A Call to the Unconverted, Doctrine 2
Doct. 2. IT is the Promise of God, that the wicked shall Live if they will but Turn; Vnfeignedly and throughly Turn.
The Lord here professeth that this is it that he takes pleasure in, that the wicked Turn and Live. Heaven is made as sure to the Converted as Hell is to the Unconverted. Turn and Live, is as certain a truth, as Turn or Dye. God was not bound to provide us a Saviour, nor open to us a door of hope, nor call us to Repent and Turn, when once we had cast our selves away by sin. But he hath freely done it to magnifie his Mercy: Sinners, there's none of you shall have cause to go home, and say I preach desperation to you. Do we use to shut up the door of Mercy against you? O that you would not shut it up against your selves! Do we use to tell you, that God will have no mercy on you, though you Turn and be Sanctified? When did you ever hear a Preacher say such a word? You that bark at the Preachers of the Gospel, for desiring to keep you out of Hell, and say that they Preach Desperation; tell me if you can, when did you ever hear any sober man say, that there is no hope for you, though you Repent and be Converted? No; it is the clean contrary that we daily proclaim from the Lord; and whoever is born again, and by Faith and Repentance doth become a new creature, shall certainly be saved: and so far are we from perswading you to despair of this, that we perswade you not to make any doubt of it. It is Life and not Death, that is the first part of our Message to you: our Commission is to offer salvation, certain salvation: a speedy, glorious, everlasting salvation, to every one of you: to the poorest beggar as well as the greatest Lords: to the worst of you: even to drunkards, swearers, worldlings, thieves, yea to the despisers and reproachers of the holy way of salvation. We are commanded by the Lord our Master, to offer you a pardon for all thats past, if you will but now at last Return and Live: we are commanded to beseech and intreate you to accept the offer and Return; to tell you what preparation is made by Christ; what Mercy stayes for you; what Patience waiteth on you; what Thoughts of kindness God hath towards you; and how happy, how certainly and unspeakably happy you may be if you will. We have indeed also a Message of wrath and death, yea of a twofold wrath and death: but neither of them is our principal Message: we must tell you of the wrath that is on you already, and the death that you are born under, for the breach of the Law of works; but this is but to shew you the need of Mercy, and provoke you to esteem the grace of the Redeemer. And we tell you nothing but the truth which you must know: for who will seek out for Physick that knows not that he is sick? Our telling you of your misery is not it that makes you miserable, but driveth you out to seek for mercy. It is you that have brought this death upon your selves. We tell you also of another death, even remediless, and much greater torment, that will fall on those that will not be Converted. But as this is true, and must be told you, so it is but the last and saddest part of our Message. We are first to offer you Mercy if you will Turn: and it is only those that will not Turn, nor hear the voice of Mercy, that we must fore-tell damnation to. Will you but cast away your transgressions, delay no longer, but come away at the Call of Christ and be Converted, and become new creatures, and we have not a word of damning wrath or death to speak against you. I do here in the name of the Lord of Life proclaim to you all that hear me this day, to the worst of you, to the greatest, to the oldest sinner, that you may have mercy and salvation, if you will but Turn. There is mercy in God, there is sufficiency in the satisfaction of Christ, the promise is free, and full, and universal; you may have Life, if you will but Turn. But then, as you love your souls, Remember what Turning it is that the Scripture speaks of. It is not to mend the old house, but to pull down all, and build anew, on Christ the Rock and sure foundation. It is not to mend somewhat in a Carnal course of life, but to mortifie the flesh, and live after the Spirit. It is not to serve the flesh and the world in a more reformed way, without any scandalous disgraceful sins, and with a certain kind of Religiousness. But it is to change your Master, and your Work, and End, and set your face the contrary way, and do all for the life that you never saw, and Dedicate your selves and all you have to God. This is the change that must be made if you will live.
Your selves are witnesses now, that it is Salvation and not Damnation that is the great Doctrine I preach to you, and the first part of my message to you. Accept of this, and we shall go no further with you, for we would not so much as affright or trouble you with the name of damnation, without necessity.
But if you will not be saved, there's no remedy, but Damnation must take place. For there is no middle place between the two: You must have either Life or Death.
And we are not only to offer you Life; but to shew you the Grounds on which we do it, and call you to believe that God doth mean indeed as he speaks: that the Promise is true, and extendeth Conditionally to you as well as others, and that Heaven is no fancy, but a true felicity.
If you ask where is our Commission for this offer; among an hundred Texts of Scripture, I will shew it you in these few.
First, you see it here in my Text, and the following verses, and in the 18. of Ezek. as plain as can be spoken. And in 2 Cor. 5.17, 18, 19, 20, 21. you have the very sum of our Commission, [If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are past away; …ehold all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Iesus Christ, and hath given to us the Ministry of Reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ Reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and hath committed unto us the word of Reconciliation: now then we are Ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christs stead, be ye reconciled unto God; for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, tha… we might be made the Righteousnes of God in him.] So Mark 1…. 15, 16. Go ye into all the word and preach the Gospel to every creature; He that believeth (that … with such a Converting faith as … expressed) [and is baptized shall … saved; and he that believeth … shall be damned.] And Luke 2… 46, 47. [Thus it behoved Chri… to suffer, and to rise from the de… the third day, and that Repentan… (which is Conversion) and Remission of sins, should be preached in his name among all Nations.] And Acts 5.30.31. The God of our Fathers raised up Iesus, whom ye flew and hanged on a tree; him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give Repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. [And Acts 13.38, 39. Be it known unto you therefore men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe, are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses] And lest you think this offer is restrained to the Jews, see Gal. 6.15. [For in Christ Iesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.] And Luke 14.17. [Come, for all things are now ready;] and ver. 23, 24.
You see by this time that we are commanded to offer Life to you all, and to tell you from God, that if you will Turn you may Live.
Here you may safely trust your souls: for the Love of God is the Fountain of this offer, Iohn 3.16. and the blood of the Son of God hath purchased it: the faithfulness and truth of God is engaged to make the promise good: Miracles have sealed up the truth of it: Preachers are sent through the world to proclaim it; the Sacraments are instituted and used for the solemn Delivery of the mercy offered, to them that will accept it: and the Spirit doth open the heart to entertain it, and is it self the earnest of the full possession. So that the truth of it is past controversie, that the worst of you all, and every one of you, if you will but be Converted, may be Saved.
Indeed if you will needs believe that you shall be saved without Conversion, then you believe a falshood: and if I should preach that to you, I should preach a lie: this were not to believe God, but the Devil and your own deceitful hearts. God hath his promise of Life, and the Devil hath his promise of Life: Gods promise is, [Return and Live] The Devils promise is, [you shall live whether you turn or not] The word of God is as I have shewed you. [Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven, Matth. 18.3. Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, John 3.3, 5. Without holiness none shall see God, Hebrews 12.14.] The Devils word is, [You may be saved without being born again and Converted: you may do well enough without being holy; God doth but frighten you; he is more merciful then to do as he saith: he will be better to you then his word.] And alas, the greatest part of the world believe this word of the Devil, before the word of God; just as our first sin and misery came into the world. God said to our first parents, [If ye eat ye shall Die] And the Devil contradicteth him, and saith, [Ye shall not Die] and the woman believed the Devil before God. So now the Lord saith [Turn or Die.] And the Devil saith, [You shall not die, if you do but cry God mercy at last, and give over the acts of sin when you can practise it no longer.] And this is the word that the world believes. O hainous wickedness to believe the Devil before God!
And yet that is not the worst: but blasphemously they call this a Believing and Trusting God, when they put him in the shape of Satan, who was a lyar from the beginning, and when they believe that the word of God is a lye, they call this a Trusting God, and say they Believe in him, and Trust on him for salvation: Where did ever God say, that the unregenerate, unconverted, unsanctified shall be saved? Shew such a word in Scripture. I challenge you, if you can. Why this is the Devils word; and to believe it is to believe the Devil, and the sin that is commonly called Presumption: and do you call this a believing and trusting God? There is enough in the Word of God to comfort and strengthen the hearts of the sanctified; but not a word to strengthen the hands of wickedness, nor to give men the least hope of being saved, though they be never sanctified.
But if you will Turn and come into the way of Mercy, the Mercy of the Lord is ready to entertain you. Then Trust God for salvation boldly and confidently, for he is engaged by his word to save you. He will be a Father to none but his children, and he will save none but those that forsake the world, the Devil, and the flesh, and come in to his family to be members of his Son, and have Communion with his Saints. But if they will not come in, it is long of themselves: His doors are open: He keeps none back: He never sent such a message as this to any of you: [Its now too late: I will not receive thee though thou be Converted.] He might have done so, and done you no wrong: but he did not: he doth not to this day; He is still ready to receive you, if you were but ready unfeignedly and with all your hearts to Turn. And the fulness of this truth will yet more appear in the two following Doctrines, which I shall therefore next proceed to, before I make any further application of this.