556 The Ppr'al,le of the Vol. I. and rage among us ! It is a very fad Confideration to fee-how little thofe who have out-lived the Plagues, have been reformed by them ; we have not return'd to the Lord, nor fought him for all this. I may appeal to the Experience of particular Perfons. How frequently do we fee Men, after great Afflictions, and tedious Sufferings, and dangerous Sick- neffes, return to their former Evil Courfes ! and tho' they have been upon the brinkof Eternity, and the terrors of Death have compaf'd then; about, and the pains of Hell have almoll taken hold of them, tho' they have had as lively and fenfible Convidions of another World, as if they had fpoken with thofe that had come from thence, or even been there themfelves ; yet they have taken no warning; but upon their deliverance and recovery, have been as mad, as furious Sinners as they were before ; fo that it ought to be no fuch wonder to us, which the Text tells us, that ifMen hear not Mofes and theProphets,, neither will they k perfuaded, though one rote from the dead. Efpecially, if we confider in the 5th and Taft place, That an effeétual perfwafion (that is, fuch a Belief as pro- duceth Repentance and a good Life) is the gift of God, and depends upon the operation and concurrence of his Grace, which is not to be expelled in an ex- traordinary way, where Men have obflinately rejeEted the ordinary means ap- pointed by God for that end. To be effeétually perfuaded to change our Lives, and become new Men, is a Work not to be donewithout the affiftance of God's Grace, and there is little reafon to expect that God will afford his Grace to thole, who reject and defpife the Counfels of his Word. The Doctrine of Salvation contain 'd in the Holy Scriptures, and the Promifes and Threatnings of God's Word, are the ordinary Means which God bath appointed for the Converfion of Men, and to bring them to Repentance ; and if we fincerely ufe thefe means, we may confidently exped theconcurrence of God's Grace, to make them efle- t ua1, but if we negleft and refill thefe means, in confidence that God fhould at- tempt our Recovery by fome extraordinary ways ; though he fhould gratify our prefumptuous and unreafonable.Curiofity, fo far as to fend one from the dead to teßify unto us ; yet we have no reafon to expeft the affiftance of his Grace, to make fuch a Convi&ion effectual to our Repentance, when we have fo longde- fpifed his Word, and refifled his Spirit, which are the power of God untoSalvation. Without his Grace and Aflìflance, the moll probable means will prove inefle- dual to alter and change our corrupt Natures ; by Grace we are faved, and that not of, our felves, it is the Gift of God. This Grace is revealed to us in the Gofpel ; and the Aflïflances of it are conveyed to us by the Gofpel ;- and it is great pre- fumption topromife to our felves the affiftance of God's Grace in any other way than he bath been pleafed to promife it to us. And thusI have (hewn you, as briefly and plainly as I could, how unlikely it is, that thole who obftinately rejeét a clear and publick Revelation of God, Mould be effeEtually convinced and brought to Repentance by any Apparitions from thedead. I (hall only make two or three Inferences from this Difcourfe which I have made, and fo conclude. rf, Since the Scriptures are the publick and ftanding Revelation of God's Will to Men, and the ordinary Means of Salvation, we may hence conclude, That People ought to have them in fuch a Language as they can underhand. This our Saviour plainly fuppofeth in the Difcourfe which he reprefents between Abraham and the Rich Man, defiring that Lazarus might be Pent from the dead to his Brethren, to tejilfy unto them ; to which Requeft Abraham would not have given this Anfwer and Advice, they have Mofes and the Prophets, let them hear them, had he fuppofed that the Scriptures then were, or for the future ought to be lockt up from the People in an unknown Tongue ; for the Rich Man might very well have replied, nay, Father Abraham, but theyare not permitted to have Mofes and the Prophets in fuch a Language as they can underhand ; and therefore there is more need why one //couldbe font from the Dead to teftify unto them. Nor would Abraham have Paid again, if they hear not Mofes and the Prophets, neither will they k perfuaded. For how fhould Men hear what they cannot un- derftand, fo as to be perfuaded by it. It
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