On LilKE XIV. 23. a burning Thirfr •fter the Happinefs they have loll:, and be tortur'd between Defire and Defpair tor ever. 2. Let thofe who make light of the Invitations of Grace, confider what will be the ~~~~c~forh:~~i~~~;~~fleo;,';~~~~ ~~i~~~ ;;?~\~e~~;~~,n~~d':\~ata:~ilf~~.:~';n~e~;a%: To inO:ruCt fuch Perfons, and make them afraid, th•t they may fly to the SanCtuary from the Deltroyer, let them confider, ( 1.) This will render them inexcufable. Their Obduration and final Ruin will be of themfelves. God is p[eafed to appeal to the Human Under(\anding, What could I do more for my Pineyard, tbat I bave not done~ His Worksa~dhisWords are declaratory of his Will? how plcafing the Repentance and Life of Smners is to him. He has prepar'd a Savwur and SalvatiOn, and offers them to loll: Souls. In the Year of Jubilee, Liberty was proclaim'd for all the Jfradites who had been Servants; but if any one would not leave Ius Mafl:er. h1s E~r was bored, and he was a Servant for ever. Thus the acceptable Tear of the Lord is proclaim'd in the Gofpel, a happy Freedom to • Sinners by Jefus ChriO: : but thofe who are in love with their reigning Lufls, refufe this Freedom, and are condemn'd to the worfr Bondage for ever. God by his Authority commands them to repent and feliroe the Gofpel : He invites them by the moO: gracious Promifes to accept and receive them : he cxpreffes the mofi: tender Compailions towards perifl1ing Sinners; Wiry 1viDye die! He reproaches their unaccountable Folly, ;:;;vt~0~~~'J;hi: ~£f.,~~~:~~'~:!~:~? ~r~d~Y:otl~~i~ 1:J:fii~~11~1,"~;r~i~~~ whifpers trom their Earthly Affections, they are ~reCently moved. No Mercy Will foftcn them, no Reproofs will reform them; the nchefi: Means of Grace are lofi, and they prodigally peri!h. Now how ju(\[y do they tall under the condemning Sentence of the ,Law, who flight the Mercy of the Gofpel? God takes no Pleafure in the Death of a Sinner, hut tbey take Pleafure i11 their Sms ; tbey die m thetr Sins, hecaufe they will die: they aredeprived of Life, hecaufe they will not come to Chrijl that tbey may bave Life. At the Day of Judgment loll: Smners will inurely clear God, and deeply charge themfelves with their del'erved Ruin. ( 2.) Such are irrecoverable. The Golpel is the only Difpenfation of Grace; lf Men obftinarely rejed: it, their Condition is as dcfperate as if they were bound in Chains of Darknefs to the Judgment of the great Day. Mercy alone can heal us; and if that be wounded, our S1cknef~ IS mcurablc. He that .beluvetb not tbe Son, jha!l John 3 . j6: not fee Life; hut the Wrath of God aftdes on him. His Doom IS fea led and irreverlible. God now [peaks in a frill Voice, but hereafter he will fpeak in a Whirlwind to the Defpifers of his Grace. ~Tis true, we cannot fay a Soul is quite loft while there is a delay of Judgment : but the Scripture declares, that Sinners by their frubborn Refulals of Mercy? ~ake God inexorable to their Praxers : There is a day of Grace, and the Luke 19 • 11 : Lapfe of tt ts fatal to the Neglecters. Of tlHS there have been very fearful Examples: how many Defpifersof the Grace of the Redeemer in the courfe of their Lives, yet in the Agony of the~r lafr Departure, when their Sms wtth a gha(lly Afpect appear and with frightful Horror they look into the bottomlefs Pit, Confcience anticipate; the Divine ]udgment. Let the moll: compaflionate Minifrers offer them the Cordials of the Gofpel, and tell them they defpair too Coon ? the felf.condemning Confcience replies, they repent too late. 0 that Men were early wife to fecure their etern•l Interefr! ( 3·) The neglect of Salvation, will aggravate the Sin of Men. 1his is the_Con. 1 h . demnation, tbat Light is come into the World, awd Men love Darknefs ratber than Light. 0 n 3 ' :,, The higher the D•fobedience, the lower the Dumnation will be of Sinners. The Hea- ~~~~!~~et!~e:~~~~~~~~ ~y3,~~n:l~e~e;~~~7.ar~h~t/j,~,z~~!tJ;;d"r: 1~~~!d !he ~j;~i:!o£ God to his Difhonour, there were no fuch Rebels on Earth; the Prophet was fa in to defcend to Helllor ,• Comparifon to equal their Wickednefs: Hear the Word of the 1r,. ' · 10 ; Lord, ye Rulers of Sodom; Gtve Ear unto tbe Law of our God, ye People of Gomorrah. But thofe who tu~n the Grace of God .into an occafion of their fmful Security, are not to be parallell d m Hell. The Devils rebel agamfr the Creator, agamfr his Authority and Laws, but Men rebel againil their Soveraign and Saviour, and his admirable Grace. The Son of God interpos'd as Mediator to make God reconcilable to the ~;;~,~d if~}~. di1;1,~ 't~fie~'~t:;;~~e,1.s~~~~:·e::e~d:d·;;';~~:{ t;~a:c;o:v;;n;~z H,a ,; and fevere; for the firO: Sin they were prefently expell'd from the Habitation of Glory, and thetr Doom ts trrevocable. But Men are wtthtn the Referves of Mercy; God Ccccc ~ [pares
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=