in a day repeated Christ's Sacrifice was with Blood and an unbloody Sacrifice is not propitiatory nor can obtain Remission Where can they find in Scripture the Religious Worship of the Saints They set up an infinite number of Intercessors and rob our Saviour of his Glory as if he were defective either in his Compassionate Love to us for whom he mediates or in his Power with God They prefer his Mother before him in dispensing Mercy of which Sinners have the most need they represent him as strict and severe but she is composed of Sweetness he is the Judg she the Advocate and Saviour we will leave them to the jealous God I shall only observe farther that many erring Sects preserve their Allegiance to the Divine Authority in the Scripture for they do not assume an Infallibility to themselves but mistake the Sense of Scripture but the Papists by asserting that the Authority of Scripture depends upon the Testimony of their Church that is the Sun borrows its Beams from her Eyes and by arrogating an Infallibility to it do in effect renounce Homage to the Authority of God in his Word And from hence it is that the Adherers to that Religion are so inconvincible tho Sense Reason and Scripture discover their Doctrines to be plainly impossible Their Doctrine of Transubstantiation involves such Contradictions as destroy the Essence and End of Miracles Their Doctrine of the Pope's Supremacy implies there are two Monarchs of one Kingdom two Heads of one Body two Husbands of one Spouse No Errors are more strong and fatal than such as are arm'd with Authority especially if that Authority be esteem'd sacred But to return from this Digression tho not impertinent Compel them to come in The word signifies the use of all constraining Motives and the most earnest Intreaties that are congruous to prevail upon those who are invited to a Feast The same word is used Mat. 14. 22. And Jesus constrained his Disciples to get into a Ship which certainly was not by violent driving or drawing them but by his commanding Authority So 't is related of the two that were with our Saviour in the Journey to Emmaus that they constrained him to abide with them The Constraint was by earnest Intreaties far from Force The same word is used of Peter's compelling the Gentiles to live after the Rites of the Jews that was by his Example Thus the Nations were compelled to receive the Gospel by the Apostles the Ambassadors for Christ who did ardently in season and out of season pray them in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God Their Doctrine was recommended by the Holiness of their Lives and confirmed by the Lustre of their Miracles In short the Expression signifies how pleasing it is to God that those who are invited by the Offers of Grace in the Gospel should come to Christ to obtain Life and that the Invitation shall be effectual in the Hearts of those who belong to the Election of Grace The Proposition that I shall insist on is this 'T is the great Duty of the Ministers of Christ to use their best Endeavours to instruct and perswade Men to embrace the saving Mercies of the Gospel The Commission was immediately given to the Apostles but extends to the end of the World till the Ministration of the Gospel shall cease I will explicate the Doctrine in this order I. Consider what is implied the Aversness in Men from consenting to the Terms of Salvation offered in the Gospel II. The Means by which they are wrought on and induced to come to the Celestial Feast III. Prove that 't is the great Duty of the Ministers of Christ to apply themselves with a holy Zeal to bring Men to partake of the saving Mercies revealed in the Gospel I. There is an Averseness implied in the Expression Compel them to come in This will be evident by considering that the World the Flesh and Satan are Enemies in Combination against the Souls of Men and raise an Army of Objections against their submitting to the Terms of the Gospel 1. The World is the general Temptation the natural World and the corrupt World the Things and Men of the World hinder our coming to Christ. 1st The natural World comprising all the Creatures in it was originally very good both in respect of the Things themselves and their designed Use for they were beneficial to Man in order to his serving and enjoying the blessed God But since his Fall from the State of unstain'd Nature they are accidentally evil to him The Creatures are made subject to Vanity not willingly they are perverted from their innocent use to foment and gratify Mens vicious Appetites Therefore the Apostle declares the whole Creation groans and travels in Pain is in a kind of Agony ready to faint not for the Labour but the Indignities they suffer The Charge that God fastens upon Idolaters is true against Worldly Men Ye have taken my Silver and my Gold and have carried into your Temples my goodly pleasant things The Riches the Pleasures the Greatness and Glory of the World are the Idols of their Heads and Hearts The Interposition of the Earth darkens their Minds eclipses their Esteem of the Fruition of God as their only Happiness the Love of it alienates and estranges their Affections from him their Trust in it slackens their due Dependance upon him From hence it is that the World which made by God was a fair and bright Theatre of his Perfections to raise the Thoughts and Affections of Men with Delight and Wonder to the blessed Creator as 't is manag'd by Satan and abus'd by the Lusts of Men is the Shadow of Death such as some Trees cast that not only intercept the refreshing Light of the Sun but shed a malignant contagious Influence Strange Alteration The World is present and sensible and makes an easy entrance into the Bosoms of Men. Their Souls are surpriz'd and deceived by the Suggestions of the Senses that represent earthly things as great Realities spiritual and future things are to them but matters of Fancy and Conceit The present and succeeding World are like Counterballances as the one rises the other sinks in Mens Opinions When the World has got Possession of them it commands and captivates all their Powers and Faculties All the Preaching in the World is in vain a Throng of Business or loose Diversions causes the neglect of the great Salvation Represent to them the attractive Mercies of God his melting Bowels open'd in the Gospel to all repenting Sinners they are unmoved frozen in their Dregs Remember them that their Bodies are dying every day and their Souls are already dead and that without sincere coming to Christ they cannot be recovered to the Life of Grace and Glory 't is in vain tell them they must shortly appear before the dread Lord of Spirits and be accountable for all things done in this World and the Consequence will be eternal all is in vain they
Grace in the Gospel The Sum of what has been discoursed of sinful and miserable Man is this The Understanding the directing Faculty is in ignorant Darkness and a dead Slumber not apprehensive of his Misery A dead Eye does not see its want of Sight nor a dead Heart feel its want of Life If the Head be obstructed with clammy Humours the whole Body is without Sense for the Nerves have their Root in the Brain and are the Channels to convey powerful Spirits to give Sense and Vigor and Motion to all the Parts The Will is a fierce and free Faculty commanding and active perverted and stubborn against the holy Law of God The Affections are exceedingly disordered and strongly inclin'd to sensual Things that flatter them with Satisfaction and very tumultuous and fiery against whatever shall cross their natural Inclinations Now how can one so stupid and refractory be made soft and flexible to the Call of Mercy As the Epicurean in Tully objects against the making of the World quae machinae qui vectes What Engines what Leavers were used in raising this vast Fabrick What he spoke in Derision may be said with Wonder What Engines what Instruments are used in craning up a Soul sunk below the Center to the highest Heaven What in making the new Creation that is more glorious and lasting than the first 'T is a Work respectively impossible not absolutely it can only be effected by the Power of God There is no Principle of Recovery left in fallen Man The Conversion of him from Sin to Holiness and from the Creature to God is a Miracle of Grace if he converted himself it were super-miraculous God can by his commanding Power bring Light out of Darkness but 't is plainly impossible that Darkness should produce Light The external Ministration of the Gospel without the concomitant Ministry of the Spirit is ineffective The Divinest Preacher cannot soften the Iron Sinew nor melt the Heart of Stone nor make the Rock to tremble The Prophet Isaiah whose sublime Eloquence overcomes all the admired Orators of the World yet complains Who has believed our Report to whom is the Arm of the Lord reveal'd The Angels of Light if they were sent from Heaven and were in this sense ministring Spirits they could not by their Seraphick Zeal and most excellent Eloquence change and reform Sinners One evil Angel seduced and corrupted the best Man Adam in the State of Innocence and Happiness but a Council of good Angels cannot restore one Man tho the least tainted to Holiness and Felicity No Creature can be a Creator the Sanctification of a Sinner is a new Creation 'T is only the Word of Life spoken by the Lord of Life that can raise dead Bodies and dead Souls Suppose the Word of God be assisted by his Rod yet that will be ineffectual to cleanse and change their Hearts without Divine Grace 'T is according to the wise Order of God whom the Word does not convert the Rod is made use of to cure and whom the Rod does not cure the Sword cuts off Prosperity furnishes the Carnal Appetites with delightful Objects and Men are easily induced to neglect their Duty like Children that forget their Lesson when they are at play Sense that reigns in Beasts and should serve in Men is then predominant But Affliction imbitters the carnal Sweets and is a proper Means to fix the Thoughts and restore the Mind to its Right and Jurisdiction as Blows and hard Usage bind up the ranging Fancy in distracted Persons tames and tires them and thereby reduces them to Sobriety Thus God is often pleased by Afflictions to shew Men their Transgressions to open their Ears to Discipline and effectually command them to return from their Iniquities But without the Instruction of his Spirit joins with the Voice of the Rod the utmost Effect of even sharp and long Afflictions is a forc'd and fading Repentance Constrained Devotion is like Fire struck out of a Flint hardly got and soon gone Thus 't is said of the Israelites in the Wilderness When he slew them they sought him they return'd and sought early after God but their Heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant How many open Rebels have been awaken'd by the fear of Death and when they have tasted and seen the Terrors of the Lord what Addresses what Submissions what Promises have they made to God but after their Reprieve how soon have they forgot the past Terrors and broke all the Bars of Reason and of their Resolutions and been as unreform'd as ever The wise Man tells us Bray a Fool in a Mortar pound him in pieces his Folly will remain in him Nay Miracles without the Application of them by Grace to the Spirits of Men are ineffectual to work Faith and Repentance The End of them is by the Evidence of Sense to excite the Mind to consider the Power that works them But they may astonish the Sense and the Mind not be convinc'd or if convinc'd yet they leave no permanent Operation upon the Hearts of the Spectators Moses charges the Israelites that notwithstanding they had seen all the miraculous Strokes of God's Power upon Pharaoh and his Servants yet the Lord hath not given you an Heart to perceive and Eyes to see and Ears to hear to this day When the Son of God appear'd in his own Likeness and did such numerous and conspicuous Miracles that compell'd the most stubborn Devils to acknowledg his Deity yet the Pharisees remained obstinate and inconvincible The Souldiers who saw him rising in Power and Glory and were almost frighten'd to Death at the sight yet continued obdurate in their Infidelity Our Saviour assures us No Man can come to him except the Father which hath sent me draw him The Words are full of Emphasis No Man the Negation is universal not only the Act is denied No Man comes but the Power can come no less than Omnipotent Grace draws him A carnal Man will not come to Christ for Life and he cannot will to come for his Mind is so fore-laid with Prejudice and his Will is so depraved and intangled with the love of Sin that he cannot sincerely desire to be set free Every delightful Sin is like a charm'd Circle out of which the Sinner cannot move We are not to conceive of this Disability as if Sinners had not deliberative and elective Faculties to consider and choose what is best such a Disability would be an Argument for their Innocence and Justification Neither as if Men had a Will to forsake Sin and wanted Power like a miserable Slave that sighs after Liberty but is fasten'd by heavy Fetters but the perverse Will keeps them in Bondage They serve divers Lusts and Pleasures and delight in their Fetters 'T is a voluntary culpable Impotence join'd with a strong Reluctancy to Grace 't is the impudent imperious Weakness of the Whorish Woman charged upon the Israelites and
virtually declare a Resolution notwithstanding the most visible Discouragements from Heaven to proceed in their sinful courses with more greediness and from a sullen secret Atheism are more strongly carried to gratify their Lusts again when they are in Afflictions I shall proceed to consider the other Extream of fainting under God's Rebukes 1. The Original Word signifies the slackening and relaxing of things that were firmly join'd together The Strength of the Body proceeds from the Union of the Parts when they are well compacted together By their disjointing 'tis enfeebled and rendred unfit for Labour In this Motion the Apostle in the 12th Verse exhorts them to lift up the Hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble Knees That is to encourage and strengthen their Souls by a real belief of the Promises made to afflicted Christians 2. It may respect the sinking and falling away of the Soul like Water being hopeless of overcoming Troubles When Water is frozen into hard Ice it will bear a great Burden but when 't is dissolved and melted nothing is weaker So the Spirit of a Man confirmed by religious Principles is able to sustain all his Infirmities Si fractus illabitur orbis if the Weight of the heaviest Afflictions fall upon him yet his Mind remains erect and unbroken and bears them all with Courage and Constancy But if through Impatience under Tribulation and Diffidence in the Divine Promises we shrink from our Duty or reject the Comforts of God as if they were small and not proportionable to the Evils that oppress us this is to faint when we are rebuked by him The Causes of this Despondency are usually 1. Either the kind of the Affliction when there is a Singularity in the case it increaseth the Apprehension of God's Displeasure because it may signify an extraordinary Guilt and singular Unworthiness in the Person that suffers and upon that account that Sorrow swells so high as to overwhelm him 2. The number and degrees of Afflictions when like those black Clouds which in Winter-Days join together and quite intercept the Beams of the Sun so many Troubles meet at once and deprive us of all present Comfort Job lost his Children by a sudden unnatural Death and was tormented in all the Parts of his Body and reduced from his rich Abundance to the Dunghil and a Potsherd to scrape his Boils Indeed his Heroical Spirit was supported under those numerous and grievous Troubles but such a Weight were enough to sink the most 3. The continuance of Afflictions When the Clouds return after Rain and the Life is a constant Scene of Sorrows we are apt to be utterly dejected and hopeless of Good The Psalmist tells us All the Day long I have been plagued and chastened every Morning and from thence was strongly tempted to Despair 4. Comparing their great Sufferings with the Prosperity of those who are extreamly vicious inclines some to Despair For not only their present Evils are heightened and more sensibly felt by the Comparison but the prosperous Impiety of others tempts them to think there is no just and powerful Providence that distributes things below and looking no higher than to Second Causes that are obvious to Sense they judg their State past Recovery The next thing is to prove that 't is the Duty and Wisdom of the Afflicted not to Despise the Chastenings of the Lord nor to faint under them First 'T is their Duty carefully to avoid those Extreams because they are very dishonourable to God 1. The Contempt of Chastisements is high Profanation of God's Honour who is our Father and Soveraign and in that Quality afflicts us 'T is our Apostle's Argument Furthermore we have had Fathers of our Flesh which corrected us and we gave them Reverence shall we not much more be subject to the Father of Spirits and live 'T is a Principle deeply planted in the Human Nature which the most barbarous Nations have kept inviolable to express the reallest Respect to our Parents from whom we derive our Life and by whose tender Care we have been preserved and educated altho their Discipline be rigorous but it is infinitely more just and reasonable that we should reverently submit to the Father of Spirits who hath the highest Right in us As much as the immortal Spirit excels the infirm corruptible Flesh proportionably should our Reverence to God when he most sharply rebukes us exceed our Respects to our Earthly Fathers when they correct us The manner of the Apostle's Expression is very significant Shall we not much rather If there be any vital spark of Conscience remaining in our Breasts if Reason be not wholly declined to Brutishness we cannot do otherwise 2. Fainting under Chastenings reflects dishonourably upon God 'T is true in some respect those who are extreamly dejected are not so guilty as the Despisers for usually they acknowledg the Order and Justice of his Providence But that false Conception of the Father of Mercies either that he willingly afflicts the Children of Men or that he hates them because he afflicts them here is so contrary to his holy Nature and injurious to his Goodness the special Character of his Nature that 't is an equal Provocation with the slighting his Soveraignty How to bear Afflictions SERMON V. HEBREWS xii 5. My Son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him Secondly I Shall proceed to prove 't is the best Wisdom not to despise God's Chastenings nor faint under them I will not insist upon the Consideration that 't is the Counsel of the supream Wisdom to us nor that 't is the avoiding the vicious Extreams which is the chiefest Point of Moral Prudence but it is the only way to prevent the greatest Mischiefs that will otherwise befal us 'T is said he that is wise is profitable to himself that is either in obtaining Good or preventing Evils Now it will appear how pernicious those Extreams are by considering 1. The Contempt of Chastenings deprives us of all those Benefits which were intended by them God's End in them is to imbitter Sin to our Taste and make us disrelish that deadly Poison for as according to the Rules of Physick Contraries are cured by Contraries so Sin that prevails by Pleasure by something delightful to the Carnal Part is mortified by what is afflictive to Sense Repentance is a Duty that best complies with Affliction for when the Spirit is made sad and brought to the Sobriety of Consideration it will more readily reflect upon the true Causes of Troubles When the Springs overflow 't is but directing the Stream into a right Channel the changing the Object of our Grief viz. mourning for Sin instead of sorrowing for outward Trouble and we are in the way to Happiness Sensible Sorrow leads to Godly Sorrow The natural is first then the spiritual Now the Despisers of God's Hand that are unaffected with Judgments are incapable of this
Thus Intemperance and Luxury shorten the Lives of Men and accelerate Damnation Fierce Desires and wild Rage are Fewel for the everlasting Fire in Hell The same Evils considered Physically are from the Efficiency of Sin consider'd legally are from the Guilt of Sin and the Justice of God This being a Point of great Usefulness that I may be more instructive I will consider the Evils that are consequential to Sin under these two Heads First Such as proceed immediately from it by Emanation Secondly Those Evils and all other as the Effects of God's Justice and Sentence First The Evils that proceed immediately by Emanation from it and tho some of them are not resented with feeling Apprehensions by Sinners yet they are of a fearful Nature Sin has deprived Man of the Purity Nobility and Peace of his innocent State 1. It has stain'd and tainted him with an universal intimate and permanent Pollution Man in his first Creation was holy and righteous a Beam of Beauty derived from Heaven was shed upon his Soul in comparison of which sensitive Beauty is but as the Clearness of Glass to the Lustre of a Diamond His Understanding was Light in the Lord his Will and Affections were regular and pure the Divine Image was imprest upon all his Faculties that attracted the Love and Complacency of God himself Sin has blotted out all his amiable Excellencies and superinduc'd the most foul Deformity the Original of which was fetch'd from Hell Sinners are the natural Children of Satan of a near Resemblance to him The Scripture borrows Comparisons to represent the defiling Quality of Sin from Pollutions that are most loathsom to our Senses from pestilential Ulcers putrifying Sores filthy Vomit and defiling Mire This Pollution is universal through the whole Man Spirit Soul and Body It darkens the Mind our supream Faculty with a Cloud of Corruption it depraves the Will and vitiates the Affections 'T is a Pollution so deep and permanent that the Deluge that swept away a World of Sinners did not wash away their Sins and the Fire at the last Day that shall devour the Dross of the visible World and renew the Heavens and the Earth shall not purge away the Sins of the guilty Inhabitants This Pollution hath so defil'd and disfigur'd Man who was a fair and lovely Type wherein the Skill and Perfections of the Creator was conspicuous that it repented God that he made Man As an Artificer having form'd a surprizing Piece either a Statue or Picture wherein Art almost equall'd the Life and Lustre of Nature if it be torn or broken throws it from his sight with sorrow impatient to see it so rudely defaced Thus God is said to hide his Face from Sinners to express his Displeasure as unwilling to behold the Disparagement of his Master-piece the excellent Product of his Wisdom and Power 2. Sin has degraded Man from his native State and Dignity Man by his Extraction and Descent was the Son of God a little lower than the Angels consecrated and crowned as a Priest for the Service and Communion with his glorious Maker and as King over the World But being in Honour he understood not his Dignity his Duty and Felicity and became like the Beasts that perish By his Rebellion against his Creator he made a Forfeiture of his Dominion and lost the Obedience of sensible Creatures and the Service of Insensible which I only mention and shall restrain my Consideration to shew how he is become like the Beasts as an Effect resulting from his Sin He is devested of his white Robe of Innocence and his noblest Perfections Reason and Religion Sense and Imagination the leading Faculties in Brutes are his Rulers The rational governing Powers of Man have lost their superior Sway and the Carnal Passions rove without Reins to forbidden Objects The lower Appetites are predominant which is the most ignominious and cruel Servitude wherein Human Liberty can be intangled and fetter'd His Understanding and Will that were capable of taking a flight for the Discovery and Fruition of Celestial and Eternal Things are debased and limited to sensual perishing Things and derive vilifying Qualities from them He is Earthly-minded his Aims Contrivances Desires are fastened to the Earth the Divine Spark within him is cover'd under Ashes He is carnally minded always studying and making Provisions for the Flesh. This is a viler Debasement than if the Counsellors of State were employed in the sordid Offices of the Kitchin or Stable Nay 't is a Diminution below the Rank of Beasts for by Nature they are uncapable of directing their Eyes and Desires towards Heaven but Man is Brutish by his voluntary Sin To see the Head of a rapacious Wolf or fierce Tyger or lustful Horse joined to the Body of a Man how monstrous would it appear But 't is more unnatural and ignominious for Men in whom Reason and Religion should govern to resemble them in the Brutish Appetites of Lust and Rage for there is a nearer Affinity between the Body of a Man and of a Beasts that agree in the common sensible Nature than between the Immortal Spirit of a Man and the Beasts that perish In short Sin has enslaved Men to Satan an Infernal Fiend They are taken Captives by him at his Pleasure And which is the lowest Degradation they are the Servants of Corruption 3. Sin has broke the sweet Peace and blessed Concord in the Soul the Felicity of our innocent State Peace is the Tranquillity that results from Order and Unity In Man there was a regular Harmony of all his Faculties the Affections were consonant with his Will his Will with his Understanding and his Understanding with the Law of God This was the inward State of his Soul in his Creation for having a derived Being it was natural and necessary that he should be appointed to his End and receive his Rule for the obtaining it from the Understanding and Will of his Maker Now whilst there was a Correspondence in his Faculties and their Operations with his Rule and End the Will of God and the Glory of God the Result of it as well as the Reward of it was Spiritual Peace with God Internal Peace with himself External Peace with others Now Sin has dissolved this Unity violated this sacred Order And from hence 1. Peace with God that consisted in his Favour and Friendship to us and our Filial Dependance upon him which is the Spring of full and satisfying Joy is broke God appears a fearful Enemy against the Sinners the penal Effects of his Wrath I shall speak of distinctly under the second General And that Divine Calm in the Conscience that Peace joyn'd with the purest Pleasure that was the Reflex of God's Favour on the Soul is changed into anxious Apprehensions of his just Power to punish us Guilt generates Fear and Fear Hatred and both cause a woful flight from God 2. Internal Peace is broke by Sin Whilst the Passions were subordinate to the Empire of
wounded Spirit who can bear This is most insupportable when the Sting and Remorse of the Mind is from the Sense of Guilt for then God appears an Enemy righteous and severe and who can encounter with offended Omnipotence Such is the sharpness of his Sword and the weight of his Hand that every Stroke is deadly inward Satan the cruel Enemy of Souls exasperates the Wound He discovers and charges Sin upon the Conscience with all its killing Aggravations and conceals the Divine Mercy the only Lenitive and healing Balm to the wounded Spirit What Visions of Horror what Spectacles of Fear what Scenes of Sorrow are presented to the distracted Mind by the Prince of Darkness And which heightens the Misery Man is a worse Enemy to himself than Satan he falls upon his own Sword and destroys himself Whatever he sees or hears afflicts him whatever he thinks torments him The guilty Conscience turns the Sun into Darkness and the Moon into Blood the precious Promises of the Gospel that assure Favour and Pardon to returning and relenting Sinners are turn'd into Arguments of Despair by reflecting upon the abuse and provocation of Mercy and that the Advocate in God's Bosom is become the Accuser Doleful State beyond the Conception of all but those who are plung'd into it How often do they run to the Grave for Sanctuary and seek for Death as a Deliverance Yet all these Anxieties and Terrors are but the beginning of Sorrows for the full and terrible Recompences of Sin shall follow the Eternal Judgment pronounc'd against the Wicked at the last Day 'T is true the Sentence of the Law is past against the Sinner in this present State and Temporal Evils are the Effects of it but that Sentence is revokable at Death the Sentence is ratified by the Judg upon every impenitent Sinner 't is decisive of his State and involves him under Punishment for ever But the full Execution of Judgment shall not be till the publick general Sentence pronounc'd by the everlasting Judg before the whole World It exceeds the compass of created Thoughts to understand fully the direful Effects of Sin in the Eternal State For who knows the Power of God's Wrath The Scripture represents the Punishment in Expressions that may instruct the Mind and terrify the Imagination that may work upon the Principles of Reason and Sense by which Men are naturally and strongly moved 1. Sinners shall be excluded from Communion with the blessed God in Heaven in whose Presence is Fulness of Joy and at whose Right-hand are Pleasures for evermore In the clear and transforming Vision of his Glory and the intimate and indissolvable Union with him by Love consists the Perfection and Satisfaction of the immortal Soul The Felicity resulting from it is so entire and eternal as God is great and true who has so often promis'd it to his Saints Now Sin separates lost Souls for ever from the reviving Presence of God Who can declare the Extent and Degrees of that Evil for an Evil rises in proportion to the Good of which it deprives us it must therefore follow that Celestial Blessedness being transcendent the Exclusion from it is proportionably evil And as the Felicity of the Saints results both from the direct Possession of Heaven and from comparison with the contrary State so the Misery of the Damned arises both from the Thoughts of lost Happiness and from the lasting Pain that torments them But it may be replied If this be the utmost Evil that is consequent to Sin the threatning of it is not likely to deter but few from pleasing their corrupt Appetites for carnal Men have such gross Apprehensions and vitiated Affections that they are careless of Spiritual Glory and Joy They cannot taste and see how good the Lord is nay the Divine Presence would be a Torment to them For as Light is the most pleasant Quality in the World to the sound Eye so 't is very afflicting and painful to the Eye when corrupted by a Suffusion of Humours To this a clear Answer may be given In the next State where the Wicked shall for ever be without those sensual Objects which here deceive and delight them their Apprehensions will be changed they shall understand what a Happiness the Fruition of the blessed God is and what a Misery to be uncapable of enjoying him and expell'd from the Celestial Paradise Our Saviour tells the Infidel Jews There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves shut out How will they pine with Envy at the sight of that Triumphant Felicity of which they shall never be Partakers Depart from me will be as terrible a part of the Judgment as Eternal Fire 2. God's Justice is not satisfied in depriving them of Heaven but inflicts the most heavy Punishment upon Sense and Conscience in the Damned for as the Soul and Body in their State of Union in this Life were both guilty the one as the Guide the other as the Instrument of Sin so 't is equal when re-united they should feel the Penal Effects of it The Scripture represents both to our Capacity by the Worm that never dies and the Fire that shall never be quenched and by the destroying of Body and Soul in Hell-Fire Sinners shall then be tormented wherein they were most delighted they shall be invested with those Objects that will cause the most dolorous Perceptions in their sensitive Faculties The Lake of Fire and Brimstone the Blackness of Darkness are words of a terrible Signification and intended to awaken Sinners to fly from the Wrath to come But no words can fully reveal the terrible Ingredients of their Misery the Punishment will be in proportion to the Glory of God's Majesty that is dishonour'd and provok'd by Sin and extent of his Power And as the Soul was the Principal and the Body but an Accessary in the Works of Sin so it s capacious Faculties will be far more tormented than the more limited Faculties of the outward Senses The fiery Attributes of God shall be transmitted through the Glass of Conscience and concenter'd upon damned Spirits the Fire without them is not so tormenting as this Fire within them How will the tormenting Passions be inflam'd What Rancor Reluctance and Rage against the Power above that sentenc'd them to Hell What Impatience and Indignation against themselves for their wilful Sins the just Cause of it How will they curse their Creation and wish their utter Extinction as the final Remedy of their Misery But all their ardent Wishes are in vain for the Guilt of Sin will never be expiated nor God so far reconcil'd as to annihilate them As long as there is Justice in Heaven and Fire in Hell as long as God and Eternity shall continue they must suffer these Torments which the Strength and Patience of an Angel cannot bear one hour From hence we may infer what
Pattern And what are all the Titles on Earth compared with so Divine a Dignity 2. The Love of Desire of their present and future Happiness The Perfection of Love consists more in the Desire than in the Effects and the continued fervent Prayers that the Saints present to God for one another are the Expressions of their Love 3. The Love of Delight in spiritual Communion with them All the Attractives of human Conversation Wit Mirth Sweetness of Behaviour and wise Discourse cannot make any Society so dear and pleasant to one that is a Lover of Holiness as the Communion of Saints David whose Breast was very sensible of the tender Affections of Love and Joy tells us That the Saints in the Earth the Excellent were the chief Object of his Delight And consequent to this there is a cordial Sympathy with them in their Joys and Sorrows being Members of the same Body and having an Interest in all their Good or Evil. 'T is observable when the Holy Spirit describes the sweetest human Comforts that are the present Reward of the godly Man the Enjoyment of his Estate in the dear Society of his Wife and Children there is a Promise annex'd that sweetens all the rest That he shall see the Good of Jerusalem and Peace upon Israel Without this all Temporal Comforts are mix'd with bitter Displeasure to him There is an eminent Instance of this in Nehemiah whom all the Pleasures of the Persian Court could not satisfy whilst Jerusalem was desolately miserable 4. The Love of Service and Beneficence that declares it self in all outward Offices and Acts for the Good of the Saints And these are various some are of a sublimer Nature and concern their Souls as spiritual Counsel and Instruction compassionate Admonition and Consolation the confirming them in Good and the fortifying them against Evil the doing whatever may preserve and advance the Life and Vigor of the inward Man others respect their Bodies and Temporal Condition directing them in their Affairs protecting them from Injuries supplying their Wants universally assisting them for their tolerable Passage through the World And all these Acts are to be chearfully perfomed there is more Joy in conferring than receiving a Benefit because Love is more exercised in the one than the other In short the highest Effect of Love that comprizes all the rest is to die for the Brethren and this we ought to do when the Honour of God and Welfare of the Church require it Hereby perceive we the Love of God because he laid down his Life for us and we ought to lay down our Lives for the Brethren If Christians thus loved one another the Church on Earth would be a lively Image of the blessed Society above III. The Love of God and Obedience to his Commands the Product of it are to be considered First The Love of God has its Rise from the Consideration of his amiable Excellencies that render him infinitely worthy of the highest Affection and from the blessed Benefits of Creation Preservation Redemption and Glorification that we may expect from his pure Goodness and Mercy This is the most clear and essential Character of a Child of God and most peculiarly distinguishes him from unrenewed Men however accomplished by Civil Vertues Now the internal Exercise of Love to God in the Valuation of his Favour as that which is better than Life in earnest Desires of Communion with him in ravishing Joy in the Testimonies and Assurance of his Love in mourning for what is displeasing to him is in the secret of the Soul but with this there is inseparably join'd a true and visible Declaration of our Love in Obedience to him This is the Love of God the most real and undeceitful Expression of it that we keep his Commandments The Obedience that springs from Love is 1. Uniform and universal for the two principal and necessary Effects of Love are an ardent Desire to please God and an equal Care not to displease him in any thing Now the Law of God is the Signification of his Soveraign and Holy Will and the doing of it is very pleasing to him both upon the account of the Subjection of the Creature to his Authority and Conformity to his Purity He declares that Obedience is better than the most costly Sacrifice There is an absolute peremptory Repugnance between Love to him and despising his Commands And from thence it follows that Love inclines the Soul to obey all God's Precepts not only those of easy Observation but the most difficult and distasteful to the Carnal Appetites for the Authority of God runs through all and his Holiness shines in all Servile Fear is a partial Principle and causes an unequal Respect to the Divine Law it restrains from Sins of greater Guilt from such disorderly and dissolute Actions at which Conscience takes Fire but others are indulged it excites to good Works of some kind but neglects others that are equally necessary But Love regards the whole Law in all its Injunctions and Prohibitions not meerly to please our selves that we may not feel the stings of an accusing Conscience but to please the Lawgiver 2. The Obedience of Love is accurate and this is a natural Consequence of the former The Divine Law is a Rule not only for our outward Conversation but of our Thoughts and Affections of all the interior workings of the Soul that are open before God Thus it requires Religious Service not only in the external Performance but those reverent holy Affections those pure Aims wherein the Life and Beauty the Spirit and true Value of Divine Worship consists Thus it commands the Duties of Equity Charity and Sobriety all Civil and Natural Duties for Divine Ends to please and glorify God It forbids all kinds and degrees of Sin not only gross Acts but the inward Lustings that have a tendency to them Now the Love of God is the Principle of spiritual Perfection 'T is called the fulfilling of the Law not only as it is a comprehensive Grace but in that it draws forth all the active Powers of the Soul to obey it in an exact manner This causes a tender sense of our Failings and a severe Circumspection over our Ways that nothing be allowed that is displeasing to the Divine Eyes Since the most excellent Saints are God's chiefest Favourites Love makes the holy Soul to strive to be like him in all possible degrees of Purity Thus St. Paul in whom the Love of Christ was the imperial commanding Affection declares his zealous endeavour to be conformable to the Death of Christ in dying to Sin as Christ died for Sin and that he might attain to the Resurrection of the Dead that Perfection of Holiness that is in the immortal State 3. The Obedience of Love is chosen and pleasant This is the Love of God that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous Those that are Strangers to this Heavenly Affection imagine that
Benefit For if they do not feel the Blow how shall they take notice of the Hand that strikes If they are not softened with Sorrows how shall they receive the Divine Impression If they have no sense of his Displeasure how shall they fear to offend him for the future If the Medicine doth not work how can it expel noxious Humours 2. The neglect of Chastenings doth not only render them unprofitable but exposes to greater Evils 1. It provokes God to withdraw his Judgments for a time This the Sinner desired and thinks himself happy that he is at ease Miserable Delusion This Respite is the Presage of his final Ruin 'T was the desperate State of Judah as God expresses it Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more The words of an anxious Father that has tried all Methods Counsel Kindness Corrections to reclaim a rebellious obstinate Son and finding no answerable Effect gives him over to follow the pernicious swinge of his corrupt Desires No Severity is like the suffering him in his licentious Courses Thus when God hath used many gracious ways to reduce the Sinner by his Word Spirit and Judgments but he is inflexible to the Calls of the Word impenetrable to the Motions of the Spirit and insensible of afflicting Providences when after a Combate with the Rod Sin comes off unwounded and the Rod retires this Calm is more dreadful than the fiercest Storm nothing can be more fatal to the Sinner for by this Divine Desertion he is given over to a reprobate Mind and vile Affections he goes on undisturb'd in his Sins and every day increaseth his Enmity against God and provokes God's Enmity against him 'T is not conceivable that one who is not made pliable to the Grace of God by Afflictions should submit when he is in pleasant Circumstances and dispos'd to enjoy sensual Satisfactions If the Whip and Spur cannot break and tame the unruly Beast certainly the rich Pasture will never make him manageable So that God's ceasing to punish the Sinner at present is so far from being a Favour that 't is the Effect of his deepest Displeasure for it contributes to his hardning 'T was the Case of Pharaoh when any of the Plagues were removed Indulgence occasioned his Induration As Water taken from the Fire freezes sooner and harder than if the thinner Parts had never been evaporated by the former Heat so when Men are taken off from the Fire of Affliction they are more confirmed in their vicious Courses than if they had never been afflicted 2. The slighting of lighter Strokes provokes God sometimes to bring more dreadful Judgments in this Life upon Sinners No Man can endure that his Love or Anger should be despised Nebuchadnezzar commanded the Furnace to be heated seven times hotter for those who contemned his Threatnings God tells the Israelites If ye will not be reformed by these things but will walk contrary unto me Then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your Sins He will change the Rods into Scorpions and will scourge them for their continued Rebellions 'T is the intent of that Expostulation Shall one take up a Snare from the Earth and have taken nothing at all Shall God remove his Judgments while Sinners are careless and unreformed as if they might be final Conquerors over them no he will multiply and greaten them It may be at first God blasts part of the Estate and the Sinner is not apprehensive of his Hand then he comes nearer and snatches away a dear Relation if still the Sinner is unaffected he strikes his Body with a lingring or acute Disease if still he be not concern'd for God's Displeasure he wounds his Spirit makes him sick in Sense and Conscience at the same time fills him with Terror by the Reflection upon his wicked Ways and the fore-sight of that dreadful Tribunal before which he must appear so that altho he cannot live he dare not die tho his Earthly Tabernacle be ready to fall upon him he is afraid to go out and meet the supream Judg and if this doth not work a sincere thorow Change God casts him into Hell to the Company of the Giants those bold Rebels that fought against God Briefly as under the Law an incorrigible Son that neglected his Father's Reproofs was to die without Mercy so an unreformed Sinner who kicks against the Pricks and refuses to submit to God's Corrections shall be cut off in his Obstinacy Justice will proceed to Excision and Acts of Vengeance against him 3. Fainting under Chastenings is pernicious to Sufferers for it renders them utterly indisposed for the Performance of Duty and uncapable of receiving the Comforts proper for an afflicted State 1st It renders them utterly indisposed for the performance of Duty Hope draws forth all the active Powers of the Soul 't is the great Motive to Diligence and Instrument of Duty Despair like extremity of Cold that checks the Spring and binds up the Earth that its Fruits cannot appear hinders the free Exercise of Reason and Grace and cuts the Sinews of Obedience He that is hopeless of a good Issue out of Troubles will neither repent nor pray nor reform but indulges barren Tears instead of real Duties Besides it often falls out that the same Affliction is sent from God's Displeasure upon his People for their Sins and is the Effect of the Rage of Men against them upon the account of their professing his Name Such is the Wisdom and Goodness of God that by the same fiery Trial he may refine his Servants from their Dross and Impurities and render the Glory of the Gospel more conspicuous The Hatred of Religion and a blind Fury may transport Men to Acts of Cruelty against the Saints but 't is by the permission of the universal Soveraign who hath the Hearts of all in his Hands and fuffers their Rage for holy Ends. The Enemy designs against their Faith but God's Aim is to make them reform their Lives Now if either through strong Fears or the stinging sense of Troubles upon the account of Religion our Courage fails we are presently in danger of falling away and denying our Master The faint-hearted Person is usually false-hearted and for want of Resolution being frighted out of his Conscience and Duty chooses Sin rather than Suffering and thereby justly deprives himself of the Crown of Life that is promised only to those who are faithful unto the Death Besides not only the loss of Heaven but the Torments of Hell are threaten'd against those who withdraw from the Service of God to avoid Temporal Evils The fearful and unbelieving are in the front of those that shall have part in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone which is the second Death Now what Folly is it when two Evils are propounded to choose the greatest that is Eternal Death rather than Temporal and of two Goods to prefer the less a
into Hell God tries them in the Furnace of Afflictions to purify and prepare them for Heaven 2. 'T is a strong Cordial against fainting to consider that by virtue of the Paternal Relation he scourges every Son whom he receives for no Troubles are more afflictive and stinging than those that are unexpected Now when we are assured that there is no Son whom the Heavenly Father doth not chasten we are less surprized when we meet with Crosses Indeed there is hardly any kind of Affliction that may befal us but we have some instance in Scripture of the Saints suffering the same Are we poor and mean in the World we should consider that Poverty with Holiness is a Divine Complexion Jesus Christ the holy and beloved Son of God had not where to lay his Head Are we under bodily Distempers good Hezekiah was struck with an uncomfortable Disease as to the Quality of it and Gaius had a flourishing Soul in a languishing Body Are our dear Relations taken away Aaron and David lost some of their Sons by terrible Strokes Are our Spirits wounded with the sense of God's Displeasure Job and Heman were under strong Terrors yet the Favourites of Heaven Briefly how many most dear to God were called forth to extream and bloody Trials for Defence of the Truth How many Deaths did they endure in one Torment How many Torments in one Death yet they were so far from fainting that the more their Pains were exasperated the more their Courage and Joy was shining and conspicuous as the Face of the Heavens is never more serene and clear than when the sharpest North Wind blows 'T is the Apostle's Inference Seeing we are compassed with such a Cloud of Witnesses let us run with Patience the Race that is set before us This is further enforc'd by the following words If ye be without Chastening whereof all are partakers then are ye Bastards and not Sons If God doth not vouchsafe us the Mercy of his Rod 't is evident we are not part of his Fatherly Care The Bramble is neglected while the Vine is cut till it bleeds 'T is a miserable Privilege to be exempted from Divine Discipline and by Ease and Prosperity to be corrupted and made fit for Destruction St. Austin represents one expostulating with God O Deus ista est Justitia tua ut mali floreant boni laborent O God it is righteous with Thee that the Wicked should prosper and the Good suffer Dicis Deo ista est Justitia tua Deus tibi ista est Fides tua haec enim tibi promisi ad hoc Christianus factus es ut in seculo isto floreres in inferno postea torquereris God replies to him Is this your Faith Did I promise you Temporal Prosperity Were you a Christian for this that you might flourish in this World and be miserably tormented in Hell The Apostle represents the special Prerogative of God as the Father of Spirits and so hath a nearer Claim to us than the Fathers of our Flesh and that he is not liable to those Imperfections that attend the Earthly Relations They for a few days chastened us for their own Pleasure Human Love is a troubled irregular Passion mixt with Ignorance and prone to Error in the Excess or Defect Sometimes Parents are indulgent and by a cruel Compassion spare their Children when they are faulty sometimes they correct without Cause sometimes when the Reason is just yet they err in the manner or measure of the Correction so that their Children are discouraged But in God there is a perfect Union of Wisdom and Love of Discretion and Tenderness his Affection is without the least Imperfection His Will is always guided by infinite Wisdom If his Children offend he will chastise them with the Rod of Men that is moderately for as in Scripture things are magnified by the Epithet Divine or of God so they are lessened by the Epithet Human. Accordingly the Apostle declares to the Corinthians that no Temptation had befallen them but such as is common to Man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the Temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it As a prudent Physician consults the Strength of the Patient as well as the Quality of the Disease and proportions his Medicine so all the bitter Ingredients their Mixture and Measure are dispens'd by the wise Prescription of God according to the degrees of Strength that are in his People The Apostle specifies the immediate End of God in his Chastenings But he for our Profit that we may be partakers of his Holiness This is the supream Excellency of the Divine Nature and our Conformity to it is so valuable that it renders Afflictions not only tolerable but so far desirable as they contribute to it In the present State our Graces are imperfect and our Conformity to the Divine Purity is like the Resemblance of the Sun in a watry Cloud very much beneath the Perfection and Radiancy of that great Light Now God is pleased to fashion us according to his Image by Afflictions As a Statue is cut by the Artificer to bring it into a beautiful Form He is pleased to bring us into divers Temptations to try our Faith to work in us Patience to inflame our Prayers to mortify our Carnal Desires to break those voluntary Bonds whereby we are fettered to the Earth that we may live with those Affections wherewith others die And certainly if we make a true Judgment of things we have not the least cause to suspect the Love of God when he chastises us to take away Sin the only abominable Object of his Hatred and deep Detestation and to render us Partakers of the Divine Nature And the present peaceable Fruit of Righteousness is the Product in those who are duly exercised by their Troubles It is an Allusion to the Reward of the Conquerors in the Olympick Games who had a Crown of Olives the Emblem and Shadow of Peace But true Peace a Divine Calm in the Conscience shall be the Recompence of all that exercise their Graces sutable to an afflicted State In short the Apostle assures Believers that they are chastened of the Lord to prevent their Condemnation with the World The correcting Rod delivers them from Hell This Consideration changes Thorns into Roses and extracts Honey out of Wormwood if the way be stony or showery that leads to Blessedness a Christian should willingly walk in it To conclude from the Consideration of what the Scripture declares concerning Temporal Evils let us lift up the Hands that hang down and the feeble Knees and make streight Paths for our Feet lest that which is lame be turned out of the way but let it rather be healed i. e. In our Affliction let us take Courage and Resolution from the Promises and live in a holy Conformity to God's Will that
his Voice harden not your Hearts Yet against all the Evidence of the Word without and of Conscience within Satan so strongly deceives Men that they rebelliously neglect their Duty till their Time and Life are expiring But how unbecoming how difficult how hazardous is a late Repentance How unbecoming is it to put off God till hereafter Such is his glorious Majesty we should with the most reverent Respect and humble Thankfulness obey his first Call If a Prince should invite a Subject to come to him for some great Favour would he so break all the Rules of Decorum as to delay his coming by saying Hereafter will be time enough And what is the greatest Majesty on Earth to the God of Glory no more than a More to the Sun and proportionably the Indignity arises to neglect the Offers of his Grace Besides how incongruous is it to give the Flower of our Time and Strength to our Lusts and to reserve the Bran for God To spend the Age of our vital and vigorous Actions in the Vanities and Business of the World and to allow only our languishing Age for the obtaining of Heaven That Men should content themselves with dead Affections in his Service who is their Life that were so lively in the Service of Sin that is their Death How difficult is a late Repentance Can you repent and believe at your pleasure Men think that in their Age after the ebbing and retirement of the carnal Affections they shall more easily forsake their Sins but 't is a pernicious Deceit The native Corruption of Mens Hearts alienates them from a dutiful return to God and contracted Corruption by habitual Practice fastens them in Sin as their Centre In Youth when the Blood and Spirits are high and fierce the Body has a corrupting Influence upon the Mind but by Custom in Sin the Mind is so depraved that it heats the frozen Blood and corrupts the Body Suppose the exciting Grace of the Spirit be not totally withdrawn which has often been ineffectual Can it be expected that after Men have been hardened in the commission and continuance of Sin they should be more receptive of Heavenly Impressions A Disease neglected at first that stealingly slips into the Habit of the Body and gradually weakens Nature becomes at last uncontroulable and incurable How hazardous is it to neglect present Obedience to the Call of Divine Mercy Our Days in the Language of the Psalmist are but as an hand-breadth and can Men extend their Lives beyond their Span A vast Eternity follows without Dimensions an undivided Duration It is no more in their Power to continue Time to come than to recal Time past How many are surpriz'd by hasty Death in their Security and die in their unrepented Sins and perish for ever The wise Man alarms the Sluggard with approaching Poverty and his Expressions are very applicable to the Delayers of Repentance Death comes like a Traveller gradually by silent Steps and as an armed Man will irresistably arrest them and Damnation follows which they can neither repel nor discover till they are seiz'd by it O that deluded Sinners would consider that nothing so ripens them for Death and accelerates Judgment as the Presumption that the Season of Grace will continue notwithstanding their lavish and careless wasting it But suppose that Life be extended to the utmost Date can you expect that the holy Spirit should visit you that have been so long putrifying in the Grave and breath a new Life into you 'T is the most severe threatning My Spirit shall not always strive with Man and then their Case is desperate There is a fearful Example recorded in Scripture the old World was first drowned in Sensuality and resisted the holy Spirit till he was withdrawn and then the Deluge wash'd away those Swine in their Mire Can you expect that at last when the World and your Sins leave you God will accept and receive you You are commanded to seek him in your early Spring in the first Dawnings of his Light and Favour and is a poor Remnant of your Life sufficient for obtaining his Meroy The Harlots respected not the dead but contended for the living Child Satan and the World strive to have the prime and best part of your Lives and will God be contented with the dying Remains Or do you expect an easy Composition for all the Abuse of his Benefits because of his Patience Do you presume because he forbears so long he will readily forgive at last The Servant not call'd to an account till he was run into an irrecoverable Arrearage of ten thousand Talents was delivered to the Tormentors till he should pay all his Debt How are Men degenerated and fallen lower than the Brute Creatures The Stork in the Heaven knows her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming but Men know not the Judgment of the Lord. This Consideration made our compassionate Saviour dip his Words in Tears He beheld the City and wept over it saying If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy Peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes O wretched deceived Souls how long will you neglect a Saviour and Salvation How long shall he wait to be gracious and expect your lingering Repentance in vain Remember the time of Grace is limited if you refuse Obedience to the present Call do you know he will renew the Offers of his Grace Now is the accepted Time now is the Day of Salvation Will this New last for ever There is no Now of Favour and Hope in Hell 'T is true God is merciful and 't is one of his Royal Titles The God of Patience though Threatnings are denounced against Sinners and Judgments are ready to seize upon them he repents and stops his Wrath but there is no State more fearful in this World than when Men by neglecting Repentance make God weary of repenting When Patience has had its perfect Work towards the Unrelenting and Unreformed Justice succeeds before God cuts off a Sinner he cuts off all his Excuses Read with Fear the first of the Proverbs Because I have called and you refused I will laugh at your Calamity and mock when your Fear cometh God's Frown much more his Scorn is infinitely terrible and insupportable Those who delay Repentance till the Body is diseased all over and Death is printed in the Countenance and the languishing Lights are almost quench'd and the vital Frame is near a Dissolution yet presume a few Sighs will transport their Souls to Heaven How just and dreadful will their Disappointment be However they are deceived God is not mocked as a Man sows he shall reap SERMON IX LUKE xiv 23. The Lord said to the Servant Compel them to come in that my House may be full II. I Am now to consider the Means by which Men are wrought on to accept of the Invitations of
it was requisite to atone the just Displeasure of God for our Offences 'T is said he offered his own Body on the Tree his peculiar Right in it was requisite to make it a proper and acceptable Sacrifice 'T is true the Father and holy Spirit had the same Right in the Human Nature of Christ as the Son had with respect to the making it but the Son by assuming it into a Personal Union with himself has a peculiar Right in it and offer'd his own in a strict sense And in Consequence to this his Sacrifice was of infinite Value He did not compound with God but paid a Ransom equivalent to what was due for Sinners He bled a Fountain from his wounded Side that cleanses from all Sin 2dly By his Intercession He is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him for he ever lives to make Intercession for them God pardons Sin as a Soveraign upon the Throne his Authority is preserved entire without any Condescension of his Person therefore the Blood of Christ shed on the Cross is pleaded in Heaven to reconcile God to us he satisfied Justice and sollicites Mercy his Blood speaks still and its Voice is as powerful as ever The Prevalency of his Intercession depends upon the Dignity of his Sacrifice the Dearness of his Person to the Father does also assure us of his favourable Audience He declar'd on Earth I know thou always hearest me 3dly The Gospel sets forth his Willingness to save us Faith has an Aspect upon Christ as able and willing to save for Power without a Will to save is unprofitable and the Will without Power is fruitless and ineffectual For the begetting of Faith we are to consider the Proposal and Offer of Grace in the Gospel and the Promise of it 1. In the Gospel there is a Proposal of Grace to all the Invitation is universal Whoever will let him come to the Waters of Life freely Our Saviour gave this Command to the Apostles Preach the Gospel to every Creature Neither the number nor quality of Mens Sins are a Bar against their coming to Christ for Life None are excluded but those who exclude themselves In the Parable those were earnestly invited by the Command of the Master of the Feast who refused to come This Offer of Grace and Life to all that will humbly receive it is the first Foundation of Faith and induces our Acceptance of it for without this the self-condemned Sinner sinks into Misery bottomless and helpless The most miserable Despair is drawn from Impossibility If Men think 't is impossible to obtain what they desire they will not endeavour to obtain 'T is easily clear'd by the Scriptures if Men will believe the Scriptures when they are clear that as the Brazen Serpent the Sign of Salvation was lifted up on high and made obvious to every Eye to convey healing Virtue to those who were stung by the fiery Serpents so our crucified Saviour is lifted up in the Gospel for every Soul-wounded Sinner to regard The belief of inviting Mercy opens the Springs of Godly Sorrow a Natural Sorrow arises from the sense of oppressing Evils and is terminated upon our selves a Spiritual Sorrow proceeds from the sense of our Unworthiness and the Divine Goodness that is so ready and desirous to save us 2. There is a Promise of Grace to all that repent and believe Our Saviour encourages us Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you Rest. Those who feel Sin as an intolerable Burden and their fainting Souls are without Support let them devolve their Burden upon him and trust entirely in him they shall obtain blessed Rest. The timerous Sinners that tremble under the Weight of their Guilt are encouraged for in this condition Christ invites them to come to him and promises Rest. Let them aggravate their Sins to the highest yet St. Paul challenges the Precedence as the chief of Sinners and obtained Mercy When the Heart is broken for Sin and from it not to believe the Promise of Mercy is dishonourable to our Saviour's Love and the Value of his Blood as if not sufficient to save poor Souls that would fain live in him We have the strongest Testimony of his Love in dying for us when we were Enemies Christ came with this Intention to save Sinners and when they come to him will he reject them He cannot deny himself he 's Truth and he has most expresly declar'd Whoever comes to me I will in no wise cast out and this Promise is confirm'd by the Will of his Father that sent him Christ invites thirsty Souls to partake of the Waters of Life and when he has inspir'd them with ardent Desires and they come will he send them away empty 'T is absolutely impossible for him who is incarnate Love and Mercy to despise and reject the Soul that looks to him that longs and languishes after him and will be ever unsatisfied without him In short the precious Promises in the Gospel of the Pardon of Sin and eternal Salvation are so proposed to us that the Hope of returning Sinners may be cherish'd and confirm'd and the Presumption of secure Sinners may be dash'd and controul'd While we are in this middle State the fear of Caution join'd with the lively hope of Mercy is the most congruous Temper and becoming the Breast of a Christian. The Presumer is like a Ship without Ballast floating so lightly in his own Folly that every Gust of Temptation oversets him The fearful Spirit is like a Ship over-laden and if not lightned will certainly sink and perish Fearless Security exposes to all the Temptations that gratify the Carnal Appetites desponding Fear causes a neglect of the Remedy If there be no fear of Punishment or no hope of Pardon the Consequences are equally fatal 3. 'T is necessary in order to the bringing Men to Christ to remove their carnal Prejudices The first and most fear'd Difficulties are That serious Religion will be a damp to all their Joys a harsh and unreasonable Restraint of their Liberties a Bar against all the Advantages of the World the sickly Fancy is frighten'd at the thoughts of this If the Way to Heaven were short and fair Men would like it but 't is long and deep and they are discouraged as the Israelites with the tedious and troublesom Wilderness before their arrival at the Land of Promise Accordingly Carnal Men cast a slanderous Shade upon Religion as a melancholy severe and joyless Discipline Now we may rectify these Mistakes by the Light of Scripture of Reason and of Experience 1. The Scrpiture declares that the Ways of Wisdom are Ways of Pleasantness and all her Paths are Peace The Entrance the Progress and Continuance in these Ways is joyful to the renewed Soul Let us take a right View of the Divine Commands the Sum of them is this That Men would be happy here and for ever We are commanded