Favour? Shouldest not thou wonder, that this immense and infinite Majesty will vouchsafe a gracious look to fo vile a Worm as thou art? And canft thou fee a God court thee, and grow coy? Doth God offer to kiss thee with the kiffes of his Lips, and doft thou fcorn his embraces? Canft thou fee him carefs thee, and turn away thy Face? Wilt thou prefer the motions of a lying Devil, before the Oracles of the great God of Heaven? Hadit thou rather go along with him that will murther thee, than accompany him that will encircle thy Head with a Crown of Glory? Shall God magnifie his Mercy upon thee, and wilt thou fall in love with his Enemy? Doth God intend, by making love to thy Soul, to give a character to the World of his infinite goodness and compaffion, and darest thou be To bold as to leffen that character, by thy contempt and ingratitude? Behold, Sinner, God is willing to lay aside his flaming Sword; thou shalt hear of him no more in the Earthquake, or in the Storm, or in the mighty Wind, that breaks the Rocks in pieces, but in the still small voice: The voice of Boanerges fhall found no more in thy Ears, he'll blow his Trumpet of War no more, all his frowns fhall be done away, he'll fright thee no more with Hellfire; if his Grace, his Mercy, his Compaffion can but allure thee to bethink thy felf, and close with him, and fo to confider the concerns of thy Soul, as to refign thy felf altogether to his guidance and direction: his Aspect shall be kind, his Countenance shall be nothing but Smiles, his Face fhall be a perpetual Sun-shine, if by by Confideration of thy ways, thou wilt become fenfible of thy former folly, and throw it away, and take up with him alone: If his kindly beams can thaw thy frozen Heart, if his Calm can win thee, and make thee proftrate thy felf before the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Heaven and Earth fhall be no longer in confpiration against thee, and thou shalt not need to look any more for Thunders and Lightnings from that Heaven! Stand ftill, Sinner, and fee the Salvation of God; behold, Grace and Mercy lies weeping at thy Feet; the free, the fovereign, the extenfive, the attractive Grace of God comes wooing to thy Soul, and doth befpeak thee in this manner; Hold, hold, thou poor befotted Creature, whither doft thou run? Hear, hear, Ibring thee the joyfulleft tidings, that ever were brought to the ears of Men; God will be thy Father, the Lord Jefus thy Saviour, the Holy Ghoft thy Comforter, the Angels thy Companions; thy Life fhall be a perpetual Holyday; thou fhalt be a Friend of God, an Heir of Heaven, and Co-heir with Chrift, thy fins fhall be all done away, thy iniquities fhall be remembered no more, all the promises of the Gospel shall be all thine, God will vouchfafe to live with thee, the Holy Ghoft will make thy Soul his Temple, thou fhalt have ftrength to overcome Hell and Devils, Flames and Swords, and be more than a Conqueror, through him that loved thee, the Lord Jefus Chrift: Ask a Heaven, and thou shalt have it; a Crown, and it fhall be thrown into thy bofom; a Kingdom, and it shall be thine; ask all the Treasures of Glory, and they fhall < not not be denied thee: from this time forward thy Name shall be inrolled among the Favourites of Heaven, and in thy Soul, as in Jacob's Ladder, the Angels fhall be continually afcending and defcending, and thy Head, like Gideon's Fleece, fhall be watered with the dew of Heaven, while the unbelieving World shall be dry; and all this fhall be thine, if my Love, my Mercy, my Kindness can prevail with thee, and engage thee to think seriously, what thou must do to please God, and to be happy for ever. O Sinner, had those who now lie fweltring under the burning wrath of Almighty God fuch an offer as this, how would they leap, and triumph, and agree to fo reasonable a condition, and thank God upon their bended knees, day and night, and praise him without intermiffion, that he would vouchfafe to receive them, on no harder terms than these! O Sinner, is thy Heart a Stone, that it doth not diffolve at this gracious Meffage ? Can the Rock hold out against these bowels of Compaffion? Poor ftubborn Wretch! were not thy Heart all Steel, were not thy Confcience feared, how couldst thou forbear being prick'd at the Heart? Hadft thou but the least spark of good-nature left in thee, what might not thefe golden Chains, thefe Silken Strings, thefe Cords of Love, do with thy immortal Soul? The only reason that the Servants that Benbadad had, to humble themselves to the King of Ifrael, was this, We have heard that the Kings of Ifrael are merciful Kings. Sinner, haft not thou both heard and feen, and feeft it to this day, that the true King of Ifrael is a merciful merciful King? And will not this prevail with thee, to throw thy felf down at his Feet, and kifs his Scepter, and confider thy imprudence, in deviating fo long from the end of thy Creation and Redemption, and make thee contented to part with all the strong holds of iniquity within thee, and with all imaginations that exalt themselves against the obedience of Christ Jesus. O do not tell me, that thou wilt most certainly bethink thy felffome timehereafter, when ficknefs and approaching death fhall take thee off from thy worldly bufineffes; Vain foolish Man! How doft thou know thou fhalt live till to-Morrow? For, What is thy life? even a vapour that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. How many thousands are cut off as they are going up the Hill, in the Noon of their days, before half their race be run; and what Patent haft thou from Heaven, that it shall not be thus with thee? God laughs at that Repentance, which Men begin, when they can keep Sin and the World no longer; he fees it is forced, and fqueezed, and weak, and feeble; and will God accept of thy Devotion, when thou haft exhaufted the Cream and Marrow of thy Bones in the Devil's fervice? How, Sinner! Confider thy ways upon thy Death-bed? Mad Man! Doft thou know what Confideration means? The Soul must be in its full strength, that confiders the finfulness, and fad confequences of her life. Doit not thou fee, how in fickness the Soul fympathizes with the Body? How the Mind languishes with the Flesh? How weak, how feeble the Thoughts are upon a Death bed? bed? How the Mind is employed with thinking of the pain, and anguifh, and uneasiness of the Body? How Mens weakness scarce gives them leave to repeat the Lord's Prayer intire, without interruption? How fetling their Estates, and difpofing of their worldly Affairs, and Sorrow and Vexation that they have not managed their fecular Concerns with greater Prudence, takes up their Cogitations? And how tranfitory and fuperficial Men's Thoughts of Sin, and of another World are, except they have gotten a habit of Heavenly-mindednefs, by a long and conftant practice of Holinefs, in the time of their Health and Liberty before? And doth Salvation deserve no more, but a few flight and skin-deep reflections, when thou lieft a dying?. Canft thou have fuch low Thoughts of everlasting Glory, as to let Confideration of it come behind all the fatisfactions of the flesh? Canft thou entertain fuch pitiful fneaking Conceits, concerning that mighty Heaven, God, out of his fingular and unparallel'd Mercy, hath condescended to promife to his Saints, as to delay thy Contemplations, and thy taking a view of it, till thy Heart-strings break, and thy Throat begins to rattle, and the House is falling? Go ye curfed into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Alas! when Men are dying, the time of working is past, that's the Night wherein no Man can work; that's the time indeed to reap the comfort of our former confcientious Practices, but not the time to work out our Salvation in; that's the time of rejoycing, because our |
