z o6 The Dauger of Impenitence, Vol. II. Tyre and Sidon in the day of3udgment than for them. And if we may judge what they would have done before, by what they did afterward, there is more than probabilityfor it : for we read in the 2 tft Chapter of the Ads, ver. 3. and ver. 27. that the Inhabitants of Tyre andSidon receiv'd the Gofpel, and kindly entertain' St. Paul, when the Yews rejeáed them both. The III. Thing to be cleared, is, What is meant by long ago ; They would have repen- ted long ago. Some underhand this, as if our Saviour had Paid, they would not have flood out fo long againfl fo much Preaching, and fo many Miracles; but would at firfl have repented, long beforeour Saviour gave over Cborazin and Bethfaida for obftinate and incorrigible Sinners; the' would not only have repented at la(l, but much fooner and without fo much ado. But this does not feem tobe the meaning of the words; but our Saviour feems to refer to tholeantient Times long a$ei when the Prophets denouncedJudgments againft Tyre and Sidon, particularly the Prophet Ezekiel ; and to fay, that if in thofe days the preaching of that Prophet had been accompanied with fuch Mi- racles as our Saviour wrought in the Cities of Galilee, Tyre and Sidon would in thofe days have repented. The laß and greateft difficulty of all is, How this Affertion of our Saviour, that Miracles would have converted Tyreand Sidon, is reconcilable with that Dif- courfe of our Saviour's, Luke r6. in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus., that Thofe who would not believe Mofes and the Prophets, wouldnot have been per- fwaded, tho one had rofe from the dead. The true anfwer to which difficulty in fhort is this ; That when our Saviour fays, If they believe not Mofes and the Prophets, neither will they be perfwaded' tha one rofe from the dead, he does not herebyweaken the force of Miracles, or their aptnefs to convince men and bring them to Repentance, but rather confirm it.; becaufe Mofes and the Prophets had the Atteftation of many and great Miracles, and therefore there was no reafon to think, that they who wouldnot believe the Writings and Doárine of Mofes and the Prophets, which had the Confirmation of fo many Miracles, and was owned by themfelves to have fo, fhould be wrought uponby one particular Miracle, The comingofonefrom the dead, andfpeaking unto them : or howeverthis might move and aftonifh them for the prefent, yet it was not likely that the Graceof God fhould concur with fuchan extraordinary Means, to render it effeáual to their Converfion and Repentance, who had wilfully defpi- fed and obflinately rejefted that which had a much greater Confirmation, than the Difcourfe of a Man rifen from the dead, and was appointed byGod for the ordinary and ftanding Means of bringing Men toRepentance. So that our Savi- our might with reafon enough pronounce that Tyre andSidon, who neverhad a (landing Revelation of God to bring them to Repentance, nor had rejetled it, would upon Miracles extraordinarily wrought among them, have repented and yet deny it elfewhere tobe likely, that they who rejeáed a (landing Revelation of God confirmed by Miracles, which call'd them to Repentance, would proba- bly be brought toRepentance by a particular Miracle; or that God fhould afford his Grace to make it effeáual for their Repentance and Salvation. The words being thus cleared, I come now to raife fuch Obfervations from them, as may be infttuáive and ufefulto us. 1. I obferve from this Difcourfe of ourSaviour, that Miraclesare ofgreat force and efficacy to bring men to Repentance. This our Saviour's Difcourfe here fuppofeth; otherwife theirImpenitence had not been foCriminal and Inexcufable upon that account, That fuch mighty works had been done among them, aswould probably have prevailed upon forne of the worfl People that had been in theWorld ; for fuch were the Inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, guilty of great Covetoufnefsand Fraud, Pride and Luxury, the ufual Sins of Places of great Traffick and Commerce: and fach to be fore was Sodom; and yet our Saviour tells us, that the Miracles which he had wrought in the Cities of Ifrael, would is all probability havebrought thofe great Sinners to Repentance; namely, by bringing them to Faith, and convincing them of theTruth and Divi- nityof that Doárine which he preachedunto them, and which contains fuck pow- erful Arguments to Repentance and Amendment ofLife. If. I
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