hear the command to believe it should make us cry out with the sick childes Father in the Gospel Lord help my unbelief When we hear the command to cast away every transgression it should make us beg with David Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have the dominion over me When we hear the command to turn it should make us to use the language of that penitent Jer. 31. 18. Turn thou me and I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God 5. The Lord calls upon us to turn to leave the obstinate without excuse who will not turn who will not come to Christ that they may have life Of Israel he saith All the day long have I stretched forth my hand to a disobedient and gainsaying people Rom. 10. ult but this their disobedience rendred them without apology When the unconverted fall into God's revenging hands they are the less to be pitied they can have nothing to plead because Gods stretching forth his hands by way of invitation in the Gospel was in vain These sinners against their own souls whose neck is like an iron sinew who will neither be terrified by menaces nor mollified by the expressions of the greatest kindness and mercy when they are summon'd to the bar how will they be struck speechless having not one word to say against their own condemnation They were called unto grace and glory but they would not hearken They were told of their danger but they would not seek to prevent it they were informed of the wayes of sin and were dehorted from it nay wooed and intreated with the most passionate earnestness not to be cruel to themselves by giving way to such a cursed thing yet they would not consent to be freed from sin and become the servants of righteousness And surely their mouths must needs be stopped or if they say any thing when sentence is passed upon them it must be to side with the justice of God against themselves to acknowledge the equality of his wayes the inequality of their own 6. The Lord calls upon us to turn that those who are ordained to eternal life may be effectually wrought upon and prevailed with to turn indeed We read that the Gospel was preached both to the Jews and to the Gentiles and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed Act. 15. 48. And the truth is 't is much for the sake of the Elect who are scattered up and down among the multitude that the call to turn is so general as it is Hereby those whom the Father has given to Christ are brought home and coming home how welcome are they Joh. 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out So much for the reasons why God calls upon sinners to turn In the Third place I promised to explain the nature of this conversion or turning And I find the Apostle does give a notable and full description of it Act. 26. 18. where he calls it A turning from darkness unto light and from the power of Satan unto God Hence we gather that conversion lyes in four things 1. In being turned from darkness 2. In being turned unto light 3. In being turned from the power of Satan 4. In being turned unto God 1. Conversion implies a being turned from darkness As darkness was upon the face of the deep till God said Let there be light Gen. 1. 2. So truly darkness overspreads the soul of a natural man till he is enlightned from above Believers are delivered from the power of darkness when translated into the Sons Kingdom Col. 1. 13. which shews that sometimes they were in darkness as well as others and this darkness is said to have a power a power to hold a power to blind a power to ruin so that there is a necessity of being delivered from it Now there be several kinds of darkness from which they are made free 1. Converts are turned from the darkness of ignorance No longer are they contented to be ignorant of the way to salvation but are made inquisitive what they must do to â—e saved They are informed about the doctrine of Christ and are made to understand what believing and repenting mean They know that sin is to be sorrowed for as the worst of evils and that God is the chiefest good and that he so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3. 16. They are made to know that Christ is to be received by faith and that there is not salvation in any other and that 't is in vain to expect any thing from him as a Saviour unless there be a consenting to obey him as a Lord. These and such like truths are no longer hid from them They are sensible now of the mischief and danger of ignorance 't is therefore their desire to have it in a greater measure removed and they follow on to know the Lord. 2. Converts are turned from the darkness of unbelief The Spirit does work a perswasion in their hearts of the certain truth of whatever God has revealed in his word They dare not any longer make the Lord a lyar by not crediting what he has recorded They believe and admire and acknowledge the Mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ Col. 2. 2. Heretofore their unbelief did hide the Gospel from them and concluded them in a lost estate they saw not the Majesty of the Word they were not taken with the treasures of wisdom and grace which are there revealed neither were they awakened by the terrors with which the Word abounds against ungodly ones But now the vail is taken away and they assent to and are affected with what the Gospel speaks to them They believe that God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses to them And that being justified by his blood they shall be saved from wrath through him Rom. 5. 9. They believe that sin is deadly and the world a cheat and that solid and eternal happiness is to be found in God therefore they leave a shadow to embrace that which is substantial 3. Converts are turned from the darkness of prejudice Prejudice raises a strange kind of mist before the eyes which hinders the light of truth from shining into the mind The Jews prejudice against Christ was one great thing that blinded them a principal impediment to their embracing of the Faith Satan endeavours to fill the ungodly with these prejudices and to keep them up because by these his Kingdom is very much upheld Sometimes sinners are prejudiced against holiness as if it were a disgrace whereas it being the glory of the Divine Nature certainly 't is the greatest honour and perfection which the rational creature is capable of Sometimes holiness is lookt upon as needless and yet the Scripture affirms that none
Mount from whence the curses were denounced he tells them in his Word of the cursedness and wo of the unconverted's state He sends the Law as School-Master to teach them a sad Lesson that because of their frequent transgressions they are just upon the brink of eternal misery and his design is that hereby they may be awakened and stopt in their destructive way and not flatter themselves with hopes of peace though they still walk on after the imagination of their evil heart This voice of the Lord by the Law is loud and terrible uttered on purpose to rouze startle them that are dead asleep When the Law was delivered There was a burning with fire there was blackness and darkness and tempest the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words which voice they that heard increated that the word might not be spoken to them any more and so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake Heb. 12. 18 19 21. And if the manner of the Law 's delivery was so dreadful much more dreadful will be the manner of the Laws execution upon those by whom it has been violated The fire and darkness at Mount Sinai were nothing in comparison with the fire of Hell and the blackness of darkness there Upon the impenitently wicked the Lord has threatned to rain snares fire and brimston and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their câ—p Psal 11. 6. And truly this lecture of the Law is necessary that we may attain to a true knowledge and understanding of sin and when we have been thus at the foot of Mount Ebal and Sinai and have heard that sin is the great hindrance of all sorts of blessings and loads us with curses of all sorts both temporal and spiritual and also everlasting this is the way to cure our unreasonable doating upon it and to make us fear and tremble because we have given so much way to it 2. God calls upon sinners from Mount Gerizzim to turn to him from hence of old the blessings were â—ounded forth He not only gives them a sight of wrath as nigh at hand while they continue workers of iniquity but also he gives them a view of mercy afar â—ff which shall be brought neer them on condition their wickedness is forsaken Upon the unrighteous man's forsaking of his sinful ways and thoughts mercy and abundant pardon are promised Isa 55. 7. This call of the Gospel from Mount Gerizzim is like the still voice after the strong wind the fire and the earthquake How full of encouragement are those words Zech. 1. 3. Turn unto me saith the Lord of Hosts and I will turn unto you saith the Lord of Hosts And Hos 14. 1. O Israel return unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thy iniquity Thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help found I will heal thy back-slidings and will love thee freely though thou deservest nothing but my anger and my hatred Satan by tempting us to sin has taken away our blessing from us yet we ought not to despond for the Lord has more than one blessing That which the first Adam forfeited the second Adam was sent to restore Act. 3. 26. God having raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities The Lord does take sinners up as it were into mout Gerizzim he shews them his Kingdom and the glories of it he tells them of his store of blessings of the inestimable benefits which his Son has purchased justification adoption sanctification glory and assures them All shall be theirs if they will but turn indeed And truly these are other kind of offers than Satan ever did or can possibly make 3. God calls upon sinners to turn by the most passionate pleadings and pressing expostulations His design in expostulating is to make them sensible of their unreasonableness in persuing deceitful vanities and fulfilling their defiling lusts and refusing to convert unto him who both can sanctifie them from their defilements and satisfie them with his all-sufficiency He expostulates the matter with Judah Isa 55. 2 3. Why will you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which cannot satisfie since upon your coming to me the life of your souls and the sure mercies of an everlasting covenant may be obtained The Lord pleads with the ungodly by the Ministry of the Word after this manner What! Though you are told of sins deceitful defiling and damnable nature will you still embrace and hold it fast to my dishonour and your own destruction Though you are forewarned of the heat and heaviness of my anger will you not flee from it though you are informed so often how little Hell will be for your ease will you needs run thither and burn there for ever though you are told of a Kingdom that cannot be moved will not you be moved with desire after it will you not be perswaded to strive for it Are grace and glory of no worth at all Is not a Saviour to be prized by them who by sin have enslaved and lost themselves and are in danger of being lost unto eternity Consider these things and shew your selves men O ye transgressors Thus the Lord pleads that he may prevail with sinners for their own good 4. God calls upon sinners to turn by the examples of others and by the voice of the rod upon themselves The ungodly are very prone to observe bad examples that they may imitate them but 't is their duty to take notice when exemplary punishments are inflicted upon them that they may be afraid to follow them in wickedness any longer When we behold others plagued for the sins which we are guilty of the Lord bids us to see the heinousness of our own iniquities in the stroaks which others have felt before our eyes And we may justly expect that like sins will have like ends if there be a continuance in provocation Examples are purpurposely set before us that we may not lust after evil things 1 Cor. 10. 6. that we may be admonished to turn out of those paths which have led others to ruin But especially when the rod does fall upon our own backs God calls upon us in a more perceivable and sensible way to turn to him The design of the rod is to imbitter sin both to the flesh and to the conscience and that it may not any longer be imagined delightful which is the procuring cause of every stripe that is endured The rod has a voice as well as the Word which 't is our wisdom to hear When affliction is laid upon the sinners â—oyns by it the Lord speaks such kind of â—anguage Jer. 2. 17. Hast thou not procured â—his unto thy self by sin to turn from thine â—niquity is to consult thine own ease let the â—ain of the rod which yet is nothing to the â—ains of Hell convince thee that
towards the unconverted Those who are turned have escaped danger and they cannot but be moved with others peril How can they chuse but mourn over their relations and acquaintance that are without Christ and God in the world Oh what hazard do such run when they go to sleep they know not but they may wake in the midst of flames that are unquenchable when they go out of their houses they may be in hell before they return They hang over the bottomless pit by the small thread of their lives and a thousand things may happen every day sufficient to break that thread asunder and then in they fall without redemption Oh doleful state of the ungodly If thou who art a religious Wife shouldst wake in the night and find thy Husband stone dead by thee would it not extreamly amaze and grieve thee Or if thou who art the Master of a family shouldst find all thy children and servants of a sudden dead before thy eyes would not thy heart be extreamly affected And surely if thy Husband thy Wife thy Children thy Servants are dead in sins in danger of being for ever damned much more reason hast thou to be concerned for them and to endeavour by advise and prayers and tears to have them turned and reconciled unto God Now Reader Try thy self by these signs of Conversion if thou findest them in thy self thou mayest rejoyce for these plainly shew that thy name is written in the Book of Life But if any sin be loved if thy mind and conscience and heart and life be all defiled and as thou art unrenewed so thou hast no desire after renewing grace if thou delightest in the carnal and art an hater of Saints This shews to conversion thou art a stranger and to this hour art in the gall of bitterness Use II. Of Terror Whoever thou art high or low rich or poor male or female that readest these lines and wast never turned I am sent to thee from God with heavy tydings such as if thou wert not a bruit a stock would make thee like Belshazzar when upon the view of the hand-writing upon the wall his countenance was changed his thoughts troubled him the joynts of his loyns were loosed and his knees smoâ—e one against another Dan. 5. 6. I am to prophecy not good concerning thee but evil I have a roll to deliver thee but 't is written within and without with lamentation and mourning and wo. Thou art perhaps jolly and secure but this is like the mirth and laughter of a sick man out of his senses which argues his distemper to be the sorer Alas sinner Thou hast not reason so much as once to smile while in a state of nature How many threatnings are denounced against thee And suppose thou wert surrounded with Cannons all ready at once to be discharged at thee these would be nothing neer so dreadful as the threatnings and curses which the just and jealous God has uttered Open thy eyes and look which way thou wilt enough may be perceived to cause thy heart to meditate terror above an angry God below a flaming Hell behind an innumerable host of sins pursuing thee before Satan and the world leading thee along in the broad way to destruction But more particularly I would have these following Truths laid to heart 1. Whilst thou art unconverted thou art also unpardoned Thou standest indebted many thousand talents and not so much as one mite of all that debt is paid The least transgression does make thee liable to the curse of the Law and guess then what an accursed wretch thy many and thy mighty sins have made thee Upon thy returning acknowledging of thy iniquity God has engaged to do it away he will lay the load upon the back of a Mediator but if thou wilt not consent to be turned thou alone must bear it Sin is another kind of thing than thou imaginest Adams first transgression in eating the forbidden fruit which was aggravated because he would have been as God and he believed the Serpent and made God a lyar and which was indeed a rejecting of the whole Covenant of life made with him Oh! how did it make himself to smart and not only himself but his whole progeny are the worse for it And if one sin has brought a curse upon all the children of men think O soul how thou wilt be able to stand under all the sins thou hast committed Sin does make the whole Creation groan it makes the damned to lament and to despair and will be an intolerable load for ever sin was found heavy by our Lord this caused his Agony and made his soul exceeding sorrowful even unto death Nay God himself complains that he is pressed with iniquity as a Cart is pressed which is full of sheaves And wilt thou sinner make light of it Oh! how heavy wilt thou one day feel it 2. Whilst unconverted thou art treasuring up more and more wrath against the day of wrath Thy scores are large already but every day thou runnest on the score afresh every day thou makest new wounds though conscience now be so stupid that it feels nothing As thy sin abounds proportionably the vials of divine indignation grow fuller which will at last be all emptied upon thy head Unnatural cruelty to be a Devil to thy self to be thy own souls murderer Thou art continually setting thy self at a greatter distance from God and engaging him more and more against thee who alone can be a refuge and salvation to thee Thou wilt perceive at last thou hast been thy own foe and acted to thy own confusion Jer. 7. 19. Do they provoke me to anger saith the Lord do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces 3. Whilst unconverted thou renderest thy self more and more unmeet for glory and blessedness The more impure thou art the more unfit also to see God The abominations which are loved and wrought by thee do make thee an improper inhabitant for the new Jerusalem The inheritance above is an inheritance of Saints 't is as an incorruptible so an undefiled inheritance 1 Pet. 1. 4. The company is all holy and so are the employments There is not a vain or sinful word spoken there nor an impure desire or thought to be found in any that are above And what wouldst thou do there among them unless a change be wrought in thee 4. If thou turnest not thou art sure to die As life is far off so death is neer The Psalmist tells us That God is angry with the wicked every day and if he turn not he hath whâ—t his sword he hath bent his bow and made it ready Psal 7. 11 12. And when the instruments of death are thus prepared 't is a sign God will make quick work and suddenly cut the offender off Death is called a King of Terrors and it well deserves that name in respect of the ungodly Then their good things are all received and the