Troven what is already said of the “necessity of conversion,” and of the miseries of the unconverted,” might be sufficient to induce any considerate mind to resolve upon a present turning unto God; yet, knowing what a piece of desperate obstinacy and untractableness the heart of man naturally is, I bave thought it necessary to add, to the means of conversion and directions for a covenant closure with God and Christ, some MoTIVES to persuade you to be reconciled to God.
Lord, fail me not now, at my last attempts. If any soul hath read hitherto, and is yet untouched, now, Lord, fasten on him, and do thy work; now take him by the heart, overcome him, persuade _ him, till he say, Thou hast prevailed, for thou art stronger than I. Lord, didst not thou make me a fisher of men, and have I toiled all this while and caught nothing? Alas, that I should have spent my strength for naught! and now I am casting my last; Lord Jesus, stand thou upon the shore, and direct how and where I shall spread my net; and let me so enclose with arguments the souls I seek, that they may not be able to get out. Now, Lord, for a multitude of souls; now for a full draught. O
Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me this once, O God.
But I turn me unto you.
Men and brethren, heaven and earth call upon you; yea, hell itself preaches the doctrine of repentance unto.you. The ministers of the churches labor for you. The angels of heaven wait for you, for your repenting and turning unto God. O sinner, why should devils laugh at thy destruction, and deride thy misery, and sport themselves with thy folly? This will be thy case, except thou turn.. And were it not better thou shouldst be-a joy to angels, than a laughing-stock and sport for devils? Verily, if thou wouldst but come in, the heavenly hosts would take up their anthems and sing, “” Glory to God in the highest;”’ the morning stars would sing together, and all the sons of God shout for joy, and celebrate this new creation as they did the first. Thy repentance would, as it were, make a holiday in heaven, and the glorious spirits would rejoice, in that there is a new brother added to their society, another heir born to the Lord, and the lost son received safe and sound. The true penitent’s ~tears are indeed the wine that maketh glad both God and man.: If it be little that men and angels would rejoice at thy conversion, know thou that God himself would rejoice over thee, even with singing,” and # rest in his love.” Never did Jacob with such joy weep over the neck of his Joseph, as thy heavenly Father would rejoice over thee upon thy coming to him. Look over the story of the Prodigal Son. Methinks I see how the aged father lays aside his state and forgetteth his years; behold, how he runneth!- O the haste that mercy makes: the sinner makes not half that speed. Methinks I see how his bowels move, how his compassions yearn. How quick-sighted is love! Mercy spies him a great way off;. forgets his’ riotous courses, unnatural rebellion, horrid unthankfulness—not a word of these —and receives him with open arms, clasps him about his neck, kisses him; calls for the fatted calf, the best robe, the ring, the shoes, the best cheer in heaven’s store, the best attire in heaven’s wardrobe. Yea, the joy-cannot be held in his own breast. Others must be called to participate. The friends sympathize; but none knows the joy the father has in his new-born son, whom he hath received from the dead. Methinks I hear the music at a distance. O the melody of the heavenly choristers! I cannot learn the song, Rev. 14: 3, but methinks I overhear the burden; at which all the harmonious choir with one consent strike sweetly in: “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” I need not farther explain the parable: God is the father: Christ is the provision; his righteousness the robe; his grace the ornaments; ministers, saints, and angels, the friends and servants; and thou that readest, if thou wilt but unfeignedly repent and turn, the welcome prodigal, the happy instance of this grace, the blessed subject of this joy and love.
O rock; O adamant! What, not moved yet; not yet resolved to turn forthwith and to close with mercy? I will try thee yet once again. If one were sent to thee. from the dead, wouldst thou be persuaded? Why, hear the voice from the dead, from the damned, crying to thee that thou shouldst repent: “I pray thee that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house; for I have five brethren; that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torment: if one went to them from the dead, they will repent.” Hear, O man; thy predecessors in impenitence preach to thee from the infernal flames, that thou shouldst repent. O look down into the bottomless pit; seest thou how the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever? What thinkest thou of those chains of darkness? Canst thou be content to burn? Seest thou how the worm gnaweth, how the fire rageth? What sayest thou to that gulf of perdition; wilt thou take up thine habitation there? O lay thine ear to the door of hell: hearest thou the curses and blasphemies, the weepings and wailings, how they lament their follies and curse their day? How do they roar and gnash their teeth; how deep their groans; how inconceivable their miseries! If the shrieks of
Korah, Dathan, and -Abiram, were so terrible, when the earth clave asunder, and opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and all that appertained to them, that all Israel fled at the cry of them, O how fearful would the ery be, if God should take off the covering from the mouth of hell, and let the cry of the damned ascend in all its terror among the children of men! And of all their moans and miseries this is the piercing, killing emphasis and burden, “For ever; for ever!” “oe
As God liveth that made thy soul, thou art but a few hours distant from all this, except thou ‘“repent and be converted.”
O, I am even lost and swallowed up in the abundance of those arguments that I might suggest. If there be any point of wisdom in all the world, it is to repent and come in. If there be any thing righteous, any thing reasonable, this is it. If there be any thing that may be called madness and folly, and any thing that may be counted sottish, absurd, brutish, and unreasonable, it is this, “to go on in thine unconverted state.” Tet me beg of thee, as thou wouldst not willingly destroy thyself, sit down and weigh, besides what has been said, these following motives, and let conscience say if it be not most reasonable that thou shouldst repent and turn.”
1. The God that made thee, most graciously invites thee. His most sweet and merciful nature invites thee. O the kindness of God, his boundless compassion, his tender mercies! As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his ways above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts. “He is full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy.” This is a great argument to persuade sinners to come in: “Turn unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”
If Godewould not repent of the evil, it would be some discouragement to our repenting. If there. were no hope of mercy, it would be no wonder that rebels should stand out; but never had subjects such a gracious prince, such pity, patience, and clemency to deal with, as you have. “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity?” Micah 7:18. O sinners, see what a God you have to deal with: if you will but turn, “he will turn again, and have compassion on you; he will subdue your iniquities, and cast all your sins into the depths of the sea.” Return unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will return unto you.” Sinners do not fail in that they have too high thoughts of God’s mercies, but in that, 1. They overlook his justice. 2. They promise themselves mercy out of God’s way. His mercies are beyond all imagination; great mercies, manifold mercies, Neh. 9: 19, tender mercies, sure mercies, everlasting mercies; and all is thy own, if thou wilt but turn. Art thou willing to come in? The Lord hath laid aside his terror and erected a throne of grace. He holds forth the golden sceptre: touch and live. Would a merciful man slay his enemy when prostrate at his feet, acknowledging his wrong, begging pardon, and offering to enter with him into a covenant of peace? Much less will the merciful God. Study his name. Exodus 84:7. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Also read experience, Neh. 9: 17.
His soul-encouraging calls and promises invite thee. Ah, what an earnest suitor is mercy to thee; how lovingly, how instantly, it calleth after thee; how earnestly it wooeth thee! Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause my-anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever; only acknowledge thine iniquity. Turn, O. backsliding children, saith the Lord; return, and I will heal thy backslidings. Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return unto me, saith the Lord.” As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that he turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” “If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All the transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him; in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live. Repent, and turn you from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”
O melting, gracious words: the voice of God, and not of a man! This is not the manner of men, for the offended sovereign to sue to the offending traitorous rebel. O how doth mercy follow thee, and plead with thee!” Is not thy heart broken yet? O that “to-day you would hear his voice.” 2. The doors of heaven are thrown open to thee, the everlasting gates are set wide for thee, and an abundant entrance into the kingdom of heaven is administered to thee.
Christ now addresses thee, and calls upon thee to arise and take possession of this good land. View the glory of the other world, as set forth in the map of the Gospel; get thee up into the Pisgah of the promises, and lift up thine eyes northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward, and see the good.land that is beyond Jordan, and that goodly mountain; behold the Paradise of God, watered - with the streams of glory. Arise and walk through the land, in the length of it, and in
the breadth of it; for the land which thou seest, the Lord will give it to thee for ever, if thou wilt but return. Let me say to thee, as Paul to Agrippa, “Believest thou the prophets?”’ If thou believest indeed, do but view what glorious things are spoken of the city of God, and know that all this is here tendered in the name of God to thee. As verily as God is true, it shall be for ever thine, if thou wilt but thoroughly turn.,
Behold the city of pure transparent gold, whose foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones, whose gates are pearls, whose light is glory, whose temple.is God. Believest thou this? If thou dost, art thou not beside thyself, that wilt not take possession when the gates are thrown open to thee, and thou art bid to enter? O ye sons of folly, will ye embrace the dunghill and refuse the kingdom? Behold, the Lord takes you up into the mountain, shows you the kingdom of heaven and all the glory thereof, and tells you, All this will I give you, if you will but return unto me; if you will submit to mercy, accept my Son, and serve me in righteousness and holiness. “” O fools, and slow of heart to believe!” Will you seek and serve the world, and neglect eternal glory? What, not enter. into Paradise when the flaming sword, which was once set to keep you out, is now used to drive you in? But you will say I am uncharitable, to think you infidels and unbelievers. What, then, shall I
think of you? Either you are desperate unbelievers, that do not credit it; or beside yourselves, that you know and believe the excellence and eternity of this glory, and yet do so fearfully neglect it.
Do but attend to what is offered you: a blessed kingdom, a “kingdom of glory,” a “kingdom of righteousness,” a kingdom of peace,” and an “everlasting kingdom.” Here thou shalt dwell, here thou shalt reign for ever, and the Lord shall seat thee on a throne of glory, and with his own hand shall set the royal diadem upon thine head, and give thee a crown—not of thorns, for there shall be no sinning nor suffering there; not of gold, for this shall be viler than the dirt in that day; but a “crown of life,” a “crown of righteousness,” a “crown of glory,” yea, “thou shalt put on glory as a robe,” and shalt ‘“shine like. the sun in the firmament, in the glory of thy Father.” Look now upon thy worthless flesh. This flesh, which is mere dust and ashes, shall be brighter than the stars. In short, thou shalt be made like unto the “angels of God,” and “behold his face in righteousness.” Look in now and tell me, Dost thou yet believe? if not, conscience must pronounce thee an infidel; for it is the very “word of God that I speak.
But if thou sayest thou believest, let me next know thy resolution. Wilt thou embrace this for thy happiness? Wilt thou forego thy sinful gains, thy forbidden pleasures? Wilt thou trample on the world’s esteem, and stop thy ears to its flatteries, and wrest thee out of its embraces? Wilt thou be content to take up with reproach and poverty, if they lie in the way to heaven, and follow the Lord with humble self-denial, in a mortified and fleshdispleasing life? If so, all is thine, and that for ever. And is not the offer a fair one? Is it not just that he should be damned that will go on and perish; when all this may be had by taking it? Wilt thou take God at his word; wilt thou let go thy hold of the world, and rid thy hands of thy sins, and lay hold on eternal life? If not, let conscience tell thee whether thou art not beside thyself, that thou shouldst neglect so happy a choice, by which thou mightest be made happy for ever.
3. God will settle unspeakable privileges at present upon thee.” Though the full of your blessedness shall be reserved till hereafter, yet God will give you no little things in hand. He will redeem you from your thraldom. He will pluck you from the paw of the lion. The serpent shall bruise thy heel, but thou shalt bruise his head. He shall deliver you from this present evil world. Prosperity shall not destroy you; adversity shall not separate him and you. He will redeem you from the power of the grave, and make the king of terrors a messenger of peace to you. He will take out the curse from the cross, and make affliction the refining-pot, the fan, the medicine, to blow off the chaff, purify the metal, and cleanse the mind. He will save you from the arrest of the law, and turn the curse into a blessing to you. He hath the keys of hell and of death, and shutteth and no man openeth, and he will shut its mouth, as once he did the lions’, that you shall not be hurt of the second death.
Besides, he will not only save you from misery, but install you into unspeakable prerogatives. He will bestow himself upon you; he will be a friend and a father unto you. He will be a sun and a shield to you. In a word, he will be a God to you. And what can be said more? What may you expect that a God should do for you, and be to you? “That he will be, that he will do. She that marries a prince expects he should do for her like a prince, that she may live in suitable state, and have an answerable dowry: he. that hath a king for his father or a friend, expects he should do for him like a king. Alas, the kings and monarchs of the earth, so much above you, are but like the painted butterflies amongst the rest of their kind, or the fair colored palmer-worm amongst the rest of the worms, if compared with God. As he infinitely exceeds the glory and power of his glittering dust, so he will, beyond all proportion, exceed in doing for his favorites whatever princes can do for theirs. He will “give you grace and glory, and withhold no good thing from you.” He will take you for his sons and daughters, and make you heirs of his promises, and establish his everlasting covenant with you. He will justify you from all that law, conscience, and Satan can charge upon you. He will give you free access into his presence, and accept your person, and receive your prayers. He will abide in you, and hold a constant and friendly communion with you. His ear shall be open, his door open, his store open, at all times to you. ~ His blessing shall rest upon you, and he will make your enemies to serve you, and work out “all things for good unto you.”
4. The terms of mercy are brought as low as possible to you. God has stooped as low to sinners as with honor he can. He will not be the author of sin, nor stain the glory of his holiness: and how could he come lower than he has, unless he should do this?
God does not impose any thing unreasonable or impossible, as a condition of life, upon you. - Two things were necessary to be done, according to the tenor of the first covenant. 1. That we should fully satisfy the demands of justice for past offences. 2. That we should perform personally, perfectly, and perpetually, the whole law for the time to come. By our sins we render salvation through either of these ways impossible. But behold God’s gracious provision in both. He does not insist upon satisfaction: he is content to take of the Surety, and he of his own providing too, what he might have exacted from you. 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.” He declares himself to have received a ransom; and that he expects nothing but that you should accept his Son, “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption;” and he shall be righteousness and redemption to you, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness.” If you come in Christ, and set your heart to please him, making this your chief concern, he will graciously accept you.
O consider the condescension of your God; let me say to you, as Naaman’s servant to him, “My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much rather when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean!” If God had demanded some terrible, some severe and rigorous thing of you, to escape eternal damnation, would you not have done it? Suppose it had been to spend all your days in sorrow in some howling wilderness, or pine with famine, would you not have thankfully accepted eternal redemption, though these had been the conditions? Nay, farther, if God had told you that you should burn in the fire for millions of ages, or be so long tormented in hell, would you not have accepted it? Alas, all these are not so much as one grain of sand in the glass of eternity. If your offended Creator should have holden you but one year upon the rack, and then bidden you come and forsake your sins, accept Christ, and serve him a few years in self-denial, or lie in this case for ever and ever; do you think you should have hesitated at the offer, and disputed the -terms, and have been unresolved whether you were to accept of the proposal? O sinner, return and live; why shouldst thou die when life is to be had for taking, when mercy entreats thee to be saved? Couldst thou say, “Lord, I knew thee, that thou wast a hard man,” even then thou wouldst have had no excuse; but when the God of heaven has stooped so low, and condescended so far, if still thou stand off, who shall plead for thee?
Objection. Notwithstanding all the advantages of the new covenant, I am unable to repent and believe, and so comply with its conditions.
Answer. These you may perform by God’s grace enabling; but let the next consideration serve for a fuller answer..
5. God doth offer all needed grace to enable you. “I have stretched out mine hand, and no man regarded.” ‘What-though you are plunged into the ditch of that misery from which you can never get Alleine’s Alarm. 12
out? Christ offereth to help you out; he reacheth out his hand to you; and if you perish, it is for refusing his help. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man open to me, I will come in.” What though you are poor, and wretched, and blind, and naked? Christ offereth a cure for your blindness, a covering for your nakedness, riches for your poverty; he tenders you his righteousness, his grace: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; and anoint thy eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Do you say, The condition is impossible; for I have not wherewith to buy? You must know that this buying is “without money and without price.” This buying is by begging and seeking with your whole heart. God commandeth thee to know him, and to fear him. Dost thou say, Yea, but my mind is blinded, and my heart is hardened from his fear? I answer, God doth offer to enlighten thy mind, and to teach thee his fear. So that now, if men live in ignorance and estrangement from the Lord, it is because they will not understand and desire the knowledge of his ways. “If thou criest after knowledge, if thou seekest her as silver, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Is not here a fair offer? “Turn ye at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my Spirit. unto you.” Though of yourselves you can do nothing, yet you may do all through his Spirit enabling you, and he offers assistance to you. God bids you “wash and make you clean.” You say you are unable, as much as the leopard to wash out his spots. Yea, but the Lord doth offer to cleanse you; so that if you are filthy still, it is through your own wilfulness; “I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged.” “O Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean? When shall it once be?” God invites you to be made clean, and entreats you to yield to him. O accept his offers, and let him do for you, and in you, what you cannot do for yourselves,