clearing of this do you not think that Jesus Christ saith true or that he is to be believed in what he speaks never an one surely but will say that Jesus Christ is to be believed and that they do believe that he speaks truth why then Jesus Christs invitation is to every one in this Congregation to come unto him and therefore why should any stand back and hold off from coming unto Christ If the Lord would perswade your hearts to come unto Christ it would be the happiest day that ever your eyes saw in this World if the Lord would perswade your hearts hereto you should find that Jesus Christ would be as good as his word that you shall drink of this water of life and partake of it for ever and ever and shall never see death eternal death Objection There is one thing more Possibly you will say I do not very well understand how I may come to Christ in a way of faith and believing how or which way doth the soul come to Christ in a way of faith and believing as that the soul shall certainly have of this water of life and that Christ will give of this water of life Answer To open this a little This same coming to Christ I would speak it as plainly as possibly I could and not as a riddle or fancy or notion 'T is an hearkening to Christ in a Word of Promise and the soul is therein to venture it self and rely on or upon him in that Word which he holds forth and when the soul doth venture and close with all this is now a coming unto Christ when the Lord gives out an invitation a gracious Promise which holds out mercy and eternal life and in the hearing of it the Lord perswades the soul of the truth and reality of it it is perswaded to trust in it to rely upon it and to expect an accomplishment and performance of it And because I would not speak it as mine own words alone I speak it as the Virgin Mary did when the Angel came to her Luke 1.38 Then said Mary Behold the Servant of the Lord be it unto me according to thy Word This was now a believing a trusting and a relying on the Word of the Lord she was a Virgin and the Angel answered her in that as she had no more to say but to rely upon the Word of Promise Behold the Handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy Word whence was it it was from this speech the holy confidence and expectation of the fulfilling of that promise to her And so effectual calling is an hearkening unto the Lords call the soul being perswaded to receive the Word closing with returning answer to the Word then the soul is effectually called So also there is an ineffectual Call unto which the soul doth not answer but looks upon the Word of the Lord by his Servants as words of wind and words of course but as this same accepting of this gracious invitation and promise which he holds forth is effectual calling why so the neglecting of these I say is a refusing to hear him that speaks from Heaven Take heed that you do not refuse him that speaks from Heaven that is now when the Lord speaks in his invitation by gifts and outward calling this invitation being propounded and made and men make light of it is an ineffectual calling so now when upon the invitation of the call of the Lord in his promise there is an yielding obedience unto that call in faith it 's called the obedience of Faith Rom. 16.26 When the soul doth yield unto the Lord in the voice of the Promise close withal and receive and embrace it looking upon it as worthy of all acceptation receiving it with both hands as it were when the soul doth thus venture to rely upon the Word venturing it self upon the Lord in his Promise that if I perish I will perish there I will venture my self upon the Lords Word and Faithfulness This is effectual Calling 2 Tim. 1.12 I know saith Paul in whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he will keep that good thing which I have committed unto him against that day I have committed my soul concernments unto him and I trust them in his armes When the soul doth venture thus upon the gracious Word of invitation doth receive it and committeth it self unto the Lord in it this is a closing with Christ and the anwer of the heart unto the Lords call and this is a coming unto Christ So that when you venture upon the Lord in his Word you close with him in it it is soon said yea soon done the soul may come and close with Christ in the Promise and that soon too so pass from death unto life Therefore ask your own hearts in the Presence of the Lord seeing Jesus Christ doth make such a gracious Invitation for to come unto him and venture upon him in his Word whether it can be free and ready to say now Lord let it be according to thy Word to me say in this manner as in the presence of the Lord Lord upon this gracious invitation of thine in the Gospel I desire to rest and hope upon the faithfulness of thy Word and to accept thereof and trust in it Can you say it in the presence of the Lord you whosoever you are that seem to be afar off though possibly you might have had some glimmering hopes hoping sometimes that the Lord would be merciful to you and presently fearing your eternal condition Well I speak it to you that are old men and women and possibly old sinners that have lived in sin all your lives long and possibly are even hopeless in your selves and ready to cast out words of despair and so in a hopeless condition in your selves to you the Lord this day calls to come in unto him and to hearken to this invitation and if you now come unto him you shall have of the water of life And you young Men and Maids I would leave out none who are capable of partaking of this water of life consider the Question again Are you willing to be saved Let your hearts speak it out between the Lord and your own souls upon this Word of thy grace unto which thou hast invited me this gracious Promise I do now commit my soul to thee and rely upon this thy Word of Grace and rely upon thy faithfulness to accomplish it to me and have your souls thus answered unto the Lord let it be unto me according to thy Word let me say it in the name of the Lord unto you This day is salvation come unto thy soul this day hath Jesus Christ given eternal life unto thy soul this day the Lord hath taken thee into Covenant with himself and hath vouchsafed thee to be his And I speak it in the authority which Jesus Christ hath given me in his word even every one that thus comes to Christ
it did before as possibly through some dread or terror anguish or fear possibly the Soul hath been amazed through some eminent danger which he hath been in possibly he hath been sick to death nigh to the grave and hath seen the door of Eternity to stand open to receive him he hath been amazed and now if the Lord please he may have his life he will turn a new man and forsake those evil ways and courses he formerly lived in or if he be in some sudden danger or accident that he is amazed and affrighted O now he will never do as he hath done but now when the danger is over and the fear is vanished he is the same man he was before I could give you a sad story of this but that I would not take up time that way now you know how it was with Balaam when Balak sent to him to curse Israel Balaam met with a message from God to the contrary Do not go with him saith he for it will cost you your life when the Messenger came saith Balaam If Balak would give me his house full of gold and silver I cannot go beyond the Commandment of my God yet Balaam had an eye to the wages of unrighteousness and he would try to go and at last ventures to go he might be restrained a while but he was not really convinced of Sin and on he would go he would venture at last Just as it is with two Lovers two young people fall in love and their Parents are against their proceedings and their Parents threaten them and charge them to come no more at one another but so long as their affections hold they will find some way or other to come together and though they may for a time be restrained yet they will take some occasion or other to come together again Thus it is with a sinner so long as his affections are not taken off from sin and till a Soul be convinced of sin his affections remain to it and though it may be affrighted and restrained for a time yet it will return again Just as it is with a Bowl it will run on so long as the force of the hand remains but it will return again to its natural Bias so it is with a sinner possibly he may be under some restraint through some fright and amazement by some eminent danger it is in but when that fear or fright is over as long as the affections hold and were never disingaged and broken off from sin the sinner will return and be as eager and as violent upon his sins as before but when a Soul comes to be really convinced of his sin and hath it set home upon him as suppose it be the prophanation of the Sabbath or suppose it be disobedience to Parents or suppose this or that sin if a Soul come to be really convinced of it its affections towards it are broken off and then it will be ready to say with Ephraim Hos 4. ult What have I to do any more with Idols he had been convinced of it and now What have I to do any more with Idols This is the fourth Argument whereby it doth appear that this work of Convincing of sin is necessary in order to Conversion and Salvation 5. Convincing of Sin is necessary in order to Salvation Because unless a Soul be really convinced of sin that Soul can never love Jesus Christ never prize Jesus Christ Vnto them that believe saith the Apostle he is precious 1 Pet. 2.7 That is to you who have been convinced of Sin and brought off from Sin by the power of the Spirit convinced of Sin and drawn to Christ by faith and be ieving through the Spirit now to you Jesus Christ is precious O when a Soul comes to be sensible what a lost creature it is how undone it is in it self it will think how much it is engaged and beholden to Christ O this is he that I am bound to love for ever this is he that hath done so much for me if it had not been for Christ I had perished for ever The Soul when it hath been convinced of Sin and brought off from the love of Sin and brought to lean upon Christ by Faith now Jesus Christ is lovely and precious to him and hence you may see what is the reason that many Professors that have made a great shew in the world and a great noise in the Churches and yet they have little love to Christ and Jesus Christ is not very precious to them And possibly many complain of it O that I could love Jesus Christ more and it is a good complaint I confess O that he were more precious to me and what is the reason that Jesus Christ is more precious to our Souls and that the Soul can love the Lord Jesus Christ no more O! here is one great reason possibly the Soul was never really and truly convinced of Sin the more really the Soul hath been convinced of Sin the more dear and precious will Jesus Christ be to that Soul 6. And lastly The last Ground and Respect for which it is so necessâ—ry that a Soul should be convincâ—d of sin in order to Salvation Because else if a Soul be n t really convinced of sin that Soul notwithstanding all his Profession will be very unstable in its Faith and Comforts It will be tottering and wavering that Soul will never be rooted and grounded but its Comforts will be up and down it will be like a house that is built upon a sandy foundation a light foundation that hath no depth and you see the danger of that house that is built upon the Sands that hath a shallow slight foundation it is in danger to tumble especially when storms come and great Winds blow as Christ speaks Mat. 7. to our present purpose saith he He that heareth my Words and doth them not I will liken him to a Builder that built his house upon the Sands And saith he When the Wind blew and the Rain beat upon the house it fell because it wanted a good Foundation Truly so a Soul that hath no sure Foundation that is that was never really convinced of sin of his need of Christ that Soul will be like a house without a Foundation it will meet with temptations storms and tempests to try what ground it stands on and hence it is that it comes to be so often tottering and shaking I remember a speech of a holy eminent Servant of Christ to set out the necessity of Conviction of sin saith he The less Fine a man pays for his house when he enters the more Rent he must pay afterward He meant thus the less Conviction a man hath of sin at first that is the Fine the less his Fine is the more Rent he must pay afterward his meaning was this the more he will be subject to Troubles and Doubts and Scruples afterwards A Soul that hath not a real conviction of sin upon
him united to him and are in him and so no condemnation to them that are in Christ and therefore they must needs have a large supply and communication from Jesus Christ Suppose that a man were in the Sun the very fountain of light if he be near the Sun he hath much light but if he be in the Sun then a more large fulness of light and so they that come unto Christ they are neer Christ they are nigh unto him John 6.56 He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him He abides in me and dwells in me The Soul therefore that comes to Christ must needs haâ—e a full supply Again This full supply that is given out unto Believers it is given out not only fully but freely Saith Christ I do not ask any thing at all but whosoever comes he shall have his fill he shall have a full supply and that freely he shall drink and that freely only do but come and you shall drink and thy soul shall live Revel 22.17 And Whosoever will let him come and drink of the water of life freely And so Isa 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price Without any price at all it is only coming and that to every one that comes to him it 's most free You have had two or three Demonstrations I shall but briefly name them and so proceed to shew and satisfy your hearts in this that Jesus Christ requireth nothing of any soul that comes to him for the giving out of a large supply 1. If Christ should require any thing and should not give out freely there is not a soul that ever was in the World or ever shall be in the World that had or hath wherewith to purchase any thing or any one drop of the water of life For we cannot as much as will or think or speak of our selves not so much as to have a good thought And 2. Jesus Christ will have it so because it is his pleasure and delight 3. It must needs be so because of that Invitation that Jesus Christ doth here make unto poor souls that come unto him Thus far I have proceeded Before I come to the Application there is only one thing would be cleared as an Objection by the way and that is taken from the Saints Objection Do we say there is such a fulness in Jesus Christ and will he give out a large and full supply unto all that come to him and that freely How can this stand with the experience of them that are true believers that truly come unto Jesus Christ They are so sensible of their own wants weaknesses and their own defects of grace as what more frequent complaints and who do more frequently complain than true believers And there is never a true believing soul that comes to Jesus Christ but is sensible of some defect or want or other and hath not attained to perfection and the more and nearer he comes to Christ still the more sensible of his defects and wants O! none so weak as I am none so poor in grace as I am none so weak in faith so wanting in love in humility in patience and in meekness as I and O! none hath such a cold heart such a dead heart such an unfruitful heart as I have You will say where is this same full supply then Shall all that come to Christ have a full supply how can these things be What shall we say then that those that make such complaints as these are not true believers no God forbid Or shall we say that this Truth that Jesus Christ hath spoken is not truth why where is then this same full supply how can this stand to be a truth that all that do come to Jesus Christ shall have a full supply and shall drink abundantly and shall drink freely when he saith Every one that cometh unto me shall drink of the water of life and that freely Do not many believers fear that their sins will be their ruine and fear condemnation sometimes Now how doth this stand with this full supply which is to be had in Christ I shall clear this by answering to two or three things Answer 1. First Every believing soul that comes to Jesus Christ hath drunk such a draught of this same water of life that he is freed for ever from condemnation He shall never dy or perish or be condemned for sin no he is freed from all condemnation the poorest the weakest the meanest hath drunk a full supply that it shall never perish by its sins it is passed from death to life there is no condemnation none unto them now that they are in Christ Jesus no condemnation to the poorest and meanest believer and now all their sins are forgiven there is a full forgiveness those sins shall never be laid to their charge And as the Holy Ghost saith I will be merciful unto their unrighteousness their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more And the blood of Jesus Christ is able to cleanse us from all our sins It 's true indeed a believer that hath drunk of this same water of life and that is freed from all his sins he may be possibly be exercised with fears and possibly his Assurance and his Apprehension of his Justification to himself may have some cloud upon it he may be excercised with clouds may fear his going down into the pit though there is no real ground of it for indeed he is freed from all the guilt of these for he is now passed from death to life John 11.26 He that believeth in me shall never dy that is his very temporal death shall be but as a sleep to him the sting is taken out and he shall never die eternally And so therefore to clear this Objection there is never a believing soul that is come to Christ but hath drunk such a draught of the water of life that he is passed from death to life and shall never see death or condemnation That is one Answer 2. Secondly Every Soul that is come to Christ though in respect of his Sanctification of sanctifying and saving grace he is not perfect he hath not drunk such a draught but he desires more and may desire more yet notwithstanding that draught that he hath drunk is such a draught as he shall never be thirsty more so as to be wholly destitute of this same water of life as he was before Christ saith John 6.35 He that cometh to me shall never hunger he that believeth on me shall never thirst He shall be carried on as he shall never decrease so as to be destitute but shall grow up as the grain of mustard seed Christ makes use of by way of Parable likening the Kingdom of Heaven to a grain of mustard seed and to a little Leaven which never
in the Text. Though I think that is not the proper signification or intendment of it in this place For observe it It is not so proper to say That the Spirit when he comes shall Reprove the World of Righteousness he may reprove them of Sin and rebuke them for Sin but not of Righteousness nor for Righteousness nor of Judgement That is one signification of the word to Reprove or Rebuke 2. Sometimes the word signifies to make manifest or to make evident to make apparent so you shall find it John 3.20 21. Every one that doth evil hateth the Light Neither cometh to the Light lest his deeds should be reproved or made manifest and it is expounded in the next verse made manifest But he that doth Truth cometh to the Light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God it is the same Word here in the Text. But this cannot be the meaning of this Word in the Text that he shall make manifest Sin and make manifest Righteousness and make manifest Judgment though there be a Truth in that yet this cannot be the full intendment of this word in this place 3. There is another signification of it and that is to convince and so 't is in the Margin He shall convince the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment and so I remember it is John 8.46 saith Christ there Which of you doth convince me of Sin It is the same Word he doth not say which of you charges me with Sin for they did charge him with Sin enough and they did reprove and rebuke him for Sin they said he was a Blasphemer therefore that cannot be the meaning of the Word to charge or reprove him of Sin but which of you can convince me of Sin to make it apparent without gain-saying that I am guilty of any Sin And so I think that place Tit. 1.9 holding fast the faithful Word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the Gain-sayers And so I shall take it in this sense all along when the Comforter is come he shall assist you in your Ministry so as he shall thereby convince the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment II. What doth he mean by the World Not the whole Universe the Fabrick of Heaven and Earth no that cannot be the meaning of it but it is to be understood of Men the World of Men of sinful Men Men that are guilty of Sin and more particularly by the World we may understand the unbelieving World a company of unbelievers Now unbelievers they may some of them be elected and are elected and shall be brought to believe in Christ in time through the Gospel and some of them are not elected and shall never be brought to believe in Christ Now which of these doth Christ here mean when he speaks of the World whether he means only those Unbelievers that are elected and shall be brought on to believe so some think or whether he means the Unbelievers of the World that were never elected and shall never be brought to believe in Christ so others Truly I see nothing to the contrary but we may include both namely Unbelievers that are not elected the Holy Ghost shall come and convince them of Sin though they shall go no further there may be convictions where no conversion follows and this is the work of the Spirit to convince of Sin and he shall also convince Unbelievers that are elected convince them effectually so as they shall be brought on to conversion and I think especially and chiefly our Saviour here meaneth those Unbelievers in the World that are elected though I would not exclude the other but those especially that are elected and shall be brought on through conviction and conversion to salvation for Christ doth speak these Words by way of Comfort to the Disciples that the Spirit shall come and assist them in their Ministry it is some comfort indeed if any be convinced but that is not so much comfort as to be convinced and effectually wrought upon to salvation and this comfort Christ doth hold forth as an Antidote against their sadness and sorrow upon his going away And then he shall convince the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment I shall not now come to speak particularly to open these in particular to you but only thus much in short to shew you how the World was convinced by the Apostles Ministry immediately after Christs Ascension into Heaven the World was then convinced the World of the unbelieving Jews was convinced of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment Look but into that Sermon Acts 2. which was preached upon the occasion of the falling down of the Holy Ghost the coming of the Comforter which Christ promiseth here you shall see there how the Jews were convinced both of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment by the coming of the Holy Ghost upon them in that very Sermon verse 23. There he convinces them of Sin In murdering and crucifying the Lord of Glory they were so far from believing on Christ as their Saviour that they did murder him whereas saith the Apostle in another place If so be they had known and so believed in Christ they would not have crucifyed the Lord of Glory but saith he Him being delivered by the determinate Counsel of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucifyed and slain He tells them plainly that they were guilty of murdering the Son of God and they were so convinced at this Word that they did not gainsay it but were pricked in their hearts thus they were convinced of Sin that they did not believe in Christ but instead of believing they murdered him and then they were convinced also of Righteousness namely of Christs Righteousness that Christ was a Righteous Person whom they crucifyed and slew verse 22. Ye Men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a Man approved of God by Signs and Wonders and Miracles which God did by him in the midst of you as your selves know the Apostle here holds forth that he was a Righteous Person and they crucifyed a Righteous Person and what had they to say against this No they were silent they laid their hands upon their mouth and afterwards their hands come upon their heart and they were pricked at the heart and now they were convinced of the Righteousness of Christ and also of Judgment that now God had given all power to execute Judgment into the hand of Christ unto this Son of man whom they crucified and slew So verse 24. Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it he overcame Death and overcame the Devil that had the power of Death and at Verse 31. he seeing this before spake of the Resurrection of Christ that his Soul was not left in Hell This Jesus hath God raised up
him that Soul will be unstable its Comforts will be unstable and though he may hold up his head so long as all is calm and clear above him but when the assaults of the Devil come and the powers of Hell are let loose upon it to try its Foundation if the foundation be not deep rooted all the building will come to nothing it is like a Plant or Tree that is planted but shallow in the Ground and will be apt to wither so Christ compares it Mat. 13.21 The Seed that fell upon the stony ground sprang up for a while but when the Sun did rise when temptations came scorching temptations and tribulations and tryals came they withered away because they wanted depth of earth for the root they had no rooting they were not humbled and convinced of sin they took up a Profession and confessed Christ and professed Christ but never were truly convinced of sin and this is the great reason why Professors are subject to so many doubts and scruples about their condition when they come into sickness and dangers then they are ready to question their condition What is the reason why possibly this may be one Because they were never convinced truly of sin by the Spirit of God And therefore you see now upon all these accounts That Conviction of sin is very necessary for sinners in order to their Conversion and Salvation So now I have finished the second Thing propounded I should now have come to the third Thing to shew you That convincing of sin is the Work of the Spirit of God But that and some other things I must leave till another opportunity The Holy Ghost convinceth of Sin SERMON V. JOHN 16.9 Of Sin because they believe not on me YOU have heard the coherence of these words before and therefore I shall not trouble you with that and the Point you may remember what it was that was last propounded from these words Namely That it is the very first work of the Spirit of God in order to Salvation to convince the Soul of Sin For so Christ here is comforting of his Disciples against their sorrow upon his departure from them and he tels them That he would send the Comforter to them and he tells them what the Comforter should do he should assist them in their Ministry towards the conversion and salvation of Souls and the first thing he shall do he shall convince the World of Sin and then of Righteousness and then of Judgement but this is his first work to convince the world of Sin There were four things propounded to be spoken to for the clearing of this Point 1. To shew you what we are to understand by this Conviction of Sin which is the first work of the Spirit and wherein it lay and that you heard in three things 2. You heard the necessity of it why this work of convincing of Sin is so necessary in order to conversion and Salvation You heard the necessity of it in five or six things upon which account it was necessary in order to salvation to be convinced of Sin Well there are two things yet remain to be spoken to for the opening of this Point 3. The third thing is to shew that this work of convincing of Sin is the proper work of the Spirit Nothing short of the Spirit of God can really and truly convince the soul of Sin in order to salvation And then 4. That it is not only the work of the Spirit but the first work of the Spirit in order to Salvation These two things I shall now proceed to through the Lords assistance 3. Well then we are to fall upon the third to make it evident to you that the work of convincing of Sin is the proper work of the Spirit of God And how doth that appear Briefly I shall give you two or three Demonstrations of it 1. It appears from the opposition that is in every carnal heart to be convinced of Sin There is a desperate opposition in our hearts naturally we are utterly averse and unwilling to be convinced of Sin We are loth to come to the Light as Christ tells us John 3.20 Every one that doth evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light least his deeds should be reproved lest he should be convinced It is the same word with this in the Text He is loath to be convinced of sin it is the natural frame of our hearts to be averse and opposite to conviction of sin therefore there must come a stronger power the power of the Spirit to this work of convincing of sin else we shall never be convinced for I pray mark what this convincing of sin is For a soul to yield to the convictions of sin is to yield to its own sentence of condemnation and do you think that any one is ready to yield to the sentence of its own condemnation Now if a soul yield to the conviction of sin he yields to the sentence of condemnation For the soul that sinneth shall dye And if a soul yield that he is guilty of this or that sin now he yields to the sentence of Death and Damnation And do you think the soul will yield to the sentence of Condemnation passed against it self You see sometimes a Malefactor at the Bar Is he willing think you to be convinced of his crime which he is accused of No he will stand out against it and deny it as long as he can and if he cannot deny it he will mince it and will not yield to the conviction so long as he can possibly hold out against it and this is the guise of our hearts naturally not to yield to conviction but we will hold out against it as long as ever we can let any man come to us to convince us and reprove us we will hold against it and shift it off and mince it and avoid it all that ever we can this is natural to us as it was with our first Parents when God called them to an account for their first sin they shifted it off Adam to his Wife his Wife to the Serpent and would not willingly be convinced Just as I told you before it was with Saul 1 Sam. 15. When Saul had disobeyed the Commandment of the Lord in going against Amalek God gave him a severe charge to cut off all Men Women Children and Cattel Well he cuts off the generality of the People but he spared Agag and he spared the best of the Cattel Well Samuel comes to him afterward and Saul he comes boasting saith he Come thou blessed of the Lord I have fulfilled the Commandment of the Lord hast thou fulfilled the Commandment of the Lord saith Samuel What meaneth then the bleating of the Sheep in mine ears and the lowing of the Oxen well he would not be convinced saith he 'T is true some of them are saved alive for sacrifice for the Lord he would not yield to the Conviction until such time as Samuel was