C0 L C) ~ S. I. 20. we would perfwade Men 'to come in to God, we muft '!lake the y;ay clea-r; ahd thew how there is an abundaht entrance made mto the Kmgdom of Chrift. Firft, The confcioufnefs of· their owri Rebellion·s·, firike fu'cl\ tcrrour into their Confciences, as they dare not come into his prefence, nor look him in 'the face. But for that,conflder what we have been (peaking of all this while; Is it not :i matter of Reco11cilintion? Now,if there were not fin nor rebellion in thee,there needed not a Reconciling : Chrift might have been fpar'd this labour. Nav,con– fider, that if this were any real hindrance, there lhould be no Saints in Heaven but Chrift·and his holy Angels, For all thofe Saints who now bell'old hi's lace wirli joy, were fometimes Enemies as well as thou. For when the Tett fays, He re– coltciledntlthmgs Ill HeaVfll; it implies that all thofe Saint_s who are now irl Heaven, were Enemies and Rebels once; for elfe what needed they any Recon~ c1liation. But fome will further fay, Ay, but I have been a deadly defperate hateful enemy, and oppofer to himfelf, his Children, Why confider, that thefe Cotoj~ jitms were enemies in their minds, in evil works as deeply and as 1\rongly l:onrra~ ry as any others. . . . Ay, But I have been atranfcelident Enemy, an arch Rebel, and tho he may be reconciled to others, yet never, I fear, to me. Well, fuppofe thy heart and thy life have been never (o full of Enmity and Rebellion again!! him; yet confider the Text tells us, That Chnfl bath all Ji<litej s i1J him to rtcoJtc:te; and till thou can!! be fuller of fin than he of Righreoufnefs , there is enougl 1 to pardon thee, He is a6/e to jave to the utmofl, be the cafe never fo bad , the matter never fo foul. Ay, But thou wilt fay, I have been fo for thefe many years, I have Jived in enmity, and in that ftate long, io, 30, 40, 5o. years; and it is an old grudge! God may have agairifi me. Confider that this fulnefs dwels in Chh!\; it bath relided longer in him, and in God's acceptation, than fin hath done in thee ; ye:i it will dwell in him for ever; it is an everlafiing righteoufnefs. In aword, Suppofe thy fins are never fo many and fo grievous ; yet confider, that his thoughts of pardoning are more, for they have been from evetlafti~g, a s I fuewed out of rhe 4oth. 'l'fnlm )th. vdfr They cmmot b~ 1J(Jm6rei/, And alfd that the plot of th~ bufinefs, is to make Grace and Mercy abound ; it is Chrift's trade ro purge fin, Mal. ~· And the morefin, rhe more work you btiilg him. He is a Phyfician who bealeth freely and limply ro lhew his ski! and pirty , and fcir no other end ; and therefore the older the worfer, the more feflered the fore is, he is the willinger to heal it; for he fuall have his end, in healing it more, fhe\v the more skill, rhe more mercy ; therefore rho it may feem to dilcourage rhee, yet it cloth not difcourage him ; when thou come!\ to him, thou art the welcom~· er, if thou wilt but come to him. It was his bufinefs he came for, ToJavrjimters; and fuppofe thou beeft the Chief as Paul was, r Tiin. r. i 5, ahd a Blafphemer as he, ver. ll· yet is it a faithful faying. Th,,t Chrif/ camr tofavrfotiters, @c: evm thr chirjr(/ of them. · But you will fay, That was extraordinary, anel no \vay el<einplary for me,' But the words fuew the contrary, for he fays, it was a truth worthy of all ac~ ceptation, as therefore concerning others as well as himfelf, let them be as great fioners as he; Andto me firf/, ( fays he, vfr, r6.) that I might be apnltmz ( of Mrrcy,) toall that/boutd 6etuve ; yea, to all that lbould be afraid and difcOli' raged to believe, by the grearnes of their fin•; and in that God began wirh him, he meaneth not to end with him, he puts him ih the fore front of the bil , to me lirft, to bring others the fafler in. Some ohe in Heaven rluift be the chkfeft of finners; ahd who can tell but that it may be thee l But\vhen thefe Objections are anfwered, artd fins proved to be riobar between Pardon and them; yet then they plead, that ir may be ihat tl\ey are not elect– ed, as P aul and others were, for whom God intended all ibis; and therefore it may prove an uncertain fuit, for 1f they be not elect ones alfo, they fuall mifs tit it, tho they fl1ould feek and feek never fa earncflly. lf I knew certainly iddeed · that peace were to be had for me l my perfon ] in particular , there was fomd l.fe to ftir in it. For
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