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THE
GREAT CONCERN
OF
SALVATION,
IN THREE PARTS.
I. A Discovery of MWs Natural State ; or, the Guilty Sinner Convietef.
II. Man's Recovery by Faith In Christ : or, the Convinced Sinner's Case and Cure.
III. The Christian's Duty, with respect to both Personal and Family Religion.
BY THE LATE REV. THOMJr VA'YBURTON.
PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREW5**
SCOTLAND. w
ELIZABETH TOWN:
PUBLISHED BY MERVIN HALE.
B. AND P. CANFIFLD, PRINTERS.
1814b.
■0750
i n
The Library of Congress
WASHINGTON
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PREFACE.
* * ERE it not to answer the expectation of readers, and comply with the custom of writers, the following book might be ventured out to the world, without either preface, introduction, or recommendation, the very title-page containing enough to entitle it to a careful and candid reading and perusal.
The worth and credit of the author is sufficiently established among such as have any taste for piety or learning.
By the history of his life, which has met with very good acceptance, it appears that he was a man of God, one whom he had set apart for him- self. How distinct and pointed was he in observing the Lord's way and work, in bringing him to himself! And where can we see a brighter ex- ample, in these latter Cays of the world, of the humbling exercises and comfortable enjoyment of Christians, than in the author ?
How exciting and edifying is it, to see how close he walked with God in his secret intercourse with him, in his domestic relations, and family devo- tions, in his public and ministerial work, and his conversation before the? world, setting' the Lord always before him, and acknowledging him, in all his ways !
May we not then expect something very well worth our while, in the performance of one of such a character ? One that had the contents of the book written upon his own heart, before he preached them to his people, and was a living and lively witness and example of the great and grave truths now exhibited to public view.
However little this part of his character may take with the multitude, yet those truly serious, who valued him while Living, and have an honour for his memory when dead, will, no doubt, take pleasure to see how the great purposes in the book were managed by such an excellent hand ; and the brethren that were concerned in the publishing of it, can, with a good deal of assurance, say, that the experience, upon perusing, will answer the expectations raised, of meeting with a spirit of seriousness and piety breathing in it, and a great deal of solid judgment and distinct thought ; and, in some incident questions, not incurious, there is sufficient evidence of his penetration, and what may be very agreeable and taking to them v ho set up for something above what is vulgar.
There is nothing in it mean, or unworthy of a grave, jnciicious and learned author: If any thing look that way, it is where the necessity of the matter, and capacity of those he dealt with, required it, becoming all things to all men ; particularly when dealing with children, it was fit to do it as near their own terms as possible : for to suit matter to the designs we have, and to the conditions of those we deal with, is no argument of the want, but of the strength of judgment.
He was excellently fitted and enriched with talents, for every post Providence called him to, having filled and adorned the Doctor's chair, as Professor of Divinity, as well as the pulpit, while Pastor to a Christian flock.
But though there had been less to say for the author, the contents of 4he book deserve a fair hearing, and a serious perusal ; why ? it is the •beat concert?, it is not a trifle, it is not an amusement ; no, it is of the last consequence to us to know these things. Many live unconcerned, and love to do so ; it may be, the very title shall be with such an argument against reading ; there is little hope of fixing such so long as to read the book, or so deep as to do it seriously, and with due concern ; and no won- der, when those so indifferent about the great concerns of eternity, and their precious souls, suffer the seripture oracles to lie by them, without due, frequent, and serious inquiry into them.
Here is presented to the view of Christians, and those who would in- deed be such, what, by the blessing of God, may be very entertaining, edifying, and useful.
The first fruits of his labours, in the sermon next after his ordination, printed as an introduction to the book, shews how much his work was at heart, and under what concern he was, to prepare the people for enter- taining and improving his ministry and message, and to approve himself t<* God, in the discharge and delivery thereof.
In the First Part, the state of nature is represented as a state of sin, misery, and wrath, in the most pungent, affecting and convincing terms imaginable; where the guilty sinner is closely pursued into all the turns and stages of life, and convicted of sin : in each and all of them, sin is represented as odious and abominable, as exceeding sinful.
It is laid open in such glasses, and with such aggravations, as it is hard to avoid the convictions of it, but where natural hardness is increased, by the malignant influence of Satan, whose great design and strength lies in keeping all in peace.
The divine resentments against sin, wrath, and judgment, upon sinners, are likewise set forth in such a manner, as cannot easily miss to raise ter- ror in the consciences of the guilty : present wrath in the direful effects of it, wrath to come in the extent and extremity of it, are held forth in such a lively manner, as must raise the gratitude of those happily delivered from it, and bids very fair to alarm and awaken those yet under it, to es- cape and flee for their lives.
Then, upon supposition of conviction of sin and guilt, in the Second Part, the exercises of the convinced sinner are opened up most distinctly and judiciously, in their nature, rise, workings, and degrees, and in such a feeling manner as may easily persuade one, that he has, in this matter, copied over his own experience : and it is some degree of satisfaction to one in this condition, to have one going before them, and to think that their guide has trodden the same path.
With what tenderness and compassion doth he touch the cases of the distressed ! while yet, with faithfulness and freedom, he opens up the mistakes and deceits, both in the workings and issue of convictions, ap- proving himself an interpreter, one among a thousand. Those who by the Spirit are convinced of sin, will know how to put a value upon a piece so suitable to their case ; and those awakened and convinced, are led, by a skilful hand, to the centre of rest for wearied souls, by the way of faith, and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, which gives occasion for opening up the mystery of faith, in its nature, acts, and properties, concomitants, , and consequences, which will be found very useful for informing the le<95 knowing, confirming the weak, and comforting the strong believer.
PREFACE. Y
And what can be of greater importance for us to know, than the only way of escaping wrath to come, and being delivered from the curse and condemnation of the law, of being united to Christ, and being found in him, upon which he becomes our righteousness and strength, whereby we are entitled to the great salvation ?
Of which salvation the author treats as the great encouragement of be- lieving; and this is the one thing necessary : for, What is a man profited, if he gain the tohole -world and lose his oivn soul ? This salvation "is set forth in scripture -light, accounted for in its parts and properties, at a good length : and as this is of the last consequence to all, so it must be the de- light of those that have it at heart.
If thou art convinced and awakened, and brought to a coneern about salvation, if brought to the jailor's case, thou wilt welcome the help here offered, and readily attend to the answer of the Apostle to his question : for what can be more proper and pertinent to the case of such, than the ti*ue way to escape the misery of a natural state, and attain the felicity of, a gracious one ? These, as they will not spare, so they will not repent, the pains of reading these sheets.
Such as are by grace engaged to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and are a people saved of the Lord, will have it at heart, what to do for God : they will set themselves in the strength of grace, to all the duties of reli- gion, whereby God may be glorified, and their faith justified, and their begun salvation promoted : all which good designs are answered in the Third Part of the book.
And this gives an account of personal religion, of the service of God, how we must enter into it, and persevere in it; and what more useful piece of knowledge is there, than how we may do service to, and keep up our communion with God? Here our first transactions and after walk are pointedly and piously directed.
Here also family religion is opened in its parts, the foundations of it fixed, and the practice of it enforced with powerful arguments, and suita- ble directions for people's walking in their house, and the proper duties of the several relatives in a family ; which, if duly observed, would turn hou- ses into churches : and this is very necessary, when family devotion is de- clining, and like to wear out.
A public religion comes also under consideration in this Part, or a pub- lic spirit; whence the thing is recommended, and yet cautioned with great wisdom and judgment, to prevent people's going out of their sphere, and beyond their line.
The order, subordination, and mutual dependencies and relations of per- sonal, domestic, and public religion, are nicely stated, and judiciously dis- covered, and proper caveats entered against beginning at the wrong end, r;s seldom missing to end either in apostacy or division ; which cannot but be very useful in the present juncture, when divisions so much abound, and dividing inclinations are so much aloft.
In a word, there is no part of the book but what is of high importance and great usefulness ; which, joined with the established character and re- putation of the author, entities it to a kind reception and due perusal.
As these were the main prompters of the publishing the book, so they may be reckoned sufficient arguments for a careful reading and improve- ment of it, now when published.
It comes out with very little alteration, even as to words, as they stootf. in the manuscript, partly because it did not much need it, and partly out of veneration for the author, whose pulpit skill and style was so generally acceptable ; yet it is not to be supposed, but if it had received a finishing
A %
stroke from his own hand, for the press^ it might liave appeared raoi^e beautiful; though even under this want, it will be found, that neither me- thod nor style is disagreeable, though popular, and just as prepared and delivered to his people.
May all that have encouraged the design of publishing the book, meet with double the reward of edification to their own souls, and seeing it do zuunh good to others. We live in a time when all helps and advantages fteed to be improved, for awakening secure sinners, and bringing them under soul uptaking inquiries about salvation, and stirring up Christians to the universal practice of piety and godliness. And as the hook has a plain tendency to these ends, go on and read it, and digest and apply it, begging that feod may effectually bless and prosper it to those good ends tor which it is designed.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
THE Author of these Discourses has discovered to the world, a bright genius, strong reason, and solid learning, in the Treatise which he has published against the Deists, wherein he has carried the war into their quarters, has beat the infidels at their own weapons, and triumphs over them in their own camp.
The Memoirs of his life, and the secret transactions between God and his soul, copied from his private papers, sufficiently manifest his acquaint- ance with the inward and vital part of religion, and his deep insight into the affairs of sin and grace
Now, where such natural ingenuity, and such learned endowments, are sanctified by such a variety of rich experiences, and attended with such a train of Christian graces, what a glorious composition must all these make ! And how well furnished must such a man be for the service of God, and for the salvation of men !
The title page gives you a short, but true account, of the substance of this book; and the preface informs you in what manner the Author has pursued and handled those solemn and most important subjects. I have perused a great part of this treatise, and I can boldly say, That the pre- face gives an honourable, but a just account of the performance, and leaves very little for me to add by way of recommendation ; and this also can be only necessary to those who have had no opportunity of acquaintance with the Author, or his works.
I would first take notice of this character of it, that it is written much in the strain of some of the best of our I^^ish sermons in the last age, when the pulpits did not affect politeness and indolence, but spoke thunder to the secure conscience, and made the hearers feel the terrors of the Lord; when the preachers applied the grace of the gospel to souls that were wounded by the law, in a more skilful and successful manner than has been generally practised in later years. This treatise seems to be written in the power a}id spirit of that day, when stupid souls were con- vinced in multitudes, atul sinners were led by troops into the paths of sal- vation, by fa! tli in the Son of God; when conversions were numerous, and the power of godliness was almost as common as the stricter forms of it are now-a-days.
In the work of convincing secure sinners, young and old, the Author has suited his addresses \o every character of mankind, and hath shown himself a workman that need not to be ashamed.* There may happen now and then a single thought or expression, that may he conceived too strongly, or pushed too far, under the warm influence of his zeal. But let it be remembered, that these were ins common popular discoui prepared weekly for the use of his parish, unlaboured, unpolished, and undesigned for the view of the publie; yet, such as they are, they con- tain more useful thoughts for the real benefit of souls, than any of the polite and well-fashioned discourses that obtain too much of modern ap- plause.
In his handling the doctrine of faith in Christ, his sentiments are very conformable to those of the pious and referable Dr. John Owen : M?'
Vm RECOMMENDATIONS.
own Christian experiences seem to have been in some part moulded and formed by the practical and spiritual writings of that great man ; who, m the matters of -experimental godliness, was, in my esteem, one of the prime writers of the last age, if not superior to them all. Nor does my veneration of him arise from the honour that Divine Providence has done mc, in appoint- ing me his successor, in the pastoral office to the same church of Christ ; but from the sensible benefit which I have' of ten received from his writings, and that before I was ever acquainted with the peoide to whom he minis- tered. And wherever I see the breathings of the same spirit, they se- cretly influence me to favour such a writer, and refresh my early reve- rence for that great man. I confess his style was long and intricate : and herein this author has the advantage of him, whose language is plain and condescending, popular and easy ; so that I dare venture to recommed this work to the perusal even of the meanest souls, who are willing to concern themselves in this world about their salvation in the next.
The Third Part of this Treatise is very proper to awaken sleepy Chris- tians to life, and vigour, and activity, as well as to direct the new convert how he may shape and square his conduct to the glory of saving grace, and to inform him what he should do for that God who has done so much for him. I hope it will be of use also to raise up the dying power of fa- mily-religion, and set many a master of the household upon inquiry, what they have done to promote the power of godliness among those that are under their care.
I would take the freedom particularly to recommend this discourse to be distributed by Christians who have a. tender concern for the souls of their children, or any other dear relatives or friends. If the work of grace be already begun upon their hearts, by the blessing of God, this may help to promote and advance it with power and glory ; but if they are yet in ignorance and darkness, unawakened, and thoughtless of their eternal concerns, I would more especially propose this book to be given them ; and may it be attended with tfce divine influences of the Spirit, that the Author, who is now dead, ma;, "ct speak in these sermons, to the salva- tion of many who are yet livnHr Amen.
I. WATTS.
London, Nov. 7X 1721.
WTfanrnwag
New York, October 20, 1813. Professor Ralyburton w»s a learned Divine, cf sound sense, and a very discriminating mind. His experience of the power of Godliness upon his own soul was remarkable, various, and affecting; and from his private journal, his life appears to have been, in an uncommon degree, a life of communion with God. He was therefore peculiarly qualified to treat of practical religion.
The work now offered to the public is replete with sound Theology, and experimental piety. An accurate knowledge of the human heart; an extensive acquaintance with the Sacred Scriptures ; and a consistent exhibition of the great doctrines of the grace of God, in the salvation of the sinner, appears in this Book, connected with a faithful application of the divine law, both as a Schoolmaster to lead us unto Christ, and as a light to our steps in the ways of holiness unto eternal life. We cheerfully recommend it to the attention of all who seek Salvation by Jesus Christ,
JOHN B. ROMEYN, ALEX. M'LEOD, JAMES RICHARDS,
AST
INTRODUCTORY SERMON
ACTS x. 29. 1 ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me.
W AVING the formality of an introduction, I shall lay before you a few remarks for clearing the occa- sion of the apostle's using this question, and the rea- son why we have made choice of this text at this time, for the subject of this discourse. And,
1. This chapter contains a large and particular account of one Cornelius, a Roman centurion, or cap- tain of an hundred soldiers, his conversion to Chris- tianity.
2. Cornelius, though by birth a Roman, was of the Jewish religion, a proselyte. Those who of other nations embraced the true religion, associating themselves to the Jews, were called proselytes; and they were either such as joined with (be Jews in the whole rites of their religion, being circumcised as were the Jews; or such as adhered to the substan- tiate of their religion, but remained uncircumcised. The former sort were called proselytes of righteous- ness, or of the covenant ; the latter proselytes of the gate. Interpreters seem to agree that Cornelius was a proselyte of the gate, one who owned the sub- stance of religion, but remained uncircumcised, and did not join in the whole of their worship.
£0 AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON.
3. This captain was a true convert before this dis- covery of the gospel came to him by the apostle : he was accepted of God, and therefore* was not to be ac- counted unclean. Now, none save those who are converted can be accepted ; for " they that are in the flesh cannot please God ; and without faith it is im- possible to please him ; for he that comes to him must believe that he is a rewarder of them that dili- gently seek him." Keb. xi. 6. Wherefore,
4. He, no doubt, leaned upon the promised Mes- siah, Jesus Christ, for his acceptance with God ; since, « none can come to the Father but by him," Who is, " the way, the truth, and the life," and who only can guide sinners in their approaches to God.
5. God being a rewarder of such as diligently seek him, did reward this man's faith and obedience with the gospel-revelation of his Son Jesus Christ, whence he came to understand, that the Messiah he looked for was already come. His prayers and alms deeds are said to come up for a memorial before God ; not as if there had been any thing of merit in what was done or attained to, but to encourage others, and to discover the riches of God's bounty, in rewarding freely, according to his rich grace, the diligent im- provement of light with greater degrees ofiight and life,- and this reward is not of debt, but of rich and sovereign grace.
6. This saint, waiting for the consolation of Israel, has a vision from God, bidding him send for the apostle Peter ; whence we may learn, that God has a great respect for his own institutions. The gospel- ministry is of divine appointment ; and therefore the Lord refers Cornelius to it, though it had been no less easy to have discovered Christ'to him in the vi- sion.
7. Peter has a vision to the same purpose, remo- ving such objections as might make him scruple: whence we may remark, that when the Lord designs good to a people, by a minister, lie gives both the
AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON. 11
people clearness to call, and the minister clearness to come ; though not in such an extraordinary man- ner as this here made use of.
8. When the apostle, in compliance with Corne- lius's call, and God's call, or rather the Lord's join- ing in the same call with him, comes to ihe place where he was, the first question he puts to him is that which we have read to you : I ask thereforefor what intent ye have sent for me? and this he doth, not- withstanding he had got some account of this from the servants who were sent for him by Cornelius.
The words are in themselves plain ; and therefore we shall not offer any explication of them, but lay before you this doctrine, which is palpably contained in them.
Doctrine. — " A faithful gospel-minister, coming amoug a people upon their call, will be very desi- rous to know what their designs in calling him were :" 1 ask therefosefor what intent ye have sent for me?
In discoursing this point, we shall inquire,
I. What designs a people should have in calling a gospel-minister.
II. What way they should evidence these to be their designs.
III. Make some inquiry into the reasons of the doctrine.
And, lastly, apply the whole.
I. To begin with the first of these, The designs a people should have in calling a gospel-minister ; they are many. We shall endeavour to reduce them to a few. — And,
1. A people should, in calling a gospel-minister, design to hear from him the whole counsel of God, in reference to their eternal salvation. This is the great business of gospel-ministers, to declare the whole counsel of God to these to whom they come*
±2 AN INTROBTTCTGUY SERMON.
to keep nothing hack from them that may be of use to them. So their commission runs, Matt, xxviih 19. 20. " Go ye therefore and teaeh all nations, bap- tising (hem in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world* Amen." And the gr**at apostle of the Gentiles, in that famous farewell sermon of his to the church of Ephesus, which we have recorded, Acts xx, from Ver* 17. and downward, appeals to the conscience, of that people as to his faithfulness in fulfilling his com- mission in declaring to them the xvhole counsel of God, ver. 27. And in keeping hack nothing that could be profitable to them, ver. 20. Whoever would ap- prove himself a faithful gospel minister, must take care faithfully to discover to his hearers their lost and undone state by nature; that they are all be- come guilty before God ; and that there is no other way of their obtaining access to him but through Je- sus Christ, who is made of God to them who believe •< wisdom, righteousness, sanctifieation, and redemp- tion." To these t wo doth the apostle refer the whole of that counsel of God, he shunned not to declare to the Epesiaos, in that fore-cited scripture, Acts xx. 21. He testified to all persons, Jews and Greeks, repentance towards God, (i 0. that they were guilty of such offences against God, as called for deep hu- miliation,) and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ; that is, that there was no way of escaping the wrath of God, but that of closing with Christ by faith. This is the matter of the gospel : and Christ's ser- vants are to make it their business faithfully to un- fold the mind of God in reference* to these two, man's estate by nature, and what be may by grace be ad- vanced to. This is called, 1 Tim. v. 17, a "labour- ing in the word and doctrine."
This preaching of the gospel takes in three things. 1* A full proposal of the doctrine just now mention-
AN INTRODUCTORY SEKMON. 13
ed. Ministers must, without ininching the matter, plainly discover to men their losi state, and the im- possibility of recovery any other way than by the gospel method, through Jesus Christ, Acts xx. 2t. 2. They must discover these things, not as their pri- vate sentiments, built upon some rational conclusions of their own drawing and framing, but as the word of God. It is the word of God they are to propose, and not their own opinions; and it is the word of God hearers are to receive from them, 1 Thess. ii. 13. " For this cause also thank we God,5' saith the apostle, " without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe/' 3. This preaching of the word takes in not only a proposal of the word of God, but an au- thoritative declaration of it by virtue of a commission derived from God. " These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority." Tit. ii. 15. The word, in the first language, may be rendered com- mand, with all command. Ministers are clothed with authority from God; and in his name, by virtue of a commission received from him, they are to preach the gospel, and to speak the counsel of God, as being his mouth to the people, 1 Pet. iv. 11, This is the principal part of the minister's work; and therefore to hear the word of God from them in this manner should be the great design of those who call a gospel minister, that they may hear from them as the mouth of God, what by nature they are, and what through the grace of God in Christ Jesus they may be. But now,
2. When a people call a gospel-minister, they should design the regular and orderly performance of the worship of God. litis worship of God, as it is contra distinguished from the doctrine of the gospel, Of which under the former head, consists principally in the administration of the sacraments and prayer;
B
14 AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON.
public prayer, I mean, under which praises are com- prehended, as belonging to, and always to be joined -with it, according to our blessed Lord's appointment in that form, commonly called the Lord's Prayer, which concludes with thanksgiving. In Acts ii. 42, tve have an account of the public worship of the church, which consists in preaching, there expressed by doctrine, and breaking of bread, that is, adminis- tering the sacrament of the Lord's supper, and prayers and praises. ft And they/5 saith the Spirit of God speaking of the church, f continued in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers ;" and, ver. 47, «« praising God." The celebration of the sacraments, public prayers and praises* are divine institutions for the salvation and edification of the church, which cannot begone about, or orderly performed, without a gospel min- istry, who only have commission to celebrate the sacraments, and to be the mouth of the people to God in their public assemblies, being furnished with spiritual gifts for the work, Matt, xxviii. 19. 1 Cor. xi. 23, and xiv. 16. And therefore, when a people Gall a gospel-minister, they should have this in view, as one great design, that thereby they may have the gospel- worship celebrated among them in all its parts according to Christ's institution, to their spiritual advantage and his glory.
3. They should call a gospel- minister to rule over tliem. This is one part of the minister's work, to rule over his flock, 1 Tim. v. 17. «« Let the elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine/5 This superiority which gospel- ministers have, is not a lordly dominion over either the persons or faith of their flock. No, any thing of this sort that ever crept into the church, had its rise from the subtily of Satan, who envied its peace ; and is directly oppo- site to the gospel, which forbids lordly dominion, the gospel-minister's authority being given only for
AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON. 16
"edification, and not for destruction/' as the apostle has it, 2 Cor. x 8. And it consists, 1. In an autho- ritative publication of the laws of Christ's house* 2. In an authoritative enforcement of them, by a ministerial offer of the gospel-privileges as the re- wards of obedience. And, 3. In a power to inflict, according to Christ's appointment, the gospel-punish- ments upon the disobedient, the highest whereof is ex- communication, whereby the disobedient are " deli- vered over to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus," as the apostle has it, 1 Cor. v. 5. And to one of these three ends might all be reduced, accord- ing to the common distinction of gospel-ordinances, in doctrine, worship, and government. But that you may the better understand this matter, we shall name some more particular designs : and therefore we say,
4. A people in calling a gospel-minister, should de- sign the closing of a bargain and making a match with Christ upon his own terms. It is the work and bu- siness they are sent out for, to espouse sinners to Christ, 2 Cor. ii. 2. to woo a bride for the Lamb. They have a commission, as Abraham's servant had, to go and seek a wife for their Master's Son ; and those who call them should do it in order to the con- clusion of this happy match; that from them they may hear the terms whereon they are to be admitted into this near relation, the advantage that shall ac- crue to them by it, the inconveniences they will run themselves into by a refusal, and the warrant they have to enter into so high and honourable a relation.
5. They should design their own furtherance in acquantance with Christ. They should " as new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby," 1 Pet. ii. 2. that they may be furthered in their joy and faith, " growing in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ."
6. They should design their own establishment in
16 AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON.
the ways of God9 that they may not be " tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine/' bnt that " being rooted and grounded in the faith, they may grow up in all things to him who is the head and Saviour of the body."
This is expressly declared to be the design of the ministry, Eph. iv. 11. The apostle, having spoken of Christ's exaltation, and his having received gifts for men* tells us of him, in this verse and the follow- ing, " That he gave some apostles, some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for tjhe perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, imto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ; that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of mon, and cunning crafti- ness whereby they lie in wait to doceiva," &c. And to the" same purpose speaks the Spirit of God fre quently elsewhere, of the design of the ministry,—-. Paul, Rom. i. 11. expresseth his earnest desire to see them, and to "impart some spiritual gift" unto them, to the end " they may be established." Those who are already engaged in God's ways should de- sign their own establishment in them in their calling a gospel minister.
7. They should design their own direction through all the difficulties of religion. The Lord's people have many dark steps in their way; sometimes they are under temptation, and know not how to carry ; sometimes they are engaged in a close fight with their adversaries, arnd know not how to wield their spiritual armour to advantage; sometimes they are out of the way, and know not how to get into it again: and therefore they need some to guide them into the meaning of God's word ; for how can they Understand, unless they be taught, Acts viii. 31*
AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON. 17
** How can I understand," says the Ethiopian eunuch, " unless some man should guide me ;" and who should guide them but those who are guides by office, as the word may be rendered, Heb. xiii. 8. " Consider them who have the rule over you," or who are your guides. This, as the end of a gospel-ministry, is promised in Isa. xxx. 20, 21. " And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into corners any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers : And thine ears shall hear a voice behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." It is im- possible we should condescend on all the particular intentions or ends a people should propose to them- selves in calling a gospel-minister; and therefore we shall conclude all this in one, which is sure to com- prehend them.
8. They should seek to have one who may answer in some measure Timothy's character, with respect to the church of the Philippians, Phil. ii. 20, one who may naturally take care of them, that is, one who may, out of love to their souls, affectionately, prudently, carefully, and with impartial boldness* open and apply the word, dispense the sacraments, and administer discipline, for the instruction of the ignorant, strengthening the weak, comforting the dis- consolate, affecting the impenitent, reproving the faulty, recovering wanderers, directing and helping forward those who doubt and halt ; that he may both save himself and them, to the praise and glory of God's grace. We shall not insist upon each of these particulars, which would require not cne or two, but many sermons, which suits not our present design* We shall therefore proceed, in the
Second Place, to inquire, How a people should make it appear that they were acting upon those de- signs in their calling a gospel-minister. This inqui- ry might be understood, either to respect their own
B 2
IS AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON.
satisfaction, or the satisfaction of the word, or of the minister himself as to this matter; but time not al- lowing us to be so particular, we shall hold the in- quiry in the general ; and in answer to it we say,
1. A people should discover their designs to be such as we have mentioned, by a punctual attend- ance upon all the ordinances, to be by Lim dispen- sed in public or private. Thus we see it was with Cornelius; he not only waited on himself, but he called together those on whom he had any influ- ence. « And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends." Acts x. 24. Those who will not give attendance to the public dispensation of the word, and the private in- structions, either family or personal, but withdraw, we cannot think these persons had the right end be- fore them in calling a gospel- minister : surely, had they been right in their aims, they would have been ready to say with Cornelius, « We are all here pre- sent," &c.
2. They should not only present their bodies up- on such occasions, but they shouldjsk themselves as in God's sight, to hear all things whatever are com- manded of God by his servants. " We are all here present," says Cornelius to Peter, " to hear all things that are commanded thee of God," Acts x. 33. To give attendance to the ordinances, either more public or private, on any other design than this, is to « of- fer the sacrifice of fools," contrary to that injunc- tion of the wise man, Eccl. v. 1. " Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools." When we come to God's ordinances, we must come to hear what he speaks to us.
3. They should evidence the honesty of their de- signs, by obeying the word which they hear at his mouth ; they should comply with all the commands of God, and say to their minister, as the people of Israel said to Moses, Deut v. 27. " Go thou near,
AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON. 19
and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it and do it.'5 For,, as the apostle James well observes, " It is not the hearer of the word, but the doer who is blessed of God." James i. 25. As we must hear and do, so our attendance must not be limited, but our ear must be open to reproofs, and the most terrible denuncia- tions ef wrath from God, as well as to the sweet promises and charming discoveries of the glory of Christ, the beauties of religion, the surprising hap- piness of the saints in heaven ; and there must not only be obedience to these commands, which may bring in honour, external gain, and pleasure, by our compliance, but these also must be obeyed, which may bring us under the lash of wicked men's tongues and expose us to reproach, hazard, and ignominy, in the world. All things whatsoever are commanded of God must be punctually obeyed without reserve.
4. There must be a submitting to all the ordinances of God. Both this obedience and submission you will find spoken of, Heb. xiii. 17. « Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as those who must give an account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for this is unprofitable for you.'5 The word rendered obey, signifies properly, a believing upon persuasion, and respects our belief of the truths proposed by them, and a compliance with our duty that way; and, on the other hand, this submission has a respect to the power they have over their peo- ple for edification, and not for destruction : that is, that authority they have for admonishing, reproving, rebuking, and censuring offenders ; and by a submis- sion to them in the dispensation of these ordinances of Christ, reproof and censure, I mean, they are to evidence to all, the uprightness and Christian sin- eerily of their designs.
5* They are to evidence their designs to be justifi*
20 AN INTUODUCTOBY SERMON.
able, by a eareful diligence in applying to their min- iver upon all occasions; when they are under diffi- culties, when they are in the dark as to duty, when they have to do with corruptions which they cannot get mastered, when under the Lord's hand, and so of all other exigences of the like nature. For as the " priest's lips should preserve or keep knowledge so the people should ask the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts," Mai. ii. 7. And those who are sick, are bid " send for the elders or ministers of the church to pray over them," James v. 14. Those who have the advantage of a gospel-minister, are indispensably obliged to acquaint him with the state of their souls, when there is any thing peculiar in it, and when they are reduced to any strait or extremity. And that, 1. Because God has laid it open to them as a duty, in that fore-cited .Mai. ii. 7. " The people should ask the law at his mouth." 2. Because otherwise he will be at a loss in his bringing messages to you, if he mistake your case, or be unacquainted with it; how can he direct you, if he understand not your state and condition? The Lord gives no immediate revelation now, we have no warrant to expect any such thing ; and there- fore the way wherein ministers ordinarily come to understand their people's condition is by themselves* who upon this ground are called to have recourse to their ministers. 3. They should acquaint their min- isters with their circumstances, because they are the people's month to God ; and if Ihey be not ac- quainted with the circumstances and conditions of the Hock, how shall they, according to their duty, hold up the case of their people to God., as they are indispensably obliged to do, and that both in public, in secret, and in private.
6. Once more, and we have done : A people may and should prove their intentions honest, by a dili- Jj£*lt-%pplication to their own proper work and busi- ness, with respect to his furtherance in these great
-W INTRODUCTORY SERMON. 21
designs. Every member of the congregation should be helpful to him, in contributiug their utmost as- sistance to him in his work. A minister may spend (i his strength in vain," if elders in their place, mas- ters of families in theirs, and every particular per- son in his station, do not join, by prayer and other- vise, in assisting their ministers. Then do men ap- pear sincere in their designs, for the glory of God, and their own salvation, when every one puts his hand to the work, and endeavours the removal of what may retard and obstruct its progress and suc- cess ; and likewise studies by ail means to strength- en the minister's hands, that he may not be discour- aged, diverted, or taked off from his work. In line, then do a people appear single in their aims, when their words, their hearts, their hands go one way, and all they do is levelled at the ends mentioned, the glory of God, in the conversion, edification, and sal- vation of souls. I proceed now,
Thirdly, To inquire into the reasons of the doc- trine, why a faithful gospel-minister coming amongst a people, «*iM ha careful to understand their design or intent in calling him. And,
1. This will be U\q desire of a gospel-minister, be- cause a mistake in this matter will be of very dan- gerous consequence to the people. That people may be influenced by wrong and sinistrous ends and mo- tives in this matter, is beyond all peradventure. They may design the " gratification of their itching ears" by the preacher's gifts, as the prophet Eze- kiel's hearers did ; they may seek the gospel-ordi- nances for a charm as it were, that they may sit down and rest upon them, as many people do, like those with whom the prophet Jeremiah had to do, who said, " The temple of the Lord, the temple of the 3Lord are these.55 Or they may design the strength- ening of factions and parties, or to get occasion to mock, as many do now in our days. Th?s& ju^kUie
22 AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON.
like sinistrous designs may a people go upon ; and there can be nothing more prejudicial to a people than to be under the influence of such intentions ; since, past all peradventure, God will not sit with suv'h an affront as is done him by this means, when the ordinance of the ministry, which he designed for the good of souls, and his glory, is prostituted, and made subservient to quite different, nay, oppo- site designs : and surely a faithful gospel-minister, who will have a tender regard to the salvation of his people, cannot choose but be solicitous to understand that they are not in so dangerous a mistake.
2. The knowledge of this will be of great use to elear his call. It is a great evidence that God de- signs good to a people when they call a gospel-minis- ter upon such designs ; and cannot but go a great length towards his satisfaction as to God's calling him to work among them, in order to the compassing the great designs of his ministry. When Peter got the account before spoken of from Cornelius, he is further confirmed as to the hand of God in his co- ming to him, in compliance with his desire.
3. If upon inquiry they be found to be such as we have mentioned, it will be a great comfort to him, in grappling with the difficulties he may meet with in the discharge of his duty. It will give a great deal of satisfaction to him, to know that those for whose sakes he runs these hazards, and grapples with these difficulties, have the same aims, and are joining in the same design with him. In fine, the right man- agement of his whole work depends very much upon this knowledge of his people's intentions : and there- fore it is no wonder he be inquisitive into them, since by his acquaintance with these he may be capacitat- ed to further both his own and their salvations.
We might, for improvement of this point, discourse to you at length of the necessity of a gospel-minis- ter' s. inquiring into his own designs in undertaking
AN INTHOBUCfTOBY SEKiMeW. 23
the charge of a people. The arguments made use of to discover the reasonableness of inquiring after the people's designs, conclude no less strongly with respect to the minister's. We might likewise dis- course to you of the way how he is to manifest the integrity and sincerity of his aims ; but time will not allow us to enter upon these tilings, and you heard the minister's duty so fully and largely discoursed of within these few days, viz. at the ordination, that we judge it needless to enter upon that subject ; and therefore all the improvement we design, of what has been said, shall be despatched in a short addrtss to you of this congregation.
You have called me to labour among you in the work of the gospel : upon your call I have conic j I ask therefore to what intent sent ye for me ? What did ye design in this matter ? Was it to hear what God has to say to you, that God's worship may be ordered according to his own appointment, that you may be brought to acquaintance with Christ, or that you may be established in his ways ? Were the&e the motives that influenced you ? If you narrowly look into your own heart, and make an impartial inquiry, you may readily come to understand what your aims have been ; and for your help, I would only, in God's name, interrogate your consciences with a question or two, that may be of use. 1. Dare you, without heart condemning, as in the sight of God, say, that in calling a minister you had respect to the command of God ? Was it duty that moved you, or did custom and your own ease, influence you ? 2. Dare you hold up your faces and say, that it was a taste of God's goodness in ordinances, that made you desire them, that you might grow thereby ? 3. Did this desire lead you much to the throne of grace to pray for a minister, that God might send you one <6 according to his own heart, that might feed you with knowledge and understanding?" 4, When you saw any prospect
24 AN INTROBUCTOKY SEKMON.
of the return of your prayers, as to a gospel-minis- try, were you careful to plead that the blessing Blight come along ?
What say ye to these things ? Give God, give con- science justice ; let conscience speak freely, and tell wheihcr things be so or not. They must either own, that there was not a regard to the command, that there was not a desire after the sincere milk of the word, occasioned by a taste of the Lord's goodness, that there was not that serious application to God by prayer, either for a minister, or for the blessing of the ordinance ; or that there was; and this will east you all into two classes. 1st, Those who have not been so employed in this matter, and consequently have not been acting for right ends. And, %&ly<, Those who have been busied in duty, in the way just now mentioned. To each of these a word. And,
tst9 As for you who have not had a regard to your duty in this matter, who have not been wrestling with God in prayer, that God might send you a minis- ter, with the fulness of the blessing of the gospel, to you we say,
1. Your designs are not such as God will approve of. Had they been such as we mentioned in the for- mer part of this discourse, then surely they would have led you to earnest wrestling with God, for his direction, who only can point to one that is meet to answer those blessed ends.
2. You are guilty of horrible wickedness. You have committed a great provocation, in calling a min- ister upon any other design. God designed them for the ends formerly mentioned, and no other ; and your calling them upon other aims, is an endeavour to counteract God, prostitute his ordinances, and. serve your lusts of that which God designed for his own glory.
3. Whatever good others may get by the gospel, you have no reason to look for any. God may an-
AX INTRODUCTORY SERMON*, 25
swev you according to the idols of yonr own hearts : and when he satisfies the soul of the hungry with good things, he may send leanness to you. When he gives a commission to the word to enlighten, con- vert, confirm, and strengthen others, you have rea- son to fear that it may have a commission to make you blind, deaf, and dead.
<k Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thoughts of your heart may be forgiven you ; lie in the dust before God ; en- deavour to get your hearts affected with your guilt, that you may be deeply humbled and abased before liim whom you have provoked to anger.
5. Bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Let us know by your carriage that you are really peni- tent, and that now you have got the right designs in view ; and this you may do by a close attendance tipon all the ordinances, iy hearing and doing what- ever is enjoined you of God, and by all other ways mentioned in the doctrinal part of this discourse.
6. And, lastly. Whether you hear or forbear, yet we tell you, the kingdom of God is come near unto you ; whatever you design, the Lord has given you a gospel-day; and if our gospel be hid from you, it is because you are lost, the god of this world having Winded your eyes, that you should not discern t\\Q light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the image of God.
As to the second sort of persons, those who have been importunate with God, and have had an eye to his command in this work, to you we say,
1. This your conduct, past ail peradventure, is no mean evidence of the sincerity of your good inten- ti>ti^ and this is certainly matter of thankfulness, antris moreover a ground to hope, that the Lord may not altogether frustrate your desires.
2. Do not think your work is over. Wrestle, plead strodgly with God for the blessing on gospel-
26 AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON.
ordinances ; whoever plants or waters, it is only God that gives the increase ; and therefore, if you mean to grow under the means, he instant in prayer for the blessing ori them ; plead that God may not send leanness to your souls, while he provides plenty of spiritual provision for you.
3. Beware of sitting down upon gospel privileges. You may, if you do so, lose what you have wrought, and justly bring the sincerity of your aims in ques- tion. There is nothing more ordinary than security of this sort. Persons who it may be would say, O had they a gospel-dispensation ! how glad they would be, how careful would they improve it ; and yet when they get what they seek, their improvement is in no measure answerable to their resolutions. Take heed of, and guard against this.
4. Let there be a suitable care to evidence vour sincerity in this matter, by the whole of your deport- ment. If you turn careless in attending ordinances, if you hear, but do not, if you neglect your own work, and be wanting to yourselves in this matter, then who will believe your sincerity ? who can be- lieve it? your own consciences will accuse you ; and « if your hearts condemn you, God is greater than your hearts, and knows all things," 1 John iii. 20.
5. If you find that the Lord has made endeavours successful, take care that you sacrifice not to your own net, and burn incense to your drag. God is a holy and jealous God. and will not be mocked ; and if you begin to rob him of his glory, he will get him glory in such a way as may lay you low, and make you smart severely for your own folly.
6. If the Lord give you the gospel light, then walk in the light while you have it. Carry like children of the light and of the day. work out the work of your salvation with fear and trembling ; for none of us can tell how soon our gospel day may be gone, and the night succeed wherein none can work.
AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON. 27
We shall conclude this discourse with a few gene- ral advices to all of you. Would you have our mi- nistry made successful ? would you obtain the real advantage of gospel-ordinances, and have our meet- ings such as may be matter of rejoicing both to you and me in the day of the Lord ? Then we intreat, beseech, nay, and command you by the mercies of God. in the bowels of the Lord Jesus Christ, as you would have your own souls and ours to be saved—
1. Pray for us. As a minister is indispensably obliged to mind his people before God, and to carry them ever upon his heart, so are they obliged to pray for their minister : " Pray for us," says the apostle, Heb. xiii. 18. " for we trust we have a good con- science in all things, willing to live honestly." To give weight to this advice, I shall lay before you a few considerations. And,
(1.) Consider, ministers are not sufficient of them- selves in this work ; the work is great, weighty and important, and the difficulties are many ; and who is sufficient for it? Surely ministers are not ; for if the apostle said with justice of himself, "That he was not of himself sufficient to think any thing as he ought," 2 Cor. iii. 5. then much more may gos- pel ministers now-a-days own it to be so with them, and therefore all their sufficiency is onlv ©f God, from whom suitable and needful supplies should be sought.
(2.) Consider that in their plenty and fulness you shall have plenty. They are indispensably obliged to lay out what they receive for you, to spend and be spent in the work and service of your faith ; and therefore it is your interest that they abound, since it is for your sake they labour; and the more so, if you be instrumental by your prayers, in procuring advantages and supplies for them.
(3.) Consider that they are exposed to great ha- zards for your sake, and therefore you are to contri-
28 AN IXTBODUCTOBY SERMON.
by te your utmost to their assistance this way, where- in ^ou may be most helpful to them. They being made watchmen, do thereby become the butt of Sa- tan's malice ; and the more faithful they are, the more will he expose them, and seek their ruin. The enemy's principal design is sure to be against the watchman, because he prevents the surprising of his people by Satan, at least it is his business to do so ; and therefore no stone will be left unturned, in order to his ruin. 1. Satan will endeavour to lay him asleep, and make him turn secure, that he may neg- lect his post. 2. If he miss of this, he will endea- vour to fill him with disturbance and fear, that so he may be diverted from his duty, and made to quit his post. Or, 3. He will ply his corruptions, that he may, by attending to them, and striving against them, take him off from, or discourage him in his opposi- tion to those of others. 4, He will endeavour to blind his eyes by falsi appaaraoeas, that so he may give false alarms ; and this will weaken his credit, and make people not believe his warnings. 5. He will endeavour to amuse him with great appearances of danger where there is none ; that his eyes may turn off from those things wbieh may really endan- ger his flock. And, 6. He will endeavour to beget and cherish jealousies betwixt his people and him, whereby his warnings will be less regarded, and his liands be weakened, and his heart be discouraged. 7. If these fail, he will endeavour to get him remo- ved ; if he see the gospel like to prove successful, then he will take care to find out ways to oblige the watchman to remove from his post. And, 8. If he fail of this, he will endeavour to kill him, either by multiplying troubles and griefs, or else by more di- rect methods, employing bis emissaries and servants to take away his life ; and this by God's permission, for the punishment of a people's sins, has proven successful. Surely these and a great many more
AN INTRODUCTORY SERMON. 29
methods, used by Satan, the wicked world, pretend- ed friends, and their own corruption, against the ministers of the gospel, and all upon the people's ac- count, should make them careful in praying to God in their behalf, that they may be saved from the at- tempts of all their spiritual adversaries, and may be made to grow in grace and gifts. Pray for much grace to your minister, that he may persuade, as knowing the terrors of the Lord ; that he may deal tenderly with you, as having himself had acquaint- ance wkh souLsickness on account of sin ; that he may take you to Jesus safely^ as having himself been with him ; that he may comfort you with the conso- lations wherewith he has been comforted of God. In fine, that he may speak, because he himself has not only believed, but experienced the work of grace up- on his own soul, as one that has tasted that sin is an evil and bitter thing, and has found that Christ is useful, is sufficient, is precious ; and that he may pray acceptably for you, as one that has found ac- ceptance in his own behalf. Pray likewise for gifts to him, knowledge in the mystery of God, and of Christ, and of faith ; that he may have much spirit- ual wisdom, zeal, boldness, and courage, to fit him for his work ; and withal, that the Lord may give a door of utterance.
(4.) Consider, that a careful attendance to your duty, in holding up your minister's case, will be a great mean to promote love, mutual love betwixt you and him ; and this will help to break Satan's engines. Nothing contributes more to the furtherance and success of one's ministry in a place, than much love, and mutual kindness betwixt a minister and people; and no love so useful this way, as that which vents it- self in prayer for one another, and is cherished by this means. But,
2. I intreat you may carefully attend ordinances, public, private, and secret ; and catechising, as the Lord shall give occasion. This will make us cheer-
C 2
m AN INTEOBUCTOUSr SERMOW.
folly go about these duties, if we see you studying to make advantage of them : this will be profitable to you ; it will discourage our enemies $ it will rejoice our heart, and be a credit to religion.
3. Any advantage you receive, be sure that ye at- tribute it entirely to God ; beware of placing it to the minister's, account, who is only the instrument j if you rob God of the glory, and give it to the instru- ment, you may by this provoke the Lord to blast your minister, and to withdraw from him his pre- sence; which will soon make you see, that it is not the minister that can do any thing. Give God his due, and so account of us as the servants of Christ, and the stewards of the mysteries of the gospel ; and when ye get any good by it, put it all to God's account ; bless him for it ; and let the instrument have an interest in your affections and prayers, that he may be further useful to you and others.
4. Once more and we have done. Do not count us your enemies, if we tell you the truth ; we must by any means be free, in laying open your sins, and in carrying home the conviction of them to your con- sciences ; nor dare we gratify any, by holding our peace in this matter; for if we please men, then we are not the servants of Christ ; and if any soul die in Its sin by our silence, then we bring the blood of souls upon our own heads, and hazard our own souls. We are obliged, by the manifestation of the truth, to commend ourselves to consciences ; and if the more we love, the less we are loved, then God will require it at your hands. But whether you will hear, or whether you forbear, we must, as we shall give answer to the great Shepherd of the sheep, deal plainly with you. Consider but that one scripture, Lev. xix. 17. and ye will see reproof to be an act of great love, and that the neglect of it in God's account is hatred : u Thou shalt not fcite thy brother in thine heart. Thou shalt in any ways rebuke thy neigh- bour, and not suffer sin ugon him j" ©r, as the ragt
AN INTRODUCTORY SEBMON. 31
clause may be rendered, That thou hear not sin for him. Now, if you follow these advices, and if there be a single eye to God, and close dependence upon him, both in minister and people, mutual love and helpfulness, and a joint endeavour to promote the great design of the ministry, the glory of God in our own salvation, then our labour shall not be in vain, but shall be blessed with increase, and God, even our God, shall bless us.
THE
GREAT CONCERN
OF
SALVATION.
FART I
A DISCOVERY OF MAN'S NATURAL STATE J OR, THE GUILTY S1NJNER CONVJCTED.
ROMANS iii. 23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
HOEVER considers his present condition, will soon see, that his great business and chief concern lies in three important inquiries: "What have I done V9 Jer. viii, 6. " What shall I do to be saved V9 Acts xvi. 30. « What shall I render to the Lord V9 Psal. cxvi. 12. — The answer of the first Mill make way for the second, and that will give occasion for the third.
Though wise men have busied their heads, and toiled themselves with wearisome inquiries after happiness ; yet none of them could ever give men a satisfying answer to any of these three queries. But what they by their wisdom could not do, that God, in his infinite wisdom and unparalleled good- ness has done, to the satisfaction of all rational in- quirers, in the scriptures of truth.
If it be inquired, What have we done ? our text
THE GUILTY SINKER CONVICTED. S3
answers, Ml men have sinned and coins short of the glory of God. If the question be put, What shall we do to he saved ? look Acts xvi. 31, and there we are bid « believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and we shall be saved." In fine, if we ask, What shall we render to the Lord for his matchless and unparallel- ed favour to us, we may turn to Psal. cxvi. 13, and there we are told what to do, " I will take the cup of salvation, and call up©n the name of the Lord." And much to the same purpose is that of the prophet, Micah vi. 8. " He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love raeiey, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
h The great concernment of gospel-ministers lies m the second inquiry. It is our principal business to persuade men and women to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to commend our blessed Ma- ker to poor sinners. But since we come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance, it is neces- sary we lay the foundation in a discovery of man's natural state. Before we offer Christ, we shall show you need him : before we tender mercy, we shall en- deavour to represent your misery : before you be called to repentance, we shall show you are sinners, who stand in need of repentance. And upon this ac- count we have made choice of the words now read, which do offer a fair occasion for a discovery of your sin, and of your misery on that account.
We shall not spend time in considering the connec- tion of the words, which may perhaps afterwards fall more conveniently in our way.
The text is a general assertion, in which all stand convicted of, and concluded under sin ; for,
The persons to whom sin is attributed, are not some single persons, t© a seclusion of others, but all man- kind. It is not some degenerate wretches in the heathen world ; but all, Jew and Gentile, rich and
34 THE GUILTY SINGER CONVICTED.
poor, high and low, who have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
It is not asserted of them, that they may sin, that they are fallible, and if artfully plied by a tempta- tion, may be taken off iheir feet ; but that they all are already involved in the guilt of sin, and have thereby come short of the glory of God. — The origi- nal word which is here rendered come short, is em- phaf teal ; it properly signifies to fall short of the mark one aims at, or to fall behind in a race, where- by the prize is lost. — Man in his first estate was in a fair way for glory : power he had to run the race, and the devil had no power to stop him in it; he had not such weights as we now are clogged with, and yet he fell short of the glory of God ; i. e. he lost that glory in the enjoyment of God, which he had so good a prospect of; he lost the image of God, which was his glory, given him- of God, with all the conse- quential advantages of it.
We need not draw any doctrine from the words ; they themselves do express that which we design to insist upon.
Boot. — « That all men and women, descending from Adam in an ordinary way, have sinned, and there- by come short of the glory of God."
This doctrine, standing so clear in the words, su- persedes any further proof; and therefore we shall not spend time in producing other scriptures assert- ing the same thing. # Before we apply this truth, we shall, J. Premise a few propositions for clearing the way to the further explication of this great and momen- tous truth.
II. We shall inquire what sin formally implies.
III. Mention a property or two of it.
IV. Inquire into the import of this all in the text
THE GU1XTY SINNTR CONVICTED. S3
V. Show what is implied in this expression, Come short of the glory of God.
VI. Whence it is that all have sinned, and thereby eome short of the glory of God.
Now of each of these in order. And,
I. We shall premise a few propositions for clearing the way to what we further design in the explica- tion of this truth. The
1st Proposition we offer to you is, That God is the absolute and independent Sovereign of the world. Men do often usurp an absolute power over their sub- jects, and claim a blind and unlimited obedience ; but they had need take heed they do not invade God's right, and that which is his strvweign prerogative. H**, and he only, is absolute Lord and King of the earth, as the Psalmist sings, in Psal. xlvii. 2, *• The Lord most high is terrible ; he is a great King over all the earth." And indeed he alone is fit to manage so great a province ; forasmuch as there is "none among the gods like unto him, neither are there any works like unto his," P^al Ixxxvi. 8. His claim is founded upon the excellency of his nature, Jer. x. 6. 7. " Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord, thou ^irt great, and thy name is great in might, who would not fear thee, O King of nations ? For to thee doth it appertain, forasmuch as there is Hone like unto thee :" And upon his creation of all things, " The Lord is a great King above all gods. The sea is his, and he made it," Psal. xcv. 3. 5. « O Jacob and Israel, thou art my servant, I have formed thee, thou art my servant. O Israel." Isa. xliv. 21. In fine, his preservation of all things, and the manifold mercies he loads his creatures with, do give him the noblest title to absolute dominion ; and his glorious perfections of wisdom, power, holiness, and justice, do not only fit him for it, but make his sway desirable to all who understand their own in- terest.
2d. Take this proposition, God the absolute Sote-
36 THE GI5IXTY SINNBK CONVICTED*
reign of the ivorld has prescribed laws to all his crea- tures^ by which he governs them. Not to speak of these laws which he has given to the inanimate part of the creation, he has prescribed men their work, he has given them his laws, whereby they are indis- pensably obliged to live. " There is oae Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy," James i. 12. " The Lord is Judge, King, and Lawgiver/' Isa. xxxiii. 22. We are not in any thing left altogether arbitrary. He who has said to the sea, "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further," has dealt so like- wise with man; he has limited him on every hand by his holy laws, the ineontestible statutes of hea- ven. We ara obliged to eat, drink, sleep, converse and do every thing by rule : God has set us our bounds as to all these things, and thither should we come, and no further. Indeed, these limits God has set us are not such as he sets to the waves of the tu- multuous sea : no, he deals with us in a way suited to our nature ; he has set such limits as none can pass, till they act in direct contradiction to their ve- ry natures, tili they abandon a due consideration of that wherein their greatest concern and chiefcst in- terest lies ; as will appear plain enough from that which we offer, in the
3d Place, for clearing the way, That the great Lawgiver of the world has annexed rewards and punishments to those laws he has made. The autho- rity of God is a tender point indeed. ; He has said, «• he will not give his glory to another," and there- fore he has taken care to guard the laws he has made with suitable rewards and punishments. God indeed is not obliged to give man any further reward for his obedience, than what flows from the obedience itself, which is sufficient to be a reward to itself; for " in keeping God's commands there is great re- ward,'* Psal. xix. 11. But such is his matchless and unbounded goodness, that he proposed no less reward of obedience than eternal life $ a reward suitable not
T&& GUILTY StNNER COXVICTU. 57
to man's obedience, which deserves no such thing, but to the bounty of the giver. On the other hand, again, he has annexed a dreadful penalty to his laws, break them we may if we will ; for God has no* made it impossible we should ; but if we do, then the heavy eurse of God will follow us, " Cursed is eve- ry one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them." The same mouth that pronounced the law, pronounces the curse. Gal iii. 10. And we know, whom he curses they are cursed, and whom he blesseth they are blessed indeed.
kill. These laws, which God hath given us to walk by, hare a fourfold property mentioned by the apos- tle, Horn. vii. 12. " Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good;55 and, ter. 1*. «« We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin."
1. We say, it is holy ; the law of God is thd exact transcript of the holy will of God. There is nothing in it disagreeable to, or unworthy of the holy God, who always acts like himself, and is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, or look upon sin.
2. It h just. It is the very measure of all jus- tice among men. It is a law that gives God his due and man his ; nay, man has no right or property in, or title to, any thing but from this law. What this makes his, is so, and no more can justly be claimed.
3. It is good. It is not a law made to gratify the lusts of an earth-worm ; it is not a law made without regard to the advantage of those who live under it : but Giid, in framing his law, has exactly considered what might be for man's good, both in time and eter- nity ; and has, in matchless goodness and infinite wis- dom, ordered the mutter so, that duty and interest go ever together, and a man can never act against his duty, hut he wrongs his real interest,, even ahslraet-
from the consideration of future rewards and punishments ia another life.
B
33 THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED.
4. The law is spiritual. It is not such a law as h prescribed by man, which only reaches the outward man ; no, ii is spiritual, reaching to the soul and all its inward actings. It prescribes bounds to the spi- rits of men, obliging them to inward obedience and conformity to it in their motions, inclinations, and affections ; not a thought, nay, nor the circumstance of a thought, but falls under this spiritual and ex- tensive law, which made the Psalmist say, " I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding broad." Psal. cxix. 96.
The way being thus cleared, we shall now, in the
Second Place, show you what sin is. Sin, which is here charged upon all, properly and formally irtir ports,
1. A want of conformity to the law, of which we have been discoursing. The law requires and en- joins duty. It obliges us not only to actions so and so qualified, but to have a right principle of action; it not only enjoins holy thoughts, holy words, and holy actions, but moreover it requires that the very frame and temper of our hearts be holy j and when we fall short of this, then we sin. That the law obli- ges us, as to the frame of our heart, is plain, since It requires that the tree be good as well as the fruit ; that the worship and service we perform to God be with the whole strength, soul and heart.
%. Sin imports a transgression of the law, for « sin is a transgression of tht: law/* 1 John iii. 4. Indeed, when transgression is taken in a large sense, it com- prehends all sin ; but it may be, and is frequently restricted to actual sins, and sins of commission ; as the former branch of the description is to original sin, and sins of omission. Sin is an opposition to the law of God. God bids do, arise, work; — man trans- gresses, breaks the command, and sits still idle. God forbids such and such sinful actions — man does them in opposition to the command of Gtd, which flows
THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED. ' 39
from a contempt of God's authority ; so that we may say,
3, That eyery sin implies, in its formal nature* contempt of God* as that which is its source. Sin flows from a secret enmity of heart against the Al- mighty, and, therefore, carries in it high contempt of him. It may be, men are so blind that they can- not discern any such thing in it ; hut God makes breaking the law, and despising or contemning the law, to be all one. Amos ii. 4. " Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked.55 Sin, in most men's eyes, is a barm- less thing; but how far otherwise would it be if its nature were seen in a just light by the eye of faith 5 if we saw it trampling upon God's authority, good- ness, and holiness, and even endeavouring, as it were to ungod him.
But that ye may further understand what sin Is, we shall, in the
Third Place, mention a twofold inseparable pro- perty, or adjunct of sm, with which it is ever attend- ed. And,
1. Sin is the defilement of the soul; sin is a filthy thing. The beauty, the glory of man, consists in his conformity to the holy aud pure law of God, and in as far as he deviates from that, in so far is he defiled and polluted. Every sin hath a Satan in it, and robs the soul of its beauty, occasions a sort of loathsome- ness, whereby in the eyes of God, and even of itself, it becomes, ugly and abominable ; it is the abomina- ble thing which God hates. " Oh, do not this abomi- nable thing that I hate/' saith the Lord, Jer. xliv. &. The natural state of man is upon the account oT
is filthiness, compared to a wretched infant that
40 THE GUIXTY tlKKlfitl ©OtfVICEED.
is east out, "in all its natural pollutions," Ezek. xVi. and to every thing else that is filthy, to puddle, mire, and dirt, and (o a menstruous cloth ; hut yet all of them are not sufficient to give a just idea of Its fil- thiaess.
2. Sin, as it is attended with j£K7«, so it is attended with guilt. It makes the sinner guilty ; it obliges him to undergo the penalty which God hath annexed to his law ; it carries ever along with it a title to the eurse of God. When the law of God is considered as that which represents his holiness a»d spotless pu- rity, whereby it becomes the measure and standard of all beauty, glory, and purity to us \ then sin, as it stands opposed to it in this respect, is looked upon as a stain, a blot, a defilement : but as the law of God oarries on it the impression of his royal authority, the breach of it binds over to just punishment for the reparation ef the honour of that contemned autho- rity.
Thus we see what it is that all men are charged with. God here lays home to them a breach of the Jaw, represents them as condemned and guilty, de- formed and defiled ereaiurȤ. *< All men have sin- Bed :" every one has broken the holy, just, good, andL spiritual law of the great Sovereign of the world ; all are guilty of a contempt of his authority, all are defiled with that abominable thing which his soul hates. J>,st any oae should take occasion to clear himself, and say, O I am not the person spoken of, I never contemned God, I never defiled myself, and so I am not guilty of that which is charged upon man- kind. Lest any should say, I am clean, God has put a bar upon this door, by extending the charge to all without exception.
And so I come, in the
Fourth Place, to inquire into the import of this universal particle all in my ttxt ; and it imports,
i$tf That persons of all ages are involved in the
THE GAIETY SINNER CONVICTED 41
same common misery. Young and old have sinned. The suckling upon the breast, as well as the old man that is stooping into the grave. None needs envy another— The old man needs not envy the innoceney of the infant of days, for the youngest carries as much sin into the world as renders it ugly, deformed, and guilty. Indeed there are who have not sinned at the rate that others have done. Children have not sinned ^ after the similitude of Adam's transgres- sion.'5 Rom. v. li. Their age would not allow them ; but sin enough they have derived to them from Adam, to damn, to defile them.
2d. Persons of nil professions, Jew and Gentile* whatever their religious profession be. This evil ia not confined to those of one religion, but is extended to all : the apostle sums up all mankind, as to reli- gion, under two head?, Jew and Gentile ; and at large in the foregoing part of this epistle, proves them both to be sinners.
3d. Jill ranks of persons, high and low, rich and poor. This is not an evil of whieh the prince can free, himself more than the peasant. Those who may be shining in glittering apparel are upon this ac- count v?Ie and jfiithy as the toad they cannot endure to look upon : those who may condemn or absolve others, may themselves be under a sentence of con- demnation ; nay, it really is so with all those who are not saved from their sins. Even these very men who have sometimes forgot themselves so far, us to advance themselves above the Jaws, are yet not only subject to God's law, but lying under an obligation to punishment on account of their breach- es of this holy, just, and good law.
4. Persons in all generations are guilty. It was r«ot only some poor wretches in the old world which God swept off the face of the earth by a flood, that have sinned, but persons of all ages, ranks, qualities* in all generations. There is not one exception amoog
I 42 THE GUILTS SINNER C0NVICTEI*.
all the natural descendants of Adam, man or wo nmii, great nor small, rich nor poor, king nor beggar, all have sinned, from the greatest to the least. None ean justly upbraid another with what he has done in Biatter, since all are in the provocation: Ml have $inned and come short of the glory of God.
And this leads us to that which we did, in the next place, propose to discourse of to you, viz.
Fifth, The import of this coming short of the glo* ry of God. And this takes in or implies,
1st, That man has fallen short of that glory which he had by the conformity of his nature to God* Man is said, 1 Cor. xi. 7. to be « the image and glory of God ;'* and indeed so was he in his first and best ©State. O what of God was there in innocent Adam J A mind full of light; how wonderfully did it repre- sent that God who is light, and in whom there is na darkness at all ! A pure soul, the exact transcript of the divine purity ! The rest of the creatures had in them some darker representations of the glory of God's wisdom and power, but only man, of all the creatures in the lower world, was capable to repre- sent the holiness, righteousness* and purity, and other rational perfections, of the ever-blessed Deity ; and* upon this account man was 4i the glory of God." God, as it were, gloried in him as the master-pieee of the visible creation, in whom alone more of God *was to be seen than in all therest beside. This, man lias now lost ; he has fallen short of the beauty and glory which made him « the glory of God."
2d. Man has lost the glory he had, as he was the deputy of the great God in this lower world. He was »iad# lord of God's hand-works upon earth : and all ithe creatures in it paid their homage to him, when they came and received their names from Slim in pa- radise : but now the « crown is fallen from his head ?' he has come short of this glory $ the creatures re- fuse subjection 1q him,
<
THE GTJILTF 0INNEB COtfVICTEB, fco
3d, Man is come short of the glory he had in the enjoyment of God in paradise. It was man's glory, honour and happiness, to be allowed a more than or- dinary familiarity with God. God and Adam eon- versed together in paradise. He was allowed the company of God ; that made his state happy indeed. What eould man want, while the all-suffieient God kept up so close, so blessed and comfortable a famil- iarity with him, and daily loaded him with his fa- vours ? But this he has come short of.
4Wi. Man has come short of that glory he had the prospect of . God set him fairly on the way, and did furnish him sufficiently for a journey to eternal, un- changeable, never-fading glory ; but this he has come short of; and this indeed follows natively upon the former. This is indeed much, but we conceive this is not all that the expression has in it : nay, certain- ly there is more in it ; this falling short, though it i)\ny seems to point at the negative, yet certainly it takes in the positive ; and we therefore say, that this expression, in the
5th Place, implies not only man's less of his ori- ginal beauty and glory, in a conformity to the image of God, but that he has fallen in the mire, and is de- filed in sin. He who sometime aday was the image and glory of God, is now more filthy than the ground he treads o», than the mire of the street, than the loathsome toad.
6th. Not only has*he lost the dominion he had, but he has become a slave to sin. He who sometime a- day looked like a god in the world, is now debased down to hell. He to whom the creatures once veil- ed as to their sovereign, now daily stands in danger of his life by them, and lies open to the insults of the meanest of them.
7th. Not only has he lost the sweet and soul-ra- vishing communion he had with God, but now he is, as it were, scarce capable to look toward Mm; thv
&& THE GUILTY SINGER CONVICTEBr
sight of God, which once was his life, is now to him as death. ,
8th. Not only has man forfeited his title to future happiness, but, which is worse, he is by sin entitled to future, eternal, inconceivable misery and wo. A dreadful coming short this is indeed. From liovy high a hope, into what an inconceivable abyss of misery and wo, is poor man fallen by sin ! " The erown is fallen from his head/5 He was a little hence all beauty, glory, excellency, and comeliness ; but now, alas ! we may groan out an Ichabod over him ! where is the glory ?
We come now, in the
Sixth Place, to inquire into the source and spring of all this misery and wo. How and whence is it that all are involved in the guilt of sin j and that this sad and afflicting calamity flows ?
1st. From the guilt of Adam9 s first sin. Adam by the holy, wise, just* and good appointment of God, stood in the room of all his posterity. Had he stood, in him we all had stood, and retained the innocency and integrity of our natures, the favour, love, and kindness of heaven 5 but he falling into sin, in him we all sinned; and by the disobedience of this one man, we all were made sinners ; as the apostle doth at large discourse, Rom. v. from the 12th verse, and downwards. This, this, is the poisoned spring whence all our sin, all our sorrow and misery flows.
2d. This flows from the natural depravity of the mind of man, that is transmitted to us from our progenitors. " We are shapen in iniquity, and in sin did our mother conceive us." We received a fa- tal wramp when first formed in the womb, as the Psalmist complains, Psal. li. 5. And indeed there is none can bring a clean thing out of an unclean. Our infected parents transfer to us the infection of sin. Sin runs in our blood, and our natures have a natural inclination to « evil, only to evil, and that eontinually," Gea. vi. 5.
N
>fK£ GUILT? SINX£U CONVICTED, *4»
&d, This flows from abounding temptations. As ^pur hearts are wicked, and set only on evil ; so every thing, in this present disorder on account of sin, is suited to carry on the infection. The creatures, by reason of -Bin, are made subject to vanity. They are made subservient to the lusts of men ; the devil and our corrupt hearts daily abuse them to this end ; and by these means it is that all men have sinned, aad thereby come short of the glory of God.
The application is that which we principally de- signed in the choice of this subject; and therefore we have but named things in the doctrinal part. And now we come to improve the whole.
That which we design chiefly in the improvement of this, is an use of conviction. Some days ago, wc came to you proclaiming the grace, mercy, and lov« of God, in Christ Jesus ; now we ceme to accuse you $s guilty of sin. The design of our doing go is in- deed the advancement ©f the glory of Christ, and in him of the grace and mercy of the Lord God. But •u.r present work in iiself is such, as doth not in its o\vn nature look that way, though, by the infinite wisdom and goodness of God, it be made subservient thereunto.
" You are all here present before the Lord, to hear what God the Lord will speak unto you j" and, as Ebud said to Eglon, King of Moab, so we say to you, " We have a message from God to you." Judges iii. 20. A sad message, not much unlike to. that which Ehud brought to Eglon, a message of death. We come this day to you, to implead you in Gcd's name as guilty of sin. The message is not to some parti- cular gross offenders, but to every soul now present before the Lord ; to the child, to the young man* and maid, to those of riper years, and to them who are old, and stoop uodcr the weight of many years.
" In the name, and at the instance of the greaf, the terrible God, the King, the Lord of hosts/' whose
46 THE GUILTY SIXNBB CONVICTED.
name is dreadful among the Heathen, Mai. i. 14, << that eonfirmeth the word of his servants, and per- formeth the counsel of his messengers.95 Isa. xliv. %6. we are to implead, impeach, and accuse, every soul here present, as guilty of sin. Hitherto we have spoken in the genera?, which, it may be, has been no better to you, than Nathan's parable to Da- vid. It may be some of you have been saying, that the sou! that has sinned has deservedly fallen short of the glory of God, and fallen under the wrath of God: but now what we said before in general, we eome to say in particular to every one of you, as Na- than did to David, ** Thou art the man, thou art the woman, thou art the child, the young man, or the maid, who hast sinned, and thereby come short of the glory of God."
Now, that we may be successful in this work, and bring you, if possible, to understand your state and condition, we shall,
First, Mead and open, as it were, the charge and indictment, we do in God's name bring against you.
Secondly* Lead witnesses, whereby we shall prove it against you all in general.
Thirdly* Endeavour particularly oy arguments to make our charge good, 1st, Jlgainst children and young men; 2d, Jlgainst those of a middle age ; and 3d, Against old men and women. This we shall do, as it were, by taking you to the places, the compa- nies, and occasions, where you have sinned, and in- curred the guilt now charged on you.
Fourthly, Show what satisfaction our great Lord demands against such traitors.
Fifthly 9 What reason he has to require it, And then,
Sixthly, Endeavour to represent to you your mise- ry upon this account.
First, The charge xve lay against you, is not some petty, some small misdemeanor, that may be atoned
THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED. 47
for by a bare acknowledgement, by some pitiful mock, God have mercy upon me. No j the charge draws deep, it is no less than that of sin, sin against the great Sovereign of the world. Ye all have sinned. O ! if ye knew what a world of evil is in that cursed thing, sin ! When we say, Ye have sinned, you are ready to say, O ! we know that well enough. Is this all ye have to say ? 'When we heard of such a dread- ful thing as a charge and indictment in the name of God against us ; when we heard of leading witnesses, and all the other parts of a trial, we did apprehend there was some terrible thing a-coming, some dread- ful unheard of evil to be laid home to our door ; but now we find there is nothing said against us, but only that we are sinners, and who will deny this ? who knows it not ? and this is but the common lot, « God be merciful to us," we are all sinners ; and there the repentance of most is done ; their sores are heal- ed, and they can live, and it may be die, without any fear in this case : such light apprehensions have most part, of sin.
These, these, it may be, are the apprehensions of not a few of you, upon hearing the charge : but if there be not blind minds, shut eyes, deaf ears, and dreadfully bard hearts amongst us, ere all be done, some of you will, it may be, change your minds, and think this a very dreadful and heavy charge. If God would now concur by his Spirit, and enable us to manage our work to purpose, if he would let out the convincing influences of his Spirit, the weight of this charge would press you so as to make your hearts fail and sink within you.
Sin is an ordinary word, a little word, and most men do apprehend that there is but little in it : but mistake it not ; there is much in it, more than an- gels or men can ever discover, or fully unfold. Yet that all this that we have said may not seem a ground- less allegation, I shall* 1st, Set up to you some glass-
48 THE ©UIJLTX SlNJSEil CONVICTED*
es, wherein you may get a view of sin's ugly face ; or I shall, as Balak did to Balaam, take you to sue!* places, where you may get a sight of its formidable nature* ptwer, and malignity. 2dly, I shall tell you of some dreadful and monstrous evils that are lodg- ed in every sin, the least idle thought or word. And* Sdly, I shall mention some killing aggravations thut your sins are clothed with, that put an accent upon them, and enhance their guilt. And this will let you see thft great evil of sin ; this will open your indict- ment.
1st, We shall give you some prospects of sin. It may be, many of you do think very little of sin ; bat here I desire you to come and look at it.
1. In the glass of God's law. See the holy, the high and exalted God, exhibiting his mind and will in two tables, tables containing safe, good, holy, just, spiritual; and every way advantageous rules, for that creature whom God has taken so distinguishing and particular a cars of, Well, what shall we nee of sin here ? O here, you may see sin breaking, nay dashing to pieces, these two tables, in a worse sense than Moses did, Exod. xxxii. ±9. Every sin, the least sin, throws them both to the groufM ; for, as the apostle James telis us, *• Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet oifend m one point, he is guilty of all." James ii. 19. Is it a small tiling to -you to
piv.
but if yet ye will not see the cursed nature of sin,
then we bid you, iu the
2d place, take a view of it in the nature of the great God9 the seat of all majesty, glory, beauty, and excellency; aied if you look at it here, O how ugly will it appear ! Nothing in all the world is contra- ry and opposite to the nature of God, but sin. The Bseane&t, the most apparently deformed creature in
T&E GUILTY SIKTSER CONVICTED, 49
the world, Ihe toad, the crawling insect, carries in its nature nothing really opposite to the nature of God ; sin, only sin, stands in opposition to him. This he cannot dwell with: "Evil shall not dwell with him, nor sinners stand in his sight." Such is that abhorrence that God has at sin, that, when he speaks of it, his heart as it were rises against it, * Oh der' not that abominable thing which I hate!'5 in that forecitrd Jer. xliv. 4. And if yet ye will not see its sinfulness, I will take you where you may see more of it. Go take a view of it,
0. In the threatinings of the laiv9 and see there what estimate God puts on it, and what a thing it is. A5* the power of heaven, the anger, the fury, the ven- geance of God, all are levelled at the head of sin. Take but one instance for all, in that 7th of Joshua ; there a people accustomed to victory turn their back before the enemy, fall a prey to a people devoted to destruction ; nay, moreover, God, in the 12th verse, calls all the people accursed, and tells, they cannot stand before the enemy, " neither will I be with you any more," says he. Why ? what is the matter ? wherefore is the heat of ail this anger ? what mean- eth this vengeance? The matter was, there was a sin committed; Achan had taken some of the spoil of the enemy. Thus you see, one sin makes God breathe out threatenings against a whole nation. In fine, look through the book of God, and there you shall see one threatening big with temporal, another with eternal plagues ; one full of external, another of internal and spiritual woes; and all as it were level- led at the head of sin. And is that a small matter which never fails to set out all the vengeance of hea- ven against the person that is guilty of it ? But yet this is not all : you may see more, if ye look at it)
4. In thejudgments of God that are abroad in the earth. Look we to one nation, there we shall see thousands falling before the avenging enemy, the
E
50 THE GUILTY SINNER COSTVICtEU.
sword glutted as it were with blood ; men who a little before were possessed of wisdom, courage, and all those endowments which serve to enhance the worth of the sons of men, are here laid heaps upon heaps: Go we to another, there we shall see no fewer car- ried off by sickness and diseases^ and all wearing out by time. Go to church yards, and see what vast havoc these do make ; there you may see the rub- bish of many generations laid heaps upon heaps. Well, see you nothing of sin in all this? What thitik you of all these lamentable evils, miseries, and woes? Why, see you nothing of sin in them all? Sure you are blind if you do not. I ask you, as Je- hu did when he saw the dead sons of Ahab, 2 Kings x. 9. " Who slew all these ?" Who brought all these sons of pride, who not long ago were strangely ruffling it out in the light of warlike glory, down to the sides of the pit ? who filled your church-yards with heaps upon heaps, fathers and sons, high and low, rich and poor, of all sexes, ranks, ages, and de- grees ? Surely sin hath done this ; for as " by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. v. 12. But if still you will look up- on sin as a small and light thing, we have yet ano- ther glass wherein you may have a further sight of it.
5. Enter the house of a soul under trouble of con- science; look at a Heman, and you shall hear him making a heavy moan in that 88th psalm $ there you see a man that has a soul full of trouble, oppressed with all the waves and billows of the wrath of God, almost distracted with the terrors of God. Now, if you saw one in this case crying out in anguish of spi- rit, nay, it may be, tearing himself \ beating his breast9 ask him the reason of all this distress, he will tell you, that it is sin that has done all this. He has no rest in his bones for ills that he has done, PaaL
THE GTJTLTY SINNER CONVICTED. 51
xxxv'ii. 3 And if yet ye have not seen enough of the sinfulness and evil of sin, I shall give you ano- ther prospect of it,
6. In the hateful, monstrous, and enormous crimes, that are committed in the world. Some sins there arc which hring along with them infamy and disgrace, even before men. Human nature, as corrupt as it is, shrinks at some sins, they carry in them such an evi- dent contrariety to the faint remains of natural light. Sins there are, which, as the apostle says, 1 Cor. v. 1. *? are not so much as named among the Gentiles." Now, if a man be guilty of any of these crying abomi- nations, these crimson sins, then he becomes odious to the world. Call a man a murderer, an incestuous person, an abuser of his parents, or the like, every sober person will flee from, and shun as a pest, the company of such an one. But why ? what is the mat- ter? what is there so odious in these crimes, that every one flees from the person guilty of them ? there is sin in them, and hence it is they are so hateful; and the only thing that distinguished these from others, is, that they have different circumstantial ag- gravations: for in the nature of sin they all do agree, the least and the greatest; the least sin strikes at the holy law of God, contemns the authority of the great and supreme Lawgiver, as well as the greatest doth, And if sin be so odious when you get a fuller view of it, as it were, in these large, these great and crying provocations, it is no less so when it is less perceptible in these sins which quadrate better with our vitiated and corrupted natures ; for indeed the difference among sins, as to greater and less, lies not so much in the nature of the sins, as in their different respects to our understanding, arising from the objects about which they are conversant. But, if after all these views of sin, your eyes are so blinded that you can- not see it, then come take a view of it,
7, In the case of the damned. Here, here you
52 THE GU1XTY SINNER CONVICTED.
may have a strange* an heart-affecting view of sin's ugb face. See the poor wretches lying in bundles, boiling eternally in that stream of brimstone, roaring uncler the iritolerable, and yet eternal anguish of their spirits ! Take a survey of them in this lamentable posture. If you should see some hundreds of men, women, and children, all thrown alive into burning pitch or melted lead, would not this present you with a sad scene of misery and wo ? Would not this be a dismal sight"? Indeed it would be so. But all this is nothing to the unspeakable misery of the devils and damned, who have fallen into the hands of the lining and sin-revenging God, and are laid in chains of massy and thick darkness, eternally depressed and sunk into the bottomless depth of the wrath of God, and choked with the steam of that lake of fire and brimstone ; and have every faculty of their soul, eve- ry joint of their body, brimfull of the fury of the eternal God : — Behold, ami wonder at\his terrible aiwl astonishing sight ; and in this take a view of sin. Were hell oow opened, and saw you the damned in chains of darkness, and if you heard their dread- ful yelling, and found the steam of the bottomless pit, ye would then m every sense get some discovery of sin. It is only sin that has kindled that dreadful and inextinguishable fire of wrath, and cast the dam- ned into it; and it is sin that holds them there, and torments them there. If you had but a just impres- sion of these things, how hateful would sin be to you ? And if, after all that has been said, you still imagine that sin is not so bad as we would represent it, then come once more, and take a view of it,
8. In the sufferings of Christ. Here is a glass, O, criminals ! wherein you may see your own face. You think it a little thing that you have sinned ; nay, it may be, you roll sin « as a sweet morsel under your tongues.55 But come here, and see what a thing it is which you thus dreadfully mistake } Come se^e
THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED. 5$
it holding the sword ; O strange ! nay more, thrust- ing it into Christ's side I — Here, sinners, is a sight that made the earth to tremble, and the sun to hide his face, as we see, Matthew xxvii. 51. Luke xxiii. 45. In this glass you may see, (1.) What God's thoughts of sin are. So highly opposite to his na- ture is it, that the bowels of affection he had to the Son of his love, whom he so highly honoured, when the voice came from the excellent glory, saying, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well plea- sed," were not able to hold up the hand of inexora- ble justice from striking at /um, nay, striking him dead, for the sin of the elect world. Would not that be a great proof, think ye, of the aversion of a parent to any thing, if he would rather choose to slay his son, nay, his only son, his son whom he loved most tenderly, than it should escape a mark of his dis- pleasure ? (2.) Here you may see more of the pol- lution of sin than any where else. Never was there any thing that gave so just apprehensions of the stain of sin, as the death of Christ. An ingrained pollution it must indeed be, if no less will wash it out than the Mood of God. (3.) Here is a dreadful evidence of the power of sin. Never did this more appear, than when it blinded the eyes of the degene- rate sons of men, so far that they could not discern " the glory of the only-begotten of the Father, who was so full of grace and truth," whose divine nature daily beamed, as it were, through that of his human, in miraculous operations, works, and words, which none but God could do, but God could speak. And no less was the power of sin seen, when it hurried men headlong into that heaven-daring pitch of im- piety, to imbrue their hands in the blood of God. O sinners ! would you see what sin is ? look at it with its hands reeking in the gore and blood of God, and tell what you think of it* But it is like, some of you may say, What is this
E %
84 »the cn&mry sinner convicteb.
to the purpose ? This is not the sin we are guilty of. "We have never imbrued ©ur hands in the blood of God, and so herein we cannot see our crimes. — This makes nothing to that which now you are doing, the unfolding the heinous nature of that crime you now implead us as guilty of before God. To this we an- swer,
(1.) Should we grant what is alledged as to your innocency in this matter, to be true, yet herein there is much of the nature of your sin to be seen, since it partakes of the common nature of sin, with that of the murder of God ; and since it is every way equal to, if not that very same, against which, God did evi- dence his hatred in so wonderful a manner, in the death of his only-begotten Son, whom "he spared not, but gave to the death, when he laid on him the iniquity of the elect world." But,
(2.) We say, that very sin lies at your door, O siuners ! and if you deny it, 1 would only ask you one question, Dare you hold up your faces, and in the sight of God say, that you did receive Jesus Christ the first time ever there was an offer of him made to you ? If not, then you are guilty in that you prac- tically say, that the putting him to death was no crime. You, by your practice, bear witness to, or as- sert the justice of the Jews quarrel, and bring the blood of God upon your head : and therefore in their crimes you may see your own. All the world, to whom the gospel-report comes, must either he for or against the Jews in their prosecution of him ; and ro otherwise can we give testimony against them, but by believing the gospel-report of him, that he was indeed the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. In so far as we refuse a compliance with this, in as far are we guilty of the death of Christ j for unbe- lief subscribes the Jews charge against the Son. of God, and asserts him an impostor.
(3.) Either you are idimevs or mbd&vers; if
THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED, 55
believers, then it was for your very sins that Christ was killed — it was for your iniquities he was bruised : "Blithe was wounded for your transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon biru, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like lost sheep have gone astray : we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on hiai the iniquity of us all," saith the prophet in the name of ail the elect. Isa. liii. 5, 6. If you be unbelievers, then you do not believe the witness that Christ gave of himself, that he is the Son of God; and therefore do practically declare him an impostor, and worthy of death* and so may say of yourselves, with respect to the Jews' cruelty, that when they condemned him, they had your consent to what they did.
Now. what think ye, O criminals ! when we have, in these eight different glasses, given you a prospect of the crime we implead you ef ? Is it not a fearful onel- If you be not strangely stupided, sure you must own it so. But lest there should be any so blind, as not to discern what it is we accuse them of, we shall,
2dly9 Proceed to mention some great evils that are all implied in the least sin, in every provocation. This charge which we intend against you is no mean thing. For,
1. It has atheism in it. An atheist, who denies the being of a God, is a monster in nature ; a crea- ture so extremely degenerate, that some have doubt- ed, whether there ever was. or could be, any of the sons of Adam so debauched as in principle to avouch this monstrous untruth. But there are practical atheists, such as the apo?t!e mentions and character- iscth, Tit. i. 16. «< who profess to know God, but in works deny him, being abominable and disobedient 'f9 or as it is in the first language, " Children of unper- suasioiij or unpersuadable, and to every good work
56 THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED
reprobate." That there are such, none can deny, since every sinner is in some sort such, for every sin has atheism in it. In the l^th and 53d psalms, we have a description of the natural state of man ; and look to the spring of all the impieties, ver. I. «' The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God ;" and then a train of lamentable practical impieties fol- lows ; « they are corrupt, they have done abomina- ble works, there is none that do good." The Psalm- ist doth not there discourse of some profligate wretch- es among the Jews, or of the Gentiles who knew not God, but of the whole race of Adam, Jew and Gen- tile, as the apostle proves, in the 10th, 11th and 12th verses of this chapter, wherein our text lies, when he adduces testimonies from this psalm, to prove all and every one to have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And indeed the thing proves itself. What ! do not we deny his sovereignty, when we vi- olate his laws ? Do not we deny and disgrace his holiness, when we cast our filth before his face? And we disparage his wisdom, when we set up our own will as the rule and guide of our actions. We deny his sufficiency, when we profess that we find more in sin, or in the creature, than in him. In fiae, every sin is a denial of all God's attributes, oneway or other ; and therefore every sin has atheism in it : so that our charge against you runs very high, it amounts to no less than an impeachment for atheism : A crime, than which there is not, nor indeed can there be any more odious: for all other distempers naturally fall in here; they all issue themselves into this infection: and hence it is that the atheist is ge- nerally so odious and hateful ; and yet even they who hate the atheist most, want not atheism; and they who will be most forward to question this truth, that all sinners are guilty of atheism, are, it is like, most guilty. This then, is one branch of the charge laid against you \ but it is not all. For,
THE GUIJ.TY SINGER CONVICTED. 57
2. We charge you all with idolatry. Sinners, you iire, and every siti hath idolatry in it. How curt this he ? will you say, we never worshipped an idol all our life, we never bowed at the name of a strange god ? we bless God we were better taught than so ; we were not bred Papists nor Pagans, but reformed Christians, who renounce all idols, and plead for the worship of one God alone. Well, notwithstanding all this, idolaters you are. What ! do you think that only the mere gross act of idolatry is reputed such by the holy God ? — This certainly flows from your ignorance of Mm, and of his law. Did you understand either, you would never attempt your own justification. There is not only outward and gross idolatry, but there is a more secret and inward sort *$f it. A set of men there were with whom the pro- phet Ezekiel had to do, who were as formal and punctual in their attendance upon duties, I mean the external duties of religion, as you are : externally in covenant with God they were, as you are : nor is it improbable that they had now abandoned all exter- nal idolatry ; for the Jews, after the Babylonish cap- tivity, in the time of which Ezekiel lived, never more followed idds as before. And yet hear the message these men have sent to them by the prophet, in the 1Mb chapter of his prophecies, « Son of man,*' says God to him, *•' these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face :" and so he proceeds in the sequel of the chapter, from the 3d verse and downwards, to threaten them with grievous and ter- rible punishments. Every one that sets up any thing in that room in his heart which is God's due, is an idolater; for idolatry is the transferring that love, esteem, confidence, trust, fear, reverence, or obedience, which is due to God, or any creature. Now, who is not guilty of this, when be serves sin ? Doth he not obey either his own will or the devil, in
&8 THE GUILTY SINNEIt CONVICTED.
opposition to the command of God, and thereby sub- stitute either himself or Satan into God's room? — Think, O think! upon this part of your charge, and tremble! — But to proceed,
3. Every sin has blasphemy in it, it reproaches God. They are not only the blasphemers, who in reproachful speeches belch out against Heaven, and, as the Psalmist expresses it, Psalm Ixxiii. 10. " Set their mouth against the heaven, and with their tongue walk through the earth," sparing neither God nor man ; but those also are blasphemers, who do in their actions reproach God, Numb. xv. 30, 31. u The soul that doth aught presumptuously, the same reproach- eth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people, because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment ; that soul shall be utterly cut off: his iniquity shall be upon him." Is it a small thing to you, O sinners, that you have broken the command of God? It may be light and easy in your eyes, but see to it, whether God's word or your's shall stand. You call it a light thing ; but God looks upon himself as reproached by it: and indeed he justly looks upon it as a reproach ,• for every sin charges him, (1.) v/ith folly. God, in giving laws to men to walk by, designed the mani- festation of his wisdom, in making such laws as be- eame the infinite wisdom of the supreme Governor of the world : but the sinner by every sin says prac- tically, that God's laws are not wise ; his own will, which he follows in the commission of sin, he thinks better. (2.) It reproaches his goodness. The sin- ner says, by his practice, that neither God's laws nor himself are good, but that God has, either through ignorance, or folly* or malice, retrenched him of what might have conduced to his good ; that his laws are not calculated to the advantage and real good of of his subjects.— (3.) He hereby likewise reproach- es the righteousness and holiness of God, in as far
THE GUIXTY SINNER «ONVICT£». 59
as these are stamped upon the law, which he not on- ly rejects but tramples upon, as one that " believes not God, calls him a liar," 1 John v. 10. — So he that obeys him not, accuses him either of unrighteous- ness or folly. Now, this branch of the charge rises higher than avowed atheism; for the atheist entirely disowns God, and so entertains not such unsuitable thoughts of him as he does who owns him, and yet accuses him by his practice, of ignorance, folly, and impurity. But this is not all that is in the crime laid against you. For,
4. Every sin hath robbery in it. It is a rape com- mitted, an endeavour to carry away some one or other of the croxvn-jewels of heaven. God has said « He will not give his glory to another;" and one darling part of this glory is that of his absolute dominion. Now, every sinner endeavours to rob God of this, and that to clothe either Satan or sin with it. The commanding power it would have taken from God, and given to itself, or some other, than which there can be no greater robbery. Again, the glory of God's sovereignty is due to him, in a punctua^flhedience to every one of his commands. He that oPfys the com- mand, gives God glory of his authority, and owns him governor of the world ; and this is a part of God's property ; it is the revenue that he requires of the world ; and the sinner, by every sin he commits, at- tempts to rob him of his glory, invades his property. We find God himself managing the charge of rob- bery against a people called by his name, Matecbi iii. 8, 9. " Will a man rob God ; yet ye have robbed me ; but ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee ? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse ; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." — So I say to you, You have robbed God : but you will say, Wherein have we robbed him ? I answer, In that which is far more valuable than " tithes and of- ferings f you have robbed him, and in every sin do
60 THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED
rob him, of that obedience which to him " is better than sacrifice." " Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken, than the fat of rams." 1 Sam. xv. 22. But this yet is not all j we charge you,
5. With rebellion. Every sinner is a rebel against God ; he casts off the yoke of God, bursts the bonds ef obedience, and takes up rebellious arms against God, the great sovereign of the world. Rebellion is a thing so odhnis, that the unjust imputation of it has been made frequently, like the wild beast's skins with which some primitive persecutors clothed the saints of the Most High, that thereby they might set upon them the dogs to tear them. Men have been term- ed rebels, and had this note of infamy put upon them, for disobeying the unlawful and infamous commands of men ; while disobedience to the commands of God has got a more mild and favourable name ; while du- ty has been called rebellion : the highest acts of re- billion against the most high -God, possessor of hea- ven and earth, such as drunkenness, swearing, per- secution, hAve been horribly miscalled by the appro- priation of soft names ; the drunkard has been called a goo&fellow, the swearer a gentleman, and the per- secntor a loyalist. Bui God will take care to have these abuses rectified, and to have things called by their fight names, and then sin and only sin, will be found to be rebellion; and this we charge upon you. And that we have ground to assert every sin rebell- ion, you may soon see, if" you consider, ilidt, 1 Sam. xii. 14, 15. " If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye, and also the King that reignetfa over you, continue follow- ing the Lord your God. But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command- ment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord
THE GU1I/FY SINNES COttVIGTED. 61
be against you, as it was against jrour fathers." Thus you see. obeying, and not rebelling, disobeying and rebelling, are plainly the same thing in God's ac- count : God uses them so \ if you obey and rebel not, if you disobey and rebel. This then is one branch of the eharge we now manage against you. In God's name, we accuse you of rebellion, when we accuse you of sin ; for, as you have just now heard, rebell- ion and sin is in scripture account, and therefore in God's aecount, one and the same ; and how heinous this crime is, we find the Spirit of God telling us, ia that i Sam. xv. 23. " Rebellion is as the sin of witch- craft." Once more,
6. We charge murder upon you. An hard charge, will you say, if it be well proven ; a charge which, if it be made good against us, we deserve by the law of God and man to die. Well, as difficult as you may think it, we shall make it good against every soul of you, and that after this manner. You have sinned, and every sinner is a murderer, and that the worst of murderers. Well might the wise man say, Eccl. ix. IS. "One sinner destroyeth much good." For, (1.) He murders his own soul by it. What is said of adultery is indeed applicable to every sin, Prov. xvi. 32, " He that doth it destroyeth his own soul," and so is guilty of that worst of wickedness, self-murder. He slays a soul, and not a body only, who commits sin. (2.) He is in disposition a murderer of God, who commits sin. This is plain, if you consider two scriptures: 1 John iii. 5. it is asserted, that hatred is murder, " Whosoever ha(eth his brother is a mur- derer ; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life." And, Rom. viii. 7. it is said, "The carnal mind is enmity against God." So that the natural jnan, in the state wherein he is born, is a hater, aa enemy of God, and therefore, in God's account, a murderer of God; for, indeed, he that hates one, forbears murdering onlv for want either of opportu-
F
03 THE GUILTY SINNER COHVICTED.
nity, or power, or se<?reey, or some sucb like advan- tage. Now, every sin is the product of that natural enmity, the fruit of which grows on the carnal mind j and therefore must partake of the nature of the root, must have enmity or hatred against God in it, and implies a judging him unworthy of a being. That principle of enmity which inclines and prompts man to sin, to tread upon God's law, would excite him to destroy God, were it possible ; every sin aims at no less than the life of God. We say not that every, or any sinner, doth intend tbe destruction of God, but that it is the aim of every sin. A man, in every sin, aims at tbe advancement of his own will above that of God's : and, could the sinner attain his end, God would be destroyed ; for God cannot survive his will. He can as soon outlive his being as his glory j and he that aims at the one, aims at the other also : and this is the case of every sinner. Now, I have made it good, that every sin has murder in it ; and consequently that all who have sinned, as ye all have done, have committed murder, and that of the worst sort, self-murder, soul-murder ; nay, and God-mur- der : and if the blood of the body of another shall be required at the hand that sheds it, what do you think will be the case of such as have shed the blood of a soul ? And if it stand hard with such, what will be- come of the murderer of God ? Sure, if simple mur- der be avenged, then self murder, soul-murder, will be avenged seven times more; and if soul-murder be so evil, and bring complicated destruction upon the guilty, what, O sinners ! think ye will be the case of those who shall be found conspirators against the life of God ?
Now, can ye think the crime alledged againt you small, after we have a little opened it to you ? Sure he who will, must be totally destitute of all sense of God, or of religion ; nay, or reason. What is griev- ous and heavy, if the charge of atheism, idolatry.
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hlasphemy, robbery, rebellion, and murder, be not so ? And we have made it appear, that our plea, op ra- ther God's plea against you, amounts to no less. But this is far from being all that we have to say in the justification of God, and for your condemnation. These sins have,
3dly9 Aggravations as dreadful and guilt enhan- cing, as they themselves are great and monstrous. You have sinned, and consequently are guilty of athe- ism, idolatry, blasphemy, robbery, rebellion and murder; but not simply of these abominations as in themselves, but as tiiey are attended with a great many fearful and killing aggravations, which add extremely to the score of the provocations, being as it were so many cyphers put behind the figures, which, though in themselves they be nothing, yet put behind, they swell the number to a prodigious greatness.
1. All these evils you have done, notwithstanding a great many notable helps you received against sin. Not to speak of what you had in Adam, perfect strength, perfect will, and perfect happiness, you have not only sinned in him against all these, but you who are here present have sinned against many notable means afforded you of God for your preser- vation from sin. (1.) You have sinned in the face of all the dreadful threatenings of God's vengeance against it. You have sinned under the very thun- derings of Mount Sinai : and when the flames of hell have, out of the threatenings of God, been staring you in the face, even then you have dared to provoke the Most High, slighting all these formidable evi- dences of his anger. (2.) You have sinned against dreadful examples or instances of the judgments of God against offenders. You have, as it were, seeu your companions turned into hell, and yet you have persisted in the crimes for which they were served so. Say now-, who of you, in some one remarkable
§% THE GUILTY SINKER CONVICTED.
instance or other, has not seen the judgments of God against sin and sinners ? Sure our land has of late afforded remarkable instances not a few. Have you not seen some, out of a fever of lust, fall into sick- ness, and out of this drop into the bottomless abyss of (he scorching wrath of God ? and, notwithstand- ing all this, you have sinned on, and have not guard- ed against sin. (3.) You have sinned contrary to great and precious gospel promises ; these great and precious promises, that are breasts full of life, con- solation, and strength, full of spiritual supplies for strengthening poor men against the assaults of sin. (4,) You have sinned against the glorious gospel-or- dinames, all of which are designed for the destruc- tion and ruin of gin, aad are the pipes through which the supplies contained in the promises are conveyed to the Lord's people. (5.) You have sinned against all the strivings of the Spirit of God with you, in or- dinances and providences ,* and consequently have re- sisted the Holy Ghost in your suis. (6.) You have sinned against that sovereign ordinance of God, the antitype of the braz«n serpent, Jesus Christ, who is lifted up for that very end, that he may save his peo- ple from their sins ; and bids all the ends of the earth look unto him for that end, Isa. xlv. 22. <* Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." The God who has been holding him forth to you, who has provided you in all these great and notable advantages, is the God you have sinned against, whom you have rebelled against, and treat- ed unworthily in these horrid violations of his law, which we have enumerated to you above. But this is not the only aggravation of your sins, that you had helps against sin : But,
2. You have sinned against the God of your mer- cies, the God who has loaded you with his favours. © sad requital you have given to God for all the kindnesses he has done to you, since the morning of
THE GUDLTY SllfrNER C0NVICTEB. 65
your day ! May he not justly, nay, may we not in his name, lay that to your charge, which we find him wi(h wonderful solemnity charging upon his people, Isa. i. 2. u Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth ; for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourish- ed and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.'* Have not you been nourished and brought up under the care, and by the providence of God ? and has he not met with the same entertain- ment at your hand ? Now, this is a dreadful aggra- vation of your guilt. For, (1.) it is not one mercy, or txvo, but innumerable mercies, innumerable kind- nesses. Reckon, O sinners ! what the mercies of God are, if ye can. Nay, if ye can count the stars in the heaven, or the sand of the sea-shore, you may* David says in that 71st Psalm, " That he knows not the number of God's salvation ;" and who may not say with him in this ? God every day preserves you from many thousands of inconveniences that would destroy you, and bestows upon you many thousands of mercies. He loads you with his benefits, and ye load yourselves with your sins against him. Ye turn the point of them all. as it were, against God, and make these very mercies he gives you weapons of unrighteousness to fight against him. As his favours, so your sins are more than the hairs of your head. Look round you, whatever you see, whatever you en- joy, clothes, food, or whatever contributes to the comfort of life, that you have from him ; and this is the God, O sinners ! against whom ye have sinned, who treats you thus, " in whom ye live, move, and have your being," as the apostle observes, Acts xvii. 28. (2.) As the mercies are many against which ye have sinned, so they are great. If any can be called so, these which you have at the hand of God may. What is great, if all that is needful for life and god- liness be not ? And no less does the provision that God has made amount unto ; and no less has the
66 THE GUILTY SIWNER CONVICTED.
Lord God given unto you. Has not " his divrne power given to you all things that pertain to life and godliness V* 2 Pet. i. 3. Have not ye a gospel-dis- pensation, food and raiment ? And what more is needful ? And yet against these great mercies you have sinned. When God has fed you to the full, Jeshurun-like, you have waxed fat, and kicked against the God that has fed you all your life long. Deut. xxxii. 15. (3.) Ye have sinned notwithstand- ing of a long tract of these many and great undeser- ved kindnesses; and this extremely enhances your guilt. What ! would he not be looked on as a very monster in nature, who would kill the man that was putting his meat in his mouth? who would watch opportunities against one who had done him wonder- ful kindnesses? and this is exactly your case; you have sinned, and that against the God of your mer- cies. And therefore, (4.) Your sins are all acts of monstrous ingratitude, than which nothing worse can be laid to the charge of any man. It is a sin that makes a man worse than the beast of the field : 44 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his mas- ter's crib." Isa. i. 4. The dullest of beasts know who do them kindnesses, and fawn, as it were, upon those that feed them ordinarily ; but ye, O sinners ! have kicked and lift up the heel against the God that has fed you all your life long, and so are guilty of the most horrid ingratitude. And do you thus re- quite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise! But this is not all that may be said for aggravating your wickedness in sinning against God. For,
3. You have done all this wickedness without any provocation. When subjects rebel against their sove- reign, they have usually some shadow of excuse for the taking up arms against him; but ye have none. What have ye to alledge in your own defence, O cri- minals ? What iniquity, what fault have ye found m GodL, that ye have gone backward and forsaken
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his ways? " Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob,'5 Isa. xli. 21. What have ye to offer in your justification? Sure I am, the ordinary pretences which are upon such occasions made use of, to jus- tify a substraction of obedience from the kings of the earth, will do you no service. (1.) You cannot, you dare not quarrel God's claim to the sovereignty of the world. What will, what can make it his due, if creation, preservation, benefits, and the superemi- nent excellencies of his nature, qualifying him as it were for so great a post, do not give a just claim ? And God has a right to the government of the world upon all these accounts. He made us, and not we ourselves: he is the mighty preserver of man ; he loads us daily with his benefits ,• and there is none like him to be his competitor. (2.) You cannot al- ledge unjust laws. You cannot say that he has over- stretched his prerogative, and withholden any part of that which was your unquestionable due. No. Who dare implead the Most High of injustice ? '• Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Are not his laws most just always? and his judg- ments most righteous ? Is he not a God of truth, and without iniquity ? Sure he is. We boldly bid you a defiance to discover any thing unjust in that body of laws which God has given to the sons of men. Nor, (3.) Can ye ailedge the rigour of his laws, that he is an austere one, and has gone to the utmost he might with you, exacted all that he pos- sibly could. No; he has consulted your good in the frame of his laws, and has contrived them so, that every one who understands what he says, must own that, had mankind been at the making them, they could not, by all their joint wit, have gone near to Diake them so exactly answer the design of the high God, his glory in the good of the creature, as he has done. 4. Nay further, your sins have this aggravation)
— ■
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that they are committed without any prospect of ad- vantage, to countemmil the damage you sustain* Could ye pretend, that ye can by your disobedience gain some great thing, if it did not excuse you, it would make you to be pitied, as being overborne by a very great temptation. But this cannot, dare not be alledged ; no; you "spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which doth not profit." You can make no hand of it. You offend the God of your mercies without any provo- cation, and that for a very trifle. He has not stood with you upon the greatest, and ye scruple the least points with him ; yea, for a shadow of pleasure, ye stand not to offend him. Nav,
5. You sin, notwithstanding the interposition of the most solemn vows to the contrary ; and therefore we might have made this one of the ingredients of sin, perjury. All of you who are now before the Lord stand solemnly engaged to fear, and obey, and serve the Lord, all the days of your lives. When you were offered to God in baptism, then you came under the vows of God ; and when you have given your pre- sence in the public assemblies of God's people, since ye came to age, ye have solemnly owned and ratified these vows ; and yet, notwithstanding all these, you have sinned against God, even your covenanted God ; and therefore there is perjury in all your sins. You have despised the oath in breaking the covenant of your God.
6. When you have sinned, and continue to sin a- gainst God, yet ye continue to prof ess fealty and sub- jection to him, and thereby add fearful hypocrisy and mockery to your wickedness ; like that profane peo- ple with whom the prophet Malachi had to do, who dealt traitorously with God, wearied him with their wickedness, robbed him of his due, and yet asserted their own innocency in all ; and this, throughout the whole of that book, is charged upon them as an ag- gravation of their guilt. Their profession they still
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kept up, and challenged God to show wherein they had failed of their duty. Now, this is much youi? ease ; your very appearance here carries in it such a challenge. Would ye come here without scruple, and so boldly rush into God's presence, whom ye have of- fended, were ye not at this with it, that ye judge God either knows not, or will not be offended with what ye have done.
Now, you have heard your charge opened. It is not, as we have said before, some petty misdemean- our that is libelled against vow, but crimes as black as hell, atheism, idolatry, blasphemy, robbery, rebell- ion, and murder, and that against the God of your mercies, over the belly of a great many notable pre- venting means of grace, in spite of the most solemn vows to the contrary, without any shadow of provo- cation, any prospect of real advantage ; and all this, notwithstanding a great many professions to the con- trary.
Here is the sum and substance of your indictment, enough to make the heaven and earth astonished, that God does not in fury fall upon us, and make an utter end of us. If everv one saw his own concernment in this matter, how would we be affected? it would make a strange work in this house.
This, O sinners ! is your charge : wliat have ye to answer to it ? Plead ye guilty or not ^ Sure I am, every soul in this house may say with Job, in that 9th chapter of his book, and 20th verse, "If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me ; if I say lam perfect, it shall also prove me perverse." If you plead guilty, and take with the charge, what means this security we see among you ? " Is it not a dread- ful thing to fall into the hands of the living God ?w Is it an easy thing to suffer the punishment due to such crimes ? — Sure none can say it is.
But it may be, some of you may be ready to say, indeed we cannot deny ourselves to be sinners. God help usj for we have all sinned ; but indeed we p?-
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ver thought, nor can we yet think, that every sin hath in it all these monstrous evils vou have mention ed. God forbid we were all of us atheists, idolators, blasphemers, robbers, murderers, and perjured re- bels, as you have made us. No : we have indeed sin- ned, but our consciences did never accuse us of any such monstrous impieties as these are. To those who shall dare to say, or think so, we answer, (1.) We do indeed believe, that many of your consciences did never accuse you of any such crimes. Many of you keep the eyes of conscience fast shut in igno- rance. You fear to bring your deeds to the light of a well-informed conscience, lest they should be re- proved. Others of you have sinned your conscien- ces asleep, or rather you have abused them, so that they are either faint, that they cannot speak loud, or stupiSed, that they cannot speak at p.11. But all this will not prove your innocence as to the crimes al- ledged. Wherefore, (2.) Who has the juster esti- mate of sift, God or you i Who knows best what ma- lignity, what evil there is in its nature? Surely God knows best what the honour of his own laws and au- thority is, jind "how far it is trampled upon by every sin. We are but of yesterday, and know nothing. (3.) Whose word, think ye, will stand, Gods or yours ? God has by his word represented no less to be in it than we have said to be in it, and therefore there is no less in it. God will reckon so, and deal with you not according to the judgment ye make of sin, but that which he makes. We have made it ap- pear, from the word of God, that sin is such as we have represented it ; and if ye think more mildly of it, be doing, and behold the issue.
Having thus opened to you your indictment, I shall now proceed,
Secondly, To lead witnesses against you to prove the charge, according to the method we laid down for the management of this business, in our en- try upon the improvement.
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But before we begin this work, we shall briefly obviate a difficulty that may be started against the whole of what we are to say under this head. To what purpose is it, may some say, to lead witnesses to prove a charge which is confessed ? Who denies this, that they are sinners ? every one will readily own so much ; and therefore any thing that is said to prove such a thing seems perfectly lost. To this shortly we say, (1.) Tho' every body acknowledges that they are guilty ; yet few, very few, believe to be true what they themselves are ready to say in this matter. We all own ourselves guilty of sin ; but were it believed, would not every eye be full of tears ? every heart full of fears ? Would not our knees, Belshazzer-like, beat one against another, every face gather paleness, and every mouth be full of that inquiry, " Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved i" Sure they would ; and that it is not so, is a clear and unquestionable proof that we do not really believe what we say. (2.) Were our only design to justify God in any measures he has taken, or may take, to punish us, then indeed such an ac- knowledgement were sufficient to found a sentence of condemnation on, and to free God from any impu- tation of injustice in punishing them who acknow- ledge the crime: but our design is of another sort ; we are to study to bring you to such a sense of your sin, as may put you to inquire for a relief. And, therefore, (3.) We are to use all methods which may in any measure contribute to the furtherance of this design ; we are to essay all ways to awaken you out of that security wherein you are like to sleep on, till you be entirely ruined, till there be no remedy or re- lief for you.
This prejudice being taken out of the way, we shall now proceed to lead the witnesses against you. We have laid the blackest of crimes to your charge, and we have the strongest evidence that you are guil- ty j for we can prove guilt upon you by witnesses^
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which may be compared with any, either as to capa- city or integrity j witnesses who are faithful in this matter, and will not lie, according to the character given by the wise man, Prov. xiV. 5; "A faithful witness will not lie." Witnesses they are who cannot be suspected of partial counsel, who never would have advised you to sin, and who take no pleasure in accirsingyou; and therefore cannot be suspected of malice, or of any ill or inviduous design against you, as were easy to make appear of every one of them whom we shall name.
Take heed, therefore, we beseech you, to their tes- timony. The gravity and consequence of the matter, the quality of the witnessess, being the greater in heaven or earth, and your own concernment in the whole, do join in pleading for your attention. O cri- minals! as your crimes are great, so is the evidence We bring against you great. For,
1.9f, The Lord is witness against you. As he said of fcld to his people, in Jer. xxix. 23. "so he says to you, Young and old of you, who aro here present,*' you have sinned : « Even I know and am a witness, saith the Lord." God, who cannot lie, accuses you as guilty of sin : <• And if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 1 John i. 10. Here is a witness against you, O sinners ! to whose charge, I am sure, you have nothing to iay. Malice he purges himself of, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. " As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the *!eath of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." Could -it be any pleasure to him to ruin the work of his own hands ? No sure.
Mly, Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God, the Amen and Faithful Witness, gives in evidence against you. He came to bear witness to the truth"; and this was one of the great truths to which he bare witness, That all have sinned, and therefore are un- der a sentence of condemnation, which can no other- wise fee repealed, but by believing on the name of
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the only-begotten Son of God. John iii. 18. " He that believeth on him, is not condemned : but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only- begotten Son of God." Christ's very name bears witness to this truth. He is called " Jesus, because he shall save his people from their sins." Matt. i. 21. And how could he save them from their sins, had they none ?
Sdly, Guilty you are, for the Spirit of truth, John xiv. 17. calls you so. It is one of the offices of this glorious person of the ever-blessed Trinity, to con- vince the world of sin, John xvi. 8. " And when he is come, he will convince the world of sin." If this glorious witness would now speak, as sometimes he has done, we should then need no more witnesses. He would finish the evidence, and make it answer our design. Thus we see, that there are three in heaven that bear record, and set to their seal to this great truth, the Father, Son, and Spirit. Now, sure we cannot refuse what they bear testimony to. Any crime, however great, is sufficiently proven by the concurring testimonies of two men ; and, " if we re- ceive the witness of men, the witness of God is great- er." 1 John v. 9. But,
Mhly9 God's deputy in your hosoms is a witness of this great sad truth, that ye have all sinned. Ye are witnesses against yourselves, and have actually givea testimony against yourselves in this matter ; and that (1.) In your baptism. When you were baptised, you aid then own yourselves guilty ; for as M the whole need not the physician, but the sick," so the clean need not washing, but the deilled ; and he who wash* es owns himself defiled. (3.) Your attendance on gospel-ordinances is a testimony to this truth, that you have sinned ; for they all level at the salvation of sinners. (3.) The very name whereby you art called is a testimony given to this truth. Christians you are called j and if any body should deny you to
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be so, you would take it very highly, and look upon it as a notable indignity done you. Well, if ye be Christians, that is, the people of Christ, then you are sinners ; for he came to " save his people from their sins," Matt. i. 21. (4.) Is there any among you that ever prayed for pardon of sin ? Sure, those who have not done so, deserve not the name of Christians ; and those who have done so, whether young or old, rich or poor, have borne witness against themselves in this matter. And there is one day, when your consciences, that may now either be silent, or obli- ged to speak so low that it can scarce well be heard, shall not only speak to make you hear it, but force you to speak this sad truth, so that others may hear it distinctly. But further,
5thly9 The scriptures bear witness against you, that you have sinned. This is every where their voice. The book of God is full of this certain and sad truth. Look but forward to the 10th verse of this chapter, and there you shall see a cloud of testimonies to this purpose. " As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one ; there is none that understandeth, tMere is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become uprofita- ble, there is none that doth good, no, not one.'* Among all the race of Adam, the scriptures of truth make not one exception ; and therefore ye are all guilty ; for " the scripture cannot be broken," John x. S5.
6thly, The ministers of the gospel bear witness against you, that you havesinned. This is our work, to be witnesses to the truths of God, of which this is one, that all have sinned ; and to this truth we give testimony. (1.) In that the very design of our of- fice proclaims this truth, and asserts the undoubted certainty of it.— What the design of our office is, the apostle, in that 1 Tim. iv. 16. shortly tells us, it is ) to save ourselves and them who hear us. We, and ye who hear us, are sinners, because we need to be saved. An office set up for the saving of souls, is a
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standing testimony and witness to this truth, that all have sinned; and when a minister comes to any con- gregation, then it is one part of his business to heap witness for God, that all of them have sinned. (2.) We give a testimony to this truth, that ye have sin- ned, in as far as we do proclaim to you, in God's name, and by the warrant of his word, that ye have sinned, and thereby come short of the glory of God. (3.) We give a testimony to this great truth, when we preach Christ to you ; for the whole gospel reve- lation goes upon this supposition, that all have sin- ned. When we offer you a Saviour, we assert that you are lost : when we press you to employ a physi- cian, we assert that you are sick; when, in Christ's stead, we in treat and beseech you to be reconciled to God, we declare, you are enemies. In fine, when we proclaim to you remission of sins, we clearly give testimony against you, that ye are sinners, who stand in need of pardon, (*.) The issue of our work will prove you all sinners. One of two will infallibly be the issue of our work among you ; either we will ob- tain your consent to the blessed gospel-contrivance for the salvation of sinners, or we shall have a refu- sal given us; and whatsoever way it go, we shall in the issue give in a testimony to this truth : if we ob- tain a favourable answer, then we must bear testimo- ny, that you did receive Christ our Lord upon his own terms, and therefore were sinners; if you re- ject the counsel of God against yourselves, then we must bear witness, that you are guilty of the great- est sin which any of the sons of Adam can be guilty of, unbelief; which makes God a liar, as the apostle John lias it, 1 John v. 10. "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son ; and this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." Moreover,
Vthly, The whole creation asserts this truth, that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ; and consequently that part of it which ye use, asserts
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Ho less of you in particular. The apostle, Rom. viii. 22* tells us, that " l he whole creation groaneth and travailetb in pain together until now.55 These crea- tures you daily use, they groan. If your ears were not deafened by sin, you might hear the groans of the ground you tread upon, of the food ye eat, and of the raiment ye put on. Well, what is the matter ? what occasions these groans ? The apostle tells us, in the 2©th and 21st verse of that chapter, it is made subject to vanity, and to the bondage of corruption ; " for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself shall also be delivered from the bondage of corruption, in- to the glorious liberty of the children of God." Here the apostle asserts, (1.) That " the creature is made subject to vanity ;" that is, is liable to be abused by men9 to other ends than it was at first designed for : it is subject to this vanity, of falling short of the de- sign of its creation, which was the glory of God, and of being abused to his dishonour through the corrup- tion of man. (2.) He asserts, that it was not wil- lingly made subject to it. O shame ! the brute crea- tures condemn man. Man was willingly subject to vanity, did willingly desist from the prosecution of that which was the design of his creation. The rest of the creatures are passive in it; it is a sort of force put upon them. It is a violence done to the creatures, when they are so abused to the service of sin : it is contrary to their very natures ; for they still continue according to the laws which God set them in the beginning. (3.) The only thing that makes them continue in being, when they are so abused by man, is the appointment of God. He con- tinues them in being, not for this end, to be abused to a subserviency to the lusts of men, though they snake this use of the goodness of God ; but that, by the continued effects of it, and proofs of undeserved kindness* he may lead them to repentance. (4.) The apostle asserts* that the creation shall be a sh&*°
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rer with the sons of God, in their glorious delivery from the bondage of corruption, that is, when the children of God, those who have received Christ, and by him power to become the sons of God, shall be fully freed from the remainders of the guilt, pow- er, and pollution of sin, then the creature shall no more be used contrary to God's design in its crea- tion, but shall, in the hand of the rational creature, again become an instrument for showing forth the glory of God, as it was at first designed to be. And to show J hat the condition of the creature requires this, (5.) He in the 22d verse asserts, that the whole creation groaneth, that is, complains of its hard usage, of its being abused by men's sin ; and he ex- tends this to the whole creation, that there may be no access for any who use the creatures to free them- selves of that which the complaint runs against, to wit, sin. How can any free himself of sin, while all his enjoyments witness against him, that he has sin- ned. O sinners ! the sun that shines upon you groans, that it must give light to a sinner, one* who uses the light for an encouragement to sin against God. The ground ye tread upon groans with the weight of sin- ners. The food that feeds you complains, that it must be so horribly perverted as to serve the lusts of a sinner, as to furnish one with strength to sin against God. See Hab. ii. 11. James v. 3.
8thli)9 The judgments of God bear witness against you. As many rods as have ever been upon you, as many witnesses are there of this sad truth. The rod of God speaks ; for we are commanded to hear the rod, Micah vi. 9. '* The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it." Every stroke that the hand of God lays upon us speaks ; and the first thing it says, is, Ye have sinned and come short of the glory of God. For affliction doth not spring out of the ground, nor doth trouble arise out of the dust. — And here we may boldly, with
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Eliphaz, Job iv 7, challenge you to give one instance «>f any innocent who ever suffered the least wrong or trouble. " Remember, I pray thee,*' says he to Job* *' who ever perished, being innocent ? or where were the righteous cut off?" as if he had said, Search tho records of ancient times ; rub up thy memory, and give me but one instance of any person who suffered, and was not a sinner. I defy thee to giv$ me one instance. Indeed he was out in the application of that unquestionable truth : for he did thence endea- vour to infer, that Job was a hypocrite. As to (he application, we are not concerned in it ; but for the truth itself, that we own, and challenge you to in- stance any. Our blessed Lord indeed was free of personal failings, but not so of imputed ones ; for the Lord "laid upon him the iniquities of us all, and he was wounded for our transgressions." And there- fore his sufferings are nowise inconsistent with this truth, that none suffer but sinners ; and therefore your sufferings are a proof, and do testify, that ye have sinned ; " for God doth not afflict willingly, nor , grieve the children of men," Lam. iii. 33. He takes not pleasure in afflicting his own creatures ; but when he does it, it is for their sins. What God in his sovereignty may do, as to the punishing, or rather afflicting of an innocent creature, we shall not deter- mine. Learned men have learnedly, I may say, played the fool, or trifled in debating this point, the determination whereof makes nothing to edification, ^vere it possible to determine it satisfyingly. If any should ask me, Can God punish or afflict an innocent creature? I should answer, (1.) That questions about what God can do are dangerous, and may for most part be forborne. (2.) Punish an innocent creature he cannot, for that presupposeth a fault. (3.) God, in the first formation of his creatures, did set them such a law for their rule, as did lead them directly to the highest perfection their natures were capable of; and they walking according to that rule, I. c. being innocent, it is hard to conceive how they
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oould full short, or in any measure swerve from the end. If it be still inquired, Whether God may not, in his absolute sovereignty, pass over this, which seems to be the fixed and settled order of his conduct towards the creatures, and afflict them, or suffer them to meet with inconvenieneies, while they hold close to the rule I hat God has set them ? If I say* any state the question thus : Then, (4 ) 1 shall only propose another question to the inquirer, Can there possibly fall within ihe compass of God's knowledge a design which will make it worthy of his infinite wisdom and goodness to do so, to break this law of nature, which is every way suited to his wisdom and goodness? If he say, there may, then he is obliged to produce it, which he will find hard enough to do ; if he say not, then he determines the question in the negative, but dangerously enough ; for who knows the infinitely wise designs which may fall within the compass of the thoughts of the omniscient God, whose ways and thoughts are as far above the thoughts of man, as the heavens is above the earth ? But whatever be in this nice debate, wherein we shall inmix ourselves, the truth we have advanced is cer- tain, that no instance can be given wherein God has afflicted those who have been absolutely free from sin. inherent or imputed : and therefore the rods of God are witnesses against you, that ye have sinned. Speak, O sinners ! did you never meet with an afflic- tion in body or mind, in your persons or families, iq yourselves or in your relations, young or old ? Who, or where is the man or woman that never had a cross ? I believe that person is scarce to be found in the world who has no complaints, that is, who have no crosses. Well then, as many crosses as ye have had, as many witnesses are there in giving in testi- mony against you, that ye have sinned. For no sin- ning, no suffering.
9ihly9 In fine, to name no more witnesses, Death, the king of terrors, is a witness against you* and gives testimony against all, that they have sinned 5 for, " the
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wages of sin is death," Rom. vi. 23. It is only sin that gives death a power over you. If any of you can plead exemption from death, then you may with some reason plead freedom from the charge we have laid against you ; but if not, then in vain will all pretences, shifts, and evasions be. It may be, now we shall not, no not by the testimony of all the famous witnesses we have led against you, bring you to a conviction of sin : hut when Death, the king of terrors, begins his evi- dence, he will convince you, ere he has done with you ; for he will send you where you shall be convinced not much to your comfort. Death is a Serjeant to the great king ; and when he takes you, arrests you, cites you a- non to appear before the bar that is in the higher house, how will your hearts fail you then ? O sinners ! the sight of the grim messenger Death, of the execu- tioner Satan, of the place of torment hell, and the awful solemnity of the Judge of the quick and the dead, will supersede any further proof, and will awa- ken the most sleepy conscience, which will then be, not only witness, but judge, and even executioner, tov these who shall not be able to plead an interest in Christ Jesus, who have never been convinced soundly of sin at the bar of the word.
Thus we have made good our charge against all find every one of you, by the testimony of a great many witnesses of unquestionable credit. It is there- fore high time, O sinners ! for you to bethink your- selves what ye shall answer when ye are reproved.
Hitherto we have held in the general : we have charged sin upon you all, without fixing any particu- lar sin upon any particular sort of persons. Now we come to that which, in the next place, we proposed in the management of this charge against you ; and that is, Thirdly, to make good the charge, by dealing particularly with the conscience of several sorts of persons among you, to bring you, if possible, to a sense of your sin.
All may be ranked, according to the apostle John's -£ivisiqnj into children, young men, and fathers \ or into
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children, those of a middle age, and old persons. Un- der young men and women are comprehended all those, whet her ihey have families or not, who are not come to declining years, who are yet in the flower of their strength and vigour. To each of them I would apply myself in a way of conviction, and endeavour to bring them to a sense of sin, and that even of particular sins.
Rut that I may proceed in this with the more clearness, I shall premise a few things, which may clear the way to what we design upon this head. And,
1st , There are two great designs which every man should continually aim at. usefulness here, and happi- ness hereafter. We come not into the world, as some foolishly apprehend, to spend or pass our time, and no more of if. No ; God has cut us out our work. We are all obliged, in some one station or other, to lay out ourselves for the advancement of the glory of God in this world. Every one is furnished with endow- ments more or less. To some God has given an am- ple stock, many talents ; to «ome fewer ; and to some but one. All have received : and if all do not employ their endowments, supposing they appear very in- considerable, thev will find it hard to answer for the misimprovement. He who had but one talent, for his neglect of it had a dreadful doom pronounced against him. Matth. xxv. 3§. " Cast ye the unprofitable ser- vant into utter darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." We are not born to ourselves only, but to the world, and therefore we should design use- fulness in it, and withal should take a due care of our principal concern, the salvation of our souls. Jf he who provides not for his own family, has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel, lTim. v. 8, what must he be that provides not for his own soul.
2dly. Whatever thoughts, words, or actions, have no usefulness or subserviency to one or other of these ends, are sinful : by the law of God and nature this holds true. If we do, speak, or think any thing that has do tendency to promote either our temporal or eternal happiness, then in so doing we sin against God ; we
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throw away these powers of speaking, thinking, and acting, upon that whieh God never designed them for; and this is a manifest abuse of a talent bestowed by God. The Lord complains of Jerusalem's indulging vain thoughts. Jer. iv. 14. " O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou ma vest be saved : how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge with thee ?"
Sdly9 Much of our fitness or unfitness fbr prosecut- ing these ends depends upon the right or wrong ma- nagement of our youth. Idleness, vieiousness, and fol- ly, in our childhood, has a tendency to incapacitate us in our riper years for prosecuting the designs of our being. Childhood and youth are, as it were, a mould wherein men are east, and such usually do they con- tinue to be, as they (hen have been formed ; which Jets us see how much depends upon the right manage- ment of children, of which the wise man was well a- ware,*as we see, Prov. xxii. 6. " Train up a child/' says he by the Spirit of God, "in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it/'
Mhly, These actions in children, which people over- look generally, and judge scarce culpable, yet are upon a double account evil, first, in that they How from a bitter root, that cannot bring forth good fruit ; I mean that cursed bias and depravity of nature, which prompts to evil, that only, and that continually ; and, next, because they have a tendency to incapacitate for the future. An ill habit, contracted when young, can- not soon be worn off: nay, unless grace do interpose, and that with more than ordinary influences, some vi- cious habits contracted in youth can by no pains or en- deavours be laid aside. Had man's nature remained in- corrupt, as it was in Adam, then certainly these follies and extravagancies, into which generally childhood and youth are precipitate, had not been known ; there should not any of these vicious inclinations have been found, which are now the bane of youth and childhood.
Bthhfn We premise this, that the law of God is ex- ceeding broad and extensive, Psal. cxix. 96. " I have seen an end of all perfection* but thy commandment is
THE GUILTY SINNEE, CGNYICTEB. 85
exceeding broad." Some people do strangely, in their deluded apprehensions, narrow the law of God. There is a genera? mistake here ; few, very few, da believe how extensive it is ; and therefore most part are clean and pure in their own eyes, though they be not washed from their iniquities. But David, a man according to God's own heart, a man instructed of God in the spiritual meaning of God's law, enter- tained other thoughts and apprehensions of the mat- ter : he found it exceeding broad and extensive. For, (1.) It extends to word and thoughts, as well as to actions. Many of you do, it may be, dream that if ye do no abominably wicked action, though yc live in a course of vain and idle thoughts and words, it is no matter : but deceive not yourselves in this matter, for God judges otherwise; indeed his word has told us, that he will bring every work into judg- ment, Eccl. xii. 14. "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whe- ther it be good, or whether it be evil.55 But he has nowhere told us, that words and thoughts shall go free. Nay, upon the contrary, he has expressly told us, that we must give an account of idle words, Matt. xH. 36, 37. "But I say unto you," saith the Amen and faithful Witness, " that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment; for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemn- ed." And in that foreeited Jer. iv. 14. the removal of vain thoughts is indispensably required, in order to the salvation of Jerusalem ; which says plainly, that an indulged course of them would inevitably ruin it : for, as the Spirit of God tells us, Prov. xxiv. 9. " The thoughts of foolishness is sin." And indeed it is no wonder that they be reputed so by God, the searcher of the hearts, who knows the thoughts afar off, and be condemned by that word that is a discerner of the thoughts of the heart, since all evil Hows from the thought, words and actions
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being but indications of the thoughts of the heart* And therefore, when Simon Magus is reproved hy the apostle Peter, in that 8th of the Acts, for his wicked desire to buy the Holy Ghost, or rather the power of conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the imposition of hands, he is not rebuked for his words, though he spoke it, but for his thoughts, be- cause it was there sin began. Acts viii. 20. "But Peter said to him, Thy money perish with thee, be- cause thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. JRepent therefore of this thy wick- edness ; and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." (2.) The law of God is broad, in that it extends to all sorts of ac- tions ; not only to those which immediately respect God, and these which immediately respect our neigh- bour or ourselves ; but even to our natural actions, eating and drinking, and to our ploughing, or mow- ing, or the like, which cannot so easily be reduced to any of these other classes : for we are told by the Spirit of God, " the ploughing of the wicked is sin," Prov. xxi. 4. (3.) The broadness of God's law is conspicuous, in its reaching all sorts of persons, young and old, rich and poor, high and low. All sorts of persons are bound to their duty by the law of God, children as well as others ; and a deviation from it is taken notice of, even with respect to children. We are told of their coming into the •world in sin, of their being shapen in iniquity, of their being estranged from the womb, and going aatray as soon as born, and of their dying for their sin. " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did ray mother conceive me,M says the man who had made God his trust from his youth up, Psal.ll 5. : and in that 58th Psalm we are told, that the wicked go astray in infancy : "The wicked are estranged from the very womb j they go astray as
THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED. 87
soon as they be born." And the apostle, in thajt 5th of the Romans* from the 12th verse, proves even in- fants to be sinners, by their sharing in these calami- ties which are the consequences of sin : but this could not be, unless the law of God did extend unto and even bind children as well as others. A sense of this extent of the law of God, even to children, made blessed Augustine, in that first book of his Confes- sions, cap. 7. bitterly lament and bewail the sins of his childhood, even those which are laughed at by most, such as untowardness, and unwillingness to re- ceive what was good for him ; but even in that age* meaning his infancy, docs he say, " Was it not ill and sio to seek with tears what would have proven hurtful to me if it had been given ? to be angry with those who were nowise obliged to be under my com* inand, because they would not obey me ? nay, that even my parents would not obey me. Was it not ill, that I endeavored to strike even those who wore every way my superiors, because they "would not o- bey me in those things wherein they could not have given obedience, without hurt either to me or some other V9 Thus we see this holy man looks upon these things as sins, which are commonly laughed at by others as innocent; and if God would give us such a discovery of the wjckedness of our natures, and of the extent of the law, as was given to him, then we would think so too. But the truth of this might be proven at great length, were it requisite to say any more than what has already been alledged.
etlily, In speaking to every one of these three sorts of persons, we may have occasion to name ma- ny sins ; and therefore we shall here at once prove all the particulars we shall name under any of these heads to be sin ; because it would divert and detain us too long, to insist under every head, in adducing arguments to prove every one of the particulars we are about to mention to be sinful. Now, that they are all such, ye will not question, if ye carry along,
$8 TEE dUIXTY SIX3TER COWVICTEB.
with what has been already said, these three unques- tionable scripture truths i: (1.) That whatever is done, thottght* or said, by one whose heart is not re- sewed by grace, is sin. This is the plain meaning ©f that assertion of our Lord's, Matt. vii.- 18. « A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit* neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good frail. " Hence it is, that not only the thoughts of the wicked, but his ploughing, and his very sacrifice js sin* Prov. xxi. 7. (2.) Whatever respects not the glory of God as its end, is sin, 1 Cor. x. 31. " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (3.) -Whatever has no respect to Jesus Christ, as the only one in whom our persons or per- formances can be accepted, is sirs, Col. iii. 17. — - *• Whatever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks .to God and the Father by Uim." AIL the particulars we shall name, will be fouod cross to one or all of these three, and therefore sinful ; though we shall not always particularly insist in proving the sinfulness of every one of them, or in naming the particular commands of the Dacalogue of which they are a breach.
In the '7f/iand last place, we premise, That those of a middle age* and of old age, are equally concern- ed in these sins which we are to lay to the charge of children* with the children themselves* because they were once such. Young men and eld men were once children, and therefore guilty of the sins of child- hood. Old men were once youths, and therefore guilty of the sins of youthhood ; and therefore ye are all* the oldest of you* obliged to take heed what ye say to one or another ; because those who are old have been young, and those who are young may be old.
The way being thus cleared, I shall now proceed to speak particularly to, and endeavour the convic- tion of the children of the congregation which are mow present.
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Children and young ones^, who are this day hear- ing me, lake heed : I have a message from God to you. That God who made the heavens and the earth, Mho made you, and who feeds you daily, has sent me this day to you, to every one of you, as particu- larly as if I did name you, name and surname, to tell you sad and doleful news. The youngest of you all has sinned, and come short of the glory of God ; that is, ye have done that for which God will certain- ly cast you, soul and body, into hell-fire, if ye get not your peace made with God, through Jesus Christ. You have done that for which God is so angry at you, that his heart \yll not pity you, his eye will not spare you, unless ye get Christ ; but as soon as ever your breath goes out, and none of you can tell how soon that may be, he will, without mercy, turn you into hell, there to be tormented for ever and e- ver. If ye were not foolish, ye would never play more, nor be merry, till ye got your peace made with God. Now, to let you see that it is true that I tell you, I shall shew you what sins ye are guilty of be- fore God.
1. Ye were born sinners, Psal. li. 5. Your pa- rents were all sinners ; and as your fathers were, so are ye sinners ; for ** who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? not one," says God by the moutii of Job, chap. xiv. 4. When ye e&me into the world, God then might have sent every one of you to hell, because ye were then all sinners ; and though God did not then send you into hell, yet he may do it, and ye cannot t^ll how soon. If ye take heed, ye may every day hear of some one or other dying, that was, not long before, as likely to live as you are, as young, as healthy as you are ; and if God shall now come, and call you away by death, what think you will become of you that are not yet reconciled to God ? Ye will all be sent to hell. But,
2. Tell me, I say, did you ever refuse to do what your parents, your fathers, or your mothers, have
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commanded you to do ? Bo you never remember, that either your fathers, or your mothers, or your master, or, it may he, the minister from 1he pulpit, has told you, that you should do some things, read, pray, he good scholars, do what your father and mo- ther enjoin you ? Well, and have not ye for all that refused to do it ? This is a sin against God ; and be- lieve it, dear children, there are some, just such as yourselves, burning in hell for disobeying their pa- rents ; and though they weep and cry, yet God will never let them out thence.
3. Bid never anybody reprove you for any thing that ye have done ? Did never your father or your mother tell you, that something, it may be, swear- ing, or lying, or forgetting your prayers, was a sin, and would bring you to heli, if ye did not amend ? Well, if they did, was not you angry with them ? ■would you not have been glad to get away from them that told you such things ? And did not yo^r heart rise against them ? Well, (his also is a great sin ; and if this be not pardoned, God will be sure to turn you into hell for it, Prov. xv. 10. u Correction is grievous to him that forsaketh the way ; and he that hatetb reproof shall die."
4. Tell me, were you ever desirous to be avenged, or, in your oven language, to have amends of some that you thought had done you ill? Were you not vexed, thinking howr to get even with them ? and would not ye have found in your hearts to have kill- ed them, or to have done them some mischief? Well, this is a grievous sin j for God has forbid us to a- renge ourselves, Rom. xii. 19— —
5. Tell me, did ye never give any body ill lan- guage? Did ye never miscall your comrades ? when you were angry with your neighbour or companion, did ye not use opprobrious or reproaching names ? I fear most of you cannot deny it. Well, this again is another sial Our Lord has said; that whosoever
TlfE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED. 91
shall call his brother a " fool, shall be in danger of hell fire," Matth. v. 22.
6. Were you never glad when you could get out, under your father, or mother, or master's eyes, that ye might take jour will, and do these things that ye durst not do before them ? Now, this is downright atheism : You did not believe that God is every where, otherwise you would not have presumed to do that before him which ye durst not do before your parents. See Psal. xiv. 1. compared with Rom. iii. 10. & 23.
7. Have not you been glad when the Lord's day was over, or at least when the preaching was done, that ye might get your liberty? Has it not been a burden to you, to sit so long in the church ? Well, this is a great sin, which was one of the grounds of God's controversy with his own people, Mai. i. 13. Isa. xliii. 22. Amosviii. b. It is to be weary of well doing, against the express command of God, Gal. vi. 9.
8* Tell me, have you not been thinking of other things, when ye have been in church hearing sermon ? have you not been thinking of your sport and pas- time, or, it may be, speaking to one another in the time of worship ? This is another sin whereof you have been guilty ; and God counts them mockers of him, who draw near with their lips, when their hearts are faraway from him, Isa. xxix. 13.
9. Do you pray to God morning and evening ? I fear there shall many be found who neglect this : and tell me, dear children, what do you think will become of those who pray not? God counts them forgetters of him ; and lie says, that " the wicked shall be turned into heli, and all the nations that forget God,55 Mai. ix. 17.
10. Do ye lie or swear, and so take God's name in Tain ? Did you ever swear by the name of God in your ordinary talk ? or did ye ever make a lie to ex- cuse or hide a fault ? These are also sins, and God
92 ^XHB GUILTY SlffXEH CONVICTED*
Ims said, that liars and swearers shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Rev. xxi. 8.
11. I will only put this one question more to you. Did you never go to your play, when ye should have been at your prayers ? Now, take heed ; ye know ye have done so. Well, what think ye will be the end of those who do so? Because ye will not seek God, he will not save you ; he will reject you, when ye have most need of help.
Now, dear children, I have a great respect to you ; fain would 1 have you saved from hell. It is be- cause I desire your good, that I have been telling you your sins. T shall therefore, before I leave you, 1. Put some few questions to you for your awakening, 3. I shall give you a counsel or two. 3. I shall give you some encouragements to follow the advices given you.
1. Then, I would ask you some few questions ; and I beg it of you to take heed how you hear them. And, (1.) Tell me, did ye ever think of death ? If you look at a grave when it is opened, there, instead cf one that had life, that could speak, walk, and do all the other things which ye can do ; now you see there is nothing hut rotten hones, consumed stinking flesh, which the dogs will scarcely come near, and filthy gore. Well, ye will in a little time be Justin that case yourselves. Ye must die. No doubt ye have heard of some of your companions, or some other children, who have died; and ye cannot tell but ye may die next. (2.) If ye do think of death, 'what do ye think will become of you, if these sins which ye have done, and of which I have now told you, be not forgiven ? Then, without all doubt, you will go to hell. And, O ! can ye tell what a place hell is ? It is a terrible place indeed. It may be, ye would think it a terrible thing if any should put your finger into the hot fire ; and indeed it would be so. What then do ye think will be the pain which
THE GUILTY SINNER CONVICTED. ffS
ye shall suffer, when God will cast you, soul and bo- dy, into hell-fire: and this will surely be your por- tion, if ye get not grace. (3.) If once ye be east into hell, do ye think ever to get out again ? I assure you, God has said ye shall not. Though ye weep till your hearts break, God will not hear you. Ye have done with mercy, if onee ye die in your sins, God's eye will not spare ; his heart w ill not pity you. Therefore, if ye would escape hell, I shail tejl you,
■2. What ye must do, by offering you two or three good counsels. (1.) Whenever ye go home this night, get into some quiet corner or other, and there be- take you to God in prayer. Say with the poor dis- tressed publican, " Lord be merciful to me a sin- ner." Say, Lord, thou hast promised a new heart to sinners like me ; and I have need of it, for my heart is very bad : and say, Lord, give me Christ ; save me from my sins for Christ's sake. Who knows but the Lord, who hears the lions and the ravens when they cry for food, may hear you ? (2.) You that can read the Bible or the Catechism, read them ; but take care, before ye read, that ye go and pray to God, that he may bless them to you, and make you understand what you read. (3.) Take care that ye never lie, swear, or break the Sabbath, or commit again these sins which we were telling you of a little while ago. (4.) Run out of the company of such as do lie, swear, or break the sabbath ; for God will destroy them that keep company with such : « A companion of fools shall be destroyed," Prov. xiii. 20. (5.) Wait on them who will instruct you, and follow the good advices they give you : w Walk with the wise and ye shall be wise," Prov. xiii. 20. (6.) Be sure that ye pray to God so soon as ye have got on your clothes in the morning, and before ye east them off at night. Now, if ye will follow these advices, I will,
3. Tell you some things to encourage you in so do-
§& THE GFIXTT SINNER CONVICTEB.
hig. (1.) God has made a promise, that they who be- gin soon to seek him shall come speed. " I love theia that love me, and they that seek me early shall find me," Prov.- viii. 17. (2.) God has a great liking to such as begin to seek him early. He commends them highly ; and has left upon record the names of some young converts ; such as Abijah, in the house of a» wieked Jeroboam, and good Josiah, whose early pi- ety is mueh eommemled, % Chron. xxxiv. 3. " In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of his father David:" and this is left upon record for making others to be- gin early to seek God. (3.) Jesus Christ, in the days of his flesh, was willing to entertain, with the most tender affection, little children that were brought unto him | and when his disciples would have them kept away, he rebuked them, and then said, <*H3uf- fer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he took them up in his arms, and put his hands on them, and blessed them," Mark x. li, 16. And I can as- sure you, he is no less kind now than he was then ; for lie is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Now, if he was so kind to children that were brought to him, what will he be to these who themselves do eorne to him? O! if ye knew how good he is, you would never be at rest till you got notice where he is to be found ; and then ye would go to him; and I dare promise you welcome. (4.) That I may have done with you, I tell you for your encouragement, that if ye will begin early, and seek God, ye shall be amongst these children of whom the kingdom of heaven is. God will bless you, and all his people* will bless you $ yea, all generations shall eall yon blessed.
Thus far my love to your souls has led me. I would fain have you saved ; and therefore, I « travail in birth till Christ be formed in you." O make glad my he^ft, make glad the heart" of my great Mastery
THE GUILTY SIJTOEH CONVICTED. 95
make gl&d the hearts of all the people of God ; and rejoice your parents* hearts, in complying with those wholesome counsels, which I am sure your parents will desire, if they be not worse than the very beasts. In a word, seek God, and save your souls.
Now we have done with the first sort of persons with whom we undertook to deal. The tenderness of their capacity has obliged us to digress from our method which we did lay down in the entry upon this use, and which, by the Lord's assistance, we shall closely follow in what remains.
It may be, some of those who are come to age, may look upon this as tedious and unpleasant which we have been upon, because there has been nothing here but what they, it may be, knew before, and what, it may be, they judge parents might inform then children in. But we must iell such, that the design of preaching i? not to gv&ti'iy itching ears with new discoveries, bur to reform hearts by the old, yet new truths of God, which will never wear old to them who are acquainted with the power of them ; thai children have souls as well as they ; that their souls are no less preeious than those of adult per- sons ; that we have the charge of the one as well as the other; that the Lord has sometimes been pleas- ed to reach the heart of children by such familiar applications; that we are obliged to be all things fo all men, that so we may win some to Christ. In fine, we must tell such, that we are particularly o- bliged, by our Lord's command formerly quoted, to encourage children to come to him, and therefore we could not but endeavour to deal with them, and ilint in a way suitable in some measure to their capaci- ties: what is old to you, may be new to them ; and a new drop of the influences of God's spirit would even make these very truths, which formerly you have known, have a new and better relish than formerly they had.
I shall now proceed, in the second place, to you
"86 TKE GUILTY SIGNER CONVICTED.
who have stepped nut of childhood into youth, or in- to middle age, and shall endeavour to fix guilt upon you* Hitherto we have made it appear, that you are guilty ; now we come to tell you, and (o conde- scend on some particulars whereof you are guilty. We told, nay proved, that you were defiled ; now we shall, as it were, point to the very spot. We have made it appear that ye have sinned: now, we shall take you to the places, as it were, where ye have sin- ned, that ye may get no way of shifting the challenge. And because now we find you in the house of God, we shall
i. Examine you a little in reference to your eon- duct there. You have frequently come here ; you have frequently presented yourselves before God as his people ; but I fear, if your carriage in this mat- ter be narrowly scanned, you shall be found sinners before the Lord in reference to this. I shall, in the name of that God in whose courts ye tread, put three questions to your consciences. (1.) What brings you * ordinarilv here ? Come ve to sacrifice to the world's idol, custom, because they are ill-looked upon who stay away ? or come ye to stop the mouth of a natu- ral conscience, that would give you no rest if ye staid away ? or come ye to see and be seen? or to gratify curiosity merely ? I fear these be the de- signs on which not a few of you come ; and if so, then you are found guilty before God, who requires you to corns upon other designs, even to wait on him* that ye may see his power and glory in the sanctu- ary, as his people have seen him heretofore. (2.) What do ye here, when ye are come ! Do ye hear the word of God merely as an idle tale ? Do ye put truths by yourselves, and apply them to others? Do ye sulfer your minds to roam up and down upon the mountains of vanity, looking at this or the other thing or person ? Do you observe more the way of the truth's being spoken, than the truth of God it- self? Are you more intent in observing the instru*
THE GTJIXTY SINNER CONVICTED. %7
merit than in listening to the voice of God? Let your consciences speak, and I am sure that a great many of these evils ye will find yourselves guilty of. (3.) I would interrogate you, as to the fruit of these ap- proaches. What good get ye for your coming ? Do ye get convictions, and shift them ? Do ye get calls, and sit them ? Do ye hear reproofs, and hate them ? Do ye hear instructions, and forget them ? Who of you can clear yourselves of these sins? sins done in tlie very presence of God, sins wherein his honour and glory is in a more than ordinary manner con- cerned, because they do extremely reflect upon it.
2. We shall next follow you to your employments, and inquire a little what your carriage is there. I take it for granted, that all of you have some honest occupation or other. If there be any who have not, these persons, as they sin in wanting, because there- by they idle away God's talents ; so they lie open to all sins. Now, such of you as have employments, I shall desire you to answer me a few questions in re- ference to your deportment in them. And, (1.) I would know if ye did consult God in the choice of them ? Did ye make it your endeavour to understand what God was calling you to? God, either by giving a man special endowments, a peculiar genius, with other congruous circumstances, or by hedging up the way to all other employments, or some one such providential way or other, calls every one to a par- ticular employment ; and therefore, when we engage in anv, we should endeavour to understand God's mind in it, what it is our duty to do; for we are commanded, in all our ways to acknowledge God, Prov. iii. 6. " In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Now, did ye in thin step of your way acknowledge God, I mean in the choice of your employments ; I fear, very few dare say that they bowed their knee to God to crave his direction. Well, then, here your iniquities have found you out. (2.) Do ye set God before you in following
93 THE GUILTY.- SINNER CONVICTED.
your employments? Do ye make it your business to know how ye may glorify God in them ? Whatever we do, we are obliged to do it to the glory of God. 3Let conscienee now speak, and it will tell many of you, that to this very day ye never had a thought of promoting the glory of God by your employments. So that here you are found guilty, not of some one sin only, but of a tract of sin, and that even from the morning of your day continued until now. (3.) Do ye depend upon God for a blessing upon the work of your hands ? Who of you dare say, that howev- er ye do use means diligently, yet it is to God ye look for the blessing ? And are ye earnest in dealing with God, that he may succeed the works of your hands, and make you prosper in them ? (4s) To whom do ye attribute the success of them? When the Lord suc- ceeds the work of your hands, do ye heartily bless God for it ? Bare ye say, that this leads you to praise the God of your mercies, and to walk humbly before him, who deals kindly even with the unthank- ful and sinners, and has given a proof of this, in giv- ing you success in these employments? (5.) When ye are successful in them, what use make ye of your success ? Does it engage you to the ways of God, sind make you walk more humbly ? or are ye lifted up, and forget yourselves, and forget the Lord ? And do ye spend upon the service of sin what the Lord has graciously given to you ? Sure, if ye conscientiously put these questions home to your own hearts, they will discover verv much sin. But,
S. We shall, in the next place, take a view of you in your converse in the worlds and there see whether we can find you guilty of sin or not. And with res- pect to your converse in the world, I would interro- gate you upon a" few things. And,
(1.) I put the question to you, What company do ye make choice of! Do ye ehuse the company of them that fear God, or the company of irreligious persons ? I am sure, if many of you deal impartially
THE CLII/TY SIX&EB CONVICTED. 9'<*
^ith your own hearts in this matter, yc will find guilt. Your consciences can telf, that you have the greatest intimacy with persons who have no religion, persons who have no fear of God hefore their eyes ; not re- garding what the wise man long ago observed, that *k he that walks with the wise shall he wise, but a companion of fools shall he destroyed," Prov. xiii. 20. And sueh are all irreligious men in God's ae- count, X would not be understood to extend this too far, as some, through a mistake dangerous enough, do, as if thereby we were forbid eivil or neighbourly converse with persons that are not religious; for this is not only lawful, but a duty ; we have not on- ly scripture commands to this purpose, but the very law of nature obliges us to it ; and we are sure, God did never by any positive precept enjoin us any thing contrary to this. Nay, upon the contrary, we see plainly, that a walk according to the law of nature in this matter is highly congruous to religion. If such persons do visit us, we may visit them again, and car- ry it friendly. 'This is one part of that courteous- uess that the apostle Peter enjoins us, 1 Pet. iii. 8. " Finally, be ye all of one inind, having compassion one of another ; love as brethren, be pitiful, be cour- teous." And whereas the refusal of civil converse, in inquiring after one another's health, visiting at some times, and the like acts of kindness, is looked upon by some as a breach of strictness, it is quite otherwise ; for the very contrary is determined to be a piece of perfection, by our great Lord and Master, who is the best judge, Matth. v. 47, 48. " And if yc salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others ? do not even the publicans so ? Be ye there- fore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. V The plain meaning of which is this, A Christian should be a man everyway beyond others, and should have something peculiar in the whole of his conduct; but if ye deal only civilly and neigh- bourly with those of your own persuasion, with those
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who in every thing do jump with you, wherein do ye go beyond the publicans and sinners, the most sig- nally impious wretches that the world can shew a- gain? Even thieves and robbers will keep some cor- respondence and civility towards those of their own sort ; but Christian perfection calls for more enlarge- ment of soul, and requires that we carry obligingly to all, and perform, as occasion calls, all the duties of love, which comprehend certainly these of civil converse and neighbourliness, as the apostle puts be- yond all question, 1 Cor. x. 27. "If any of them that believe not, bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no 'cjuestion for conscience sake," TJhus we see Chris- tians are allowed to converse civilly with those who are unbelievers. And indeed not to do so, has a ten- dency to bring the way of God into contempt, and to make religion to be evil spoken of, and is contrary to the very spirit of the gospel, and to these many ex- press commands which we have, of adorning the gos- pel, and of conversing, so as thereby we may leave a testimony upon the consciences of men. Nay, it is to bear witness against God's goodness, and to rub shame upon our religion, as if it did narrow our souls, and make us defective in those duties which it obli- ges us to abound in. But though what we have said doth condemn the unchristian rigidity of some, yet it will not justify the unwarrantable choice of persons "who have no religion, for our intimates, or for our ordinary and daily companions. No; we are obliged to guard against this. If we do this, we are out of our duty, and therefore have no reason to promise to ourselves God's protection. A person that walks, that ordinarily converses with such men. has reason to fear that the Lord may leave him to become like to them ; and this intimacy, I fear, is \*hat most of you are guilty of.
(2.) I would ask you. What company do ye delight most in ? This is a great indication of the frame of
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the heart. A person that takes most pleasure in the company of irreligious persons, surely sins in it.-— Some, when they are in the company of the godly, carry it as if they thought themselves in fetters ; and whenever they get out of it, to their own companions again,