תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

unreasonable? Your consciences know, it is not; resolve on it then, before you stir. Knowing how much it concerns your souls. I beseech you, for the sake of that God who does command you, at whose bar you will shortly all appear, that you will not deny me this reasonable request. For the sake of those souls that must turn or die, I beseech you deny me not; make it your business to understand your own conditions, and build upon sure ground, atid know for certainty, whether you are converted or not; and venture not your own souls on negligent security.

But perhaps you will say, What if we should find ourselves yet unconverted, what shall we do then? This question leads me to my second doctrine.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

It is the promise of God, that the wicked shall live, if they will turn to him.

THE Lord here professes that this is what he takes pleasure in, that the wicked turn and live. Turn and live, is as certain a truth as turn or die. Sinners, there are none of you who shall have cause to go home, and say I preach despair to you. Are we used to shut up the door of mercy against you? O that you would not shut it up against yourselves! Are we used to tell you that God will have no mercy on you though you turn? When did you hear a preacher say such a word? You that bark at the preachers of the gospel for desiring to keep you out of hell, and say that they preach despair; tell me, when did you ever hear any sober man say, that there is no hope for you, tnough you repent and be converted? No, it is quite the contrary which we daily proclaim from the Lord; that whoever is born again, shall be saved: so far are we from persuading you to despair o this, that we persuade vou not to make any doubt it. It is life, and

?

not death, which is the first part of our message to you; our commission is to offer salvation, a speedy, glorious, everlasting salvation, to every one of you: to the poorest beggar as well as to the greatest lord; to the worst of you, even to drunkards, swearers, thieves, yea, to the despisers and reproachers of the holy way of salvation: we are commanded by the Lord our Master to offer you a pardon for all that is past, if you will now at last return and live; we are commanded to beseech and entreat you to accept the offer, and to tell you what preparation is made by Christ, what mercy stays for you, what patience waiteth on you, what thoughts of kindness God has towards you, and how happy, how certainly and unspeakably happy, you may be if you will. We have indeed also a message of wrath and death, yea, of a two-fold wrath and death; but neither of them is our principal message: we must tell you of the wrath that is on you already, and the death that you are born under; but this is only to show you the need of mercy. For who will seek out for physic, that knows not he is sick? Our telling you of your misery, is not that which makes you miserable, but that which drives you to seek for mercy. It is you that have brought this death upon yourselves. We tell you also of another death, and much greater torment, which will fall on those who will not be converted. But as this is true, so it is but the last and saddest part of our message. We are first to offer you mercy, if you will turn: and it is only those that will not turn, nor hear the voice of mercy, to whom we must foretell damnation. If you will cast away your transgressions, and come at the call of Christ, and be converted, we have not a word of damning wrath, or death, to speak against you. I do here in the name of the Lord of life proclaim to you all, to the worst of you, to the greatest, to the oldest sinner, that you may have mercy and salvation if you will but turn. There is mercy in God; there is sufficiency in the satisfaction of Christ; the promise is free, and full, and universal; you may have life, if you will but turn. But then, as you love your souls, remember

[ocr errors]

what turning it is which the scripture speaks of. It is not to mend the old house, but to pull down all, and build anew, on Christ, the rock and sure foundation.

Yourselves are witnesses now, that it is salvation, and not damnation, which is the great doctrine I preach to you; and the first part of my message to you. Accept of this, and we shall go no farther; for we would not trouble you with the name of damnation, without necessity.

But if you will not be saved, there is no remedy, but damnation must take place. For there is no middle place between the two: you must have either life or death.

And we are not only to offer you life, but to show you the grounds on which we do it, and call you to believe that God does mean, indeed, as he speaks; that the promise is true, and extends conditionally to you as well as others.

If you ask, where is our commission for this offer? among a hundred texts of scripture, I will show it to you in these few.

First, you see it here in my text, and the following verses, and in the 18th of Ezekiel, as plain as can be spoken. And in 2 Cor. v. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, you have the very sum of our commission: If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself; not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled unto God: for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

You see that we are commanded to offer life unto you all, and to tell you from God, that if you will turn you may live.

Here you may safely trust your souls; for the love of God is the fountain of this offer,() and the blood of the Son of God has purchased it; the faithfulness and truth of God are engaged to make the promise good; miracles have sealed the truth of it; preachers are sent through the world to proclaim it; the sacraments are instituted for the solemn delivery of the mercy offered to them that will accept it; and the Spirit opens the heart to entertain it, and is itself the earnest of the full possession. So that the truth of it is past controversy, that the worst of you all, and every one of you, if you will but be converted, may be saved.

Indeed, if you believe that you shall be saved without conversion, then you believe a falsehood; and if I should preach that to you, I should preach a lie: this were not to believe God, but the devil and your own deceitful hearts. God has his promise of life, and the devil has his promise of life. God's promise is, return and live; the devil's promise is, you shall live whether you turn or not. The works of God are as I have showed you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.(m) Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.(n) Without holiness none shall see God.(o) The devil's word, 'You may be saved without being born again or converted; you may do well enough without being holy: God does but frighten you, he is more merciful than to do as he says, he will be better to you than his word, And, alas! the great-est part of the world believes this word of the devil, before the word of God; just as our first sin and misery came into the world. God said to our first parents, If ye eat, ye shall die. And the devil contradicts him, and says, Ye shall not die; and the woman believed him before God. So now the Lord saith, Turn or die: and the devil, says, You shall not die, if you do but cry to God for mercy at last. And this is the word which the world believes. O heinous ..wickedness, to believe the devil before God!

[ocr errors]

(1) John iii. 16. (m) Matt. xviii. S. (11) John iii. 3, 5. (0) Heb. xii.14.

And yet, that is not the worst; but blasphemously they call this a believing and trusting God, when they put him in the shape of Satan, who was a liar from the beginning; and when they believe that the word of God is a lie, they call this a trusting God, and say they believe in him, and trust in him for salvation. Where did ever God say, that the unconverted shall be saved? Show me such a word in scripture. I challenge you if you can. Why, this is the devil's word, and to believe it, is to believe the devil. And do you call this believing, and trusting God? There is enough in the word of God to comfort and strengthen the hearts of the sanctified: but not a word to strengthen the hands of wickedness, or to give men the least hope of being saved, though they be never sanctified.

But if you will turn, and come into the way of mercy, the mercy of the Lord is ready to entertain you. Then trust God for salvation, boldly and confidently: for he is engaged by his word to save you. He will be a father to none but his children, and he will save none but those that forsake the world, the devil, and the flesh, and come into his family to be 'members of his Son, and have communion with his saints. But if they will not come in, it is their own fault: his doors are open. He keeps none back: he is still ready to receive you, if you were but ready unfeignedly, and with all your hearts, to turn. And the fulness of this truth will yet more appear in the two following doctrines.

[ocr errors]
« הקודםהמשך »