Ten Sermons, Sermon 8
SERMON VIII.
The Holy Spirit convincing the world of ſin, righteouſneſs, and judgment.
JOHN xvi. 8.
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of ſin, and of righteouſneſs, and of judgment.
THESE words contain part of a gracious promiſe, which the bleſſed Jeſus was pleaſed to make to his weeping and ſorrowful diſciples. The time was now drawing near, in which the Son of man was firſt to be lifted upon the croſs, and afterwards to heaven. Kind, wondrous kind! had this merciful High-prieſt been to his diſciples, during the time of his tabernacling amongſt them. He had compaſſion on their infirmities, anſwered for them when aſſaulted by their enemies, and fet them right when out of the way, either in principle or practice. He neither called nor uſed them as ſervants, but as friends; and he revealed his ſecrets to them from time to time. He opened their underſtandings, that they … underſtand the ſcriptures; explained to them the hidden myſteries of the kingdom of God, when he ſpoke to others in parables: Nay, he became the ſervant of them all, and even condeſcended to waſh their feet. The thoughts of parting with ſo dear and loving a maſter as this, eſpecially for a long ſeaſon, muſt needs affect them much. When on a certain occaſion he intended to be abſent from them only for a night; we are told, he was obliged to conſtrain them to leave him; no wonder then, that when he now informed them he muſt entirely go away, and that the Phariſees in his abſence would put them out of their ſynagogues, and excommunicate them; yea, that the time ſhould come, that whoſoever killed them, would think they did God ſervice (a prophecy, one would imagine, in an eſpecial manner deſigned for the ſuffering miniſters of this generation;) no wonder, I ſay, conſidering all this that we are told, ver. 6. Sorrow had … their hearts: "Becauſe I have ſaid theſe things unto you, ſorrow hath filled your hearts." The expreſſion is very emphatical; their hearts were ſo full of concern; that they were ready to burſt. In order▪ therefore, to reconcile them to this mournful diſpenſation our dear and compaſſionate Redeemer ſhews them the neceſſity he lay under to leave them; "Nevertheleſs I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away:" As though he had ſaid, Think not, my dear diſciples, that I leave you out of anger: No, it is for your ſakes, for your profit that I go away: For if I go not away, if I die not upon the croſs for your ſins, and riſe again for your juſtification, and aſcend into heaven to make interceſſion, and plead my merits before my Father's throne, the Comforter, the Holy Ghoſt, will not, cannot come unto you; but if I depart, I will ſend him unto you. And, that they might know what he was to do, "When he is come, he will reprove the world of ſin, and of righteouſneſs, and of judgment."
The perſon referred to in the words of the text, is plainly the Comforter, the Holy Ghoſt; and the promiſe was firſt made to our Lord's apoſtles. But though it was primarily made to them, and was literally and remarkably fulfilled at the day of Pentecoſt, when the Holy Ghoſt came down as a mighty ruſhing wind, and alſo when three thouſand were pricked to the heart by Peter's preaching; yet, as the apoſtles were the repreſentatives of the whole body of believers, we muſt infer, that this promiſe muſt be looked upon as ſpoken to us, and to our children, and to as many as the Lord our God ſhall call.
My deſign from theſe words, is to ſhew the manner in which the Holy Ghoſt generally works upon the hearts of thoſe, who, through grace, are made veſſels of mercy, and tranſlated from the kingdom of darkneſs, into the kingdom of God's dear Son.
I ſay, generally: for as God is a ſovereign agent, his ſacred Spirit bloweth not only on whom, out when and how it liſteth. Therefore, far he it from me to confine the Almighty to one way of acting: or ſay, that all undergo an equal degree of conviction; no, there is a holy variety in God's methods of calling home his elect. But this we may affirm aſſuredly, that, wherever there is a work of true conviction and converſion wrought upon a ſinner's heart, the Holy Ghoſt, whether by a greater or leſs degree of inward ſoul-trouble, does that which our Lord Jeſus told the diſciples, in the words of the text, that he ſhould do when he came.
If any of you ridicule inward religion, or think there is no ſuch thing as our feeling or receiving the Holy Ghoſt, I fear my preaching will be quite fooliſhneſs to you, and that you will underſtand me no more than if I ſpoke to you in an unknown tongue. But as the promiſe in the text is made to the world, and as I know it will be fulfilling till time ſhall be no more, I ſhall proceed to explain the general way whereby the Holy Ghoſt works upon every converted ſinner's heart; and I hope that the Lord, even whilſt I am ſpeaking, will be pleaſed to fulfil it in many of your hearts. "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of ſin, of righteouſneſs, and of judgment."
The word which we tranſlate reprove, ought to be rendered convince; and in the original it imp…es a conviction by way of argumentation, and coming with a power upon the mind equal to a demonſtration. A great many ſcoffers of theſe laſt days, will aſk ſuch as they term pretenders to the Spirit, how they feel the Spirit, and how they know the Spirit? They might as well aſk, how they know, and how they feel the ſun when it ſhines upon the body? For with equal power and demonſtration does the Spirit of God work upon and convince the ſoul. And,
Firſt, It convinces of ſin; and generally of ſome enormous ſin, the worſt perhaps the convicted perſon ever was guilty of. Thus, when our Lord was converſing with the woman of Samaria, he convinced her firſt of her adultery: "Woman, go call thy huſband. The woman anſwered, and ſaid, I have no huſband. Jeſus ſaid unto her, Thou haſt well ſaid, I have no huſband: for thou haſt had five huſbands, and he whom thou now haſt, is not thy huſband; in this ſaidſt thou truly." With this, there went ſuch a powerful conviction of all her other actual ſins, that ſoon after, ſhe "left her water pot, and went her way into the city, and ſaith to the men, Come, and ſee a man that told me all things that ever I did: Is not this the Chriſt?" Thus our Lord alſo dealt with the perſecutor Saul: he convinced him firſt of the horrid ſin of perſecution; "Saul, Saul, why perſecuteſt thou me?" Such a ſenſe of all his other ſins, probably at the ſame time revived in his mind, that immediately he died; that is, died to all his falſe confidences, and was thrown into ſuch an agony of ſoul, that he continued three days, and neither did eat nor drink. This is the method the Spirit of God generally takes in dealing with ſinners; he firſt convinces them of ſome heinous actual ſi… and at the ſame time brings all their other ſins into remembrance, and as it were ſets them in battlearray before them: "When he is come, he will reprove the world of ſin."
And was it ever thus with you, my dear hearers? (For I muſt queſtion you as I go along▪ becauſe I intend, by the divine help, to preach not only to your heads, but your hearts.) Did the Spirit of God ever bring all your ſins thus to remembrance, and make you cry out to God, "thou writeſt bitter things againſt me?" Did your actual ſins ever appear before you, as though drawn in a map? If not, you have great reaſon (unle… you were ſanctified from the womb) to ſuſpect th… you are not convicted, much more not converted, and that the promiſe of the text was never yet fulfilled in your hearts.
Farther: When the Comforter comes into a ſinner's heart, though it generally convinces the ſinner of his actual ſin firſt, yet it leads him to ſee and bewail his original ſin, the fountain from which all theſe polluted ſtreams do flow.
Though every thing in the earth, air and water; every thing both without and within, concur to prove the truth of that aſſertion in the ſcripture, "in Adam we all have died;" yet moſt are ſo hardened through the deceitfulneſs of ſin, that notwithſtanding they may give an aſſent to the truth of the propoſition in their heads, yet they never felt it really in their hearts. Nay, ſome in words profeſſedly deny it, though their works, too, too plainly prove them to be degenerate ſons of a degenerate father. But when the Comforter, the Spirit of God arreſts a ſinner, and convinces him of ſin, all carnal reaſoning againſt original corruption, every proud and high imagination, which exalteth itſelf againſt that doctrine, is immediately thrown down; and he is made to cry out, "Who ſhall deliver me from the body of this death?" He now finds that concupiſence is ſin; and does not ſo much bewail his actual ſins, as the inward perverſeneſs of his heart, which he now finds not only to be an enemy to, but alſo direct enmity againſt God.
And did the Comforter, my dear friends, ever come with ſuch a convincing power as this into your hearts? Were you ever made to ſee and feel, that in your fleſh dwelleth no good thing; that you are conceived and born in ſin; that you are by nature children of wrath; that God would be juſt if he damned you, though you never committed an actual ſin in your lives? So often as you have been at church and ſacrament, did you ever feelingly confeſs, that there was no health in you; that the remembrance of your original and actual ſins was grievous unto you, and the burden of them intolerable? If not, you have been only offering to God vain oblations; you never yet prayed in your lives, the Comforter never yet came effectually into your ſouls; conſequently you are not in the faith properly ſo called; no, you are at preſent in a ſtate of death and damnation.
Again, the Comforter, when he comes effectually to work upon a ſinner, not only convinces him of the ſin of his nature, and the ſin of his life, but alſo of the ſin of his duties.
We all naturally are legaliſts, thinking to be juſtified by the works of the law. When ſomewhat awakened by the terrors of the Lord, we immediately, like the Phariſees of old, go about to eſtabliſh our own righteouſneſs, and think we ſhall, find acceptance with God, if we ſeek it with …ears; finding ourſelves damned by nature and our actual ſins, we then think to recommend ourſelves to God by our duties, and hope, by our doings of one kind or another, to inherit eternal life. But, whenever the Comforter comes into the heart, it convinces the ſoul of theſe falſe reſts, and makes the ſinner to ſee that all his righteouſneſſes are but as filthy rags; that his beſt works are but ſo many ſplendid ſins; and that, for the moſt pompous ſervices, he deſerves no better doom than that of the unprofitable ſervant, to be thrown into outer darkneſs, where is weeping, and wailing, and gnaſhing of teeth.
And was this degree of conviction ever wrought in any of your ſouls? Did the Comforter ever come into your hearts, ſo as to make you ſick of your duties, as well as your ſins? Were you ever, with the great apoſtle of the Gentiles, made to abhor your own righteouſneſs which is by the law, and acknowledge that you deſerve to be damned, though you ſhould give all your goods to ſeed the poor? Were you made to feel, that your very repentance needed to be repented of, and that every thing in yourſelves is but dung and droſs? And that all the arguments you can …etch for mercy, muſt be out of the heart and pure unmerited love of God? Were you ever made to lie at the feet of ſovereign grace, and to ſay, Lord if thou wilt, thou may'ſt ſave me; if not, thou may'ſt juſtly damn me; I have nothing to plead, I can in no wiſe juſtify myſelf in thy ſight; my beſt performances, I ſee will condemn me; and all I have to depend upon is thy free grace? What ſay you? Was this ever, or is this now, the habitual language of your hearts? You have been frequently at the temple; but did you ever approach it in the temper of the poor publican; and, after you have done all▪ acknowledge that you have done nothing; and upon a feeling experimental ſenſe of your own unworthineſs and ſinfulneſs every way, ſmite upon your breaſts, and ſay, "God be merciful to us ſinners?" If you never were thus minded, the Comforter never yet effectually came into your ſouls, you are out of Chriſt; and if God ſhould require your ſouls in that condition, he would be no better to you than a conſuming ſire.
But there is a fourth ſin, of which the comforter, when he comes convinces the ſoul, and which alone (it is very remarkable) our Lord mentions as though it was the only ſin worth mentioning; for indeed it is the root of all other ſins whatſoever: It is the reigning as well as the damning ſin of the world. And what now do you imagine that ſin may be? It is that curſed ſin, that root of all other evils, I mean the ſin of unbelief. "Of ſin, becauſe they believe not on me."
But does the Chriſtian world, or any of you that hear me this day, want the Holy Ghoſt to convince you of unbelief? Are there any infidels here? Yes (O that I had not too great reaſon to think ſo) I fear moſt are ſuch: Not indeed ſuch infidels as profeſſedly deny the Lord that bought us (though I fear too many even of ſuch monſters are in every country) but I mean ſuch unbelievers that have no more faith in Chriſt than the devils themſelves. Perhaps you may think you believe, becauſe you repeat the creed, or ſubſcribe to a confeſſion of faith; becauſe you go to church or meeting, receive the ſacrament, and are taken into full communion. Theſe are bleſſed privileges; but all this may be done without our being true believers. And I know not how to detect your falſe hypocritical faith better, than by putting to you this queſtion, How long have you believed? Would not moſt of you ſay, as long as we can remember, we never did diſbelieve. Then this is a certain ſign that you have no true faith at all: No, not ſo much as a grain of muſtard ſeed: For if you believe now (unleſs you were ſanctified from your infancy, which is the caſe of ſome) you muſt know that there was a time in which you did not believe on the Lord Jeſus Chriſt; and the Holy Ghoſt, if ever you received it, convinced you of this. Eternal truth has declared, "when he is come he will convince the world of ſin, becauſe they believe not on me."
None of us believe by nature: But after the Holy Ghoſt has convinced us of the ſin of our natures, and the ſin of our lives and duties, in order to convince us of our utter inability to ſave ourſelves, and that we muſt be beholden to God, as for every thing elſe, ſo for faith (without which it is impoſſible to pleaſe, or be ſaved by Chriſt) he convinces us alſo that we have no faith. Doſt thou believe on the Son of God? is the grand queſtion which the Holy Ghoſt now puts to the ſoul: At the ſame time he works with ſuch power and demonſtrations, that the ſoul ſees, and is obliged to confeſs, that it has no faith.
This is a thing little thought of by moſt who call themſelves believers. They dream they are Chriſtians becauſe they live in a Chriſtian country: If they were born Turks, they would believe on Mahomet; for what is that which men commonly call faith, but an outward conſent to the eſtabliſhed religion? But do not you thus deceive your ownſelves; true faith is quite another thing. Aſk yourſelves, therefore, whether or not the Holy Ghoſt ever powerfully convinced you of the ſin of unbelief? You are perhaps ſo devout (you may imagine) as to get a catalogue of ſins, which you look over, and confeſs in a formal manner, as often as you go to the holy ſacrament: But among all your ſins, did you ever once confeſs and bewail that damning ſin of unbelief? Were you ever made to cry out, Lord, give me faith; Lord, give me to believe on thee; O that I had faith! O that I could believe! If you never were thus diſtreſſed, at leaſt, if you never ſaw and felt, that you had no faith, it is a certain ſign that the Holy Ghoſt the Comforter, never came into and worked ſavingly upon your ſouls.
But is it not odd, that the Holy Ghoſt ſhould be called a Comforter, when it is plain, by the experience of all God's children, that this work of conviction is uſually attended with ſore inward conflicts, and a great deal of ſoul-trouble? I anſwer, the Holy Ghoſt may well be termed a Comforter, even in this work; becauſe it is the only way to, and ends in, true ſolid comfort. Bleſſed are they that are thus convicted by him; for they ſhall be comforted. Nay, not only ſo, but there is preſent comfort, even in the midſt of theſe convictions: The ſoul ſecretly rejoices in the ſight of its own miſery, bleſſes God for bringing it out of darkneſs into light, and looks forward with a comfortable proſpect of future deliverances, knowing, that 'though ſorrow may endure for a night, joy will come in the morning."
Thus it is that the Holy Ghoſt convinces the ſoul of ſin. And, if ſo, how wretchedly are they miſtaken, that blend the light of the Spirit with the light of conſcience, as all ſuch do, who ſay, that Chriſt lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and that light, if improved, will bring us to Jeſus Chriſt? If ſuch doctrine be true, the promiſe in the text was needleſs: Our Lord's apoſtles had already that light; the world hereafter to be convinced, had that light; and, if that was ſufficient to bring them to Chriſt, why was it expedient that Chriſt ſhould go away to heaven, to ſend down the Holy Ghoſt to do this for them? Alas! all have not this Spirit: It is the ſpecial gift of God, and, without this ſpecial gift, we can never come to Chriſt.
The light of conſcience will accuſe or convince us of any common ſin; but the light of natural conſcience never did, never will, and never can convince us of unbelief. If it could, how comes it to paſs, that not one of the heathens, who improved the light of nature in ſuch an eminent degree, was ever convinced of unbelief? No, natural conſcience cannot effect this; it is the peculiar property of the Holy Ghoſt the Comforter: "When he is come, he will reprove (or convince) the world of ſin, of righteouſneſs, and judgment."
We have heard how he convinces of ſin: We come now to ſhew,
Secondly, What is the righteouſneſs, of which the Comforter convinces the world?
By the word righteouſneſs, in ſome places of ſcripture, we are to underſtand that common juſtice which we ought to practice between man and man; as when Paul is ſaid to reaſon of temperance and righteouſneſs before a trembling Felix. But here (as in a multitude of other places in holy writ) we are to underſtand by the word righteouſneſs, the active and paſſive obedience of the dear Lord Jeſus; even that perfect, perſonal, allſufficient righteouſneſs, which he has wrought out for that world which the Spirit is to convince. "Of righteouſneſs (ſays our Lord) becauſe I go to the Father, and ye ſee me no more." This is one argument that the Holy Spirit makes uſe of to prove Chriſt's righteouſneſs, becauſe he is gone to the Father, and we ſee him no more. For had he not wrought out a ſufficient righteouſneſs, the Father would have ſent him back, as not having done what he undertook; and we ſhould have ſeen him again.
O the righteouſneſs of Chriſt! It ſo comforts my ſoul, that I muſt be excuſed if I mention it in almoſt all my diſcourſes. I would not, if I could help it, have one ſermon without it. Whatever infidels may object, or Arminians ſophiſtically argue againſt an imputed righteouſneſs; yet whoever know themſelves and God, muſt acknowledge, that "Jeſus Chriſt is the end of the law for righteouſneſs (and perfect juſtification in the ſight of God) to every one that believeth," and that we are to be made the righteouſneſs of God in him. This, and this only, a poor ſinner can lay hold of, as a ſure anchor of his hope. Whatever other ſcheme of ſalvation men may lay, I acknowledge I can ſee no other foundation whereon to build my hopes of ſalvation, but on the rock of Chriſt's perſonal righteouſneſs, imputed to my ſoul.
Many, I believe, have a rational conviction of, and agree with me in this: But rational convictions, if reſted in, avail but little; it muſt be a ſpiritual, experimental conviction of the truth which is ſaving. And therefore our Lord ſays, when the Holy Ghoſt comes in the day of his power, it convinces of this righteouſneſs, of the reality, completeneſs and ſufficiency of it, to ſave a poor ſinner.
We have ſeen how the Holy Ghoſt convinces the ſinner of the ſin of his nature, life, duties, and of the ſin of unbelief, and what then muſt the poor creature do? He muſt, he muſt inevitably deſpair, if there be no hope but in himſelf. When therefore the Spirit has hunted the ſinner out of all his falſe reſts and hiding-places, taken off the pitiful fig-leaves of his own works, and driven him out of the trees of the garden (his outward reformations) and placed him naked before the bar of a ſovereign, holy, juſt, and ſin-avenging God; then▪ then it is, when the ſoul, having the ſentence of death within itſelf becauſe of unbelief, has a ſweet diſplay of Chriſt's righteouſneſs made to it by the holy Spirit of God. Here it is, that he begins more immediately to act in the quality of a Comforter, and convinces the ſoul ſo powerfully of the reality and all-ſufficiency of Chriſt's righteouſneſs, that the ſoul is immediately ſet a hungering and thirſting after it. Now the ſinner begins to ſee, that though he has deſtroyed himſelf, yet in Chriſt is his help; that, though he has no righteouſneſs of his own to recommend him, there is a fulneſs of grace, a fulneſs of truth, a fulneſs of righteouſneſs in the dear Lord Jeſus, which, if once imputed to him, would make him happy for ever and ever.
None can tell, but thoſe happy ſouls who have experienced it, with what demonſtration of the Spirit this conviction comes. O how amiable, as well as all-ſufficient, does the bleſſed Jeſus now appear! With what new eyes does the ſoul now ſee the Lord its righteouſneſs! Brethren, it is unutterable. If you were never thus convinced of Chriſt's righteouſneſs in your own ſouls, though you may believe it doctrinally, it will avail you nothing; if the Comforter never came ſavingly into your ſouls, then you are comfortleſs indeed. But
What will this righteouſneſs avail, if the ſoul has it not in poſſeſſion?
Thirdly, The next thing therefore the Comforter, when he comes, convinces the ſoul of, is judgment.
By the word judgment I underſtand, that wellgrounded peace, that ſettled judgment, which the ſoul forms of itſelf, when it is enabled by the Spirit of God to lay hold on Chriſt's righteouſneſs, which I believe it always does, when convinced in the manner before-mentioned. "Of judgment (ſays our Lord) becauſe the Prince of this world is judged;" the ſoul, being enabled to lay hold on Chriſt's perfect righteouſneſs by a lively faith, has a conviction wrought in it by the Holy Spirit, that the "Prince of this world is judged." The ſoul being now juſtified by faith, has peace with God, through our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and can triumphantly ſay, it is Chriſt that juſtifies me, who is he that condemns me? The ſtrong man armed is now caſt out; my ſoul is in a true peace; the Prince of this world will come and accuſe, but he has now no ſhare in me: The bleſſed Spirit which I have received, and whereby I am enabled to apply Chriſt's righteouſneſs to my poor ſoul, powerfully convinces me of this: Why ſhould I fear? Or of what ſhall I be afraid, ſince God's Spirit witneſſes with my ſpirit, that I am a child of God? The Lord is aſcended up on high; he has led captivity captive; he has received the Holy Ghoſt the Comforter, that beſt of gifts for men: and that Comforter is come into my heart: he is faithful that hath promiſed: I, even I am powerfully, rationally, ſpiritually convicted of ſin, righteouſneſs and judgment. By this I know the prince of this world is judged.
Thus, I ſay, may we ſuppoſe that ſoul to triumph, in which the promiſe of the text is happily fulfilled. And though, at the beginning of this diſcourſe, I ſaid, moſt had never experienced any thing of this, and that therefore this preaching muſt be fooliſhneſs to ſuch; yet I doubt not but there are ſome few happy ſouls, who, through grace, have been enabled to follow me ſtep by ſtep and notwithſtanding the Holy Ghoſt might not directly work in the ſame order as I have deſcribed, and perhaps they cannot exactly ſay the time when, yet they have a w…ll grounded confidence that the work is done, and that they have really been convinced of ſin, righteouſneſs, and judgment, in ſome way, or at ſome time or another.
And now what ſhall I ſay to you? O thank God, thank the Lord Jeſus, thank the ever bleſſed Trinity, for this unſpeakable gift: For you would never have been thus highly favoured, had not he who firſt ſpoke darkneſs into light, loved you with an everlaſting love, and enlightened you by his Holy Spirit, and that too, not on account of any good thing foreſeen in you, but for his own name's ſake.
Be humble therefore, O believers be humble: Look to the rock from whence you have been hewn: Extol free grace; admire electing love, which alone has made you to differ from the reſt of your brethren. Has God brought you into light? Walk as becometh the children of light. Provoke not the Holy Spirit to depart from you: For though he hath ſealed you to the day of redemption, and you know that the Prince of this world is judged; yet if you backſlide, grow lukewarm, or forget your firſt love, the Lord will viſit your offences with the rod of affliction, and your ſin with ſpiritual ſcourges. Be not therefore highminded, but fear. Rejoice, but let it be with trembling. As the elect of God, put on, not only humbleneſs of mind, but bowels of compaſſion; and pray, O pray for your unconverted brethren! Help …, help me now, O children of God, and hold up my hands, as Aaron and Hur once held up the hands of Moſes. Pray whilſt I am preaching, that the Lord may enable me to ſay, This day is the promiſe in the text fulfilled in ſome poor ſinners' hearts. Cry mightily to God, and with the cords of a holy violence, pull down bleſsings on your neighbours' heads. Chriſt yet lives and reigns in heaven: The reſidue of the Spirit is yet in his hand, and a plentiful effuſion of it is promiſed in the latter days of the church. And O that the Holy Ghoſt, the bleſſed Comforter, would now come down, and convince thoſe that are Chriſt leſs among you, "of ſin, of righteouſneſs, and of judgment!" O that you were once made willing to be convinced!
But perhaps you had rather be filled with wine than with the Spirit, and are daily chaſing that Holy Ghoſt from your ſouls. What ſhall I ſay for you to God? "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." What ſhall I ſay from God to you? Why?" that God was in Chriſt reconciling the world unto himſelf:" Therefore I beſeech you, as in Chriſt's ſtead, be ye reconciled to God. Do not go away contradicting and blaſpheming. I know Satan would have you begone. Many of you may be uneaſy, and are ready to cry out, "What a wearineſs is this!" But I will not let you go: I have wreſtled with God for my hearers in private, and I muſt wreſtle with you here in public. Though of myſelf I can do nothing, and you can no more by your own power come to and believe on Chriſt, than Lazarus could come forth from the grave; yet who knows but God may beget ſome of you again to a lively hope by this fooliſhneſs of preaching, and that you may be ſome of that world, which the Comforter is to convince "of ſin, of righteouſneſs, and of judgment?" Poor Chriſt-leſs ſouls! do you know what a condition you are in? Why, you are lying in the wicked one, the devil; he rules in you, he walks and dwells in you, unleſs you dwell in Chriſt, and the Comforter is come into your hearts. And will you contentedly lie in that wicked one the devil? What wages will he give you? Eternal death. O that you would come to Chriſt! The free gift of God through him is eternal life. He will accept of you even now, if you will believe in him. The Comforter may yet come into your hearts, even yours. All that are now his living temples, were once lying in the wicked one as well as you. This bleſſed gift, this Holy Ghoſt, the bleſſed Jeſus received even for the rebellious.
I ſee many of you affected: But are your paſſions only a little wrought upon, or are your ſouls really touched with a lively ſenſe of the heinouſneſs of your ſins, your want of faith, and the preciouſneſs of the righteouſneſs of Jeſus Chriſt? If ſo, I hope the Lord has been gracious, and that the Comforter is coming into your hearts. O do not ſtifle theſe convictions! Do not go away, and ſtraightway forget what manner of doctrine you have heard, and thereby ſhew that theſe are only common workings of a few tranſient convictions, floating upon the ſurface of your hearts. Beg of God that you may be ſincere (for he alone can make you ſo) and that you may indeed deſire the promiſe of the text to be fulfilled in your ſouls, Who knows but the Lord may be gracious? Remember you have no plea but ſovereign mercy; but for your encouragement alſo, remember it is the world, ſuch as you are, to whom the Comforter is to come, and whom he is to convince: Wait therefore at Wiſdom's gates. The bare probability of having a door of mercy opened, is enough to keep you ſtriving. Chriſt Jeſus came into the world to ſave ſinners, the chief of them: You know not but he came to ſave you. Do not go and quarrel with God's decrees, and ſay, if I am a reprobate, I ſhall be damned; if I am elected, I ſhall be ſaved; and therefore I will do nothing. What have you to do with God's decrees? Secret things belong to him; it is your buſineſs to give "all diligence to make your calling and election ſure." If there are but few who find the way that leads to life, do you ſtrive to be ſome of them: You know not but you may be in the number of thoſe few, and that your ſtriving may be the means which God intends to bleſs, to give you an entrance in. If you do not act thus, you are not ſincere; and, if you do, who knows but you may find mercy? For though after you have done all that you can, God may juſtly cut you off, yet never was a ſingle perſon damned who did all that he could. Though therefore your hands are withered, ſtretch them out; though you are impotent ſick, and lame, come lie at the pool. Who knows but by and by the Lord Jeſus may have compaſſion on you, and ſend the Comforter to convince you of ſin, righteouſneſs, and of judgement? He is a God full of compaſſion and long-ſuffering, otherwiſe you and I had been long ſince lifting up our eyes in torments. But ſtill he is patient with us!
O Chriſt-leſs ſinners, you are alive, and who knows but God intends to bring you to repentance? Could my prayers or tears effect it, you ſhould have volleys of the one, and floods of the other. My heart is touched with a ſenſe of your condition: May our merciful High-Prieſt now ſend down the Comforter and make you ſenſible of it alſo! O the love of Chriſt! It conſtrains me to beſeech you to come to him; what do you reject, if you reject Chriſt, the Lord of glory! Sinners, give the dear Redeemer a lodging in your ſouls. Do not be Bethſhemites; give Chriſt your hearts, your whole hearts. Indeed he is worthy. He made you and not you yourſelves. You are not your own; give Chriſt then your bodies and ſouls, which are his! Is it not enough to melt you down, to think that the high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity, ſhould condeſcend to invite you by his miniſters? How ſoon can he frown you to hell? And how know you but he may this very inſtant, if you do not hear his voice? Did any yet harden their hearts againſt Chriſt, and proſper? Come then do not ſend me ſorrowful away: Do not let me have reaſon to cry out, O my leanneſs, my leanneſs! Do not let me go weeping into my cloſet, and ſay, "Lord they will not believe my report; Lord, I have called them, and they will not anſwer; I am unto them as a very pleaſant ſong, and as one that plays upon a pleaſant inſtrument; but their hearts are running after the luſt of the eye, the luſt of the fleſh, and the pride of life." Would you be willing that I ſhould give ſuch an account of you, or make ſuch a prayer before God? And yet I muſt not only do ſo here, but appear in judgment againſt you hereafter, unleſs you will come to Chriſt. Once more therefore I intreat you to come. What objections have you to make? Behold, I ſtand here in the name of God, to anſwer all that you can offer. But I know no one can come, unleſs the Father draw him: I will therefore addreſs me to my God, and intercede with him to ſend the Comforter into your hearts.
O bleſſed Jeſus, who art a God, whoſe compaſſions fail not, and in whom all the promiſes are yea and amen; thou that ſitteſt between the cherubims, ſhew thyſelf amongſt us. Let us now ſee thy outgoings! O let us now taſte that thou art gracious, and reveal thy almighty arm! Get thyſelf the victory in theſe poor ſinners' hearts. Let not the word ſpoken prove like water ſpilt upon the ground. Send down, ſend down, O great High-Prieſt, the Holy Spirit, to convince the world of ſin, of righteouſneſs, and of judgment. So will we give thanks and praiſe to thee O Father, thee O Son, and thee O bleſſed Spirit; to whom as three Perſons, but one God, be aſcribed, by angels and archangels, by cherubims and ſeraphims, and all the heavenly hoſts, all poſſible power, might, majeſty, and dominion, now and for evermore. Amen, Amen, Amen.