_______t_o_S_'a_v_e_j_i_nn__ e_r_r,_&_c_. _____ __:__53 5 Grace be :1bte to Cure an Old Sinner? Though your Bloody ljlu of fin hath run long, though yon have lain bound under fin not Seventeen or Eighteen, but pcrh3ps Eighty yc:ln , yet come,· thonr.,h it be in the laft Hour of the Day. Though your fin~ :~.re Old, yet they are not fo old as thofe .Mercies that are everlafting; you :trc not tOt) old for Grace, nor too old to be New-born. Lar..:Jrus rifcth again, though he had b in four days in the Grave, and the fame hand that raifed him can raife you from the power Of the Devil, though yon ha~e lain three not four days, but fourfcore veJrs dead in fin· and trefpafiCs. The Tfliefon the Cro(s Chril1 faved not many hours he fore his Death, as though Chrifl: would fhew the World by this Example what he cJn do in a _defpcratc Cafe. And could he thus £1ve when he Suffered, and cannot he much more fave now he is Glorified and Triumphant? Old Hou{es many times J~ repaired and made meet Habitations again; fo you, though you have been an old 1~wcmcnr for the Devil, you may be fo repaired by Grace as to become a Temple for the Holy Ghoft : Be perfwaded therefore yet at length to accept of t he tenders of an .\ll.fufficicn t Saviour; you r Day is almofr fpent, and your Life ftands npon the Brink of the Grave, if you now neglect fo great falvJtion, as the Lord Jcfus in the Gn fpclproOl:rs to you, your Death may be fo foon as to prevent another offer of him to you, but it fi1all not, nay, it cannot be fo foon as to prevent falration by Chrift, if you accept of this offer. 3· Chri.(f £s ttble ro fove thofc who have frequently relapfcd into the commiJJion of the fame Sin. This is that, 1 know, which ga lls and ftings the Confcicnces of many finners? it is not.fo much the multitude of their fins that affright them, as the frequent cammillion of the fame fins. Oh ! faith one, I am guilty of reiterated and oft-repeated fins, I have committed the fame fin again and aga in, notwithftanding I have been convinced of it, notwithftanding I have ,prayed, r efolved, and vowed againit it, Iifltwithfl:anding all the conviU:ions and overtures 1 have had, and notwithftand ing all the rcfobtious I have made, I have again relapfed into the fame fins, and thofe not ofordinary infinnity and humane frailty, but fins of grofs andfcandalous nature; nnd al"C fuch fins pardonable ? I an fwcr, They arc thefe Relapfes, although they arc very dangerous, yet they :1re not altogether incurable. It is hard to·foften a Heart that is treacherous to God, and to it fclf, and very deeply engaged in feme particular Luft, when we :~re frequently overcome by the fame .Corruption, by the fame Temptation, but yet this i~> not fi1ch :tn aggravation as fhould leave our fins unpardonable, or us dcfperate. The 1nv; indeed have a Tradition among them, th:tt the fourth relapfe into the fjmc ·fin makes it an nnplrdon:zble ofrence, but we know the Mercy of God, and the }llfinitc Merit ofCJnifr, :1re not fl:inted by any nnmb_er of fins, nor by any number of the C1mc fins . It is not with us -:ts with drowning Men, that if they fink the fourth time th: tt they never rife aga in; certainly, that Chrift who bids us to forgive our Brother, t h.ough he fitould offend us to feventy rimes [even offences, and hath nor excepted reiterated provocations, will tl{)on our R'epentance fo much oftner forgive 11-;,ao; his r; reatMercy is above our Charity.Though we have comrriitted thofe fins and provocations aga infthimfelf, though it be matter of bitter and deep Humiliation that any Corruption lhould be fo prevalent as frequently to overcome us, and notwith - ftandi ng Com,iQ-ion, Contri t ion and Heart-breaking Confeffion, yet it is no caufe of DcfiJ.1 ir of Mercy, yet the Grace of Chrifl: can fitbdue fi1cb roott:d finners as rhefe. And what finS foever the Grace of Chrifl: can fitlxlue, the Mercy ofGod can pardon. 4· Ch:ift can Jave the proJOundcft ~n4 moft notori~m Back~ider . . And it is the greateft obftru(hon to J finner's hope; thts IS that whtch filis him wtth Fears and Terrors. Oil I I have been fo guilty of Apoftacy, I have tafted of the fweetnefs of tbe Heavenly Gift, :1nd of the Powers of t he World to co'me, ye;: I have fallen back to my Car~ na\ T emper, from the holy ways ofGod, and have again · backnidcd and wallowed in my former pollutions, from which I feemed fometimes to be cleanfed and refined: And is this Apoftacy pardonable ? 1 an fwcr, There is indeed an unpardonable Apoftacy defcribed in that dreadfu' ph:cc, Heb. 6. 8. 1t is impoffible for Ibch a one to be renewed by Repentance, &c. This is the fame with the fin againfr the Holy Ghoft, and this no Man is guilty ofbllt he that bath cafl: o!fall means tending to Salvation and EterJ1al Life, and all defircs after it. There is alfo an Apoftacy from great Attainments both ofGifts and Graces. \~Then a Man's Zeal to God)s Glory cools, when his vigour in holy Duties f.t ints, when his relifh to flJiritual ObjeCl:s vitiates, and he·Ieturns to.a lukewarm and indif.:. ferent
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