Gospel Reconciliation, Chapter 72 – Chapter 73
CHAP. 72. The Twelfth Argument: Manifeſting the exce…ding willingneſs of God and Chriſt to be reconciled to ſinners.
ANother way is this: in anſwering al Objections that lie in the hearts of ſinners: whatſoever Objections lie in the hearts of ſinners, God hath waies to anſwer al thoſe, and he doth it in his word, and by his Spirit; As now, What would a ſinner object? If you object your unworthineſs of ſuch mercies as God doth offer unto you, and therefore it is unlikly that ever God wil beſtow that mercy on you: obſerve, Eſa. 55. there is a place that God intends directly to anſwer that objection, that it may never hinder any ſinner from comming in unto him: ſaith God, Come ye to the waters, and he that hath no monies, come ye, buy and eat: yea come buy Wine, and Milk without mony, and without price. Note in one verſe there is three times Come without Mony; he that hath no Mony come and Eat, and then, buy without Mony, and then without price, What is the meaning of this? here you are to know; that the promiſes of the Goſpel are ſet out to you by Wine, & Milk, & ſo by bread, afterwards by thoſe things that are moſt delightful & moſt uſeful for the nature of man; the Goſpel is ſet out by ſuch things, and ſo it is in Scripture by things that are the moſt excellent of al. Somtimes by a Kingdom; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand: there is the argument; the Kingdom of God is at hand. and ſomtimes by a marriage; when God ſends to people to be reconciled, he ſends to them with this Argument; that it is to marry them to his Son. And ſomtimes by a Supper; that God the Father invites too; a Supper wherein there is al kind of dainties: the great King makes a Supper at the marriage of his Son, and there are powerful Arguments that God uſeth.
O but I am unworthy ſaith a poor ſoul, What? that ſuch a one as I, ſo vile, ſo wretched, and every way unworthy ſhould have ſuch things? this was the policy of the Devil at the firſt, the Devil labors to make ſinners to ſlight the Goſpel, to ſet at naught the counſels of God: ſo you have it in Prov. 1. to account the bloud of the Covenant a common thing: that is the firſt way. But if he cannot prevail that way; but the Lord doth ſhine through al miſts, and il conceipts of the Goſpel, and ſhews unto the Soul the excellency and beuty of his Son, and of the glorious things that are in the Goſpel: then the Devil comes the other way. Indeed ſaith he there are glorious things, but thou art unworthy; thou art a wretched, baſe, vile Creature, and canſt thou think that God ſhould grant ſuch things as theſe to thee? now the Lord anſwers this Objection; What ſaith God? Come without Money; What is that? that is; though thou haſt no worthineſs in thy ſelf, though thou haſt no a, bilities to buy any thing that is good; yet come, come yet & cloſe with my Grace; that ſhal make thee rich enough; thou ſhalt have money enough that way: Come without mony & without price, let never that Objection hinder thee; that thou art unworthy & unable to do any thing: the Lord cals thee without Money, & offers freely to thee, & therefore in the latter end of the Book of the Revelation it is ſaid in the laſt Chapter the 17. ver. And the Spirit, and the Bride ſay Come, and let him that heareth ſay Come, and let him that is a thirſt, Come; and whoſoever wil, let him take of the water of life freely. How ſhal I ever think to have it? It is free, ſo that this Objection cannot hinder.
Obj. O! but there may lie another Objection; Thus, it may be, the Lord wil require, though he requires nothing that I ſhal do before hand, but wil grant his mercy freely: but when I am come, then perhaps things that are hard, wil be required at my hands: O! the waies of God they are hard waies, and then I muſt live ſo ſtrictly, then I muſt make Conſcience of my waies, and ſo abandon al my ſins and Luſts, and wha… ſaith the Devil to a corrupt heart? What? wil you leave al ſuch pleaſant waies? and be ſo ſtreightly bound? Then you muſt do nothing but according to the word of God, and of Conſcience; farewel al the Comforts and Joyes of your life i… you come once to be religious, and godly, theſe are the tentations that do keep of the hearts of men. I appeal to you; have not ſome of your hearts been kept off from Jeſus Chriſt, and the waies of God meerly upon ſome ſuch temptations as theſe? and indeed perhaps at firſt it may be ſo til the nature of a man is changed.
But mark how this objection is taken away, when ſinners are called to Chriſt, (I ſuppoſe you know the place) Come unto me, ye that are weary, and heavy laden, and I wil give you reſt.
But that concerns the former, and then afterwards when Chriſt had ſaid ſo; come to me ye that are weary & heavy laden, and I wil give you reſt; take my yoak upon you, my burthen &c. It ſeems then we muſt be yoaked and burthened: But marke what follows in verſ. 30. For my yoak is eaſy, and my burthen is light (as if Chriſt ſhould ſay) never harken to ſuch a tentation of any difficulties in my wayes: I aſſure you beforehand you wil find that the Devil doth but gul you, deceive, and cozen you, I wil warrant you that beforehand; that I wil lay no yoak upon you, but you ſhal ſay when you come to beare it, it is an eaſy yoak, and though it be a burthen, yet you ſhal acknowledg it is a light burthen. This I dare ſay in the name of God unto al; come in al you that ſtand off from the waies of God; though the waies of God may ſeem hard to you at firſt, yet I dare ſay from God unto you, that you wil find the wayes of God more eaſy to you at laſt than ever you did in the waies of ſin: For certainly there is more trouble in the waies of ſin than can be in the waies of God. And when God cals upon you to come in to be reconciled, he doth profeſs this to you; that he wil require nothing of you but that which ſhal be more pleaſant to you than any wayes of ſin that you lived in before: there be more comforts, and joy, and that for the preſent, than ever you had in the waies of ſin, do but ask any one that hath made tryal of this, and deſire them to ſpeak their conſciences to thee (I meane thoſe that have had any apprehenſion of the love of Chriſt to them) yea have you began to walk in wiſdomes wayes, which are pleaſantneſs, and to tread in thoſe paths which are ſtrowed with roſes, and paved with peace? pray then ſpeak plainly, how do you find your ſelf? is it not better now than it was before? do you not find more eaſe, more comfort, and joy in theſe waies of God than you did before in any way of Sin? Oh ſuch a one wil profeſs unto you that they find more comfort than ever they did before; they find more ſweetneſs in communion with God in his wayes in one day, than they found in the waies of ſin in al their lives before, the Holy Spirit in pleading with the hearts of men ſaith the ſame Prov. 3.17. Her waies are waies of pleaſantneſs, and her paths are peace. If you wil beleeve the ſpirit of God, the waies of Godlineſs are waies of pleaſantneſs, and al her paths, are paths of peace. What ſhould hinder you then? It is neither your unworthineſs that can be any hinderance nor the hardſhip of the way. Theſe are the two great blocks that lie in the way; and God doth fully take away theſe in ſcripture; and if there be any other objection, I dare undertake bring what objections you can (give me but a litle time) to find out ſome manifeſt word, or other in the ſcripture that ſhal meet with the very objection. Then how doth this argue Gods exceeding willingneſs to be reconciled to ſinners? If a man ſend his meſſenger to ſuch a one to offer peace, and he thinks beforehand; Oh! but he wil have this and this objection againſt me; but ſaith he to his ſervant that is imployed in the buſineſs, you ſhal anſwer this objection thus, and the other objection thus.
CHAP. 73. The thirtenth argument: Manifeſting the exceeding willingneſs of God to be reconciled to ſinners.
ANother evidence of Gods willingneſs to be reconciled is this; that God is ſo importunate with ſinners, he uſes ſuch ſtrong arguments, that he firſt takes away objections, and then he is ſo importunate, he doth not meerly ſatisfy himſelf with offering of mercy: but he is very importunate in the work, and the importunity of God appeares. Firſt in this; that the ſcripture expreſſes God crying out after ſinners: not only ſeeking out after ſinners, but calling, and crying: ſo the words in the Original are, of Gods beſeeching to be reconciled, of God calling to ſinners, in Prov. 1. It is ſaid of wiſdom, that it cries, the Lord cryes out, and that in Iſa. 55.
When he makes a proclamation he begins firſt with, Oh! yes, Oh! every one that thirſteth come to the waters, and he that hath no mony, and there is the offer of Chriſt with a proclamation.
Further, Gods importunity is manifeſt in this; that he comes over again with a thing, and is not content with the expreſſing of himſelf. But he doth it again, and again, and again he is at it, as in Iſa. 55. verſ. the firſt, Se how many times there is crying in one verſe, Ho! every one that thirſteth come ye; and he that hath no mony come; and come the third time; three times in one verſe ſaith God come to ſinners, and then in the third verſe, Incline your eare, and come unto mee (ſaith God) and hear, and your ſouls ſhal live, and I wil make an everlaſting Covenant with you; there is another promiſe; Even the ſure mercies of David: ſo hear in one ſhort ſcripture four times come, ſaith God; O! how importunate is God with ſinners? God doth not do with us, as commonly wee do with him, God ſeeks after ſinners more earneſtly than ſinners ſeek after God; thus we ſeek to God for mercy; we pray to God for mercy; we content our ſelves with praying once, and ſeldome looke after our prayers what becoms of them; but God he cries to us to come and if we do not come the firſt time, then he crys come, come, & come four times together we are ready to think if our petitions be repeated twice in prayer, it is atautology & this ſhews the earneſtneſs of the ſpirit of God in it, and he is exceeding willing.