Repenting implies that it was their own Fault they did not which yet could not be unless God had first put it into them power to Repent but this it is plain he did not if nothing less than Irresistible Grace could have brought them to Repentance Now this Consideration that the Means of Grace are Resistible should make us extreamly cautious of driving off our Repentance and Amendment of Life in expectation of some mighty irresistible Act of God to save us the labour of turning our selves to him There is no doubt but God can over-rule the most stubborn and inflexible Wills of Men and bear them down in spight of all their Reluctancies into the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel And had hepromised them so to do they might safely have depended upon him But since he has made no such Promise and does every day permit Incorrigible Sinners to resist his Holy Spirit and withstand the Gospel till they have sinned beyond the possibility of Repentance How should this awaken those that have any purposes of Repenting at all to put themselves beyond the danger of miscarrying for ever by a ready and immediate execution of them The last care that God will ever take of the Salvation of Men is long since discovered to them in the Gospel And by an experience of many hundred years it is evident in all Churches that the Gospel does not carry an Irresistible Force along with it It gives men all the Reason and Assures them of all the Help and Assistance that can be reasonably desired to persuade them into a compliance with it and there it leaves them i. e. it leaves them to their choice to accept or refuse its Proposals and so to be Happy or Miserable as they please So that if men will not take any pains with themselves to understand their Everlasting Interest and to stoop their minds to the Obedience of the Gospel but wait to see what God will do with them they will find that he will not drive them into Heaven against their Wills 2. Hence it folows that the Impenitency of men under the Gospel is to be ascribed to their own wilful and incorrigible Temple and not to any weakness or insufficiency in the Gospel to reform and sanctifie them The Gospel has sufficiently verified what it speaks of it self that it is the Power of God to Salvation The Conversions it has wrought in the World from all kinds of Superstition Wickedness and Impiety abundantly testifie the Divine Virtue and Efficacy of it And what is all along supposed in this Discourse the Good Spirit of God is always ready to bless the Means of his own Appointment and to make them effectual to his own Gracious Ends and Purposes without respect of Persons where men do not distinguish themselves by their wilful neglect or perverse and peremptory Opposition to them This being the case there can be no other reason why the Gospel at any time fails of its Blessed Effect but the stupid and inflexible Temper of those that live unprofitably under the mighty influences of it And hence St. Paul imputes the Impenitency of such men to their Despising the Goodness and Forbearance of God Rom. 2.4 and not knwoing that the Goodness of God leadeth to Repentance Which surely he would not have done had he known the While that God was not so Good unto them as to furnish them with sufficient Grace to Repent withal Considering then what Different Effects the ministration of the Gospel has upon the Hearts and Lives of Men and the reason why some are hardned while others are inllightned and renewed in the Spirit of their Minds we see there lies a great deal upon our endeavours to dispose and qualifie our Hearts lest the Word should not profit us which is able to save our Souls The Best Means of Grace the most Powerful Preaching in the World seconded by the mighty Operations of the Spirit will not soften our Hearts will not melt them into Repentance while we suffer them to be heardned by the Deceitfulness of Sin And there fore neither our Saviour nor his Apostles ever pretended to convert all that heard them or that saw them doing Miracles by the Finger of God There is a certain good Temper and ingenuity of Mind disposing us to be just to our selves and to the Truths we hear which is requisite to our Edification by them Judas heard as Good Preaching and certainly got as little Good by it as ever any man did His eager desire of Wealth and Worldly Gains which seem to have been his Aim in keeping close to our Saviour hoping according to the Common Opinion that he would have proved a Great Temporal Monarch had so perverted his Mind that the Best Instructions and the most Absolute Example of Virtue and Piety that ever the World had could not prevail with him to be Virtuous and Good We should therefore be very cautious lest the same Word which is a Savour of Life to others should prove a Sentence of Death and Condemnation to our Selves But I hasten to the third and last Observation viz. 3d. Obser Than the final condition of those that reject the Gospel and continue impenitent under the ministration of it will be more grievous and intolerable than theirs that were never called to Repentance by it So our Saviour told the Cities of Corazin and Bethsaida It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judg than for you i.e. they that have only resisted the Light of Nature shall then receive a milder Sentence than you that have Guides and Instructors from Heaven that have had the Son of God among you that have rejected his Doctrine disregarded his Miracles and refused the Greatest Salvation that was ever offered to men Now that this Wo belongs to all that obey not the Gospel preached to them tho they never heard a syllable from Christ himself or saw the least of those Mighty Works with which he upbraids the Galileans in the Text will appear if we consider that God has provided as well for the Faith of the Church in this and all future Ages as he did for that of the Jews that lived in the days of our Saviour And if there be as much reason now to believe the Gospel as there was in our Saviour's time 't is certain there is as much reason to fear th Threatnings denounced in it against Impenitent Sinners I know we are apt to fansie that the Hearers of Christ's Doctrine and the Spectators of his Miracles stood in much better light to discern the Divinity of them than we do at this day But wherein does the great difference lie They saw Christ in the Flesh Isa 53.2 3. but they saw no Beauty in him that they should Dosire him yea they saw him in so humble a Guise and Habit as raised their Contempt more than their Admiration of him They had but the same Prophesies concerning his comeing and the Quality
and our Hearts warmed with Fervent and Divine Affections to converse entirely with him who is the Foundation of all Wisdom and Grace To have free access to his Infinite Treasures of Mercy and Goodness a freedom to ask all that we want and a promise to receive all that we ask to be employed in the solemn Praises of God the Great Employment of Heaven and one of the Chief Delights of Eternity To hear his Sacred Oracles expounded the Mysteries of our Religion unfolded the Precepts of it explained the Motives to it Inforc'd the sins against it detected and removed and the concernment of all digested into Plain Lessons and Rules of Practice How justly may we expect the sweet Illapses and cherishing Influences of the Divine Spirit when we meet together for these blessed ends and are engaged in these holy Exercises Especially when to these we add the frequent Receiving of the Lord's Supper and Institution peculiarly adapted to Coufirmation and Improvement of all Christian Graces In this Solemnity we have the Tenderest and most Engaging Representation of Infinite Obligations which our Blessed Redeemer laid upon us to mortifie our sins which Crucified him to tread in the steps of his most Holy Life and to become his Peculiar People being zealous of Good Works Besides this Sacrament is a Federal Rite in which we solemnly renew our former Vows and oblige our selves by the sacred Pledges of Christ's Body and Blood to remember what he has required of us as well as what He has done and suffered for us To give up our selves entirely to his Service and to perform the Covenant we entred into when we were Baptized into his Name And what can be of Greater force to bind us to the Obedience of our Blessed Lord than such a solemn Vow and Profession as this If the Holy Bands of the Covenant will not hold us 't is to be feared that nothing will ever do it Now if we frequently engage in these Duties and exercise the Graces that are proper to them this in a short time will turn to a mighty account every good Act will strengthen the Habit and invigorate the Principle it flows from And we shall certainly experience the Truth of that Promise Psal 92.13 14. Those that are Planted in the House of the Lord shall Flourish in the Courts of our God They shall still bring forth Fruit in Old Age they shall be fat and flourishing 3. Private Devotion is another help to the Growth of Grace and Piety Our Hearts are of that Temper in the Best Frame that ever they were in so suddenly cool'd and so apt to return to their Natural Hardness that we can never thrive long in our Spiritual Estate without the constant Influences of Divine Grace And since these depend upon our frequent and fervent Prayers and the Intervals of publick Prayer are generally much longer than those between our Temptations it concerns us the mean while to recruit our selves by our private and serious Applications to the Throne of Grace to which weare encouraged by very Gracious and Engaging Promises And that we may do this to the best advantage we shall do well to observe certain and stated Times of Retiring to our Closets and Praying to Our Father in Secret And when we meet with any Interruptions to make them up as well as we can either by falling into some Pious Discourse or by short Petitions and Praises which the Busiest Hour of our Lives can hardly unless we will deprive us of the benefit of The Advantages of this course are not easie to be enumerated The breathing out our Souls to God in holy Fervours and Supplications when there is no Eye or Ear but his to regard us is one of the greatest Tokens of our sincerity towards him And that is the greatest assurance we can have that our Prayers will be heard and that we shall not want Grace to help us in time of need Besides it raises our minds into a Heavenly Frame It keeps up a lively sense of God in our Hearts It disposeth us to do him more chearful and faithful Service It enlarges our Capacities and widens our Souls and fits us for fuller communications of his Favour and Goodness In a word it cherishes all the great Principles of Virtue and Piety in us 4. To accustom our selves to consider that God's Eye is continually upon us The Reverence every good man has for the Great and Glorious God when it is awakened with an actual apprehension of his Inspection over him must have a mighty power over his Spirit and effectually excite him to do every thing in the manner he knows to be most acceptable to him We see the force of this Incentive in some measure in the influence which a Fathers Eye or the presence of a Great Man has upon the Virtue and Behaviour of his Children or Inferiours The sight of such a Witness of their Actions commands their Reverence and inflames their Ambition to demean themselves sutably to the regard they owe to the Presence they are in Much more were our Minds possest with a Lively Sence of God's All-discovering Eye that He is wheresoever we are and observes whatsoever we do should we find our selves moved to do the best that we can to please him and this desire would quicken our endeavours and our endeavours would improve our graces The Objects of Faith are much greater than the Objects of Sence and therefore the Lively Apprehension of an Invisible Object and especially of Him in whom we are infinitely more concerned than in all Heaven and Earth together must needs be more Powerful than the clearest sensible Perception And this is apparently the Ground of that Rule of Perfection which God gave to Abraham Gen. 17.1 Walk before me and be thou perfect 5. Due enquiry into the Nature and Consequence of things and especially of those Actions which are like to Determine the main Course of our Lives before we actually engage in them The want of this care has occasion'd many serious and hopeful Persons to run themselves into a state of Temptation which in spight of their Future Caution has proved a mighty Clog and Hindrance to their Progress in Virtue and Goodness perhaps ever after On the other hand a timely inspection into any state of Life which falls under our choice might prevent a thousand Snares into which we often betray our selves by our Rashness and Folly We see many cast away at their first Launching out into the World meerly by carrying more Sail than Ballast Nor is any thing more visible than that Right Judgment at the first in choosing our Callings and contracting our Friendships and Alliances conduces very much to secure our Virtue and make our Proficiency in it by many degrees more easie and considerable 6. It will likewise contribute to our Improvement in Grace to take a frequent view of our Spiritual Estate By observing and bewailing our Defects and Failings we shall be strongly
excited to amend them And this will make us more humble more sensible of our Dependence upon god and more importunate with him for a greater measure of his Spirit to preserve us from the like Miscarriages for the future This will send us to his Mercy-seat covered with shame and sorrow for the pardon of our sins And the bitterness of them will call to mind the Pleasure and satisfaction we formerly enjoyed in the sense of his Favour through the Faithful Discharge of our Duty to him And this will fire our Hearts with a holy indignation against our selves for the dishonour we have done to God and our Redeemer the waste we have made of our Inward Peace and the opportunities we have lost of doing Great and Glorious Things for our selves of establishing our Peace with God and insuring our Election to Eternal Life All which do naturally tend to provoke us to the greatest care to approve our selves to God for the time to come which is a steady and Universal Principle of true Virtue and Holiness 7. Lastly Serious and Frequent Contemplation upon the Joys and Glories of the Heavenly State will surely cast our Minds into a more Spiritual Frame Refine our Conversations and Improve our Graces 'T is true an exact Idea of Heaven is not to be attained at this distance from it But did we often consider what we have read and believe of that Glorious Place we should certainly feel our selves inspired with Nobler Thoughts and Brisker Resolutions in relation to it we should not santer up and down after earthly Vanities nor give way to every Petty Discouragement and Mean Temptation and so make our Journey more heavy and tedious than we need as if we were afraid of coming too soon to our Happiness The Glories which are above were we better acquainted with them would darken all these inferiour Beauties which captivate our Souls the smile of Pleasures the shine of Riches and the lustre of Honours Did we six our minds where true Joys and Felicities are to be found the gloss of worldly excellencies would vanish and disappear as lesser Lights lose their Brightness at the appearance of the Greater There would be little danger of Loitering in the Way or falling short of the end of our Hope if we would but keep our Eye upon those Happy Regions above and consider what Mighty Joys are there what Massie Crowns are laid up for the Lovers of God and Goodness We should be all Life and Spirit even in those very Duties which now go off so heavily with us we should cut through all Difficulties and soar above all Temptations from this lower World if the other was always in our view and our Hearts were filled with the expectation of it This would raise our Spirits and elevate our Souls till we should even touch and feel the Pleasures of the Heavenly State And indeed the only way for those that are in a languishing state of Grace to recover into a healthful and thriving temper is to strengthen their Appetite to Heavenly things by livelier apprehensions of the Glory and Reality of them By this they will quickly come to loath the Husks and Trash of this World and retrieve the strength and vigour they have lost by their eagerness after them 3. The third thing propounded was to warn you of the great Hinderances and Obstructions to your Spiritual Growth 'T is evident that Remisness in any of the former Duties will defeat the Design and Efficacy of them And therefore every Neglect and Error in the use of those Means is to be carefully avoided as an obstruction to the end of Growing better Besides which I shall briefly remind you of these three Impediments 1. False and mistaken Notions in matters of Religion Some think they were Reprobated from Eternity and therefore never were in a State of Grace and then to what purpose should they think of Growing in it Others that they cannot fall from Grace because they were absolutely Elected And the same Persons are commonly of Opinion that every degree of Grace is wrought in them by the immediate Operation of the Spirit tho they freely acknowledge the use of Means This I confess is a very Ingenuous acknowledgment because it is undoubtedly true that they ought to use Means and it is apparently against themselves when they speak against the immediate workings of the Spirit But I the rather think that their Opinions are not true because they manifestly tend to check and stifle their endeavours after Grace and Holiness tho I verily believe they have not this effect upon some very serious Persons through their Happy Ignorance of the consequences of them If we are sure that we are absolutely elected to Eternal Life Phil. 2.12 I cannot see why we should work out our Salvation as St. Paul exhorts us with fear and Trembling because there can be no Fear that an Absolute Decree should fail And then to what purpose is it to make use of means if the Operations of the Spirit do immediately produce their Effects For if they do so there would be no room left for the use of Means unless there can be an immediate Cause that works its Effect by Means i. e. that does not work it immediately And what is this but to render all the Means of Increasing Holiness in us utterly vain and ineffectual 2. Want of Vigilancy over the Faults and Weaknesses of our Natural Tempers When men first turn their Thoughts to Religion and their Eyes inwards they are deeply sensible of their more hainous and provoking sins and extreamly cautious of any Temptations to them but are seldom very watchful over the lesser Faults and Errors which are deeply rooted in their Constitutions and grow up from their Infancy with them These they are very apt to overlook and indulge as if they had a Right of Protection from them till they suffer them to shade and overtop their Graces There is no man of so clear a Disposition but he has some Flaws and Infirmities with his Excellent Temper And some Natures are so very bad that without a mighty care to manage and improve them nothing that is good will ever come to any Ripeness or Perfection in them And if it be rightly considered the want of this care is the manifest reason of the miscarriage of Men otherwise Virtuous and Good who are often transported into Great Disorders and Indecences by an unguarded Humour or unhappy disposition which they brought into the World with them and without long care and watchsulness is like to send them halting to their Graves 3. Spiritual Pride I mean Pride of Understanding in matters of Religion and an over weening conceit of more than ordinary Attainments in Holiness This alone is enough to blast the most hopeful beginnings in Virtue and Piety This is Root of every new Sect which brings forth the Bitter Fruits of Self-will Schism Error Envy and Animosity And I was going to say whatever obstructs