obstinacy in sin I shall leave them to try it out with God when he shall come to judge the World in assured confidence he will then plead his own cause as they shall have nothing to answer The second great Objection against my Conclusion may be thus formed Obj. 2. IF Christ died not for all and every man as many say then God hath not sufficiently provided for all mens Salvation But Christ died not for all c. Ergo c. The force and strength of this Argument lieth on this That our Salvation depends upon Christs Satisfaction for us Hence it follows That if Christ by his Death have not satisfied for a great many they are left to perish for want of that provision and so they are not to be blam'd though they die in their sins Sol. The Dispute that hath been and still is about the extent of Christs death I shall not meddle with so as to determine any thing one way or other because I hope to do my work without engaging my self so farr For Gods intent and counsel in delivering his Son to death and Christs intention in undergoing death they are to me and I suppose to others also hidden so as we cannot say For these Christ died and not for those It belongs to Gods will of purpose whatever it be and therefore we cannot resolve any thing about it For Gods will of precept we know what it is viz. He that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned Marc. 16.16 This is the Gospel which Christ before his Ascension charg'd his Apostles to preach and I know of no other God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life Joan. 3.16 This Gospel I believe with all my heart because I never find in Scripture that men are condemn'd because no price was paid for them but only for unbelief Heb. 3.19 So we see they could not enter in because of unbeleef An evil heart of unbelief is all they are warn'd to beware of v. 12. vid. also Heb. 10. fin with many places besides in the New Testament which I need not cite Hence I am bold to resolve That no man lieth under a necessity of perishing in his sin who lives and dies not in unbelief Or thus That Christ died and satisfied so farr as whosoever believeth shall he saved and that men shall be damn'd only upon the account of unbelief For this I say again is the Gospel we are bound to preach and this is the Gospel according to which God will judge the World In that day the question will not be Whether we were of the number for whom Christ died we shall be question'd only Why we did not believe in Christ offer'd to us in the Gospel Quest. But here it will be ask'd by some Whether they who never had the Gospel preached to them as we and many others have had it shall be condemn'd for not believing on Christ whom they never heard of Sol. 1. I dare not say as some That if they had improv'd their natural knowledge of God to the utmost they might have been sav'd by the kindness and mercy of God without the knowledge of Christ the Mediator because the Scripture saith There is no other Name given under Heaven c. Act. 4.12 2. Whatever the account be upon which they perish the Apostle hath resolv'd in terms Ro. 1.20 That they are inexcusable 3. I am not able to apprehend How Gods Works of Creation as Sun Moon and Stars c. did preach Christ to them 4. I shall only offer somewhat wherein I dare not be peremptory but shall leave it to the consideration of such as are judicious viz. That the Heathen of old who had not the Law of God as Israel had yet heard the report and fame of the God of Israel and thereupon ought to have enquir'd after him the only living and true God who alone is to be praised and served in such wayes as he himself hath appointed And the rather because by their natural light they might have discover'd that what they worshipp'd could not be God and that the true God cannot be worshipp'd by mens hands Act. 17.25 That which first enclined and encouraged me to this conceit as most may count it was what the Apostle hath said of Rahab Heb. 11.31 By Faith the Harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not c. Here are two things which I desire may be observed concerning her 1. Her Faith which was no less than a justifying saving Faith else her Name had not been enroll'd amongst those Worthies that are there recorded And Iac. 2.25 She is said to be justified in the same manner as Abraham was 2. That she came by heâ— Faith only by the report she heard of the God of Israel as she professeth Iosh. 2.11 Thâ— Lord your God he is God in Heaven above anâ— in Earth beneath And v. 9 10. She professeth She had heard what God had done for Israel such as no other God could do and for this cause she desired to joyn her self to the people of the God of Abraham and to have her lot with them And so doing She perished not with those that believed not Who were they Questionless her Neighbours the men of Iericho and all the Amâ—rites except the Gibeonites who notwithstanding they heard the same things reported resolved to fight it out against God and his people Israel And did not the Gibeonites the same Iosh. 9.24 For they so answered for themselves when Ioshua questioned them It was certainly told thy servants How that the Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the Land and to destroy all the Inhabitants of the Land from before you therefore we were afraid of our lives because of you and have done this thing What they did the rest of the Canaanites should have done and have been content to be hewers of wood c. that so they might serve and worship the living and true God Sure the rest of the Inhabitants of Canaâ—n heard and knew as much as the Gibeonites did but they hardned their hearts and so perished in â—heir unbelief We read also of the Kenites who were the children of Hobab the Father in Law of Moses who chose to joyn themselves to the Israelites and why might not others have done â—he like And may not the Queen of Sheba be â—n instance to the same purpose Read the Stoâ—y 1 Reg. 10. and Mat. 12.42 And why should not the Syrians all believe as well as Naaman 2 Reg. 5. seeing they knew as well as he the miracle which the God of Israel had wrought upon him Questionless that and other miracles were done to convince the Heathen Once this is clear and certain That the Iews were a people hated of all other Nations and that upon this account only because their Laws were different from
dye in the stead and sustain'd the persons of all unâ—to whom the benefit of his Death was intendeâ— Only I say If a summ be paid sufficient to reâ—deem so many poor Captives provided theâ— shall all their dayes serve him that is their Râ—â—deemer are they not all redeem'd thougâ— some should refuse the condition and chuse 〈◊〉 be Slaves still However this I affirm Thâ—â— the extent of Christs Death is such and so greâ—â— as I never read or heard of any one that pâ—â—rished in his sin because Christ had paid 〈◊〉 price for his Redemption For the tenour of 〈◊〉 Gospel I gave it before and I have 〈◊〉 learnt any other than That he that believeâ—â— shall be saved and he that believeth not shall 〈◊〉 damned Let others dispute for whom Chrâ—â—â— dyed I cannot hinder them I am sure Chrâ—â—â— never suffered or satisfied for any so as thâ—â— shall have the saving benefits of his death wiâ—â—â—out laying hold on him by a lively Faith Anâ— I shall be as sure on the other side That whâ—â—â—ever shall believe on the Lord Jesus with all 〈◊〉 heart he shall be saved by him And this I takâ— to be sound Doctrine that may be safely preachâ—ed to all and every one without exception viz. Thou O man whoever thou art Chriâ—â— dyed for thee and if thou believe on him witâ— all thine heart as God hath commanded thee thou shalt be saved In this we preach the tenour of the Gospel as you have it before and he that thus preacheth Christ will give little encouragement to sinners except to repent and turn to God and so all sinners should by all means be encouraged But here is no encouragement to impenitency or unbelief because there 's no promise of any benefit by Christs death but only to true believers and penitents This then I resolve That if I or any other dye in our sins it is only because we believe not on the Son of God For of a truth I know not how to clear and justifie God as I desire to do if any thing done or not done on his part be it that shuts us out from having eternal Life I am I confess altogether for this That a wicked proud filthy evil heart of unbelief and nothing else stands in the way of mens Salvation and if that be once taken away there will be no other hinderance I have such thoughts of God as I cannot think but he hath done his part so as nothing will be wanting if we are but heartily willing to do ours I could indeed say what is sufficient in this case That no man knows or can know supposing Christs death to be so confin'd as some will have it Whether he be one of those for whom Christ dyed not And therefore if it were an adventure a man had better run the hazard than do worse by wilfull shipwracking himself through final impenitency and unbelief As a man one would think should not refuse to cast the Dice for his Life though he knew for certain that some or other must dye and he cannot be sure that he shall not be one of them Only I say still there 's no hazard in believiâ—â— on Christ But in tâ—is I desire to be resolv'd Whetheâ— he that beileves not on Christ offered in the Goâ—â—pel doth not refuse a fair offer of somewhaâ— that he might have had if he had believed Thâ—â— is no Position but only a Quaere If it be anâ—swered That Unbelievers are damn'd for not obeying Gods Command and for not-believinâ— his Promise I grant it is so and their conâ—demnation upon that account is most just Only give me leave to think still That such reâ—fuse what they might have receiv'd and so 〈◊〉 guilty as they were who made light of the iâ—â—vitation Mat. 22.5 and went their wayeâ— They might have shar'd in the wedding Feast 〈◊〉 well as others if they would have come Anâ— therefore I wish all whom it may concern tâ— be very wary that poor ignorant Souls whâ—â— are too much bent and set upon undoing themselves may have no occasion given them of so doing For what danger can there be in saying indifferently what Scripture saith often in terminis and so pressing all to believe on him Herein they will remove a stumbling-block which otherwise many will set up to cast themselves down But there is no occasion of stumbling unless they preach and teach what they never learn'd from Scripture viz. That Chrisâ— gave himself a ransome for all live as they list and do as they please their Redemption is purchas'd and they are sure to be saved however This indeed would be false Doctrine with a witness yea and a vengeance too upon many But no poor Souls will ever complain of their Ministers for telling them the good news of Christs dying for them so long as they tell them withall How the Death of Christ will be effectual to them and not otherwise viz. by a sound and a working Faith For the Question about absolute and conditional Redemption I am not wholly ignorant of it But I still resolve to wave all controversies of that nature and only reason the case with poor Souls that they may not cast themselves away in their perverse disputings about they know not what and in their wilfull neglecting of that Salvation which they are sure to obtain in a way of believing and obeying God and not otherwise To these I say again that which is the Word of God who cannot lye Let them repent of their unlawful deeds deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts lead sober and righteous and godly lives and therein give a sure evidence and proof of their reall closing with and accepting of Christ by Faith that they shall be as certainly saved as any that are now in Heaven For this is indeed Gospel and this is the Word of Grace as they may easily read if they will but open their Bibles But they may turn over their Bibles long enough or ever they find any Text to this purpose That Christ dyed to save them though they never believe Paul and Silas told the Jaylor Act. 16.31 Believe on the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saved They never scrupled Whether he were one of them for whom Christ dyed but preached to him the Gospel as they had received it of the Lord And he doing as he was commanded had forthwith as much as he desired or needed Before I close up this I shall add one thing more Is there any man alive of whom any other can or dare say This is one of them for whom Christ dyed not If there be not then make no difference where thou knowest none but be wise according to that which is written This we may all safely resolve upon We shall never suffer at Gods hand for our ignorance or neglect of any thing that God hath not revealed in his Word The things that are revealed belong unto us c. These we are to believe
whiles we are alive is the way to obtain peace and comfort when we come to dye They could not then say as some do in their youth and strength If we are Elected we shall be saved and if not we must be damned and so quietly sleep away and put it to the adventure No Conscience if it be then awakened will tell you somewhat else It will tell you then That you might have employed your selves to better purpose and that if you had taken the same course that the Saints do while they are on earth you might depart in peace as well as they Yea let me tell you Conscience when you come to dye will not trouble you about any other matters than your wilfull rejecting the offers of grace and mercy when they were made to you and your chusing the wayes of sin when you had been often told they were the ready way to Hell and Destruction And now I say again Whatever disputes and reasonings there be among some about the method and manner and matter of Gods Decrees Let all poor Souls consider in due time what is that way of life which is held out and offered to them in the Gospel We cannot know what God hath decreed till it be some way reveal'd to us But we may know if we will what is the way of life as certain as God is true who hath reveal'd it God I am sure cannot lye and his mouth hath spoken it and his finger hath written it That whoever believeth shall be saved I need not cite or quote the Texts of Scripture that speak with one mouth the mind of God in this Whoever hath read or heard the Scripture cannot but know this to be an unmoveable Foundation-truth And therefore I desire men seriously to consider how they will excuse themselves one day when they shall be question'd Why they did not believe on Christ offered to them in the Gospel For no doubt if they do this as God commands and requires they shall be saved or God must prove a lyar And for any decree of God to hinder men from believing on Christ I hope enough hath been said before to shew there is no such thing Besides the extent of Christs death as hath been shewed is large enough to reach and take in all that will come to him And there is nothing but a froward wicked heart stands between men and their happiness in the enjoyment of God Wherefore I say again in the name of the Lord as our Saviour in a different sense said to Martha Ioan. 11.40 If thou wouldst believe thou shouldst see the glory of God He that believeth not God hath made him a lyar because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life 1 Joan. 5.10 11 12. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Joan. 3.36 Here we see as in all the Scripture beside That Faith and Faith only gives us an interest in eternal life and that this and nothing else will be the condemnation of the World that they believed not on the Son of God tendred to them as one that can save to the utmost all that come unto God by him If any say That some have never heard of Christ and then how can they believe on him of whom they have not heard Ro. 10.14 I shall not here dispute with them about this but reâ—erâ— them to what I have said before desiring them withall to understand me now as meaning all that have heard of Christ amongst whom there have been many that shall not be sav'd And of these I say again their condemnation shall be only upon the account of their unbelief Either because they set light by Christ when they heard of him as many do to this day not so much as owning the profession of the Gospel or else they receive the graâ—e of God in vain and turn it into wantonness by using it as an occasion to the flesh Now For a Conclusion of this whole Discourse I shall deal with these last desiring them to consider Whether they give all diligence to walk in the way of life which God hath laid before them And all that I intend is to shew their mistakes about it and to advise and direct them in it But whiles I was about this there were brought me some Objections which though they be as I conceive sufficiently answered already at least the chiefest of them yet somewhat I shall add further to explain what was said before Obj. If God be so willing that men should repent and believe why do they not repent and believe For who hath resisted his will Ro. 9.19 This we find by our selves that if we will do ought we do it if we can and if we do it not it is because we have not power to do as we would Sol. For the Will of God as to the Salvation of all in case they repent and believe there is no question and so as I remember some understand the Apostle 1 Tim. 2.4 But that is not the question but this rather How God wills the repentance of men who never repent For seeing God can do whatever he will why are not they also converted And to this I answer That God wills the conversion of Sinners so as their conversion is well-pleasing to him and accepted with him as on the contrary he is displeased with Sinners so long as they live in impenitency The holy Angels rejoyce over one Sinner that repenteth and God much more seeing it is his command that they repent And how should God will mens repentance otherwise than he doth He declares his will in his command and in his promise of acceptance and in his refusing none upon their repentance and for any other will of God concerning this or that mans repentance who knows it or where hath God reveal'd it What! Would you have God to decree and effect the conversion of all and every one whether they will or no If any say No but we would have God to deal with all indifferently as being all the work of his hands I answer That saving to God but so much liberty as all men ordinarily take to themselves his dealings with men are indifferent and his wayes most equall seeing he hath so prepar'd as men need not perish except they will themselves And therefore I say once more they perish and dye in their sins only because they chuse the wayes of their destruction How then dare any man make any further question about Gods will of saving men when he hath so decreed and so provided that men may be saved if they will I mean it thus If they do not wilfully refuse their
can I do Sol. This I think hath been sufficiently answer'd already yet I shall add a word or two more God requires no more than he gives so say I but I say also he will require so much as he gives Now canst thou or dar'st thou say that God hath not given thee time and space to Repent yea hath he not waited long for thee yea dar'st thou say he hath not given thee to Repent c. when he hath given thee light to see the errour and the evil of thy wayes what would'st thou have God hath commanded thee and intreated thee and by many and sundry motions made to thee sometimes allured thee and at other times affrighted thee His Word his Spirit his Works of Mercy and Judgement have bespoken thee again and again to cast away thy Transgressions but thou would'st not and only because thou loved'st thy ungodly wayes and found'st pleasure in them thou would'st not be perswaded to leave them And wilt thou say yet that God hath not given it thee to return to him I hope thou wilt not blaspheme God openly in saying that he hath tempted thee to thy evil wayes Neither did he or any other force thee for thou wast wholly inclin'd and addicted to them and angry at all that would put thee out of them I shall say no more but only desire thee to answer thy self and thine own Conscience in this one Question viz. why thou dost not forsake thy wicked ways I say again ask and answer that Question sincerely and as in the sight of God and thou shalt finde thine own Heart will tell thee that thou lik'st and lov'st the profits and the pleasures of thy sinfull wayes so as thou hast no minde to leave them And if thou finde it not so call me lyar upon this account Now whose fault is it that thou lovest thy sins But I must go on to finish this Discourse And for a conclusion I shall very plainly and briefly shew the mistakes of men about the only way of life with the best advice I can give about it The only way of Life that I know of is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. For this we have a command and a promise as is to be seen in very many Texts which I need not mention because they are obvious to the meanest understanding This is the tenour of the only Covenant of Peace and Life If thou believest with all thine heart thou shalt be saved Ro. 10.9 10 11. Joan. 3.16 36 c. Yea this is receiv'd among all professed Christians that believing on the son of God is the way of Life and Salvation But the most of those who profess the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ are much to seek and at a great loss about the way of believing to the saving of their Souls For their sakes therefore I shall lay before them the good and the right way of Salvation by Faith in the Son of God and assure them in the name of God that whoever is resolv'd to walk in that way shall as certainly be saved as those who are already in Heaven And this I shall do that if it be possible they may be perswaded no more to dispute or quarrel Gods Decrees or Christs dying for all Sinners or the inability that is in all men by nature to all that 's spiritually good or any thing else besides the frowardness of their own corrupt and perverse hearts For the way of Salvation by Faith only it is this The Gospel which only reveals the way of living by Faith makes an offer of Christ to all without exception in case they Believe Ioan. 3.16 and many other places And when any man is effectually perswaded to receive Christ as he is offer'd then he Believes to the saving of his Soul If any desire to know further what it is to receive Christ I answer that it is the Souls hearty consenting to have him upon the same terms on which he is offer'd This is that which as I may say makes up the match between Christ and any Soul so as thence forward it stands in relation to Christ as a Woman to her Husband after her consent obtain'd and declar'd and so hath an interest in him and all his Estate This is the eminency and precedency of Faith to all other Graces that it is the Souls consenting to have Christ as her all in all For when the Soul so consents a man is thereupon justified and accepted with God This consent indeed doth imply love and obedience and faithfulness to Christ all our dayes and if there be not afterwards a performance of all accordingly for certain the consent at first was not sincere and hearty For we are delivered from the hands of our enemies that we may serve him c. Luc. 1.74 We are redeem'd from all iniquity to be a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2.14 But yet the consent which is first given sets a man in the state and relation of a justified person which afterwards he proves himself to be by yielding willing obedience to all the Commands of Christ. For Love and all the fruits of it in a Christians whole course are but the performance of what was promis'd when he first consented to have Christ for his only Lord and Saviour and where these do not attend there never was any hearty consent But Faith I say again hath the precedency in that it is the Souls consenting to take Christ upon his own terms and so Faith alone justifies us Now if what hath been sâ—id of our being justified by Faith alone be rightly apprehended there will need no dispute about the concurrence of works in our justification But leaving all such disputes as no way concerning my present purpose I shall only take notice of such mistakes as are ordinary and do offer themselves as it were to us upon this occasion to be considered of For certain the way of believing is the only way of living with God for ever But the mistakes of men about this way are the great occasion of their miscarriage I mean it of such as hear the Gospel have Christ offered to them and do profess to believe on him as all or most do with us There are only two that deserve our notice and if there be any other they may be reduc'd to these And these two are extremes not so farr from one another as both are from the right way of living by Faith First Some though they pretend not to merit do almost turn the Covenant of grace into a Covenant of works and so pervert the Gospel of Christ to their own destruction I do not mean That they make account to be saved by vertue of the first Covenant made with Adam in innocency For never was there a man Iew or Gentile that did not acknowledge himself a sinner And this appears in that all of them have used means true or false right or wrong to make an attonement for
promised Isa. 59.21 If any object That that promise is made only to the Church I may grant it and yet answer well enough thus That the Word and Spirit promised to the Church proclaim and offer Christ to the world and they that arâ— without are bound to receive what is offer'd and to joyn themselves to the Church For whaâ— is it that makes and constitutes the Church Iâ— it not hearkning to and obeying the voice oâ— God in his Word There is the sound of thâ— Gospels voice which the world is bound tâ— hearken to as I hope to shew hereafter Anâ— if the wicked world refuse and will not enâ—quire after it that is their own fault and Goâ— is not wanting as shall be more fully clear'd iâ— its due place For present it may suffice that there is aâ— abundance of the Spirit and of the Word eâ—nough to enlighten and enliven all the world if they would heed and attend them Whâ— dare say that Gods Word and Spirit are noâ— sufficient to instruct us in all things necessary and to lead us into all truth For Papists quarrelling the sufficiency of Scripture-revelation I have nothing to do with it now it serves my turn if it be acknowledged that God hath made a sufficient revelation of his will and the way of our Salvation 3. That God might not leave himself without many witnesses we have also the work of Creation that shews us the way of glorifying him else how could the Apostle upon this one ground prove the Gentiles to be inexcusable in their Idolatries Rom. 1.19 20. And is there not also a goodness of God in his providential dispensations that leads men to repentance Rom. 2.4 Yes the Psalmist shews it at large Psal. 107. And this amongst others seems to be one thing that 's very observable in that Psalm viz. That men otherwise void of all piety and such as care little for Gods company at other times when distresses and dangers assault them even by nature and natural conscience are led to call upon God This shews sufficiently that their neglect of God in times of prosperity is a stifling the natural principles of Religion implanted in all men for the improvement of divine providences 4. To say no more God hath made us reasonable creatures and given us a minde to understand so as to chuse the good and refuse the evil And have we not all of us a conscience to accuse and excuse to encourage us in that which is good and affright us from all that is evil In one word The way of Life is laid before us and we have eyes to see it if we had a minde to walk in it Men do not go to Hell as a beast goeth to the slaughter-house or as one led blindfolded not knowing whither he goeth but they refuse the way of Life and chuse the ways of Death as I hope to shew hereafter more at large Now let me summe up all that hath been said and thus argue If God hath prepared an all-sufficient salvation and provided all means necessary for the applying of it what have we to complain of more than what we finde in our selves May not the Lord say as he did Isa. 5.4 What could have been done more that I have not done or as Ier. 2.5 What iniquity have you found in me Have I been wanting to you Rather have not you wronged your selves and been sinners against your own Souls And will not the Lord say thus one day Questionless he will else how shall he clear himself in condemning the wicked world For suppose God to be wanting in any thing necessary on his part for our salvation may not a condemned sinner justly reply thus Lord thou hast now pass'd the sentence of death upon me and thou art now sending me to dwell with everlasting burnings which I should never have run my self into if thou hadst done that which lay upon thee to do May not such a soul say alas I knew nothing of what I should have known in order to my salvation but was left in the dark without any light to shew me the way of Life Had God done his part I might have done mine and so it had never been with me as now it is Shall any of the damned think you ever have cause or just occasion to quarrel God in this manner Or if any should I must confess I know not how to clear God in his condemning the world of the ungodly But God will certainly clear himself one day and convince all the ungodly that their damnation is just Else why is God so often clearing himself upon all occasions from having any hand in the destruction of those that perish For certain God would never clear himself as often he doth if he knew not himself to be clear and he must have most unworthy thoughts of God that thinks otherwise God is not as man to justifie himself in any thing but what is right and true Now how often doth God clear himself and cast all the blame of mens destruction upon themselves Ezech. 18.31 32. Cast away all your transgressions c. for why will you die I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth Hos. 13.8 O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self To this purpose also read Esay 5. v. 1 4. Obj. But some will reply and say Who denies or questions this you labour to little purpose and might well have spared this pains Sol. To clear my self give me leave to say 1. That many are charg'd with making God the author of sin and the contriver in a sort of mans damnation I do not say they are justly charg'd but that some are so charg'd by others is most true 2. There are but too many in the world who charge God foolishly as faulty and guilty of mens destruction I say not they do it expresly and in terminis but interpretatively and by consequence they say that the fault is on Gods part and not on theirs if they die and are damn'd What else is their meaning when they pretend as they do so much love and good liking to God and the wayes of his Commandments Are there not many that say in their hearts and some upon occasion with their mouths also Far be it from us to hate God or any of his wayes God forbid that we should procure to our selves the damnation of our own souls Nay they will not be well pleas'd with any other that shall charge them for so doing If others will believe them they are as willing to be sav'd and as willing to walk in the way of Life and Salvation as any man can wish them to be But alas what would you have of them If they knew better they should do better and for their part they do the best they can and as far as God gives them grace Now is not this in effect all one as to say if we are cast away and die in our sins it is no fault of
there be Faith to receive it As I take it we should not perswade men to believe on Christ by telling them If they believe then Christ died for them Rather as I suppose we may safely telâ— them That Christ died for them and thereupon perswade them to believe on him We are bound to believe that the thing is true before we can believe our share in it The Object is in order of Nature before the Action My belieâ— makes not a thing true but it is true in it self and therefore I believe it And this is the method of Scripture as farr as I know The Feasâ— was first prepared and then the Guests were invited All things are ready come unto the Marriage Mat. 22.4 The Iews who are the guests there invited refus'd to come But were they not cast utterly off and put into that condition wherein they abide unto this day upon this account That the Son of God came to his own and his own received him not How could they refuse if there were no provision made for them Or justly perish only for refusing I am very willing to believe That Christ was offer'd for me before he was offer'd to me and that if I dye in my sins it is only for my not receiving Christ offered to me Sure I am that Scripture never layeth the death of Sinners upon the want of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Price of Redemption but alwayes upon unbelief disobedience neglect of and setting light by Christ and the things of Christ. And this is enough to serâ—e my turn That Scripture never hints any impediment to mens Salvation more than an evil heart of unbelief For the intention of God and Christ what is that to me or any man else seeing it is secret The revealed things belong to us and we shall for certain be question'd one day only Why we did not accept of Christ when he was tendred to us It will not then excuse us to say We could not tell whether we were of those whom Christ intended to save Once we have the command of God to believe on the Son of God and we have a sure promise if we believe to be saved And this and nothing else will be the condemnation of the World viz. That they disobeyed Gods command and believed not his promise Thus all Gods Messengers have a Warrant to invite all men to believe But not to invite the Devil though they had an opportunity to speak with him as any man may speak to another Yea I am bold to think it would be any mans sin to promise Salvation to the Devil upon his believing in Christ. It were indeed a belying the Lord and saying He saith what he hath not said And it were a deceiving the Devil in telling him that which is not so For the consequence of this Hypothetical If thou believest on the Son of God thou shalt be saved is true as to any man without exception But as to the Devil it is for ought I know false in the connexion as well as in the parts of it because he is none of those to whom God hath promis'd Salvation upon condition of believing on Christ Ioan. 3.16 For the Command of God to believe and his Promise of Life upon believing is all the ground-work upon which our Faith is built and this foundation the Devil hath not for his warrant and encouragement to believe on the Son of God For the Son of God took not on him or took not hold on or helped not the Angels Heb. 2.16 but the Seed of Abraham Where Abrahams Seed notes not the Iews only as all will grant but the Gentiles also and that expression is us'd to shew that Christ was the same that was promis'd to the Fathers and sets out the benefit of Redemption as belonging to mankind but not if I may so speak to Devil-kind Beside It is not the Devils Sin not to believe on Christ or not to receive him He hath sins enough besides both for number and nature and questionless is a greater sinner than any man can be having sinn'd himself out of the greatest happiness and that in actual possession that a Creature is capable of and sinn'd against that Light which no man on earth can attain unto But Unbelief is not his sin because there is no command obliging nor any promise inviting him to believe on Christ. But Unbelief is the sin of men yea it is in a manner all sin as it seals upon a man his other sins and causeth the wrath of God to abide upon him Ioan. 3. fin Yea it is the great aggravation of all sins in this respect that they might have been all pardon'd on such easie terms as Believing in the Lord Iesus Christ. We may now bespeak sinners as Naamans servants bespake him If the Prophet had commanded thee some great matter wouldst thou not have done it c. So if God had requir'd some great matter of us for our Salvation should we not willingly have done it But 't is a very easie thing that he requireth us to do The Word is nigh us as the Apostle shews Ro. 10.8 We have nothing to do or suffer for â—he appeasing of Gods Wrath or for the satisfyâ—ng of his Justice or for purchasing the heavenly â—nheritance The Son of God in our flesh hath â—one and suffered all and we have nothing to â—o but to receive him as he is freely tendred â—nd offer'd to us The Feast is prepared without any cost or care of ours and we are call'd â—o partake of it with a sure promise of welcome All this while I forget not what a controâ—ersie there is among the Learned about the extent of Christs death but I dare not touch with it and the rather because it no way concerns me in the main design of this discourse â— have no controversie but with the frowardness and wilfullness of sinners who are willing to make God the Author both of their sin and condemnation and pretend That if all men would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as they are requir'd they should not however be saved These are the men I now deal with and these I desire to try whatever is controverted amongst the more Learned whether this be not a truth viz. That Christ hath satisfied so farr as they shall be saved if they believe And to these I say if they dye in their sins it is not upon the account of Christs not dying for them but only for their not-believing on him And for this I appeal to the whole tenour of Scripture and in particular to Ioan. 3.16 where the gift of Christ is common but the efficacy of it limited to believing And good cause why since Christ dyed for none to save them whether they believe or not 'T is neither my design nor desire to disputâ— with any but with unreasonable and wickeâ— men And therefore I shall take no notice 〈◊〉 what is commonly said viz. That Christ
sense to say They would repent if they would For certain If a man be heartily willing to repent there is nothing left to hinder his repentance A serious and instant will to repent and believe includes in it the hatred of sin and a purpose of not sinning He that truly desires to repent doth indeed repent because he hates his own evil wayes I grant it willingly That no man can turn to God without the grace of God but that is all one as to say No man will turn to God without the grace of God For there is nothing that hinders him but his wicked froward will A man may have a charitable disposition and be heartily willing to relieve others in their necessities and yet may not because he hath not wherewithall to do it His heart may be large when his estate is strait enough And in this case the will is accepted for the deed For almes-deeds are imperate outward acts wherein the will cannot sway all and therefore it may be rationally said of such a man He would with all his heart if he could But to repent and believe are elicite inward immediate acts of the will and are not exercised by another power as the imperate are With the heart man believeth and with the heart man repenteth There is I grant an outward reformation of the life which is a fruit of Repentance but Repentance is a root in the heart and when a man is changed so as to hate the evil and love the good Or when ever a man of unwilling is made willing then he repents And therefore it cannot be said with good sense Men would repent if they could There 's more sense and truth too in saying Men could repent if they would To say I am willing to repent but I cannot is all one as to say I am willing to repent but I will not I may be willing to work or to walk but because I am sick and weak in body I cannot But if I am willing to repent and believe the work is done For these are the immediate acts of my will Obj. But some may object That many gracious Souls may heartily desire what they cannot do and Divines commonly resolve That good desires are accepted with God when there are failings in the performance Sol. I fully accord with all those Divines in this and say That the best on earth are defective in doing what they desire Their desires are indeed beyond what they are able to do They would pray with more fervency and ardent affection they would hear with more attention and intention than they do and this is their great burden that they cannot do as they would But it must be considered too That they are defective in their desires also and then we may soon answer what is here objected viz. That as to the immediate acts of the will they cannot what they would For they would love God more than they do and it is their burden that they love him no more And blessed say I are all such poor Souls and I wish there were more of such in the world For too many I fear think they love God well enough and that in this they are not wanting But to answer the Objection consider 1. That the fervency of the Saints love to God is much allayed by many things without them such as are unavoidable to them whiles they are in flesh 2. All the defects of their love and other spiritual affections are from the imperfection of the work of grace their wills being not so throughly sanctified but that there is flesh lusting against the spirit Hence when the spirit is willing the flesh is weak so as they cannot do what they would They cannot love God so as they would love him But this makes nothing against what I said before For so farr as they are sanctified they are willing but so farr as they are flesh they are not so The spirit makes them willing to what the flesh will not suffer them and this is their burden that they have so much of the body of death in and about them But I say again so farr as a mans heart is renewed so farr he loves God and the imperfection of his love is from the defects of his will not throughly and perfectly sanctified and changed But still I am to seek and cannot imagine how any man can be willing to love God and not actually love him at all as certainly they that are carnally minded do not A man may not love God so much as he would and I have given a reason why But I cannot apprehend how a man can be willing to love God and not love him at all And the case is all one in Faith and Repentance A man by nature loves not Christ but loves his sin and this makes him distaste the terms upon which Christ is offered to him and he is unwilling to believe on him because of the old hatred This natural old enmity makes him unwilling to close with Christ but if that were once cured he would forthwith believe to the saving of his Soul Now if it be mans enmity as indeed it is that makes him unable consider I pray how farr such an inability will excuse I never heard that any man was an enemy to another against his will There 's no Vertue or Gift of God in us without our wills and in every good act Gods grace and mans will concurr The voice of the corrupt will of man is I do that which is evil and I will do it I do not that which is good and I will not do it That which keeps men fast bound in the cords of their sins is the frowardness of a wicked heart wilfully chusing to walk on in their ungodly wayes and refusing all means of reclaiming them Quest. But how shall that enmity and wilfullness be removed Or is it their fault that it abides upon them It hath been preach'd for sound Doctrine That a man can never repent or believe till God circumcise the heart and take away the stony heart and give a new heart and a new spirit Sol. And I do allow of this Doctrine with all my heart But what then All this will not clear us if we do not repent For our sin is never the less sinful because as I said before we love it and will by no means part with it I subscribe to what Luther saith Impius lubenti voluntate malum facit haec est voluntas Verum hanc lubentiam faciendi malum non potest omittere aut coercere haec est necessitas I know well that the infirmity of a natural man is great upon him and invincible to any thing but Almighty grace But I know too that a natural man loves his sin with all his heart and resolves to serve his lusts and will not be perswaded to renounce them And for the wayes of God he hates and scorns them and
according to Godliness 1 Tim. 6.3 As for any that are accounted more than ordinary Professors I heartily wish that none of them might deserve the charge that 's commonly made against them and to them I say If they be indeed faulty they shall dearly rue it I mean they must reform their lives or their profession will stand them in no stead one day when all shall be judged according to their works And for many of them I am confident and well assured That such a charge is no better than a calumny and reproaching of Christ in his members For there are many of them I hope Nathaniels and true Israelites in whom there is no guile However it be this agreed upon on all hands That 't is unreasonable to profess one thing and practice another And hence I say That all Protestants so call'd who are vicious in their lives do therein shew themselves unreasonable as well as ungodly men For many of them I believe and not without reason that they know not well themselves what they profess Sure many of them the more pity are profoundly ignorant of the very first Principles of the Protestant-Religion and can give no rational or tolerable account why they are Protestants and not Papists or Pagans But whatever they know of their Religion I am sure many of them little consider of any conversation suitable to it And therefore I shall mind them of what they do profess and it is this That they profess the strictest and precisest way of serving God and walking with God that ever was made known to the Children of Men. They profess to believe the Gospel of Christ and that Gods written Word is the only Rule of Faith and Manners Now the Gospel and the Word of Grace do certainly prescribe the most exact and accurate way of Life that can be And I need not be long in proving this to any professed Protestants But if any make question of it let them enquire what they engaged for and to when they were baptized For then they must acknowledge themselves Professors of a very strict Religion unless they will renounce their Baptism The Fanatiques are not the only great Professors but every one that owns himself for a Protestant must either disown his Baptism and blaspheme Christ and the Gospel openly oâ— else he must look on himself as a great Professor of Godliness For as Christ commanded so Baptism obligeth to the most severe and precisest way of Godliness And if he live in the constanâ— practice and allowance of all uncleanness he is an unreasonable as well as a wicked man The Apostle joyns both those together 2 Thes. 3.2 And if those wicked ones there meant perhapâ— professed Infidels were unreasonable muâ—â— more they that profess the Faith and are in theiâ— conversation worse than Infidels Those indeed contradicted their own Principles But professeâ— Christians much more and are therefore most unreasonable and wicked men For Grace anâ— Nature Law and Gospel cry out against them and will one day come in as witnesses for their conviction because they walk'd contrary to them all Let them count of themselves as they please for a while Christ when he comes to judge will number them with those Who cry Lord Lord and do not the will of his Father which is in Heaven and therefore they must depart and be gone because they are the workers â—f iniquity And what do these mean by their going to Church and joyning in publick Prayers and hearing of Sermons and receiving the Sacraments Sure in these they profess and pretend to somewhat They will not I hope say They profess Adultery and Swearing and Drunkenness c. And yet all the World knows many of them live in the constant practice of such or the like abominable vices 1. These I wish first to consider what they do when they mock and scoff at others for their preciseness For if they dealt as becomes rational men they would as often as they see any more strict and precise presently say These men do honestly and rationally too for they practice as they profess whereas we profess as much as they but do nothing alike 2. I wish them also to consider That when they cry out against others as Hypocrites and Dissemblers in so doing they condemn themselves For they profess the Religion that Christ taught and they will not say I hope that Christ taught men to be Swearers and Drunkards c. Now they must say thus and so be most horrid Blasphemers or confess themselves to be Dissemblers for practising quite contray to what they profess And that they do so is beyond all contradiction and when they can prove others to be the same we will say as much of them But till then we have reason to look on these as unreasonably wicked so unreasonably uncharitable towards others to say no worse of them I might here enlarge my self by shewing the unreasonableness of most Sins that are of ordinary and daily practice with many call'd Protestant But somewhat tending this way was hinted before in shewing the Reason that is in all the Commandments Yet I shall add That whereas they have cryed out against their Ministers for being so harsh and severe they forget what their own Consciences have told theâ— oftner and more sharply than ever any Minister did or could But of this I may say morâ— elsewhere For present I urge them with thâ— unreasonableness of their constant daily practices and ask them Is not prophane Sweaâ—ing an unreasonable Sin when there is not 〈◊〉 as in some other fleshly wickedness any the least seeming sensual profit or pleasure A 〈◊〉 may be a very Epicure as one saith and 〈◊〉 bate Swearing What doth a Drunkard make himself to be more than a two legg'd Beaâ—â— Nay is there any Beast almost that will 〈◊〉 to drunkenness except it be a Swine I 〈◊〉 not instance in more particulars But to shut 〈◊〉 this All or most of the Ten Commandments have been and still are justly accounted 〈…〉 of moral and natural equity And the Fourth though yielded to be but Positive-moral hath so much Reason in it That since God hath allowed us six dayes we may well allow him the sevenâ—â— And they that make no conscience of this 〈◊〉 many other Commandments as appears by their practices are unreasonable men which was the thing to be proved Arg. 3. ANother Reason to prove ungodly men guilty of their own destruction and so altogether inexcusable before the Lord may be drawn from the inward secreâ— workings of their own Consciences For wheâ— they pretend That they want Light to see the good and the right way their Consciences will rise up and be as so many swift witnesses against them How many times have they been rounded in the ear and told by a voice within them that their way was not good before the Lord How often hath Conscience stood as the Angel did in Balaams way with a drawn sword in
raise the mist that clouds and darkens him so as to wander after vanities and lyeâ— and forsake his own mercies And all serves as I suppose to our present purpose Men are commonly worse in their practices than in their principles as I said before and yet I deny not that they are corrupted in both For it is not to me imaginable how a man should be corrupted in one and not in the other But this we find by experience which is all I mean That men commonly have better principles than practices Hence so many that are sound in the Faith as to their perswasions of the truth of Religion in their lives are most abominable And what need we any more witnesses to convince and condemn these men Their own opinions are enough to confute their practices and prove â—hem rebels against the light And can they complain they have not light to see their way â—o Heaven They have enough and too much unless they could use it better How usual is it for notorious Sinners and most abominable vicious persons to plead for the Ten Commandments when I know no body against them but such as they and their fellows They know and can repeat the Ten Commandments and say they are Gods Commandments And yet a civil man cannot abide within the breath of these men because every other word almost is an Oath with them A man would hardly believe that men should lead their lives all the week in such excess and all manner of uncleanness and yet on Sundayes cry out so devoutly as they seem to do at the reading of every Commandment Lord have mercy upon us and encline our hearts to keep this Law Do not these men proclaim Gods commands to be their principles and yet contradict them in all their practices They dare not they cannot for their hearts say with their mouths that Swearing and Drunkenness and Adultery c. are not Sins and transgressions of Gods Laws and yet they live in a constant practice of all such abominations Now what shall we think of these men They have a Light sufficient to shew them the errour of their way They do not indeed set it on a candlestick but rather under a bushel Though it be not quite put out yet it shines not so as they can see any thing by it as they ought And I can conceive no other reason Why the light in these men is so useless but only that it was never strong enough to work an absolute thorow conviction as when Gods Spirit convinceth of Sin c. Ioan. 16.8 The lusts of these men were never subdued to the power of their principles Thâ—y could perhaps some of them discourse the vanity of the creature and the emptiness of all worldly things even to admiration and yeâ— all the while love the World and the things of the World no men more Grant that there is in such men sometimes a reluctancy it cannot but be faint and feeble and in effect as good as none at all Nay what if I say it serves only to enhance their lusts the more as weak opposition gives an enemy the greater advantage 〈◊〉 let out more of his rage and strength than otherwise perhaps he would Certainly men â—o made up of a mixture of passion and some reason are as much plung'd into all sensual and beastly pleasures as any becauâ—e the stream of their lusts is stronger than to be stopt by any principles they have Yea they are in a more ready way to put darkness for light and to call evil good than any men alive so as at last the light that is in them is no better than the blackness of darkness It was even so with the Pharisees Luc. 16.14 When our Saviour had most excellently discours'd the right use of all earthly riches and shew'd that men cannot serve God and Mammon They heard these things and derided him A practice too common amongst others when a savory Doctrine about some duty press'd home upon Conscience hath found no better entertainment with many of the Auditors than a dry scoff or some bitter reproachful language against the Preacher But why did the Pharisees deride our Saviour There was a reason and it is express'd in the same place They were covetous The love of money is the root of all evil 1 Tim. 6.10 There never was an Heretique or Apostate or any man reprobate to every good work that had not this or some other root of bitterness springing up and turning him aside to be hardned past all hope in his ungodly way Demas hath forsaken me 2 Tim. 4.10 And if you read on it is to be seen in the next words Why He had embraced this present World All ages afford great store of such sâ—d Instances Many like Ionathan as one saith follow the chase with a greedy pursuit till they light on the honey Demas had no sooner left Paul but he went to Thessalonica where he became an Idol-Priest as some report When such men have been provoked by missing of expected preferments or have had the lure of promotion flung out to them the next news you hear of them is that they are not where you left them but are gone some-where and if you desire to know look in Iud. v. 11. and you shâ—ll find what way they are gone and upon what account and what will be the issue of all at last if you please to observe that also by the way They you must know hoyse up and strike sayl again as the wind serves and sometimes tack about only to steer a course that will serve for present security or future further advantages When Religion is in fashion they presently fall in with a goodly out-side profession so as few can keep pace with them But when once the wind that was on their backs begins to turn and blow in their teeth then as we say faces about and who more zealous Persecutors than such hot-spur Professors Now may I not say of these Have they not heard and known Doubtless they cannot be ignorant Balaam knew well enough that he ought not to curse Israel and yet the wretched Wizard attempted it again and again because he loved the wages of unrighteousness and Balack's proffer'd rewards blear'd his eyes as he saw not what he did see So is it with every man that hath no more grace than he 'T is no hard task for any man of ordinary understanding to conclude That the way of Uncleanness Drunkenness Swearing c. is not for professed Christians or civil rational men to walk in Yea many have sometimes resolv'd against them with vows and imprecations and yet the next opportunity of a temptation breaks all these bonds and the Doggs are turned to their vomit again The reason of all is clearly to be seen and it is this They have their lucid intervals as other madd men have and then they can see a little the baseness of their own wayes But as soon as Lust
is stirr'd there rises a mist and then they are as if they had no eyes and whatever principles they have they serve them for nothing that good is The Light in these men is as the uncertain blazings of a Candle burnt down into the socket that will not serve a man to do any work and after it hath flash'd a while goes out with a snuffe and a stink 'T is not long e're these men lye down in a dead sleep and there 's no hope of awakening them after their interests and passions have subdued their principles so as to have no more reflection upon their consciences and practices These are awhile perhaps Orthodox in their principles but no thanks to them for they are honest only because not tempted to be otherwise and being alwayes Hypocrites in heart no marvel if they come at last to be Heretiques not only in their practices but in their opinions also However we must say of these That they say and do not Or which is all one they know and do not They profess what they do not practice and is not this enough to silence them when they say If we had known we would have done better For they lye in what they say and if they had a mind to fight it out with their lusts they would never complain they have not Light enough No wicked men are so ignorant as not to know that they are out of the way Only the violence of their sinful affections hurry them oâ— against their reason And will this think you excuse them It may indeed blind them a wâ—ile but it will not bear them out when God shâ—ll call to an account Arg. 7. ANd now I shall a little enforce the former Reason by adding another Argument if you please to â—all it so viz. That prophane and ungodly wretches who profess the Faith of Christ do condemn themselves by allowing the practices of the Saints recorded in Scripture They say the Apostles and others were good men and are now in Heaven And what can they answer if they be ask'd Why do you not then trace their footsteps They dare not say Those Saints in Heaven whom they so much magnifie went thither in that way they themselves walk in And truly it is much that some men should so magnifie thâ— dead Saints and shew themselves Devils all the while in vexing those that are alive A man may truly say to those wretches That the Saints in Heaven led not such lives on Earth as they do and therefore will be witnesses against them I have heard indeed that some impudent hardned Sinners have been so bold as to speak of the Saints infirmities recorded in Scripture as if their own enormities might be pass'd over as well But if they were not unreasonable as well as ungodly they might know That those good men once fell into great Sins but did not lye in them or make a trade of them If these men would repent and turn as those Saints did their case were quite otherwise than now it is Those Saints were in their constant practice holy and righteous men no such debauch'd and vicious persons as these And how comes it to pass that they have so much respect for those holy men whose lives and conversations they never care to follow Certainly in honouring those good men they in a sort allow of goodness and holiness and so condemn themselves in doing contrary to what those men did Saint Paul and Saint Peter and the rest were men that led their lives in all puritie and holiness free and far from the pollutions and unclean practices of these men that so much cry them up What do they then in their thus magnifying the Saints of old Why they do as the Scribes and Pharisees Mat. 23.29 who built the Sepulchres of the Prophets c. and thereby laboured to gain a reputation with the vulgar for bearing so much respect to the memorie of those men of God For by this they seemed to assert their Doctrine and so would make the world believe that they were zealous professors and followers of that way of worshipping of God which the old Prophets had taught long before But alas they were strangers and enemies to all that the Prophets had taught and practiced And just such Hypocrites are others who pretend to honour and respect very much the old Saints and Martyrs and yet are in their affections and conversations all one with those that slew them and shew'd all rage and madness against them Nor will it suffice to say as the Scribes and Pharises did vers 30. If we had been in the dayes of our Forefathers we would not have been partakers with them c. For as one saith well on this place an Herod and Herodias to Iohn Baptist would have been an Ahab and a Iezabel to Elias They that declare against their Forefathers cruelties do not thereby disclaim them specially when they are the same to good and Godly men now as their Fathers were to those of old For what do many wicked wretches haâ—e and scorn and persecute now Is it not the life of holiness and power of Godliness such as was in the Saints of old Nay they cannot abide to hear the very Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets preach'd to them in the manner that the Apostles and Prophets preach'd it of old in their times And do not these ungodly men prove by their dayly practices that they are such as they who persecuted the Prophets and Apostles Well however they havâ— this as an evidence against them that they seem'd so much to allow of Holiness and Godliness in the Saints departed and yet walk'd clean contrary to them They that will but observe the Acts of the Apostles and their Epistles may easily perceive the vast difference and dissimilitude that is in the lives and doctrines of them and these that pretend so much reverence to their names And whatever men may imagine for a while those old Saints will one day be so many swift witnesses against all that have seemed to reverence their memories and yet never imitated their examples For the most they do is no more than the Pope doth He is if you will believe him Peter's Successor but for Life and Doctrine hoâ— like to Peter any man may see that reads the Scripture Even as many others who would be thought of the same Religion with the Primitive Christians and antient Martyrs but if they would live as holily and unblameably as they did what they say would be sooner believed by others than now it can be Arg. 8. MEn say they want light and means to know and do better but they lie in so saying for they will not endure sound doctrine nor any that preach it In this I appeal to the practice of ungodly men in all ages which furnish us with Instances enough of such Rebels against the light For Scripture-instances they are well known to all that have read the Bible
Argument of conviction that they do know what they ought to do and do the contrary Where do you meet with any that will openly proclaim their wickedness or affirm that vices are vertues that Drunkenness Swearing c. are duties that ought to be done No for the most part men are asham'd and will not own these and yet continuing in the practice of them do they not sin condemn'd of themselves They do know the baseness of their evil wayes and notwithstanding goe on in them And with what face can they plead That if they had known the good and the right way they would have walked in it Wherefore they shall be their own Judges when they are to be condemn'd before the Lord at the last day Arg. 11. ANd why do many betake themselves to do somewhat for making their peace as they pretend with God This if there were nothing else serves to prove they are somewhat convinc'd of their wayes and doings that they are not so good as they should be But in the doing of it they discover the wretched untowardliness of their hearts and how little they prize the things which God hath promised to all them that diligently seek him For commonly they betake themselves to pitiful poor shifts It may be when they are going out of the world they can find in their hearts to spare a little somewhat to some good uses after they have all their life long been making more poor than all their estates are able to relieve yea done more wrong than their estates are able to recompâ—â—ce And some will keep their Church better than ever before if they live to it and sometimes read a Chapter or in some good Boâ—k But for ransacking of Conscience and ripping up old sins to the bottom and renouncing the vain wayes whereunto they are as all others inclin'd and turning from all iniquity and betaking themselves to the most strict and precise way of walking with God in all his Commandments blameless as Zechariah and Elizabeth did Luc. 1.6 As they never knew before what belongs to them so they are still willing to let them alone They cannot be ignorant unless willingly that their duty is to be humbled as low as Hell and to receive the sentence of death in themselves and shew it in all possible contrition and humiliation and denying themselves in all they formerly delighted in and in walking so as all that see them may have cause to say Surely God hath wrought some great change upon them But they can content themselves with less and hope God will be as well pleas'd with it as they themselvâ—â— are So you shall have some turn'd it may be from open prophaneness and debauchery to 〈◊〉 more sober civil way of life and perhaps somewhat of an empty outside formality This is an acknowledgement that God must have somewhat more than he hath had formerly But this poor pittance will be a strong evidence against them one day that they did not follow hard after God as they might and should have done For if men did not wilfully shut their eyes against the light that shines in Scripture to shew the good and right way of seeâ—ing after God they could not but know that the utmost degree of self-denial and mortification with deepest humiliation before God and all holy conversation and godliness is the only way to find him Such slight work as they make serves only to shew they are not willing to do better and therefore can in reason expect no great reward For I say again men cannot be ignorant except willingly that the enjoying of God for their portion is so rare and rich a prize as nothing can be thought enough for procuring it and such a slight dealing in a matter of so great concernment is an Argument to evidence that they goe against their own light and so are condemned of themselves And what do many in the whole course of their lives more than trifle about somewhat which is indeed nothing to any purpose They know after a sort the only true way to eternal life which is believing on the Son of God They are also we suppose it however sober and ciâ—il in their behaviour towards others But for their Religion towards God it being we grant as to the outward profession right as it should be they content themselves with the outside which is the easiest part of it being least irksome to the flesh and that which pinches least upon their worldly and fleshly interests And thus they approve their skill in finding out an easie way to Heaven For this I may I hope affirm without offence to any That the Protestant Religion so call'd and to me the only true Religion in the bodily exercise and outside observance is farr more easie than any other And there is good reason for it seeing the grace of God in these Gospel-times calls mostly for worshipping God in the Spirit The Iews had an hard task indeed a kind of bondage in the outside of Gods service which put them to great pains and cost But Christians now have as little as may be of the bodily exercise because the more full discoveries of Gospelâ— grace call us now to offer up our selves as so many living Sacrifices holy and acceptable unto God and call'd a reasonable service because according as God hath prescrib'd And ' tiâ— indeed the main and chiefest part of Gods service now to mortifie our earthly members and crucifie the flesh with the affections and lustâ— with abridging our selves in all that may gratifie Self conforming our selves and coming as nâ—â—r as possible to that more blessed and glorious 〈◊〉 wherein there will be no use or need at all oâ— these present comforts and accommodations Now what do many call'd Protestants otheâ— than by their practices deny the great things oâ— the Gospel and contradict our Saviour Jesâ—â— Christ in what he said Mat. 7.14 That the gate which leads to life eternal is strait and the way narrow For they make it as wide and easie as any man can devise to make it Surely it is noâ— hard labour to goe to Church once in a week and receive the Sacrament once or twice in a year and say over by rote a few conn'd Prayers once or twice in a day when they are half asleep And yet this is the most service that many do to God and it may be doubted if many do so much Now if the course these men take bâ— the good and the right way they need not strive much the gate is wide and the way is broad enough who can miss it or goe beside it Questionless the very Heathens serve the Devil and their Idols at more cost and charge and pains taking than all this comes to To speak as it is the true Religion is the most easie of all others as to the outward bodily exercise and all the difficulty that attends it is in Self-denial being crucified to the World and in the more
tendency towards Heaven And by the way I think it the great mistake of some to value men mostly according as they are affected to their own private way whatever it be whereas the valuation ought to be according to what men are in the main and great matters of Godliness viz. Faith Hope Love and all the fruits of them Righteousness Mercy c. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men Ro. 14.18 There are some Foundation-truths of the Gospel wherein to mistake deliberately and constantly is of desperate consequence And there are the great matters of the Law wherein a willful constant neglect is inconsistent with true Holiness Yea though the errour or evil be in it self none of the greatest yet when there is a persisting in them after conviction and against admonition out of malignancy I know not what to resolve better than that the way of such men is not safe But when there is an unfeigned desire and an earnest endeavour to know the good and right way and a constant course in the practice of all services and duties to God and men with a conscionable carefulness to avoid offence towards all I know no reason why such though under different perswasions in some Particulars of no great concernment should be otherwise looked on than as the Children of our Father in Heaven Therefore as for the different perswasions of so many divided about some things for want of light they need be no occasion of stumbling to any The way to Heaven is easie to be seen notwithstanding those differences For whoever they be among those Parties that in obedience to Christ have learn'd to deny themselves and all ungodliness c. and to take up Christs Cross and to live in the constant exercise of mortification and crucifying the flesh and do indeed lead their lives in the main according to the only rule of righteousness they are in Heavens way Thou it may be dost not like the perswasions of some of them And I say If thou lik'st them not for me thou mayest let them alone But thou perhaps likest not Holiness Self-denial and crucifying of thy Lusts neither but art resolved to take thy full swinge in the pleasures of sin and thy daily practice is to serve thy fleshly desires to the utmost Thou art may be a Drunkard a common Swearer an unclean Beast living lying down and wallowing in the mire Now to thee I say Whoever be in Heavens way to be sure thou art out of it And thou must certainly resolve to change thy way or perish for ever Thou sayest There are so many Religions a man cannot tell which to chuse But in the mean time thou art of no Religion thou hast not so much as a form and face of it Set aside thy going to Church on Sundayes with what mind thou thy self best knowest what is there of Religion to be seen in thee In thy Family there is no shew of it in Prayer and Praise and reading the Scripture and Catechizing thy Children and Servants There is to be seen all the Week labouring for the food that perisheth by early rising and late going to bed There a man may hear Oaths and Curses and Lyes and filthy Communication and the best but vain and idle discourses but not a savory word to shew any sense of God and his goodness from morning to night There 's Provision for the necessities of Nature to cloath the back and fill the belly and Provision too for the flesh to fullfil the lusts thereof But there 's nothing of God and Godliness to be seen no conscience made of sin to shun it or of any thing that 's good to practice it Now whoever thou art that leadest such a life I tell thee Whatever becomes of others it cannot be well with thee in these wayes of ungodliness Thou vain foolish man thinkest thou that any Religion can be worse than thine Thou hast none at all no not so much as a shew of it Even Turks and Pagans may be and some of them are sober temperate just and honest in their doings and dealings with others which thou art not Wherefore let there be never so many Religions I 'le rather chuse the worst of them than to do as thou dost And this I assure thee Whatever becomes of those many Sects and Parties thou art in a sad condition and hadst need think of changing it as soon as thou canst And if thou ask Which way thou shalt take among so many I answer thus That I will not perswade thee any way but what I am sure is right viz. To be honest and godly and to forsake those wayes wherein whoever walks shall never find rest To follow peace and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. To repent of all thy ungodly courses and wayes of wickedness whether open or secret To walk circumspectly and make straight steps to thy feet To be holy and unblameable in all conversation and to make conscience of every duty according to the rule of the Word And this thou mayest do without much adoe or dispute except it be with thine own wicked heart For those many Parties that are I am bold to tell them all and every one of them That they will find no comfort one day in being of this side or that if they be not found in wayes of righteousness and holiness And these are the wayes I would have thee take and these thou mayest soon learn from Scripture where they are so plain as a man may run and read them But one thing I must mind thee of again viz. That thou who so quarrell'st at the many Religions abroad hast perhaps a quarrel in thy heart against God and Godliness and thou canst not endure any Religion so as to be tyed to any Rule or Law more than thine own Lusts. Thou lovest to live at ease and pleasure and likest no Religion but such a one as will give thee leave to be licentious To thee I say again dipp and chuse thou canst never change thy Religion for a worse And to change it thou hast need as soon as may be For 't will be sad with thee to dye in such a Religion which is indeed none at all or good for nothing Do not thou look how many Religions and Opinions there are for that 's nothing to thee But look to thy conversation and see whether that be such as becomes a Christian. Do thou love Christ and fear to sin as much as any of all those different perswasions and shew thy self as humble as honest as upright as conscionable and every way as carefull to please God as any of them all and then thou dost well indeed Alas poor Soul what will it avail thee to say There are so many Religions thou knowest not which to take so long as thou art resolved to walk in wayes of ungodliness and to serve divers lusts and pleasures and deny
or said of it is this That they are Principals and you are Accessaries as to their destruction and what comfort you can take in that I beseech you seriously to consider For be you well assured that the ungodly lives of professed Christians will one day be aggravated by this that when they lived as many thousands now do amongst professed Infidels they gave them occasion to have hard thoughts of Christ and Christianity and to resolve they would never goe to that Heaven where Christians hope to come For how shall such poor Souls be brought to enquire after God when they that profess themselves to be his Servants walk ordinarily in wayes of uncleanness excess and deceit c. such as Heathens know by Natures light to be against the mind of God The Devil himself whom those Barbarians serve can teach them no worse than what they are learn'd by the evil conversations and examples of Christians How shall they be turned from the power of Satan unto God when they cannot see it will be for the better but rather for the worse Here I cannot omit what the Turks are wont to say when another will not believe them What dost take me for a Christian It seems they have observed too much falshood amongst Christians Now this is a Lamentation and let it be a Lamentation that the mouths of Infidels are so much opened against all Christians and the mouths also of many professed Christians against more eminent Professors to blaspheme and say Are these the wayes and doings of those that serve Christ Are these practices becoming them that pretend so much to Godliness and would be thought more exâ—ellent than their Neighbours What inference think you will Infidels and ungodly prophane men make from it Surely this and no other Let them goe alone for us we are as well where we are already we are not like to mend our silver by taking the courses and wayes of these Christians these great Professors nor can we be worse in the way wherein we now are If they be not in all as we are they are certainly in some things as bad as we can be And now I could ex tempore and without any study draw up a black bed roll of many and manifold gross miscarriages of many that would be thought more eminent Christians than their Neighbours But I shall content my self with this general Admonition in hope it may be improved to the right end of it by such as cannot but know themselves faulty in many particulars unless the God of this World hath quite blinded the eyes of their minds O that these men would consider as they should what to answer in the great day of account Specially when it cannot be denied that such horrid things have been done as Natures light if there were no other evidence cannot but condemn I shall only add They have been such as whosoever that is but civil and sober hears his ears cannot but tingle at the very report of them The Application IF all the ground and reason of all mistakes and miscarriages about the matters of Gods Kingdom and our Salvation be our contempt or neglect of the means and helps which God hath allowed us Let every one by himself make a serious enquiry how he shall be able to clear himself in the great day of account For God will certainly come and judge and try every mans work and reward accordingly And in this Application of the foregoing Discourse I shall apply my self to all and every one that hath but so much of Religion as to acknowledge That there is a World to come after a little time spent here on Earth and that men shall be rewarded hereafter for ever according to their present behaviour This is no more of Religion than all or most of Heathens ever had and still have though their conceptions about it have been and still are but confused general imperfect notions without any effect considerable But yet the main intent of all shall be with a more especial respect to such as do or might know more clearly the things of their peace than Heathens can To these I say They cannot but know that all who have lived since the World began and shall live till it have an end shall not be for ever as they were here on Earth And this our Saviour shews plainly in the Parable as I take it to be of the Rich man and Lazarus Luc. 16. v. 19. 31. Some receive their good things here and some must wait for them till hereafter And a great turn there will be so as the Scene shall be quite changed as you may see v. 25. of Luc. 16. For Lazarus is comforted and the Rich man is tormented Now consider what hath been discoursed before and see whither you are a going and where you make account to arrive at last There is by your own confession an happy estate and condition for some in glory and honour and immortality And by what hath been said before you may see if you will that nor you nor any others lye under any fatal necessity of perishing in your sins but that if you dye and be damn'd it is only through your own default Now be intreated whiles it is called To day to consider your wayes and bethink your selves how those blessed Souls that have all their desires and hopes accomplished in the sight of God for ever came to the enjoyment of their happiness Was it not in the way of Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ Did they know by immediate and extrâ—ordinary Revelation before they repented and believed that they were of the number that should be saved Or was the Book of Life opened to them that they might read their own names there recorded and so be encouraged to repent and turn to God You cannot when you are awake imagine it or if you should it is but as a sick mans dream that never entred into the head of one that 's sober and in his right senses Alas Those now blessed Soulâ— were once while upon earth Foolish and disobedient serving divers lusts and pleasures They were by nature the children of wrath even as others They were of themselves inclin'd to thâ— things of this World and traded and traffiquâ— for them as others do till afterwards they came to know better Yea all that died in the faith before God was manifested in the flesh and never had the discoveries of saving grace such as have been since even they by dimmer light chose the way to that place where they shall be for ever with the Lord. And who among us now would not desire to be with those Patriarchs and Prophets and other holy men of God before and since the coming of Christ Now consider well whether we take the same course that they took Read the Eleventh Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews and see what so many Worthies of old did and suffered and so by faith and