תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

earnestness that I am able to use with thee, as ever thou wouldst escape the fruits of all thy sin, as ever thou wouldst see the face of God with comfort, and have him thy reconciled Father in Christ;-as ever thou wouldst have a saving part in Christ, and have him stand thy friend in thy extremities;-as ever thou wouldst have hope in thy death, and stand on the right hand, and be justified at judgment;-as ever thou wouldst escape the day of vengeance prepared for the unconverted, and the endless misery that will fall upon all unsanctified souls, as sure as the heaven is over thy head-see that thou resolve and turn to God, and trifle with him no more. Away with thy old transgressions;-away with thy careless worldly life;-away with thy ungodly company; and set thyself presently to seek after thy salvation with all thy heart, and mind, and might. I tell thee once more, that heaven and hell are not matters to be jested with; nor to be carelessly thought of, or spoken, or regarded. The God of heaven stands over thee now while thou art reading all these words, and he seeth thy heart, whether thou art resolved to turn or not. Shall he see thee read such urgent reasons, and yet wilt thou not resolve? Shall he see thee read these earnest requests, and yet not resolve? What! not come home to thy God, to thy Father, to thy Saviour, to thyself, after so long and wilful sinning? What! not to accept of mercy, now it is even thrust into thy hands; when thou hast neglected and abused mercy so long? O let not the just and jealous God stand over thee, and see thee guilty of such wickedness. If thou be a Christian, show thyself a Christian, and use thy belief, and come to God. If thou be a man, show thyself a man, and use thy reason, and come away to God. I beseech thee read over and over again the reasons that I have here offered thee, and judge whether a reasonable man should resist them, and delay an hour to come unto God. I that am now writing these lines of exhortation to thee, must shortly meet thee at the bar of Christ. I do now adjure thee, and charge thee in the name of the living God, that thou do not thyself and me that wrong, as to

make me lose this labour with thee, and that thou put me not to come in as a witness against thee to thy confusion and condemnation. Resolve therefore presently in the strength of Christ, and strike an unchangeable covenant with him. Get thee to thy knees, and bewail with tears thy former life, and deliver up thyself wholly now to Christ; and never break this covenant more.

If thou lay by the book, and go away the same, and no persuasion will do thee any good, but unholy thou wilt still be, and sensual, and worldly; I call thy conscience to witness, that thou wast warned of the evil that is near thee, and conscience shall obey this call, and bear me witness whether thou wilt or not: and this book, which thou hast read, which I intended for thy conversion and salvation, shall be a witness against thee: though age or fire consume the leaves and lines of it, yet God and conscience shall bring it to thy memory, and thou shalt then be the more confounded to think what reasons and earnest persuasions thou didst reject, in so plain, so great, and necessary a case.

But if the Holy Ghost will now become thy tutor, and at once both put this book into thy hand, and his heavenly light into thy understanding, and his life into thy heart, and effectually persuade thee to resolve and turn, how happy wilt thou be to all eternity! Make no more words of it; but answer my request, as thou wouldst do if thou wert in a burning fire, and I entreated thee to come out. Thou hast long enough grieved Christ and his Spirit, and long enough grieved thy friends and teachers: resolve this hour, and rejoice then that thou hast grieved; and now grieve the devil, that thou hast hitherto rejoiced; and hereafter grieve the wicked, and thy own deceitful flesh, whose sinful desires thou hast hitherto followed: and if thou also grieve thyself a little while, by that moderate sorrow that thy sin hath made necessary for thee, it will be but a preparative to thy endless joys; and the day is promised, and coming apace, when Satan that thou turnest from shall trouble thee no more, and God that thou turnest to shall wipe away all tears from thy eyes. And

if the reading of this book may be but a means of so blessed an end, as God shall have the glory, so when Christ cometh to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that do believe, (2 Thes. i. 10.) both thou and I shall then partake of the communication of his glory; if so be that I be sincere in writing, and thou and I sincere in obeying the doctrine of this book. Amen.

A

SERIOUS

ADDRESS

TO THE TRUE

PENITENT,

WHO INQUIRES,

"WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED."

CONTAINING,

I. Reflections on the Nature and Depth of penitential Sorrow. II. Directions proper for a half-awakened Sinner, who desires to be truly convinced of his Guilt and Danger.

III. Cautions against many false Ways of Healing a Conscience wounded by Sin.

IV. The evangelical Method of a sound Cure.

V. A Scriptural Testimony of God's Children concerning the
Excellency of this Method.

VI. Scriptural Invitations and Exhortations, to encourage a desponding Penitent to try this never-failing Method.

AND

VII. The happy Effect of such a Trial.

BY THE REV. JOHN FLETCHER.

"Is there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered ?" Jer. viii. 22.

LIVERPOOL.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY NUTTALL, FISHER, AND DIXON, Stereotype Edition.

« הקודםהמשך »