to Save SiRnt:rJ, &c. perform Duties to .this end, th~t thereby you m_ay be freed from the g~ilt. of Sin, and pay down :1 pncc for your tormerTranfgrefhons ? When you commit Stn many times , do not you think you will make ~mend~ to Go~ by the next Praver and Confcffion and bemoaning your felves for It. 1 hat whtch Men rely upon for the f.Icisfyin~ of thei r Confcicnces, that they rely upon for the fatisfying of DiVine j uftice. 0 Now when Confcience grows vexed and anE,ry, what are the Methods that Men ufc to quiet them? If th~y can but reckon up the nuf!lber of their good Works and Duties, tbcy value them tnftead of the Blo~d of Cbrtft. 2 . Do none of you rely upon your own R1ghtcoufnefs and good Works, to procure a<.:ccptat ion with God? For mark, upon what account Men hope their Duties fhall be accepted, upon the fame they hope themfdves lhall be accepted. Now put it to the trya l, do not you hope t hat your Duties !hall be accepted for their own fake? True it is, you pray that God would hear and anfwer you for Cbrift's fa:ke but yet the generality of Men reft upon the excellency of their Prayer to mak~ t hem acceptable; for confider, have you not different hopes of the acce ptation of your Duties , tlpon your d ifferent performance ot them? If your Hearts are fometime drawn out in Prayer, and mightily enlarge~, do not you rife up and fay with fu ll confidence that your Prayers are accepted wuhGod as a fweet favour,. but at othet times when your Hearts are more dead and flat, and your Prayers hang heavy upon your Lips. when you can but groan and chatter, then you conclude you are afraid that God doth not regard t hat Prayer, nor accept of it, this is an evidence that you mcafure the acceptance of your Duties by the worth and excellency of them; the one is dull and OuggHh, and that you give over as loft and vain, t he other vigorous and fprigh tful, and that you doubt not but it pearceth Heaven, and obtaineth audience with God, never thinking of the lnterceffion of Chrift, which alone can make them acceptable; if this be the end Men make of performing their Duties, to make the~ ~h~ir C.h~ifts, an.d rely upon t~e~ for Salvation; though it be a means to it1 yet H 1s 1nfuffic1ent of 1t felf to obtam It. VSE lll . Is Chrift an All·fufficicnt Saviour able to fave to the uttermoft? Let us then be perfwaded to come to him, to accept him for our Saviour. Were I now to prefs you to fame hard and difficult Duty, to the exercife of Self~denial and Mortification, to b:: willing to lay down your Lives for Ch r ift, I might rationally fufpett tha t thefc Exhortations Ihould be rejeCted, unlefs they came with er eat Power, ftrong Arguments, and prevalent Motives, but when it is only to accept of that Chrift who h,Hh laid tlown his Life for you, and of that SJlvation which he bath laid up for you, and tenders to you; cenainly fuch an Exhortat ion as this carries Argu1ncnt and Mo. ive enough in it felf to prevail; but becaufe Men are fo wedded to their own Sins, and becaufe t hey are refolved agai nft their own Happinefs, I fualllay down fame Contiderations, which if they do not pc:rfwade them to clofe withChrift, may at leaft convi nce them how unreafonably they put away Salvation fr om t hemfelves. And here, 1. Co ,fidcr, T hat you all ftand in rnoft abfolute need of an All·fufficientSaviour. You are loll: beyond all the Power and Skill of Men and Angels ro recover you; and God protefts that he will favc you no other way but by Chrift, AE!J 4 · 13. N ei ther is there Salvat ion in dll} other, for there is none other n~tme giwn under H eaven. There is no choice for you, but either Chrift or Eternal Damnat ion, either the Son of God, or the Wrath of God; you are a11 under guilt, and there is no aother way of SatisfaCtion to Divine Juftice, but either his Blood or yours; you now hear thcfe things, and poffibly flight them, but that Day and Hour is coming, and will not tarry, when Death Ihall fnatch you away to Judgment. And when you lhalllift up thofe hands all flaming at the great Bar, with which you thruft away Salvation f[om you. That Chrift whom you have Scorned and Contemned, as a Merciful Saviour, you will then trernbl~ at as a moft fevere and juft Judge. 2. Confider, If you now come ;u to Chrift, he is wiJljng and ready to receive you. He himfelf tells you fo, 1ohn 6. 37· Tbofe that come unto me I will in no wife caft out. Indeed AH·fufficiency to f~ve without '':'illingnefs, ferves only to increafe the anguifh of our rutn and deftruChon . But this may be for our comfort, that Chrift bath no more power in his Hand to favc us, than willingnefs in his Heart. It is not indeed Chri!l:'s 543
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