say thâ— much that the person who is troubled and grieved in himself for fear lest he have commitâ—ed this Sin hath therein a good evidence that â—e hath not since the Gospel seems to give that â—s one inseparable concomitant of it viz. an obâ—inate and a malicious hatred of the Gospel way â—f Salvation But this sin only excepted all oâ—her sins whatsoever are pardonable yea and we â—ave the instances of such as have been guilty â—f them and yet obtained forgiveness Let me 〈◊〉 little open this in the following remarks 1. The greatest and vilest sins in themselves â—ay be forgiven Our Catechism tells us that â—me sinâ— are in themselves more heinous than others â—nd the Scripture is full for it Not but that all â—s are equally transgressions of the Law and â—onsequently incur the guilt of Eternal Death â—et if we consider and compare some with oâ—ers there is in the things themselves more of â—e malignity of the heart discovered in some â—an in others God therefore tells the Prophet â—at he will shew him greater abominations Ezek. 〈◊〉 6 13 15. It is a sin to be angry without cause â—ut greater to commit actual Murder a sin to â—urmur against God but greater to blaspheme â—c Now the greatest and most abominable of â—ese are not out of the reach of a pardon and â—e may well argue that if Gods forgiveness exâ—nds to those that are greater it is not out bid â—y those that are lesser there are scarlet and â—imson sins and yet these may be washed away â—a 1. 18. I might here instance in those that are deservedly reputed the most odious and scandalous and point you to such as have been horribâ— guilty of them and yet obtained mercy and aâ— now glorified Saints in Heaven we have 〈◊〉 whole heap of them numbred together aâ— such an observation made on them 1 Cor. 6â— 10. 11. Murder is an horrible sin and 〈◊〉 blood of the innocent cryes to heaven for vengâ—ance and yet David obtained a pardon for thâ— he prays Psal 51. 14. Deliver me from blood gâ—tiness and the Prophet tells him 2 Sam. 12. 〈◊〉 Thou shalt not dy Idolatry is a fearful sin aâ— that which is terribly threatned in the Word 〈◊〉 God and yet God invites such to return upâ— the promise of pardon Jer 3. begin Blasphemy iâ— sin of the first rate for men to rend and teâ— and reproach the Name of the Great God aâ— yet all manner of blasphemies the fore cited 〈◊〉 excepted may be forgiven Mat. 12. 31. Pâ— though a blasphemer obtained mercy 1 Tim. 1. 〈◊〉 Witchcraft is an odious crime for men to 〈◊〉 themselves to Satan and practice his hellish aâ— God would not have such suffered to live aâ— yet there
is mercy for such too Such an oâ— was Manasseh 2 Chron. 33. 6. and what eâ— were they Acts 19. 19. I might instance in mâ— things but these may suffice 2. Sins committed with the greatest and mâ— horrid aggravations do not exclude men frâ— pardon that the same sins in themselves 〈◊〉 more or less heinous according to their circuâ—stances is evident by the Word of God Jâ— 15. 22 24. and the light of nature tells us that the more there is of presumption or ingratitude that the more obligations are broken the more is the Guilt that is contracted thereby and by this occasion the sin that is least in it self may grow up into a formidable great one and yet when all these are added to encrease â—he Guilt they will not make the sin amount â—o unpardonable it may yet be forgiven Here I might multiply but I shall only point â—o three or four more comprehensive ones 1. Though men have fallen into all manner of sins and those the most vile yet there is â—orgiveness Some men have been noted for â—ne some for another but when men Sell â—hemselves to all wickedness Sins against the â—ight of nature and conscience this renders them â—xceeding great When every one brings guilt â—supportable along with it what must so maâ—y do when they have added iniquity to sin â—s drunkenness to thirst this declares men to be â—eyond measure vile and fills up their indictâ—ent with a fearful company of Articles and â—et such a man ought not to despair of but â—eek to God in hope for a pardon how maâ—y sins of the first magnitude are charged upâ—n Manasseh 2 Chron. 33. begin What a proâ—igious monster of iniquity was he grown up 〈◊〉 be and yet is he left as an instance of Gods pardoning grace to give us to underâ—and how far it can extend it self in shewing â—ercy 2. Though they have lived a long while in such sins and multiplied them they have not only fallen into them but made a trade of themâ— and pursued them to old age it hath been the course they have followed from their youth upward they have accustomed themselves to it theâ— is a vast difference between being overtaken wiâ— a Sin and making it ones way and course anâ— every repeated act of a sin enflames the reckoâ—ing and fills up the Ephah yea by this meaâ— men grow more and more hardned and so theâ— grow worse and worse and yet when men haâ— done their utmost on this account God may aâ— sometimes doth come and turn them to himseâ— and bestow a compleat remission upon themâ— and for this also Manasseh is an amazing instancâ— hence Gods offer is not only to such as haâ— played the harlot once but many a time and haâ— made a trade of it Jer. 3. begin 3. Though men have long withstood the caâ— of the Gospel and strivings of the Spirit wiâ— them yet they may be forgiven To sin agaiâ— Gospel light is far more provoking than to Sin â—gainst the meer light of nature to despise aâ— not regard the means of Grace in which Goâ— sets before men the things of their peace aâ— against the Spirit who comes in and with thoâ— means and pleads with Sinners by Convictioâ— Awakenings Terrors c. is a most stupendâ— aggravation of Sin much more then for suâ— to live and ly in scandalous Sins and follow tâ— abominations of the Heathen to Sin in 〈◊〉 Land of Uprightness for men that sit under the Gospel and are followed with calls and counsels and promises and threatnings not only to live in Unregeneracy but to addict themselves to and allow themselves in Drunkenness Swearing Whoredom Sabbath-breaking and all manner of debauchery and profaness is a most unaccountable wickedness this is to do worse than the Heathen and yet such as these are not hopeless God hath forgiveness for such too What Indictments did God bring in against Ephraim by the Prophet and yet see how he declares himself Hos 11. 8 9. How shall I give thee up Ephraim c. and doubtless our Saviours design is to commend this precious truth to us in the Parable of the Prodigal Luk. 15. 11 c. 4. Though men have relapst into great and grievous sins after Conversion there is forgiveness for them there is a state of Justification in which a person stands acquitted from Condemnation which abides immutable and Gods Children do not fall out of it by any falls that they take but there are sad falls which they are sometimes hurt by great sins they are overtaken with and sometimes complicated such was Davids to which he is supposed to have respect in â—his Psalm it is a fearful thing for such an one so to sin see how aggravated it was 2 Sam. 12. 7 8. What love is sinned against what mercy â—s despised what obligations are broken by it â—nd yet God forgave him upon his purpose to â—sk it verse 5. and how heinously did Solomon fall and we have that Asterism on it 1 Kinâ— 11 9. God had appeared to him twice and yâ— God forgave him Aarons Calf and Asa's Perâ—cution of the Prophet are also instances for thiâ— and is not here enough to prove the truth that 〈◊〉 is so if the things mentioned are not in theâ—selves exclusive of a pardon what can be suppâ—sed more likely to do it than they 2. I proceed now to give the ground 〈◊〉 reasons of the Doctrine and there are tâ— assertions that will be serviceable for this pâ—pose 1. That the vertue of Christ's Sacrifice 〈◊〉 sufficient for the forgiveness of all sins 〈◊〉 we may gather some intimation of what Gâ— purpose was when we consider what proviâ— he hath made However here is reason sâ—cient to evidence that all Sin may be pardoâ— when we are acquainted that there is enoâ— in the remedy for it Here observe thâ— things 1. That there is no forgiveness without sâ—faction made to the Justice of God the 〈◊〉 stands out against every Sinner and condeâ— him to dy and that Law was the Rule of â—lative Justice between God and man and 〈◊〉 not be baulked without violence offered to 〈◊〉 Righteousness It therefore is asserted Hebâ— 22. Without blood there is no Remission for 〈◊〉 God forgives the Sinner freely in the appâ—tion of it to the Subject yet forgiveness 〈◊〉 be first laid in for him and that by a sufâ—ent price paid for him or else there were no room for such an Application as the case stands between God and man in the First Covenant so that if there could have been no satisfaction made there could not have any forgiveness been conferred but the Law must have unavoidably past into execution upon the guilty Creature 2. That God hath accepted of his Son to make this satisfaction Jesus Christ hath undertaken it and his Father is well pleased with it The Sinner himself was firstly responsible for it and God might have made his demands of him and no other but it hath pleased him
not David wofully lye and dissemble to Ahimeleoh at Nob 1 Sam. 21. And to Achish Chap 23. Yea he was almost gotten into a way of it whence he prayes against it Psal 119 29. And how much of Hypocrisy is a sensible Believer acquainted with in himself attending on his best duties How many wry glances and sinister aims in his prayers and hearing and whole Conversation Whence else is it that he is so often at a loss what to judge of himself as to any thing he doth 4. In the work of Conversation there is a new nature put into the man The man that is here said to be without Guile is to be supposed a true Convert for there is nothing else but Guile in an Unconverted man he is wholly acted by a Deâ—ved Heart which perverts him Isa 44 20. But when God comes to Convert a Sinner to himself he then makes a powerful and thorough Change in him 2 Cor. 5. 17. This is that which is called the New Man in opposition to natural Corruption which is called the Old man Eph. 4. 22 24. This is called the New Heart which God hath said he will give to men in this work Ezek. 36. 26. And what else is the New Nature but a body of Sanctifying Graces infused into the man by which he is Regenerated or born again 5. In this new nature there is no Guile at all The new Creature is altogether void of Sinful Hypocrisy it hath nothing in it but what is pure and sincere and without Guile We read 1 Joh. 3. 9â— Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin i. e. According to his new nature or the new principle that is infused into him and it must need appear to be sincere and not Hypocritical from the Consideration of the Original of it and that is from God it is therefore said to be Born of him 1 Joh. 5. 4. And Born from above Joh. 3. 3. And of the Spirit Vers 6. And is called the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. It never consents to much less contrives any deceit or cheat but is always upright in the exertings of it self And therefore every Converted man so far as he is renewed so far is he altogether without Guile As Guile is a quality adhering to every Lust so integrity is no less to every Grace of the Spirit that is in the Children of God their Faith is Unfeigned 1 Tim. 1. 5. And their Love is without Dissimulation Rom. 12. 9. And such are all the Graces which flow from these two which are the root Graces in a Child of God 6. The New Nature sets it self against the Guile of the Law in the members in a Child of God It doth not only exert none it self nor consent to that which the Corrupt part is acting but it dissents from and withstands it There is the Lusting of the Spirit mentioned Gal. 5. 17. And there are two things wherein it discovers this 1. In the Reluctancy of it against the Corrupt part in us seeking to suppress and prevent it So far as Grace is active in the heart of a Child of God when it meets with a Temptation to Guile or Hypocrisy it Resists it bears its Testimony against it influenceth the Conscience according to 〈◊〉 present activity so as to endeavour to Arm 〈◊〉 against that part in him which is eager and violent for it and this Paul designs in Rom. 7. When he speaks of the Good he would do and the Evil he would not do And doubtless many a time by the help of the Spirit of God he gets the Victory overcomes the Temptation and rejects the Motion with abhorrence 2. In the Repentance which it brings the man to afterwards Sometimes the Law of the Members is too subtile and strong and leads the man Captive and he is drawn into Dissimulation as Peter and Barnabas were Gal. 2. 12. c. The deceitfulness of his worser part imposeth upon him and he plays the Fool but as his Grace had no hand in it but was meerly overborn so it recruits again and what it could not prevent by withstanding it clears it self of by Repentance The Godly sorrow bitter mourning self-abhorrence and mortification he applies to it witnesseth for him 2 Cor. 7. 11. And this belongs to that Spiritual warfare with which the Gospel acquaints us 7. That God in the New Covenant values us according to this New Nature It is true the Corruption within us is Originally our own and we have reason to bewail it as long as we Liveâ— and it gives the Believer a world of grief and molestation And when we neglect our Graces and allow or nourish our Corruptions God as a Father is angry and Corrects us for it but however God looks upon his People according to their Grace This is the New-Creature and they are judge such who have it in them And where there 〈◊〉 this warfare against Corruption and Grace exercised in Resistance and Repentance God is pleaseâ— to accept of us and though he Charge the othâ— upon our Concupiscence and will Mortify it 〈◊〉 us yet he Chargeth it not so upon the person 〈◊〉 to put him out of his Favour for it And on thâ— account it is that Paul dares to put it off from himself to his Sin Rom. 7. 16 17. 8. Hence such an one is in a Gospel esteemâ— one in whom is no Guile Who 1. Hath been Regenerated by the Spirit 〈◊〉 God and so hath a principle of saving Grace 〈◊〉 him A Godly man and one without Guile souâ— the same thing in Scripture language he is therefore so called Context verse 6. for by vertue 〈◊〉 such a saving change the man comes to have 〈◊〉 Right Spirit in him as it is called Psal 51. 10. 2. Hereupon he cordially and sincerely propounds the Glory of God as his last end in 〈◊〉 whole course Though he may miss it in the application in many things yet this is the general scope of his life and he studieth it daily this is the great concern that lies upon him 1 Cor. 10. 3. And this is the natural inclination of the new nature in us for it was put into us to enable us to Glorify God and hath therefore in it a tendency 〈◊〉 the end it was Created for and accordingly â—rompts us hereunto 3. Hence he abhors every thing in him that â—raws to the contrary He finds enough and too much in himself which is molesting of him and sometimes wofully too hard for him but he is â—ieved at it carries it about as his burden and â—ies out by reason of it yea he is vile in his â—wn eyes on this account as he Job 41. 5. accounts it his misery that he is so unhappily chained to it 4. Hereupon he lives in the practice of the mortification of this deceitfulness As he doth not allow it so he cannot be quiet for it but seeks to have it destroyed We are commanded to mortify the lusts in us Col.
know what is your present duty If you sit down discouraged you thereby charge God but if you make a through search you may so be set in the right way USE II. For Exhortation to all to the practice of this Duty And there is argument enough in the Doctrine to move us hereto If this be the proper necessary course to relieve us in distress let us then whensoever we find any such trouble coming upon us apply our selves unto this way as we hope to find any relief against it And there is none whose condition this may not be and it is good to be laying in for it Let this be particularly applyed 1. To the Unconverted Such as are yet strangers to forgiveness And there are two sorts to whom distinctly 1. To the secure Sinner who feeleth no trouble on his Conscience but all is quiet and so he looks upon himself unconcerned in this affair Consider 1. You are Sinners That is the condition of all men by nature Rom. 5. 12. Yea your whole course in this world hath been a trade of Sin Gen. 8. 21. You have done nothing else since you were born but sin against God this is the very Character given of a natural man Psal 58. The wicked is estranged from the womb they go astray as soon as they are born 2. You are on this account Guilty before God This is the state in which all men are by reason of sin Rom. 3. 19. There is always a Guilt cleaving to sin till by a pardon it be removed where therefore Sin may be charged and is not forgiven it insurreth Guilt and every unpardoned one is under the efficacy of the Sentence 3. Hence you have the matter of this distress on you And what is it that is so bitter and burden-some to the Conscience but a Conviction of Sin and apprehension of the Guilt that attendeth it It is a fear of the wrath of God arising from an expectation of having it fall upon us whiles then you are under Guilt there needs nothing but the awakening of Conscience and making it to feel the impressions thereof upon it to bring the man under the most hellish amazements that can be thought of It is only because Conscience is asleep that you are quiet and God knoweth how to rouse it when he pleaseth and he will certainâ—â— do it sooner or later There is no peace to the wicked Isa 57. 20. 4. Your nourishing your security doth but lay in sâ— make your distress the more terrible You may enjoy a little present ease by it but will be forced to pay interest for it afterwards The calm will be over and a storm will arise there is no preventing it and not only so but the tempest will be the moâ—â— impetuous Your Fair Days are but Weather breeders and all the Sins with which you nourish this security will help to aggravate your Guilt and make the remorces of Conscience more severe Here then 1. Be willing to be convinced of you Sin Have a care of stifling the Convictions which God affordeth you in his Word and Providence take heâ—â— of hardning your hearts against Counsels or shutting your eyes upon the light that is offered you to discover your Sin to you Whatsoever content you find in thus doing for the present it will be bitter in the end God cometh now to shew you your Sin in the way of a Treaty of Peace and saith as Jer. 2. 19. Know that it is an evil and bitter thing c. And if you do not hearken he will shew it you another way 2. See the danger you are in by reason of it If Siâ— lyeth at the door you are in a perilous Condition there is no safety the wrath of God is out against you and Vengeance hangs over your heads Holiness Justice Truth stand engaged to do Execution upon you and all the fearful Curses written in the Book of God are your portion and how can you Escape 3. Be perswaded how vain it is for you to go about to cover it Who ever did so and prospered What a madness is it to think to hide the most secret enormities from the eyes of God who is Omniscient and knows you a great deal more intimately and throughly then you do your selves and can when he will make your sin to find you out 4. Take encouragement to hope for mercy by the Gospel discovery of Christ The great temptation to keep silence is a Spirit of fear that urgeth us to despair of mercy that driveth us to hide our selves as Adam did Now God hath in the Gospel made a Proclamation of peace to Sinners and shewn them the way to pardon think then of this and let it melt your heart and drive you to fall down at his feet and make the most enlarged acknowledgment of your sins asking his pitty This is the most kindly and genuine working of the Evangelical offers of Grace when they work us to the deepest sense and draw forth our most hearty Confessions unto God 2. To the awakened and terrified Sinner whose Conscience is roused and who hath his sins set in order before him and is thereupon under fearful agonies in his mind If you ever hope to find solid comfort â—our next business is to come to this Confession and for your quickning and encouragement Consider 1. You are in the hand of an Holy God A God who stands on his honour and will have his Glory from or by all his Creatures you must therefore voluntarily give it to him or else he will strain for it and so recover it upon you Now all Sin is a falling short of his Glory Rom. 3. 23. It is a dishonouring of him and no little of his Holiness is displayed in his shewing his hatred of it Hab. 1. 13. And you have no other way to glorifie this Holiness but by a free and full Confession 2. He is yet a merciful God Though you have greatly dishonoured and grievously provoked him by sin yet there is mercy with him he hath published and proclaimed this mercy of his lâ—â— the Gospel and inviteth weary and burdened Sinners to come to him for it Mat. 11. 28. All the Messages of peace that are sent to Sinners by the Gospel and the fair tenders therein made to them and the patient waiting of God with the strivings of his Spirit are a witness to thiâ—â— that there is mercy to be had from him if 〈◊〉 be rightly sought 3. But he expecteth that you come for this men with ropes on your heads He looketh that you should give him all the signal testimony of a deâ— conviction that you deserve no mercy from hiâ— but that he do Execution upon you according 〈◊〉 the demerit of your sin and that you ly at 〈◊〉 foot as those that have no injustice to impute him if he should fall upon and destroy you aâ—â— acknowledge his meer mercy in your pardon 4. In this way there is hope for you and in
there are three Conclusions contained in this Proposition 1. That God may be found by sinful men 2. That the Opportunity of thus seeking God is limited to time 3. That there are special seasons wherein God is to be found by them that seek him 1. That God may be found by sinful men This is the foundation of all our encouragment to seek after him We may here enquire 1. When God is said to be found 2. For the evidence that he may so 3. The ground of it or how it comes to pass 1. When God is said to be found A. In respect of his Omnipresence it is every where Act. 17. 27 28. And with regard to his Providence he fills all with his presence and influence Psal 135. 6. But it here aims at a gracious discovery which God makes of himself to us We then find him when we obtain favour from him in the thing we seek him for when he is propitious to us Deut. 4. 29. Gods being found is opposed to his hiding himself and his people account him to do so when they receive no favourable returns of their Prayers no gracious effects coming thereupon But when we ask his mercy and he bestows it upon us we conclude that we have found him If when we are burdened with the Guilt of Sin we humbly address him for pardon and he applies the promise and helps us to take hold on it and witnesseth within us his accepting us we conclude that we have found him and so in every other respect in which his Children call upon him It is he himself who comes in by his Spirit to the Soul and leaveth those things there which testify his presence Psal 34. 4. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me 2. For the evidence that he may be found Sin indeed hath made an infinite distance between God and Sinners and hath provoked him to hide from them Every natural man is a lost Creature hath lost his God and his happiness and knoweth not where to find him but wandereth in a Wilderness where there is no way But for all this such is Gods rich Grace that he hath discovered himself in the Gospel so as that he may be found again by the lost Creature and these things will evidence it 1. He invites men to seek him This precious advice is given to all where the Gospel cometh He would not have men to seek their help else where but enquire after him He gives them this call while they are wandring from mountain to hill seeking rest and finding none 1 Chron. 16. 11. 22. 19. Now God would not invite men to seek him if there were no hope that they might find him he doth not delude them but point them to a way of safety 2. He hath therefore made promises to such as seeâ— him that they shall find him The Prophet tells 〈◊〉 from God Isa 45. 19. I said not to the seed of Jacob seek me in vain And to make this appear he hath obliged himself 1 Chron. 28. 9. If thou seek him he will be found of thee So Psal 69. 32. Prov. 8. 17. Heb. 11. 6. And he who hath promised is faithful and will perform and they that adventure on his word shall never see cause to repent 3. He hath made a way for his being found by Sinful men And there is nothing wherein God hath equally celebrated his goodness to man as in this 〈◊〉 that when Sin had shut us out of his presence and raised Mountains between him and us he hath been at the cost to remove them and make a New and Living way for us to find him For this it was that Christ came into the World and made the Atonement with his own Blood that he might pull down the wall of separation And now he tells us that he is the way Joh. 14. 6. And so there is a new way Consecrated Heb. 10. 20. This God would not have done if he had not designed that some of the lost race should find him in it 4. He hath given us directions how we may find this way and him in it All the Gospel Precepts are adapted to this end As there could have been no way if he had not opened it so we could never have known it if he had not shown it us Mic. 6. 8. And his Spirit is sent to influence and guide us into it Isa 30. 21. The preceptive part of the Gospel is purposely given for our direction in this affair 5. Jesus Christ came to seek lost Sinners and bring them into this way he himself tells us so Luk. 19. 10. True he had a further design in coming viz. to make this way by his Priestly Office but yet in his Prophetical and Kingly he pursueth this design for having purchased to himself a Church in the world he sends forth his Spirit to gather them to himself he seeks them up in their lost estate and finds them and so they find him Isa 65. 1. 3. For the ground of this or how it comes to pass that he is willing to be found let these things be considered 1. That God hath purposed the glory of his Grace in the Salvation of Sinners Hence some are said to be Chosen in Christ to this very end Eph. 1. 3. 6. The foundation of all this is laid in his good will it was because he had a mind that this letter in his name should be made legible and celebrated throughout Eternal Ages 2. That mans happiness consists in his seeing and enjoying of God There is no other object is adequate for him should he enjoy all the goodness of the whole Creation separate from the favour and love of God it would not make him better man miserable Psal 73. 27. He only is a portion that can satisfy the cravings of an immortal Soul and if the man be happy he must know him Joh. â—7 3. and he must have him to be his portion Lam. 3. 24. 3. That man by Sin hath lost God This is the unhappy effect of the Apostasy and is the fruit of sin Isa 59. 2. Man was at first made near to God but as soon as sin came in it set him at a vast distance so that now he knows him not but is a stranger to him hath lost all title to him as his God and is become his enemy and so is made miserable 4. That fallen man must find God again if ever he enjoy him Vision and Fruition go together iâ— Mans misery is that he hath left him his only happiness is in finding him We must find him if we find life by him Prov. 8. 35. Till we so do we remain in the forlorn state state which Sin hath cast us into That man that doth not find his God again is undone for ever 5. For this end God exhibits himself to man as the object whom they are to seek God hath made our seeking of him a medium in order to our finding him Not but
Demonstration of this take these Conclusions 1. That it is arbitrary with God whether ever he will be found by sinful man or no Man in his Apostasy went away from God bad him depart preferred other Objects before him and renounced communion with him how justly might God upon this have rejected him for ever and resolved that he should never more obtain his favour He hath no dependance on his Creature if he had said they shall never see my face again for ever he had offered them no injury at all He therefore in this acts his Soveraignty and it therein eminently appears in that he thus manifesteth himself when where and to whom he pleaseth the greatest number of mankind are groping in the dark seeking an object in which to find their happiness and God doth not shew himself to them than whom they to whom he doth thus appear are nothing better so that his meer good pleasure is herein displayed hence that of our Saviour Mat. 11. 25 26. 2. Hence it is at his liberty to fix the terms on which he will be found by them If the thing it self be at his liberty he must needs then have the power of prescribing Man is a Rebel and an Out law if God will pursue him to death and destroy him he doth him no wrong and if he will indulge him with a treaty of reconciliation it is at his discretion to make the Articles of it Now among the other terms of the treaty this is one viz. the stating of the time wherein men may come in and find him A Prince that proclaimeth peace to his Rebellious Subjects may limit the day and proclaim that if they come in by such a day and she for it they shall have it but if they take not that opportunity there shall be no hope and it is a very high favour that such an offer as this though thus bounded should be ever made to any of the race of sinful men 3. That except God reveals himself unto men they may seek but they shall not find him There is such a thing as this Prov. 1. 28. And there is great reason for it God indeed hath made our seeking of him the way to our finding him made a gracious promise that they who truly seek him shall find him but it is a promise of Grace and indeed the reason why any do seek not find him is because they do not seek him as they ought However God manifesteth himself arbitrarily to men we may be in the outward use of all the means of grace and yet miss him never meet him there and it will be so unless he please to come and manifest himself 4. That unless God giveth them his Spirit Grace they will never seek him so as to find him There is a so seeking him as is ever crowned with success and brings us into his presence such as that Jer. 29. 13. All other is either hypocritical or legal which is not acceptable to God Now if any of the Children of men so seek him they must have the grace from him so to do it is a work of his Spirit and till he give them a new heart they cannot so do there must be his drawing if ever there be their following Now the drawing of the Spirit is at his pleasure if he see meet to withold this grace from men they will never so seek him notwithstanding all the calls and counsels and warnings that can be given them and he hath no necessary lying upon him to bestow this on them 5. There are certain means in and with which God reveals himself to men so as they may find him As God is to be found so there is a way for it Natural men that live without the Gospel can never find him in that condition the meer light of nature will never lead any of mankind to God or bring them to communion with him again had not this been manifested in the Gospel it had never been known and man must have wandred in an endless maze of error 2 Cor. 4. 6. And it is in and with this Gospel that God is pleased to shew himself to the Souls of men and therefore by serious attendance thereon they are to seek him Where therefore these means are either not bestowed or are taken from men or they from them now the opportunity must needs cease with them I now proceed to make it appear that if ever we find God it must be during the time of our life in this world and from the premises there are these evidences for it 1. That God hath in his Word limited the day of Grace to this life The Word of God is that by which we are to acquaint our selves with his will and there we are assured that the day of Grace is limited When our Text saith they shall pray in a finding time it infers that there will be a time when there is no finding of him and of the same import is that in Isa 55. 6. Seek the Lord while he may be found Hence he may be sought too late when there is no finding him Prov. 1 23. Nay the Scripture hath expresly limited the time to this life Psal 6. 5. Isa 38. 18. And elsewhere which intimate that the time of Glorifying God by making our peace with him will then be over or that the work of providing for eternity will then be at an end and this is the force of the wise mans argument when he urgeth the husbanding the present season of life Eccles 9. 10. There is no work nor wisdom nor device nor knowledge in the grave whither thou goest 2. That the means and offers of Grace are only afforded men during the time of this life Whiles God is to be found he affords men advantages of seeking him and these are the Gospel Ordinances in which his Spirit is wont to come and strive As long as he continueth these and cometh in and with them to the hearts of men they have a fair opportunity for finding him but when these are withdrawn and gone he goeth with them and it is certain that men enjoy these only in this life Whether so long is arbitrary but longer they shall not What saith the Psalmist Psal 88. 11. 12. Shall the dead praise thee c. by which interrogatories a vehement negation is insinuated and if Gods faithful Servants would never so fain they can come at them no more to speak to them about their Souls concerns 3. There are awful threatnings denounced against such as neglect this time and these offers God is a God of truth in his threatnings as well as his promises and he hath warned Sinners of what will come of it if they neglect the present time he hath denounced that they shall for ever miss of the benefit offered and for the obtaining of which they once had a price in their hands if they will not comply with Gods time they shall fail when
admiration that the Great God should deal so by a vile man is an astonishing thing Paul thought it so 1 Tim. 1. 16. 3. It is fit that God should make them smart for their folly Though his Grace be free it is not fiâ— that it should be contemptible it is suitable that Sinners should know that he resents their unworthy carriage and that they have a deep sense of the contempt they have cast upon him and his Salvation God will have his people find the bitterness of their rebellion Jer. 2. 19. And hence as they have made him to wait long on them so that they wait some season upon him for his evidencing of his love to them 4. They have been greatly hardned by these carriâ—ges Every resistance made to the Spirit of God hardens men more there is a contracted hardness which corroborates that which is natural Hence they need more terrifying breaking and humbling dispensations to bring them down to the foot of God and make them apprehensive of their evil ways and doings if the Prophet betrâ—â—â— an old barlot he will make her tarry for him 〈◊〉 days Hos 3. 3. Let not such then murmur at Gods so dealing with them but remember their â—â—riage to him and justify him in this and say wâ— deserve not only this delay but utter rejectionâ— nor yet be discouraged but acknowledge Gods wisdom in it and wait with humble submission hoping in his Grace and resolving if ever he come it will be admirable favour USE III. For awakening to all to improve tâ—â— season of Grace Are there such special seasons â—â— Grace Let the consideration thereof call eveâ— one to make the use of them and use utmost dâ— ligence not to slip such an opportunity and we have heretofore been negligent let us be more careful of that which is in our hands acknowledging Gods wondrous benignity in renewing them to us after so many provocations given him to depart And let me apply this in the former respects mentioned in the explication 1. Let it call them that are young now to seek God Oh that Children would be perswaded to Remember their Creator in the dayes of their youth You think there is no such hast it looks like a work too rigid and severe for you to mind you are loth to forgo your vain company and mad mirth but do not rashly reject the motion that iâ— now made to you What a comfortable thing would it be to see young solks in good earnest â—â—ting themselves to seek and to serve God What â—â—oken would it be that God hath mercy in reâ—â—ve for a sinful Land Children you are our 〈◊〉 and you are our fear how chearfully should we leave the world could we but see you in â—ood earnest enquiring after the Lord and devoting your selves to him How would it remove those sad reflections that are sometimes ready to â—ink us How glad should we be to see good â—opes that when we are gone you will stand up for Christ and his ways and that we shall â—eet you in the Great Day at his Right hand â—et me address you in his words 1 Chron. 28. 9. My Son know thou the God of thy Father and serve him with a perfect heart and willing mind if thou seek him he will be found of thee but if thou forsake him be will cast thee off for ever To move you Consider 1. You owe your Childhood and Youth to God He deserves of you that you seek him now Sin and Satan can lay no just claim to this age of yours but God can and doth He requires your youth to be devoted to him the God that made you challengeth it and can you deny him Shall the Devil and your lusts have your prime and strength and only the decays of your lives left for God to be put off withal He hath laid you under innumerable obligations to consecrate your young time to him He kept you in your Mothers belly and made the knees to prevent you He hath preserved your lives and provided for you ever since And may not heaven be astonished to hear him complain I have nourished and brought up Children and they have rebelled against me Isa 1. 2 3. He hath ordered you to be born where his Gospel is dispensed in which he pleads with you to take him to be your God now and will you deny him Yea your Baptism declares you to be devoted to him it saith that you were dedlcated to him from your Infancy and every day wherein you neglect to inquire after him you do violence to that Covenant whereof this is a Seal 2. This is your proper season to seek to God in and whether you shall ever have another you know not Yoâ— have all advantages now but how long you shalâ— have them God only can tell You are now alive but you know not how soon you shall go to the Grave Do you not see that young ones dy aâ— well as the old Go to the Sepulchers measure thâ— monuments ask who lies here and you shall finâ— multitude who lived not to so many years as you â—ave and now reflect and ask Have I found God â—â— my peace made If I should now dy have I made sure â—â— a Jesus to receive my Soul Now Gods word is â—reached to you now Godly Parents and Friends â—all upon and counsel you God knows how long â—t will be so You are not now encumbred with â—he troublesome cares of this world you are now â—n your strength and do not know what the Evil days mean of which you must say you have no pleaâ—ure in them Oh! that you knew your time if you let it slip you will not find it again 3. You are born strangers to God and if you so dy â—â— are undone for ever You derive from the cursed â—tock of fallen Adam of whom it is said 1 Cor. 15. 22. â—n Adam all dy you are Children of wrath by nature Eph. 2. 3. The Guilt of the great Transgression lyeth on you for which you are condemned to everâ—asting destruction You are enemies you are afar off from God and if you do not get out of this condiâ—ion and get into Christ before you are taken away God will destroy you for ever Psal 73 27. You must be New born if ever you inherit the Kingdom Joh. 3. 3. Your Covenant interest your Baptism â—our Parents piety all your Gospel priviledges will â—lot save you it will not avail that God is your faâ—hers God if he be not your God too 4. Think how welcome Christ will make you if now â—ou seek to him in good earnest As his Spirit is grievâ—ed every time you deny him so he will be exceedâ—ngly pleased if you now open to him He is deâ—ighted to see young ones set themselves to read his Word to wait upon his Ordinances to pray to him and obey their Parents in the Lord. He hath said Prov. 8. 17. They that seek me early shall find me Nay in all
likelihood he will use you in some eminent Service for him and put some special honour upon you here or at least will make you soon ripe and fit for glory and probably you shall have the most joyful communion with him in this world 5. You will thus prevent abundance of Repentance and Sorrow If now without delay you will forsake all vain things for Christ and seek him with your whole heart you shall never repent of it but rejoyce in it You never heard of a sincere convert that complained of making too much hast 〈◊〉 was sorry that he took not a little more liberty in his sinful ways but on the contrary if ever 〈◊〉 be truly converted who hath lost his youth in pâ—â—suit of sin he will bitterly bewail his former times together with celebrating the Grace which appeared in bringing him home to God at last How doth he cry our how much time have I lost what opportunities have I slipt how miserably have I consumed my days Besides there is abundance that old Sinners lay in for repentance which will make the pangs of the New birth very terrible which by this may be prevented Can you thinâ— to go on in sin and not smart for it and truly there is enough already to make the New birth sharp and severe be wise then and add not to 〈◊〉 by delays 6. If you will not be perswaded to seek God now 〈◊〉 may be you shall never find him When God begins early he often leaves off early if resisted How many that bad fair in youth have out grown all fallen into debauoheries vilest abominations been left to dy in their impenitency they would have their own courses in despite of calls and counsels and God hath cut them off in their sins and let them for examples and it is a righteous thing for him so to do See how God complains of such Jer. 2. 30. 5. 7. Ezek. 20. 21. And how fearfully he threatens them Jer. 6. 11. 9 21. 11. 22. 18. 21. And God hath been calling a loud to young men in his providence by many Judgments in which the flower of our youth have been immaturely taken away and what doth it speak to their survivours but that they take heed of putting off Repentance provoking a jealous God against them And if 〈◊〉 will not take warning by others how seen may you be made amazing warnings to others Accept then of the Exhortation and reject all the sollicitations of your cursed companions and make hast to seek God Let me address you in the words of the wise man Prov. 23. 15. My son if thine heart 〈◊〉 wise my heart shall rejoyce even mine But if you reject this counsel let me leave that memento with you Eccl. 11. 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth c. but know thou that for all these things God will 〈◊〉 thee into judgment 2. Let us all take hold of the opportunity wherein the Gospel is freely dispensed to us I believe the Gospel truths have been as fully and soundly Preached in this land as in any part of the Christian world and that God hath thrust forth such Laboureâ—â— into his Harvest as have made it their business to feed his people with knowledge and understanding and though he hath by manifold Judgments been pleading his Conâ—roversy with us yet he haâ—â— not brought a famine of hearing his Word but 〈◊〉 eyes see our Teachers and by this he testifyeth that although he is angry he yet waits to be gracious and it is still a finding time Let us then so improve it Consider therefore 1. How great a price there is in our hands 〈◊〉 shall we not improve it We shall shew our seâ—â—â—â— notorious fools if we do not Prov. 17. 16. Here by we have all directions encouragements quicknings to this duty by these God is calling and inviting us to seek after him shewing us the wâ—â— in which we may find him which the best improvement of the light of nature would not have discovered Herein he lets us know that he 〈◊〉 not departed from us thus heavens market 〈◊〉 kept open and everlasting mercies are waiting 〈◊〉 on us Why then do we sit still and not regard them Can we promise our selves ever to have 〈◊〉 fairer season This is certainly a day of grace why then should we sit idle all the day and 〈◊〉 nothing 2. How fearful a thing would it be if it should 〈◊〉 otherwise with us God can easily order it to 〈…〉 The Gospel means and Ministers are his gift he can put out the Lights in the Candlesticks when he will and nothing will more readily provoke him to it than not to walk in the light while wâ— enjoy it he can take away the Shepherds and suffer grievous Wolves to come in their stead who â—hall devour the Flock How many places are â—here in the world where the Truth once flourished gloriously are now turned aside to lies and though they bear the name of Christians yet are sed with husks instead of bread where ignorance error formality neglect of feeding the Flock and woful debaucheries prevail and the 〈◊〉 lead the blind this is a fore calamity and â—ould it be our lot it would make an amazing change among us and what would you give then for such an opportunity as you now despise 3. What grounds there are to fear lest corruption in Doctrine and Manners should come upon us a a flood 〈◊〉 avert the Omen but methinks there are sad symptoms of it They are the last and perillous times in which we are told that such things shall 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 3. begin The woful ignorance of fundamental Truths that many labour of and the â—oo general neglect of instructing Children in Gospel principles the giddy spirit that many are infected withal that love to run after novelties that awful contempt of the Gospel Ministry attended with the little regard in many whether they enjoy it or no looking upon it as a burden the little apparent success of the Gospel and how fearful a threatning is out against such 2 Thes 2. 9 10. Add to this the unsuccessfulness of Gods other Judgments which hath a moral tendency hereto for if God strives in Judgment and men will not be perswaded he is wont to give them up Hos 4. 17. All these things speak sadly to considerate Souls 4. What if God should take the Gospel away from you This also is a Judgment threatned Mat. 21. 43. Rev. 2. 5. And God is wont to execute it when other means fail and an Apostatizing people will not be reclaimed How many famoâ—â— Churches have there been in the world which are utterly ruined and ly in rubbish or swallowed up in Paganism or Mahomeâ—anism Nor are we mâ—â—â— secure How doleful a thing would it be to â—â— the whole face of a Church altered all the meâ—â— of grace lost and gone God forsaking his house and removing from us if ever it come to this
it will be because we did not know the things of 〈◊〉 peace in the day of them Let the very thoughts of such a thing put us upon improving the preâ—â—â— precious season 3. Doth the Spirit strive with any of you Take heed that you do not resist him are there any inward strivings of Conviction shakings of contrition sharp prickings of compunction secâ—â—â— perswasions to hearken to the concerns of your Souls Doth the Word take how of you awaken Conscience and put you upon serious thinking These are inward addresses of the Spirit and say he is near be sure to taâ—e the opportunity put him not off To quicken you Consider 1. If he should cease thus to strive the means would do you no good He hath chosen the means to come in and apply his grace to our Souls and we are diligently to attend on them for this end and the neglect of so doing is an affront put upon the Spirit However all the saving efficacy of it â—â—pends on his influencing them if he apply them with power we are savingly benefited by them if he withold that from them there will he no such blessed effect flow from them it is not Pauls Planting c. God often affords as emiâ—â—ent means to a declining people as to those that flourish in a profession but they have not the â—â—â—e effect because he comes not in them with 〈◊〉 if then you send him away you hinder your own profiting What a sad remark was that of Moses Deut. 29. 2 3 4. 2. Nay on his witholding the means have a conâ—â—â—y operation Instead of softning they will harden instead of drawing you nearer to God they will put you at a farther distance from him There are two contrary effects of the means on men 2 Cor. 2. 15 16. And where the one is not the other is God by the same means ripens â—â—â—e for ruine by which he fits others for glory Not that it is the natural tendency of the Gospel but the Judicial Dispensation of God towards men who despise his Spirit striving in it who for this â—â—ves them to their hearts lusts to their hardning in 〈◊〉 and encouraging themselves in their wicked courses and by presumpion to put from them the fear of God and the aw of his Judgments and so to heap up wrath against themselves and in such a â—â— soil to ripen the faster for destruction 3. If we resist him it will be the way to have him â—e gone The Spirit of Christ is a tender Spirit Gods own Children in whom he dwells if they take not heed may grieve him and if they do he can and will withdraw from them to their great sorrow the Spouse found it to her cost Cant. 5. We are therefore warned to take heed of grieving him Eph. 4. 30. And there is a sinful disposition in unconverted sinners to resist him Acts 7. 51. And this is done when we regard not his application of himself to us when we turn away his awakenings and refuse to submit to them and chuse to hearken to the sollicitations of our vain minds and suggestions of Satan 4. Nay do not his strivings begin to be more lâ—â— guid Do you not begin to grow Sermon proof warning proof and threatning proof Time was when the word affected you you trembled at the awful truths of it you were afraid of Gods Judgments and could not soon get off the impression of an awakning Sermon but now you find very faint and easy motions on your Spirits though not altogether stupid senseless Be afraid the happy â—â—ason begins to decline and if you trifle a little longer it may be gone 5. If he hath sometimes ceased and now comes again take heed to your selves You had resisted him tiâ— you were grown remorceless but he hath sent hiâ— Spirit again and put you into fear about your everlasting state tremble to think of the issue of this you have a new price in your hands use it right and all shall be well but if you treat him as you diâ— formerly it may be one of the last offers that hâ— will make to you if you quench him now it iâ— likely that he will come no more see Gen. 6 2. Psal 81. 11 12. Dread then the terrible Oath Psal 95. 10 11. Though God proceeds slowly to this yet he may be provoked to come to it at last Ezek 24. 13. And what a fearful condition will that be God is not a man that he should ly If Christ say never more let fruit be found in this Fig tree it withers up presently No rains or dews of Ordinances will ever fetch you to life but dry you up and fit you for everlasting burnings Oh then improve this finding time with fear and trembling 4. Let the Judgments of God that are upon us rouse you to seek him God afflicts us it may be to prevent his destroying of us and he is certainly near his people as long as he is using his rod upon them there is a gracious design in some fore afflictions Isa 27. 9. By this shall the Iniquity of Jacob be purged c. And he would have his people prepare to meet him Amos 4. 12. And to move you Consider 1. What danger you are now in who are strangers to God True a Christless condition is a milerable condition at all times the man that is in it is never safe having God for his enemy but when God brings his wasting Judgments on a Land to plead the quarrel of his neglected Covenant there is reason for all to be afraid Gods own Children will feel the smart of the rod David saith Psal 119. 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy judgments but yet they that fear God have something to support them God is their Father and though he chastize he will not cast them off But as for them that are strangers to God at such a time what can they expect when they see the arrows of his anger flying about but to be slain by them You may tremblingly look every moment not only to be cut off from the earth but sent down to the place of endless miseries as you have no security for this life so no ground to expect a well being in another 2. You are more peculiarly concerned in these Judgments If a reason be asked why God brings his Judgments on a professing people the answer is ready because they neglected to improve the means of grace aright it is because they who have the title of Children do not answer their title Deut. 32. 19. And though every one ought at such a time to say What have I done yet such as you have special reason to confess these Judgments come for our sakes and should not this put you an enquiring how to obtain peace and the turning away of Gods fierce anger nor is there any other hope for this but in your serious seeking of him 3. You may expect that
other men but flourish in great opulency enjoying whatsoever they can desire â—â— they are described Job 21. 7. c. Psal 73 3. c. And so to outward appearance they look as if they were the darlings of Providence and special favourites of heaven This is also a day wherein God will try and exercise the Grace of his Children in order to the perfecting and glorifying of them that he may mortify sin in them wean them from the world and preparâ— them for the Kingdom and for this he useth many afflictions and troubles in this life which â—â—â—y often meet withal and frequently in greater â—easures than others do Psal 73. 14. 42. 3 Which â—akes them seem to a carnal eye as if God took â—o care of but disregarded them From hence â—icked men who know no other happiness or â—isery than what is in this life boast and brag of â—hemselves as if they were the only men they â—less themselves Psal 10. 3 6. And scorn the peoâ—le of God as such who are most forlorn Jer. 30. 17. And Godly men are prejudiced and envy Psal 73. 3. And complain verse 13. But both of â—hese discover a great deal of folly and the truth in hand makes it manifest Are these Sorrows for all this the portion of wicked men do they await them and shall they certainly befal them needs must they have no more reason to boast than a condemned man hath of his prison fare because it is liberal whiles he is every day in expectation of being fetched out and Executed Nor have the Children of God any more reason to envy because this is all the portion they are like to have of good things and are mean while upon the precipice of ruine See Psal 73. 17 18. verse 22. 2. Learn hence how wofully Sin and Satan impose upon men If they were not deluded they would never manage themselves as they do And it herein appears 1. In that they do upon choice prefer the ways of Sin â—â—fore the ways of God and that notwithstanding all the encouragements offered on the one hand and all the solemn warnings given them on the other They hold fast wickedness and will not part with it and this must needs because they are perswaded to believe that ly viz. That there is more of comfort and satisfaction to be had in a way of wickedness than in a way of piety so they Jer. 44. 17 18. And so they count them their greatest enemies who give them molestation and would draw them from their leud courses and win them to God Did men belive that there are such sorrows entailed on wickedness they would not be so wheedled 2. In that they live in all wickedness secure and without fear Although God hath faithfully told them how it is and given them warning what to expect at his hands and bidden them to provide for it they are not concerned at all about it but rush on in sin as the horse into the battel say as Isa 56. ult And thus they pass on till the Wrath of God falls upon and cuts them off with a swift destruction from which there is no deliverance Did men believe there is a God and that the Scriptures are his Word it could not be so Nay though they see awful instances of his severity in such as are cut off by unwonted deaths and gone irrecoverably who were once their companions in sin they do still as formerly were not men under the entire power of an evil heart and a cursed Devil it could not be so 3. How infinitely then doth it concern every one of us to try himself to which of these companies he belongs I shall here only improve the consideration of the woful state of the Wicked to awaken us all to make a work of it and so be very inquisitive about it Consider then 1. We are all of us in our natural state among the wicked It is the unhappiness of fallen mans progeny that this is their denomination from their birth Psal 58. 4. The state of nature is a state of alienation from God every Child is a Child of wrath full of the seeds of all wickedness for that Original Sin which is their birth sin hath every lust in it and so though before the use of our understanding we cannot act sin yet we are full of this corrupt biass so that all our Humane actions are from the beginning acts of wickedness of rebellion against God and hereupon whatsoever the word of God declares to be the portion of the wicked doth properly belong to us and is our birth-right Man is born to trouble Job 5. 7. 2. Hence if there hath not a change been wrought in â—â— we still remain in the same state and under the same dum There is a deliverance provided for some said up in Christ revealed in the Gospel applyed by the Spirit and in the Justification of a Sinner the Curse is removed upon their being put into Christ Rom. 8. 1. But there is evermore a change in the person as well as of his state there is a Real change together with the Relative one which is inseparable 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any be in Christ he is a new Creature Till then we are changed from our sinful life we remain under the efficacy of the doom past on us and these sorrows are our portion 3. Nor is it every change that will evidence our beâ—â—â— delivered A great many are deceived on this account there is an alteration on them and Sataâ— doth all he can to impose on them knowing if he can perswade them all is right he shall hold them fast enough There is a conversion that is not saving and great danger lieth in it Matth. 20. 16. There are many that are awakened by the word made afraid of wrath and so pass under an outward change they leave off their former debauched courses and take up the performance of before neglected duties the drunkard is sober the forniâ—â—tour abstemious the profane person leaves â—â— Swearing and falls to praying c. but the heart â—â— not changed God is not so put off we must have a better Righteousness Matth. 5. 20. 4. Satan and our deceitful hearts will impose on â—â— if they can It is the Devils device to make me confident in their unregenerate state and one wâ—â— is to perswade them to think God like themselves but if that will not do he will endeavour to maâ—â— them think they have the Grace of God when theâ—â— is no such thing And the flesh in us is always â—â—â—dy to joyn in with this and it follows from a gooâ— opinion which the natural man hath of himself â—â— his own doings and because there is so much â—â—â—ning in these adversaries of our Souls it concerâ— us to be so much the more watchful to our selveâ— lest we be imposed on and undone by it we 〈◊〉 therefore warned both concerning the Heart Jâ—â— 17. 9. and Satan 1 Pet 5. 8.
the New Covenant and entituled to Salvation These are the first special fruits of Election breaking 〈◊〉 in Effectual Vocation Rom. 8. 29. And hitherto â—ong those great works of Faith and Repentance which are wrought in them by the Spirit of God by which they are made to turn from sin to God â—nd from all other trust to rely upon Christ alone according to the terms of the Gospel and these are accompanied with Justification and Adoption by which they are discharged from Condemnation and entituled to life and made heirs of God and coâ—rs with Christ and so have a right to all the good â—id up in the promise and these are not not common favours 2 Cor. 1. 26. Not many wise c. 2. There are also those benefits which are bestowed on them after they are brought home to Christ and engaged â—he new Covenant which contain all the good that is 〈◊〉 up in the promise made to them that love God and 〈◊〉 in his Son Jesus Christ and those are specially the Sanctification of the Spirit enabling them to serve and glorify God in their generation the preserving them in a state of grace to perseverance the perfecting of all their graces in them and the â—inging them at length into and possessing them for ever of the Kingdom of Glory comprehended summarily in Psal 84. 11. 3. And there are also the saving operations of common providence by which they are made special mercies to them Those things which they have in the ordinary course of providence and are to wicked men but common mercies and do in their operation tend to their hurt are sanctified to the Children of God so as to be servicable to farther their Salvation Those things that are a Snare to ungodly men and abused by them to dishonour God are helps to their Obedience and they glorify God with them 1 Cor 10. 31. They make them to study gratitude Psal 116. 12. Yea and Afflictions too which are to the wicked the beginnings of sorrows are the happy means to do these great good Psal 119. 71. Isa 27. 9. The means of Grace which are to others a Savour of Death are to them a Savour of Life c. 2. As to the mercy that is discovered in these benefits we may observe it in these things 1. The Creature which is the subject of them is in it self miserable for so had the fall of man made the whole race to be in as much as they were involved in Guilt and a Curse which contained all miseries in it Read the description given of a natural man Rom. 3 10 c. and the doom that is fallen upon him Chap. 5 12. And what a forlorn wretched Creature must we conclude him to be and by this he is a subject capable of mercy 2. The miserable Creature receives inexpressible kindness by these benefits His misery is relieved in it yea and remedied and finally removed by it Common favours give a present relief but these make him of miserable to become happy they take of the guilt and so remove the Curse that was lying upon him and confer on him that which fills him with satisfaction and crowns him with endless felicity hence blessedness is pronounced on all believers Psal 2. 12. 3. And all these flow from the fountain of his freâ— benignity There is no merit of the Creature in it the best of men is less than the least of all mercies Ge◠〈◊〉 They deserve the quite contrary Dan. 9. 8 9. They do nothing for them have nothing to proâ—re them withal are no better than those that go without them God bestows them on them for his 〈◊〉 name sake And when these things meet together what is done for them must needs be called mercy 2. Wherein it appears that all the rewards of Obedience are fruits of this mercy A. We may come at it in the following considerations 1. There is a reward promised to the Obedience of 〈◊〉 Children There are not only great and preâ—ous promises made in the Gospel to the people of God but there are the things mentioned to which they are connected and these are proposed 〈◊〉 the Spirit of God for their encouragment in â—ing him God would have them to know that they serve a good Master and would have them to animate themselves by the contemplation and faith thereof Thus did Moses by respecting the recompensa of reward Heb 11. 26. Hence such encouragements Gal. 6. 9. Isa 3 19. Rom. 2. 7. 1 Cor. 15. ult 2 Hence their faithful Obedience is the way to receive â—he reward God hath not only told his people what he will do for them but how they are to expect to come by it for the Gospel promises are Covenant promises nay we shall find the connexion so strong that there are awful threatnings against such as neglect to seek to enjoy these benefits in the way prescribed we read Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after he flesh ye shall dy This is not to be understood as 〈◊〉 the Children of God should be left to fall from the promise but to let them know that God hath appointed the means in order to the end and thereby to nourish in them awful fear and quicken them to duty 3. This notwithstanding the reward is every way of mercy It is a great error from the notion of a reward to infer a merit in the person that receives it There is a reward of Grace as well as of Debt and is dayly exemplified among men A father bestows a favour on his Child in testimony of his accepting his fidelity in chearfully doing that which was his duty now that all the rewards which God bestows on his faithful people are fruits of meer mercy is evident for 1. The subjects of them are such as were miserable in their natural state and so stood in need of mercy to relieve them They were every whit as miserable in themselves as those that goe without them and this God would have his people to bear in mind and often reflect on to put the greater value upon his kindness Paul would have them to reflect hither Eph. 2. 2 3. ver 12. And he puts himself together with others in declaring how it was with them before Tit. 3 3 4. 2. It is by these rewards that they are made actually to partake in freedom from that misery and enjoy true felicity This is the very nature of them for all the good that is laid up in the promises is herein contained and that consists in a freeing them from those evils which the Curse of God laid upon them and an enjoyment of that peace grace and happiness which is purchased by Christ the whole of it is summed up in Salvation in which there is something that we are saved from and something that we are made to possess hence Salvation is so often mentioned in the Gospel as the portion of the faithful is the greatest mercy the undone creatures can
consequently the latteâ— must be evidential of the former in as much as this uprightness is not imputed but imparted and hath the operations in us that are discernable which are such as these 1. You have seen the evil and bitterness of Sin Sin remains here in the upright but God will have them be in the mortification of it in which a warfare is maintained and for this he makes the man know the vileness of it Jer. 2. 19. They to whom God hath not embittered sin may well question their state and conclude that he hath not planted his Grace in them 2. You have truly repented of it The root of integrity is laid in Repentance Gospel Repentance wrought in the heart is that which makes it upright for by it the heart is changed and all its faculâ—ies made new habitually turned from sin to God which is the reason of the sincerity of their actual turning so that they who have not repented are not upâ—ight 3. You have accepted of Christ for a Prince as well as a Saviour Christ is not divided it a gues a false heart when we would have him to Save us from Hell but like not his subduing our sins for us the heart is divided that cannot be upright Uprightness hath a desire after perfect Holiness and finds as much need of the Spiâ—it of Christ to lead him as his merits to justify him 4. You hate every false way You come short in all but you hate your sins and the sincerity of it is it reacheth to all sin Psal 119. 104. You have not reserved one â—osome lust to dally withal and when you find the cravings of the flesh most eager you more earnestly set against that because you find it is your sin 5. You delight in the law of God as to the inward man Thus Paul vindicates his sincerity under the humbling sense of his impotency Rom. 7. 22. And you may know it by this when you are best pleased and most thankful to God when he affords you Grace to make you faithful and can say as he Psal 119. 56. 6. You are dayly perfecting Holiness You rest not where you are but pursue after farther degrees of Grace you can say as Paul Phil. 3. 13. 14. You have therein the evidence of an upright heart wherein you may take comfort and when you make one degree but a step to another and are still progressive Let us approve our selves by these things and improve the remarks we make thereon for our fartherance in the present duty USE III. For Exhortation and Direction and it may be applied 1. To all in general to get a secure title to this priviledge is there such a benefit to be had let every one seek to get a true interest in it and rest not till you have gotten it to move you to it Consider 1. All men have it not There is an affection of Joy planted in the Humane nature and every one seeks an object for it but the joy under consideration is not in common to all men but they are the least number of men who can make a true challenge of it Christ's Flock who are the only sons and daughters of Consolation is a little flock and if it belongs not to all it concerns every one to seek and use the means by which he may obtain it especially if we coâ—sider 2. The cravings of your nature cannot be satisfied without rejoycing We observed that Joy is an affection which hath a proper respect to the end we aim at now all mens aim or end is to be happy Psal 4. 6. Which happiness is Objectively that which may give compleat satisfaction and the act of it is the acquiessence of the soul in the enjoyment and this is nothing else but joy Now experience tells us that no man is at rest till he hath reached to this at least in his opinion The reason why any rejoyce is because either they think they have what they crave Hab. 1. 15 16. or because they suppose they have it in their eye and shall without doubt obtain and be satisfied 3. To rejoyce without this priviledge proceeds from the madness that is iâ— mens hearts The natural man labours of a spiritual frenzy Eccles 9. 3. And in nothing doth it more discover it self We read of them that rejoyce in a thing of nought Amos 6. 13. And if men are strangers to the joyes of the people of God they are things of no value which they take content in there is enough to undermine and eat out all for what can any thing else profit that man who lies open every moment to Gods revenging Justice from which these things cannot secure him 4. Hence the Worldlings joy is a pitiful thing compared with this Say there is something in it tho indeed it is but the hypocrisy of mirth yet it cannot deserve to be named in the same day with that of Gods Children The one is only from Gods patience and common goodness the other from his love in Christ the one hath only worldy things for its object the other God himself the one is perishing the other endures for ever Psal 16. ult 5. This title is to be obtained Christ hath purchased it and offers to make a conveyance of it to all that come within the call of the Gospel and iâ— it hath pointed the way how it may be obtained and earnestly invites men to comply therewith striving with them by means and his Spirit in them Matth. 11. 28. 6 If you do not now secure it you must ere long ly dowâ— in sorrow It is proper to the worldlings mirth to expire in heaviness Prov. 14 13 It may go ouâ— in this woâ—ld if God will and it will certainly bâ— extinguished when you dy and what will youâ— immortal Souls then do when you are swall weâ— up in the gulf of endless dâ—spair Be then advised to mâ—ke haste and if you say what shall we doâ— to gain this title let me offer this Diâ—ection â— Seek after the Righâ—eousness and Uprightness commended to you in the Text and Doctrine and to that end 1 See and bewail the miserable state you are in by reason of sin This is it that hath marred all your miâ—th and while you are under the dominion oâ— it all sorts of miseries are your portion You have lost your Righteousness by it and your strength is gone you are by it under Condemnation and become vain and unprofitable this condition must be seen and felt in order to a deliverance from it and you must bemoan your selves by reason of it Jer. 31. 18. Till you are burdened with it you will never seek a ransom from it 2 Renounce your own and go to Christ for hisâ— Righteousness Some have gotten a legal personal Righteousness which they boast of but it is indeed unrighteousness yet they hope to be accepted for it and this makes them to despise the offers of Christ to be their Righteousness thus
of this Grace is to be made to you and though it be admirable yet God hath bidden such a proclamation to be published Jer. 3. 1. And I am sure that he can break your hard hearts and give you repentance and if he do there is no doubt of the good success of it 2. You are yet striven with and called upon God indeed speaks of a cessation of his Spirit striving with obstinate Sinners Gen. 6. 3. And there are the awful instances of it but the case is otherwise with you If the means of grace are influenced so as to rouse and awaken you out of your security and make you feel your mifery and be asraid by reason of it if he presents your sins to you iâ— their aggravations and makes them evil and bitteâ— to vou this is a woâ—k of his Spirit and saith thaâ— he stâ—ives still and whiles he strives there is hopâ— that he may be found 3. Hence these fears and terrours are not to driâ— â—ou to despair but to awaken you from your neglect And indeed you stand in need of them You deâ—pised many a gentle warning and were grown dreadfully secure fearfully asleep it was thereâ—ore meet that you should be starâ—led by some terâ—ible impressions made on you that he should give you deep and gaping wounds in your Conâ—dences to make you sensible the providence then is merciful though terrible but you ought to count it a mercy and then the lesson properly to be learned from it is to put you upon speed and utmost diligence in seeking of God without delay We have such a prayer of the Psalmist Psal 83. 15 16. God makes sin a burden too heavy tâ— hear that men may feel the necessity of seeking him And therefore Christ specially invites such to come unto him Mat. 11. 28. Be then encouraged whatever you have been and done there is hope in Israel concerning this thing only delay not Conclu 3. That there are special special seasons wherein God is to be found by those that seek him A finding time not only intends that it must be done in time but that there is a division of time into that wherein God is to be found and that wherein he is not to be found Here in general observe 1. That God hath more largely made this life a finding time so that none in particular ought to conclude his time to be past if he be alive This is the difference between the dead and the living IsaÌ„ 38. 18 19. The treaty of grace ordinarily continuâ— with men under the Gospel till they dy and aâ— long as it so doth their state is not to us desperate for any to say of himself my time is over my day is done I am gotten past hope of Salvation is a rash conclusion without any Scripture warrant It is a great sin because it stops men from using the means yea it is to make God â—liar for he saith in his word to such if you will return to me I will return to you whereas this saith let me seek and pray and confess and mourn all will be to no purpose he is resolved never to save me 2. God hath declared concerning some that their fâ—â—ing time shall be over in this life He may wait and strive longer or shorter as he pleaseth and though we have no ordinary Rule certainly to determine it to persons that they are so left yet there are some and that should make all fearful of trifling with and putting of him off we have such threatnings Prov. 1. 28. Joh. 8. 21. Hence that warning Heb. 3. 7. Gods invitations are all for the present their date is To Day and whether he will repeat them another day is with him Esau represented too late Heb. 12. 17. And how awful a word was spoken to those Jews who rejected the Salvation offered them Act. 13. 46. Now there are some awful symptoms of this 3. That there are some seasons wherein there is greater advantage to seek find God than in other The word Time in our Text signifyeth an Opportunity it intimates a fit season A work may be done while there is time but it is best and more readily done at some times We are told that sometimes God is near and that it is best then to Call upon him Isa 55. 6. intimating that he may be far off and then it will be more difficult There are times when he is within call and will answer at first and times when we may call again again before we have an answer from him Here â—o Quest What are those seasons wherein we are peculiarly advantaged for the seeking and finding of God A. There are four seasons more especially for this 1. The time of Youth is a special season for this Young persons put off and think hereafter is soon enough but it is their great folly there is no such â—eason for seeking and making out after Christ as 〈◊〉 For 1. God earnestly calls upon such to seek him He doth as it were single out such and the offer is particularly made to them the Spirit of God speaks emphatically to such Psal 34. 11. Come ye Children 〈◊〉 Wisdom calls them as it were by name Prov. 4. 1. 5. 7. 8. 32. Eccl. 12. 1. which tells us how â—â—in God would have young ones to begin early and how loth he is that they should spend their first time in vanity 2. God hath testifyed how well pleased he is when such seek him The entertainment he gives them is a testimony how acceptable it is to him What respect did he shew to young Abel Gen. 4. 4. How wonderfully did he reveal himself to young Samuel who was devoted to him from his Infancy 1 Sam. 3. 1. with verse 19 21. What an eminent instrument of reformation did he make of Josiah who began young 2 Chron. 34. 3. And what a testimony did he give to a good Child of a wicked father when dying 1 King 14 12 13. 3. Young ones have not so resisted him as others have done Children have Original Sin in them as soon as they live and begin to discover it as soon as they are capable but God hath taken the Children of his Servants into Covenant with him and they have not so notoriously rejected his Covenant as those have done who withstoold him in youth and addicted themselves to follow folly and vanity 4. Their hearts are usually more tender and easy to be wrought upon Not but that natural hardness born with us requires Gods Almighty power to take it away in the tenderest Child that is But there is a contracted obstinacy which grows on persons by custom which Children do not presently arrive at but are more tractible readier to receive the impressions of Counsels given them And this is the reason why we are bidden to begin early with them in Prov. 22. 6. 5. They have many advantages now which they will not have afterwards With such arguments the Spirit of God