The Humbled Sinner, Chapter 12
CHAP. XII.
The ſure and dangerous miſery of unbeliefe.
THe laſt thing which may ſtirre us to try our ſelves, is the conſideration of that amazing danger, and unſpeakable miſery, to which the ſoul is aſſuredly obnoxious in caſe of unbelief.
Why, will you ſay? What danger if we believe Obj. not?
I anſwer, there are three ſpecial dangers.
Firſt, all thy ſinnes ſtand upon record againſt thee, like ſo many ſad debts which thou haſt run thy ſelf into, from thy conception to this very day. They are all written with the pen of a Diamond: there is no blotting out of a mans ſinnes, but by the blood of Chriſt, and the unbeliever hath not his portion in that blood, and therefore there are all thy ſinnes uncancelled, thy ſinnes of nature, and all thy ſinnes of life; ſuch a ſin, and ſuch a ſin, then and there, and againe, committed, &c. O how great is the volume of them, the number of them cannot be numbred, and the guilt of them cannot be conceived, if one ſin binds thee over to hell, Good God! To what flames of vengeance and horrible degre…s and intenſions of miſery and wrath do all thy ſins oblige thee?
Yea, and as Solomon ſaid in another caſe, Prov. 9 12. If thou ſcorneſt, thou alone ſhalt beare it: ſo I ſay here, if thou remain an unbeliever, thou alone muſt anſwer for all thy ſinnes. Whatſoever the wrathful diſpleaſure of God is; whatſoever the horrors of conſcience are; whatſoever the gnawings of that worm are; whatſoever the heat of hell flames are; Whatſoever the doleful ſeparation from God is; Whatſoever curſe the Law implies for ſin, that maiſt thou expect, who wilt not believe in Chriſt. O! if that wrath was ſo hot, when it (obliquely as it were) fell on Chriſt (where it had no unholy and ſelf-guilty quality to admix with it ſelfe) that he ſweat drops of blood, and cryed out, my God, &c. How wilt thou with any patience, eaſe, poſſible quietneſſe; ſuſteine the extream wrath of the Almighty Judge, who art vile, and filthy, and haſt a conſcience with all thy torments, to gall and vex thee with the ſtings of miſery, guilts, and ſelf-accuſations? tell me how art thou able, what canſt thou ſay, how canſt thou beare up before the Lord, if he ſhould ariſe, if he ſhould terribly ariſe to judge the nations? He is the Holy God and Juſt, and is True and Great in power. What ſatisfaction canſt thou bring, where are thine oblations, or with what wilt thou reconcile thy ſelf to the Lord? Whereby canſt thou either make thy former ſins, to be no ſins, or perſwade the Lord to be propitious to thee without Chriſt?
Nay, verily, he will judge thee as an unrighteous perſon, for if thou haſt not Chriſt, what righteouſneſſe haſt thou? there is no hope for thee to be acquitted, nay, nor hope to be ſaved, nay, thou art ſure to be damned.
Mark 16. 15. Go you into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. 16. He that beleeveth and is baptized ſhall be ſaved, but he that beleeveth not ſhall be damned.
John 3. 18. He that believeth not is condemned already, becauſe he hath not beleeved in the name of the only begotten Sonne of God. 36. He that beleeveth on the Son hath everlaſting life, and he that beleeveth not the Son ſha… not ſee life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Rev. 2. 8. The fearful and unbelieving are caſt into the lake of fire and brimſtone.
But you will ſay, Why? This is ſtrange! Why ſuch Obj. extreame miſery for not beleeving? what ſinne is it?
It is one of the greateſt ſins in the world not to believe (that is) Sol. not to receive the Lord Jeſus Chriſt. Becauſe.
It is a ſinne againſt the greateſt love to the world, Joh. 3. 16. God ſo loved the world that he gave, &c. Rom 5. 8. But God commendeth his love towards us, that whiles we were yet ſinners, Chriſt dyed for us.
God ſhewed the greatneſſe of his love, to beſtow his Sonne, and Chriſt ſhewed the greatneſſe of his love, to dye for us. Greater love (ſaid Chriſt) can no man ſhew, then to lay down his life, &c. Now for the Lord to finde out a way of Salvation, and in love to our ſoules to offer this Son of his unto us, and to beſeech us to be reconciled, and then for us (like them who were envited to the ſupper) we cannot come, we will not come. O this, &c.
It is a ſin for which there can be no remedy for aſmuch as it is a ſin against the only remedy of a ſinful ſoul. The ſentence of the Law may be repealed by the Goſpel, but not ècontra. There is no plaiſter for the ſoul but the blood of Chriſt, which yet unbelief will not take and receive.
It is a ſinne which (as much as in it lies) makes void and vaine all the Covenant of Grace, turning all the goodneſſe of it into nothing, and all the truthes of it into lyes, and makes the blood of Chriſt to be ſhed in vaine. He that beleeveth not makes God a lyar, becauſe he beleeveth not the record that God gave of his Sonne, 1 John 5. 10.
It is a ſin which directly murders the ſoul: becauſe it doth wilfully hold it off from Chriſt, who would upon believing pardon and juſtifie and ſave.
All theſe things being premiſed let us now deſcend towards the triall or evidences of true faith in Chriſt, where I beſeech you obſerve.