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  WRITINGS OF JOSEPH ALLEINE
  by Joseph Alleine
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A collection of theological writings, sermons, and essays by Joseph Alleine,
compiled for study and devotional reading.

  Chapters: 23

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. 0A.00.1. A Sure Guide to Heaven
    2. 0A.00.2.    Biographical Introduction
    3. 0A.01.     A Sure Guide To Heaven
    4. 0A.03.     The nature of conversion
    5. 0A.04.     The necessity of conversion
    6. 0A.05.     The marks of the unconverted
    7. 0A.06.     The miseries of the unconverted
    8. 0A.07.     Directions to the unconverted
    9. 0A.08.     A SHORT SOLILOQUY FOR AN UNREGENERATE SINNER
   10. 0A.09.     The motives to conversion
   11. 0A.10.     Conclusion
   12. 1. Alarm to the Unconverted
   13. 1.01.     Introduction
   14. 1.02.     MISTAKES about Conversion
   15. 1.03.     NATURE of Conversion
   16. 1.04.     NECESSITY of Conversion
   17. 1.05.     MARKS of the Unconverted
   18. 1.06.     MISERIES of the Unconverted
   19. 1.07.     DIRECTIONS to the Unconverted
   20. 1.08.     MOTIVES to Conversion
   21. 1.09.     Conclusion
   22. 2. Alarm to the Unconverted (Choice Excerpts)
   23. S. The Gospel in a Map

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  CHAPTER 1: 0A.00.1. A SURE GUIDE TO HEAVEN
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A Sure Guide to Heaven By Joseph Alleine The text of this module was taken from
a PDF created by Monergism ©For more free books like this, and other theological
literature, please visit www.monergism.com


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  CHAPTER 2: 0A.00.2.    BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION
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Biographical Introduction

Joseph Alleine was born into a Puritan family at Devizes, in Wiltshire, and
baptized on April 8th, 1634. England was then in the throes of the stirring
events that were soon to lead to the Civil War, and before Alleine was ten years
old the Market Square, where his home stood, echoed with the crash of cannon and
the peal of musket as Royalist put Roundhead to flight at the battle of Roundway
(July 1643). Two years later the tables were turned and Cromwell himself saw to
it that the blue banner of Parliament was raised aloft over the old castle that
stood opposite the home of Alleine’s childhood. The family circle was also not
without its trials. His father, though a clothier of good standing, suffered
some of the economic misfortunes of war; and to their grief, Joseph’s eldest
brother, Edward, already in the ministry, died in 1645. That same year saw
Alleine ’setting forth in the Christian race’ and imploring his father that he
might be educated to ’succeed his brother in the work of the ministry’. Thus, in
April 1649 we find him going up to Oxford to sit at the feet of such divines as
John Owen and Thomas Goodwin. In November 1651 he moved from Lincoln to Corpus
Christi College - the latter, under the presidency of the saintly Dr Edward
Staunton, being a more thoroughgoing Puritan seminary. Here he took his B.A. on
July 6th 1653, became a tutor and subsequently chaplain to the College.
Doubtless it was partly due to Alleine’s influence that Henry Jessey could write
in 1660: ’1 think there was scarce such a place in the world as Corpus Christi,
where such a multitude held forth the power of godliness, and purity of God’s
worship. Even an Eden it was, but now a barren wilderness.’

Alleine’s years at Oxford were characterized by piety and diligent study. His
warm disposition found him many friends, but if their visits interrupted his
studying time ’he had no leisure to let them in, saying, "It is better that they
should wonder at my rudeness than that I should lose my time; for only a few
will take notice of the rudeness, but many may feel my loss of time."’ As a
chaplain he laboured to evangelize country villages around Oxford and also
preached to the prisoners in the gaol every fortnight. Such was his training for
his future ministry. Not yet twenty- one, he had already learned to be
’infinitely and insatiably greedy for the conversion of souls and to this end he
poured out his very heart in prayer and in preaching’.

It is no wonder that a worthy Puritan divine, George Newton (1602-1681),
minister of St Mary Magdalen, Taunton, called Alleine to be his assistant in
1655. Taunton, a wool manufacturing town with a population of perhaps some
20,000, was a Puritan stronghold in the West Country. The spirit of the town had
been clearly displayed ten years earlier when, with heroic steadfastness, it had
withstood more than one desperate Royalist siege - even when half the streets
had been burned down by a storm of mortars and many of the inhabitants had died
of starvation! It was here, amidst the hills, meadows and orchards of Somerset,
that Alleine was to spend his short but unforgettable ministry.

Immediately following the commencement of his work at Taunton, Alleine was
married on October 4th, 1655, to his cousin Theodosia Alleine, a woman of
singular spirituality, who left a moving account of her husband’s ministry. The
only ’fault’ for which she chided her husband was that he did not spend more
time with her, to which he would reply, ’Ah, my dear, I know thy soul is safe;
but how many that are perishing have I to look after? O that I could do more for
them!’ Alleine’s whole life was an illustration of his saying, ’Give me a
Christian that counts his time more precious than gold.’ When the week began he
would say, ’Another week is now before us, let us spend this week for God’, and
each morning, ’Now let us live this one day well!’ ’All the time of his health’,
writes his wife, ’he did rise constantly at or before four o’clock, and on the
Sabbath sooner, if he did wake; he would be much troubled if he heard any
smiths, or shoemakers, or such tradesmen, at work at their trades before he was
in his duties with God; saying to me after, "O how this noise shames me! doth
not my master deserve more than theirs?" From four till eight he spent in
prayer, holy contemplation, and singing of psalms, which he much delighted in,
and did daily practice alone, as well as in his family.’

Together this devoted pair laboured for souls. Theodosia Alleine kept a school
for children in her home, while her husband spent five afternoons every week
following up the urgent calls to the unconverted which sounded forth Sunday by
Sunday from beneath the stately tower of Mary Magdalen. He kept a catalogue of
the names of the inhabitants of each street and saw that all were visited and
catechized. This resulted in a numerous ingathering of souls.1 ’His
supplications and his exhortations’, said George Newton, ’many times were so
affectionate, so full of holy zeal, life, and vigour, that they quite overcame
his hearers; he melted them and sometimes dissolved the hardest hearts.’ It is
clear that even in an age when powerful preaching and successful evangelism were
comparatively common, Alleine’s ministry was outstanding in the eyes of his
brethren. ’Few ages have produced more eminent preachers than Mr. Joseph
Alleine’, declared that apostolic North Country Puritan, Oliver Heywood. And
Baxter speaks of his’ great ministerial skilfulness in the public explication
and application of the Scriptures - so melting, so convincing, so powerful’. A
day of grace was nearing its sunset when Alleine entered upon his ministry.
Within three years Cromwell was dead. Two years more and the bells at Taunton
rang merrily to welcome the homecoming of Charles II and the restoration of
monarchy (1660). But the happiness in Puritan hearts was short lived. For the
era when, as Philip Henry said, ’a face of godliness was upon the nation’ was
over and in 1662, by the infamous Act of Uniformity, 2,000 of the best ministers
England ever had were cast out of their pulpits. Among the eighty-five or so
ministers who suffered in this way in Somerset we find, as we might well expect,
the names of George Newton and Joseph Alleine. But, though debarred from his
pulpit, Alleine refused to be silenced; indeed his wife tells us how, ’laying
aside all other studies because he accounted his time would be but short’, he
increased his preaching activity: ’I know that he hath preached fourteen times
in eight days, and ten often, and six and seven ordinarily in these months. At
length after surviving many threats Alleine received a summons on May 26th 1663;
the following night he appointed to meet his people ’about one or two o’clock in
the morning, to which they shewed their readiness: there was of young and old
many hundreds; he preached and prayed with them about three hours’. The next day
he was thrown into prison at Ilchester. After a year he was released, but only
to be confronted by the rigours of the Five Mile Act and the Conventicle Act.
Though now declining in health, he nevertheless resumed preaching in secret
until July 10th 1666. On that evening whilst he was preaching on Psalm cxlvii 20
to a gathering in a private house, the doors were battered open and he was again
taken to prison. Once more he was released, and with undiminished spiritual
energy he considered what he might yet do to further the Gospel of Christ. ’Now
we have one day more’, he would say to his wife as he rose in the morning, ’here
is one more for God, now let us live well this day, work hard for our souls, lay
up much treasure in heaven this day, for we have but a few to live.’ His wife
tells us how, with true Puritan spirit, his thoughts turned to the possibility
of missionary work in Wales or even in China. Never did the evangel of Jesus
Christ burn more fervently in any English heart! But Alleine’s work was done,
for his physical constitution never recovered from the hardships of his
confinements and his body was sinking fast. On November 17th 1668 at the age of
thirty-four, God took him away from the evils yet to come, and aged George
Newton stood by as his body was laid to rest in the chancel of the church which
had once resounded with the ’alarm’ of his calls to the unconverted. This book
embodies the substance of Alleine’s message and in so doing provides a true
model of Puritan evangelism. Phraseology must differ from age to age and gifts
from man to man, but here, we have no hesitation in saying, are the principles
which must be present in any true presentation of the Gospel. More than one
great evangelist has had his views moulded by the following pages. George
Whitefield, while still a student at Oxford, tells us in his Journals how
Alleine’s Alarm ’much benefited’ him. Charles Haddon Spurgeon records how, when
he was a child, his mother would often read a piece of Alleine’s Alarm to them
as they sat round the fire on a Sunday evening, and when brought under
conviction of sin it was to this old book he turned. ’I remember’, he writes,
’when I used to awake in the morning, the first thing I took up was Alleine’s
Alarm, or Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted. Oh those books, those books! I read
and devoured them. . . .’ With his heart thus burning with the fire of Puritan
divinity, Spurgeon was prepared to follow in the steps of Alleine and
Whitefield.

Countless editions of this book have been issued since it first saw the light in
1671. Dr Calamy wrote concerning it in 1702: ’Multitudes will have cause for
ever to be thankful for it. No book in the English tongue (the Bible only
excepted) can equal it for the number that hath been dispersed; there have been
twenty thousand sold under the title of the "Call", or "Alarm", and fifty
thousand of the same under the title of the "Sure Guide

The Lord was pleased to bless us exceedingly in our endeavours’, Theodosia
Alleine wrote, ’so that many were converted in a few years, that were before
strangers to God.’ Joseph Allelne, by Charles Stanford, 1861, p. 101.

4 to Heaven", thirty thousand of which were sold at one impression.’ As a
remarkable illustration of the spiritual influence of this work we may mention
one example. Towards the end of the eighteenth century the minister of a
Highland congregation, a man more eminent for scholarship than evangelical
fervour, was approached by a Society to translate the `Alarm’ into Gaelic. The
book was thus passed into his hands and finding it suitable material for the
pulpit he commenced to repeat the substance of its successive chapters to his
congregation. The result, it is said, `was a widespread awakening, which long
prevailed in the district of Nether Lorn’. With the prayer that the substance of
this book may again be sounded forth throughout our land and across the seas, we
commend this book to the blessing of Him whose word is ’quick and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword’. ’All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of
man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth
away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you’ (1 Peter 1:24-25).

1 August 1959 IAIN MURRAY


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  CHAPTER 3: 0A.01.     A SURE GUIDE TO HEAVEN
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A Sure Guide To Heaven

Introduction An earnest invitation to sinners to turn to God

Dearly Beloved, I gladly acknowledge myself a debtor to you, and am concerned,
as I would be found a good steward of the household of God, to give to every one
his portion. But the physician is most concerned for those patients whose case
is most doubtful and hazardous; and the father’s pity is especially turned
towards his dying child. So unconverted souls call for earnest compassion and
prompt diligence to pluck them as brands from the burning (Jude 1:23). Therefore
it is to them I shall first apply myself in these pages. But from where shall I
fetch my argument? With what shall I win them? O that I could tell! I would
write to them in tears, I would weep out every argument, I would empty my veins
for ink, I would petition them on my knees. O how thankful should I be if they
would be prevailed with to repent and turn.

How long have I laboured for you! How often would I have gathered you! This is
what I have prayed for and studied for these many years, that I might bring you
to God. O that I might now do it! Will you yet be entreated?

`But, O Lord, how insufficient I am for this work. Alas, with what shall I
pierce the scales of Leviathan, or make the heart feel that is hard as the
nether millstone? Shall I go and speak to the grave, and expect the dead will
obey me and come forth? Shall I make an oration to the rocks, or declaim to the
mountains, and think to move them with arguments? Shall I make the blind to see?
From the beginning of the world was it not heard that a man opened the eyes of
the blind John 11:32). But, O Lord, Thou canst pierce the heart of the sinner. I
can only draw the bow at a venture, but do Thou direct the arrow between the
joints of the harness. Slay the sin, and save the soul of the sinner that casts
his eyes on these pages.’

There is no entering into heaven but by the strait passage of the second birth;
without holiness you shall never see God (Hebrews 12:14). Therefore give
yourselves unto the Lord now. Set yourselves to seek Him now. Set up the Lord
Jesus in your hearts, and set Him up in your houses. Kiss the Son (Psalms 2:1-12
and embrace the tenders of mercy; touch His sceptre and live; for why will ye
die? I do not beg for myself, but would have you happy: this is the prize I run
for. My soul’s desire and prayer for you is, that you may be saved (Romans
10:1).

I beseech you to permit. a friendly plainness and freedom with you in your
deepest concern. I am not playing the orator to make a learned speech to you,
nor dressing the dish with eloquence in order to please you. These lines are
upon a weighty errand indeed - to convince, and convert, and save you. I am not
baiting my hook with rhetoric, nor fishing for your applause, but for your
souls. My work is not to please you, but to save you; nor is my business with
your fancies, but with your hearts. If I have not your hearts, I have nothing.
If I were to please your ears, I would sing another song. If I were to preach
myself, I would steer another course. I could then tell you a smoother tale; I
would make pillows for you and speak peace, for how can Ahab love this Micaiah,
that always prophesies evil concerning him? (1 Kings 22:8). But how much better
are the wounds of a friend, than the fair speeches of the harlot, who flatters
with her lips, till the dart strike through the liver? (Proverbs 7:21-23 and
Proverbs 6:26). If I were to quiet a crying infant, I might sing him into a
happier mood, or rock him asleep; but when the child is fallen into the fire,
the parent takes another course; he will not try to still him with a song or
trifle. I know, if we succeed not with you, you are lost; if we cannot get your
consent to arise and come away, you will perish for ever. No conversion - no
salvation! I must get your good-will, or leave you miserable. But here the
difficulty of my work again occurs to me. ’O Lord, choose my stones out of the
brook (1 Samuel 17:40, 1 Samuel 17:45). I come in the name of the Lord of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel. I come forth, like the stripling David against
Goliath, to wrestle, not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and
powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world (Ephesians 6:12). This day let
the Lord smite the Philistines, spoil the strong man of his armour, and give me
the captives out of his hand. Lord, choose my words, choose my weapons for me;
and when I put my hand into the bag, and take out a stone and sling it, do Thou
carry it to the mark, and make it sink, not into the forehead, but into the
heart of the unconverted sinner, and smite him to the ground like Saul of Tarsus
(Acts 9:4).’

Some of you do not know what I mean by conversion, and in vain shall I attempt
to persuade you to that which you do not understand. Therefore for your sakes 1
will show what conversion is.7

Others cherish secret hopes of mercy, though they continue as they are. For them
I must show the necessity of conversion.

Others are likely to harden themselves with a vain conceit that they are
converted already. To them I must show the marks of the unconverted.

Others, because they feel no harm, fear none, and so sleep as upon the top of a
mast. To them I shall show the misery of the unconverted.

Others sit still, because they do not see the way of escape. To them I shall
show the means of conversion. And finally, for the quickening of all, I shall
close with the motives to conversion.


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  CHAPTER 4: 0A.03.     THE NATURE OF CONVERSION
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The nature of conversion

I dare not leave you with your eyes half open, like him that saw ‘men as trees
walking’. The Word is profitable for doctrine as well as reproof. And therefore,
having thus far conducted you by the shelves and rocks of so many dangerous
mistakes, I would guide you at length into the haven of truth.

Conversion then, in short, lies in the thorough change both of the heart and
life. I shall briefly describe it in its nature and causes.

The Author of conversion is the Spirit of God, and therefore it is called ’the
sanctification of the Spirit’ (2 Thessalonians 2:13) and ’the renewing of the
Holy Ghost’ (Titus 3:5). This does not exclude the other persons in the Trinity,
for the apostle teaches us to bless the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
’bath begotten us again unto a lively hope’ (1 Peter 1:3). And Christ is said to
’give repentance unto Israel’ (Acts 5:31); and is called the ’everlasting
Father’ (Isaiah 9:6) and we His seed, and ’the children which God hath given
Him’ (Hebrews 2:13). Yet this work is principally ascribed to the Holy Ghost,
and so we are said to be ’born of the Spirit’ (John 3:5-6).

So then, conversion is a work above man’s power. We are ’born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God’ (John 1:13). Never
think you can convert yourself. If ever you would be savingly converted, you
must despair of doing it in your own strength. It is a resurrection from the
dead (Ephesians 2:1) a new creation (Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:10), a work of
absolute omnipotence (Ephesians 1:19). Are not these out of the reach of human
power? If you have no more than you had by your first birth, a good nature, a
meek and chaste temper etc., you are a stranger to true conversion. This is a
supernatural work.

The efficient cause of conversion is both internal and external.

The internal cause is free grace alone. `Not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but of his mercy he saved us’, and ’by the renewing of the Holy
Ghost’ (Titus 3:5). ’Of his own will begat he us’ (James 1:18). We are chosen
and called unto sanctification, not for it (Ephesians 1:4).

God finds nothing in man to turn His heart, but enough to turn His stomach; He
finds enough to provoke His loathing, but nothing to excite His love. Look back
upon yourself, O Christian! Reflect upon your swinish nature, your filthy swill,
your once beloved mire (2 Peter 2:1-22). Behold your slime and corruption. Do
not your own clothes abhor you? (Job 9:31). How then should holiness and purity
love you? Be astonished, O heavens, at this; be moved, O earth. Who but must
needs cry, Grace! Grace! (Zechariah 4:7). Hear and blush, you children of the
Most High. O unthankful men, that free grace is no more in your mouths, in your
thoughts; no more adored, admired and commended by such as you! One would think
you should be doing nothing but praising and admiring God wherever you are. How
can you forget such grace, or pass it over with a slight and formal mention?
What but free grace could move God to love you, unless enmity could do it,
unless deformity could do it? How affectionately Peter lifts up his hands,
’Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who of his abundant mercy hath
begotten us again.’ How feelingly does Paul magnify the free mercy of God in it,
’God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, hath
quickened us together with Christ. By grace are ye saved’ (Ephesians 2:4-5)!

The external cause is the merit and intercession of the blessed Jesus. He has
obtained gifts for the rebellious (Psalms 68:15), and through Him it is that God
worketh in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight (Hebrews 13:21). Through
Him are all spiritual blessings bestowed upon us in heavenly places (Ephesians
1:3). He intercedes for the elect that believe not (John 17:20). Every convert
is the fruit of His travail. Never was an infant born into the world with that
difficulty which Christ endured for us. All the pains that He suffered on the
cross were our birth-pains. He is made sanctification to us (1 Corinthians
1:30). He sanctified Himself, that is, set apart Himself as a sacrifice, that we
might be sanctified (John 17:19). We are sanctified through the offering of His
body once for all (Hebrews 10:10).

It is nothing, then, but the merit and intercession of Christ, that prevails
with God to bestow on us converting grace. If you are a new creature, you know
to whom you owe it; to Christ’s pangs and prayers. The foal does not more
naturally run after the dam, nor the suckling to the breast, than a believer to
Jesus Christ. And where else should you go? If any in the world can show for
your heart what Christ can let them do it. Does Satan claim you? Does the world
court you? Does sin sue for your heart? Why, were these crucified for you? O
Christian, love and serve your Lord while you have a being.

3: The instrument of conversion is personal and real.

The personal instrument is the ministry. ’In Christ Jesus I have begotten you
through the gospel’ (1 Corinthians 4:15). Christ’s ministers are they that are
sent to open men’s eyes, and to turn them to God (Acts 1:18). O unthankful
world! Little do you know what you are doing when you are persecuting the
mes-sengers of the Lord. These are they whose business it is, under Christ, to
save you. Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? (Isaiah 37:23). These are the
servants of the most high God that show unto you the way of salvation (Acts
16:17), and do you requite them thus, O foolish and unwise? (Deuteronomy 32:6).
O sons of ingratitude, against whom do you sport yourselves? These are the
instruments that God uses to convert and save sinners: and do you revile your
physicians, and throw your pilots overboard? ’Father, forgive them; for they
know not what they do.’

The real instrument is the Word. We are begotten by the word of truth. It is
this that enlightens the eye, that converts the soul (Psalms 19:7-8), that makes
us wise to salvation (2 Timothy 3:15). This is the incorruptible seed by which
we are born again (1 Peter 1:23). If we are washed, it is by the Word (Ephesians
5:26). If we are sanctified, it is through the truth (John 17:17). This
generates faith, and regenerates us (Romans 10:17; James 1:18).

O ye saints, how you should love the Word, for by this you have been converted!
You that have felt its renewing power, make much of it while you live; be ever
thankful for it. Tie it about your neck, write it upon your hand, lay it in your
bosom. When you go let it lead you, when you sleep let it keep you, when you
wake let it talk with you (Proverbs 6:21-22). Say with the Psalmist, ’I will
never forget thy precepts, for by them thou hast quickened me’ (Psalms 119:93).
You that are unconverted, read the Word with diligence; flock to where it is
powerfully preached. Pray for the coming of the Spirit in the Word. Come from
your knees to the sermon, and come from the sermon to your knees. The sermon
does not prosper because it is not watered by prayers and tears, nor covered by
meditation.

4: The final cause or end of conversion is man’s salvation, and God’s glory. We
are chosen through sanctification to salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13), called
that we might be glorified (Romans 8:30), but especially that God might be
glorified (Isaiah 60:21), that we should show forth His praises (1 Peter 2:9),
and be fruitful in good works (Colossians 1:10).

O Christian, do not forget the end of your calling. Let your light shine, let
your lamp burn, let your fruits be good and many and in season (Psalms 1:3). Let
all your designs fall in with God’s, that He may be magnified in you (Php 1:20).

5: The subject of conversion is the elect sinner, and that in all his parts and
powers, members and mind. Whom God predestinates, them only He calls (Romans
8:30). None are drawn to Christ by their calling, nor come to Him by believing,
but His sheep, those whom the Father has given Him (John 6:37, John 6:44).
Effectual calling runs parallel with eternal election (2 Peter 1:10).

You begin at the wrong end if you first dispute about your election. Prove your
conversion, and then never doubt your election. If you cannot yet prove it, set
upon a present and thorough turning. Whatever God’s purposes be, which are
secret, I am sure His promises are plain. How desperately do rebels argue! ’If I
am elected I shall be saved, do what I will. If not, I shall be damned, do what
I can.’ Perverse sinner, will you begin where you should end? Is not the word
before you? What saith it? ’Repent and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out.’ ’If you mortify the deeds of the body you shall live.” Believe and
be saved’ (Acts 3:19; Romans 8:13; Acts 16:31). What can be plainer? Do not
stand still disputing about your election, but set to repenting and believing.
Cry to God for converting grace. Revealed things belong to you; in these busy
yourself. It is just, as one well said, that they who will not feed on the plain
food of the Word should be choked with the bones. Whatever God’s purposes may
be, I am sure His promises are true. Whatever the decrees of heaven may be, I am
sure that if I repent and believe I shall be saved; and that if I do not repent,
I shall be damned. Is not this plain ground for you; and will you yet run upon
the rocks?

More particularly, this change of conversion extends to the whole man. A carnal
person may have some shreds of good morality, but he is never good throughout
the whole cloth. Conversion is not a repairing of the old building; but it takes
all down, and erects a new structure. It is not the sewing on a patch of
holiness; but with the true convert, holiness is woven into all his powers,
principles and practice. The sincere Christian is quite a new fabric, from the
foundation to the top-stone. He is a new man, a new creature; allthings are
become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Conversion is a deep work, a heart work. It
makes a new man in a new world. It extends to the whole man, to the mind, to the
members, to the motions of the whole life.

[1] The mind.

Conversion turns the balance of the judgment, so that God and His glory outweigh
all carnal and worldly interests. It opens the eye of the mind, and makes the
scales of its native ignorance fall off, and turns men from darkness to light.
The man that before saw no danger in his condition, now concludes himself lost
and for ever undone (Acts 2:37) except renewed by the power of grace. He that
formerly thought there was little hurt in sin, now comes to see it to be the
chief of evils. He sees the unreasonableness, the unrighteousness, the deformity
and the filthiness of sin; so that he is affrighted with it, loathes it, dreads
it, flees from it, and even abhors himself for it (Romans 7:15; Job 42:6;
Ezekiel 36:31). He that could see little sin in himself, and could find no
matter for confession, now sees the rottenness of his heart, the desperate and
deep pollution of his whole nature. He cries, ’Unclean! Unclean! Lord, purge me
with hyssop, wash me thoroughly, create in me a clean heart.’ He sees himself
altogether filthy, corrupt both root and branch (Psalms 14:3; Matthew 7:17-18).
He writes ’unclean’ upon all his parts, and powers, and performances (Isaiah
64:6; Romans 7:18). He discovers the filthy corners that he was never aware of,
and sees the blasphemy, and theft, and murder, and adultery, that is in his
heart, of which before he was ignorant. Hitherto he saw no form nor comeliness
in Christ, no beauty that he should desire Him; but now he finds the Hidden
Treasure, and will sell all to buy this field. Christ is the Pearl he seeks.

Now, according to this new light, the man is of another mind, another judgment,
than he was before. Now God is all with him, he has none in heaven nor in earth
like Him; he truly prefers Him before all the world. His favour is his life, the
light of His countenance is more than corn and wine and oil (the good that he
formerly enquired after, and set his heart upon. (Psalms 4:6-7). A hypocrite may
come to yield a general assent that God is the chief good; indeed, the wiser
heathens, some few of them, have at least stumbled upon this. But no hypocrite
comes so far as to look upon God as the most desirable and suitable good to him,
and thereupon to acquiesce in Him. This is the convert’s voice: `The Lord is my
portion, saith my soul. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon
earth that I desire beside thee. God is the strength of my heart and my portion
for ever’ (Lamentations 3:24; Psalms 78:25-26).

Conversion turns the bias of the will both as to means and end. The intentions
of the will are altered. Now the man has new ends and designs. He now intends
God above all, and desires and designs nothing in all the world, so much as that
Christ may be magnified in him. He counts himself more happy in this than in all
that the earth could yield, that he may be serviceable to Christ, and bring Him
glory. This is the mark he aims at, that the name of Jesus may be great in the
world.

Reader, do you read this without asking yourself whether it be thus with you?
Pause a while, and examine yourself. The choice is also changed. He pitches upon
God as his blessedness, and upon Christ and holiness as means to bring him to
God. He chooses Jesus for his Lord. He is not merely forced to Christ by the
storm, nor does he take Christ for bare necessity, but he comes freely. His
choice is not made in a fright, as with the terrified conscience, or the dying
sinner that will seemingly do anything for Christ, but only takes Christ rather
than hell. He deliberately resolves that Christ is his best choice, and would
rather have Him than all the good of this world, might he enjoy it while he
would (Php 1:23). Again, he takes holiness for his path; he does not out of mere
necessity submit to it, but he likes it and loves it. ’I have chosen the way of
thy precepts’ (Psalms 119:173) . He takes God’s testimonies not as his bondage,
but his heritage; yea, heritage for ever. He counts them not his burden, but his
bliss; not his cords, but his cordials (1 John 5:3; Psalms 119:14, Psalms
119:16, Psalms 119:47). He does not only bear, but takes up Christ’s yoke. He
takes not holiness as the stomach does the loathed medicine, which a man will
take rather than die, but as the hungry man does his beloved food. No time
passes so sweetly with him, when he is himself, as that which he spends in the
exercises of holiness. These are both his aliment and element, the desire of his
eyes and the joy of his heart.

Put it to your conscience whether you are the man. O happy man, if this be your
case! But see that you are thorough and impartial in the search.

Conversion turns the bent of the affections. These all run in a new channel. The
Jordan is now driven back, and the water runs upwards against its natural
course. Christ is his hope. This is his prize. Herehis eye is: here his heart.
He is content to cast all overboard, as the merchant in the storm about to
perish, so he may but keep this jewel. The first of his desires is not after
gold, but grace. He hungers for it, he seeks it as silver, he digs for it as for
hid treasure. He had rather be gracious than great. He had rather be the holiest
man on earth than the most learned, the most famous, the most prosperous. While
carnal, he said, ’O if I were but in great esteem, rolling in wealth, and
swimming in pleasure; if my debts were paid, and I and mine provided for, then I
would be a happy man.’ But now the tune is changed. ’Oh!’ says the convert, ’if
I had but my corruptions subdued, if I had such a measure of grace, and
fellowship with God, though I were poor and despised I should not care, I should
account myself a blessed man.’ Reader, is this the language of your soul? His
joys are changed. He rejoices in the way of God’s testimonies as much as in all
riches. He delights in the law of the Lord, in which he once had little savour.
He has no such joy as in the thoughts of Christ, the enjoyment of His company,
the prosperity of His people. His cares are quite altered. He was once set for
the world, and any scrap of spare-time was enough for his soul. Now his cry is,
’What must I do to be saved?’ (Acts 16:30). His great concern is how to secure
his soul. O how he would bless you, if you could but put him out of doubt
concerning this! His fears are not so much of suffering as of sinning. Once he
was afraid of nothing so much as the loss of his estate or reputation; nothing
sounded so terrible to him as pain, or poverty, or disgrace. Now these are
little to him, in comparison with God’s dishonour or displeasure. How warily
does he walk, lest he should tread upon a snare! He looks in front, and behind:
he has his eye upon his heart, and is often casting it over his shoulder, lest
he should be overtaken with sin. It kills his heart to think of losing God’s
favour; this he dreads as his only undoing. No thought pains him so much as to
think of parting with Christ. His love runs in a new course. ’My Love was
crucified’, says Ignatius, that is, my Christ. `This is my beloved’, says the
spouse (Song of Solomon 5:16). How often does Augustine pour his love upon
Christ! He can find no words sweet enough. `Let me see Thee, O Light of mine
eyes. Come, O Thou Joy of my spirit; Let me behold Thee, O Gladness of my heart.
Let me love Thee, O Life of my soul. Appear unto me, O my great delight, my
sweet comfort, O my God, my life, and the whole glory of my soul. Let me find
Thee, O Desire of my heart; let me hold Thee, O Love of my soul. Let me embrace
Thee, O Heavenly Bridegroom. Let me possess Thee.’ His sorrows have now a new
vent (2 Corinthians 7:9-10). The view of his sins, the sight of Christ
crucified, that could scarcely stir him before, now how much do they affect his
heart! His hatred boils, his anger burns against sin. He has no patience with
himself; he calls himself fool, and beast, and thinks any name too good for
himself, when his indignation is stirred up against sin (Psalms 73:22; Proverbs
30:2). He could once wallow in it with much pleasure; now he loathes the thought
of returning to it as much as of licking up the filthiest vomit.

Commune then with your own heart, and attend to the general current of your
affections, whether they be towards God in Christ above all other concerns.
Indeed, sudden and strong motions of the affections are often found in
hypocrites, especially where the natural temperament is warm. And contrariwise,
the sanctified themselves are often without conscious stirring of the
affections, where the temperament is more slow, dry, and dull. The great inquiry
is, whether the judgment and will are steadily determined for God above all
other good, real or apparent. If so, and if the affections do sincerely follow
their choice and conduct, though it be not so strongly and feelingly as is to be
desired, there is no doubt but the change is saving.

[2] The members.

These that before were the instruments of sin, are now become the holy utensils
of Christ’s living temple. He that before dishonoured his body, now possesses
his vessel in sanctification and honour, in temperance, chastity, and sobriety,
and dedicates it to the Lord. The eye, that was once a wandering eye, a wanton
eye, a haughty, a covetous eye, is now employed, as Mary’s, in weeping over its
sins, in beholding God in His works, in reading His Word, or in looking for
objects of mercy and opportunities for His service. The ear, that was once open
to Satan’s call, and that did relish nothing so much as filthy, or at least
frothy talk, and the laughter of fools, is now bored to the door of Christ’s
house, and open to His disciples. It says, `Speak, Lord, for thy servant
heareth.’ It waits for His words as the rain, and relishes them more than the
appointed food (Job 23:12), more than the honey and the honeycomb (Psalms
19:10). The head, that was full of worldly designs, is now filled with other
matters, and set on the study of God’s will, and the man employs his head, not
so much about his gain as about his duty. The thoughts and cares that fill his
head are, principally, how he may please God and flee sin. His heart, that was a
sty of filthy lusts, is now become an altar of incense, where the fire of divine
love is ever kept burning, and from which the daily sacrifice of prayer and
praise, and the sweet incense of holy desires, ejaculations and prayers, are
continually ascending. The mouth is become a well of life; his tongue as choice
silver, and his lips feed many. Now the salt of grace has seasoned his speech,
has eaten out the corruption (Colossians 4:6), and cleansed the man from his
filthy conversation, flattery, boasting, railing, lying, swearing, backbiting,
that once came like flashes proceeding from the hell that was in the heart
(James 3:6). The throat, that once was an open sepulchre, now sends forth the
sweet breath of prayer and holy discourse, and the man speaks in another tongue,
in the language of Canaan, and is never so well as when talking of God and
Christ, and the matters of another world. His mouth brings forth wisdom; his
tongue is become the silver trumpet of his Maker’s praise, his glory and the
best member that he has.

Now here you will find the hypocrite sadly deficient. He speaks, it may be, like
an angel, but he has a covetous eye, or the gain of unrighteousness is in his
hand. His hand is white, but his heart is full of rottenness (Matthew 23:27),
full of unmortified cares, a very oven of lust, a shop of pride, the seat of
malice. It may be, with Nebuchadnezzar’s image, he has a golden head - a great
deal of knowledge; but he has feet of clay - his affections are worldly, he
minds earthly things, and his way and walk are sensual and carnal. The work is
not thorough with him.

[3] The life and practice. The new man takes a new course (Ephesians 2:2-3). His
conversation is in heaven (Php 3:20). No sooner does Christ call by effectual
grace but he straightway becomes a follower of Him. When God has given the new
heart, and written His law in his mind, he henceforth walks in His statutes and
keeps His judgments.

Though sin may dwell in him - truly a wearisome and unwelcome guest - yet it has
no more dominion over him. He has his fruit unto holiness, and though he makes
many a blot, ’yet the law and life of Jesus is what he looks at as his pattern,
and he has an unfeigned respect to all God’s commandments. He makes conscience
even of little sins and little duties. His very infirmities which he cannot
help, though he would, are his soul’s burden, and are like dust in a man’s eye,
which though but little, is not a little troublesome. (O man, do you read this,
and never stop to examine yourself?) The sincere convert is not one man at
church and another at home. He is not a saint on his knees and a cheat in his
shop. He will not tithe mint and cummin, and neglect mercy and judgment, and the
weightier matters of the law. He does not pretend piety and neglect morality.
But he turns from all his sins and keeps all God’s statutes, though not
perfectly, except in desire and endeavour, yet sincerely, not allowing himself
in the breach of any. Now he delights in the Word, and sets himself to prayer,
and opens his hand and draws out his soul to the hungry. He breaks off his sins
by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor (Daniel 4:27).
He has a good conscience willing in all things to live honestly (Hebrews 13:18),
and to keep without offence towards God and men.

Here again you find the unsoundness of many that take themselves for good
Christians. They are partial in the law (Malachi 2:9), and take up the cheap and
easy duties of religion, but they do not go through with the work. They are as a
cake halfbaked and half-raw. It may be you find them exact in their words,
punctual in their dealings, but then they do not exercise themselves unto
godliness; and as for examining themselves and governing their hearts, to this
they are strangers. You may see them duly at church; but follow them to their
families, and there you shall see little but the world minded; or if they have
family duties, follow them to their closets, and there you shall find their
souls are little looked after. It may be that they seem religious, but they do
not bridle their tongues, and so all their religion is vain (James 1:26). It may
be they come to closet and family prayer; but follow them to their shops, and
there you find them in the habit of lying, or some fashionable way of deceit.
Thus the hypocrite is not thorough in his obedience.

The objects from which we turn in conversion are, sin, Satan, the world, and our
own righteousness.

We turn from sin. When a man is converted, he is for ever at enmity with sin;
yes, with all sin, but most of all with his own sins, and especially with his
bosom sin. Sin is now the object of his indignation. His sin swells his sorrows.
It is sin that pierces him and wounds him; he feels it like a thorn in his side,
like a prick in his eyes. He groans and struggles under it, and not formally,
but feelingly cries out, ’O wretched man!’ He is not impatient of any burden so
much as of his sin. If God should give him his choice, he would choose any
affliction so he might be rid of sin; he feels it like the cutting gravel in his
shoes, pricking and paining him as he goes.

Before conversion he had light thoughts of sin. He cherished it in his bosom, as
Uriah his lamb; he nourished it up, and it grew up together with him; it did
eat, as it were, of his own meat and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom,
and was to him as a daughter. But when God opens his eyes by conversion, he
throws it away with abhorrence, as a man would a loathsome toad, which in the
dark he had hugged fast in his bosom, and thought it had been some pretty and
harmless bird. When a man is savingly changed, he is deeply convinced not only
of the danger but the defilement of sin; and O, how earnest is he with God to be
purified! He loathes himself for his sins. He runs to Christ, and casts himself
into the fountain set open for him and for uncleanness. If he fall, what a stir
is there to get all clean again! He has no rest till he flees to the Word, and
washes and rubs and rinses in the infinite fountain, labouring to cleanse
himself from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit. The sound convert is
heartily engaged against sin. He struggles with it, he wars against it; he is
too often foiled, but he will never yield the cause, nor lay down the weapons,
while he has breath in his body. He will make no peace; he will give no quarter.
He can forgive his other enemies, he can pity them and pray for them; but here
he is implacable, here he is set upon their extermination. He hunts as it were
for the precious life; his eye shall not pity, his hand shall not spare, though
it be a right hand or a right eye. Be it a gainful sin, most delightful to his
nature or the support of his esteem with worldly friends, yet he will rather
throw his gain down the gutter, see his credit fail, or the flower of his
pleasure wither in his hand, than he will allow himself in any known way of sin.
He will grant no indulgence, he will give no toleration. He draws upon sin
wherever he meets it, and frowns upon it with this unwelcome salute, ’Have I
found thee, O mine enemy?’

Reader, has conscience been at work while you have been looking over these
lines? Have you pondered these things in your heart? Have you searched the book
within, to see if these things be so? If not, read it again, and make your
conscience speak, whether or not it is thus with you. Have you crucified your
flesh with its affections and lusts; and not only confessed, but forsaken your
sins, all sin in your fervent desires, and the ordinary practice of every
deliberate and willful sin in your life? If not, you are yet unconverted. Does
not conscience fly in your face as you read, and tell you that you live in a way
of lying for your advantage? that you use deceit in your calling? that there is
some way of secret wantonness that you live in? Why then, do not deceive
yourself. ’Thou art in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.’ Does
your unbridled tongue, your indulgence of appetite, your wicked company, your
neglect of prayer, of reading and hearing the Word, now witness against you, and
say, ’We are your works, and we will follow you’? Or, if I have not hit you
right, does not the monitor within tell you, there is such and such a way that
you know to be evil, that yet for some carnal respect you tolerate in yourself?
If this be the case, you are to this day unregenerate, and must be changed or
condemned.

We turn from Satan. Conversion binds the strong man, spoils his armour, casts
out his goods, turns men from the power of Satan unto God. Before, the devil
could no sooner hold up his finger to the sinner to call him to his wicked
company, sinful games, and filthy delights, but immediately he followed, ’as an
ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks: as the
bird that hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life’
(Proverbs 7:22-23). No sooner could Satan bid him lie, but immediately he had it
on his tongue. No sooner could Satan offer a wanton object, but he was stung
with lust. If the devil says, `Away with these family duties’, be sure they
shall be rarely performed in his house. If the devil says, ’Away with this
strictness, this preciseness’ he will keep far enough from it. If he tells him,
There is no need of these secret-duties’, he will go from day to day and
scarcely perform them. But after he is converted he serves another Master, and
takes quite another course; he goes and comes at Christ’s bidding. Satan may
sometimes catch his foot in a trap, but he will no longer be a willing captive.
He watches against the snares and baits of Satan, and studies to be acquainted
with his devices. He is very suspicious of his plots, and is very jealous in
what comes across him, lest Satan should have some design upon him. He wrestles
against principalities and powers; he entertains the messenger of Satan as men
do the messenger of death. He keeps his eye upon his enemy, and watches in his
duties, lest Satan should get an advantage.

We turn from the world. Before a man has true faith, he is overcome by the
world. He either bows down to mammon, or idolizes his reputation, or is a lover
of pleasure more than a lover of God. Here is the root of man’s misery by the
fall. He is turned aside to the creature, and gives that esteem, confidence and
affection to the creature that is due to God alone.

O miserable man, what a deformed monster has sin made you ! God made you ’little
lower than the angels’; sin has made you little better than the devils, a
monster that has his head and his heart where his feet should be, and his feet
kicking against heaven, and everything out of place. The world that was formed
to serve you, is come up to rule you - the deceitful harlot has bewitched you
with her enchantments, and made you bow down and serve her. But converting grace
sets all in order again, and puts God on the throne, and the world at his
footstool; Christ in the heart, and the world under the feet. ’I am crucified to
the world, and the world to me’ (Galatians 6:14). Before this change, all the
cry was `Who will show us any (worldly) good?’ but now he prays, `Lord, lift
thou up the light of thy countenance upon me’, and take the corn and wine
whosoever will (Psalms 4:6-7). Before, his heart’s delight and content were in
the world; then the song was, ’Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry;
thou hast much goods laid up for many years.’ But now all this is withered, and
there is no comeliness, that we should desire it; and he tunes up with the sweet
psalmist of Israel, ’The Lord is the portion of my inheritance; the lines are
fallen to me in a fair place, and l have a goodly heritage.’ Nothing else can
make him content. He has written vanity and vexation upon all his worldly
enjoyments, and loss and dung upon all human excellencies. He has life and
immortality now in pursuit. He pants for grace and glory, and has a crown
incorruptible in view. His heart is set in him to seek the Lord. He first seeks
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and religion is no longer a casual
matter with him, but his main care. Before, the world had the sway with him. He
would do more for gain than godliness - more to please his friend or his flesh,
than the God that made him; and God must stand by till the world was first
served. But now all must stand by; he hates father and mother, and life, and
all, in comparison of Christ.

Well then, pause a little, and look within. Does not this concern you? You
pretend to be for Christ, but does not the world sway you? Do you not take more
real delight and content in the world than in Him? Do you not find yourself more
at ease when the world is in your mind and you are surrounded with carnal
delights, than when retired to prayer and meditation in your room, or attending
upon God’s Word and worship? There is no surer evidence of an unconverted state
than to have the things of the world uppermost in our aim, love and estimation.
With the sound convert, Christ has the supremacy. How dear is His name to him!
How precious is His favour! The name of Jesus is engraved on his heart. Honour
is but air, and laughter is but madness, and mammon is fallen like Dagon before
the ark, with hands and head broken off on the threshold, when once Christ is
savingly revealed. Here is the pearl of great price to the true convert; here is
his treasure; here is his hope. This is his glory, ’My beloved is mine, and I am
his.’ O, it is sweeter to him to be able to say, ’Christ is mine’, than if he
could say, ’The kingdom is mine; the Indies are mine.’

We turn from our own righteousness. Before conversion, man seeks to cover
himself with his own fig-leaves, and to make himself whole with his own duties.
He is apt to trust in himself, and set up his own righteousness, and to reckon
his counters for gold, and not to submit to the righteousness of God. But
con-version changes his mind; now he counts his own righteousness as filthy
rags. He casts it off, as a man would the verminous tatters of a nasty beggar.
Now he is brought to poverty of spirit, complains of and condemns himself, and
all his inventory is, ’poor, and miserable, and wretched, and blind, and naked’.
He sees a world of iniquity in his holy things, and calls his once-idolized
righteousness but filth and loss; and would not for a thousand worlds be found
in it. Now he begins to set a high price upon Christ’s righteousness. He sees
the need of Christ in every duty, to justify his person and sanctify his
performances; he cannot live without Him; he cannot pray without Him. Christ
must go with him, or else he cannot come into the presence of God; he leans upon
Christ, and so bows himself in the house of his God. He sets himself down for a
lost undone man without Him; his life is hid in Christ, as the root of a tree
spreads in the earth for stability and nourishment. Before, the news of Christ
was a stale and tasteless thing; but now, how sweet is Christ! Augustine could
not relish his once-admired Cicero, because he could not find in his writings
the name of Christ. How emphatically he cries, ’O most sweet, most loving, most
kind, most dear, most precious, most desired, most lovely, most fair!’ (Meditat
c 37) all in a breath, when he speaks of and to Christ. In a word, the voice of
the convert is, with the martyr, ’None but Christ.’

The object to which we turn in conversion is, God the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, whom the true convert takes as his all sufficient and eternal
blessedness. A man is never truly sanctified till his heart be truly set upon
God above all things, as his portion and chief good. These are the natural
breathings of a believer’s heart: ’Thou art my portion.’ ’My soul shall make her
boast in the Lord.’ ’My expectation is from him; he only is my rock and
salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God’
(Psalms 119:57; Psalms 34:2; Psalms 62:1-12).

Would you be certain whether you are converted or not? Now let your soul and all
that is within you attend. Have you taken God for your happiness? Where does the
desire of your heart lie? What is the source of your greatest satisfaction?
Come, then, and with Abraham lift up your eyes eastward, and westward, and
northward, and southward, and look around you; what is it that you would have in
heaven or on earth to make you happy? If God should give you your choice, as He
did to Solomon, or should say to you, as Ahasuerus to Esther, ’What is thy
petition, and what is thy request, and it shall be granted thee?’ what would you
ask? Go into the gardens of pleasure, and gather all the fragrant flowers there,
would these satisfy you? Go to the treasures of mammon; suppose you may carry
away as much as you desire. Go to the towers, to the trophies of honour. What do
you think of being a man of renown, and having a name like the name of the great
men of the earth? Would any of these, would all of these satisfy you, and make
you to count yourself happy? If so, then certainly you are carnal and
unconverted. If not, go farther; wade into the divine excellencies, the store of
His mercies, the hiding of His power, the depths unfathomable of His
all-sufficiency. Does this suit you best and please you most? Do you say, ’It is
good to be here. Here will I pitch, here will I live and die’? Will you let all
the world go rather than this? Then it is well between God and you: happy art
thou, O man - happy art thou that ever thou wast born. If God can make you
happy, you must be happy; for you have taken the Lord to be your God. Do you say
to Christ as He to us, ’Thy Father shall be my Father, and thy God my God’? Here
is the turning point. An unsound convert never takes up his rest in God; but
converting grace does the work, and so cures the fatal misery of the fall, by
turning the heart from its idol to the living God. Now the soul says, ’Lord,
whither shall I go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.’ Here he centres, here
he settles. It is the entrance of heaven to him; he sees his interest in God.
When he discovers this, he says, ’Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord
hath dealt bountifully with thee’ (Psalms 116:7). And he is even ready to
breathe out Simeon’s song, ’Lord, now letteth thou thy servant depart in peace’;
and says with Jacob, when his old heart revived at the welcome tidings, ’It is
enough’ (Genesis 45:28). When he sees he has a God in covenant to go to, this is
all his salvation, and all his desire (2 Samuel 23:5). Is this the case with
you? Have you experienced this? If so, then ’blessed art thou of the Lord’. God
has been at work with you; He has laid hold of your heart by the power of
converting grace, or else you could never have done this.

More particularly, in conversion.

[1] We turn to Christ, the only Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
His work is to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). He is the way to the Father (John
14:6), the only plank on which we may escape, the only door by which we may
enter (John 10:9). Conversion brings the soul to Christ to accept Him as the
only means of life, as the only way, the only name given under heaven. He does
not look for salvation in any other but Him; he throws himself on Christ alone.

’Here’, says the convinced sinner, ’I will venture; and if I perish, I perish;
if I die, I will die here. But, Lord do not let me perish under the eye of Thy
mercy. Entreat me not to leave Thee, or to return from following after Thee.
Here I will throw myself; if Thou slay me, I will not go from Thy door.’

Thus the poor soul ventures on Christ and resolvedly adheres to Him. Before
conversion, the man made light of Christ, minded his farm, friends, merchandise,
more than Christ; now, Christ is to him as his necessary food, his daily bread,
the life of his heart, the staff of his life. His great desire is, that Christ
may be magnified in him. His heart once said, as they to the spouse, ’What is
thy beloved more than another?’ (Song of Solomon 5:9). He found more sweetness
in his merry company, wicked games, earthly delights, than in Christ. He took
religion for a fancy, and the talk of great enjoyments for an idle dream; but
now to him to live is Christ. He sets light by all that he accounted precious,
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.

All of Christ is accepted by the sincere convert. He loves not only the wages
but the work of Christ, not only the benefits but the burden of Christ. He is
willing not only to tread out the corn, but to draw under the yoke. He takes up
the commands of Christ, yes, the cross of Christ. The unsound convert takes
Christ by halves. He is all for the salvation of Christ, but he is not for
sanctification. He is for the privileges, but does not appropriate the person of
Christ. He divides the offices and benefits of Christ. This is an error in the
foundation. Whoever loves life, let him beware here. It is an undoing mistake,
of which you have been often warned, and yet none is more common. Jesus is a
sweet Name, but men do not love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. They will not have
Him as God offers, ’to be a Prince and a Saviour’ (Acts 5:31). They divide what
God has joined, the King and the Priest. They will not accept the salvation of
Christ as He intends it; they divide it here. Every man’s vote is for salvation
from suffering, but they do not desire to be saved from sinning. They would have
their lives saved, but still would have their lusts. Indeed, many divide here
again; they would be content to have some of their sins destroyed, but they
cannot leave the lap of Delilah, or divorce the beloved Herodias. They cannot be
cruel to the right eye or right hand. O be infinitely careful here; your soul
depends upon it. The sound convert takes a whole Christ, and takes Him for all
intents and purposes, without exceptions, without limitations, without reserve.
He is willing to have Christ upon any terms; he is willing to have the dominion
of Christ as well as deliverance by Christ. He says with Paul, ’Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?’ Anything, Lord. He sends the blank for Christ to set down
His own conditions.

We turn to the laws, ordinances, and ways of Christ. The heart that once was set
against these, and could not endure the strictness of these bonds, the severity
of these ways, now falls in love with them, and chooses them as its rule and
guide for ever.

Four things, I observe, God works in every sound convert, with reference to the
laws and ways of Christ, by which you may come to know your state, if you will
be faithful to your own souls. Therefore, keep your eyes upon your hearts as you
go along.

(i) The judgment is brought to approve of them and to subscribe to them as most
righteous and most reasonable. The mind is brought to like the ways of God, and
the corrupt prejudices that were once against them as unreasonable and
intolerable, are now removed. The understanding assents to them all as holy,
just, and good (Romans 7:12). How is David taken up with the excellencies of
God’s laws! How does he expatiate on their praises, both from their inherent
qualities and admirable effects! (Psalms 19:8-10, etc.).

There is a two-fold judgment of the understanding, the absolute and the
comparative. The absolute judgment is when a man thinks such a course best in
general, but not for him, or not under his present circumstances. Now, a godly
man’s judgment is for the ways of God, and that not only the absolute, but
comparative judgment. He thinks them not only the best in general, but best for
him. He looks upon the rules of religion not only as tolerable, but desirable;
yea, more desirable than gold, fine gold; yea, much fine gold. His judgment is
fully determined that it is best to be holy, that it is best to be strict, that
it is in itself the most eligible course, and that it is for him the wisest and
most rational and desirable choice. Hear the godly man’s judgment; ’I know, O
Lord, that thy judgments are right; I love thy commandments above gold, yea,
above fine gold: I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right;
and I hate every false way’ (Psalms 119:127-128). Mark, he approves of all that
God requires, and disapproves of all that He forbids. ’Righteous, O Lord, and
upright are thy judgments. Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are
righteous and very faithful. Thy word is true from the beginning, and every one
of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever (Psalms 119:1-176). See how readily
and fully he subscribes; he declares. his assent and consent to it, and all and
every thing contained therein.

(ii) The desire of the heart is to know the whole mind of Christ. He would not
have one sin undiscovered, nor be ignorant of one duty required. It is the
natural and earnest breathing of a sanctified heart: ’Lord, if there be any way
of wickedness in me, do Thou reveal it. What I know not, teach Thou me; and if I
have done iniquity, I will do it no more.’ The unsound convert is willingly
ignorant, he does not love to come to the light. He is willing to keep such and
such a sin, and therefore is loath to know it to be a sin, and will not let in
the light at that window. Now, the gracious heart is willing to know the whole
latitude and compass of his Maker’s law. He receives with all acceptation the
Word which convinces him of any duty that he knew not, or minded not before, or
which uncovers any sin that lay hid before.

The free and resolved choice of the will is for the ways of Christ, before all
the pleasures of sin and prosperities of the world. His consent is not extorted
by some extremity of anguish, nor is it only a sudden and hasty resolve, but he
is deliberately purposed, and comes freely to the choice. True, the flesh will
rebel, yet the prevailing part of his will is for Christ’s laws and government,
so that he takes them up not as his toil or burden, but as his bliss. While the
unsanctified goes in Christ’s ways as in chains and fetters, the true convert
does it heartily, and counts Christ’s laws his liberty. He delights in the
beauties of holiness, and has this inseparable mark. He had rather, if he might
have his choice, live a strict and holy life, than the most prosperous and
flourishing worldly life. ’There went with Saul a band of men whose hearts God
had touched’ (1 Samuel 10:26). When God touches the hearts of His chosen, they
presently follow Christ, and, though drawn, do freely run after Him, and
willingly devote themselves to the service of the Lord, seeking Him with their
whole desire. Fear has its uses; but this is not the main-spring of motion with
a sanctified heart. Christ does not control His subjects by force, but is King
of a willing people. They are, through His grace, freely devoted to His service.
They serve out of choice, not as slaves, but as the son or spouse, from a spring
of love and a loyal mind. In a word, the laws of Christ are the convert’s love,
delight, and continual study.

The bent of his course is directed to keep God’s statutes. It is the daily care
of his life to walk with God. He seeks great things, he has noble designs,
though he fall too short. He aims at nothing less than perfection; he desires
it, he reaches after it; he would not rest in any degree of grace, till he were
quite rid of sin, and perfected in holiness (Php 3:11-14).

Here the hypocrite’s rottenness may be discovered. He desires holiness, as one
well said, only as a bridge to heaven, and inquires earnestly what is the least
that will serve his turn; and if he can get but so much as may bring him to
heaven, this is all he cares for. But the sound convert desires holiness for
holiness’ sake, and not merely for heaven’s sake. He would not be satisfied with
so much as might save him from hell, but desires the highest degree. Yet desires
are not enough. What is your way and your course? Are the drift and scope of
your life altered? Is holiness your pursuit, and religion your business? If not,
you fall short of sound conversion. And is this which we have described, the
conversion that is of absolute necessity to salvation? Then be informed, that
strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life - that there are
few that find it - that there is need of divine power savingly to convert a
sinner to Jesus Christ.

Again, be exhorted, O man, to examine yourself. What does conscience say? Does
it begin to accuse? Does it not pierce you as you go? Is this your judgment, and
this your choice, and this your way, that we have described? If so, then it is
well. But does your heart condemn you, and tell you of a certain sin you are
living in against your conscience? Does it not tell you there is such and such a
secret way of wickedness that you wish to pursue; such and such a duty that you
make no conscience of? Does not conscience carry you to your closet, and tell
you how seldom prayer and reading are performed there? Does it not carry you to
your family, and show you the charge of God, and the souls of your children that
are neglected there? Does not conscience lead you to your shop, your trade, and
tell you of some iniquity there? Does it not carry you to the public-house, or
the private club, and blame you for the loose company you keep there, the
precious time which you mis-spend there, the talents which you waste there? Does
it not carry you into your secret chamber, and read there your condemnation?

O conscience! do your duty. In the name of the living God, I command you,
discharge your office. Lay hold upon this sinner, fall upon him, arrest him,
apprehend him, undeceive him. What! will you flatter and soothe him while he
lives in his sins? Awake, O conscience! What meanest thou, O sleeper? What! have
you no reproof in your mouth? What! shall this soul die in his careless neglect
of God and of eternity, and you altogether hold your peace? What! shall he go on
still in his trespasses, and yet have peace? Oh, rouse yourself,and do your
work. Now let the preacher in your bosom speak. Cry aloud, and spare not; lift
up thy voice like a trumpet. Let not the blood of his soul be required at your
hands,


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  CHAPTER 5: 0A.04.     THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION
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The necessity of conversion

It may be you are ready to say, `What does this stir mean?’ and are apt to
wonder why I follow you with such earnestness, still ringing the same lesson in
your ears, that you should repent and be converted. But I must say to you, as
Ruth to Naomi, `Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after
thee.’ Were it a matter of indifference, might you be saved as you are, I would
gladly let you alone; but would you not have me concerned for you, when I see
you ready to perish? As the Lord liveth, before whom I am, I have not the least
hope of seeing your face in heaven, except you be converted. I utterly despair
of your salvation, except you will be prevailed with thoroughly to turn and give
up yourself to God in holiness and newness of life. Has God said, ‘Except a man
be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’, and yet do you wonder why your
ministers labour so earnestly for you? Do not think it strange that I am earnest
with you to follow after holiness, and long to see the image of God upon you.
Never did any, nor shall any, enter into heaven by any other way but this. The
conversion described is not a high attainment of some advanced Christians, but
every soul that is saved undergoes this change.

It was a saying of the noble Roman when he was hasting with corn to the city in
the famine and the mariners were loath to set sail in foul weather, ’It is
necessary for us to sail - it is not necessary for us to live.’ What is it that
you count necessary? Is your bread necessary? Is your breath necessary? Then
your conversion is much more necessary. Indeed, this is the one thing necessary.
Your possessions are not necessary; you may sell all for the pearl of great
price, and yet be a gainer by the purchase. Your life is not necessary; you may
part with it for Christ, to infinite advantage. Your reputation is not
necessary; you may be reproached for the name of Christ, and yet be happy; yes,
you may be much more happy in reproach than in repute. But your conversion is
necessary; your salvation depends upon it; and is it not needful in so important
a matter to take care? On this one point depends your making or marring to all
eternity. But I shall more particularly show the necessity of conversion in five
things.

1: Without conversion your being is in vain. Is it not a pity you should be good
for nothing, an unprofitable burden of the earth, a mere wart in the body of the
universe? Thus you are, while unconverted, for you cannot answer the end of your
being. Is it not for the divine pleasure that you are and were created? Did not
God make you for Himself? Are you a man, and have you reason? Then, think how
you came into being and why you exist. Behold God’s workmanship in your body,
and ask yourself for what purpose did God rear this fabric? Consider the noble
faculties of your heaven- born soul. To what end did God bestow these
excellencies? Was it to no other end than that you should please yourself, and
gratify your senses? Did God send men into the world, only like the swallows, to
gather a few sticks and mud, and build their nests, and rear up their young, and
then away? The very heathen could see farther than this. Are you so fearfully
and wonderfully made’, and do you not yet reason with yourself - surely, it was
for some noble and exalted end?

O man! set your reason a little in the chair. Is it not a pity such a goodly
fabric should be raised in vain? Verily you are in vain, except you are for God.
It were better you had no being than not be for Him. Would you serve your end?
You must repent and be converted; without this you are to no purpose; indeed, to
bad purpose.

You are to no purpose. Unconverted man is like a choice instrument that has
every string broken or out of tune. The Spirit of the living God must repair and
tune it by the grace of regeneration, and sweetly move it by the power of
actuating grace, or else your prayers will be but howlings, and all your service
will make no music in the ears of the Most Holy. All your powers and faculties
are so corrupt in your natural state that, except you be purged from dead works,
you cannot serve the living God. An unsanctified man cannot work the work of
God.

He has no skill in it. He is altogether as unskillful in the work as in the word
of righteousness. There are great mysteries in the practice as well as in the
principles of godliness. Now the unregenerate do not know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven. You may as well expect him to read that never learned the
alphabet, or look for goodly music on the lute from one that never set his hand
to an instrument, as that a natural man should do the Lord any pleasing service.
He must first be taught of God), taught to pray (Luke 11:1), taught to profit
(Isaiah 48:17), taught to go (Hosea 11:3), or else he will be utterly at a loss.

He has no strength for it. How weak is his heart! (Ezekiel 16:30). He is soon
tired. The Sabbath, what a weariness is it (Malachi 1:13). He is without
strength (Romans 5:6), yea, dead in sin (Ephesians 2:5).

He has no mind to it. He desires not the knowledge of God’s ways (Job 21:14). He
does not know them, and he does not care to know them (Psalms 82:5). He knows
not, neither will he understand.

He has neither due instruments nor materials for it. A man may as well hew the
marble without tools, or paint without colours or brushes, or build without
materials, as perform any acceptable service without the graces of the Spirit,
which are both the materials and instruments in the work. Almsgiving is not a
service of God but of vain-glory, if it does not spring from love to God. What
is the prayer of the lips without grace in the heart, but the carcass without
life? What are all our confessions, unless they are exercises of godly sorrow
and unfeigned repentance? What are our petitions, unless animated with holy
desires and faith in the attributes and promises of God? What are our praises
and thanksgiving, unless they spring from the love of God, and a holy gratitude
and sense of God’s mercies in the heart? So that a man may as well expect that
trees should speak, or look for motion from the dead, as look for any service,
holy and acceptable to God, from the unconverted. When the tree is evil, how can
the fruit be good?

Also, without conversion you live to bad purpose. The unconverted soul is a very
cage of unclean birds (Revelation 18:2), a sepulchre full of corruption and
rottenness (Matthew 18:27), a loathsome carcass full of crawling worms, and
sending forth a most noxious stench in the nostrils of God (Psalms 14:3). O
dreadful case! Do you not yet see a change to be needful? Would it not have
grieved one to see the golden consecrated vessels of God’s temple turned into
quaffing bowls of drunkenness, and polluted with the idol’s service? (Daniel
5:2-3). Was it such an abomination to the Jews when Antiochus set up the picture
of a swine at the entrance of the temple? How much more abominable, then, would
it have been to have had the very temple itself turned into a stable or a sty;
and to have had the holy of holies served like the house of Baal! This is just
the case of the unregenerate. All your members are turned into instruments of
unrighteousness, servants of Satan, and your inmost heart into a receptacle of
uncleanness. You may see what kind of guests are within by what come out; for,
’out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies’ (Matthew 15:19). This black troop shows what
a hell there is within.

O abuse insufferable! to see a heaven-born soul abased to such vileness; to see
the glory of God’s creation, the chief of the works of God, the lord of this
lower world, eating husks with the prodigal! Was it such a lamentation to see
those that did feed delicately sit desolate in the streets; and the precious
sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, esteemed as earthen pitchers; and those
that were clothed in scarlet embrace dunghills? (Lamentations 4:2, Lamentations
4:5). And is it not much more fearful to see the only being that has immortality
in this lower world and carries the stamp of God, become as a vessel wherein is
no pleasure, and be put to the most sordid use? O indignity intolerable! Better
you were dashed in a thousand pieces, than continue to be abased to so vile a
service.

2: Not only man, but the whole visible creation is in vain without conversion.
God has made all the visible creatures in heaven and earth for the service of
man, and man only is the spokesman for all the rest. Man is, in the world, like
the tongue to the body, which speaks for all the members. The other creatures
cannot praise their Maker, except by dumb signs and hints to man that he should
speak for them. Man is, as it were, the high priest of God’s creation, to offer
the sacrifice of praise for all his fellow-creatures. The Lord God expects a
tribute of praise from all His works. Now, all the rest do bring in their
tribute to man, and pay it by his hand. So then, if a man is false, and
faithless, and selfish, God is robbed of all, and has no active glory from His
works.

O dreadful thought! that God should build such a world as this, and lay out such
infinite power, and wisdom, and goodness thereupon, and all in vain; and that
man should be guilty, at last, of robbing and spoiling Him of the glory of all!
O think of this. While you are unconverted, all the offices of the creatures are
in vain to you. Your food nourishes you in vain. The sun holds forth its light
to you in vain. Your clothes warm you in vain. Your beast carries you in vain.
In a word, the unwearied labour and continued travail of the whole creation, as
to you, are in vain. The service of all the creatures that drudge for you, and
yield forth their strength unto you, with which you should serve their Maker, is
all but lost labour. Hence, ’the whole creation groaneth’ (Romans 8:22) under
the abuse of unsanctified men who pervert all things to the service of their
lusts, quite contrary to the very end of their being.

Without conversion your religion is vain. All your religious performances will
be but lost; for they can neither please God nor save your soul, which are the
very ends of religion (Romans 8:8; 1 Corinthians 13:2-3). Be your services ever
so specious, yet God has no pleasure in them (Isaiah 1:14; Malachi 1:10). Is not
that man’s case dreadful whose sacrifices are as murders, and whose prayers are
a breath of abomination? (Isaiah 66:3; Proverbs 28:9).

Many under conviction think they will set upon mending, and that a few prayers
and alms will set all right again; but alas, sirs, while your hearts remain
unsanctified your duties will not pass. How punctilious was Jehu! and yet all
was rejected because his heart was not upright (2 Kings 10:1-36 with Hosea 1:4).
How blameless was Paul! and yet, being unconverted, all was but loss (Php
3:6-7). Men think they do much in attending to God’s service, and are ready to
set Him down so much their debtor; whereas their persons being unsanctified,
their duties cannot be accepted.

O soul! do not think when your sins pursue you, that a little praying and
reforming your ways will pacify God. You must begin with your heart. If that is
not renewed, you can no more please God than one who, having unspeakably
offended you, should bring you the most loathsome thing to pacify you; or having
fallen into the mire, should think with his filthy embraces to reconcile you.

It is a great misery to labour in the fire. The poets could not invent a worse
hell for Sisyphus than to be ever toiling to get the stone up the hill, and then
that it should presently roll down again and renew his labour. God threatens it
as the greatest temporal judgments, that they should build and not inhabit,
plant and not gather, and that their labours should be eaten up by strangers (
Deuteronomy 28:30, Deuteronomy 28:38-41). Is it so great a misery to lose our
common labours, to sow in vain, and to build in vain? How much more to lose our
pains in religion - to pray, and hear, and fast in vain! This is an undoing and
eternal loss. Be not deceived; if you go on in your sinful state, though you
should spread forth Your hands, God will hide His eyes; though you make many
prayers, He will not hear (Isaiah 1:15). If a man without skill set about our
work, and spoil it in the doing, though he take much pains, we give him but
small thanks. God will be worshipped after the due order. If a servant do our
work, but quite contrary to our order, he shall have stripes rather than praise.
God’s work must be done according to God’s mind, or He will not be pleased; and
this cannot be, except it be done with a holy heart.

Without true conversion your hopes are in vain. ’The hope of the hypocrite shall
perish’ (Job 8:12-13). ’The Lord hath rejected thy confidences’ (Jeremiah 2:37).

[1] The hope of comfort here is vain. It is not only necessary for the safety,
but comfort of your condition, that you be converted. Without this, you shall
not know peace (Isaiah 59:8). Without the fear of God you cannot have the
comfort of the Holy Ghost (Acts 9:31). God speaks peace only to His people and
to His saints (Psalms 85:8). If you have a false peace continuing in your sins,
it is not of God’s speaking, and therefore you may guess the author. Sin is a
real sickness (Isaiah 1:5), yea, the worst of sickness; it is a leprosy in the
head (Leviticus 13:44); the plague in the heart (1 Kings 8:38); it is brokenness
in the bones (Psalms 51:8); it pierces, it wounds, it racks, it torments (1
Timothy 6:10). A man may as well expect ease when his diseases are in their full
strength, or his bones out of joint, as true comfort while in his sins.

O wretched man, that can have no ease in this case but what comes from the
deadliness of the disease! You shall have the poor sick man saying in his
wildness, he is well; when you see death in his face, he would be up and about
his business, when the very next step is likely to be to his grave. The
unsanctified often see nothing amiss; they think themselves whole, and cry not
for the physician; but this only shows the danger of their case.

Sin naturally breeds diseases and disturbances in the soul. What a continual
tempest is there in a discontented mind! What a corroding evil is inordinate
care! What is passion but a very fever in the mind? What is lust but a fire in
the bones? What is pride but a deadly dropsy? or covetousness but an insatiable
and insufferable thirst? or malice and envy but venom in the very heart?
Spiritual sloth is but a scurvy in the mind, and carnal security a mortal
lethargy. How can that soul have true comfort which is under so many diseases?
But converting grace cures, and so eases the mind, and prepares the soul for a
settled, standing, immortal peace. ’Great peace have they that love thy law, and
nothing shall offend them’ (Psalms 119:165). They are the ways of wisdom that
afford pleasure and peace (Proverbs 3:17). David had infinitely more pleasure in
the Word than in all the delights of his court (Psalms 119:103, Psalms 119:127).
The conscience cannot be truly pacified until soundly purified (Hebrews 10:22).
Cursed is that peace which is maintained in a way of sin (Deuteronomy 29:19-20).
Two sorts of peace are more to be dreaded than all the troubles in the world:
peace with sin, and peace in sin.

The hope of salvation hereafter is in vain. This hope is most injurious to God,
most pernicious to yourself. There is death, despair, and blasphemy in this
hope.

There is death in it. Your confidence shall be rooted out of your tabernacles,
God will up with it root and branch; it will bring you to the king of terrors
(Job 18:14). Though you may lean upon this house, it will not stand, but will
prove like a ruinous building which, when a man trusts to it, falls down about
him (Job 8:15).

There is despair in it. ’Where is the hope of the hypocrite when God taketh away
his soul?’ (Job 27:8). Then there is an end for ever of his hope. Indeed, the
hope of the righteous has an end, but it is not a destructive, but a perfective
end. His hope ends in fruition, others in frustration. The godly may say at
death, ’It is finished’; but the wicked, ’It is perished’, and may earnestly
bemoan himself, as Job did, though mistakenly, in his case, ’Where now is my
hope? He hath destroyed me; I am gone, and my hope is removed like a tree’ (Job
19:10). ’The righteous hath hope in his death’ (Proverbs 14:32). When nature is
dying, his hopes are living; when his body is languishing, his hopes are
flourishing; his hope is a living hope, but others a dying, yea, a damning,
soul-undoing hope. ’When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish; and
the hope of unjust men perisheth’ (Proverbs 11:7).

It shall be cut off and prove like a spider’s web (Job 8:14) which he spins out
of his own bowels; but then comes death and destroys all, and so there is an
eternal end of his confidence in which be trusted. `The eyes of the wicked shall
fail and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost’ (Job 11:20). Wicked
men are fixed in their carnal hope, and will not be beaten out of it; they hold
it fast, they will not let it go, but death will knock off their fingers. Though
we cannot undeceive them, death and judgment will. When death strikes his dart
through your liver, it will ruin your soul and your hopes together. The
unsanctified have hope only in this life, and therefore are of all men most
miserable. When death comes, it lets them out into the amazing gulf of endless
despair.

There is blasphemy in it. To hope we shall be saved, though continuing
unconverted, is to hope that we shall prove God a liar. He has told you that,
merciful and compassionate as He is, He will never save you notwithstanding, if
you go on in a course of ignorance or unrighteousness. In a word, He has told
you that whatever you are or do, nothing shall avail you to salvation unless you
become new creatures. Now, to say God is merciful and to hope that He will save
us without conversion, is in effect to say, ’We hope that God will not do as He
says.’ We must not set God’s attributes at variance. God has resolved to glorify
His mercy, but not to the prejudice of His truth, as the presumptuous sinner
will find to his everlasting sorrow.

Objection: But we hope in Jesus Christ, we put our whole trust in God, and
therefore do not doubt that we shall be saved.

Answer: This is not hope in Christ, but hope against Christ. To hope to see the
kingdom of God without being born again, to hope to find eternal life in the
broad way, is to hope Christ will prove a false prophet. David’s plea is, ’I
hope in thy word’ (Psalms 119:81). But this hope is against God’s Word. Show me
a word of Christ for your hope that He will save you in your ignorance or
profane neglect of His service, and I will never try to shake your confidence.

God rejects this hope with abhorrence. Those condemned by the prophet went on in
their sins; yet, says the prophet, ’will they lean upon the Lord’ (Micah 3:11).
God will not endure to be made a prop to men in their sins. The Lord rejected
those presumptuous sinners that went on still in their trespasses and yet would
stay themselves on Israel’s God, as a man would shake off the briers that cleave
to his garment.

If your hope is worth anything, it will purify you from your sins (1 John 3:3),
but cursed is that hope which cherishes men in their sins.

Objection: Would you have us despair?

Answer: You must despair of ever coming to heaven as you are, that is, while
unconverted. You must despair of ever seeing the face of God without holiness.
But you must by no means despair of finding mercy upon your thorough repentance
and conversion. Neither may you despair of attaining to repentance and
conversion in the use of God’s means.

Without conversion all that Christ has done and suffered will be, as to you, in
vain. That is, it will in no way avail you to salvation. Many urge this as a
sufficient ground for their hope, that Christ died for sinners; but I must tell
you, Christ never died to save impenitent and unconverted sinners, so
continuing. A great divine was accustomed in his private dealings with souls to
ask two questions. What has Christ done for you? What has Christ wrought in you?
Without the application of the Spirit in regeneration, we have no saving
interest in the benefits of redemption. I tell you from the Lord, that Christ
Himself cannot save you if you go on in this state.

[1] To save men in their sins would be against His trust. The Mediator is the
servant of the Father, shows His commission from Him, acts in His name, and
pleads His command for His justification (John 10:18, John 10:36; John 6:38,
John 6:40). God has committed all things to Him, entrusted His own glory and the
salvation of His elect with Him (Matthew 11:27; John 17:2). Accordingly, Christ
gives His Father an account of both parts of His trust before He leaves the
world (John 17:1-26). Now Christ would quite thwart His Father’s glory, tarnish
His greatest trust, if He should save men in their sins: for this would overturn
all His counsels, and offer violence to all His attributes.

It would overturn all God’s counsels, of which this is the order, that men
should be brought to salvation through sanctification (2 Thessalonians 2:13). He
has chosen them that they should be holy (Ephesians 1:4). They are elected to
pardon and life through sanctification (1 Peter 1:2). If you can repeal the law
of God’s immutable counsel, or corrupt Him whom the Father has sealed to go
directly against His commission, then, and not otherwise, you may get to heaven
in this condition. To hope that Christ will save you while unconverted, is to
hope that Christ will prove false to His trust. He never did, nor ever will save
one soul but whom the Father has given Him in election, and drawn to Him in
effectual calling (John 6:37, John 6:44). Be assured, Christ will save none in a
way contrary to His Father’s will. To save men in their sins would offer
violence to all the attributes of God. To His justice. The righteousness of
God’s judgment lies in rendering to all according to their works. Now, should
men sow to the flesh, and yet of the Spirit reap everlasting life, where were
the glory of divine justice, since it would be given to the wicked according to
the work of the righteous? To His holiness. If God should not only save sinners,
but save them in their sins, His most pure and strict holiness would be
exceedingly defaced. The unsanctified, in the eyes of God’s holiness, are worse
than a swine or viper. It would be offering the extremest violence to the
infinite purity of the divine nature to have such dwell with Him. They cannot
stand in His judgment: they cannot abide His presence. If holy David would not
endure such in his house, no, nor in his sight (Psalms 101:3, Psalms 101:7), can
we think God will? Should He take men as they are, from the mire of their
filthiness to the glory of heaven, the world would think that God was at no such
great distance from sin, nor had any such dislike to it as we are told He has.
They would be ready to conclude that God was altogether such an one as
themselves, as some of old wickedly did, from the forbearance of God (Psalms
121:1-8). To His veracity. God has declared from heaven that if any say he shall
have peace, though he should go on in the imagination of his heart, His wrath
shall smoke against that man (Deuteronomy 29:19-20). He has declared that they
only that confess and forsake their sins shall find mercy (Proverbs 28:13). He
has declared that they that shall enter into His hill must be of clean hands and
a pure heart (Psalms 24:3-4). Where were God’s truth if, notwithstanding all
this, He should bring men to salvation without conversion? O desperate sinner,
that dares to hope that Christ will make His Father a liar and nullify His word
to save you! To His wisdom. This were to throw away the choicest of mercies on
them that would not value them, nor were any way suited to them.

They would not value them. The unsanctified sinner puts but little price upon
God’s great salvation. He thinks no more of Christ than they that are whole do
of the physician. He prizes not His balm, values not His cure, but tramples on
His blood. Now, would it stand with wisdom to force pardon and life upon those
that would return no thanks for them? Will the all-wise God, when He has
forbidden us to do it, throw His holy things to dogs and His pearls to swine,
that would, as it were, but turn again and rend Him? This would make mercy to be
despised indeed. Wisdom requires that life be given in a way suitable to God’s
honour, and that God provide for the securing of His own glory as well as man’s
felicity. It would be’ dishonourable to God to bestow His choicest riches on
them that have more pleasure in their sins than in the heavenly delights that He
offers. God would lose the praise and glory of His grace, if He should cast it
away upon them that were not only unworthy but unwilling.

Also, the mercies of God are no way suited to the unconverted. God’s wisdom is
seen in suiting things to each other, the means to the end, the object to the
faculty, the quality of the gift to the capacity of the receiver. Now, if Christ
should bring the unregenerate sinner to heaven, he could take no more felicity
there than a beast would, if you should bring him into a beautiful room to the
society of learned men; whereas the poor thing had much rather be grazing with
his fellows in the field. Alas, what could an unsanctified man do in heaven? He
could not be content there because nothing suits him. The place does not suit
him; he would be quite out of his element, a fish out of water. The company does
not suit him; what communion has darkness with light? corruption with
perfection? vileness and sin with glory and immortality? The employment does not
suit him; the anthems of heaven do not fit his mouth, do not suit his ear. Can
you charm a donkey with music; or will you bring him to your organ and expect
that he should make melody, or keep time with the tuneful choir? Had he skill,
he would have no will, and so could find no pleasure in it. Spread your table
with delicacies before a languishing patient, and it will be but an offence.
Alas, if the poor man think a sermon long and say of a Sabbath-day, ’What a
weariness is it!’ how miserable would he think it to be engaged in an
everlasting Sabbath! To His immutability, or else to His omniscience or
omnipotence. It is enacted in heaven, and enrolled in the decree of the court
above, that none but the pure in heart shall see God (Matthew 5:8). Now, if
Christ bring any to heaven unconverted, either He must get them in without His
Father’s knowledge, and then where is His omniscience? or against His will, and
then where were His omnipotence? or He must change His will, and then where were
His immutability?

Sinner, will you not give up your vain hope of being saved in this condition?
Bildad says, ’Shall the earth be forsaken for thee; or the rocks be moved out of
their place?’ (Job 18:4). May I not much more reason with you? Shall the laws of
heaven be reversed for you? Shall the everlasting foundations be overturned for
you? Shall Christ put out the eye of His Father’s omniscience, or shorten the
arm of His eternal power for you? Shall divine justice be violated for you; or
the brightness of His holiness be blemished for you? O the impossibility,
absurdity, blasphemy, of such a confidence! To think Christ will ever save you
in this condition is to make the Saviour become a sinner, and do more wrong to
the infinite Majesty than all the wicked on earth or devils in hell ever did, or
ever could do; and yet will you not give up such a blasphemous hope?

To save men in their sins would be against the word of Christ. We need not say,
’Who shall ascend into heaven, to bring down Christ from above? Or, who shall
descend into the deep, to bring up Christ from beneath? The word is nigh us’
(Romans 10:6-8). Are you agreed that Christ shall end the controversy? Hear then
His own words: ’Except ye be converted, ye shall in no wise enter into the
kingdom of heaven.’ ’ Ye must be born again.’ ’If I wash thee not, thou hast no
part in me.’ ’Except ye repent ye shall perish’ (Matthew 18:3; John 3:7; John
13:8; Luke 13:3). One word, one would think, were enough from Christ; but how
often and earnestly does He reiterate it: ’Verily, verily, except a man be born
again, he shall not see the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3). Yea, He not only asserts
but proves the necessity of the new birth from the fleshliness and sinfulness of
man from his first birth, by reason of which man is no more fit for heaven than
the beast is for the chamber of the king. And will you yet rest in your own
presumptuous confidence, directly against Christ’s words? He must go quite
against the law of His kingdom and rule of His judgment, to save you in this
state.

To save men in their sins would be against the oath of Christ. He has lifted up
His hand to heaven, He has sworn that those who remain in unbelief and know not
His ways (that is, are ignorant of them, or disobedient to them) shall not enter
into His rest (Hebrews 3:18). And will you not yet believe, O sinner, that He is
earnest? The covenant of grace is confirmed by an oath and sealed by blood; but
all must be made void, and another way to heaven found out if you be saved,
living and dying unsanctified. God is come to His last terms with man, and has
condescended as far as in honour He could. Men cannot be saved while
unconverted, except they could get another covenant made, and the whole frame of
the Gospel, which was established for ever with such dreadful solemnities, quite
altered. And must not they be demented who hope that they shall?

To save men in their sins would be against His honour. God will so show His love
to the sinner as at the same time to show His hatred to sin. Therefore, he that
names the name of Jesus must depart from iniquity and deny all ungodliness; and
he that has hope of life by Christ must purify himself as He is pure, otherwise
Christ would be thought a favourer of sin (2 Timothy 2:19; Titus 2:12; 1 John
3:3). The Lord Jesus would have all the world know, that though He pardons sin,
He will not protect it. If holy David say, ’Depart from me, all ye workers of
iniquity (Psalms 6:8), and shut the doors against them (Psalms 101:7), shall we
not much more expect it from Christ’s holiness? Would it be for His honour, to
have the dogs to the table, or to lodge the swine with His children, or to have
Abraham’s bosom to be a nest of vipers?

To save men in their sins would be against His offices. God has exalted Him to
be a Prince and a Saviour (Acts v 31). He would act against both, should He save
men in their sins. It is the office of a king to be a terror to evil-doers, and
a praise to them that do well. ’He is a minister of Cod, a revenger to execute
wrath on him that doeth evil’ (Romans 13:4). Now, should Christ favour the
ungodly, so continuing, and take those to reign with Him that would not that He
should reign over them, this would be quite against His office. He therefore
reigns that He may put His enemies under His feet. Now, should He lay them in
His bosom, He would frustrate the end of His regal power; it belongs to Christ,
as a King, to subdue the hearts and slay the lusts of His chosen (Psalms 45:5;
Psalms 110:3). What king would take rebels in open hostility into his court?
What were this but to betray life, kingdom, government, and all together? If
Christ is a King, He must have honour, homage, subjection. Now, to save men
while in their natural enmity, were to obscure His dignity, lose His authority,
bring contempt on His government, and sell His dear-bought rights for naught.

Again, as Christ would not be a Prince, so neither a Saviour, if He should do
this; for His salvation is spiritual. He is called Jesus because He saves His
people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). So that, should He save them in their
sins, He would be neither Lord nor Jesus. To save men from the punishment, and
not from the power of sin, were to do His work by halves, and be an imperfect
Saviour. His office as the Deliverer is to turn ungodliness from Jacob (Romans
11:26). He is sent to bless men, in turning them from their iniquities (Acts
26:1-32), to make an end of sin (Daniel 9:24). So that He would destroy His own
designs, and nullify His offices, to save men in their unconverted state.

Arise then’ What meanest thou, O sleeper? Awake, O secure sinner, lest you be
consumed in your iniquities: say, as the lepers, ’If we sit here, we shall die’
(2 Kings 7:3-4). Verily, it is not more certain that you are now out of hell
than that you shall speedily be in it, except you repent and be converted. There
is but this one door for you to escape by. Arise then, O sluggard, and shake off
your excuses; how long will you slumber and fold your hands to sleep? Will you
lie down in the midst of the sea, or sleep on the top of a mast? (Proverbs
23:34). There is no remedy, but you must either turn or burn. There is an
unchangeable necessity of the change of your condition, unless you have resolved
to abide the worst of it, and try it out with the Almighty. If you love your
life, O man, arise and come away. I think I see the Lord Jesus laying the
merciful hands of a holy violence upon you; I think He act. like the angels to
Lot: ’Then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, lest thou be consumed. And,
while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, the Lord being merciful unto
him; and they brought him without the city, and said, Escape for thy life, stay
not in all the plain; escape to the mountains, lest thou be consumed’ (Genesis
19:15-17).

O how willful will your destruction be if you should yet harden yourself in your
sinful state! But none of you can say that you have not had fair warning. Yet I
cannot leave you so. It is not enough for me to have delivered my own soul.
What! shall I go away without my errand? Will none of you arise and follow me?
Have I been all this while speaking to the wind? Have I been charming the deaf
adder, or allaying the restless ocean with argument? Do I speak to the trees and
rocks, or to men? to the tombs and monuments of the dead, or to the living? If
you are men and not senseless stocks, stop and consider where you are going! If
you have the reason and understanding of men, do not dare to run into the
flames, and fall into hell with your eyes open; but stop and think, and set
about the work of repentance. What, men? and yet run into the pit, when the very
beasts will not be forced in? What, endowed with reason? and yet trifle with
death and hell, and the vengeance of the Almighty? Are men only distinguished
from brutes in that these, having no foresight, have no care to provide for the
things to come, and will you, who are warned, not hasten your escape from
eternal torments? O show yourselves men, and let reason prevail with you. Is it
a reasonable thing for you to contend against the Lord your Maker, or to harden
yourselves against His word, as though the Strength of Israel would lie? (Isaiah
45:9; Job 9:4; 1 Samuel 15:29). Is it reasonable that an understanding creature
should lose, yea, live quite against the very end of his being? Is it reasonable
that the only being in this world that God has made capable of knowing His will
and bringing Him glory, should yet live in ignorance of his Maker, and be
unserviceable to His use, yea, should be engaged against Him, and spit his venom
in the face of his Creator? Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, and let the
creatures without sense judge if this be reason, that man whom God has nourished
and brought up, should rebel against Him? Judge in your own selves. Is it a
reasonable undertaking for briers and thorns to set themselves in battle against
the devouring fire? or for the potsherd of the earth to strive with its Maker?
You will say, ’This is not reason’; or surely the eye of reason is quite put
out. And, if this be not reason, then there is no reason that you should
continue as you are, but there is every reason in the world that you should
immediately turn and repent.

What shall I say ? I could spend myself in this argument. O that you would only
hearken to me; that you would now set upon a new course! Will you not be made
clean? When shall it once be? Reader, will you sit down and consider the
fore-mentioned argument, and debate it whether it be not best to turn? Come, and
let us reason together. Is it good for you to be here? Is it good for you to try
whether God will be as good as His word, and to harden yourself in a conceit
that all is well with you while you remain unsanctified ?

Alas, for such sinners! must they perish at last by hundreds? What course shall
I use with them that I have not tried? ’What shall I do for the daughter of my
people?’ (Jeremiah 9:7).

’O Lord God, help. Alas, shall I leave them thus? If they will not hear me, yet
do Thou hear me. O that they might live in Thy sight! Lord, save them, or they
perish. My heart would melt to see their houses on fire when they were fast
asleep in their beds; and shall not my soul be moved within me to see them
falling into endless perdition? Lord, have compassion, and save them out of the
burning. Put forth Thy divine power, and the work will be done.’


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  CHAPTER 6: 0A.05.     THE MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED
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The marks of the unconverted

While we keep aloof in general statements there is little fruit to be expected;
it is the hand-fight that does execution. David is not awakened by the prophet’s
hovering at a distance in parabolical insinuations. Nathan is forced to close
with him, and tell him plainly, ’Thou art the man.’ Few will, in words, deny the
necessity of the new birth; but they have a self-deluding confidence that the
work is not to be done now. And because they know themselves to be free from
that gross hypocrisy which takes up religion merely for a colour to deceive
others, and for covering wicked designs, they are confident of their sincerity,
and do not suspect that more close hypocrisy, in which the greatest danger lies
and by which a man deceives his own soul. But man’s deceitful heart is such a
matchless cheat, and self-delusion so reigning and so fatal a disease, that I do
not know which is the greater, the difficulty or the necessity of the
undeceiving work that I am now upon. Alas for the unconverted, they must be
undeceived, or they will be undone! But how shall this be effected?

’Help, O all-searching Light, and let Thy discerning eye disclose the rotten
foundation of the self-deceiver. Lead me, O Lord God, as Thou didst the prophet,
into the chambers of imagery, and dig through the wall of sinners’ hearts, and
reveal the hidden abominations that are lurking out of sight in the dark. O send
Thy angel before me to open the sundry wards of their hearts, as Thou didst
before Peter, and make even the iron gates fly open of their own accord. And as
Jonathan no sooner tasted the honey but his eyes were enlightened, so grant, O
Lord, that when the poor deceived souls with whom I have to do shall cast their
eyes upon these lines, their minds may be illuminated, and their consciences
convinced and awakened, that they may see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears, and be converted, and Thou mayest heal there.’ This must be premised
before we proceed, that it is most certain that men may have a confident
persuasion that their hearts and states are good while yet they are unsound.
Hear the Truth Himself who shows, in Laodicea’s case, that men may be wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and yet not know it; yes, they
may be confident they are rich, and increased in grace (Revelation 3:17). ’There
is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from
their filthiness’ (Proverbs 30:12). Who better persuaded of his state than Paul,
while he yet remained unconverted? (Romans 7:9) . So that they are miserably
deceived who take a strong confidence for a sufficient evidence. They that have
no better proof than barely a strong persuasion that they are converted, are
certainly as yet strangers to conversion. But to come closer. As it was said to
the adherents of Antichrist, so here; some of the unconverted carry their marks
in their forehead more openly, and some in their hands more covertly. The
apostle reckons up some upon whom he writes the sentence of death, as in these
dreadful catalogues which I beseech you to attend to with all diligence: ’For
this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is
an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no
man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of
God upon the children of disobedience’ (Ephesians 5:5-6). ’But the fearful, and
unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burneth with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death’ (Revelation 21:8). ’Know ye not
that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers
of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Corinthians
6:9-10).

Woe to them that have their name written in this catalogue. Such may know, as
certainly as if God had told them from heaven, that they are unsanctified, and
under an impossibility of being saved in this condition.

There are then these several classes that, past all dispute, are unconverted;
they carry their marks in their foreheads.

The unclean. These are ever reckoned among the goats, and have their names,
whoever else is left out, in all the fore-mentioned catalogues.

The covetous. These are ever branded for idolaters, and the doors of the kingdom
are shut against them by name.

Drunkards. Not only such as drink away their reason, but withal, yea, above all,
such as are too strong for strong drink. The Lord fills His mouth with woes
against these, and declares them to have no inheritance in the kingdom of God
(Isaiah 5:11-12, Isaiah 5:22; Galatians 5:21).

Liars. The God that cannot lie has told them that there is no place for them in
His kingdom, no entrance into His hill; but their portion is with the father of
lies, whose children they are, in the lake of burnings (Revelation 21:8,
Revelation 21:27; John 8:44; Proverbs 6:17).

Swearers. The end of these, without deep and speedy repentance, is swift
destruction, and most certain and unavoidable condemnation (James 5:12,
Zechariah 5:1-3).

Railers and backbiters that love to take up a reproach against their neighbour,
and fling all the dirt they can in his face, or else wound him secretly behind
his back (Psalms 15:1, Psalms 15:3; 1 Corinthians 11:1-34).

Thieves, extortioners, oppressors, that grind the poor, or defraud their
brethren when they have opportunity. These must know that God is the avenger of
all such (1 Thessalonians 4:6). Hear O ye false and purloining and wasteful
servants; hear, O ye deceitful tradesmen, hear your sentence! God will certainly
shut His door against you, and turn your treasures of unrighteousness into the
treasures of wrath, and make your ill-gotten silver and gold to torment you,
like burning metal in your flesh (James 5:2-3).

All that do ordinarily live in the profane neglect of God’s worship, that do not
hear His Word, that do not call on His name, that restrain prayer before God,
that do not mind their own nor their families’ souls, but live without God in
the world (John 8:47; Job 15:4; Psalms 14:4; Psalms 79:6; Ephesians 2:12 and
Ephesians 4:18).

Frequenters and lovers of vain company. God has declared that He will be the
destroyer of all such, and that they shall never enter into the hill of His rest
(Proverbs 9:6 and Proverbs 13:20).

Scoffers at religion, that make a scorn of precise living, and mock at the
messengers and diligent servants of the Lord, and at their holy profession, and
make themselves merry with the weakness and failings of professing Christians.
`Hear, ye despisers,’ hear your dreadful doom (Proverbs 19:29; 2 Chronicles
36:16).

Sinner, consider diligently whether you are not to be found in one of these
ranks, for if this is the case, you are in the gall of bitterness and bond of
iniquity; for all these do carry their marks in their foreheads, and are
undoubtedly the sons of death. And if so, the Lord pity our poor congregations.
O how small a number will remain when these ten sorts are left out.

Sirs, what efforts you make to keep up your confidence of your good state when
God from heaven declares against you, and pronounces you in a state of
damnation! I would reason with you, as God with them, `How canst thou say, I am
not polluted? See thy way in the valley; know what thou hast done’ (Jeremiah
2:23). Man, is not your conscience aware of your tricks of deceit, of your
secret sins, of your way of lying? Yea, are not your friends, your family, your
neighbours, witnesses to your profane neglect of God’s worship, to your covetous
practices, to your envious and malicious behaviour? May they not point at you as
you go, `There goes a gaming prodigal; there goes a drunken Nabal, a companion
of evil-doers; there goes a railer, or a scoffer, or a loose-liver!’ Beloved,
God has written it as with a sunbeam in the Book by which you must be judged,
that these are not the marks of His children, and that none such, except renewed
by converting grace, shall ever escape the damnation of hell.

O that you would now be persuaded to repent and turn from all your
transgressions, or else iniquity will be your ruin (Ezekiel 18:30). Alas, for
poor hardened sinners. Must I leave you at last where you are? Must I leave the
drinker still at his bar? Must I leave the malicious still in his venom?
However, you must know that you have been warned, and that I am clear of your
blood; and whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear, I will leave
these Scriptures with them, which will prove either as thunderbolts to awaken
them, or as searing-irons to harden them. ’God shall wound the head of his
enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his
trespasses.’ ’He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly
be destroyed, and that without remedy.’ ’Because I have called, and ye refused;
I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded, I will laugh at your calamity
- when your destruction cometh as a whirlwind’ (Psalms 68:21; Proverbs 29:1;
Proverbs 1:24-27). And now I imagine many will begin to bless themselves, and
think all is well, because they cannot be reproached with these grosser evils.
But I must tell you that there is another sort of unsanctified persons, who
carry their mark not in their foreheads but more secretly and covertly. These
frequently deceive themselves and others, and pass for good Christians, when
they are all the while unsound at heart. Many pass undiscovered till death and
judgment bring all to light. These self-deceivers seem to come even to heaven’s
gate with confidence of their admission, and yet are turned away at last
(Matthew 7:22). I beseech you deeply to lay to heart and firmly retain this
awakening consideration, that multitudes perish by the hand of some secret sin,
that is not only hidden from others, but from want of observing their own
hearts, is hidden even from themselves. A man may be free from open pollutions,
and yet die at last by the hand of some unobserved iniquity; and there are these
twelve hidden sins, through which souls go down by numbers into the chambers of
eternal death. These you must search carefully for, and take them as black marks
wherever they are found, revealing a graceless and un-converted state; and as
you love your lives, read carefully with a holy jealousy of yourselves, lest you
should be the persons concerned.

Gross willful ignorance (Hosea 4:6). O how many poor souls does this sin kill in
the dark, while they think verily they have good hearts, and are all set for
heaven. This is the murderer that despatches thousands in a silent manner, when
they suspect nothing, and do not see the hand that destroys them. You shall
find, whatever excuses you make for ignorance, that it is a soul-ruining evil
(Isaiah 27:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 4:3). Ah, would it not have
grieved a man’s heart to see that dreadful spectacle when the poor Protestants
were shut up in a barn, and a butcher came, with his hands warmed in human
blood, and led them one by one, blindfold, to a block where he slew them one
after another, by scores, in cold blood? But how much more should your hearts
bleed to think of the hundreds that ignorance destroys in secret and leads
blindfold to the block. Beware that this is not your case. Make no plea for
ignorance; if you spare that sin, know that it will not spare you; and would a
man keep a murderer in his bosom ?

Secret reserves in closing with Christ. To forsake all for Christ, to hate
father and mother, yea, a man’s own life for Him, ’This is a hard saying’ (Luke
14:26). Some will do much, but they will not have the religion that will save
them. They never come to be entirely devoted to Christ, nor to be fully resigned
to Him. They must have the sweet sin; they mean to do themselves no harm; they
have secret exceptions for life, liberty, or estate. Many take Christ thus, and
never consider His self-denying terms, nor count the cost; and this error in the
foundation mars all, and ruins them forever (Luke 14:28-33).

Formality in religion. Many rest in the outside of religion and in the external
performance of holy duties. And very often this most effectually deceives men,
and more certainly undoes them than open profaneness; as it was in the
Pharisee’s case. They hear, they fast, they pray, they give alms, and therefore
will not believe but their case is good. Whereas, resting in the work done, and
coming short of the heart-work and the inward power and vitality of religion,
they fall at last into the burning, from the flattering hope and confident
persuasion of their being all set on the way to heaven. Oh dreadful case, when a
man’s religion shall serve only to harden him, and effectually to delude and
deceive his own soul!

The prevalence of wrong motives in holy duties. This was the bane of the
Pharisees. Oh how many a poor soul is undone by this, and drops into hell before
he discerns his mistake! He performs his `good duties’ and so thinks all is
well, but does not perceive that he is actuated by carnal motives all the while.
It is too true that even with the really sanctified many carnal ends will often
creep in; but they are the matter of their hatred and humiliation, and never
come to be habitually prevalent with them, and bear the greatest sway. But when
the main thing that ordinarily moves a man to religious duties is some carnal
end - as to satisfy his conscience, to get the reputation of being religious, to
be seen of men, to show his own gifts and talents, to avoid the reproach of
being a profane and irreligious person, or the like - this reveals an unsound
heart. Oh Christians, if you would avoid self-deceit, see that you mind not only
your actions but your motives.

Trusting in their own righteousness. This is a soul-ruining mischief. When men
trust in their own righteousness they do indeed reject Christ’s. Beloved, you
had need be watchful on every hand, for not only your sins, but your duties may
undo you. It may be you never thought of this; but so it is, that a man may as
certainly perish by his seeming righteousness and supposed` graces as by gross
sins; and that is, when a man trusts to these as his righteousness before God,
for satisfying His justice, appeasing His wrath, procuring His favour, and
obtaining His pardon. This is to put Christ out of office, and make a Saviour of
our own duties and graces. Beware of this, O professing Christians; you are much
in duties, but this one fly will spoil all the ointment. When you have done most
and best, be sure to go out of yourselves to Christ; reckon your own
righteousness as filthy rags (Php 3:9; Isaiah 64:6).

A secret enmity against the strictness of religion. Many moral persons,
punctilious in their formal devotions, have yet a bitter enmity against
strictness and zeal, and hate the life and power of religion. They do not like
this forwardness, nor that men should make such a stir in religion. They condemn
the strictness of religion as singularity, indiscretion, and intemperate zeal,
and with them a zealous preacher or fervent Christian is but a wild enthusiast.
These men do not love holiness as holiness (for then they would love the height
of holiness), and therefore are undoubtedly rotten at heart, whatever good
opinion they have of themselves.

The resting in a certain degree of religion. When they have so much as will save
them, as they suppose, they look no farther, and so show themselves short of
true grace, which always sets men aspiring to perfection (Php 3:13; Proverbs
4:18).

The predominant love of the world. This is the sure evidence of an unsanctified
heart. ’If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him’ (1 John
2:15). But how often does this sin lurk under the fair cover of forward
profession. Yea, such a power of deceit is there in this sin that many times,
when everybody else can see the man’s worldliness and covetousness, he cannot
see it himself, but has so many excuses and pretences for his eagerness after
the world, that he blinds his own eyes and perishes in his self-deceit. How many
professing Christians are there with whom the world has more of their hearts and
affections than Christ, ’who mind earthly things’, and thereby are evidently
after the flesh, and likely to end in destruction (Romans 8:5; Php 3:19). Yet
ask these men, and they will tell you confidently they prize Christ above all;
for they do not see their own earthly-mindedness for want of a strict observance
of the workings of their own hearts. Did they but carefully search, they would
quickly find that their greatest satisfaction is in the world, and that their
greatest care and main endeavour are to get and secure the world, which are the
certain signs of an unconverted sinner. May the professing part of the world
take earnest heed lest they perish by the hand of this sin unobserved. Men may
be, and often are, kept off from Christ as effectually by the inordinate love of
lawful comforts, as by the most unlawful courses.

Reigning malice and envy against those that disrespect them, and are injurious
to them. Oh how do many that seem to be religious, remember injuries and carry
grudges, rendering evil for evil, loving to take revenge, wishing evil to them
that wrong them. This is directly against the rule of the Gospel, the pattern of
Christ, and the nature of God. Doubtless, where this evil is kept boiling in the
heart, and is not hated, resisted, and mortified, but habitually prevails, that
person is in the very gall of bitterness, and in a state of death (Matthew
18:32-35; 1 John 3:14-15).

Unmortified pride. When men love the praise of men more than the praise of God,
and set their hearts upon men’s esteem, applause, and approbation, it is most
certain that they are yet in their sins, and strangers to true conversion (John
12:43; Galatians 1:10). When men do not see nor complain nor groan under the
pride of their own hearts, it is a sign they are stark dead in sin. Oh how
secretly does this live and reign in many hearts, and they know it not, but are
very strangers to themselves (John 9:40).

The prevailing love of pleasure. This is a black mark. When men give the flesh
the liberty that it craves and pamper and please it, and do not deny and
restrain it; when their great delight is in gratifying their bellies and
pleasing their senses; whatever appearances they may have of religion, all is
unsound. A flesh-pleasing life cannot be pleasing to God. ’They that are
Christ’s have crucified the flesh’, and are careful to keep it under as their
enemy (Galatians 5:24; 1 Corinthians 9:25-27).

Carnal security, or a presumptuous confidence that their condition is already
good. Many cry, `Peace and safety’, when sudden destruction is coming upon them.
This was that which kept the foolish virgins sleeping when they should have been
working - upon their beds when they should have been at the markets. They did
not perceive their lack of oil till the bridegroom was come; and while they went
to buy, the door was shut. And oh that these foolish virgins had no successors!
Where is the place, yea, where is the house almost, where these do not dwell?
Men are willing to cherish in themselves, upon ever so slight grounds, a hope
that their condition is good, and so are not concerned about a change, and by
these means perish in their sins. Are you at peace? Show me upon what grounds
your peace is maintained. Is it Scripture peace? Can you show the distinguishing
marks of a sound believer? Can you evidence that you have something more than
any hypocrite in the world ever had? If not, fear this peace more than any
trouble; and know that a carnal peace commonly proves the most mortal enemy of
the soul, and whilst it smiles and kisses and speaks fairly, it fatally smites,
as it were, under the fifth rib.

By this time I think I hear my readers crying out, with the disciples, ’Who then
shall be saved?’ Set out from our congregations all those ten ranks of the
profane on the one hand, and then take out all these twelve classes of
self-deceiving hypocrites on the other hand, and tell me whether it is not a
remnant that shall be saved. How few will be the sheep that shall be left, when
all these shall be separated and set among the goats. For my part, of all my
numerous hearers, I have no hope to see any of them in heaven that are to be
found among these twenty-two classes that are here mentioned, except by sound
conversion they are brought into another condition. And now, conscience, do your
work. Speak out, and speak home to him that hears or reads these lines. If you
find any of these marks upon him, you must pronounce him utterly unclean. Do not
take a lie into your mouth. Do not speak peace to him to whom God speaks no
peace. Do not let sense bribe you, or self love or carnal prejudice blind you. I
summon you from the court of heaven to come and give evidence. As you will
answer it at your peril, give a true report of the state and case of him that
reads this book. Conscience, will you altogether hold your peace at such a time
as this? I adjure you by the living God that you tell the truth. Is the man
converted, or is he not? Does he allow himself in any way of wickedness, or does
he not? Does he truly love, and please, and prize, and delight in God above all
things, or not? Come, give a definite answer.

How long shall this soul live in uncertainty? O conscience, bring in your
verdict. Is this man a new man, or is he not? How do you find it? Has there
passed a thorough and mighty change upon him, or not? When was the time, where
was the place, or what were the means by which this thorough change of the new
birth was wrought in his soul? Speak, conscience; or if you cannot tell the time
and place, can you show Scripture evidence that the work is done? Has the man
ever been taken off from his false foundation, from the false hopes and false
peace in which once he trusted? Has he been deeply convinced of sin, and of his
lost and undone condition, and brought out of himself, and off from his sins, to
give himself up entirely to Jesus Christ? Or do you not find him to this day
under the power of ignorance, or in the mire of worldliness? Have you not found
upon him the gains of unrighteousness? Do you not find him a stranger to prayer,
a neglecter of the Word, a lover of this present world? Do you not sometimes
catch him in a lie? Do you not find his heart fermented with malice, or burning
with lust, or going after his covetousness? Speak plainly to all the
forementioned particulars. Can you acquit this man, this woman, from being in
any of the twenty-two classes here described? If he is found in any of them, set
him aside; his portion is not with the saints. He must be converted and made a
new creature, or he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Beloved, do not be your own betrayers. Do not deceive your own hearts, nor set
your hands to your own ruin by a willful blinding of yourselves. Set up a
tribunal in your own breasts. Bring the Word and conscience together. ’To the
law and to the testimony.’ Hear what the Word concludes of your state. Oh follow
the search till you find how the case stands. Make a mistake here, and you
perish. And, such is the treachery of the heart, the subtlety of the temper, and
the deceitfulness of sin, all conspiring to flatter and deceive the poor soul;
and so common and easy it is to make a mistake, that it is a thousand to one
that you will be deceived, unless you are very careful and thorough and
impartial in the inquiry into your spiritual condition. Oh therefore be diligent
in your work; go to the bottom, search with candles; weigh yourself in the
balance, come to the standard of the sanctuary; bring your coin to the
touchstone. Satan is a master of deceit; he can draw to the life; he is perfect
in the trade; there is nothing which he cannot imitate. You cannot wish for any
grace, but he can fit you with a counterfeit. Be jealous; trust not even your
own heart. Go to God to search you and try you, to examine you and prove your
reins. If other helps do not suffice to bring all to an issue, but you are still
at a loss, consult some godly and faithful minister or Christian friend. Do not
rest till you have put the business of your eternal welfare out of doubt.

’O Searcher of hearts, set this soul searching, and help him in his search.’


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  CHAPTER 7: 0A.06.     THE MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED
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The miseries of the unconverted So unspeakably dreadful is the case of every
unconverted soul, that 1 have sometimes thought if I could only convince men
that they are still unregenerate, the work were more than half done. But I find
by sad experience that such a spirit of sloth and slumber possesses the
unsanctified that, though they are convinced that they are yet unconverted,
often they carelessly sit still. Through the love of sensual pleasure, or the
hurry of worldly business, or the noise and clamour of earthly cares and lusts
and affections, the voice of conscience is drowned, and men go no farther than
some cold wishes and general purposes of repenting and amending.

It is therefore of high necessity that I not only convince men that they are
unconverted, but that I also endeavour to bring them to a sense of the fearful
misery of this state. But here I find myself aground at first setting off. What
tongue can tell the heirs of hell sufficiently of their misery, unless it were
Dives in that flame (Luke 16:24)? Where is the ready writer whose pen can depict
their misery who are without God in the world? This cannot fully be done, unless
we know the infinite ocean of bliss which is in perfection in God, and from
which a state of sin excludes men. ’Who knoweth’, says Moses, `the power of
thine anger?’ (Psalms 90:11). And how shall I tell men that which I do not know?
Yet so much we know, as one would think would shake the heart of that man that
had the least degree of spiritual life and sense. But this is yet the more
perplexing difficulty, that I am to speak to them that are without spiritual
sense. Alas! this is not the least part of man’s misery, that he is dead, dead
in trespasses and sins. Could I bring paradise into view, or represent the
kingdom of heaven to as much advantage as the tempter did the kingdoms of the
world, and the glory thereof, to our Saviour; or could I uncover the face of the
deep and devouring gulf of Tophet in all its terrors, and open the gates of the
infernal furnace; alas, he has no eyes to see it. Could I paint the beauties of
holiness or the glory of the Gospel; or could I expose to view the more than
diabolical deformity and ugliness of sin; he can no more judge of the loveliness
and beauty of the one, and the filthiness and hatefulness of the other, than a
blind man of colours. He is alienated from the life of God, through the
ignorance that is in him because of the blindness of his heart (Ephesians 4:18)
. He neither knows nor can know the things of God, because they are spiritually
discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). His eyes cannot be savingly opened but by
converting grace (Acts 26:18). He is a child of darkness, and walks in darkness.
Yea, the light in him is darkness. Shall I ring his knell, or read his sentence,
or sound in his ear the terrible trump of God’s judgments, that one would think
should make both his ears tingle, and strike him into Belshazzar’s fit, even to
change his countenance, loose his joints, and make his knees smite one against
another? Alas, he perceives me not; he has no ears to bear. Or shall I call up
the daughters of music, and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb? Yet he will not
be stirred. Shall I allure him with the joyful sound, and lovely song, and glad
tidings of the Gospel; with the most sweet and inviting calls, comforts, and
cordials of the divine promises so exceedingly great and precious? It will not
affect him savingly unless I could find him ears as well as tell him the news.

What then shall I do? Shall I show him the lake that burneth with fire and
brimstone; or shall I open the box of spikenard, very precious, that fills the
whole house of the universe with its perfume, and hope that the savour of
Christ’s ointments and the smell of His garments will attract him? Alas! dead
sinners are like the dumb idols; they have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have
they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but
they smell not; they have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they
walk not; neither speak they through their throat. They are destitute of
spiritual sense and motion. But let me try the sense that last leaves us, and
draw the sword of the Word; yet, though I choose mine arrows from God’s quiver,
and direct them to the heart, nevertheless he does not feel it; for how should
he, being past feeling? (Ephesians 4:19). So that, though ’the wrath of God
abideth on him’, and the mountainous weight of so many sins, yet he goes up and
down as light as if nothing ailed him. In a word, he carries a dead soul in a
living body, and his flesh is but the walking coffin of a corrupt mind that is
twice dead (Jude 1:12). Which way then shall I come at the miserable object that
I have to deal with? Who shall make the heart of stone relent, or the lifeless
carcass to feel and move? That God who is able of stones to raise up children
unto Abraham, that raises the dead, and melts the mountains, and strikes water
out of the flint, that loves to work beyond the hopes and belief of man, that
peoples His church with dry bones - He is able to do this. Therefore I bow my
knee to the most high God, and as our Saviour prayed at the sepulchre of
Lazarus, and the Shunnamite ran to the man of God for her dead child, so your
mourning minister carries you in the arms of prayer to that God in whom your
help is found.

’O Thou all-powerful Jehovah, who workest, and none can hinder Thee, who has the
keys of death and hell, pity Thou the dead souls that lie here entombed, and
roll away the grave-stone, and say as to the dead body of Lazarus, Come forth.
Lighten Thou this darkness, O inaccessible Light, and let the day-spring from on
high visit the dark regions of the dead, to whom I speak; for Thou canst open
the eye that death itself hath closed. thou that formedst the ear, canst restore
the hearing; say Thou to these ears, Ephphatha, and they shall be opened. Give
Thou eyes to see Thine excellencies, a taste that may relish Thy sweetness, a
scent that may savour Thy ointment, a feeling that may discern the privilege of
Thy favour, the burden of Thy wrath, the intolerable weight of unpardoned sin;
and give Thy servant order to prophesy to dry bones, and let the effects of this
prophecy be as of Thy prophet when he prophesied the valley of dry bones into a
living army exceeding great.’ But I must proceed, as I am able, to unfold that
misery which, I confess, no tongue can unfold, no heart can sufficiently
comprehend. Know therefore that while you are unconverted:

The infinite God is engaged against you. It is no small part of your misery that
you are without God. How does Micah run crying after the Danites, ’ Ye have
taken away my gods, and what have I more?’ (Judges 18:24). Oh what a mourning
then must you lift up, who are without God, who can lay no claim to Him without
daring usurpation! How piercing a moan is that of Saul in his last extremity,
’The Philistines are upon me, and God is departed from met’ (1 Samuel 28:15).
Sinners, what will you do in the day of your visitation? Where will you flee to
for help? Where will you leave your glory? What will you do when the Philistines
are upon you; when the world shall take its eternal leave of you; when you must
bid your friends, houses, and lands, farewell for evermore? What then, I say,
will you do, who have not God to go to? Will you call on Him? Will you cry to
Him for help? Alas, He will not own you. He will not take any notice of you, but
will send you away with ’1 never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity’ (Matthew 7:23).

They who know what it is to have a God to go to, a God to live upon - they know
a little what a fearful misery it is to be without God. This made a holy man cry
out, ’Let me have God or nothing. Let me know Him and His will, and what will
Please Him, and how I may come to enjoy Him, or would I never had an
understanding to know anything!’ But you are not only without God, but God is
against you. Oh if God would stand neutral, though He did not own nor help the
poor sinner, his case were not so deeply miserable. Though God should give up
the poor creature to the will of his enemies, to do their worst with him; though
He should deliver him over to the tormentors, that devils should tear and
torture him to their utmost power and skill, yet this were not half so fearful.
But God will set Himself against the sinner; and, believe it, ’it is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Hebrews 10:31). There is no
friend like Him, no enemy like Him. As much as heaven is above the earth,
omnipotence above impotence, so much more terrible is it to fall into the hands
of the living God, than into the paws of bears and lions, yea, furies or devils.
God Himself will be your tormentor; your destruction shall come from the
presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

If God be against you, who shall be for you? ’If one man sin against another,
the judge shall Judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat
for him?’ (1 Samuel 2:25). ’Thou, even thou, art to be feared; and who shall
stand in thy sight when thou art angry?’ (Psalms 76:7). Who or what shall
deliver you out of His hands? Can money?

’Riches profit not in the day of wrath’ (Proverbs 11:4). Can kings or warriors?
No; ’they shall cry to the mountains and rocks to fall on them; and hide them
from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?’
(Revelation 6:15-17).

Sinner, I think this should go like a dagger to your heart, to know that God is
your enemy. Oh where will you go? Where will you shelter yourself? There is no
hope for you, unless you lay down your weapons and sue out your pardon, and get
Christ to stand as your friend and make your peace. If it were not for this, you
might go into some howling wilderness, and there pine in sorrow, and run mad for
anguish of heart and horrible despair. But in Christ there is a possibility of
mercy for you, yea, an offer of mercy to you, that you may have God more for you
than He is now against you. But if you will not forsake your sins, nor turn
thoroughly and purposefully to God by a sound conversion, the wrath of God
abides on you, and He proclaims Himself to be against you, as in the prophet:
’Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold I, even I, am against thee!’
(Ezekiel 5:8).

His face is against you. ’The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to
cut off the remembrance of them’ (Psalms 34:16). Woe unto them whom God shall
set His face against. When He did but look on the host of the Egyptians, how
terrible was the consequence! ’I will set my face against that man, and will
make him a sign and a proverb, and will cut him off from the midst of my people;
and ye shall know that I am the Lord’ (Ezekiel 14:8).

His heart is against you. He hates all the workers of iniquity. Man, does not
your heart tremble to think of your being an object of God’s hatred? ’Though
Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be towards this people:
cast them out of my sight’ (Jeremiah 15:1). ’My soul loathed them, and their
souls also abhorred me’ (Zechariah 11:8).

All His attributes are against you.

His justice is like a flaming sword unsheathed against you. ’If I whet my
glittering sword, and my hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to
mine adversaries, and will reward them that hate me: I will make mine arrows
drunk with blood’ (Deuteronomy 32:41-42). So exact is justice that it will by no
means clear the guilty. God will not discharge you, He will not hold you
guiltless, but will require the whole debt in person from you, unless you can
make a Scripture claim to Christ and His satisfaction. When the enlightened
sinner looks on justice, and sees the balance in which he must be weighed and
the sword by which he must be executed, he feels an earthquake in his breast;
but Satan keeps this out of sight and persuades the soul, while he can, that the
Lord is all made up of mercy, and so lulls it asleep in sin. Divine justice is
exact; it must have satisfaction to the utmost farthing. It denounces
’indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish to every soul that doeth evil’
(Romans 2:8-9) . It ’curseth every one that continueth not in all things written
in the book of the law to do them’ (Galatians 3:10). The justice of God to the
unpardoned sinner who has a sense of his guilt, is more terrible than the sight
of the creditor to the bankrupt debtor, of the judge and bench to the robber, or
of the irons and gibbet to the guilty murderer. When justice sits upon life and
death, what dreadful work does it make with the wretched sinner! ’Bind him hand
and foot; cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.’ ’Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire’ (Matthew 22:13;
Matthew 25:41). This is the terrible sentence that justice pronounces. Sinner,
by this severe justice must you be tried; and as God liveth, this killing
sentence must you hear, unless you repent and be converted. The holiness of God
is against you. He is not only angry with you - so He may be with His children -
but He has a fixed habitual displeasure against you. God’s nature is infinitely
contrary to sin, and so He cannot delight in a sinner out of Christ.

Oh what a misery is this, to be out of the favour, yea, under the hatred of God;
that God, who can as easily lay aside His nature and cease to be God, as not be
contrary to you and detest you, except you be changed and renewed. Oh sinner,
how dare you think of the bright and radiant sun of purity, or the beauties, the
glory of holiness in God? ’The stars are not pure in his sight.’ ’He humbles
himself to behold things that are done in heaven’ (Job 25:5; Psalms 113:6). Ob
those all-searching eyes of His! What do they spy in you; and have you no
interest in Christ neither, that He should plead for you? I think He should hear
you crying out, astonished, with the Beth-shemites, ’Who is able to stand before
this holy Lord God?’ The power of God is mounted like a mighty cannon against
you. The glory of God’s power is to be displayed in the amazing confusion and
destruction of them that obey not the gospel. He will make His power known in
them (Romans 9:22) how mightily He can torment them. For this end He raises them
up ’that he might make his power known’ (Romans 11:17). O man, are you able to
contend with your Maker?

Sinner, the power of God’s anger is against you, and power and anger together
make fearful work.

It were better you had all the world in arms against you than to have the power
of God against you.

There is no escaping His hands, no breaking His prison. ’The thunder of his
power, who can understand?’ (Job 26:14).

Unhappy man that shall understand it by feeling it! If he will contend with him,
he cannot answer him one of a thousand. He is wise in heart and mighty in
strength: who bath hardened himself against him, and prospered? which removeth
the mountains, and they know it not; which overturneth them in his anger; which
shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble; which
commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars! ... Who will
say unto him, What doest thou? If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud
helpers do stoop under him’ (Job 9:1-35). And are you a fit match for such an
antagonist? ’O consider this, ye that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces,
and there be none to deliver’ (Psalms 122:1-9).

Submit to mercy. Let not dust and stubble stand out against the Almighty. Set
not briers and thorns against Him in battle, lest He go through them, and
consume them together. But lay hold on His strength that you may make peace with
Him (Isaiah 27:4-5). ’Woe to him that striveth with his Maker!’ (Isaiah 45:9).
The wisdom of God is set to ruin you. He has ordained His arrows, and prepared
instruments of death, and made all things ready (Psalms 7:11-13). His counsels
are against you to contrive your destruction (Jeremiah 18:11). He laughs in
Himself to see how you will be taken and ensnared in the evil day (Psalms
37:13). ’The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming.’ He
sees how you will come down mightily in a moment, how you will wring your hands,
and tear your hair, and eat your flesh, and gnash your teeth for anguish and
astonishment of heart, when you see you are fallen irremediably into the pit of
destruction. The truth of God is sworn against you. If He is faithful and true,
you must perish if you go on. Unless He is false to His Word, you must die,
except you repent. ’If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny
himself’ (2 Timothy 2:13). He is faithful to His threatenings as well as to His
promises, and will show His faithfulness in our destruction, if we believe not.
God has told you as plain as it can be spoken, that if He wash you not, you have
no part in Him; that if you live after the flesh, you shall die; that except you
be converted, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven (John 13:8;
Romans 8:13; Matthew 18:3). Beloved, as the immutable faithfulness of God in His
promise and oath affords believers strong consolation, so it is to unbelievers
for strong consternation and confusion.

Oh sinner, tell me, what do you think of all the threatenings of God’s Word that
stand upon record against you? Do you believe they are true or not? If not, you
are a wretched infidel. But, if you do believe them, O heart of adamant that you
have, that you can walk up and down in quiet, when the truth and faithfulness of
God are engaged to destroy you! The whole book of God testifies against you
while you remain unconverted. It condemns you in every leaf, and is to you like
Ezekiel’s roll, written within and without with lamentation, and mourning, and
woe. And all this shall surely come upon you except you repent. ’Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but one jot or tittle of this word shall never pass away’
(Matthew 5:18).

Now, put all this together, and tell me if the case of the unconverted is not
deplorably miserable. As we read of some persons that had bound themselves by an
oath and a curse to kill Paul; so you must know, O sinner, that all the
attributes of the infinite God are bound by an oath to punish you. Oh man, what
will you do? Where will you flee? If God’s omniscience can find you, you shall
not escape. If the true and faithful God will regard His oath, perish you must,
except you believe and repent. If the Almighty has power to torment you, you
must be perfectly miserable in soul and body to all eternity, unless it be
prevented by speedy conversion. The whole creation of God is against you. ’The
whole creation’, says Paul, ’groaneth and travaileth in pain’ (Romans 8:22). But
what is it that the creation groans under? The fearful abuse it is subject to in
serving the lusts of unsanctified men. And what is it that the creation groans
for? For freedom and liberty from this abuse; for the ’creature is not willingly
made subject to this bondage’ (Romans 8:20-21). If the irrational and inanimate
creatures had speech and reason, they would cry out under it, as a bondage
insufferable, to be abused by the ungodly, contrary to their natures and the
ends that the great Creator made them for. It is a saying of an eminent divine,
’The liquor that the drunkard drinks, if it had reason, like a man, to know how
shamefully it is abused, would groan in the barrel against him, it would groan
in the cup against him, groan in his throat, in his stomach against him; it
would fly in his face, if it could speak. And if God should open the mouths of
His creatures, as He did the mouth of Balaam’s ass, the proud man’s garment on
his back would groan against him. There is not a creature, if it had reason to
know how it is abused till a man be converted, but would groan against him. The
land would groan to bear him, the air would groan to give him breath, their
houses would groan to dislodge them, their beds would groan to ease them, their
food to nourish them, their clothes to cover them, and the creature would groan
to give them any help and comfort, so long as they live in sin against God.’

I think this should be a terror to an unconverted soul, to think he is a burden
to the creation. ’Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?’ (Luke 13:7). If
inanimate creatures could but speak, your food would say, ’Lord, must I nourish
such a wretch as this, and yield forth my strength for him, to dishonour Thee?
No, I will choke him rather, if Thou wilt give commission.’ The very air would
say, ’Lord, must I give this man breath, to set his tongue against heaven, and
scorn Thy people, and vent his pride and wrath, and filthy talk, and belch out
oaths and blasphemy against Thee? No, if Thou wilt but say the word, he shall be
breathless for me.’ His poor beast would say, `Lord, must I carry him upon his
wicked designs? No, I will break his bones, I will end his days rather, if I may
have but leave from Thee.’ A wicked man; the earth groans under him, and hell
groans for him, till death satisfies both. While the Lord of hosts is against
you, be sure the host of the Lord is against you, and all the creatures as it
were up in arms till, upon a man’s conversion, the controversy being settled
between God and him, He makes a covenant of peace with the creature for him (Job
5:22-24; Hosea 2:18-20).

Satan has his full power over you. You are fast in the paw of that roaring lion
who is greedy to devour (1 Peter 5:8); ’in the snare of the devil, led captive
by him at his will’ (2 Timothy 2:26). This is the spirit that worketh in the
children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). His drudges they are, and his lusts
they do. He is the ruler of the darkness of this world (Ephesians 6:12), that
is, of ignorant sinners who live in darkness. You pity the poor Indians that
worship the devil for their god, but little think it is your own case. It is the
common misery of all the unsanctified that the devil is their god. Not that they
intend to do him homage. They will be ready to defy him, and him that should say
so of them; but all this while they serve him, and live under his government.
`His servants ye are to whom ye obey’ (Romans 6:16). O how many then will be
found to be the real servants of the devil, who take themselves for no other
than the children of God! He can no sooner offer a sinful delight or opportunity
for your unlawful advantage than you embrace it. If he suggests a lie, or
prompts you to revenge, you readily obey. If he forbids you to read or pray, you
hearken to him, and therefore his servants you are. Indeed, he stands behind the
curtain, he acts in the dark, and sinners do not see who sets them working, but
all the while he leads them. Doubtless the liar does not intend to serve Satan
but his own advantage; yet it is he that stands unobserved and puts the thing
into his heart. Undoubtedly Judas when he sold his Master for money, and the
Chaldeans and Sabeans when they plundered Job, did not intend to do the devil a
pleasure, but to satisfy their own covetous thirst; yet it was he that actuated
them in their wickedness (John 13:27; Job 1:12, Job 1:15, Job 1:17). Men may be
very staves and common drudges for the devil and not know it: nay, they may
please themselves in thoughts of liberty!

Are you yet in ignorance and not turned from darkness unto light? I fear you are
under the power of Satan. Do you live in the willful practice of any known sin?
Know that you are of the devil. Do you live in strife, or envy, or malice?
Verily he is your father. O dreadful case! However Satan may provide his slaves
with various pleasures, yet it is but to draw them into endless perdition. The
serpent comes with the fruit in his mouth but, as with Eve, you do not see the
deadly sting. He that is now your tempter will one day be your tormentor. O that
I could but make you see how bad a master you serve, how merciless a tyrant you
gratify; whose pleasure is to set you on to make your perdition and damnation
sure, and to heat the furnace hotter and hotter in which you must burn for
millions and millions of ages.

The guilt of all your sins lies like a mountain upon you. Poor soul, you do not
feel it, but this is that which seals your misery. While unconverted, none of
your sins are blotted out, they are all upon record against you. Regeneration
and remission are never separated; the unsanctified are unjustified and
unpardoned. It is a fearful thing to be in debt, but above all, in God’s debt;
for there is no arrest so formidable as His, no prison so dreary as His. Look
upon an enlightened sinner who feels the weight of his own guilt; oh how
frightful are His looks, how fearful are his complaints! His comforts are turned
into wormwood, and his moisture into drought, and his sleep is departed from his
eyes. He is a terror to himself and all that are about him, and is ready to envy
the very stones that lie in the street, because they are without sense and do
not feel his misery, and he wishes he had been a dog rather than a man because
then death had put an end to his misery; whereas now it will be but the
beginning of that which will know no ending.

However you may make light of it now, you will one day find the guilt of
unpardoned sin to be a heavy burden. This is a millstone that ’whosoever falleth
upon it shall be broken, but upon whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to
powder’ (Matthew 21:44). The guilt of our sins caused the agony and death of the
blessed Saviour. And if it did this in the green tree, what will it do in the
dry ?

Oh think of your case in time. Can you think of that threat without trembling,
’Ye shall die in your sins’? (John 8:24). Oh, better were it for you to die in a
jail, in a ditch, in a dungeon, than die in your sins. If death, as it will take
away all your comforts, would take away all your sins too, it were some
mitigation; but your sins will follow you when your friends leave you, and all
worldly enjoyments shake hands with you. Your sins will not die with you as a
prisoner’s other debts will; but they will go to judgment with you there to be
your accusers; and they will go to hell with you there to be your tormentors. O
the work that these will make you! O look over your debts in time; how every one
of God’s commandments is ready to arrest you, and take you by the throat for the
innumerable bonds it has upon you. What will you do, then, when they shall all
together come in against you? Hold open the eyes of your conscience to consider
this, that you may despair of yourself and be driven to Christ, and fly for
refuge to lay hold on the hope that is set before you.

Your raging lusts miserably enslave you. While unconverted you are a very
servant to sin; it reigns over you, and holds you under its dominion, till you
are brought within the bonds of God’s covenant. There is not such another tyrant
as sin. O the vile and fearful work that it engages its servants in!

Would it not pierce your heart to see a company of poor creatures drudging and
toiling to carry together faggots and fuel for their own burning? This is the
employment of sin’s drudges.

Even while they bless themselves in their unrighteous gains, while they sing in
their pleasure, they are but treasuring up vengeance for their eternal burning;
they are but adding to the pile of Tophet, and flinging in oil to make the flame
rage the fiercer. Who would serve such a master, whose work is drudgery, whose
wages are death?

What a woeful spectacle was the poor wretch possessed with the legion! Would it
not have grieved your heart to see him among the tombs cutting and wounding
himself? This is your case; such is your work; every stroke is a thrust at your
heart. Conscience indeed is now asleep; but when death and judgment shall bring
you to your senses, then will you feel the anguish in every wound. The convinced
sinner is an instance of the miserable bondage of sin. Conscience flies upon
him, and tells him the end of these things; and yet he is such a slave to his
lusts that on he goes, though he sees it will be his perdition. When the
temptation comes, lust breaks the cords of all his vows and promises, and
carries him headlong to his own destruction.

The furnace of eternal vengeance is heated ready for you. Hell and destruction
open their mouths upon you; they gape for you; they groan for you (Isaiah 5:14),
waiting as it were with a greedy eye as you stand on the brink. If the wrath of
men be ’as the roaring of a lion’ (Proverbs 19:12), ’more heavy than the sand’
(Proverbs 27:3), what is the wrath of the infinite God? If the burning furnace
heated in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery rage, when he commanded it to be made seven
times hotter, was so fierce as to burn up even those that drew near to throw the
three children in, how hot is that burning of the Almighty’s fury! Surely this
is seventy times seven more fierce. What do you think, O man, of being a faggot
in hell to all eternity? ’Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong
in the days that I shall deal with thee?’ (Ezekiel 22:14). Can you abide the
everlasting burnings? Can you dwell with consuming fire, when you shall be as
glowing iron in hell, and your whole body and soul shall be as perfectly
possessed by God’s burning vengeance as the sparkling iron with fire, when
heated in the fiercest furnace? Some of the choicest servants of God, when under
the hidings of His face, and dreading the effects of His displeasure, have
bewailed their condition with bitter lamentations. How then will you endure when
God shall pour out all His vials, and set Himself against you to torment you,
when He shall make your conscience the tunnel by which He will be pouring His
burning wrath into your soul for ever, and when he shall fill all your pores as
full of torment as they are now full of sin, when immortality shall be your
misery, and to die the death of a brute, and be swallowed in the gulf of
annihilation, shall be such a felicity as the whole eternity of wishes and an
ocean of tears shall never purchase?

Now you can put off the evil day, and laugh and be merry, and forget the terror
of the Lord. But how will you hold out, or hold up, when God casts you into a
’bed of torments’ (Revelation 2:22): and makes you to ’lie down in sorrow’
(Isaiah 50:11); when roarings and blasphemies shall be your only music, and the
wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of
His indignation, shall be your only drink (Revelation 14:10)? In a word, when
the smoke of your torment shall ascend for ever and ever, and you shall have no
rest day and night, no rest in your conscience, no ease in your bones; but you
shall be an execration and astonishment, and a curse and a reproach, for
evermore (Jeremiah 42:18)?

Oh sinner, stop here, and consider. If you are a man, and not a senseless block,
consider. Think where you are standing - upon the very brink of destruction. As
the Lord liveth, and as your soul liveth, there is but a step between you and
this. You do not know when you lie down, but you may be in hell before morning.
You do not know when you rise up, but you may drop in before night. Dare you
make light of this? Will you go on in such a dreadful condition, as if nothing
ailed you? If you put it off and say that this does not belong to you, look
again over the previous chapter, and tell me the truth. Are none of those black
marks found upon you? Do not blind your eyes. Do not deceive yourself. See your
misery while you may prevent it. Think what it is to be a vile outcast, a lost
reprobate, a vessel of wrath, into which the Lord will be pouring out His
tormenting fury while He has a being. Divine wrath is a fierce, devouring,
everlasting, unquenchable fire, and this must be your portion, unless you
consider your ways, and speedily turn to the Lord by a sound conversion.

Sinner, it is in vain to Batter you: this would be but to draw you into the
unquenchable fire. Know from the living God that here you must lie; with these
burnings you must dwell till immortality die and immutability change, till
eternity run out and omnipotence is no longer able to punish, except you be in
good earnest renewed by sanctifying grace.

The law discharges all its threats and curses at you. Oh how dreadfully does it
thunder! It flashes devouring fire in your face. Its words are as drawn swords,
and as the sharp arrows of the mighty. It demands satisfaction to the utmost,
and cries, Justice! Justice! It speaks blood, and war, and wounds, and death,
against you. O man away to your stronghold; away from your sins; haste to the
sanctuary, the city of refuge - even the Lord Jesus Christ. Hide in Him, or else
you are lost, without any hope of recovery.

The gospel itself binds the sentence of eternal damnation upon you. If you
continue in your impenitent and unconverted state, know that the Gospel
denounces a much sorer condemnation than ever would have been for the
transgression only of the first covenant. Is it not a dreadful case to have the
Gospel itself fill its mouth with threats; to have the Lord to roar from Mount
Zion against you? (Joel 3:16). Hear the terror of the Lord. ’He that believeth
not shall be damned.’ ’Except ye repent, ye shall all perish.’ ’This is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light.’ ’He that believeth not, the wrath of God abideth on him.’ ’If the
word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation?’ ’He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy: of how much sorer
punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of
God?’ (Mark 16:16; Luke 13:3; John 3:19, John 3:36; Hebrews 2:2-3; Hebrews
10:28-29).

And is this true indeed? Is this your misery? Yea, it is as true as God is.
Better open your eyes and see it now while you may remedy it, than blind and
harden yourself till, to your eternal sorrow, you shall feel what you would not
believe. And if it is true, what do you mean by lingering and loitering in such
a state as this?

Alas for you, poor man! How effectually has sin undone you, depraved you and
despoiled you even of your reason to look after your own everlasting good! O
miserable wretch! What stupidity and senselessness have surprised you! Oh let me
knock and awake this sleeper! Who dwells within the walls of this flesh? Is
there a soul here, a rational, understanding soul; or are you only a senseless
lump? Are you a rational soul, and yet so far brutified as to forget that you
are immortal, and to think yourself to be as the beasts that perish? Having
reason to understand the eternity of the future state, do you yet make light of
being everlastingly miserable, which is to be so much below the brute, as it is
worse to act against reason than to act without it? Oh unhappy soul, that was
the glory of man, the companion of angels, and the image of God; that was God’s
representative in the world, and had the supremacy amongst the creatures, and
the dominion over your Maker’s works; are you now become a slave to sense? Are
you heaping together a little refined earth, so unsuited to your spiritual
immortal nature? Oh why do you not consider where you will spend eternity? Death
is at hand; the Judge is even at the door. Yet a little while, and ’time shall
be no longer’. And will you run the hazard of continuing in such a state, in
which, if you are overtaken, you are irrecoverably miserable?

Come then, arise, and attend to your nearest concerns. Tell me where you are
going? What! will you live in such a course, in which every act is a step to
perdition; and you do not know but the next night you may make your bed in hell?
Oh, if you have a spark of reason, consider, and turn and hearken to your true
friend, who would show you your present misery, that you might in time make your
escape, and be eternally happy.

Hear what the Lord saith. ’Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble
at my presence?’ (Jeremiah 5:22). O sinners, do you make light of the wrath to
come? I am sure there is a time coming when you will not make light of it. Why!
the very devils believe and tremble. What! are you more hardened than they? Will
you run upon the edge of the precipice? Will you play at the hole of the asp?
Will you put your hand into the cockatrice’s den? Will you dally with devouring
wrath as if you were indifferent whether you escape or endure it? There is no
one so beside himself as the willful sinner, that goes on in his unconverted
state without sense, as if nothing ailed him. The man that runs into the
cannon’s mouth and sports with his blood, or lets out his life in a frolic, is
sensible, sober, and serious, compared with him that goes on still in his
trespasses. ’For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth
himself against the Almighty: he runneth upon him, even upon his neck, upon the
thick bosses of his bucklers’ (Job 15:25-26). Is it wisdom to sport with the
second death, or to venture into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone?
What shall I say? I can find no expression, no comparison, by which to set forth
the dreadful madness of the soul that will go on in sin.

Awake! awake! O sinner, arise and take your flight. There is but one door that
you may flee by, and that is the narrow door of conversion and the new birth.
Unless you turn unfeignedly from all your sins, and come to Jesus Christ, and
take Him for the Lord your righteousness, and walk in Him in holiness and
newness of life; as the Lord liveth, it is not more certain that you are now out
of hell, than that you shall without fail be in it but a few days or nights from
now. Oh set your heart to think of your case. Does not your everlasting misery
or welfare deserve a little consideration? Look again over the miseries of the
unconverted. If the Lord has not spoken by me, regard me not; but if it is the
very word of God that all this misery lies upon you, what a state you are in! Is
it for one that has his senses to live in such a condition, and not to make all
possible haste to prevent his utter ruin? O man, who has bewitched you that in
the matters of this present life you shall be wise enough to forecast your
business, foresee your danger, and prevent your ruin; but in matters of
everlasting consequence shall be slight and careless, as if they little
concerned you? Is it nothing to you to have all the attributes of God engaged
against you? Can you live without His favour? Can you escape His hands, or
endure His vengeance? Do you hear the creation groaning under you, and hell
groaning for you, and yet think your case good enough? Are you under the power
of corruption, in the dark, noisome prison, fettered with lusts, working out
your own damnation - and is this not worth a thought? Will you make light of all
the terrors of the law, of all its curses and thunders, as if they were but the
threatenings of a child? Do you laugh at hell and destruction, or can you drink
the envenomed cup of the Almighty’s fury, as if it were but a common potion?

Gird up now your loins like a man, for I will demand of thee, and answer thou
me. Are you such a leviathan as that the scales of your pride should resist your
Maker? Will you esteem His arrows as straw, and the instruments of death as
rotten wood? Are you chief of all the children of pride, even that you should
count His darts as stubble, and laugh at the shaking of His spear? Do you mock
at fear, and are you not frightened, do you not turn back from God’s sword when
His quiver rattles against you, the glittering spear and the shield? Well, if
the threats and calls of the Word will not awaken you, I am sure death and
judgment will. Oh what will you do when the Lord comes forth against you, and in
His fury falls upon you, and you shall feel what you now read? If when Daniel’s
enemies were cast into the den of lions, both they and their wives and their
children, the lions had the mastery over them and broke all their bones in
pieces ere they came to the bottom of the den, what shall become of you when you
fall into the hands of the living God?

Oh, do not then contend with God. Repent and be converted, so none of this shall
come upon you. ’Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while
he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon’ (Isaiah 55:6-7).


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  CHAPTER 8: 0A.07.     DIRECTIONS TO THE UNCONVERTED
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Directions to the unconverted

Before you read these directions, I advise you, yea, I charge you before God and
His holy angels, that you resolve to follow them, as far as conscience shall be
convinced of their agreeableness to God’s Word and your state; and call in His
assistance and blessing that they may succeed. And as I have sought the Lord and
consulted His oracles as to what advice to give you, so must you entertain it
with that awe, reverence, and purpose of obedience, which the word of the living
God requires.

Now, then, attend. ’Set your heart unto all that I shall testify unto you this
day; for it is not a vain thing - it is your life’ (Deuteronomy 32:46). This is
the aim of all that has been spoken hitherto, to bring you to set your heart
upon turning to God. I would not trouble you, nor torment you before the time
with the thoughts of your eternal misery, but in order that you may make your
escape. Were you shut up under your present misery without remedy, it were but
mercy to let you alone, that you might take in that little poor comfort which
you are capable of in this world; but you may yet be happy, if you do not
willfully refuse the means of your recovery. Behold, I hold open the door to
you; arise, take your flight. I set the way of life before you; walk in it, and
you shall live, and not die. It grieves me that you should be your own
murderers, and throw yourselves headlong, when God and man cry out to you, as
Peter in another case to his Master, ’Spare thyself.’ The destruction of ungodly
men is willful. God that made them cries out to them, as Paul to the jailer when
about to murder himself, ’Do thyself no harm.’ The ministers of Christ forewarn
them, and follow them, and would gladly have them back; but alas! no
expostulations or entreaties will prevail, but men will hurl themselves into
perdition, while pity itself looks on.

What shall I say? Would it not grieve a person of any humanity, if, in the time
of a raging plague, he should have a remedy that would infallibly cure all the
country and recover the most hopeless patients, and yet his friends and
neighbours should die by hundreds around him, because they would not use it? Men
and brethren, though you carry the certain symptoms of death on your faces, yet
I have a prescription that will cure you all infallibly. Follow these
directions, and if you do not then win heaven, I will be content to lose it.

Hear, then, O sinner, and as ever you would be converted and saved, take the
following counsel.

Set it down with yourself as an undoubted truth, that it is impossible for you
ever to get to heaven in this your unconverted state.

Can any other but Christ save you? and He tells you He will never do it except
you be regenerated and converted. Does He not keep the keys of heaven, and can
you go in without His leave? as you must, if ever you go in your natural
condition, without a sound and thorough conversion.

Labour to get a thorough sight and lively sense and feeling of your sins.

Till men are weary and heavy laden, and pricked at the heart, and quite sick of
sin, they will not come to Christ for cure, nor sincerely enquire, ’What shall
we do?’ They must see themselves as dead men, before they will come unto Christ
that they may live. Labour, therefore, to set all your sins in order before you;
do not be afraid to look upon them, but let your spirit make diligent search.
Enquire into your heart, and into your life; enter into a thorough examination
of yourself and all your ways, that you may make a full discovery; and call in
the help of God’s Spirit, out of a sense of your own inability to do this by
yourself, for it is His proper work to convince of sin. Spread all before your
conscience, till your heart and eyes are set weeping. Do not leave striving with
God and your own soul, till it cry out under the sense of your sins, as the
enlightened jailer, ’What must I do to be saved?’ To this purpose,

Meditate on the number of your sins. David’s heart failed when he thought of
this, and considered that he had more sins than the hairs of his head. This made
him cry out for the multitude of God’s tender mercies. The loathsome carcass
does not more hatefully swarm with crawling maggots, than an unsanctified soul
with filthy lusts. They fill the head, the heart, the eyes and mouth of him.
Look backward; where was ever the place, what was ever the time, in which you
did not sin? Look inward; what part or power can you find in soul or body which
is not poisoned with sin; what duty do you ever perform, into which this poison
is not shed? Oh how great is the sum of your debts, who have been all your life
running upon trust, and never did or can pay off one penny! Look over the sin of
your nature, and all its cursed brood, the sins of your life. Call to mind your
omissions and commissions; the sins of your thoughts, words, and actions; the
sins of your youth, and the sins of your riper years. Do not be like a desperate
bankrupt that is afraid to look over his books. Read the records of conscience
carefully. These books must be opened sooner or later.

Meditate upon the aggravations of your sins, as they are the grand enemies of
the God of your life, and of the life of your soul; in a word, they are the
public enemies of all mankind. How do David, Ezra, Daniel, and the good Levites,
aggravate their sins, from the consideration of their opposition to God and His
good and righteous laws, and of the mercies and warnings against which they were
committed! Oh the work that sin has done in the world! This is the enemy that
has brought in death; that has robbed and enslaved man, that has turned the
world upside down, and sown the dissensions between man and the creatures,
between man and man, yea, between man and himself, setting the animal part
against the rational, the will against the judgment, lust against conscience;
yea, worst of all, between God and man, making the sinner both hateful to God
and the hater of God. O man, how can you make so light of sin? This is the
traitor that thirsted for the blood of the Son of God, that sold Him, that
mocked Him, that scourged Him, that spat in His face, that tore His hands, that
pierced His side, that pressed His soul, that mangled His body, that never left
Him till he had bound Him, condemned Him, nailed Him, crucified Him, and put Him
to an open shame. This is that deadly poison, so powerful of operation that one
drop of it, shed on the root of mankind, has corrupted, spoiled, poisoned, and
ruined the whole race. This is the bloody executioner that has killed the
prophets, burned the martyrs, murdered all the apostles, all the patriarchs, all
the kings and potentates; that has destroyed cities, swallowed empires, and
devoured whole nations. Whatever weapon it was done by, it was sin that caused
the execution. Do you yet think it only a small thing? If Adam and all his
children could be dug out of their graves, and their bodies piled up to heaven,
and an inquest were made as to what matchless murderer were guilty of all this
blood, it would be all found in sin. Study the nature of sin, till your heart
incline to fear and loathe it; and meditate on the aggravations of your
particular sins, how you have sinned against all God’s warnings, against your
own prayers, against mercies, against corrections, against clearest light,
against freest love, against your own resolutions, against promises, vows, and
covenants of better obedience. Charge your heart with these things till it blush
for shame, and be brought out of all good opinion of itself.

Meditate on the desert of sin. It cries to Heaven; it calls for vengeance. Its
due wages are death and damnation; it brings the curse of God upon the soul and
body. The least sinful word or thought lays you under the infinite wrath of God.
O what a load of wrath, what a weight of curses, what treasures of vengeance,
have all the millions of your sins deserved! Oh judge yourself that the Lord may
not judge you.

Meditate on the deformity and defilement of sin. It is black as hell, the very
image and likeness of the devil drawn upon the soul. It would terrify you to see
yourself in the hateful deformity of your nature. There is no mire so unclean,
no plague or leprosy so noisome as sin, in which you are plunged and rendered
more displeasing to the pure and holy nature of the glorious God than the vilest
object can be to you. Could you take up a toad into your bosom; could you
cherish it, and take delight in it? But you are as contrary to the pure and
perfect holiness of the divine nature, till you are purified by the blood of
Jesus and the power of renewing grace.

Above all other sins, consider these two.

The sin of your heart. It is to little purpose to lop off the branches while the
root of corruption remains untouched. In vain do men lave out the streams, when
the fountain is running that fills up all again. Let the axe of your repentance,
with David’s go to the root of sin. Study how deep, how permanent is your
natural pollution, how universal it is, till you cry out, with Paul, against
your body of death. The heart is never soundly broken till thoroughly convinced
of the heinousness of its original and deep-rooted depravity. Here fix your
thoughts; this is that which makes you backward to all good, and prone to all
evil; that sheds blindness, pride, prejudice, and unbelief into your mind;
enmity, inconstancy, and obstinacy into your will; inordinate heats and colds
into your affections; insensibleness and unfaithfulness into your conscience;
slipperiness into your memory. In a word, it has put every wheel of the soul out
of order, and made it, from a habitation of holiness, to become a very hell of
iniquity. This is what has defiled and perverted all your members, and turned
them into weapons of unrighteousness, and servants of sin; that has filled the
head with carnal and corrupt designs, the hand with sinful practices, the eyes
with wandering and wantonness, the tongue with deadly poison. This is what has
opened the ears to tales, flattery and filthy talk, and shut them against the
instructions of life; and has rendered your heart the cursed source of all
deadly imaginations, so that it pours out its wickedness without ceasing even as
naturally as a fountain pours forth its waters, or the raging sea casts forth
mire and dirt. And will you yet be in love with yourself, and tell us any longer
of your good heart? Oh never leave meditating on the desperate contagion, the
original corruption of your heart, till, with Ephraim, you bemoan yourself; and
with the deepest shame and sorrow smite on your breast, as the publican; and,
with Job, abhor yourself and repent in dust and ashes.

The particular evil that you are most addicted to. Find out all its
aggravations; set home upon your heart all God’s threats against it. Repentance
drives before it the whole herd, but especially sticks the arrow in the beloved
sin, and singles this out, above the rest, to run it down. Oh labour to make
this sin odious to your soul, and double your guard and resolutions against it,
because this is most dishonouring to God and dangerous to you.

3: Strive to affect your heart with a deep sense of your present misery.

Read over the previous chapter again and again, and get it out of the book into
your heart. Remember when you lie down, that for all you know, you may awake in
flames; and when you rise up, that by the next night you may make your bed in
hell. Is it nothing to you to live in such a fearful state, to stand tottering
on the brink of the bottomless pit; and to live at the mercy of every disease
that, if it but fall upon you, will send you forthwith into the burnings?
Suppose you saw a condemned wretch hanging over Nebuchadnezzar’s burning fiery
furnace by nothing but a thread which was ready to break every moment, would not
your heart tremble for such a one? Thou art the man: this is your very case, O
man, woman, who reads this, if you are yet unconverted. What if the thread of
your life should break - and you know not but it may be the next night, yea, the
next moment - where would you be then? Where would you drop? Verily, upon the
breaking of this thread, you fall into the lake that bums with fire and
brimstone, where you must lie while God has a being, if you die in your present
state. And does not your soul tremble as you read? Do not your tears wet the
paper, and your heart throb in your bosom? Do you not yet begin to smite on your
breast, and think with yourself what need you have of a change? Oh what is your
heart made of? Have you not only lost all regard to God, but all love and pity
to yourself?

O study your misery till your heart cry out for Christ as earnestly as ever a
drowning man did for a boat, or the wounded for a surgeon. Men must come to see
the danger and feel the smart of their deadly sores and sickness, or Christ will
be to them a physician of no value. The manslayer hastens to the city of refuge,
when pursued by the avenger of blood; but men must be even forced and driven out
of themselves, or they will not come to Christ. It was distress and extremity
that made the prodigal think of returning. While Laodicea thinks herself rich,
increased in goods, in need of nothing, there is little hope. She must be deeply
convinced of her wretchedness, blindness, poverty, and nakedness, before she
will come to Christ for His gold, raiment, and eyesalve. Therefore hold the eyes
of conscience open, amplify your misery as much as possible, do not flee the
sight of it for fear it should fill you with terror. The sense of your misery is
but as it were the festering of the wound, which is necessary to the cure.
Better now to fear the torments that await you, than to feel them hereafter.

4: Settle it in your heart that you must look out of yourself and away from your
own doings for help. Do not think your praying, reading, hearing, confessing, or
amending, will effect the cure. These must be attended to, but you are undone if
you rest in them. You are a lost man if you hope to escape drowning on any other
plank but Jesus Christ. You must unlearn yourself, and renounce your own wisdom,
your own righteousness, your own strength, and throw yourself wholly upon
Christ, or you cannot escape. While men trust in themselves, and establish their
own righteousness, and have confidence in the flesh, they will not come savingly
to Christ. You must know your gain to be but loss, your strength but weakness,
your righteousness rags and rottenness, before there will be an effectual
closure between Christ and you. Can the lifeless body shake off its
graveclothes, and loose the bands of death? Then may you recover yourself, who
are dead in trespasses and sins, and under an impossibility of serving your
Maker acceptably in this condition. Therefore, when you go to pray or meditate,
or to do any of the duties to which you are here directed, go out of yourself,
and call in the help of the Spirit, as despairing to do anything pleasing to God
in your own strength. Yet do not neglect duty. While the eunuch was reading,
then the Holy Ghost did send Philip to him. When the disciples were praying,
when Cornelius and his friends were hearing, then the Holy Ghost fell upon and
filled them all.

5: Henceforth renounce all your sins.

If you yield yourself to the practice of any sin, you are undone. In vain do you
hope for life by Christ, except you depart from iniquity. Forsake your sins, or
you cannot find mercy. You cannot be married to Christ except you be divorced
from sin. Give up the traitor, or you can have no peace with heaven. Keep not
Delilah in your lap. You must part with your sins or with your soul: spare but
one sin and God will not spare you. Your sins must die, or you must die for
them. If you allow one sin, though but a little, a secret one, though you may
plead necessity, and have a hundred shifts and excuses for it, the life of your
soul must go for the life of that sin. And will it not be dearly bought?

O sinner, hear and consider. If you will part with your sins, God will give you
His Christ. Is not this a fair exchange? I testify unto you this day, that if
you perish, it is not because there was never a Saviour provided nor life
tendered, but because, with the Jews, you prefer the murderer before the
Saviour, sin before Christ, and love darkness rather than light. Search your
heart therefore with candles, as the Jews did their houses for leaven before the
Passover. Labour to find out your sins; enter into your closet, and consider. .
.

What evil have I lived in? ... What duty have I neglected towards God? ... what
sin have I lived in against my brother? And now strike the darts through the
heart of your sin, as Joab did through Absalom’s. Do not stand looking at your
sins, nor rolling the morsel under your tongue, but cast it out as poison, with
fear and detestation. Alas, what will your sins do for you that you should
hesitate to part with them? They will flatter you, but they will undo you and
poison you while they please you, and arm the justice and wrath of the infinite
God against you. They will open hell for you, and pile up fuel to burn you.
Behold the gibbet that they have prepared for you. O treat them like Haman, and
do upon them the execution they would else have done upon you. Away with them,
crucify them and let Christ only be Lord over you.

Make a solemn choice of God for your portion and blessedness. With all possible
devotion and veneration avouch the Lord for your God. Set the world, with all
its glory, and paint, and gallantry, with all its pleasures and promotions, on
the one hand; and set God, with all His infinite excellencies and perfections,
on the other; and see that you do deliberately make your choice. Take up your
rest in God. Sit down under His shadow. Let His promises and perfections turn
the scale against all the world. Settle it in your heart, that the Lord is an
all-sufficient portion, that you cannot be miserable while you have God to live
upon. Take Him for your shield and exceeding great reward. God alone is more
than all the world; content yourself with Him. Let others possess the
preferments and glory of the world; but do you place your happiness in the
favour of God, and in the light of His countenance.

Poor sinner, you have fallen off from God, and have engaged His power and wrath
against you; yet know, that of His abundant grace He offers to be your God again
in Christ. What do you say? Will you have the Lord for your God? Take this
counsel, and you shall have Him. Come to Him by Christ, renounce the idols of
your pleasures, gain, reputation. Let these be pulled from their throne, and set
God’s interest uppermost in your heart. Take Him as God, to be chief in your
affections and purposes; for He will not endure to have any set above Him. In a
word, you must take Him in all His personal relations and in all His essential
perfections.

[1] In all His personal relations. God the Father must be taken for your Father.
O come to Him with the prodigal: ’Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in
thy sight, and am not worthy to be called thy son; but since of Thy wonderful
mercy Thou art pleased to take me, that am of myself most vile, even a beast and
no man before Thee, to be a child, I solemnly take Thee for my Father, commend
myself to Thy care, and trust to Thy providence, and cast my burden on Thee. I
depend on Thy provision, and submit to Thy corrections, and trust under the
shadow of Thy wings, and hide in Thy chambers, and fly to Thy name. I renounce
all confidence in myself; I repose my confidence in Thee. I declare my
engagement with Thee; I will be for Thee, and not for another.’

God the Son must be taken for your Saviour, your Redeemer, and your
Righteousness. He must be accepted, as the only way to the Father, and the only
means of life. O then put off the raiment of your captivity, put on the wedding
garment, and go and marry yourself to Christ. ’Lord, I am Thine, and all I have,
my body, soul, and estate. I give my heart to Thee; I will be Thine undividedly,
Thine everlastingly. I will set Thy name on all I have, and use it only as Thy
goods, during Thy absence, resigning all to Thee. I will have no king but Thee
to reign over me. Other lords have had dominion over me; but now I will make
mention of Thy name only, and do here take an oath of fidelity to Thee,
promising to serve and fear Thee above all competitors. I reject my own
righteousness, and despair of ever being pardoned and saved for my own duties or
graces, and lean solely on Thy all-sufficient sacrifice and intercession for
pardon, life, and acceptance before God. I take Thee for my only Guide and
Instructor, resolving to be directed by Thee, and to wait for Thy counsel.’

Lastly, God the Spirit must be taken for your Sanctifier, for your Advocate,
your Counsellor, your Comforter, the Teacher of your ignorance, the Pledge and
Earnest of your inheritance. ’Awake, thou North wind, and come, thou South, and
blow upon my garden’ (Song of Solomon 4:16). ’Come, Thou Spirit of the Most
High; here is a temple for Thee; do Thou rest here for ever; dwell here. Lo, I
give possession to Thee, full possession; I send Thee the keys of my heart, that
all may be Thine. I give up the use of all to Thee, that every faculty and every
member may be Thy instrument to work righteousness and do the will of my Father
who is in heaven.’

In all His essential perfections. Consider how the Lord has revealed Himself to
you in His Word. Will you take Him as such a God? O sinner, here is the most
blessed news that ever came to the sons of men: The Lord will be your God, if
you will but close with Him in His excellencies. Will you have the merciful, the
gracious, the sin-pardoning God to be your God? ’O yes,’ says the sinner,
’otherwise I am undone.’ But He further tells you, ’I am the holy and sin-hating
God; if you will be owned as one of My people, you must be holy - holy in heart,
holy in life. You must put away all your iniquities, be they ever so dear, ever
so natural, ever so necessary to the maintaining of your worldly interest.
Unless you will be at enmity with sin, I cannot be your God. Cast out the
leaven. Put away the evil of thy doings; cease to do evil; learn to do well.
Bring forth Mine enemies, or there is no peace to be had with Me.’ What does
your heart answer? ’Lord, I desire to be holy as Thou art holy, and to be made
partaker of Thy holiness. I love Thee, not only for Thy goodness and mercy, but
for Thy holiness and purity. I take Thy holiness for my happiness. O be to me a
fountain of holiness. Set on me the stamp and impress of Thy holiness. I will
thankfully part with all my sins at ’My command. My willful sins I do henceforth
forsake; and for mine infirmities that cleave unto me, though I would be rid of
them, I will strive against them continually. I detest them, and will pray
against them, and never let them have rest in my soul.’ Beloved, whoever of you
will thus accept the Lord, He shall be your God.

Again, He tells you, ’I am the all-sufficient God. Will you lay all at My feet,
give up all to My disposal, and take Me for your only portion? Will you own and
honour my all-sufficiency? Will you take Me as your happiness and treasure, your
hope and bliss? I am a sun and a shield all in one; will you have Me for your
all?’ Now what do you say to this? Does your soul long for the onions and
flesh-pots of Egypt? Are you loath to change your earthly happiness for a
portion in God; and though you would be glad to have God and the world too, yet
can you not think of having Him, and nothing but Him; but had rather take up
with the earth below, if God would but let you keep it as long as you would?
This is a fearful sign. But now, if you are willing to sell all for the Pearl of
great price; if your heart answer, ’Lord, I desire no other portion but Thee.
Take the corn and the wine and the oil who will, so I may have the light of Thy
countenance. I fix upon Thee for my happiness; I gladly venture myself on Thee,
and trust myself with Thee. I set my hope in Thee; I take up my rest with Thee.
Let me hear Thee say, "I am thy God, thy salvation," and I have enough, all I
wish for. I will make no terms with Thee but for Thyself. Let me have Thee for
sure, let me be able to make my claim and see my title to Thyself; and for other
things, I leave them to Thee. Give me more or less, anything or nothing; I will
be satisfied in my God.’ Take Him thus, and He is your own.

Again, He tells you, ’I am the sovereign Lord; if you will have Me for your God
you must give Me the supremacy. You must not make Me second to sin or any
worldly interest. If you will be My people I must have the rule over you; you
must not live at your pleasure. Will you come under My yoke? Will you bow to My
government? Will you submit to My discipline, to My Word, to My rod?’ Sinner,
what do you say to this? `Lord, I had rather be at Thy command than live at my
own will. I had rather have Thy will to be done than mine. I approve of and
consent to Thy laws, and account it my privilege to be under them. And though
the flesh rebel, and often break its bounds, I have resolved to take no other
Lord but Thee. I willingly take the oath of Thy supremacy, and acknowledge Thee
for my Sovereign, and resolve all my days to pay the tribute of worship,
obedience, love, and service to Thee, and to live to Thee to the end of my
life.’ This is a right acceptance of God. To be short, He tells you, ’I am the
true and faithful God. If you will have Me for your God you must be content to
trust Me. Will you venture yourselves upon My Word, and depend on My
faithfulness, and take My bond for your security? Will you be content to follow
Me in poverty, and reproach, and affliction here; and to tarry till the next
world for your preferment? Will you be content to labour and suffer, and to
tarry for your returns till the resurrection of the just? My promise will not
always be instantly fulfilled; will you have the patience to wait?’ Now,
beloved, what do you say to this? Will you have this God for your God? Will you
be content to live by faith, and trust Him for an unseen happiness, an unseen
heaven, an unseen glory? Do your hearts answer, `Lord, we will venture ourselves
upon Thee. We commit ourselves to Thee, we cast ourselves upon Thee. We know
whom we have trusted. We are willing to take Thy word; we prefer Thy promises
before our own possessions, and the hopes of heaven before all the enjoyments of
earth. We will do Thy pleasure - what Thou wilt here, so that we may have but
Thy faithful promise for heaven hereafter.’ If you can in trust, and upon
deliberation, thus accept of God, He will be yours. Thus there must be, in a
right conversion to God, a closing with Him suitable to His excellencies. But
when men close with His mercy, but yet love sin, hating holiness and purity; or
will take Him for their Benefactor, but not for their Sovereign; or for their
Patron, and not for their Portion; this is no thorough and sound conversion.

Accept the Lord Jesus in all His offices as yours. Upon these terms Christ may
be had. Sinner, you have undone yourself, and are plunged into the ditch of most
deplorable misery, out of which you are never able to escape; but Jesus Christ
is able and ready to help you, and He freely tenders Himself to you. Be your
sins ever so many, ever so great, or of ever so long continuance, yet you shall
be most certainly pardoned and saved, if you do not wretchedly neglect the offer
that in the name of God is here made to you. The Lord Jesus calls you to look to
Him and be saved. Come unto Him, and He will in no wise cast you out. Yea, He
beseeches you to be reconciled. He cries in the streets; He knocks at your door.
He invites you to accept Him, and live with Him. If you die, it is because you
would not come to Him for life (Isaiah 45:22; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Proverbs 1:20;
Revelation 3:20; John 5:40).

Accept an offered Christ now, and you are made for ever. Give your consent to
Him now, and the match is made; all the world cannot hinder it. Do not stand off
because of your unworthiness. I tell you, nothing can undo you but your own
unwillingness. Speak, man; will you give your consent? Will you have Christ in
all His relations to be yours, your King, your Priest, your Prophet? Will you
have Him and bear His cross? Do not take Christ without consideration, but sit
down first and count the cost. Will you lay all at His feet? Will you be content
to run all hazards with Him? Will you take your lot with Him, fall where it
will? Will you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him? Are you
deliberately, understandingly, freely determined to cleave to Him in all times
and conditions? If so, you shall never perish, but you have passed from death
unto life. Here lies the main point of your salvation, that you be found in your
covenant-closure with Jesus Christ; and therefore, if you love yourself, see
that you be faithful to God and your soul here.

Resign all your powers and faculties, and your whole interest to be His. ’They
gave their own selves unto the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 8:5). ’Present your bodies a
living sacrifice’ (Romans 12:1). The Lord seeks not yours, but you. Resign
therefore your body with its members to Him, and your soul with all its powers,
that He may be glorified in your body and in your spirit, which are His.

In a right closing with Christ all your faculties are given up to Him. Your
judgment says, ’Lord, Thou art worthy of all acceptation, Chief of ten thousand:
happy is the man that findeth Thee. All the things that are to be desired are
not to be compared with Thee’ (Proverbs 3:13-15). The understanding lays aside
its corrupt reasonings and cavils, and its prejudices against Christ and His
ways. It is now past questioning, and determines for Christ against all the
world. It concludes it is good to be here, and sees such a treasure in this
field, such a value in this pearl, as is worth all (Matthew 13:44-46). ’O here
is the richest prize that ever man was offered; here is the most sovereign
remedy that ever mercy prepared. He is worthy of my esteem, worthy of my choice,
worthy of my love, worthy to be embraced, adored, admired, for evermore
(Revelation 5:12). I approve of His articles: His terms are righteous and
reasonable, full of equity and mercy.’ Again, the will resigns. It stands no
longer wavering, but is peremptorily determined: ’Lord, Thy love hath overcome
me, Thou hast won me, and Thou shalt have me. Come in, Lord; to Thee I freely
open; I consent to be saved in Thine own way. Thou shalt have anything - nay,
have all, let me have but Thee.’ The memory gives up to Christ: ’Lord, here is a
storehouse for Thee: out with this trash: lay in the treasures. Let me be a
repository of Thy truth, Thy promises, Thy providences.’ The conscience comes
in: ’Lord, I will ever side with Thee: I will be Thy faithful registrar. I will
warn when the sinner is tempted, and smite when Thou art offended. I will
witness for Thee, and judge for Thee, and guide into Thy ways, and will never
let sin have quiet in this soul.’ The affections also come to Christ: ’O,’ says
Love, ’I am sick for Thee.’ ’O,’ says Desire, ’now I have what I sought for.
Here is the Desire of nations; here is bread for me, and balm for me: all that I
want.’ Fear bows the knee with awe and veneration: ’Welcome, Lord, to Thee will
I pay my homage. Thy Word and rod shall command my actions; nee will I reverence
and adore; before Thee will I fall down and worship.’ Grief likewise puts in:
`Lord, Thy displeasure and Thy dishonour, Thy people’s calamities and my own
iniquities, shall be what shall set me a-weeping. I will mourn when Thou art
offended; I will weep when Thy cause is wounded.’ Anger likewise comes in for
Christ: ’Lord, nothing so enrages me as my folly against Thee, that I should be
so besotted as to hearken to the Batteries of sin and the temptations of Satan
against Thee.’ Hatred, too, will side with Christ: ’I protest mortal enmity to
Thine enemies, that I will never be a friend to Thy foes. I vow an eternal
quarrel with every sin. I will give no quarter, I will make no peace.’ Thus let
all your powers yield to Jesus Christ.

Again, you must give up your whole interest to Him. If there is anything that
you keep back from Christ, it will be your undoing (Luke 14:33). Unless you will
forsake all, in preparation and resolution of your heart, you cannot be His
disciple. You must hate father and mother, yea, and your own life also, in
comparison with Him, and as far as it stands in competition with Him. In a word,
you must give Him yourself, and all that you have without reservation, or else
you can have no part in Him.

9: Choose the laws of Christ as the rule of your words, thoughts and actions.
This is the true convert’s choice. But here remember these three rules. 1. You
must choose them all, there is no getting to heaven by a partial obedience. It
is not enough to take up the cheap and easy part of religion, and let alone the
duties that are costly and self-denying, and oppose the interests of the flesh;
you must take all or none. A sincere convert, though he makes conscience of the
greatest sins and weightiest duties, yet he makes true conscience of little sins
and of all duties. 2. You must choose Christ’s laws for all times, for
prosperity and adversity. A true convert is resolved in his course; he will
stand to his choice, and will not set his back to the wind, and be of the
religion of the times. ’I have stuck to thy testimonies; I have inclined my
heart to perform thy statutes always, even to the end. Thy testimonies have I
taken as a heritage for ever. I will have respect to thy statutes continually’
(Psalms 119:1-176). 3. This must be done deliberately and understandingly. The
disobedient son said, ’I go, sir,’ but he went not. How fairly did they promise,
`All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee we will do it’ And it is likely
they meant what they said. But when it came to the trial it was found that there
was not such a heart in them as to do what they had promised (Deuteronomy 5:27,
Deuteronomy 5:29).

If you would be sincere in closing with the laws and the ways of Christ, study
the meaning, and breadth, and extent of them. Remember that they are spiritual;
they reach the very thoughts and inclinations of the heart; so that, if you will
walk by this rule, your very thoughts and inward motions must be under
government. Again, they are very strict and self-denying, quite contrary to your
natural inclinations. You must take the strait gate, the narrow way, and be
content to have the flesh curbed from the liberty it desires. In a word, they
are very large, for ’thy commandment is exceeding broad’ (Psalms 119:96). Do not
rest in general commands, for there is much deceit in them, but bring down your
heart to the particular commands of Christ. Those Jews, in the prophet, seemed
as well resolved as any in the world, and called God to witness that they meant
as they said. But they rested in generals. When God’s command crosses their
inclination, they will not obey (Jeremiah 42:1-6; Jeremiah 43:2). Take the
Westminster Assembly’s Larger Catechism, and see their excellent and most
comprehensive exposition of the commandments, and put your heart to it. Are you
resolved, in the strength of Christ, to set upon the conscientious practice of
every duty that you find to be required of you, and to set against every sin
that you find to be forbidden? This is the way to be sound in God’s statutes,
that you may never be ashamed (Psalms 119:80).

Observe the special duties that your heart is most against, and the special sins
that it is most inclined to, and see whether it be truly resolved to perform the
one and forgo the other. What do you say to your bosom sin, your profitable sin?
What do you say to costly, hazardous, and flesh-displeasing duties? If you halt
here, and do not resolve, by the grace of God, to cross the flesh and be in
earnest, you are unsound.

10: Let all this be completed in a solemn covenant between God and your soul.

Set apart some time, more than once, to be spent in secret before the Lord - in
seeking earnestly His special assistance and gracious acceptance of you - in
searching your heart, whether you are sincerely willing to forsake all your
sins, and to resign yourself, body and soul, unto God and His service; to serve
Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of your life.

Compose your spirit into the most serious frame possible, suitable to a
transaction of so high importance. Lay hold on the covenant of God, and rely on
His promise of giving grace and strength, by which you may be enabled to perform
your promise. Do not trust to your own strength, to the strength of your own
resolutions; but take hold on His strength. Being thus prepared, on some
convenient time set apart for the purpose, enter upon the work, and solemnly, as
in the presence of the Lord, fall down on your knees and spreading forth your
hands towards heaven open your heart to the Lord in these, or the like words:

’O most holy God, for the passion of Thy Son, I beseech Thee accept Thy poor
prodigal now prostrating himself at Thy door. I have fallen from Thee by mine
iniquity, and am by nature a son of death, and a thousandfold more the child of
hell by wicked practice. But of Thine infinite grace Thou hast promised mercy to
me in Christ, if I will but turn to Thee with all my heart. Therefore upon the
call of Thy gospel, I am now come in, and throwing down my weapons, submit
myself to Thy mercy. And because Thou requirest, as the condition of my peace
with Thee, that I should put away my idols, and be at defiance with all Thine
enemies, which I acknowledge I have wickedly sided with against Thee, I here
from the bottom of my heart renounce them all, firmly covenanting with Thee, not
to allow myself in any known sin, but conscientiously to use all the means that
I know Thou hast prescribed for the death and utter destruction of all my
corruptions. And whereas formerly I have inordinately and idolatrously set my
affections upon the world, I do here resign my heart to Thee who madest it,
humbly declaring before Thy glorious Majesty, that it is the firm resolution of
my heart, and that I do unfeignedly desire grace from Thee, that when Thou shalt
call me hereunto, I may practise this my resolution through Thy assistance, to
forsake all that is dear unto me in this world, rather than to turn from Thee to
the ways of sin; and that I will watch against all its temptations, whether of
prosperity or adversity, lest they should withdraw my heart from Thee. I beseech
Thee also to help me against the temptations of Satan, to whose wicked
suggestions I resolve by Thy grace never to yield myself a servant. And because
my own righteousness is but as filthy rags, I renounce all my confidence
therein, and acknowledge that I am of myself a hopeless, helpless, undone
creature, without righteousness or strength.

`And forasmuch as Thou hast of Thy bottomless mercy offered most graciously to
me, a wretched sinner, to be again my God through Christ, if I would accept
Thee; I call upon heaven and earth to record this day, that I do here solemnly
avouch Thee for the Lord my God, and with all possible veneration, bowing the
neck of my soul under the feet of Thy most sacred Majesty, I do here take Thee
the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for my portion and chief good,
and do give myself, body and soul, to be Thy servant, promising and vowing to
serve Thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life.

`And since Thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the only means of coming
unto Thee, I do here solemnly join myself in a marriage covenant to Him.

’O Blessed Jesus, I come to Thee hungry and thirsty, poor and wretched,
miserable, blind and naked, a most loathsome polluted wretch, a guilty condemned
malefactor, unworthy to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord, much more to
be solemnly married to the King of Glory. But such is Thine unparalleled love, I
do here with all my power accept Thee, and do take Thee for my Head and Husband,
for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, for all times and conditions, to
love, honour and obey Thee before all others, and this to the death. I embrace
Thee in all Thine offices. I renounce my own worthiness, and do here avow Thee
to be the Lord my Righteousness. I renounce my own wisdom, and do here take Thee
for my only Guide. I re-nounce my own will, and take Thy will for my law.

`And since Thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign, I do here
covenant with Thee to take my lot, as it falls, with Thee, and by Thy grace
assisting to run all hazards with nee, verily supposing that neither life nor
death shall part between Thee and me.

`And because Thou hast been pleased to give me Thy holy laws, as the rule of my
life, and the way in which I should walk to Thy kingdom, I do here willingly put
my neck under Thy yoke, and set my shoulder to Thy burden; and subscribing to an
Thy laws as holy, just, and good, I solemnly take them as the rule of my words,
thoughts, and actions; promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel, yet
I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life to Thy direction, and will
not allow myself to neglect anything that I know to be my duty.

`Only because through the frailty of my flesh, I am subject to many failings, I
am bold humbly to request, that unintentional shortcomings, contrary to the
settled bent and resolution of my heart, shall not make void this covenant, for
so Thou hast said.

’Now, Almighty God, Searcher of hearts, Thou knowest that I make this covenant
with Thee this day, without any known guile or reservation, beseeching Thee,
that if Thou espiest any flaw or falsehood therein, Thou wouldst reveal it to
me, and help me to do it aright.

’And now, O God the Father, whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look
upon as my God and Father, glory be to nee for finding out such a way for the
recovery of undone sinners. Glory be to Thee, O God the Son, who hast loved me
and washed me from my sins in Thine own blood, and art now become my Saviour and
Redeemer. Glory be to Thee, O God the Holy Ghost, who by the finger of Thine
almighty power hast turned about my heart from sin to God.

’O high and holy Jehovah, the Lord God Omnipotent, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Thou art now become my covenant Friend, and I through Thine infinite grace am
become Thy covenant servant. Amen, so be it. And the covenant which I have made
on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.’ This covenant I advise you to make, not
only in heart, but in word; not only in word, but in writing; and that you would
with all possible reverence spread the writing before the Lord, as if you would
present it to Him as your Act and Deed. And when you have done this, set your
hand to it and sign it. Keep it as a memorial of the solemn transactions that
have passed between God and you, that you may have recourse to it in doubts and
temptations.

Take heed of delaying your conversion, but make a speedy, an immediate surrender
of your heart to God.

’I made haste, and delayed not’ (Psalms 119:60). Remember and tremble at the sad
instance of the foolish virgins who did not come till the door of mercy was
shut, and of a convinced Felix who put off Paul to another season, but we do not
find that he had another season. O come in while it is called to-day, lest you
should be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; lest the day of grace
should be over, and the things which belong to your peace should be hid from
your eyes. Now mercy is wooing you; now Christ is waiting to be gracious to you,
and the Spirit of God is striving with you. Now ministers are calling; now
conscience is stirring; now the market is open, and oil may be had, you have
opportunity for the buying. Now Christ is to be had for the taking. Oh! strike
in with the offers of grace. Oh! now, or never. If you make light of this offer,
God may swear in His wrath that you shall never taste of His supper (Luke
14:24).

Attend conscientiously upon the Word, as the means appointed for your
conversion.

Attend, I say, not customarily, but conscientiously, with this desire, design,
hope, and expectation, that you may be converted by it. Come to every sermon you
hear with this thought: ’O I hope God will now come in; I hope this day may be
the time, this may be the man by whom God will bring me home.’ When you are
coming to the privileges of God’s house, lift up your heart to God thus: ’Lord,
let this be the Sabbath, let this be the season in which I may receive renewing
grace. O let it be said that this day such a one was born unto Thee.’

Objection. You will say, I have been a hearer of the Word a long time, yet it
has not been effectual to my conversion.

Answer. Yes; but you have not attended upon it in this manner, as a means of
your conversion, nor with this design, nor praying for and expecting the happy
effect from it.

13: Strike in with the Spirit when He begins to work upon your heart. When He
works convictions, O do not stifle them, but join in with Him, and beg the Lord
to give you saving conversion. ’Quench not the Spirit.’ Do not reject Him, do
not resist Him. Beware of stifling convictions with evil company or worldly
business. When you are in anguish on account of sin and fears about your eternal
state, beg of God that you may have peace only in thoroughly renouncing all sin,
loathing it in your inmost soul, and giving your whole heart, without reserve,
to Christ. Say to Him, ’Strike home, Lord; do not leave the work half-done. Go
to the bottom of my corruption, and let out the life-blood of my sins.’ Thus
yield yourself to the working of the Spirit, and hoist your sails to His gusts.

14: Set upon the constant and diligent use of serious and fervent prayer.

He that neglects prayer is a profane and unsanctified sinner. He that is not
constant in prayer is a hypocrite, unless the omission be contrary to his
ordinary course, under the force of some instant temptation. One of the first
things conversion appears in is that it sets men a-praying. Therefore set to
this duty. Let not one day pass in which you have not, morning and evening, set
apart some time for solemn prayer in secret. Also, call your family together
daily and duly to worship God with you. Woe be unto you, if you be found among
the families that call not upon God’s name (Jer x 25). But cold and lifeless
devotions will not reach halfway to heaven. Be fervent and importunate.
Importunity will carry it; but without violence the kingdom of heaven will not
be taken. You must strive to enter, and wrestle with tears and supplications as
Jacob, if you would gain the blessing. You are undone for ever without grace,
and therefore you must set to it, and resolve to take no denial. That man who is
fixed in this resolution says, ’Well, I must have grace, or I will never give
over till I have grace; I will never cease earnestly pleading, and striving with
God and my own heart, till He renews me by the power of His grace.’

Forsake your evil company, and forbear the occasions of sin. You will never be
turned from sin till you decline and forego the temptations of sin. I never
expect your conversion from sin, unless you are brought to some self-denial, so
as to flee the occasions. If you will be nibbling at the bait, and playing on
the brink, and tampering with the snare, your soul will surely be taken. Where
God exposes men, in His providence, unavoidably to temptation, and the occasions
are such as we cannot remove, we may expect special assistance in the use of His
means; but when we tempt God by running into danger, He will not engage to
support us when we are tempted. And, of all temptations, one of the most fatal
and pernicious is evil companions. O what hopeful beginnings have these often
stifled! O the souls, the estates, the families, the towns, that these have
ruined! How many poor sinners have been enlightened and convinced, and been just
ready to escape the snare of the devil, and have even escaped it: and yet wicked
company has pulled them back at last, and made them sevenfold more the children
of hell! In a word, I have no hopes of you, except you shake off your evil
company. Your life depends upon it: forsake this, or you cannot live. Will you
be worse than the ass of Balaam, to run on when you see the Lord with a drawn
sword in the way? Let this sentence be written in capitals upon your conscience,
’A COMPANION of FOOLS SHALL BE DESTROYED’ (Proverbs 13:20). The Lord has spoken
it, and who shall reverse it?

And will you run upon destruction when God Himself forewarns you? If God ever
changes your heart, it will appear in the change of your company. O fear and
flee the gulf by which so many thousands have been swallowed up in perdition. It
will be hard for you indeed to make your escape. Your companions will be mocking
you out of your religion, and will study to fill you with prejudices against
strictness, as ridiculous and comfortless. They will be flattering you and
alluring you; but remember the warnings of the Holy Ghost: ’My son, if sinners
entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, cast in thy lot among
us; walk thou not in the way with them, refrain thy foot from their path; avoid
it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For the way of the wicked is as
darkness, they know not at what they stumble. They lie in wait for their own
blood, they lurk privily for their own lives’ (Proverbs 1:10-19; Proverbs
4:15-19). My soul is moved within me to see how many of my hearers and readers
are likely to perish, both they and their houses, by this wretched mischief,
even the frequenting of such places and company, by which they are drawn into
sin. Once more I admonish you, as Moses did Israel, `Depart, I pray you, from
the tents of these wicked men’ (Numbers 16:26). O flee from them as you would
those that had the plague - sores running in their foreheads. These are the
devil’s panders and decoys; and if you do not make your escape they will draw
you into perdition, and will prove your eternal ruin.

Set apart a day to humble your soul in secret by fasting and prayer, to work a
sense of your sins and miseries upon your heart. Read over a thorough exposition
of the Commandments, and write down the duties omitted, and sins committed by
you against every commandment, and so make a catalogue of your sins, and with
shame and sorrow spread them before the Lord. And if your heart be truly willing
to the terms, join yourself solemnly to the Lord in that covenant set down in
Direction 10 of this chapter, and the Lord grant you mercy in His sight.

Thus, I have told you what you must do to be saved. Will you now obey the voice
of the Lord? Will you arise and set to the work? O man, what answer will you
make, what excuse will you have, if you should perish at last through very
willfulness, when you have known the way of life? I do not fear your
miscarrying, if your own idleness do not at last undo you, in neglecting the use
of the means that are so plainly here prescribed. Rouse up, O sluggard, and ply
your work. Be doing, and the Lord will be with you.


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  CHAPTER 9: 0A.08.     A SHORT SOLILOQUY FOR AN UNREGENERATE SINNER
========================================================================

A SHORT SOLILOQUY FOR AN UNREGENERATE SINNER

Ah! wretched man that I am! What a condition have I brought myself into by sin!
Oh ! I see my heart has deceived me all this while, in flattering me that my
condition was good. I see, I see, I am but a lost and undone man, for ever
undone, unless the Lord help me out of this condition. My sins! My sins! Lord,
what an unclean, polluted wretch I am! More loathsome and odious to Thee than
the most hateful venom or noisome carcass can be to me. Oh ! what a hell of sin
is in this heart of mine, which I have flattered myself to be a good heart!
Lord, how universally am I corrupted, in all my parts, powers, performances! All
the imaginations of my heart are only evil continually. I am under an inability
to, and aversion from, and an enmity against any-thing that is good; and am
prone to all that is evil. My heart is a very sink of sin: and oh the
innumerable hosts and swarms of sinful thoughts, words and actions that have
flowed from it! Oh the load of guilt that is on my soul! My head is full, and my
heart is full; my mind and my members, they are all full of sin. Oh my sins! How
do they stare upon me! Woe is me, my creditors are upon me: every commandment
takes hold upon me, for more than ten thousand talents, yes, ten thousand times
ten thousand. How endless then is the sum of all my debts! If this whole world
were filled up from earth to heaven with paper, and all this paper written over
within and without by arithmeticians, yet, when all were added up, it would come
inconceivably short of what I owe to the least of God’s commandments. Woe unto
me, for my debts are infinite, and my sins are increased. They are wrongs to an
infinite Majesty, and if he that commits treason against a silken mortal is
worthy to be racked, drawn and quartered; what have I deserved that have so
often lifted up my hand against Heaven, and have struck at the crown and dignity
of the Almighty?

Oh my sins! my sins! Behold, a troop comes! Multitudes! multitudes! there is no
number of their armies. Innumerable evils have compassed me about; mine
iniquities have taken hold upon me; they have set themselves against me. Oh! it
were better to have all the regiments of hell come against me, than to have my
sins fall upon me, to the spoiling of my soul. Lord, how am I surrounded! How
many are they that rise up against me! They have beset me behind and before;
they swarm within me and without me; they have possessed all my powers, and have
fortified my unhappy soul as a garrison, which this brood of hell mans and
maintains against the God that made me. And they are as mighty as they are many.
The sands are many, but then they are not great: the mountains great but then
they are not many. But woe is me, my sins are as many as the sands, and as
mighty as the mountains. Their weight is greater than their number. It were
better that the rocks and the mountains should fall upon me, than the crushing
and unsupportable load of my own sins. Lord, I am heavy laden; let mercy help,
or I am gone. Unload me of this heavy guilt, this sinking load, or I am crushed
without hope, and must be pressed down to hell. If my grief were thoroughly
weighed, and my sins laid in the balance together, they would be heavier than
the sand of the sea; therefore my words are swallowed up: they would weigh down
all the rocks and the hills, and turn the balance against all the isles of the
earth. O Lord, Thou knowest my manifold transgressions, and my mighty sins.

Ah, my soul! Alas, my glory! How are you humbled! Once the glory of the
creation, and the image of God: now, a lump of filthiness, a coffin of
rottenness, replenished with stench and loathsomeness. Oh what work has sin made
with you! You shall be termed `Forsaken’ and all the rooms of your faculties
`Desolate’, and the name that you shall be called by is ’Ichabod’, or, `Where is
the glory?’ How are you come down mightily I My beauty is turned into deformity,
and my glory into shame. Lord, what a loathsome leper am 11 The ulcerous bodies
of Job or Lazarus were not more offensive to the eyes and nostrils of men, than
I must needs be to the most holy God, whose eyes cannot behold iniquity. And
what misery have my sins brought upon me! Lord, what a state I am in! Sold under
sin, cast out of God’s favour, accursed from the Lord, cursed in my body, cursed
in my soul, cursed in my name, in my estate, my relations, and all that I have.
My sins are unpardoned, and my soul within a step of death. Alas! what shall I
do? Where shall I go? Which way shall I look? God is frowning on me from above,
hell gaping for me beneath, conscience smiting me within, temptations and
dangers surrounding me without. Oh, where shall I fly? What place can hide me
from Omniscience? What power can secure me from Omnipotence?

What do you mean, O my soul, to go on thus? Are you in league with hell? Have
you made a covenant with death? Are you in love with your misery? Is it good for
you to be here? Alas, what shall I do? Shall I go on in my sinful ways? Why
then, certain damnation will be my end; and shall I be so besotted and mad as to
go and sell my soul to the flames, for a little ale, or a little ease, for a
little pleasure or gain or comfort to my flesh? Shall 1 linger any longer in
this wretched state? No: if I tarry here I shall die. What then, is there no
help? No hope? None, except I turn. Why, but is there any remedy for such woeful
misery? Any mercy after such provoking iniquity? Yes: as sure as God’s oath is
true, I shall have pardon and mercy yet, if I presently, unfeignedly, and
unreservedly turn by Christ to Him.

Why then, I thank Thee upon the bended knees of my soul, O most merciful
Jehovah, that Thy patience has waited for me hitherto; for hadst Thou taken me
away in this state, I had perished for ever. And now I adore Thy grace, and
accept the offers of Thy mercy, I renounce all my sins, and resolve by Thy grace
to set myself against them, and to follow Thee in holiness and righteousness all
the days of my life. Who am 1, Lord, that I should make any claim to Thee, or
have any part or portion in Thee, who am not worthy to lick up the dust of Thy
feet? Yet since Thou holdest forth the golden sceptre, I am bold to come and
touch. To despair would be to disparage Thy mercy; and to stand off when Thou
biddest me come would be at once to undo myself and rebel against Thee under
pretence of humility. Therefore I bow my soul unto Thee, and with all possible
thankfulness accept Thee as mine, and give up myself to Thee as Thine. Thou
shalt be Sovereign over me, my King, and my God. Thou shalt be on the throne,
and all my powers shall bow to Thee, they shall come and worship before Thy
feet. Thou shalt be my portion, O Lord, and I will rest in Thee.

Thou callest for my heart. Oh that it were any way fit for Thine acceptance! I
am unworthy, O Lord, everlastingly unworthy to be Thine. But since Thou wilt
have it so, I freely give my heart to Thee. Take it, it is Thine. Oh that it
were better! But Lord, I put it into Thy hands, who alone canst mend it. Mould
it after Thine own heart; make it as Thou wouldst have it, holy, humble,
heavenly, soft, tender, flexible, and write Thy law upon it.

Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Enter in triumphantly. Take me up for Thyself
for ever. I give myself to Thee, I come to Thee, as the only way to the Father,
as the only Mediator, the means ordained to bring me to God. I have destroyed
myself, but in Thee is my help. Save, Lord, or else I perish. I come to Thee,
with the rope about my neck. I am worthy to die and to be damned. Never was the
hire more due to the servant, never was penny more due to the labourer, than
death and hell, my just wages, are due to me for my sins. But I fly to Thy
merits; I trust alone to the value and virtue of Thy sacrifice, and prevalence
of Thy intercession. 1 submit to Thy teaching, I make choice of Thy government.
Stand open, ye everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may enter in.

O Thou Spirit of the Most High, the Comforter and Sanctifier of Thy chosen, come
in with all Thy glorious train, all Thy courtly attendants, Thy fruits and
graces. Let me be Thine habitation. I can give Thee but what is Thine own
already; but here with the widow I give my two mites, my soul and my body, into
Thy treasury, fully resigning them up to Thee, to be sanctified by Thee, to be
servants to Thee. They shall be Thy patients; cure Thou their maladies. They
shall be Thy agents; govern Thou their actions. Too long have I served the
world; too long have I hearkened to Satan; but now I renounce them all, and will
be ruled by Thy dictates and directions, and guided by Thy counsel.

O blessed Trinity, O glorious Unity, I deliver myself up to Thee. Receive me:
write Thy name, O Lord, upon me, and upon all that I have, as Thy proper goods.
Set Thy mark upon me, upon every member of my body, and every faculty of my
soul. I have chosen Thy precepts. Thy law will I lay before me; this shall be
the copy which I will keep in my eye, and study to write after. According to
this rule do I resolve by Thy grace to walk: after this law shall my whole man
be governed. And though I cannot perfectly keep one of Thy commandments, yet I
will allow myself in the breach of none. I know my flesh will hang back: but I
resolve, in the power of Thy grace, to cleave to Thee and Thy holy ways,
whatever it cost me. I am sure I cannot come off a loser by Thee: and therefore
I will be content with reproach, and difficulties and hardships here, and will
deny myself, and take up Thy cross, and follow Thee. Lord Jesus, Thy yoke is
easy, Thy cross is welcome, as it is the way to Thee. I lay aside all hopes of a
worldly happiness. I will be content to tarry till I come to Thee. Let me be
poor and low, little and despised here, so I may be but admitted to live and
reign with Thee hereafter. Lord, Thou hast my heart and hand to this agreement.
Be it as the laws of the Medes and Persians, never to be reversed. To this I
will stand: in this resolution, by Thy grace, 1 will live and die. I have sworn,
and will perform it, that I will keep Thy righteous judgments. 1 have given my
free consent, I have made my everlasting choice. Lord Jesus, confirm the
contract. Amen.


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  CHAPTER 10: 0A.09.     THE MOTIVES TO CONVERSION
========================================================================

The motives to conversion

Though what has already been said of the necessity of conversion and of the
miseries of the unconverted might be sufficient to induce any considerate mind
to resolve upon a present turning to God; yet, knowing what a piece of desperate
obstinacy and untractableness the heart of man naturally is, I have thought it
necessary to add some motives to persuade you to be reconciled to God.

’O Lord, do not fail me now, at my last attempts. If any soul has read hitherto,
and is yet untouched, Lord, fasten on him now, and do Thy work. Take him by the
heart, overcome him, persuade him, till he say, "Thou past prevailed, for Thou
art stronger than I." Lord, didst not Thou make me a fisher of men, and have I
toiled all this while and caught nothing? Alas, that I should have spent my
strength for naught! and now I am casting my last. Lord Jesus, stand Thou upon
the shore, and direct how and where I shall spread my net; and let me so enclose
with arguments the souls I seek, that they may not be able to get out. Now,
Lord, for a multitude of souls; now for a full draught. O Lord God, remember me,
I pray Thee, and strengthen me this once, O God.’

Men and brethren, heaven and earth call upon you; yea, hell itself preaches the
doctrine of repentance unto you. The ministers of the churches labour for you.
The angels of heaven wait for you, for your repenting and turning unto God. O
sinner, why should devils laugh at your destruction, and deride your misery, and
sport themselves with your folly? This will be your case, except you turn. And
were it not better you should be a joy to angels than a laughing-stock and sport
for devils. Verily, if you would but come in, the heavenly hosts would take up
their anthems and sing, `Glory to God in the highest’; the morning stars would
sing together, and all the sons of God shout for joy, and celebrate this new
creation as they did the first. Your repentance would, as it were, make a
holiday in heaven, and the glorious spirits would rejoice, in that there is a
new brother added to their society, another heir born to the Lord, and a lost
son received safe and sound. The true penitent’s tears are indeed the wine that
maketh glad both God and man.

If it be little that men and angels would rejoice at your conversion, know also
that God Himself would rejoice over you, even with singing (Luke 15:9; Isaiah
62:5). Never did Jacob with such joy weep over the neck of his Joseph, as your
heavenly Father would rejoice over you upon your coming to Him. Look over the
story of the Prodigal Song of Solomon. 1 think I see how the aged father lays
aside his state and forgets his years; behold, how he runs. O the haste that
mercy makes: the sinner makes not half that speed. I think I see how his heart
moves, how his compassions yearn. How quick-sighted is love! Mercy spies him a
great way off; forgets his riotous course, unnatural rebellion, horrid
unthankfulness - not a word of these - and receives him with open arms, clasps
him about his neck, kisses him; calls for the fatted calf, the best robe, the
ring, the shoes, the best cheer in heaven’s store, the best attire in heaven’s
wardrobe. Yea, the joy cannot be held in his own breast. Others must be called
to participate. The friends sympathize; but none know the joy the father has in
his new-born son, whom he has received from the dead. I think I hear the music
at a distance. O the melody of the heavenly choristers! I cannot learn the song
(Rev xiv 3) but I think I overhear the theme at which all the harmonious choir
with one consent strike sweetly in: `For this my son was dead, and is alive
again; he was lost, and is found.’ I need not explain the parable further. God
is the father: Christ is the provision, His righteousness the robe, His grace
the ornaments, ministers, saints and angels, the friends and servants, and you
that read, if you will but unfeignedly repent and turn, the welcome prodigal,
the happy instance of this grace, the blessed subject of this joy and love.

O rock! O adamant! What, not moved yet? Not yet resolved to turn forthwith and
to close with mercy? I will try yet once again. If one were sent to you from the
dead, would you be persuaded? Why, hear the voice from the dead, from the
damned, crying to you that you should repent: ‘I pray thee that thou wouldest
send him to my father’s house; for I have five brethren; that he may testify to
them, lest they also come into this place of torment; if one went to them from
the dead, they will repent’ (Luke 16:27-28). Hear, O man; your predecessors in
impenitence preach to you from the infernal flames, that you should repent. O
look down into the bottomless pit. Do you see how the smoke of their torment
ascendeth for ever and ever? What do you think of those chains of darkness? Can
you be content to burn? Do you see how the worm gnaws, how the fire rages? What
do you say to that gulf of perdition? Will you take up your habitation there? O
lay your ear to the door of hell. Do you hear the curses and blasphemies, the
weepings and wailings, how they lament their follies and curse their day? How do
they roar and gnash their teeth! how deep their groans! how inconceivable their
miseries! If the shrieks of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, were so terrible when the
earth clave asunder and opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and all that
appertained to them, that all Israel fled at the cry of them (Numbers 16:33-34),
O how fearful would the cry be if God should take off the covering from the
mouth of hell, and let the cry of the damned ascend in all its terror among the
children of men! And of their moans and miseries this is the piercing, killing
emphasis and burden, ’For ever! for ever!’ As God liveth that made your soul,
you are but a few hours distant from all this, except you be converted.

O! I am even lost and swallowed up in the abundance of those arguments that I
might suggest. If there be any point of wisdom in all the world, it is to repent
and come in. If there be anything righteous, anything reasonable, this is it. If
there be anything that may be called madness and folly, and anything that may be
counted sottish, absurd, brutish, and unreasonable, it is this, to go on in your
unconverted state. Let me beg of you, as you would not willingly destroy
yourself, sit down and weigh, besides what has been said, these following
motives, and let conscience say if it be not most reasonable that you should
repent and turn.

1: The God that made you most graciously invites you. His most sweet and
merciful nature invites you. O the kindness of God, His boundless compassion,
His tender mercies! As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways
above our ways, and His thoughts above our thoughts. ’He is full of compassion,
and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy’ (Psalms 86:15). This is a
great argument to persuade sinners to come. `Turn unto the Lord; for He is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, of great kindness, and repenteth him of
the evil.’ If God would not repent of the evil, it would be some discouragement
to our repenting. If there were no hope of mercy, it would be no wonder that
rebels should stand out; but never had subjects such a gracious prince, such
pity, patience, and clemency to deal with, as you have. `Who is a God like unto
Thee, •hat pardoneth iniquity?’ (Micah 7:18). O sinners, see what a God you have
to deal with. If you will but turn, ’he will turn again, and have compassion on
you; he will subdue your iniquities, and cast ail your sins into the depths of
the sea’. ’Return unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will return unto you’
(Malachi 3:7). Sinners do not fail in that they have too high thoughts of God’s
mercies, but in that they overlook His justice, or they promise themselves mercy
out of God’s way. His mercies are beyond all imagination; great mercies,
manifold mercies (Nehemiah 9:19), tender mercies, sure mercies, everlasting
mercies; and all is yours, if you will but turn. Are you willing to come in? The
Lord has laid aside His terror and erected a throne of grace. He holds forth the
golden sceptre: touch and live. Would a merciful man slay his enemy when
prostrate at his feet, acknowledging his wrong, begging pardon, and offering to
enter with him into a covenant of peace? Much less will the merciful God. Study
His name (Exodus 34:7), `Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin.’ Also read experience, Nehemiah 9:17.

God’s soul-encouraging calls and promises invite you. Ah, what an earnest suitor
is mercy to you! How lovingly, how instantly, it calls after you! How earnestly
it woos you! `Return thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not
cause my anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will
not keep anger for ever; only acknowledge thine iniquity. Turn, O backsliding
children, saith the Lord; return, and I will heal thy backslidings. Thou hast
played the harlot with many lovers; yet return unto me, saith the Lord’
(Jeremiah 3:1-25). ’As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the
death of the wicked, but that he turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye
from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11).
’If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all
my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he
shall not die. All the transgressions that he bath committed, they shall not be
mentioned unto him; in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live. . . .
Repent, and turn you from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your
ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, and make you a new heart and a
new spirit; for why will ye die, O Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death
of him that dieth, saith the Lord God, wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye’
(Ezekiel 18:1-32).

O melting, gracious words: the voice of God, and not of a man! This is not the
manner of men, for the offended sovereign to sue to the offending, traitorous
rebel. O how does mercy follow you, and plead with you! Is not your heart broken
yet? O that today you would hear His voice!

2: The doors of heaven are thrown open to you. The everlasting gates are set
wide open for you, and an abundant entrance into the kingdom of heaven is
administered to you.

Christ now addresses you, and calls upon you to arise and take possession of
this good land. View the glory of the other world, as set forth in the map of
the gospel. Get up into the Pisgah of the promises, and lift up your eyes
northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward, and see the good land that
is beyond Jordan, and that goodly mountain. Behold the Paradise of God, watered
with the streams of glory. Arise and walk through the land, in the length of it,
and in the breadth of it; for the land which you see, the Lord will give it to
you for ever, if you will but return. Let me say to you, as Paul to Agrippa,
’Believest thou the prophets?’ If you believe indeed, view what glorious things
are spoken of the city of God, and know that all this is here tendered in the
name of God to you. As verily as God is true, it shall be for ever yours, if you
will but thoroughly turn.

Behold the city of pure transparent gold, whose foundations are garnished with
all manner of precious stones, whose gates are pearls, whose light is glory,
whose temple is God. Believest thou this? If you do, are you not beside
yourself, that will not take possession when the gates are thrown open to you,
and you are bidden to enter? O ye sons of folly, will you embrace the dunghill
and refuse the kingdom? Behold, the Lord takes you up into the mountain, shows
you the kingdom of heaven and all the glory thereof, and tells you, ’All this
will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me; if you will submit to
mercy, accept my Son, and serve me in righteousness and holiness.’ ’O fools and
slow of heart to believe!’ Will you seek and serve the world, and neglect
eternal glory? What! not enter into paradise when the flaming sword, which was
once set to keep you out, is now used to drive you in? But you will say I am
uncharitable to think you infidels and unbelievers. What, then, shall I think of
you? Either you are desperate unbelievers that do not credit it; or beside
yourselves, that you know and believe the excellence and eternity of this glory,
and yet do so fearfully neglect it. Do but attend to what is offered you: a
blessed kingdom, a kingdom of glory, a kingdom of righteousness, a kingdom of
peace, and an everlasting kingdom. Here you shall dwell, here you shall reign
for ever, and the Lord shall seat you on a throne of glory, and with His own
hand shall set the royal diadem upon your head, and give you a crown - not of
thorns, for there shall be no sinning nor suffering there: not of gold, for this
shall be viler than the dirt in that day; but a crown of life, a crown of
righteousness, a crown of glory, yea, you shall put on glory as a robe, and
shall shine like the sun in the firmament of your Father. Look now on your
worthless flesh. This flesh, which is mere dust and ashes, shall be brighter
than the stars. In short, you shall be made like unto the angels of God and
behold His face in righteousness. Look now and tell me, do you not yet believe?
If not, conscience must pronounce you an infidel; for it is the very word of God
that I speak. But if you say you believe, let me next know your resolution. Will
you embrace this for your happiness? Will you forgo your sinful gains, your
forbidden pleasures? Will you trample on the world’s esteem, and stop your ears
to its Batteries, and wrest yourself out of its embraces? Will you be content to
take up with reproach and poverty, if they lie in the way to heaven, and follow
the Lord with humble self-denial, in a mortified and flesh-displeasing life? If
so, all is yours, and that for ever. And is not the offer a fair one? Is it not
just that he should be damned that will go on and perish, when all this may be
had by taking it? Will you not take God at His word? Will you not let go your
hold of the world, and lay hold on eternal life? If not, let conscience tell you
whether you are not beside yourself, that you should neglect so happy a choice,
by which you might be made happy for ever.

3: God will give you unspeakable privileges in this life.

Though the fullness of your blessedness shall be reserved till hereafter, yet
God will give you no little things in hand. He will redeem you from your
thraldom. He will pluck you from the paw of the lion. The serpent shall bruise
your heel, but you shall bruise his head. He shall deliver you from this present
evil world. Prosperity shall not destroy you; adversity shall not separate Him
and you. He will redeem you from the power of the grave, and make the king of
terrors a messenger of peace to you. He will take out the curse from the cross,
and make affliction the refining-pot to purify the metal, the fan to blow off
the chaff, the medicine to cure the mind. He will save you from the arrest of
the law, and turn the curse into a blessing to you. He has the keys of hell and
of death, and shutteth and no man openeth, and He will shut its mouth, as once
He did the lions’, that you shall not be hurt of the second death.

Besides, He will not only save from misery, but install you into unspeakable
prerogatives. He will bestow Himself upon you; He will be a Friend and a Father
unto you. He will be a Sun and a Shield to you. In a word, He will be a God to
you. And what more can be said? What may you expect that a God should do for
you, and be to you? That He will be, that He will do. She that marries a prince
expects he should do for her like a prince, that she may live in suitable state,
and have an answerable dowry. He that has a king for his father or a friend,
expects he should do for him like a king. Alas, the kings and monarchs of the
earth, so much above you, are but like the painted butterflies amongst the rest
of their kind, or the fair coloured palmerworm amongst the rest of the worms, if
compared with God. As He infinitely exceeds the glory and power of His
glittering dust, so He will, beyond all proportion, exceed in doing for His
favourites whatever princes can do for theirs. He will give you grace and glory,
and withhold no good thing from you. He will take you for His sons and
daughters, and make you heirs of His promises, and establish His everlasting
covenant with you. He will justify you from all that law, conscience and Satan
can charge upon you. He will give you free access into His presence, and accept
your person, and receive your prayers. He will abide in you, and hold a constant
and friendly communion with you. His ear shall be open, His door open, His store
open, at all times to you. His blessing shall rest upon you, and He will make
your enemies serve you, and work out all things for good unto you.

The terms of mercy are brought as low as possible to you. God has stooped as low
to sinners as with honour He can. He will not be the author of sin, nor stain
the glory of His holiness; and how could He come lower than He has, unless He
should do this?

God does not impose anything unreasonable or impossible, as a condition of life,
upon you. Two things were necessary to be done, according to the tenor of the
first covenant. 1. That we should fully satisfy the demands of justice for past
offences. 2. That we should perform personally, perfectly, and perpetually, the
whole law for the time to come. By our sins we render salvation through either
of these ways impossible. But behold God’s gracious provision in both. He does
not insist upon satisfaction: He is content to take of the Surety, and He of His
own providing too, what He might have exacted from you. ’All things are of God,
who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus 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 unto them; and hath committed unto
us the word of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). He declares Himself to
have received a ransom, and that He expects nothing but that you should accept
His Son, and He shall be righteousness and redemption to you. If you come in His
Christ, and set your heart to please Him, making this your chief concern, He
will graciously accept you.

O consider the condescension of your God! Let me say to you, as Naaman’s servant
to him, ’My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest
thou not have done it? How much rather when he saith to thee, Wash and be
clean!’ If God demanded some terrible, some severe and rigorous thing of you, to
escape eternal damnation, would you not have done it? Suppose it had been to
spend all your days in sorrow in some howling wilderness, or pine with famine,
would you not have thankfully accepted eternal redemption, though these had been
the conditions? Nay, farther, if God had told you that you should burn in the
fire for millions of ages, or be so long tormented in hell, would you not have
accepted it? Alas, all these are not so much as one grain of sand in the glass
of eternity. If your offended Creator should have held you but one year upon the
rack, and then bid you come and forsake your sins, accept Christ, and serve him
a few years in self-denial or lie in this case for ever and ever; do you think
you should have hesitated at the offer, and disputed the terms, and have been
unresolved whether to accept the proposal? O sinner, return and live; why should
you die when life is to be had for the taking, when mercy entreats you to be
saved? Could you say, ’Lord, I knew thee, that thou wast a hard man’, even then
you would have no excuse; but when the God of Heaven has stooped so low, and
condescended so far, if still you stand off, who shall plead for you?

Objection: Notwithstanding all the advantages of the new covenant, I am unable
to repent and believe, and so comply with its conditions.

Answer: These you may perform by God’s grace enabling; but let the next
consideration serve for a fuller answer.

God offers all needed grace to enable you.

’I have stretched out mine hand, and no man regarded’ (Proverbs 1:24). What
though you are plunged into the ditch of that misery from which you can never
get out? Christ offers to help you out; He reaches out His hand to you; and if
you perish, it is for refusing His help. ’Behold, I stand at the door and knock;
if any man open to me, I will come in.’ (Revelation 3:20). What though you are
poor, and wretched, and blind, and naked? Christ offers a cure for your
blindness, a covering for your nakedness, riches for your poverty. He tenders
you His righteousness, His grace: ’I counsel thee to buy of me gold, that thou
mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; and anoint thy
eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.’ Do you say, ’The condition is
impossible; for 1 have nothing with which to buy?’ You must know that this
buying is ’without money and without price.’ This buying is by begging and
seeking with your whole heart. God commands you to know Him, and to fear Him. Do
you say, ’Yes, but my mind is blinded, and my heart is hardened from His fear?’
1 answer that God offers to enlighten your mind, and to teach you His fear. So
that now, if men live in ignorance and estrangement from the Lord, it is because
they will not understand, and do not desire the knowledge of His ways. ’If thou
criest after knowledge, if thou seekest her as silver, then shalt thou
understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.’ (Proverbs
2:3-5). Is not this a fair offer? ’Turn you at my reproof, behold, I will pour
out my Spirit unto you’ (Proverbs 1:23). Though of yourselves you can do
nothing, yet you may do all through His Spirit enabling you, and He offers
assistance to you. God bids you ’wash and make you clean’. You say you are
unable, as much as the leopard to wash out his spots. Yes, but the Lord offers
to cleanse you; so that if you are filthy still, it is through your own
willfulness: ’I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged’ (Ezekiel 24:13). ’O
Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean: when shall it once be?’ (Jeremiah
13:27). God invites you to be made clean, and entreats you to yield to Him. O
accept His offers, and let Him do for you, and in you, what you cannot do for
yourselves.


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  CHAPTER 11: 0A.10.     CONCLUSION
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Conclusion And now, beloved, let me know your mind. What do you intend to do?
Will you go on and die, or will you turn and lay hold on eternal life? How long
will you linger in Sodom? How long will you halt between two opinions? Have you
not yet resolved whether Christ or Barabbas, whether bliss or torment, whether
this vain and wretched world, or the paradise of God, be the better choice? Is
it a disputable case whether the Abana and Pharpar of Damascus be better than
all the streams of Eden; or whether the vile pool of sin is to be preferred
before the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God
and of the Lamb? Can the world in good earnest do that for you which Christ can?
Will it stand by you to eternity? Will pleasures, lands, titles, and treasures
descend with you? If not, had you not need look after something that will? What
do you mean to stand wavering? Shall I leave you at last, like Agrippa, only
almost persuaded? You are for ever lost if left here; as good be not at all, as
not altogether a Christian. How long will you rest in idle wishes and fruitless
purposes? When will you come to a fixed, firm, and full resolve? Do you not see
how Satan cheats you by tempting you to delay? How long has he drawn you on in
the way of perdition!

Well, do not put me off with a dilatory answer; tell me not later. I must have
your immediate consent. If you are not now resolved, while the Lord is treating
with you and inviting you, much less likely are you to be later, when these
impressions are worn off, and you are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Will you give me your hand? Will you set open the door and give the Lord Jesus
the full and ready possession? Will you put your name unto His covenant? What do
you resolve upon? If you still delay, my labour is lost, and all is likely to
come to nothing. Come, cast in your lot; make your choice. `Now is the accepted
time; now is the day of salvation; today, if you will hear His voice.’ Why
should not this be the day from which you are able to date your happiness? Why
should you venture a day longer in this dangerous and dreadful condition? What
if God should this night require your soul? O that thou mightest know in this
thy day the things that belong to thy peace, before they be hid from thine eyes!
This is your day, and it is but a day. Others have had their day, and have
received their doom; and now are you brought upon the stage of this world, here
to act your part for your eternity. Remember, you are now upon your good
behaviour for everlasting; if you do not make a wise choice now, you are undone
for ever. What your present choice is, such must be your eternal condition. And
is it true indeed? Are life and death at your choice? Why, then, what hinders
but that you should be happy? Nothing does or can hinder but your own willful
neglect or refusal. It was the saying of the eunuch to Philip, `See, here is
water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?’ So I may say to you, `See, here is
Christ, here is mercy, pardon, life; what hinders but that you should be
pardoned and saved T One of the martyrs, as he was praying at the stake, had his
pardon set by him in a box, which indeed he rightly refused, because upon
unworthy terms; but here the terms are most honourable and easy. O sinner, will
you perish with your pardon by you? Do but henceforth give your consent to
Christ, to renounce your sins, deny yourself, take up the yoke and the cross,
and you carry the day. Christ is yours; pardon, peace, life, blessedness, are
all yours. And is not this an offer worth embracing? Why should you hesitate or
doubtfully dispute about the case? Is it not past controversy whether God be
better than sin, and glory than vanity? Why should you for sake your own mercy,
and sin against your own life? When will you shake off your sloth, and lay by
your excuses? Boast not of tomorrow, you know not where you may lodge this
night.

Now the Holy Spirit is striving with you. He will not always strive. Have you
not felt your heart warmed by the Word, and been almost persuaded to leave off
your sins and come to Christ? Have you not felt some motions in your mind, in
which you have been warned of your danger, and told what your careless course
would end in? It may be you are like young Samuel who, when the Lord called once
and again, knew not the voice of the Lord, but these motions are the offers, and
callings, and strivings of the Spirit. O take advantage of the tide, and know
the day of your visitation.

Now the Lord Jesus stretches wide His arms to receive you. He beseeches you by
us. How movingly, how meltingly, how compassionately He calls. The church is put
into a sudden ecstasy at the sound of His voice, `the voice of my beloved’. O
will you turn a deaf ear to His voice? Is it not the voice that breaks the
cedars, and makes the mountains to skip like a calf; that shakes the wilderness,
and divides the flames of fire? It is not Sinai’s thunder, but a soft and still
voice. It is not the voice of Mount Ebal, a voice of cursing and terror, but the
voice of Mount Gerizim, the voice of blessing and glad tidings of good things.
It is not the voice of the trumpet nor the noise of war, but a message of peace
from the King of peace. I may say to you, O sinner, as Martha to her sister,
’The Master is come, and he calleth for thee.’ Now then, with Mary, arise
quickly and come unto Him. How sweet are His invitations! He cries in the open
concourse, ’If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink’ (John 7:37). How
bountiful is He! He excludes none. ’Whosoever will, let him take the water of
life freely’ (Revelation 22:17). ’Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine
that I have mingled. Forsake the foolish and live’ (Proverbs 9:5-6). ’Come unto
me, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and ye shall find rest to your
souls’ (Matthew 11:28-29). ’Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out’
(John 6:37). How does He bemoan the obstinate refuser! ’O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
how often would I have gathered thy children, as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and ye would not!’ (Matthew 23:37). ’Behold me, behold me: I
have stretched out my hands all the day to a rebellious people’ (Isaiah 65:1-2).
O be persuaded now at last to throw yourselves into the arms of His love.

Behold, O ye sons of men, the Lord Jesus has thrown open the prison, and now He
comes to you by His ministers, and beseeches you to come out. If it were from a
palace or paradise that Christ did call you, it were no wonder that you were
unwilling; and yet how easily was Adam beguiled from it; but it is from your
prison, from your chains, from the dungeon, from the darkness, that He calls
you, and yet will you not come? He calls you unto liberty, and yet will you not
hearken? His yoke is easy, His laws are liberty, His service is freedom, and
whatever prejudice you may have against His ways, if God may be believed, you
shall find them all pleasure and peace, and shall taste sweetness and joy
unutterable, and take infinite delight and felicity in them (Proverbs 3:17; 1
Peter 1:8; Psalms 119:103, Psalms 119:111, Psalms 119:165).

Beloved, I am loath to leave you. I cannot tell how to give you up. I am now
ready to close, but I would see a covenant made between Christ and you before I
end. What! shall I leave you at last as I found you? Have you read thus far, and
not yet resolved to abandon all your sins and to close with Jesus Christ?

Alas, what shall I say? What shall I do? Will you turn off all my importunity?
Have I run in vain? Have I used so many arguments, and spent so much time to
persuade you, and must I sit down at last in disappointment? But it is a small
matter that you turn me off; you put a slight upon the God that made you; you
reject the compassion and beseechings of a Saviour, and will be found resisters
of the Holy Ghost, if you will not now be prevailed upon to repent and be
converted.

Well, though I have called you long, and you have refused, I shall yet this once
more lift up my voice like a trumpet, and cry from the highest places of the
city before I conclude, with the miserable exclamation, ’All is over!’ Once more
I shall call after regardless sinners, that, if it be possible, I may awaken
them; ’O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord’ (Jer xxii 29). Unless
you are resolved to die, lend your ears to the last calls of mercy. Behold, in
the name of God, I make open proclamation to you, ’Hearken unto me, O ye
children; hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not’ (Proverbs 8:32-33).

’Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money,
come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without
price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour
for that which satisfteth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which
is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Incline your ear and come unto me; hear, your soul shall live; and I will make
an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David’ (Isaiah
55:1-3).

Ho, every one that is sick of any manner of disease or torment, or is possessed
with an evil spirit, whether of pride, fury, lust, or covetousness, come ye to
the Physician. Bring your sick. Lo, here is He that healeth all manner of
sicknesses, and all manner of diseases, among the people (Matthew 4:23-24).

Ho, every one that is in distress, gather yourselves unto Christ, and He will
become a Captain over you. He will be your protection from the arrests of the
law; He will save you from the hand of justice. Behold, He is an open sanctuary
to you; He is a known refuge. Away with your sins and come in unto Him, lest the
avenger of blood seize you, lest devouring wrath overtake you.

Ho, every blind and ignorant sinner, come and buy eye-salve, that you may see.
Away with your excuses; you are for ever lost if you continue in this state. But
accept Christ for your Prophet, and He will be a light unto you. Cry unto Him
for knowledge, study His Word, take pains about religion, humble yourself before
God, and He will teach you His way, and make you wise unto salvation. But if you
will not follow Him, but sit down because you have but one talent, He will
condemn you for a wicked and slothful servant (Matthew 25:24-26).

Ho, every profane sinner, come in and live. Return unto the Lord, and He will
have mercy on you; be entreated. O return, come. You that have filled your mouth
with oaths and execrations, all manner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven
you, if you will but thoroughly turn unto Christ and come in. O unclean sinner,
put away your whoredoms out of your sight, and your adulteries from between your
breasts, and give yourself unto Christ, as a vessel of holiness, alone for His
use; and then, `though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool’ (Luke 7:47; Isaiah
1:18).

Hear, O ye drunkards, how long will you be drunk? Put away your wine. Though you
have rolled in the filthiness of your sin, give yourselves unto Christ, to live
soberly, righteously, and godly; embrace His righteousness; accept His
government; and though you have been vile, He will wash you (Revelation 1:5).

Hear, O ye loose companions, whose delight is in vain and wicked society, to
sport away your time in carnal mirth; come in at Wisdom’s call, and choose her
and her ways, and you shall live (Proverbs 9:5-6).

Hear, O ye scorners, hear the word of the Lord. Though you make a sport at
godliness and its professors, though you have made a scorn of Christ and His
ways, yet even to you does He call, to gather you under the wings of His mercy.
In a word, though you should be found among the worst of that black roll, yet
upon your thorough conversion you shall be washed, you shall be sanctified, you
shall be justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God (1
Corinthians 6:10-11).

Ho, every formal professor, you that are but lukewarm and resting in the form of
godliness. Give over your halting; be a true Christian; be zealous and repent;
and then, though you have been an offence to Christ, you shall be the joy of His
heart (Revelation 3:16-20). And now bear witness that mercy has been offered
you. `I call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that you
may live’ (Deuteronomy 30:19). I can only entreat you and warn you. I cannot
otherwise compel you to be happy; if I could, I would. What answer will you send
me with to my Master? Let me speak to you as Abraham’s servant to Nahor’s
family, `And now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me.’ O
for such a happy answer as Rebecca gave them: `And they said, We will call the
damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebecca, and said unto her,
Wilt thou go with this man? and she said, I will go’ (Genesis 24:49-58). O that
I had this from you! Why should I, who agonize for your salvation, be your
accuser? Why should the passionate pleadings of mercy be turned into horrid
aggravations of your obstinacy and additions to your misery? Judge in
yourselves; do you not think their condemnation will be doubly dreadful, that
shall still go on in their sins, after all endeavours to recall them? Doubtless
it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, yea, for Sodom and Gomorrah, in
the day of judgment, than for you! (Matthew 11:22-24).

Beloved, if you have any pity for your perishing souls, close with the present
offers of mercy. If the God that made you have any authority with you, obey His
command and come in. If you are not the despisers of grace, and would not shut
the doors of mercy against yourselves, repent and be converted. Let not heaven
stand open for you in vain. Let not the Lord Jesus open His stores and bid you
buy without money and without price in vain. Let not His Spirit and His
ministers strive with you in vain, and leave you now at last unpersuaded, lest
the sentence go forth against you, ’The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed
of the fire, the founder melteth in vain. Reprobate silver shall men call them,
because the Lord bath rejected them’ (Jeremiah 6:29-30).

’Father of spirits, take the heart in hand that is too hard for my weakness. Do
not Thou end, though I have done. A word from Thy effectual power will do the
work. O Thou, that hast the key of David, that openest and no man shutteth, open
Thou this heart, as Thou didst Lydia’s, and let the King of Glory enter in, and
make this soul Thy captive. Let not the tempter harden him in delays. Let him
not stir from this place, nor take his eyes from these lines, till he resolve to
forego his sins, and accept life on Thy self -denying terms. In Thy Name, O Lord
God, did I go forth to these labours; in Thy name do I close them. Let not all
the time they have cost be lost hours; let not all the thoughts of the heart,
and all the pains that have been about them be lost labour. Lord, put Thy hand
upon the heart of this reader, and send Thy Spirit, as once Thou didst Philip to
join himself to the chariot of the eunuch while he was reading the Word. And
though I should never know it while I live, yet I beseech Thee, O Lord God, let
it be found at the last day that some souls are converted by these labours; and
let some be able to stand forth and say that by these persuasions they were won
unto Thee. Amen, Amen.’ Let him that readeth say, Amen.


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  CHAPTER 12: 1. ALARM TO THE UNCONVERTED
========================================================================

Alarm to the Unconverted Joseph Alleine, 1671

CHOICE EXCERPTS

01 Introduction 02 MISTAKES about Conversion 03 NATURE of Conversion 04
NECESSITY of Conversion 05 MARKS of the Unconverted 06 MISERIES of the
Unconverted 07 DIRECTIONS to the Unconverted 08 MOTIVES to Conversion

09 Conclusion


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  CHAPTER 13: 1.01.     INTRODUCTION
========================================================================

Alarm to the Unconverted by Joseph Alleine, 1671

Introduction An earnest invitation to sinners to turn to God

Dearly Beloved, I gladly acknowledge myself a debtor to you, and am concerned,
as I would be found a good steward of the household of God, to give to everyone
his portion. But the physician is most concerned for those patients whose case
is most doubtful and hazardous; and the father’s pity is especially turned
towards his dying child. So unconverted souls call for earnest compassion and
prompt diligence to pluck them as brands from the burning (Jude 1:23). Therefore
it is to them I shall first apply myself in these pages. But from where shall I
fetch my argument? With what shall I win them? O that I could tell! I would
write to them in tears, I would weep out every argument, I would empty my veins
for ink, I would petition them on my knees. O how thankful should I be if they
would be prevailed with to repent and turn. How long have I labored for you! How
often would I have gathered you! This is what I have prayed for and studied for
these many years, that I might bring you to God. O that I might now do it! Will
you yet be entreated? ’But, O Lord, how insufficient I am for this work. Alas,
with what shall I pierce the scales of Leviathan, or make the heart feel that is
hard as the nether millstone? Shall I go and speak to the grave, and expect the
dead will obey me and come forth? Shall I make an oration to the rocks, or
declaim to the mountains, and think to move them with arguments? Shall I make
the blind to see? From the beginning of the world was it not heard that a man
opened the eyes of the blind (John 9:32). But, O Lord, You can pierce the heart
of the sinner. I can only draw the bow at a venture—but may You direct the arrow
between the joints of the harness. Slay the sin, and save the soul of the sinner
who casts his eyes on these pages. There is no entering into heaven but by the
strait passage of the second birth; without holiness you shall never see God
(Hebrews 12:14). Therefore give yourselves unto the Lord now. Set yourselves to
seek Him now. Set up the Lord Jesus in your hearts, and set Him up in your
houses. Kiss the Son (Psalms 2:12) and embrace the offers of mercy; touch His
scepter and live; for why will you die? I do not beg for myself—but would have
you happy: this is the prize I run for. My soul’s desire and prayer for you is,
that you may be saved (Romans 10:1). I beseech you to permit a friendly
plainness and freedom with you in your deepest concern. I am not playing the
orator to make a learned speech to you, nor dressing the dish with eloquence in
order to please you. These lines are upon a weighty errand indeed—to convince,
and convert, and save you. I am not baiting my hook with rhetoric, nor fishing
for your applause—but for your souls. My work is not to please you—but to save
you; nor is my business with your fancies—but with your hearts. If I have not
your hearts, I have nothing. If I were to please your ears, I would sing another
song. I could then tell you a smoother tale; I would make pillows for you and
speak peace, for how can Ahab love this Micaiah, who always prophesies evil
concerning him? (1 Kings 22:8). But how much better are the wounds of a friend,
than the fair speeches of the harlot, who flatters with her lips, until the
darts strike through the liver? (Proverbs 7:21-23 and Proverbs 6:26). If I were
to quiet a crying infant, I might sing him into a happier mood, or rock him
asleep; but when the child is fallen into the fire, the parent takes another
course; he will not try to still him with a song or trifle. I know, if we
succeed not with you, you are lost; if we cannot get your consent to arise and
come away, you will perish forever. No conversion—no salvation! I must get your
goodwill, or leave you miserable. But here the difficulty of my work again
occurs to me. ’O Lord, choose my stones out of the brook (1 Samuel 17:40, 1
Samuel 17:45). I come in the name of the Lord Almighty. I come forth, like the
stripling David against Goliath, to wrestle, not with flesh and blood—but with
principalities and powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world (Ephesians
6:12). This day let the Lord smite the Philistines, spoil the strong man of his
armor, and give me the captives out of his hand. Lord, choose my words, choose
my weapons for me; and when I put my hand into the bag, and take out a stone and
sling it, may You carry it to the mark, and make it sink, not into the
forehead—but into the heart of the unconverted sinner, and smite him to the
ground like Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:4).’ Some of you do not know what I mean by
conversion, and in vain shall I attempt to persuade you to that which you do not
understand. Therefore for your sakes I will show what conversion is. Others
cherish secret hopes of mercy, though they continue as they are. For them I must
show the necessity of conversion. Others are likely to harden themselves with a
vain conceit that they are converted already. To them I must show the marks of
the unconverted. Others, because they feel no harm, fear none, and so sleep as
upon the top of a mast. To them I shall show the misery of the unconverted.
Others sit still, because they do not see the way of escape. To them I shall
show the means of conversion. And finally, for the quickening of all, I shall
close with the motives to conversion.


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  CHAPTER 14: 1.02.     MISTAKES ABOUT CONVERSION
========================================================================

Alarm to the Unconverted by Joseph Alleine, 1671 MISTAKES about Conversion

The devil has made many counterfeits of conversion, and cheats one with this,
and another with that. He has such craft and artifice in his mystery of deceits
that, if it were possible, he would deceive the very elect. Now, that I may cure
the ruinous mistake of some who think they are converted when they are not, as
well as remove the troubles and fears of others who think they are not converted
when they are, I shall show you the nature of conversion, both what it is not,
and what it is. We will begin with the negative. What conversion is NOT.
Conversion is not the taking upon us the PROFESSION of Christianity.
Christianity is more than a name. If we will hear Paul, it does not lie in
word—but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20). If to cease to be Jews and pagans, and
to put on the Christian profession, had been true conversion—as this is all that
some would have to be understood by it—who better Christians than they of Sardis
and Laodicea? These were all Christians by profession, and had a name to live
only; but because they had a name, they are condemned by Christ, and threatened
to be rejected (Revelation 3:14-16). Are there not many that name the name of
the Lord Jesus, that do not depart from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19), and profess
they know God—but in works deny Him? (Titus 1:16). And will God receive these
for true converts? What! converts from sin, when they still live in sin? It is a
visible contradiction. Surely, if the lamp of profession would have served the
turn, the foolish virgins had never been shut out (Matthew 25:12). We find not
only professing Christians—but preachers of Christ, and wonder-workers,
rejected, because they are evil-workers (Matthew 7:22-23). Conversion is not
putting on the badge of Christ in BAPTISM. Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon Magus
were baptized as well as the rest. How many make a mistake here, deceiving and
being deceived; dreaming that effectual grace is necessarily tied to the
external administration of baptism, so that every baptized person is
regenerated, not only sacramentally, but really and properly. Hence men fancy
that because they were regenerated when baptized, they need no farther work. But
if this were so, then all that have been baptized must necessarily be saved,
because the promise of pardon and salvation is made to conversion and
regeneration (Acts 3:19; Matthew 19:28). And indeed, were conversion and baptism
the same, then men would do well to carry but a certificate of their baptism
when they died, and upon sight of this there were no doubt of their admission
into heaven. In short, if there is nothing more to conversion, or regeneration,
than to be baptized, this will fly directly in the face of that Scripture,
Matthew 7:13-14, as well as multitudes of others. If this is true, we shall no
more say, ’Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way’ for if all that are
baptized are saved, the door is exceeding wide, and we shall henceforth say,
’Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads unto life.’ If this is true,
thousands may go in abreast; and we will no more teach that the righteous are
scarcely saved, or that there is need of such a stir in taking the kingdom of
heaven by violence, and striving to enter in (1 Peter 4:18; Matthew 11:12; Luke
13:24). Surely, if the way be so easy as many suppose, that little more is
necessary than to be baptized and to cry out, ’Lord, have mercy’, we need not
put ourselves to such seeking, and knocking, and wrestling, as the Word requires
in order to salvation. Again, if this is true, we shall no more say, ’Few there
be that find it’; we will rather say, ’Few there be that miss it.’ We shall no
more say, that of the many that are called, only ’few are chosen’ (Matthew
22:14), and that even of the professing Israel but a remnant shall be saved
(Romans 9:27). If this doctrine is true, we shall no more say with the
disciples, ’Who then shall be saved?’ [Matthew 19:25] but rather, ’Who then
shall not be saved?’ Then, if a man be baptized, though he is a fornicator, or a
railer or covetous, or a drunkard—yet he shall inherit the kingdom of God! (1
Corinthians 5:11 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). But some will reply, ’Such as these,
though they received regenerating grace in baptism, are since fallen away, and
must be renewed again, or else they cannot be saved.’ I answer, 1. There is an
infallible connection between regeneration and salvation, as we have already
shown. 2. Then man must be again born again, which carries a great deal of
absurdity in its face. We might as well expect men to be twice born in nature as
twice born in grace! But, 3, and above all, this grants the thing I contend for,
that whatever men do or pretend to receive in baptism, if they are found
afterwards to be grossly ignorant, or profane, or formal, without the power of
godliness, they ’must be born again’ (John 3:7) or else be shut out of the
kingdom of God. So then they must have more to plead for themselves than their
baptismal regeneration. Well, in this you see all are agreed, that, be it more
or less that is received in baptism, if men are evidently unsanctified, they
must be renewed by a thorough and powerful change, or else they cannot escape
the damnation of hell. ’Be not deceived; God is not mocked.’[Galatians 6:7]
Whether it be your baptism, or whatever else you pretend, I tell you from the
living God, that if any of you be a prayerless person, or a scoffer, or a lover
of evil company (Proverbs 13:20), in a word, if you are not a holy, strict, and
self-denying Christian, you cannot be saved (Hebrews 12:14; Matthew 15:14).
Conversion does not lie in MORAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. This does not exceed the
righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, and therefore cannot bring us to the
kingdom of God (Matthew 5:20). Paul, while unconverted, touching the
righteousness which is in the law was blameless (Php 3:6). The Pharisee could
say, ’I am no extortioner, adulterer, unjust’, etc. (Luke 18:11). You must have
something more than all this to show, or else, however you may justify yourself,
God will condemn you. I do not condemn morality—but I warn you not to rest in
it. Piety includes morality—but morality does not insure piety. Conversion does
not consist in an external conformity to the rules of piety. It is manifest that
men may have a form of godliness, without the power (2 Timothy 3:5). Men may
pray long (Matthew 23:14), and fast often (Luke 18:12), and hear gladly (Mark
6:20), and be very forward in the service of God, though costly and expensive
(Isaiah 1:11), and yet be strangers to conversion. They must have more to plead
for themselves than that they go to church, give alms, and make use of prayer,
to prove themselves sound converts. There is no outward service but a hypocrite
may do it, even to the giving of all his goods to feed the poor, and his body to
be burned (1 Corinthians 13:3). Conversion is not the mere chaining up of
corruption by EDUCATION, human laws or the force of affliction. It is too common
and easy to mistake education for grace; but if this were enough, who a better
man than Jehoash? While Jehoiada, his uncle, lived, he was very forward in God’s
service, and calls upon him to repair the house of the Lord (2 Kings 12:2, 2
Kings 12:7). But here was nothing more than good education all this while; for
when his good tutor was taken away he appears to have been but a wolf chained
up, and falls into idolatry. In short, conversion does not consist in
ILLUMINATION or CONVICTION or in a SUPERFICIAL CHANGE or PARTIAL REFORMATION. An
apostate may be an enlightened man (Hebrews 6:4), and a Felix tremble under
conviction (Acts 24:25), and a Herod do many things (Mark 6:20). It is one thing
to have sin alarmed only by convictions, and another to have it crucified by
converting grace. Many, because they have been troubled in conscience for their
sins, think well of their case, miserably mistaking conviction for conversion.
With these, Cain might have passed for a convert, who ran up and down the world
like a man distracted, under the rage of a guilty conscience, until he stifled
it with building and business. Others think that because they have given up
their riotous ways, and are broken off from evil company or some particular
lust, and are reduced to sobriety and civility, they are now real converts. They
forget that there is a vast difference between being sanctified and civilized.
They forget that many seek to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and are not far
from it, and arrive to the almost of Christianity, and yet fall short at last.
While conscience holds the whip over them, many will pray, hear, read, and
forbear their delightful sins; but no sooner is the lion asleep than they are at
their sins again. Who more religious than the Jews when God’s hand was upon
them? Yet no sooner was the affliction over, than they forgot God. You may have
forsaken a troublesome sin, and have escaped the gross pollutions of the world,
and yet in all this not have changed your carnal nature. You may take a crude
mass of lead and mold it into the more lovely proportion of a plant, and then
into the shape of an animal, and then into the form and features of a man; but
all the time it is still lead. So a man may pass through various transmutations,
from ignorance to knowledge, from profanity to civility, then to a form of
religion, and all this time he is still carnal and unregenerate, his nature
remains unchanged. Hear then, O sinners, hear as you would live. Why should you
willfully deceive yourselves, or build your hopes upon the sand? I know that he
will find hard work, who goes to pluck away your hopes. It cannot but be
unpleasant to you, and truly it is not pleasing to me. I set about it as a
surgeon when about to cut off a mortified limb from his beloved friend, which of
necessity he must do, though with an aching heart. But understand me, beloved, I
am only taking down the ruinous house, which otherwise will speedily fall of
itself and bury you in the ruins—that I may build it fair, strong, and firm
forever. The hope of the wicked shall perish (Proverbs 11:7). And had you not
better, O sinner, let the Word convince you now in time, and let go your false
and self-deluding hopes, than have death open your eyes too late, and find
yourself in hell before you are aware? I would be a false and faithless shepherd
if I would not tell you, that you who have built your hopes upon no better
grounds than these before mentioned, are yet in your sins! Let conscience speak.
What have you to plead for yourselves? Is it that you wear Christ’s livery; that
you bear His name; that you are a member of the visible church; that you have
knowledge in the points of religion, are civilized, perform religious duties,
are just in your dealings, have been troubled in conscience for your sins? I
tell you from the Lord, these pleas will never be accepted at God’s bar. All
this, though good in itself, will not prove you converted, and so will not
suffice to your salvation. O look to it, and resolve to turn speedily and
entirely. Study your own hearts; do not rest until God has made thorough work
with you; for you must be converted men, or else you are lost men. But if these
persons come short of conversion, what shall I say of the profane person? It may
be he will scarcely cast his eyes on, or lend his ear to this discourse; but if
there be any such reading, or within hearing, he must know from the Lord that
made him, that he is far from the kingdom of God. May a man keep company with
the wise virgins, and yet be shut out; and shall not a companion of fools much
more be destroyed? May a man be true in his dealings, and yet not be justified
before God? What then will become of you, O wretched man, whose conscience tells
you that you are false in your trade and false to your word? If men may be
enlightened and brought to the external performance of holy duties, and yet go
down to perdition for resting in them and sitting down short of conversion; what
will become of you, O miserable men, who live without God in the world? What
will become of you, O wretched sinners, with whom God is scarcely in all your
thoughts; who are so ignorant that you cannot pray, or so careless that you will
not? O repent and be converted, break off your sins by righteousness. Away to
Christ for pardoning and renewing grace. Give up yourselves to Him, to walk with
Him in holiness, or you shall never see God. O that you would heed the warnings
of God! In His name I once more admonish you. Turn you at my reproof. Forsake
the foolish, and live. Be sober, righteous, and godly. Wash your hands, you
sinners; purify your hearts, you double-minded. Cease to do evil, learn to do
well (Proverbs 1:23 and Proverbs 9:6; Titus 2:12; James 4:8; Isaiah 1:16-17).
But if you will go on, you must die.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 15: 1.03.     NATURE OF CONVERSION
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Alarm to the Unconverted by Joseph Alleine, 1671 The NATURE of Conversion

I dare not leave you with your eyes half open, like him who saw ’men as trees
walking’ [Mark 8:24]. The Word is profitable for doctrine as well as reproof.
And therefore, having thus far conducted you by the shelves and rocks of so many
dangerous mistakes, I would guide you at length into the haven of truth.
Conversion then, in short, lies in the thorough change both of the heart and
life. I shall briefly describe it in its nature and causes. 1. The AUTHOR of
conversion is the Spirit of God, and therefore it is called ’the sanctification
of the Spirit’ (2 Thessalonians 2:13) and ’the renewing of the Holy Spirit’
(Titus 3:5). This does not exclude the other persons in the Trinity, for the
apostle teaches us to bless the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ’has
begotten us again unto a living hope’ (1 Peter 1:3). And Christ is said to ’give
repentance unto Israel’ (Acts 5:31); and is called the ’everlasting Father’
(Isaiah 9:6) and we His seed, and ’the children whom God has given Him’ (Hebrews
2:13). Yet this work is principally ascribed to the Holy Spirit, and so we are
said to be ’born of the Spirit’ (John 3:5-6). So then, conversion is a work
above man’s power. We are ’born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man—but of God’ (John 1:13). Never think you can convert
yourself. If ever you would be savingly converted, you must despair of doing it
in your own strength. It is a resurrection from the dead (Ephesians 2:1), a new
creation (Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:10), a work of absolute omnipotence
(Ephesians 1:19). Are not these out of the reach of human power? If you have no
more than you had by your first birth—a good nature, a meek and chaste temper
etc.—you are a stranger to true conversion. Conversion is a supernatural work.
2. The efficient CAUSE of conversion is both internal and external. [1] The
INTERNAL cause is free grace alone. ’Not by works of righteousness which we have
done—but of his mercy he saved us’, and ’by the renewing of the Holy Spirit’
(Titus 3:5). ’Of his own will he begat us’ (James 1:18). We are chosen and
called unto sanctification, not for it (Ephesians 1:4). God finds nothing in man
to turn His heart—but enough to turn His stomach; He finds enough to provoke His
loathing—but nothing to excite His love. Look back upon yourself, O Christian!
Reflect upon your swinish nature, your filthy swill, your once beloved mire (2
Peter 2:1-22). Behold your slime and corruption. Do not your own clothes abhor
you? (Job 9:31). How then should holiness and purity love you? Be astonished, O
heavens, at this; be moved, O earth. Who but must needs cry, Grace! Grace!
(Zechariah 4:7). Hear and blush, you children of the Most High God. O unthankful
men, that free grace is no more in your mouths, in your thoughts; no more
adored, admired and commended by such as you! One would think you should be
doing nothing but praising and admiring God wherever you are. How can you forget
such grace, or pass it over with a slight and formal mention? What but free
grace could move God to love you, unless enmity could do it, unless deformity
could do it? How affectionately Peter lifts up his hands, ’Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus, who in his abundant mercy has begotten us again.’
[1 Peter 1:3] How feelingly does Paul magnify the free mercy of God in it, ’God
who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, has quickened us
together with Christ. By grace are you saved’ (Ephesians 2:4-5)! [2] The
EXTERNAL cause is the merit and intercession of the blessed Jesus. He has
obtained gifts for the rebellious (Psalms 68:18), and through Him it is that God
works in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight (Hebrews 13:21). Through
Him are all spiritual blessings bestowed upon us in heavenly places (Ephesians
1:3). He intercedes for the elect that believe not (John 17:20). Every convert
is the fruit of His travail. Never was an infant born into the world with that
difficulty which Christ endured for us. All the pains that He suffered on the
cross were our birth-pains. He is made sanctification to us (1 Corinthians
1:30). He sanctified Himself, that is, set apart Himself as a sacrifice, that we
might be sanctified (John 17:19). We are sanctified through the offering of His
body once for all (Hebrews 10:10). It is nothing, then, but the merit and
intercession of Christ, that prevails with God to bestow on us converting grace.
If you are a new creature, you know to whom you owe it; to Christ’s pangs and
prayers. The foal does not more naturally run after the dam, nor the suckling to
the bosom, than a believer to Jesus Christ. And where else should you go? If any
in the world can show for your heart what Christ can, let them do it. Does Satan
claim you? Does the world court you? Does sin sue for your heart? Why, were
these crucified for you? O Christian, love and serve your Lord while you have a
being. 3. The INSTRUMENT of conversion is personal and real. [1] The PERSONAL
instrument is the ministry. ’In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the
gospel’ (1 Corinthians 4:15). Christ’s ministers are those who are sent to open
men’s eyes, and to turn them to God (Acts 26:18). O unthankful world! Little do
you know what you are doing when you are persecuting the messengers of the Lord.
These are they whose business it is, under Christ, to save you. Whom have you
reproached and blasphemed? (Isaiah 37:23). These are the servants of the most
high God that show unto you the way of salvation (Acts 16:17), and do you
requite them thus, O foolish and unwise? (Deuteronomy 32:6). O sons of
ingratitude, against whom do you sport yourselves? These are the instruments
that God uses to convert and save sinners: and do you revile your physicians,
and throw your pilots overboard? ’Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they do.’ [Luke 23:34] [2] The REAL instrument is the Word. We are begotten by
the word of truth. It is this that enlightens the eye, that converts the soul
(Psalms 19:7-8), that makes us wise to salvation (2 Timothy 3:15). This is the
incorruptible seed by which we are born again (1 Peter 1:23). If we are washed,
it is by the Word (Ephesians 5:26). If we are sanctified, it is through the
truth (John 17:17). This generates faith, and regenerates us (Romans 10:17;
James 1:18). O you saints, how you should love the Word, for by this you have
been converted! You that have felt its renewing power, make much of it while you
live; be ever thankful for it. Tie it about your neck, write it upon your hand,
lay it in your bosom. When you go let it lead you, when you sleep let it keep
you, when you wake let it talk with you (Proverbs 6:21-22). Say with the
Psalmist, ’I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have quickened me’
(Psalms 119:93). You who are unconverted, read the Word with diligence; flock to
where it is powerfully preached. Pray for the coming of the Spirit in the Word.
Come from your knees to the sermon, and come from the sermon to your knees. The
sermon does not prosper—because it is not watered by prayers and tears, nor
covered by meditation. 4. The final END of conversion is man’s salvation, and
God’s glory. We are chosen through sanctification to salvation (2 Thessalonians
2:13), called that we might be glorified (Romans 8:30), but especially that God
might be glorified (Isaiah 60:21), that we should show forth His praises (1
Peter 2:9), and be fruitful in good works (Colossians 1:10). O Christian, do not
forget the end of your calling. Let your light shine, let your lamp burn, let
your fruits be good and many and in season (Psalms 1:3). Let all your designs
fall in with God’s, that He may be magnified in you (Php 1:20). 5. The SUBJECT
of conversion is the elect sinner—and that in all his parts and powers, members
and mind. Whom God predestinates, them only He calls (Romans 8:30). None are
drawn to Christ by their calling, nor come to Him by believing—but His sheep,
those whom the Father has given Him (John 6:37, John 6:44). Effectual calling
runs parallel with eternal election (2 Peter 1:10). You begin at the wrong end
if you first dispute about your election. Prove your conversion, and then never
doubt your election. If you cannot yet prove it, set upon a present and thorough
turning. Whatever God’s purposes be, which are secret, I am sure His promises
are plain. How desperately do rebels argue! ’If I am elected I shall be saved,
do what I will. If not, I shall be damned, do what I can.’ Perverse sinner, will
you begin where you should end? Is not the word before you? What says it?
’Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.’ ’If you mortify
the deeds of the body you shall live.’ ’Believe and be saved’ (Acts 3:19; Romans
8:13; Acts 16:31). What can be plainer? Do not stand still disputing about your
election—but set to repenting and believing. Cry to God for converting grace.
Revealed things belong to you; in these busy yourself. It is just, as one well
said, that they who will not feed on the plain food of the Word should be choked
with the bones. Whatever God’s purposes may be, I am sure His promises are true.
Whatever the decrees of heaven may be, I am sure that if I repent and believe, I
shall be saved; and that if I do not repent, I shall be damned. Is not this
plain ground for you; and will you yet run upon the rocks? More particularly,
this change of conversion extends to the whole man. A carnal person may have
some shreds of good morality—but he is never good throughout the whole cloth.
Conversion is not a repairing of the old building; but it takes all down, and
erects a new structure. It is not the sewing on a patch of holiness; but with
the true convert, holiness is woven into all his powers, principles and
practice. The sincere Christian is quite a new fabric, from the foundation to
the top-stone. He is a new man, a new creature; all things are become new (2
Corinthians 5:17). Conversion is a deep work, a heart work. It makes a new man
in a new world. It extends to the whole man, to the mind, to the members, to the
motions of the whole life. [1] The MIND. Conversion turns the balance of the
judgment, so that God and His glory outweigh all carnal and worldly interests.
It opens the eye of the mind, and makes the scales of its native ignorance fall
off, and turns men from darkness to light. The man who before saw no danger in
his condition, now concludes himself lost and forever undone (Acts 2:37) except
renewed by the power of grace. He who formerly thought there was little hurt in
sin, now comes to see it to be the chief of evils. He sees the unreasonableness,
the unrighteousness, the deformity and the filthiness of sin; so that he is
affrighted with it, loathes it, dreads it, flees from it, and even abhors
himself for it (Romans 7:15; Job 42:6; Ezekiel 36:31). He who could see little
sin in himself, and could find no matter for confession, now sees the rottenness
of his heart, the desperate and deep pollution of his whole nature. He cries,
’Unclean! Unclean! Lord, purge me with hyssop, wash me thoroughly, create in me
a clean heart.’ He sees himself altogether filthy, corrupt both root and branch
(Psalms 14:3; Matthew 7:17-18). He writes ’unclean’ upon all his parts, and
powers, and performances (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 7:18). He discovers the filthy
corners that he was never aware of, and sees the blasphemy, and theft, and
murder, and adultery, that is in his heart, of which before he was ignorant.
Hitherto he saw no form nor loveliness in Christ, no beauty that he should
desire Him; but now he finds the Hidden Treasure, and will sell all to buy this
field. Christ is the Pearl he seeks. Now, according to this new light, the man
is of another mind, another judgment, than he was before. Now God is all with
him, he has none in heaven nor in earth like Him; he truly prefers Him before
all the world. His favor is his life, the light of His countenance is more than
corn and wine and oil (the good that he formerly enquired after, and set his
heart upon. Psalms 4:6-7). A hypocrite may come to yield a general assent that
God is the chief good; indeed, the wiser heathens, some few of them, have at
least stumbled upon this. But no hypocrite comes so far as to look upon God as
the most desirable and suitable good to him, and thereupon to acquiesce in Him.
This is the convert’s voice: ’The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Whom have I
in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you. God is
the strength of my heart and my portion forever’ (Lamentations 3:24; Psalms
73:25-26). Conversion turns the bias of the WILL both as to means and end. The
intentions of the will are altered. Now the man has new ends and designs. He now
intends God above all, and desires and designs nothing in all the world, so much
as that Christ may be magnified in him. He counts himself more happy in this
than in all that the earth could yield, that he may be serviceable to Christ,
and bring Him glory. This is the mark he aims at, that the name of Jesus may be
great in the world. Reader, do you read this without asking yourself whether it
be thus with you? Pause a while, and examine yourself. The CHOICE is also
changed. He pitches upon God as his blessedness, and upon Christ and holiness as
means to bring him to God. He chooses Jesus for his Lord. He is not merely
forced to Christ by the storm, nor does he take Christ for bare necessity—but he
comes freely. His choice is not made in a fright, as with the terrified
conscience, or the dying sinner—who will seemingly do anything for Christ—but
only takes Christ rather than hell. He deliberately resolves that Christ is his
best choice, and would rather have Him than all the good of this world, might he
enjoy it while he would (Php 1:23). Again, he takes holiness for his path; he
does not out of mere necessity submit to it—but he likes it and loves it. ’I
have chosen the way of your precepts’ (Psalms 119:173). He takes God’s
testimonies not as his bondage—but his heritage; yes, heritage forever. He
counts them not his burden—but his bliss; not his cords—but his cordials (1 John
5:3; Psalms 119:14, Psalms 119:16, Psalms 119:47). He does not only bear—but
takes up Christ’s yoke. He takes not holiness as the stomach does the loathed
medicine, which a man will take rather than die—but as the hungry man does his
beloved food. No time passes so sweetly with him, when he is himself, as that
which he spends in the exercises of holiness. These are both his nutriment and
element, the desire of his eyes and the joy of his heart. Put it to your
conscience whether you are the man. O happy man, if this be your case! But see
that you are thorough and impartial in the search. Conversion turns the bent of
the AFFECTIONS. These all run in a new channel. The Jordan is now driven back,
and the water runs upwards against its natural course. Christ is his hope. This
is his prize. Here his eye is: here his heart. He is content to cast all
overboard, as the merchant in the storm about to perish—so he may but keep this
jewel. The first of his desires is not after gold—but grace. He hungers for it,
he seeks it as silver, he digs for it as for hidden treasure. He had rather be
gracious than great. He had rather be the holiest man on earth than the most
learned, the most famous, the most prosperous. While carnal, he said, ’O if I
were but in great esteem, rolling in wealth, and swimming in pleasure; if my
debts were paid, and I and mine provided for, then I would be a happy man.’ But
now the tune is changed. ’Oh!’ says the convert, ’if I had but my corruptions
subdued, if I had such a measure of grace, and fellowship with God, though I
were poor and despised—I would not care, I would account myself a blessed man.’
Reader, is this the language of your soul? His JOYS are changed. He rejoices in
the way of God’s testimonies as much as in all riches. He delights in the law of
the Lord, in which he once had little savor. He has no such joy as in the
thoughts of Christ, the enjoyment of His company, the prosperity of His people.
His CARES are quite altered. He was once set for the world, and any scrap of
spare time was enough for his soul. Now his cry is, ’What must I do to be
saved?’ (Acts 16:30). His great concern is how to secure his soul. O how he
would bless you, if you could but put him out of doubt concerning this! His
FEARS are not so much of suffering—as of sinning. Once he was afraid of nothing
so much as the loss of his estate or reputation; nothing sounded so terrible to
him as pain, or poverty, or disgrace. Now these are little to him, in comparison
with God’s dishonor or displeasure. How warily does he walk, lest he should
tread upon a snare! He looks in front, and behind: he has his eye upon his
heart, and is often casting it over his shoulder, lest he should be overtaken
with sin. It kills his heart to think of losing God’s favor; this he dreads as
his only undoing. No thought pains him so much as to think of parting with
Christ. His LOVE runs in a new course. ’My Love was crucified’, says Ignatius,
that is, my Christ. ’This is my beloved’, says the spouse (Song of Solomon
5:16). How often does Augustine pour his love upon Christ! He can find no words
sweet enough. ’Let me see You, O Light of my eyes. Come, O Joy of my spirit; Let
me behold You, O Gladness of my heart. Let me love You, O Life of my soul.
Appear unto me, O my great delight, my sweet comfort, O my God, my life, and the
whole glory of my soul. Let me find You, O Desire of my heart; let me hold You,
O Love of my soul. Let me embrace You, O Heavenly Bridegroom. Let me possess
You.’ His SORROWS have now a new vent (2 Corinthians 7:9-10). The view of his
sins, the sight of Christ crucified—which could scarcely stir him before, now
how much do they affect his heart! His hatred boils, his anger burns against
sin. He has no patience with himself; he calls himself fool, and beast; and
thinks any name too good for himself, when his indignation is stirred up against
sin (Psalms 73:22; Proverbs 30:2). He could once wallow in it with much
pleasure; now he loathes the thought of returning to it as much as of licking up
the filthiest vomit! Commune then with your own heart, and attend to the general
current of your affections, whether they be towards God in Christ above all
other concerns. Indeed, sudden and strong motions of the affections are often
found in hypocrites, especially where the natural temperament is warm. And
contrariwise, the sanctified themselves are often without conscious stirring of
the affections, where the temperament is more slow, dry, and dull. The great
inquiry is, whether the judgment and will are steadily determined for God above
all other good, real or apparent. If so, and if the affections do sincerely
follow their choice and conduct, though it be not so strongly and feelingly as
is to be desired, there is no doubt but the change is saving. [2] The MEMBERS.
These members which before were the instruments of sin—are now become the holy
utensils of Christ’s living temple. He who before dishonored his body, now
possesses his vessel in sanctification and honor, in temperance, chastity, and
sobriety, and dedicates it to the Lord. The EYE, which was once a wandering eye,
a wanton eye, a haughty, a covetous eye—is now employed, as Mary’s, in weeping
over its sins, in beholding God in His works, in reading His Word, or in looking
for objects of mercy and opportunities for His service. The EAR, which was once
open to Satan’s call, and which did relish nothing so much as filthy, or at
least frothy talk, and the laughter of fools—is now bored to the door of
Christ’s house, and open to His disciples. It says, ’Speak, Lord, for your
servant hears.’ [1 Samuel 3:10] It waits for His words as the rain, and relishes
them more than the appointed food (Job 23:12), more than the honey and the
honeycomb (Psalms 19:10). The HEAD, which was full of worldly designs—is now
filled with other matters, and set on the study of God’s will, and the man
employs his head, not so much about his gain—as about his duty. The thoughts and
cares that fill his head are, principally, how he may please God and flee sin.
His HEART, which was a sty of filthy lusts—is now become an altar of incense,
where the fire of divine love is ever kept burning, and from which the daily
sacrifice of prayer and praise, and the sweet incense of holy desires,
ejaculations and prayers, are continually ascending. The MOUTH is become a well
of life; his tongue as choice silver, and his lips feed many. Now the salt of
grace has seasoned his speech, has eaten out the corruption (Colossians 4:6),
and cleansed the man from his filthy conversation, flattery, boasting, railing,
lying, swearing, backbiting--which once came like flashes proceeding from the
hell which was in the heart (James 3:6). The throat, that once was an open
sepulcher, now sends forth the sweet breath of prayer and holy discourse, and
the man speaks in another tongue, in the language of Canaan, and is never so
well as when talking of God and Christ, and the matters of another world. His
mouth brings forth wisdom; his tongue is become the silver trumpet of his
Maker’s praise, his glory and the best member that he has. Now here you will
find the hypocrite sadly deficient. He speaks, it may be, like an angel—but he
has a covetous eye, or the gain of unrighteousness is in his hand. His hand is
white—but his heart is full of rottenness (Matthew 23:27), full of unmortified
cares, a very oven of lust, a shop of pride, the seat of malice. It may be, with
Nebuchadnezzar’s image, he has a golden head—a great deal of knowledge; but he
has feet of clay—his affections are worldly, he minds earthly things, and his
way and walk are sensual and carnal. The work is not thorough with him. [3] The
LIFE and PRACTICE. The new man takes a new course (Ephesians 2:2-3). His
conversation is in heaven (Php 3:20). No sooner does Christ call by effectual
grace but he straightway becomes a follower of Him. When God has given the new
heart, and written His law in his mind—he henceforth walks in His statutes and
keeps His judgments. Though sin may dwell in him—truly a wearisome and unwelcome
guest—yet it has no more dominion over him. He has his fruit unto holiness, and
though he makes many a blot—yet the law and life of Jesus is what he looks at as
his pattern, and he has an unfeigned respect to all God’s commandments. He makes
conscience even of little sins and little duties. His very infirmities which he
cannot help, though he would, are his soul’s burden, and are like dust in a
man’s eye, which though but little—is not a little troublesome. (O man, do you
read this, and never stop to examine yourself?) The sincere convert is not one
man at church—and another at home. He is not a saint on his knees—and a cheat in
his shop. He will not tithe mint and cummin, and neglect mercy and judgment, and
the weightier matters of the law. He does not pretend piety—and neglect
morality. But he turns from all his sins and keeps all God’s statutes, though
not perfectly, except in desire and endeavor—yet sincerely, not allowing himself
in the breach of any. Now he delights in the Word, and sets himself to prayer,
and opens his hand and draws out his soul to the hungry. He breaks off his sins
by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor (Daniel 4:27).
He has a good conscience willing in all things to live honestly (Hebrews 13:18),
and to keep without offence towards God and men. Here again you find the
unsoundness of many, who take themselves for good Christians. They are partial
in the law (Malachi 2:9), and take up the cheap and easy duties of religion—but
they do not go through with the whole work. They are as a cake half-baked and
half-raw. It may be, you find them exact in their words, punctual in their
dealings—but then they do not exercise themselves unto godliness; and as for
examining themselves and governing their hearts, to this they are strangers. You
may see them duly at church; but follow them to their families, and there you
shall see little but the world minded. Or if they have family duties, follow
them to their closets, and there you shall find their souls are little looked
after. It may be that they seem religious—but they do not bridle their tongues,
and so all their religion is vain (James 1:26). It may be they come to closet
and family prayer; but follow them to their shops, and there you find them in
the habit of lying, or some fashionable way of deceit. Thus the hypocrite is not
thorough in his obedience. 6. The OBJECTS from which we turn in conversion are,
sin, Satan, the world, and our own righteousness. [1] We turn from SIN. When a
man is converted, he is forever at enmity with sin; yes, with all sin—but most
of all with his own sins, and especially with his bosom sin. Sin is now the
object of his indignation. His sin swells his sorrows. It is sin which pierces
him and wounds him; he feels it like a thorn in his side, like a splinter in his
eye. He groans and struggles under it, and not formally—but feelingly cries out,
’O wretched man!’ [Romans 7:24] He is not impatient of any burden—so much as of
his sin. If God should give him his choice, he would choose any affliction so he
might be rid of sin; he feels it like the cutting gravel in his shoes, pricking
and paining him as he goes. Before conversion he had light thoughts of sin. He
cherished it in his bosom, as Uriah his lamb; he nourished it up, and it grew up
together with him; it did eat, as it were, of his own plate, and drank of his
own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him as a sweet daughter. But when God
opens his eyes by conversion, he throws it away with abhorrence, as a man would
a loathsome toad, which in the dark he had hugged fast in his bosom, and thought
it had been some pretty and harmless bird. When a man is savingly changed, he is
deeply convinced not only of the danger but the defilement of sin; and O, how
earnest is he with God to be purified! He loathes himself for his sins. He runs
to Christ, and casts himself into the fountain set open for him and for
uncleanness. If he falls into sin, what a stir is there to get all clean again!
He has no rest until he flees to the Word, and washes and rubs and rinses in the
infinite fountain, laboring to cleanse himself from all filthiness both of flesh
and spirit. The sound convert is heartily engaged against sin. He struggles with
it, he wars against it; he is too often foiled—but he will never yield the
cause, nor lay down the weapons, while he has breath in his body. He will make
no peace; he will give no quarter. He can forgive his other enemies, he can pity
them and pray for them; but here he is implacable, here he is set upon their
extermination. He hunts as it were for the precious life; his eye shall not
pity, his hand shall not spare, though it be a right hand or a right eye. Be it
a gainful sin, most delightful to his nature or the support of his esteem with
worldly friends—yet he will rather throw his gain down into the gutter, see his
credit fail, or the flower of his pleasure wither in his hand—than he will allow
himself in any known way of sin. He will grant no indulgence, he will give no
toleration. He draws upon sin wherever he meets it, and frowns upon it with this
unwelcome salute, ’Have I found you, O my enemy!’ Reader, has conscience been at
work while you have been looking over these lines? Have you pondered these
things in your heart? Have you searched the book within, to see if these things
are so? If not, read it again, and make your conscience speak, whether or not it
is thus with you. Have you crucified your flesh with its affections and lusts;
and not only confessed—but forsaken your sins, all sin in your fervent desires,
and the ordinary practice of every deliberate and wilful sin in your life? If
not, you are yet unconverted. Does not conscience fly in your face as you read,
and tell you that you live in a way of lying for your advantage? that you use
deceit in your calling? that there is some way of secret sin that you live in?
Why then, do not deceive yourself. ’You are in the gall of bitterness and the
bond of iniquity.’ [Acts 8:23] Does your unbridled tongue, your indulgence of
appetite, your wicked company, your neglect of prayer, of reading and hearing
the Word, now witness against you, and say, ’We are your works, and we will
follow you’? Or, if I have not hit you right, does not the monitor within tell
you, there is such and such a way that you know to be evil, that yet for some
carnal respect you tolerate in yourself? If this be the case, you are to this
day unregenerate, and must be changed or condemned. [2] We turn from SATAN.
Conversion binds the strong man, spoils his armor, casts out his goods, and
turns men from the power of Satan unto God. Before, the devil could no sooner
hold up his finger to the sinner to call him to his wicked company, sinful
games, and filthy delights—but immediately he followed, ’like an ox going to the
slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life’
(Proverbs 7:22-23). No sooner could Satan bid him lie—but immediately he had it
on his tongue. No sooner could Satan offer a filthy object—but he was overcome
with lust. If the devil says, ’Away with these family duties’, be sure they
shall be rarely performed in his house. If the devil says, ’Away with this
strictness, this preciseness’ he will keep far enough from it. If he tells him,
’There is no need of these secret-duties’, he will go from day to day and
scarcely perform them. But after he is converted he serves another Master, and
takes quite another course; he goes and comes at Christ’s bidding. Satan may
sometimes catch his foot in a trap—but he will no longer be a willing captive.
He watches against the snares and baits of Satan, and studies to be acquainted
with his devices. He is very suspicious of his plots, and is very jealous in
what comes across him, lest Satan should have some design upon him. He wrestles
against principalities and powers; he entertains the messenger of Satan as men
do the messenger of death. He keeps his eye upon his enemy, and watches in his
duties, lest Satan should get an advantage. [3] We turn from the WORLD. Before a
man has true faith, he is overcome by the world. He either bows down to mammon,
or idolizes his reputation, or is a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God.
Here is the root of man’s misery by the fall. He is turned aside to the
creature, and gives that esteem, confidence and affection to the creature—which
is due to God alone. O miserable man, what a deformed monster has sin made you!
God made you a little lower than the angels; sin has made you little better than
the devils! Sin has made you a monster that has his head and his heart where his
feet should be--and his feet kicking against heaven--and everything out of
place. The world which was formed to serve you--now rules you! The deceitful
harlot has bewitched you with her enchantments--and made you bow down and serve
her! But converting grace sets all in order again, and puts God on the throne,
and the world at his footstool; Christ in the heart, and the world under the
feet. ’I am crucified to the world, and the world to me’ (Galatians 6:14).
Before this change, all the cry was ’Who will show us any worldly good?’ but now
he prays, ’Lord, lift you up the light of your countenance upon me’, and take
the corn and wine whoever will (Psalms 4:6-7). Before, his heart’s delight and
content were in the world; then the song was, ’Soul, take your ease—eat, drink,
and be merry! You have much goods laid up for many years.’ [Luke 12:19] But now
all this is withered, and there is no loveliness, that we should desire it; and
he tunes up with the sweet psalmist of Israel, ’The Lord is the portion of my
inheritance; the lines are fallen to me in a fair place, and I have a goodly
heritage.’ [Psalms 16:5-6] Nothing else can make him content. He has written
vanity and vexation upon all his worldly enjoyments, and loss and dross upon all
human excellencies. He has life and immortality now in pursuit. He pants for
grace and glory, and has an incorruptible crown in view. His heart is set to
seek the Lord. He first seeks the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
religion is no longer a casual matter with him—but his main care. Before, the
world had the sway with him. He would do more for gain than godliness—more to
please his friend or his flesh, than the God that made him; and God must stand
by until the world was first served. But now all must stand by; he hates father
and mother, and life, and all, in comparison of Christ. Well then, pause a
little, and look within. Does not this concern you? You pretend to be for
Christ—but does not the world sway you? Do you not take more real delight and
contentment in the world than in Him? Do you not find yourself more at ease when
the world is in your mind and you are surrounded with carnal delights, than when
retired to prayer and meditation in your room, or attending upon God’s Word and
worship? There is no surer evidence of an unconverted state than to have the
things of the world uppermost in our aim, love and estimation. With the sound
convert, Christ has the supremacy. How dear is His name to him! How precious is
His favor! The name of Jesus is engraved on his heart. Honor is but air, and
laughter is but madness, and mammon is fallen like Dagon before the ark, with
hands and head broken—when once Christ is savingly revealed. Here is the pearl
of great price to the true convert; here is his treasure; here is his hope. This
is his glory, ’My beloved is mine, and I am his.’ [Song of Solomon 2:16] O, it
is sweeter to him to be able to say, ’Christ is mine!’, than if he could say,
’The kingdom is mine; the Indies are mine.’ [4] We turn from our own
RIGHTEOUSNESS. Before conversion, man seeks to cover himself with his own
fig-leaves, and to make himself acceptable with God, by his own duties. He is
apt to trust in himself, and set up his own righteousness, and to reckon his
pennies for gold, and not to submit to the righteousness of God. But conversion
changes his mind; now he counts his own righteousness as filthy rags. He casts
it off, as a man would the verminous tatters of a nasty beggar. Now he is
brought to poverty of spirit, complains of and condemns himself; and all his
inventory is, ’I am poor, and miserable, and wretched, and blind, and naked!’
[Revelation 3:17]. He sees a world of iniquity in his holy things, and calls his
once-idolized righteousness but filth and loss; and would not for a thousand
worlds be found in it! Now he begins to set a high price upon Christ’s
righteousness. He sees the need of Christ in every duty, to justify his person
and sanctify his performances; he cannot live without Him; he cannot pray
without Him. Christ must go with him, or else he cannot come into the presence
of God; he leans upon Christ, and so bows himself in the house of his God. He
sets himself down for a lost undone man without Him; his life is hid in Christ,
as the root of a tree spreads in the earth for stability and nourishment.
Before, the gospel of Christ was a stale and tasteless thing; but now—how sweet
is Christ! Augustine could not relish his once-admired Cicero, because he could
not find in his writings the name of Christ. How emphatically he cries, ’O most
sweet, most loving, most kind, most dear, most precious, most desired, most
lovely, most fair!’ all in a breath, when he speaks of and to Christ. In a word,
the voice of the convert is, with the martyr, ’None but Christ!’ 7. The OBJECT
to which we turn in conversion is—God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—whom the
true convert takes as his all-sufficient and eternal blessedness. A man is never
truly sanctified until his heart be truly set upon God above all things, as his
portion and chief good. These are the natural breathings of a believer’s heart:
’You are my portion.’ ’My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.’ ’My
expectation is from him; he alone is my rock and salvation and my glory; the
rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God’ (Psalms 119:57; Psalms 34:2;
Psalms 62:1-12). Would you be certain whether you are converted or not? Now let
your soul and all that is within you attend. Have you taken God for your
happiness? Where does the desire of your heart lie? What is the source of your
greatest satisfaction? Come, then, and with Abraham lift up your eyes eastward,
and westward, and northward, and southward, and look around you; what is it that
you would have to make you happy? If God should give you your choice, as He did
to Solomon, or should say to you, as Ahasuerus to Esther, ’What is your
petition, and what is your request, and it shall be granted you?’ [Esther 5:6]
what would you ask? Go into the gardens of pleasure, and gather all the fragrant
flowers there—would these satisfy you? Go to the treasures of mammon; suppose
you may carry away as much as you desire. Go to the towers, to the trophies of
honor. What do you think of being a man of renown, and having a name like the
name of the great men of the earth? Would any of these, would all of these
satisfy you, and make you to count yourself happy? If so, then certainly you are
carnal and unconverted. If not, go farther; wade into the divine excellencies,
the store of His mercies, the hiding of His power, the unfathomable depths of
His all-sufficiency. Does this suit you best and please you most? Do you say,
’It is good to be here. Here will I pitch, here will I live and die’? Will you
let all the world go rather than this? Then it is well between God and you:
happy are you, O man—happy are you that ever you were born. If God can make you
happy, you must be happy; for you have taken the Lord to be your God. Do you say
to Christ as He to us, ’Your Father shall be my Father, and your God my God’?
Here is the turning point. "Whom do I have in heaven but You? And I desire
nothing on earth but You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the
strength of my heart, my portion forever." Psalms 73:25-26 An unsound convert
never takes up his rest in God; but converting grace does the work, and so cures
the fatal misery of the fall, by turning the heart from its idols—to the living
God. Now the soul says, ’Lord, where shall I go? You have the words of eternal
life.’ [John 6:68] Here he centers, here he settles. It is the entrance of
heaven to him; he sees his interest in God. When he discovers this, he says,
’Return unto your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you’
(Psalms 116:7). And he is even ready to breathe out Simeon’s song, ’Lord, now
let you your servant depart in peace’ [Luke 2:29]; and says with Jacob, when his
old heart revived at the welcome tidings, ’It is enough!’ (Genesis 45:28). When
he sees he has a God in covenant to go to, this is all his salvation, and all
his desire (2 Samuel 23:5). Is this the case with you? Have you experienced
this? If so, then ’blessed are you of the Lord’. God has been at work with you;
He has laid hold of your heart by the power of converting grace, or else you
could never have done this. More particularly, in conversion— [1] We turn to
CHRIST, the only Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). His work is to
bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). He is the way to the Father (John 14:6), the
only plank on which we may escape, the only door by which we may enter (John
10:9). Conversion brings the soul to Christ to accept Him as the only means of
life, as the only way, the only name given under heaven. He does not look for
salvation in any other but Him; he throws himself on Christ alone. ’Here’, says
the convinced sinner, ’I will venture; and if I perish, I perish; if I die, I
will die here. But, Lord, do not let me perish under the eye of Your mercy.
Entreat me not to leave You, or to return from following after You. Here I will
throw myself; if You slay me, I will not go from Your door.’ Thus the poor soul
ventures on Christ and resolvedly adheres to Him. Before conversion, the man
made light of Christ; he minded his farm, friends, pleasures, more than Christ;
now, Christ is to him as his necessary food, his daily bread, the life of his
heart, the staff of his life. His great desire is, that Christ may be magnified
in him. His heart once said, as they to the spouse, ’What is your beloved more
than another?’ (Song of Solomon 5:9). He found more sweetness in his merry
company, wicked games, earthly delights, than in Christ. He took religion for a
fancy, and the talk of great enjoyments for an idle dream; but now to him to
live is Christ. Now he says, ’But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss
for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to
the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have
lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ!’ Php 3:7-8 ALL
of Christ is accepted by the sincere convert. He loves not only the wages—but
the work of Christ; not only the benefits—but the burden of Christ. He is
willing not only to tread out the corn—but to draw under the yoke. He takes up
the commands of Christ, yes, the cross of Christ. The unsound convert takes
Christ by halves. He is all for the salvation of Christ—but he is not for
sanctification. He is for the privileges—but does not appropriate the person of
Christ. He divides the offices and benefits of Christ. This is an error in the
foundation. Whoever loves life, let him beware here. It is an undoing mistake,
of which you have been often warned, and yet none is more common. Jesus is a
sweet Name—but men do not love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. They will not have
Him as God offers, ’to be a Prince and a Savior’ (Acts 5:31). They divide what
God has joined, the King who rules—and the Priest who saves. They will not
accept the salvation of Christ as He intends it; they divide it here. Every
man’s vote is for salvation from suffering—but they do not desire to be saved
from sinning. They would have their lives saved—but still would have their
lusts. Indeed, many divide here again; they would be content to have some of
their sins destroyed—but they cannot leave the lap of Delilah, or divorce the
beloved Herodias. They cannot be cruel to the right eye or right hand. O be
infinitely careful here; your soul depends upon it. The sound convert takes a
whole Christ, and takes Him for all intents and purposes, without exceptions,
without limitations, without reserve. He is willing to have Christ upon any
terms; he is willing to have the dominion of Christ as well as deliverance by
Christ. He says with Paul, ’Lord, what will you have me to do?’ [Acts 9:6]
Anything, Lord! He gives Christ the blank page—to write down His own conditions.
[2] We turn to the laws, ordinances, and ways of Christ. The heart which once
was set against these, and could not endure the strictness of these bonds, the
severity of these ways—now falls in love with them, and chooses them as its rule
and guide forever. Four things, I observe, God works in every sound convert,
with reference to the laws and ways of Christ, by which you may come to know
your state, if you will be faithful to your own souls. Therefore, keep your eyes
upon your hearts as you go along. (i) The judgment is brought to approve of them
and to subscribe to them as most righteous and most reasonable. The mind is
brought to like the ways of God; and the corrupt prejudices that were once
against them as unreasonable and intolerable, are now removed. The understanding
assents to them all as holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12). How is David taken up
with the excellencies of God’s laws! How does he expatiate on their praises,
both from their inherent qualities and admirable effects! (Psalms 19:8-10,
etc.). There is a twofold judgment of the understanding, the absolute and the
comparative. The absolute judgment is when a man thinks such a course best in
general—but not for him, or not under his present circumstances. Now, a godly
man’s judgment is for the ways of God, and that not only the absolute—but
comparative judgment. He thinks them not only the best in general—but best for
him! He looks upon the rules of piety not only as tolerable—but desirable; yes,
more desirable than gold, fine gold; yes, much fine gold. His judgment is fully
determined that it is best to be holy, that it is best to be strict, that it is
in itself the most eligible course, and that it is for him the wisest and most
rational and desirable choice. Hear the godly man’s judgment; ’I know, O Lord,
that your judgments are right; I love your commandments above gold, yes, above
fine gold; I esteem all your precepts concerning all things to be right; and I
hate every false way’ (Psalms 119:127-128). Mark, he approves of all that God
requires—and disapproves of all that He forbids. ’Righteous, O Lord, and upright
are your judgments. Your testimonies that you have commanded are righteous and
very faithful. Your word is true from the beginning, and everyone of your
righteous judgments endures forever’ (Psalms 119:138, Psalms 119:160). See how
readily and fully he subscribes; he declares his assent and consent to it, and
all and everything contained therein. (ii) The desire of the heart is to know
the whole mind of Christ. He would not have one sin undiscovered, nor be
ignorant of one duty required. It is the natural and earnest breathing of a
sanctified heart: ’Lord, if there be any way of wickedness in me—please reveal
it. What I know not—teach me. If I have done iniquity—I will do it no more.’ The
unsound convert is willingly ignorant, he does not love to come to the light. He
is willing to keep such and such a sin, and therefore is averse to know it to be
a sin—so will not let in the light at that window. Now, the gracious heart is
willing to know the whole latitude and compass of his Maker’s law. He receives
with all acceptance the Word which convinces him of any duty that he knew not,
or minded not before, or which uncovers any sin that lay hidden before. (iii)
The free and resolved choice of the will is for the ways of Christ, before all
the pleasures of sin and prosperities of the world. His consent is not extorted
by some extremity of anguish, nor is it only a sudden and hasty resolve—but he
is deliberately purposed, and comes freely to the choice. True, the flesh will
rebel—yet the prevailing part of his will is for Christ’s laws and government,
so that he takes them up not as his toil or burden—but as his bliss. While the
unsanctified person goes in Christ’s ways as in chains and fetters—the true
convert does it heartily, and counts Christ’s laws his liberty. He delights in
the beauties of holiness, and has this inseparable mark— he had rather, if he
might have his choice, live a strict and holy life, than the most prosperous and
flourishing worldly life. ’There went with Saul a band of men whose hearts God
had touched’ (1 Samuel 10:26). When God touches the hearts of His chosen, they
presently follow Christ, and, though drawn, do freely run after Him, and
willingly devote themselves to the service of the Lord, seeking Him with their
whole desire. Fear has its uses; but this is not the mainspring of motion with a
sanctified heart. Christ does not control His subjects by force—but is King of a
willing people. They are, through His grace, freely devoted to His service. They
serve out of choice, not as slaves—but as the son or spouse, from a spring of
love and a loyal mind. In a word, the laws of Christ are the convert’s love,
delight, and continual study. (iv) The bent of his course is directed to keep
God’s statutes. It is the daily care of his life to walk with God. He seeks
great things, he has noble designs, though he falls too short. He aims at
nothing less than perfection; he desires it, he reaches after it; he would not
rest in any degree of grace, until he were quite rid of sin, and perfected in
holiness (Php 3:11-14). Here the hypocrite’s rottenness may be discovered. He
desires holiness, as one well said, only as a bridge to heaven, and inquires
earnestly what is the least that will serve his turn; and if he can get but so
much as may bring him to heaven, this is all he cares for. But the sound convert
desires holiness for holiness’ sake, and not merely for heaven’s sake. He would
not be satisfied with so much holiness as might save him from hell—but desires
the highest degree. Yet desires are not enough. What is your way and your
course? Are the drift and scope of your life altered? Is holiness your pursuit,
and piety your business? If not, you fall short of sound conversion. And is this
which we have described, the conversion which is of absolute necessity to
salvation? Then be informed—that strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,
which leads unto life—that there are few that find it—that there is need of
divine power savingly to convert a sinner to Jesus Christ. Again, be exhorted, O
man, to examine yourself. What does conscience say? Does it begin to accuse?
Does it not pierce you as you go? Is this your judgment, and this your choice,
and this your way, that we have described? If so, then it is well. But does your
heart condemn you, and tell you of a certain sin you are living in against your
conscience? Does it not tell you there is such and such a secret way of
wickedness that you wish to pursue; such and such a duty that you make no
conscience of? Does not conscience carry you to your closet, and tell you how
seldom prayer and Scripture reading are performed there? Does it not carry you
to your family, and show you the charge of God, and the souls of your children
who are neglected there? Does not conscience lead you to your shop, your trade,
and tell you of some iniquity there? Does it not carry you to the public-house,
or the private club, and blame you for the loose company you keep there, the
precious time which you misspend there, the talents which you waste there? Does
it not carry you into your secret chamber, and read there your condemnation? O
conscience! do your duty. In the name of the living God, I command you—discharge
your office. Lay hold upon this sinner, fall upon him, arrest him, apprehend
him, undeceive him. What! will you flatter and soothe him while he lives in his
sins? Awake, O conscience! What do you mean, O sleeper? What! have you no
reproof in your mouth? What! shall this soul die in his careless neglect of God
and of eternity, and you altogether remain silent? What! shall he go on still in
his trespasses, and yet have peace? Oh, rouse yourself, and do your work. Now
let the preacher in your bosom speak. Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up your
voice like a trumpet. Let not the blood of his soul be required at your hands.


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  CHAPTER 16: 1.04.     NECESSITY OF CONVERSION
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Alarm to the Unconverted by Joseph Alleine, 1671 The NECESSITY of Conversion

It may be you are ready to say, ’What does all this stir mean?’ and are apt to
wonder why I follow you with such earnestness, still ringing the same lesson in
your ears—that you should repent and be converted. But I must say to you, as
Ruth to Naomi, ’Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after
you.’ [Ruth 1:16] Were it a matter of indifference, might you be saved as you
are, I would gladly let you alone; but would you not have me concerned for you,
when I see you ready to perish? As the Lord lives, before whom I am—I have not
the least hope of seeing your face in heaven, except you be converted. I utterly
despair of your salvation, except you will be prevailed with thoroughly to turn
and give up yourself to God in holiness and newness of life. Jesus said, ’I tell
you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’ [John
3:3], and yet do you wonder why your ministers labor so earnestly for you? Do
not think it strange that I am earnest with you to follow after holiness, and
long to see the image of God upon you. Never did any, nor shall any, enter into
heaven by any other way but this! The conversion described, is not a high
attainment of some advanced Christians—but every soul that is saved undergoes
this change. What is it that you count necessary? Is your bread necessary? Is
your breath necessary? Then your conversion is much more necessary. Indeed, this
is the one thing necessary. Your possessions are not necessary; you may sell all
for the pearl of great price, and yet be a gainer by the purchase. Your life is
not necessary; you may part with it for Christ, to infinite advantage. Your
reputation is not necessary; you may be reproached for the name of Christ, and
yet be happy; yes, you may be much more happy in reproach than in repute. But
your conversion is necessary; your salvation depends upon it; and is it not
needful in so important a matter to take care? On this one point depends your
making or marring to all eternity. But I shall more particularly show the
necessity of conversion, in five things— 1. Without conversion, your BEING is in
vain. Is it not a pity, that you should be good for nothing—an unprofitable
burden of the earth—a mere wart in the body of the universe? Thus you are, while
unconverted, for you cannot answer the end of your being. Is it not for the
divine pleasure that you are and were created? Did not God make you for Himself?
Are you a man—and have you reason? Then, think how you came into being and why
you exist. Behold God’s workmanship in your body, and ask yourself for what
purpose did God construct this fabric? Consider the noble faculties of your
heaven-born soul. To what end did God bestow these excellencies? Was it to no
other end than that you should please yourself, and gratify your senses? Did God
send men into the world, only like the swallows, to gather a few sticks and mud,
and build their nests, and raise up their young, and then die away? The very
heathen could see farther than this. Are you so ’fearfully and wonderfully made’
[Psalms 139:14], and do you not yet reason with yourself, ’Surely, I was made
for some noble and exalted end!’ O man! set your reason a little in the chair.
Is it not a pity such a goodly fabric should be raised in vain? Truly you are in
vain, except you are for God. It were better you had no being—than not be for
Him. Would you serve your end? You must repent and be converted; without this
you are to no purpose; indeed, to bad purpose. You are to NO purpose.
Unconverted man is like a choice instrument, which has every string broken or
out of tune. The Spirit of the living God must repair and tune it by the grace
of regeneration, and sweetly move it by the power of actuating grace, or else
your prayers will be but howlings, and all your service will make no music in
the ears of the Most Holy. All your powers and faculties are so corrupt in your
natural state that, except you be purged from dead works, you cannot serve the
living God. An unsanctified man cannot work the work of God— [1] He has no SKILL
in it. He is altogether as unskillful in the work, as in the word of
righteousness. There are great mysteries in the practice, as well as in the
principles of godliness. Now the unregenerate do not know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven. You may as well expect him to read—who never learned the
alphabet; or look for goodly music on the lute—from one that never set his hand
to an instrument; as that a natural man should do the Lord any pleasing service.
He must first be taught of God (John 6:45), taught to pray (Luke 11:1), taught
to profit (Isaiah 48:17), taught to go (Hosea 11:3), or else he will be utterly
at a loss. [2] He has no STRENGTH for it. How weak is his heart! (Ezekiel
16:30). He is soon tired. The Sabbath, what a weariness is it! (Malachi 1:13).
He is without strength (Romans 5:6), yes, dead in sin (Ephesians 2:5). [3] He
has no MIND to it. He desires not the knowledge of God’s ways (Job 21:14). He
does not know them, and he does not care to know them (Psalms 82:5). He knows
not, neither will he understand. [4] He has neither due INSTRUMENTS nor
MATERIALS for it. A man may as well hew the marble without tools, or paint
without colors or brushes, or build without materials—as perform any acceptable
service without the graces of the Spirit, which are both the materials and
instruments in the work. Almsgiving is not a service of God but of vainglory—if
it does not spring from love to God. What is the prayer of the lips without
grace in the heart—but the carcass without life? What are all our
confessions—unless they are exercises of godly sorrow and sincere repentance?
What are our petitions—unless animated with holy desires and faith in the
attributes and promises of God? What are our praises and thanksgivings—unless
they spring from the love of God, and a holy gratitude and sense of God’s
mercies in the heart? So that a man may as well expect that trees should speak,
or look for motion from the dead, as look for any service, holy and acceptable
to God, from the unconverted. When the tree is evil, how can the fruit be good?
Also, without conversion you live to BAD purpose. The unconverted soul is a very
cage of unclean birds (Revelation 18:2), a sepulcher full of corruption and
rottenness (Matthew 23:27), a loathsome carcass full of crawling worms, and
sending forth a most noxious stench in the nostrils of God (Psalms 14:3). O
dreadful case! Do you not yet see a change to be needful? Would it not have
grieved one to see the golden consecrated vessels of God’s temple turned into
quaffing bowls of drunkenness, and polluted with the idol’s service? (Daniel
5:2-3). Was it such an abomination to the Jews when Antiochus set up the picture
of a swine at the entrance of the temple? How much more abominable, then, would
it have been to have had the very temple itself turned into a stable or a pig
sty; and to have had the holy of holies served like the house of Baal! This is
just the case of the unregenerate. All your members are turned into instruments
of unrighteousness, servants of Satan, and your inmost heart into a receptacle
of uncleanness. You may see what kind of inhabitants are within—by what come
out; for, ’out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies’ (Matthew 15:19). This black
troop shows what a hell there is within! O abuse insufferable! to see a
heaven-born soul abased to such vileness; to see the glory of God’s creation,
the chief of the works of God, the Lord of this lower world, eating husks with
the prodigal! Was it such a lamentation to see those nobles—sit desolate in the
streets; and the precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, esteemed as
earthen pitchers; and those who were clothed in scarlet embrace dunghills?
(Lamentations 4:2, Lamentations 4:5). And is it not much more fearful to see the
only being that has immortality in this lower world and carries the stamp of
God, become as a vessel wherein is no pleasure, and be put to the most sordid
use? O intolerable indignity! Better you were dashed in a thousand pieces, than
continue to be abased to so vile a service! 2. Not only man—but the whole
visible CREATION is in vain without conversion. God has made all the visible
creatures in heaven and earth for the service of man, and man only is the
spokesman for all the rest. Man is, in the world, like the tongue to the body,
which speaks for all the members. The other creatures cannot praise their Maker,
except by dumb signs and hints to man that he should speak for them. Man is, as
it were, the high priest of God’s creation, to offer the sacrifice of praise for
all his fellow-creatures. The Lord God expects a tribute of praise from all His
works. Now, all the rest do bring in their tribute to man, and pay it by his
hand. So then, if a man is false, and faithless, and selfish—God is robbed of
all, and has no active glory from His works. O dreadful thought! that God should
build such a world as this, and lay out such infinite power, and wisdom, and
goodness thereupon, and all in vain! And that man should be guilty, at last, of
robbing and spoiling Him of the glory of all! O think of this. While you are
unconverted, all the offices of the creatures are in vain to you. Your food
nourishes you in vain. The sun holds forth its light to you in vain. Your
clothes warm you in vain. Your horse carries you in vain. In a word, the
unwearied labor and continued travail of the whole creation—so far as you are
concerned—are in vain. The service of all the creatures which drudge for you,
and yield forth their strength unto you, with which you should serve their
Maker—is all but lost labor. Hence, ’the whole creation groans’ (Romans 8:22)
under the abuse of unsanctified men who pervert all things to the service of
their lusts, quite contrary to the very end of their being. 3. Without
conversion, your RELIGION is vain. All your religious performances will be but
lost; for they can neither please God nor save your soul, which are the very
ends of religion (Romans 8:8; 1 Corinthians 13:2-3). Be your services ever so
costly—yet God has no pleasure in them (Isaiah 1:14; Malachi 1:10). Is not that
man’s case dreadful, whose sacrifices are as murders, and whose prayers are a
breath of abomination? (Isaiah 66:3; Proverbs 28:9). Many under conviction think
they will set upon mending, and that a few prayers and alms will set all right
again; but alas, sirs, while your hearts remain unsanctified your duties will
not be accepted. How punctilious was Jehu! and yet all was rejected because his
heart was not upright (2 Kings 10:1-36 with Hosea 1:4). How blameless was Paul!
and yet, being unconverted, all was but loss (Php 3:6-7). Men think they do much
in attending to God’s service, and are ready to set Him down as their debtor;
whereas their persons being unsanctified, their duties cannot be accepted. O
soul! do not think when your sins pursue you, that a little praying and
reforming your ways will pacify God. You must begin with your heart. If that is
not renewed, you can no more please God than one who, having unspeakably
offended you, should bring you the most loathsome thing to pacify you; or having
fallen into the mire, should think with his filthy embraces to reconcile you. It
is a great misery to labor in the fire. The poets could not invent a worse hell
for Sisyphus than to be ever toiling to get the stone up the hill, and then that
it should presently roll down again and renew his labor. God threatens it as the
greatest temporal judgments, that they should build and not inhabit, plant and
not gather, and that their labors should be eaten up by strangers (Deuteronomy
28:30, Deuteronomy 28:38-41). Is it so great a misery to lose our common labors,
to sow in vain, and to build in vain? How much more to lose our pains in
religion—to pray, and hear, and fast in vain! This is an undoing and eternal
loss. Be not deceived; if you go on in your sinful state, though you should
spread forth your hands—God will hide His eyes; though you make many prayers—He
will not hear (Isaiah 1:15). If a man without skill set about our work, and
spoil it in the doing, though he take much pains, we give him but small thanks.
God will be worshiped after the due order. If a servant does our work—but quite
contrary to our order, he shall have stripes rather than praise. God’s work must
be done according to God’s mind, or He will not be pleased; and this cannot be,
except it be done with a holy heart. 4. Without true conversion your HOPES are
in vain. ’The hope of the hypocrite shall perish’ (Job 8:12-13). ’The Lord has
rejected your confidences’ (Jeremiah 2:37). [1] The hope of comfort here is
vain. It is not only necessary for the safety—but the comfort of your condition,
that you be converted. Without this, you shall not know peace (Isaiah 59:8).
Without the fear of God you cannot have the comfort of the Holy Spirit (Acts
9:31). God speaks peace only to His people and to His saints (Psalms 85:8). If
you have a false peace continuing in your sins, it is not of God’s speaking, and
therefore you may guess the author. Sin is a real sickness (Isaiah 1:5), yes,
the worst of sickness; it is a leprosy in the head (Leviticus 13:44); the plague
in the heart (1 Kings 8:38); it is brokenness in the bones (Psalms 51:8); it
pierces, it wounds, it racks, it torments (1 Timothy 6:10). A man may as well
expect ease when his diseases are in their full strength, or his bones out of
joint, as true comfort while in his sins. O wretched man, that can have no ease
in this case but what comes from the deadliness of the disease! You shall have
the poor sick man saying in his wildness, he is well; when you see death in his
face, he would be up and about his business, when the very next step is likely
to be to his grave. The unsanctified often see nothing amiss; they think
themselves whole, and cry not for the physician; but this only shows the danger
of their case. Sin naturally breeds diseases and disturbances in the soul. What
a continual tempest is there in a discontented mind! What a corroding evil is
inordinate care! What is passion—but a very fever in the mind? What is lust—but
a fire in the bones? What is pride—but a deadly dropsy? What is covetousness—but
an insatiable and insufferable thirst? What is malice and envy—but venom in the
very heart? Spiritual sloth is but a scurvy in the mind, and carnal security a
mortal lethargy. How can that soul have true comfort which is under so many
diseases? But converting grace cures, and so eases the mind, and prepares the
soul for a settled, standing, immortal peace. ’Great peace have those who love
your law, and nothing shall offend them’ (Psalms 119:165). They are the ways of
wisdom, which afford pleasure and peace (Proverbs 3:17). David had infinitely
more pleasure in the Word, than in all the delights of his court (Psalms
119:103, Psalms 119:127). The conscience cannot be truly pacified until soundly
purified (Hebrews 10:22). Cursed is that peace which is maintained in a way of
sin (Deuteronomy 29:19-20). Two sorts of peace are more to be dreaded than all
the troubles in the world—peace with sin—and peace in sin. [2] The hope of
salvation hereafter is in vain. This hope is most injurious to God, most
pernicious to yourself. There is death, despair, and blasphemy in this hope.
There is DEATH in it. Your confidence shall be rooted out of your tabernacles,
God will destroy it—root and branch; it will bring you to the king of terrors
(Job 18:14). Though you may lean upon this house, it will not stand—but will
prove like a ruinous building which, when a man trusts to it, falls down about
him (Job 8:15). There is DESPAIR in it. ’Where is the hope of the hypocrite when
God takes away his soul?’ (Job 27:8). Then there is an end forever of his hope.
Indeed, the hope of the righteous has an end—but it is not a destructive—but a
perfective end. His hope ends in fruition, others in frustration. The godly may
say at death, ’It is finished’; but the wicked, ’It is perished’, and may
earnestly bemoan himself, as Job did, though mistakenly, in his case, ’Where now
is my hope? He has destroyed me; I am gone, and my hope is removed like a tree’
(Job 19:10). ’The righteous has hope in his death’ (Proverbs 14:32). When the
body is dying, his hopes are living; when his body is languishing, his hopes are
flourishing; his hope is a living hope—but others a dying, yes, a damning,
soul-undoing hope. ’When a wicked man dies, his expectation shall perish; and
the hope of unjust men perishes’ (Proverbs 11:7). It shall be cut off and prove
like a spider’s web (Job 8:14) which he spins out of his own bowels; but then
comes death and destroys all, and so there is an eternal end of his confidence
in which he trusted. ’The eyes of the wicked shall fail and their hope shall be
as the giving up of the spirit’ (Job 11:20). Wicked men are fixed in their
carnal hope, and will not be beaten out of it; they hold it fast, they will not
let it go—but death will knock off their fingers. Though we cannot undeceive
them, death and judgment will. When death strikes his dart through your liver,
it will ruin your soul and your hopes together. The unsanctified have hope only
in this life, and therefore are of all men most miserable. When death comes, it
lets them out into the amazing gulf of endless despair. There is BLASPHEMY in
it. To hope we shall be saved, though continuing unconverted, is to hope that we
shall prove God to be a liar. He has told you that, merciful and compassionate
as He is, He will never save you notwithstanding, if you go on in a course of
ignorance or unrighteousness. In a word, He has told you that whatever you are
or do, nothing shall avail you to salvation unless you become new creatures.
Now, to say God is merciful and to hope that He will save us without conversion,
is in effect to say, ’We hope that God will not do as He says.’ We must not set
God’s attributes at variance. God has resolved to glorify His mercy—but not to
the prejudice of His truth, as the presumptuous sinner will find to his
everlasting sorrow. Objection: But we hope in Jesus Christ, we put our whole
trust in God, and therefore do not doubt that we shall be saved. Answer: This is
not hope in Christ—but hope against Christ. To hope to see the kingdom of God
without being born again, to hope to find eternal life in the broad way—is to
hope Christ will prove a false prophet. David’s plea is, ’I hope in your word’
(Psalms 119:81). But this hope is against God’s Word. Show me a word of Christ
for your hope that He will save you in your ignorance or profane neglect of His
service, and I will never try to shake your confidence. God rejects this hope
with abhorrence. Those condemned by the prophet went on in their sins; yet, says
the prophet, ’will they lean upon the Lord’ (Micah 3:11). God will not endure to
be made a prop to men in their sins. The Lord rejected those presumptuous
sinners who went on still in their trespasses and yet would stay themselves on
Israel’s God—as a man would shake off the briers that cleave to his garment. If
your hope is worth anything, it will purify you from your sins (1 John 3:3)—but
cursed is that hope which cherishes men in their sins. Objection: Would you have
us despair? Answer: You must despair of ever coming to heaven as you are, that
is, while unconverted. You must despair of ever seeing the face of God without
holiness. But you must by no means despair of finding mercy upon your thorough
repentance and conversion. Neither may you despair of attaining to repentance
and conversion in the use of God’s means. 5. Without conversion all that Christ
has done and suffered will be, so far as it concerns you, in vain. That is, it
will in no way avail you to salvation. Many urge this as a sufficient ground for
their hope, that Christ died for sinners; but I must tell you, Christ never died
to save impenitent and unconverted sinners, so continuing. A great divine was
accustomed in his private dealings with souls to ask two questions. What has
Christ done for you? What has Christ wrought in you? Without the application of
the Spirit in regeneration, we have no saving interest in the benefits of
redemption. I tell you from the Lord, that Christ Himself cannot save you if you
go on in this state. [1] To save men in their sins would be against His trust.
The Mediator is the servant of the Father, shows His commission from Him, acts
in His name, and pleads His command for His justification (John 10:18, John
10:36; John 6:38, John 6:40). God has committed all things to Him, entrusted His
own glory and the salvation of His elect with Him (Matthew 11:27; John 17:2).
Accordingly, Christ gives His Father an account of both parts of His trust
before He leaves the world (John 17:1-26). Now Christ would quite thwart His
Father’s glory, tarnish His greatest trust, if He would save men in their sins:
for this would overturn all His counsels, and offer violence to all His
attributes. It would overturn all God’s counsels, of which this is the order,
that men should be brought to salvation through sanctification (2 Thessalonians
2:13). He has chosen them that they should be holy (Ephesians 1:4). They are
elected to pardon and life through sanctification (1 Peter 1:2). If you can
repeal the law of God’s immutable counsel, or corrupt Him whom the Father has
sealed to go directly against His commission, then, and not otherwise, you may
get to heaven in this condition. To hope that Christ will save you while
unconverted, is to hope that Christ will prove false to His trust. He never did,
nor ever will save one soul but whom the Father has given Him in election, and
drawn to Him in effectual calling (John 6:37, John 6:44). Be assured, Christ
will save none in a way contrary to His Father’s will. [1] To save men in their
sins, would offer violence to all the ATTRIBUTES of God. To His JUSTICE. The
righteousness of God’s judgment lies in rendering to all according to their
works. Now, should men sow to the flesh, and yet of the Spirit reap everlasting
life—where would the glory of divine justice be? To His HOLINESS. If God should
not only save sinners—but save them in their sins, His most pure and strict
holiness would be exceedingly defaced. The unsanctified, in the eyes of God’s
holiness—are worse than a swine or viper! It would be offering the extreme
violence to the infinite purity of the divine nature to have such dwell with
Him. They cannot stand in His judgment: they cannot abide His presence. If holy
David would not endure such in his house, no, nor in his sight (Psalms 101:3,
Psalms 101:7), can we think God will? Should He take men as they are, from the
mire of their filthiness—to the glory of heaven, the world would think that God
was at no such great distance from sin, nor had any such dislike to it as we are
told He has. They would be ready to conclude that God was altogether such an one
as themselves, as some of old wickedly did, from the forbearance of God (Psalms
50:21). To His VERACITY. God has declared from heaven that if any says he shall
have peace, though he should go on in the imagination of his heart—that His
wrath shall smoke against that man (Deuteronomy 29:19-20). He has declared that
they alone, who confess and forsake their sins, shall find mercy (Proverbs
28:13). He has declared that they that shall enter into His holy hill must be of
clean hands and a pure heart (Psalms 24:3-4). Where would God’s truth be, if,
notwithstanding all this—He should bring unconverted men to heaven? O desperate
sinner, who dares to hope that Christ will make His Father a liar and nullify
His word—to save the unconverted! To His WISDOM. This were to throw away the
choicest of mercies on those who would not value them, nor were any way suited
to them. They would not VALUE them. The unsanctified sinner puts but little
value upon God’s great salvation. He thinks no more of Christ, than those who
are whole, do of the physician. He prizes not His balm, values not His cure—but
tramples on His blood. Now, would it stand with wisdom to force pardon and life
upon those who would return no thanks for them? Will the all-wise God, when He
has forbidden us to do it, throw His holy things to dogs and His pearls to
swine—who would, as it were—but turn again and rend Him? This would make mercy
to be despised indeed. Wisdom requires that life be given in a way suitable to
God’s honor, and that God provide for the securing of His own glory, as well as
man’s felicity. It would be dishonorable to God to bestow His choicest riches,
on those who have more pleasure in their sins—than in the heavenly delights
which He offers. God would lose the praise and glory of His grace, if He would
cast it away upon those who were not only unworthy but unwilling. Also, the
mercies of God are no way SUITED to the unconverted. God’s wisdom is seen in
suiting things to each other, the means to the end, the object to the faculty,
the quality of the gift to the capacity of the receiver. Now, if Christ should
bring the unregenerate sinner to heaven, he could take no more felicity there
than a beast would, if you should bring it into a beautiful room to the society
of learned men; whereas the poor thing had much rather be grazing with his
fellows in the field. Alas, what could an unholy man do in heaven? He could not
be content there because nothing suits him. The place does not suit him; he
would be quite out of his element, a fish out of water. The company does not
suit him; what communion has darkness with light? corruption with perfection?
vileness and sin with glory and immortality? The employment does not suit him;
the anthems of heaven do not fit his mouth, do not suit his ear. Can you charm a
donkey with music; or will you bring him to your organ and expect that he should
make melody, or keep time with the tuneful choir? Had he skill, he would have no
will, and so could find no pleasure in it. Spread your table with delicacies
before a languishing patient, and it will be but an offence. Alas, if the
ungodly man thinks a sermon long and say of a Sabbath-day, ’What a weariness is
it!’ how miserable would he think it to be engaged in an everlasting Sabbath! To
His IMMUTABILITY, or else to His OMNISCIENCE or OMNIPOTENCE. It is enacted in
heaven, and enrolled in the decree of the court above, that none but the pure in
heart shall see God (Matthew 5:8). Now, if Christ brings any to heaven
unconverted, either He must get them in without His Father’s knowledge—and then
where is His omniscience? or against His will—and then where were His
omnipotence? or He must change His will—and then where were His immutability?
Sinner, will you not give up your vain hope of being saved in this condition?
Bildad says, ’Shall the earth be forsaken for you; or the rocks be moved out of
their place?’ (Job 18:4). May I not much more reason with you? Shall the laws of
heaven be reversed for you? Shall the everlasting foundations be overturned for
you? Shall Christ put out the eye of His Father’s omniscience, or shorten the
arm of His eternal power—for you? Shall divine justice be violated for you; or
the brightness of His holiness be blemished for you? O the impossibility,
absurdity, blasphemy, of such a confidence! To think Christ will ever save you
in this condition, is to make the Savior become a sinner, and do more wrong to
the infinite Majesty than all the wicked on earth or devils in hell ever did, or
ever could do; and yet will you not give up such a blasphemous hope? [2] To save
men in their sins would be against the WORD of Christ. We need not say, ’Who
shall ascend into heaven, to bring down Christ from above? Or, who shall descend
into the deep, to bring up Christ from beneath? The word is near us’ (Romans
10:6-8). Are you agreed that Christ shall end the controversy? Hear then His own
words: ’Except you be converted, you shall never enter into the kingdom of
heaven.’ ’You must be born again.’ ’If I wash you not, you have no part in me.’
’Unless you repent, you shall perish’ (Matthew 18:3; John 3:7; John 13:8; Luke
13:3). One word, one would think, were enough from Christ; but how often and
earnestly does He reiterate it: ’Truly, truly, unless a man be born again, he
shall not see the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3). Yes, He not only asserts but
proves the necessity of the new birth from the carnality and sinfulness of man
from his first birth, by reason of which man is no more fit for heaven than the
beast is for the chamber of the king. And will you yet rest in your own
presumptuous confidence, directly against Christ’s words? He must go quite
against the law of His kingdom and rule of His judgment, to save you in this
state. [3] To save men in their sins would be against the OATH of Christ. He has
lifted up His hand to heaven, He has sworn that those who remain in unbelief and
know not His ways (that is, are ignorant of them, or disobedient to them) shall
not enter into His rest (Hebrews 3:18). And will you not yet believe, O sinner,
that He is earnest? The covenant of grace is confirmed by an oath and sealed by
blood; but all must be made void, and another way to heaven found out—if you be
saved, living and dying unsanctified. God is come to His last terms with man,
and has condescended as far as in honor He could. Men cannot be saved while
unconverted, except they could get another covenant made, and the whole frame of
the Gospel, which was established forever with such dreadful solemnities, quite
altered. And must not they be demented who hope that they shall? [4] To save men
in their sins would be against His HONOR. God will so show His love to the
sinner—and at the same time show His hatred to sin. Therefore, he who names the
name of Jesus must depart from iniquity and deny all ungodliness; and he who has
hope of life by Christ, must purify himself as He is pure, otherwise Christ
would be thought a favorer of sin (2 Timothy 2:19; Titus 2:12; 1 John 3:3). The
Lord Jesus would have all the world know, that though He pardons sin, He will
not protect it. If holy David says, ’Depart from me, all you workers of
iniquity’ (Psalms 6:8), and shuts the doors against them (Psalms 101:7), shall
we not much more expect it from Christ’s holiness? Would it be for His honor, to
have the dogs at His table, or to lodge the swine with His children, or to have
Abraham’s bosom to be a nest of vipers? [5] To save men in their sins would be
against His offices. God has exalted Him to be a Prince and a Savior (Acts
5:31). He would act against both, should He save men in their sins. It is the
office of a king to be a terror to evildoers, and a praise to those who do well.
’He is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath on him who does evil’
(Romans 13:4). Now, should Christ favor the ungodly, so continuing, and take
those to reign with Him who would not have Him reign over them, this would be
quite against His office. He therefore reigns that He may put His enemies under
His feet. Now, should He lay them in His bosom, He would frustrate the end of
His regal power. It belongs to Christ, as a King, to subdue the hearts and slay
the lusts of His chosen (Psalms 45:5; Psalms 110:3). What king would take rebels
in open hostility, into his court? What were this but to betray life, kingdom,
government, and all together? If Christ is a King, He must have honor, homage,
subjection. Now, to save men while in their natural enmity—would be to obscure
His dignity, lose His authority, bring contempt on His government, and sell His
dear-bought rights for naught. Again, as Christ would not be a Prince, so
neither a Savior, if He would do this; for His salvation is spiritual. He is
called Jesus because He saves His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). So
that, should He save them in their sins, He would be neither Lord nor Jesus. To
save men from the punishment of sin—and not from the power of sin—would be to do
His work by halves, and be an imperfect Savior. His office as the Deliverer is
to turn ungodliness from Jacob (Romans 11:26). He is sent to bless men, in
turning them from their iniquities (Acts 3:26), to make an end of sin (Daniel
9:24). So that He would destroy His own designs, and nullify His offices—to save
men in their unconverted state. Arise then! What do you mean, O sleeper? Awake,
O secure sinner, lest you be consumed in your iniquities! Say, as the lepers,
’If we sit here, we shall die!’ (2 Kings 7:3-4). Truly, it is not more certain
that you are now out of hell, than that you shall speedily be in it—unless you
repent and be converted. There is but this one door for you to escape by. Arise
then, O sluggard, and shake off your excuses; how long will you slumber and fold
your hands to sleep? Will you lie down in the midst of the sea, or sleep on the
top of a mast? (Proverbs 23:34). There is no remedy—but you must either turn or
burn! There is an unchangeable necessity of the change of your condition, unless
you have resolved to abide the worst of it, and fight it out with the Almighty.
If you love your life, O man, arise and come away. I think I see the Lord Jesus
laying the merciful hands of a holy violence upon you; I think He acts like the
angels to Lot: "Hurry," they said to Lot. "Take your wife and your two daughters
who are here. Get out of here right now, or you will be caught in the
destruction of the city." When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand
and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside
the city, for the Lord was merciful. "Run for your lives!" the angels warned.
"Do not stop anywhere in the valley. And don’t look back! Escape to the
mountains, or you will die." Genesis 19:15-17 (Genesis 19:15-17). O how dreadful
will your destruction be, if you should yet harden yourself in your sinful
state! But none of you can say that you have not had fair warning. Yet I cannot
leave you so. It is not enough for me to have delivered my own soul. What! shall
I go away without my errand? Will none of you arise and follow me? Have I been
all this while speaking to the wind? Have I been charming the deaf adder, or
allaying the restless ocean with argument? Do I speak to the trees and rocks—or
to men? to the tombs and monuments of the dead—or to the living? If you are men
and not senseless stocks, stop and consider where you are going! If you have the
reason and understanding of men, do not dare to run into the flames, and fall
into hell with your eyes open! Stop and think, and set about the work of
repentance. What, men? and yet run into the pit, when the very beasts will not
be forced in? What, endowed with reason? and yet trifle with death and hell, and
the vengeance of the Almighty? Are men only distinguished from brutes in that
these, having no foresight, have no care to provide for the things to come, and
will you, who are warned, not hasten your escape from eternal torments? O show
yourselves men, and let reason prevail with you! Is it a reasonable thing for
you to contend against the Lord your Maker, or to harden yourselves against His
word, as though the Strength of Israel would lie? (Isaiah 45:9; Job 9:4; 1
Samuel 15:29). Is it reasonable that an understanding creature should lose; yes,
live quite against the very end of his being? Is it reasonable that the only
being in this world that God has made capable of knowing His will and bringing
Him glory, should yet live in ignorance of his Maker, and be unserviceable to
His use, yes, should be engaged against Him, and spit his venom in the face of
his Creator? Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, and let the creatures
without sense judge if this be reason, that man whom God has nourished and
brought up, should rebel against Him? Judge in your own selves. Is it a
reasonable undertaking for briers and thorns to set themselves in battle against
the devouring fire? or for the potsherd of the earth to strive with its Maker?
You will say, ’This is not reason’; or surely the eye of reason is quite put
out. And, if this is not reason, then there is no reason that you should
continue as you are—but there is every reason in the world that you should
immediately turn and repent. What shall I say? I could spend myself in this
argument. O that you would only hearken to me; that you would now set upon a new
course! Will you not be made clean? When shall it once be? Reader, will you sit
down and consider the forementioned argument, and debate it whether it be not
best to turn? Come, and let us reason together. Is it good for you to be here?
Is it good for you to try whether God will be as good as His word, and to harden
yourself in a conceit that all is well with you, while you remain unsanctified?
Alas, for such sinners! must they perish at last by hundreds? What course shall
I use with them that I have not tried? ’What shall I do for the daughter of my
people?’ (Jeremiah 9:7). ’O Lord God, help. Alas, shall I leave them thus? If
they will not hear me—yet may You hear me. O that they might live in Your sight!
Lord, save them—or they perish. My heart would melt to see their houses on fire
when they were fast asleep in their beds; and shall not my soul be moved within
me to see them falling into endless perdition? Lord, have compassion, and save
them out of the burning. Put forth Your divine power—and the work will be done!’


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  CHAPTER 17: 1.05.     MARKS OF THE UNCONVERTED
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Alarm to the Unconverted by Joseph Alleine, 1671 The MARKS of the Unconverted

While we keep aloof in general statements, there is little fruit to be expected;
it is the close hand-fight that does execution. David is not awakened by the
prophet’s hovering at a distance in parabolic insinuations. Nathan is forced to
close with him, and tell him plainly, ’You are the man!’ [2 Samuel 12:7] Few
will, in words, deny the necessity of the new birth; but they have a
self-deluding confidence that the work is not to be done now. And because they
know themselves to be free from that gross hypocrisy which takes up religion
merely for a color to deceive others, and for covering wicked designs, they are
confident of their sincerity, and do not suspect that more close hypocrisy, in
which the greatest danger lies and by which a man deceives his own soul. But
man’s deceitful heart is such a matchless cheat—and self-delusion so reigning
and so fatal a disease—that I do not know which is the greater—the difficulty,
or the necessity of the undeceiving work that I am now upon. Alas for the
unconverted, they must be undeceived—or they will be undone! But how shall this
be effected? ’Help, O all-searching Light, and let Your discerning eye disclose
the rotten foundation of the self-deceiver. Lead me, O Lord God, as You did the
prophet, into the chambers of imagery, and dig through the wall of sinners’
hearts, and reveal the hidden abominations that are lurking out of sight in the
dark. O send Your angel before me to open the sundry wards of their hearts, as
You did before Peter, and make even the iron gates fly open of their own accord.
And as Jonathan no sooner tasted the honey but his eyes were enlightened, so
grant, O Lord, that when the poor deceived souls with whom I have to do shall
cast their eyes upon these lines, their minds may be illuminated, and their
consciences convinced and awakened, that they may see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and be converted, and You may heal them.’ This must be premised
before we proceed, that it is most certain that men may have a confident
persuasion that their hearts and states are good—while yet they are unsound.
Hear the Truth Himself who shows, in Laodicea’s case, that men may be wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked—and yet not know it. Yes, they may
be confident they are rich, and increased in grace (Revelation 3:17). ’There is
a generation that are pure in their own eyes—and yet are not washed from their
filthiness’ (Proverbs 30:12). Who better persuaded of his state than Paul, while
he yet remained unconverted? (Romans 7:9). So that they are miserably deceived
who take a strong confidence for a sufficient evidence. Those who have no better
proof than barely a strong persuasion that they are converted—are certainly as
yet strangers to conversion. But to come closer. As it was said to the adherents
of Antichrist, so here—some of the unconverted carry their marks in their
forehead more openly, and some in their hands more covertly. The apostle reckons
up some upon whom he writes the sentence of death, as in these dreadful
catalogues which I beseech you to attend to with all diligence: ’For of this you
can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with
empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are
disobedient.’ (Ephesians 5:5-6). ’But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile,
the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the
idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning
sulfur. This is the second death’ (Revelation 21:8). ’Do you not know that the
wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the
sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor
homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor
swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Woe to those
who have their name written in this catalogue. Such may know, as certainly as if
God had told them from heaven, that they are unsanctified, and under an
impossibility of being saved in this condition. I. OPEN sinners. There are then
these several classes that, past all dispute, are unconverted; they carry their
marks in their foreheads. [1] The immoral. These are ever reckoned among the
goats, and have their names, whoever else is left out, in all the forementioned
catalogues. [2] The covetous. These are ever branded for idolaters, and the
doors of the kingdom are shut against them by name. [3] Drunkards. Not only such
as drink away their reason—but withal, yes, above all, such as are too strong
for strong drink. The Lord fills His mouth with woes against these, and declares
them to have no inheritance in the kingdom of God! (Isaiah 5:11-12, Isaiah 5:22;
Galatians 5:21). [4] Liars. The God who cannot lie has told them that there is
no place for them in His kingdom, no entrance into His holy hill; but their
portion is with the father of lies, whose children they are, in the lake of
burnings! (Revelation 21:8, Revelation 21:27; John 8:44; Proverbs 6:17). [5]
Swearers. The end of these, without deep and speedy repentance, is swift
destruction, and most certain and unavoidable condemnation (James 5:12;
Zechariah 5:1-3). [6] Railers and backbiters, who love to take up a reproach
against their neighbor, and fling all the dirt they can in his face, or else
wound him secretly behind his back (Psalms 15:1, Psalms 15:3; 1 Corinthians
5:11). [7] Thieves, extortioners, oppressors, who grind the poor, or defraud
their brethren when they have opportunity. These must know that God is the
avenger of all such (1 Thessalonians 4:6). Hear O you false and purloining and
wasteful servants; hear, O you deceitful tradesmen, hear your sentence! God will
certainly shut His door against you, and turn your treasures of unrighteousness
into the treasures of wrath, and make your ill-gotten silver and gold to torment
you, like burning metal in your flesh! (James 5:2-3). [8] All who do ordinarily
live in the profane neglect of God’s worship, that do not hear His Word, who do
not call on His name, who restrain prayer before God, who do not mind their own
nor their families’ souls—but live without God in the world! (John 8:47; Job
15:4; Psalms 14:4; Psalms 79:6; Ephesians 2:12 and Ephesians 4:18). [9]
Frequenters and lovers of vain company. God has declared that He will be the
destroyer of all such, and that they shall never enter into the hill of His
rest! (Proverbs 9:6 and Proverbs 13:20). [10] Scoffers at religion, who make a
scorn of holy living, and mock at the messengers and diligent servants of the
Lord, and at their holy profession, and make themselves merry with the weakness
and failings of professing Christians. ’Hear, you despisers,’ hear your dreadful
doom! (Proverbs 19:29; 2 Chronicles 36:16). Sinner, consider diligently whether
you are not to be found in one of these ranks, for if this is the case, you are
in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity; for all these do carry their
marks in their foreheads, and are undoubtedly the sons of death. And if so, the
Lord pity our poor congregations. O how small a number will remain when these
ten sorts are left out. Sirs, what efforts you make to keep up your confidence
of your good state when God from heaven declares against you, and pronounces you
in a state of damnation! I would reason with you, as God with them, ’How can you
say, I am not polluted? See your way in the valley; know what you have done’
(Jeremiah 2:23). Man, is not your conscience aware of your tricks of deceit, of
your secret sins, of your way of lying? Yes, are not your friends, your family,
your neighbors, witnesses to your profane neglect of God’s worship, to your
covetous practices, to your envious and malicious behavior? May they not point
at you as you go, ’There goes a gaming prodigal; there goes a drunken Nabal, a
companion of evildoers; there goes a railer, or a scoffer, or a loose-liver!’
Beloved, God has written it as with a sunbeam in the Book by which you must be
judged—that these are not the marks of His children; and that none such, except
renewed by converting grace, shall ever escape the damnation of hell. O that you
would now be persuaded to repent and turn from all your transgressions, or else
iniquity will be your ruin (Ezekiel 18:30). Alas, for poor hardened sinners.
Must I leave you at last where you are? Must I leave the drinker still at his
bar? Must I leave the malicious still in his venom? However, you must know that
you have been warned, and that I am clear of your blood; and whether men will
hear, or whether they will forbear, I will leave these Scriptures with them,
which will prove either as thunderbolts to awaken them, or as searing-irons to
harden them. ’Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crowns
of those who go on in their sins.’ ’He who, being often reproved, hardens his
neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.’ ’Because I have
called, and you refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded, I
will laugh at your calamity—when your destruction comes as a whirlwind’ (Psalms
68:21; Proverbs 29:1; Proverbs 1:24-27). II. SECRET sinners. And now I imagine
many will begin to bless themselves, and think all is well, because they cannot
be reproached with these grosser evils. But I must tell you that there is
another sort of unsanctified people, who carry their mark not in their
foreheads—but more secretly and covertly. These frequently deceive themselves
and others, and pass for good Christians, when they are all the while unsound at
heart. Many pass undiscovered until death and judgment bring all to light. These
self-deceivers seem to come even to heaven’s gate with confidence of their
admission, and yet are turned away at last (Matthew 7:22). I beseech you deeply
to lay to heart and firmly retain this awakening consideration—that multitudes
perish by the hand of some secret sin, that is not only hidden from others—but
from lack of observing their own hearts—is hidden even from themselves. A man
may be free from open pollutions, and yet die at last by the hand of some
unobserved iniquity; and there are these twelve hidden sins, through which souls
go down by numbers into the chambers of eternal death. These you must search
carefully for, and take them as black marks wherever they are found, revealing a
graceless and unconverted state; and as you love your lives, read carefully with
a holy jealousy of yourselves, lest you should be the people concerned. [1]
Gross wilful ignorance (Hosea 4:6). O how many poor souls does this sin kill in
the dark, while they think truly they have good hearts, and are all set for
heaven. This is the murderer which dispatches thousands in a silent manner, when
they suspect nothing, and do not see the hand which destroys them. You shall
find, whatever excuses you make for ignorance, that it is a soul-ruining evil
(Isaiah 27:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 4:3). Ah, would it not have
grieved a man’s heart to see that dreadful spectacle when the poor Christians
were shut up in a barn, and a butcher came, with his hands warmed in human
blood, and led them one by one, blindfold, to a block where he slew them one
after another, by scores, in cold blood? But how much more should your hearts
bleed to think of the hundreds that ignorance destroys in secret and leads
blindfold to the block! Beware that this is not your case. Make no plea for
ignorance; if you spare that sin, know that it will not spare you! Would a man
keep a murderer in his bosom? [2] Secret reserves in closing with Christ. To
forsake all for Christ, to hate father and mother, yes, a man’s own life for
Him, ’This is a hard saying’ (Luke 14:26). Some will do much—but they will not
have that religion which will save them. They never come to be entirely devoted
to Christ, nor to be fully resigned to Him. They must have the sweet sin; they
mean to do themselves no harm; they have secret exceptions for life, liberty, or
estate. Many take Christ thus, and never consider His self-denying terms, nor
count the cost; and this error in the foundation mars all, and ruins them
forever (Luke 14:28-33). [3] Formality in religion. Many rest in the externals
of religion and in the outward performance of holy duties. And very often this
most effectually deceives men, and more certainly undoes them than open
profaneness; as it was in the Pharisee’s case. They hear, they fast, they pray,
they give alms—and therefore will not believe their case is bad. Whereas,
resting in the work done, and coming short of the heart-work and the inward
power and vitality of religion, they fall at last into the burning, from the
flattering hope and confident persuasion of their being all set on the way to
heaven. Oh dreadful case, when a man’s religion shall serve only to harden him,
and effectually to delude and deceive his own soul! [4] The prevalence of wrong
motives in holy duties. This was the bane of the Pharisees. Oh how many a poor
soul is undone by this, and drops into hell before he discerns his mistake! He
performs his ’good duties’ and so thinks all is well—but does not perceive that
he is actuated by carnal motives all the while. It is too true that even with
the really sanctified, many carnal ends will often creep in; but they are the
matter of their hatred and humiliation, and never come to be habitually
prevalent with them, and bear the greatest sway. But when the main thing that
ordinarily moves a man to religious duties is some carnal end—as to satisfy his
conscience, to get the reputation of being religious, to be seen by men, to show
off his gifts and talents, to avoid the reproach of being a profane and
irreligious person, or the like—this reveals an unsound heart. Oh Christians, if
you would avoid self-deceit, see that you mind not only your actions but your
motives. [5] Trusting in their own righteousness. This is a soul-ruining
mischief. When men trust in their own righteousness they do indeed reject
Christ’s. Beloved, you had need be watchful on every hand, for not only your
sins—but your duties may undo you. It may be you never thought of this; but so
it is, that a man may as certainly perish by his seeming righteousness and
supposed graces—as by gross sins; and that is, when a man trusts to these as his
righteousness before God, for satisfying His justice, appeasing His wrath,
procuring His favor, and obtaining His pardon. This is to put Christ out of
office, and make a Savior of our own duties and graces. Beware of this, O
professing Christians; you are much in duties—but this one fly will spoil all
the ointment. When you have done most and best, be sure to go out of
yourselves—to Christ; reckon your own righteousness as filthy rags (Php 3:9;
Isaiah 64:6). [6] A secret enmity against the strictness of true religion. Many
moral people, punctilious in their formal devotions, have yet a bitter enmity
against strictness and zeal, and hate the life and power of true religion. They
do not like this forwardness, nor that men should make such a stir in religion.
They condemn the strictness of religion as singularity, indiscretion, and
intemperate zeal, and with them a zealous preacher or fervent Christian is but a
wild enthusiast. These men do not love holiness as holiness (for then they would
love the height of holiness), and therefore are undoubtedly rotten at heart,
whatever good opinion they have of themselves. [7] The resting in a certain
degree of religion. When they have so much as will save them, as they suppose,
they look no farther, and so show themselves short of true grace, which always
sets men aspiring to perfection (Php 3:13; Proverbs 4:18). [8] The predominant
love of the world. This is the sure evidence of an unsanctified heart. ’If any
man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him’ (1 John 2:15). But
how often does this sin lurk under the fair cover of profession. Yes, such a
power of deceit is there in this sin that many times, when everybody else can
see the man’s worldliness and covetousness, he cannot see it himself—but has so
many excuses and pretenses for his eagerness after the world, that he blinds his
own eyes and perishes in his self-deceit! How many professing Christians are
there, with whom the world has more of their hearts and affections than Christ,
’who mind earthly things’, and thereby are evidently after the flesh, and likely
to end in destruction (Romans 8:5; Php 3:19). Yet ask these men, and they will
tell you confidently they prize Christ above all; for they do not see their own
earthly-mindedness for lack of a strict observance of the workings of their own
hearts. Did they but carefully search, they would quickly see that their
greatest satisfaction is in the world, and that their greatest care and main
endeavor are to get and secure the world—which are the certain signs of an
unconverted sinner. May the professing part of the world take earnest heed lest
they perish by the hand of this sin unobserved. Men may be, and often are, kept
off from Christ as effectually by the inordinate love of lawful comforts, as by
the most wicked lives. [9] Reigning malice and envy against those that
disrespect them, and are injurious to them. Oh how do many who seem to be
religious, remember injuries and carry grudges, rendering evil for evil, loving
to take revenge, wishing evil to those who wrong them. This is directly against
the rule of the Gospel, the pattern of Christ, and the nature of God. Doubtless,
where this evil is kept boiling in the heart, and is not hated, resisted, and
mortified—but habitually prevails, that person is in the very gall of
bitterness, and in a state of death (Matthew 18:32-35; 1 John 3:14-15). [10]
Unmortified pride. When men love the praise of men more than the praise of God,
and set their hearts upon men’s esteem, applause, and approbation—it is most
certain that they are yet in their sins, and strangers to true conversion (John
12:43; Galatians 1:10). When men do not see, nor complain, nor groan under the
pride of their own hearts—it is a sign they are stark dead in sin! Oh how
secretly does this pride live and reign in many hearts, and they know it not—but
are total strangers to themselves (John 9:40). [11] The prevailing love of
pleasure. This is a black mark. When men give the flesh the liberty that it
craves, and pamper and please it, and do not deny and restrain it; when their
great delight is in gratifying their bellies and pleasing their senses; whatever
appearances they may have of religion—all is unsound. A flesh-pleasing life
cannot be pleasing to God. ’Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh’,
and are careful to keep it under control, as their enemy (Galatians 5:24; 1
Corinthians 9:25-27). [12] Carnal security, or a presumptuous confidence that
their condition is already good. Many cry, ’Peace and safety’, when sudden
destruction is coming upon them. This was that which kept the foolish virgins
sleeping when they should have been working—upon their beds when they should
have been at the markets. They did not perceive their lack of oil until the
bridegroom was come; and while they went to buy, the door was shut! And oh that
these foolish virgins had no successors! Where is the place, yes, where is the
house almost, where these do not dwell? Men are willing to cherish in
themselves, upon ever so slight grounds, a hope that their condition is good—and
by these means perish in their sins. Are you at peace? Show me upon what grounds
your peace is maintained. Is it Scripture peace? Can you show the distinguishing
marks of a sound believer? Can you evidence that you have something more than
any hypocrite in the world ever had? If not, fear this peace more than any
trouble; and know that a carnal peace commonly proves the most mortal enemy of
the soul, and while it smiles and kisses and speaks fairly—it fatally smites, as
it were, under the fifth rib. By this time I think I hear my readers crying out,
with the disciples, ’Who then shall be saved?’ [Matthew 19:25; Mark 10:26; Luke
18:26] Set out from our congregations all those ten ranks of the profane on the
one hand, and then take out all these twelve classes of self-deceiving
hypocrites on the other hand—and tell me whether it is only a remnant that shall
be saved. How few will be the sheep that shall be left, when all these shall be
separated and set among the goats. For my part, of all my numerous hearers, I
have no hope to see any of them in heaven that are to be found among these
twenty-two classes that are here mentioned, except by sound conversion they are
brought into another condition. And now, conscience, do your work! Speak out,
and speak home to him who hears or reads these lines. If you find any of these
marks upon him, you must pronounce him utterly unclean. Do not take a lie into
your mouth. Do not speak peace to him to whom God speaks no peace. Do not let
self-love or carnal prejudice bribe or blind you. I summon you from the court of
heaven to come and give evidence. As you will answer it at your peril, give a
true report of the state and case of him who reads this book. Conscience, will
you altogether be silent at such a time as this? I adjure you by the living God
that you tell the truth. Is the man converted—or is he not? Does he allow
himself in any way of wickedness—or does he not? Does he truly love, and please,
and prize, and delight in God above all things—or not? Come, give a definite
answer. How long shall this soul live in uncertainty? O conscience, bring in
your verdict. Is this man a new man—or is he not? How do you find it? Has there
passed a thorough and mighty change upon him—or not? When was the time, where
was the place—or what were the means by which this thorough change of the new
birth was wrought in his soul? Speak, conscience; or if you cannot tell the time
and place, can you show Scripture evidence that the work is done? Has the man
ever been taken off from his false foundation, from the false hopes and false
peace in which once he trusted? Has he been deeply convinced of sin, and of his
lost and undone condition, and brought out of himself, and off from his sins—to
give himself up entirely to Jesus Christ? Or do you not find him to this day
under the power of ignorance—or in the mire of worldliness? Have you not found
upon him the gains of unrighteousness? Do you not find him a stranger to prayer,
a neglecter of the Word, a lover of this present world? Do you not sometimes
catch him in a lie? Do you not find his heart fermented with malice—or burning
with lust—or going after his covetousness? Speak plainly to all the
forementioned particulars. Can you acquit this man, this woman, from being in
any of the twenty-two classes here described? If he is found in any of them, set
him aside; his portion is not with the saints. He must be converted and made a
new creature—or he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Beloved, do not be your own
betrayers. Do not deceive your own hearts, nor set your hands to your own ruin
by a willful blinding of yourselves. Set up a tribunal in your own breasts.
Bring the Word and conscience together. ’To the law and to the testimony.’
[Isaiah 8:20] Hear what the Word concludes of your state. Oh follow the search
until you find how the case stands. Make a mistake here—and you perish! And,
such is the treachery of the heart, the subtlety of the temper, and the
deceitfulness of sin—all conspiring to flatter and deceive the poor soul; and so
common and easy it is to make a mistake, that it is a thousand to one that you
will be deceived, unless you are very careful and thorough and impartial in the
inquiry into your spiritual condition. Oh therefore be diligent in your work; go
to the bottom, search with candles; weigh yourself in the balance, come to the
standard of the sanctuary; bring your coin to the touchstone. Satan is a master
of deceit; he can draw to the life; he is perfect in the trade; there is nothing
which he cannot imitate. You cannot wish for any grace—but he can fit you with a
counterfeit. Be jealous; trust not even your own heart. Go to God to search you
and try you, to examine you and prove your thoughts. If other helps do not
suffice to bring all to an issue—but you are still at a loss, consult some godly
and faithful minister or Christian friend. Do not rest until you have put the
business of your eternal welfare out of doubt. ’O Searcher of hearts, set this
soul searching, and help him in his search.’


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  CHAPTER 18: 1.06.     MISERIES OF THE UNCONVERTED
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Alarm to the Unconverted by Joseph Alleine, 1671 Miseries of the Unconverted

So unspeakably dreadful is the case of every unconverted soul, that I have
sometimes thought if I could only convince men that they are still unregenerate,
the work would be more than half done. But I find by sad experience that such a
spirit of sloth and slumber possesses the unsanctified that, though they are
convinced that they are yet unconverted, often they carelessly sit still.
Through the love of sensual pleasure—or the hurry of worldly business—or the
noise and clamor of earthly cares and lusts and affections—the voice of
conscience is drowned, and men go no farther than some faint wishes and general
purposes of repenting and amending. It is therefore of high necessity that I not
only convince men that they are unconverted—but that I also endeavor to bring
them to a sense of the fearful misery of this state. But here I find myself
aground at first setting off. What tongue can tell the heirs of hell
sufficiently of their misery, unless it were Dives in that flame (Luke 16:24)?
Where is the ready writer whose pen can depict the misery of those who are
without God in the world? This cannot fully be done, unless we know the infinite
ocean of bliss which is in perfection in God, and from which a state of sin
excludes men. ’Who knows’, says Moses, ’the power of your anger?’ (Psalms
90:11). And how shall I tell men that which I do not know? Yet so much we know,
as one would think would shake the heart of that man that had the least degree
of spiritual life and sense. But this is yet the more perplexing difficulty,
that I am to speak to those who are spiritually dead! Alas! this is not the
least part of man’s misery—that he is dead, dead in trespasses and sins. Could I
bring paradise into view—or represent the kingdom of heaven to as much advantage
as the tempter did the kingdoms of the world, and the glory thereof, to our
Savior; or could I uncover the face of the deep and devouring gulf of Hell in
all its terrors, and open the gates of the infernal furnace; alas, he has no
eyes to see it! Could I paint the beauties of holiness, or the glory of the
Gospel; or could I expose to view the more than diabolical deformity and
ugliness of sin; he can no more judge of the loveliness and beauty of the one,
and the filthiness and hatefulness of the other, than a blind man of colors. He
is alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in him because
of the blindness of his heart (Ephesians 4:18). He neither knows nor can
know—the things of God, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians
2:14). His eyes cannot be savingly opened but by converting grace (Acts 26:18).
He is a child of darkness, and walks in darkness. Yes, the light in him is
darkness. Shall I read his eternal sentence—or sound in his ear the terrible
trumpet of God’s judgments, that one would think should make both his ears
tingle, and strike him into Belshazzar’s fit, even to change his countenance,
loose his joints, and make his knees smite one against another? Alas, he
perceives me not—he has no ears to hear! Or shall I call up the daughters of
music, and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb? Yet he will not be stirred.
Shall I allure him with the joyful sound, and lovely song, and glad tidings of
the Gospel; with the most sweet and inviting calls, comforts, and cordials of
the divine promises so exceedingly great and precious? It will not affect him
savingly, unless I could find him ears, as well as tell him the news. What then
shall I do? Shall I show him the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; or
shall I open the box of spikenard, very precious, which fills the whole house of
the universe with its perfume, and hope that the savor of Christ’s ointments and
the smell of His garments will attract him? Alas! dead sinners are like the dumb
idols; they have mouths—but they speak not; have they eyes—but they see not;
they have ears—but they hear not; they have noses—but they smell not; they have
hands—but they handle not; they have feet—but they walk not; neither do they
speak through their throat [Psalms 115:5-7]. They are destitute of spiritual
life and motion. But let me try the sense that last leaves us, and draw the
sword of the Word; yet, though I choose my arrows from God’s quiver, and direct
them to the heart, nevertheless he does not feel it; for how should he, being
past feeling? (Ephesians 4:19). So that, though ’the wrath of God abides on him’
[John 3:36], and the mountainous weight of so many sins—yet he goes up and down
as light as if nothing ailed him. In a word, he carries a dead soul in a living
body; and his flesh is but the walking coffin of a corrupt mind that is twice
dead (Jude 1:12). Which way then shall I come at the miserable object whom I
have to deal with? Who shall make the heart of stone relent—or the lifeless
carcass to feel and move? That God who is able from stones to raise up children
unto Abraham, who raises the dead, and melts the mountains, and strikes water
out of the flint; who loves to work beyond the hopes and belief of man, who
peoples His church with dry bones—He is able to do this! Therefore I bow my knee
to the most high God, and as our Savior prayed at the sepulcher of Lazarus, and
the Shunammite ran to the man of God for her dead child, so your mourning
minister carries you in the arms of prayer, to that God in whom your help is
found. ’O all-powerful Jehovah, who works, and none can hinder You, who has the
keys of death and hell—pity the dead souls that lie here entombed, and roll away
the gravestone, and say as to the dead body of Lazarus, Come forth! Enlighten
this darkness, O inaccessible Light, and let the dayspring from on high visit
the dark regions of the dead, to whom I speak; for You can open the eye that
death itself has closed. You that formed the ear, can restore the hearing. Say
to these ears, Ephphatha! and they shall be opened. Give eyes to see Your
excellencies, a taste that may relish Your sweetness, a scent that may savor
Your ointment, a feeling that may discern the privilege of Your favor, the
burden of Your wrath, the intolerable weight of unpardoned sin! And give Your
servant the command to prophesy to dry bones, and let the effects of this
prophecy be as of Your prophet when he prophesied the valley of dry bones into a
living army exceeding great!’ But I must proceed, as I am able, to unfold that
misery which, I confess, no tongue can unfold, no heart can sufficiently
comprehend. Know therefore that while you are unconverted: 1. The infinite God
is engaged against you! It is no small part of your misery that you are without
God. How does Micah run crying after the Danites, ’You have taken away my gods,
and what have I more?’ (Judges 18:24). Oh what a mourning then must you lift up,
who are without God, who can lay no claim to Him without daring usurpation! How
piercing a moan is that of Saul in his last extremity, ’The Philistines are upon
me—and God is departed from me!’ (1 Samuel 28:15). Sinners, what will you do in
the day of your visitation? Where will you flee to for help? What will you do
when the Philistines are upon you; when the world shall take its eternal leave
of you; when you must bid your friends, houses, and lands, farewell for
evermore? What then, I say, will you do—who have not God to go to? Will you call
on Him? Will you cry to Him for help? Alas, He will not own you! He will not
take any notice of you—but will send you away with ’I never knew you. Depart
from me, you who work iniquity!’ (Matthew 7:23). Those who know what it is to
have a God to go to, a God to live upon—they know a little what a fearful misery
it is to be without God. This made a holy man cry out, ’Let me have God or
nothing. Let me know Him and His will, and what will please Him, and how I may
come to enjoy Him!’ But you are not only without God—but God is against you! Oh
if God would stand neutral, though He did neither own nor help the poor sinner,
his case would not be so deeply miserable. Though God should give up the poor
creature to the will of his enemies, to do their worst with him; though He
should deliver him over to the tormentors, that devils should tear and torture
him to their utmost power and skill—yet this were not half so fearful. But God
will set Himself against the sinner; and, believe it, ’It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God’ (Hebrews 10:31). As there is no friend
like Him—so there is no enemy like Him. As much as heaven is above the earth,
omnipotence above impotence, so much more terrible is it to fall into the hands
of the living God, than into the paws of bears and lions, yes, furies or devils.
God Himself will be your tormentor; your destruction shall come from the
presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9). If God be against you, who shall be
for you? ’If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a
man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?’ (1 Samuel 2:25). ’You,
even you, are to be feared; and who shall stand in your sight when you are
angry?’ (Psalms 76:7). Who or what shall deliver you out of His hands? Can
money? ’Riches profit not in the day of wrath’ (Proverbs 11:4). Can kings or
warriors? No; ’they shall cry to the mountains and rocks to fall on them, and
hide them from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?’
(Revelation 6:15-17). Sinner, I think this would go like a dagger to your heart,
to know that God Himself is your enemy! Oh where will you go? Where will you
shelter yourself? There is no hope for you, unless you lay down your weapons and
sue out your pardon, and get Christ to stand as your friend and make your peace.
If it were not for this, you might go into some howling wilderness, and there
pine in sorrow, and run mad for anguish of heart and horrible despair. But in
Christ there is a possibility of mercy for you, yes, an offer of mercy to you,
that you may have God more for you, than He is now against you. But if you will
not forsake your sins, nor turn thoroughly and purposefully to God by a sound
conversion, the wrath of God abides on you, and He proclaims Himself to be
against you, as in the prophet: ’I myself, the Sovereign Lord, am now your
enemy!’ (Ezekiel 5:8). [1] His FACE is against you. ’The face of the Lord is
against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them’ (Psalms 34:16).
Woe unto them whom God shall set His face against! When He did but look on the
armies of the Egyptians, how terrible was the consequence! ’I will set my face
against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and will cut him off
from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am the Lord’ (Ezekiel
14:8). [2] His HEART is against you. He hates all the workers of iniquity. Man,
does not your heart tremble to think of your being an object of God’s hatred?
’Though Moses and Samuel stood before me—yet my mind could not be towards this
people: cast them out of my sight’ (Jeremiah 15:1). ’My soul loathed them, and
their souls also abhorred me’ (Zechariah 11:8). [3] All His ATTRIBUTES are
against you. His JUSTICE is like a flaming sword unsheathed against you. "As
surely as I live, when I sharpen My flashing sword and begin to carry out
justice, I will bring vengeance on My enemies and repay those who hate Me!"
(Deuteronomy 32:41-42). So exact is justice that it will by no means clear the
guilty. God will not discharge you, He will not hold you guiltless—but will
require the whole debt in person from you, unless you can make a Scripture claim
to Christ and His satisfaction. When the enlightened sinner looks on justice,
and sees the balance in which he must be weighed and the sword by which he must
be executed, he feels an earthquake in his bosom; but Satan keeps this out of
sight and persuades the soul, while he can, that the Lord is all made up of
mercy, and so lulls it asleep in sin. Divine justice is exact; it must have
satisfaction to the utmost farthing. It denounces ’indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish to every soul that does evil’ (Romans 2:8-9). It ’curses
every one that continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do
them’ (Galatians 3:10). The justice of God to the unpardoned sinner who has a
sense of his guilt, is more terrible than the sight of the creditor to the
bankrupt debtor, of the judge and bench to the robber—or of the irons and gibbet
to the guilty murderer. When justice sits upon life and death, what dreadful
work does it make with the wretched sinner! ’Bind him hand and foot; cast him
into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ’Depart from
me, you cursed, into everlasting fire’ (Matthew 22:13; Matthew 25:41). This is
the terrible sentence that justice pronounces. Sinner, by this severe justice
must you be tried; and as God lives, this killing sentence must you hear, unless
you repent and be converted. The HOLINESS of God is against you. He is not only
angry with you—so He may be with His children—but He has a fixed habitual
displeasure against you. God’s nature is infinitely contrary to sin, and so He
cannot delight in a sinner outside of Christ. Oh what a misery is this, to be
out of the favor, yes, under the hatred of God; that God, who can as easily lay
aside His nature and cease to be God, as not be contrary to you and detest you,
except you be changed and renewed. Oh sinner, how dare you think of the bright
and radiant sun of purity—or the beauties, the glory of holiness in God? ’The
stars are not pure in his sight.’ ’He humbles himself to behold things that are
done in heaven’ (Job 25:5; Psalms 113:6). Oh those all-searching eyes of His!
What do they spy in you; and have you no saving interest in Christ—that He
should plead for you? I think He should hear you crying out, astonished, with
the Bethshemites, ’Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?’ [1 Samuel
6:20] The POWER of God is mounted like a mighty cannon against you. The glory of
God’s power is to be displayed in the amazing confusion and destruction of those
who obey not the gospel. He will make His power known in them (Romans 9:22) how
mightily He can torment them. For this end He raises them up ’that he might make
his power known’ (Romans 9:17). O man, are you able to contend with your Maker?
Sinner, the power of God’s anger is against you—and power and anger together
make fearful work. It were better you had all the world in arms against you than
to have the power of God against you. There is no escaping His hands--no
breaking loose from His prison. ’The thunder of his power, who can understand?’
(Job 26:14). Unhappy man—who shall understand it by feeling it! ’Who has ever
challenged him successfully? Without warning, he moves the mountains,
overturning them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place, and its
foundations tremble. If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t
shine. He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea.
If he sends death to snatch someone away, who can stop him? The mightiest forces
against him are crushed beneath his feet. If it is a matter of strength, look,
He is the Mighty One!’ (Job 9:1-35). And are you a fit match for such an
antagonist? ’O consider this, you that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces,
and there be none to deliver’ (Psalms 50:22). Submit to mercy. Let not dust and
stubble battle against the Almighty. Set not briers and thorns against Him in
battle, lest He go through them, and consume them together. But lay hold on His
strength that you may make peace with Him (Isaiah 27:4-5). ’Woe to him who
strives with his Maker!’ (Isaiah 45:9). The WISDOM of God is set to ruin you. He
has ordained His arrows, and prepared instruments of death, and made all things
ready (Psalms 7:11-13). His counsels are against you to contrive your
destruction (Jeremiah 18:11). He laughs in Himself to see how you will be taken
and ensnared in the evil day (Psalms 37:13). ’The Lord shall laugh at him, for
he sees that his day is coming.’ He sees how you will come down mightily in a
moment, how you will wring your hands, and tear your hair, and eat your flesh,
and gnash your teeth for anguish and astonishment of heart, when you see you are
fallen irremediably into the pit of destruction! The TRUTH of God is sworn
against you. If He is faithful and true, you must perish if you go on in sin.
Unless He is false to His Word, you must die—unless you repent. ’If we believe
not—yet he abides faithful, he cannot deny himself’ (2 Timothy 2:13). He is
faithful to His threatenings as well as to His promises—and will show His
faithfulness in our destruction, if we believe not. God has told you as plain as
it can be spoken, that if He wash you not—you have no part in Him; that if you
live after the flesh—you shall die; that unless you be converted—you shall never
enter into the kingdom of heaven (John 13:8; Romans 8:13; Matthew 18:3).
Beloved, as the immutable faithfulness of God in His promise and oath affords
believers strong consolation, so it is to unbelievers for strong consternation
and confusion. Oh sinner, tell me, what do you think of all the threatenings of
God’s Word, which stand upon record against you? Do you believe they are true or
not? If not, you are a wretched infidel. But, if you do believe them, O heart of
adamant that you have, that you can walk up and down in quiet—when the truth and
faithfulness of God are engaged to destroy you! The whole book of God testifies
against you while you remain unconverted. It condemns you in every leaf, and is
to you like Ezekiel’s roll, written within and without with lamentation, and
mourning, and woe! And all this shall surely come upon you—unless you repent.
’Heaven and earth shall pass away—but one jot or tittle of this word shall never
pass away’ (Matthew 5:18). Now, put all this together, and tell me if the case
of the unconverted is not deplorably miserable! As we read of some people who
had bound themselves by an oath and a curse to kill Paul; so you must know, O
sinner, that all the attributes of the infinite God are bound by an oath to
punish you. Oh man, what will you do? Where will you flee? If God’s omniscience
can find you—you shall not escape. If the true and faithful God will regard His
oath, you must perish—unless you believe and repent. If the Almighty has power
to torment you, you must be totally miserable in soul and body to all eternity,
unless it be prevented by speedy conversion. 2. The whole CREATION of God is
against you. ’The whole creation’, says Paul, ’groans and travails in pain’
(Romans 8:22). But what is it that the creation groans under? The fearful abuse
it is subject to, in serving the lusts of unsanctified men. And what is it that
the creation groans for? For freedom and liberty from this abuse; for the
’creature is not willingly made subject to this bondage’ (Romans 8:20-21). If
the irrational and inanimate creatures had speech and reason, they would cry out
under it, as a bondage insufferable, to be abused by the ungodly, contrary to
their natures and the ends which the great Creator made them for. It is a saying
of an eminent divine, ’The liquor that the drunkard drinks, if it had reason,
like a man, to know how shamefully it is abused, would groan in the barrel
against him, it would groan in the cup against him, groan in his throat, in his
stomach against him; it would fly in his face, if it could speak. And if God
should open the mouths of His creatures, as He did the mouth of Balaam’s donkey,
the proud man’s garment on his back would groan against him. There is not a
creature, if it had reason to know how it is abused until a man is converted—but
would groan against him. The land would groan to bear him, the air would groan
to give him breath, their houses would groan to lodge them, their beds would
groan to ease them, their food to nourish them, their clothes to cover them, and
the creature would groan to give them any help and comfort, so long as they live
in sin against God.’ I think this would be a terror to an unconverted soul—to
think he is a burden to the creation. ’Cut it down; why does it use up the
ground?’ (Luke 13:7). If inanimate creatures could but speak, your food would
say, ’Lord, must I nourish such a wretch as this, and yield forth my strength
for him, to dishonor You? No, I will choke him rather, if You will give
commission.’ The very air would say, ’Lord, must I give this man breath, to set
his tongue against heaven, and scorn Your people, and vent his pride and wrath,
and filthy talk, and belch out oaths and blasphemy against You? No, if You will
but say the word, he shall be breathless for me.’ His poor beast would say,
’Lord, must I carry him upon his wicked designs? No, I will break his bones, I
will end his days—if I may have but permission from You.’ A wicked man—the earth
groans under him, and hell groans for him—until death satisfies both. While the
Lord of hosts is against you, be sure the host of the Lord is against you, and
all the creatures as it were up in arms until, upon a man’s conversion, the
controversy being settled between God and him, He makes a covenant of peace with
the creature for him (Job 5:22-24; Hosea 2:18-20). 3. SATAN has his full power
over you. You are held fast in the paw of that roaring lion who is greedy to
devour (1 Peter 5:8); ’Then they may come to their senses and escape the Devil’s
trap, having been captured by him to do his will.’ (2 Timothy 2:26). This is the
evil spirit who works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). His
drudges they are, and his lusts they do. He is the ruler of the darkness of this
world (Ephesians 6:12), that is, of ignorant sinners who live in darkness. You
pity the poor Indians who worship the devil for their god—but little think it is
your own case. It is the common misery of all the unsanctified—that the devil is
their god. Not that they intend to do him homage. They will be ready to defy
him—but all this while they serve him, and live under his government. ’His
servants you are to whom you obey’ (Romans 6:16). O how many then will be found
to be the real servants of the devil, who take themselves for no other than the
children of God! He can no sooner offer a sinful delight or opportunity for your
unlawful advantage than you embrace it. If he suggests a lie—or prompts you to
revenge, you readily obey. If he forbids you to read or pray, you hearken to
him, and therefore his servants you are. Indeed, he stands behind the curtain,
he acts in the dark, and sinners do not see who sets them working—but all the
while he leads them. Doubtless the liar does not intend to serve Satan but his
own advantage; yet it is he who stands unobserved and puts the thing into his
heart. Undoubtedly Judas when he sold his Master for money, and the Chaldeans
and Sabeans when they plundered Job, did not intend to do the devil a
pleasure—but to satisfy their own covetous thirst; yet it was he who actuated
them in their wickedness (John 13:27; Job 1:12, Job 1:15, Job 1:17). Men may be
very slaves and common drudges for the devil and not know it; nay, they may
please themselves in thoughts of liberty! Are you yet in ignorance and not
turned from darkness unto light? I fear that you are under the power of Satan.
Do you live in the wilful practice of any known sin? Know that you are of the
devil. Do you live in strife—or envy—or malice? Truly he is your father. O
dreadful case! However Satan may provide his slaves with various pleasures—yet
it is but to draw them into endless perdition. The serpent comes with the fruit
in his mouth but, like Eve--you do not see the deadly sting! He who is now your
tempter--will one day be your tormentor! O that I could but make you see how bad
a master you serve, how merciless a tyrant you gratify; whose pleasure is to
make your perdition and damnation sure, and to heat the furnace hotter and
hotter in which you must burn for millions and millions of ages! 4. The guilt of
all your SINS lies like a mountain upon you. Poor soul, you do not feel it—but
this is that which seals your misery. While unconverted, none of your sins are
blotted out, they are all upon record against you. Regeneration and remission of
sins, are never separated; the unsanctified are unjustified and unpardoned. It
is a fearful thing to be in debt—but above all, in God’s debt; for there is no
arrest so formidable as His, no prison so dreary as His. Look upon an
enlightened sinner who feels the weight of his own guilt; oh how frightful are
His looks, how fearful are his complaints! His comforts are turned into
wormwood, and his moisture into drought, and his sleep is departed from his
eyes. He is a terror to himself and all that are about him, and is ready to envy
the very stones that lie in the street, because they are without sense and do
not feel his misery, and he wishes he had been a dog rather than a man because
then death had put an end to his misery; whereas now it will be but the
beginning of that which will know no ending. However you may make light of it
now—you will one day find the guilt of unpardoned sin to be a heavy burden. This
is a millstone that ’whoever falls upon it shall be broken; but upon whoever it
shall fall, it will grind him to powder’ (Matthew 21:44). The guilt of our sins
caused the agony and death of the blessed Savior. And if it did this in the
green tree, what will it do in the dry? Oh think of your case in time. Can you
think of that threat without trembling, ’You shall die in your sins!’ (John
8:24). Oh, better were it for you to die in a jail, in a ditch, in a dungeon,
than die in your sins. If death, as it will take away all your comforts, would
take away all your sins too, it would be some mitigation; but your sins will
follow you when your friends leave you, and all worldly enjoyments shake hands
with you. Your sins will not die with you as a prisoner’s other debts will; but
they will go to judgment with you there to be your accusers; and they will go to
hell with you there to be your tormentors. O the work that these will make you!
O look over your debts in time; how everyone of God’s commandments is ready to
arrest you, and take you by the throat for the innumerable bonds it has upon
you. What will you do, then, when they shall all together come in against you?
Hold open the eyes of your conscience to consider this, that you may despair of
yourself and be driven to Christ, and fly for refuge to lay hold on the hope
that is set before you. 5. Your raging LUSTS miserably enslave you. While
unconverted you are a very servant to sin; it reigns over you, and holds you
under its dominion, until you are brought within the bonds of God’s covenant.
There is not such another tyrant as sin. O the vile and fearful work that it
engages its servants in! Would it not pierce your heart to see a company of poor
creatures drudging and toiling to carry together faggots and fuel for their own
burning? This is the employment of sin’s drudges. Even while they bless
themselves in their unrighteous gains, while they sing in their pleasure—they
are but treasuring up vengeance for their eternal burning; they are but adding
to the pile of Tophet, and flinging in oil to make the flame rage the fiercer.
Who would serve such a master—whose work is drudgery—whose wages are death? What
a woeful spectacle was the poor wretch possessed with the legion of demons!
Would it not have grieved your heart to see him among the tombs cutting and
wounding himself? This is your case; such is your work; every stroke is a thrust
at your heart. Conscience indeed is now asleep; but when death and judgment
shall bring you to your senses, then will you feel the anguish in every wound.
The convinced sinner is an instance of the miserable bondage of sin. Conscience
flies upon him, and tells him the end of these things; and yet he is such a
slave to his lusts that on he goes, though he sees it will be his perdition.
When the temptation comes, lust breaks the cords of all his vows and promises,
and carries him headlong to his own destruction. 6. The furnace of ETERNAL
VENGEANCE is heated ready for you. Hell and destruction open their mouths upon
you; they gape for you; they groan for you (Isaiah 5:14), waiting as it were
with a greedy eye as you stand on the brink. If the wrath of men be ’as the
roaring of a lion’ (Proverbs 19:12), ’more heavy than the sand’ (Proverbs 27:3),
what is the wrath of the infinite God? If the burning furnace heated in
Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery rage, when he commanded it to be made seven times hotter,
was so fierce as to burn up even those who drew near to throw the three children
in—how hot is that burning of the Almighty’s fury! Surely this is seventy times
seven more fierce. What do you think, O man, of being a faggot in hell to all
eternity? ’Can your heart endure—or can your hands be strong in the days that I
shall deal with you?’ (Ezekiel 22:14). Can you abide the everlasting burnings?
Can you dwell with consuming fire, when you shall be as glowing iron in hell,
and your whole body and soul shall be as fully possessed by God’s burning
vengeance as the sparkling iron with fire, when heated in the fiercest furnace?
Some of the choicest servants of God, when under the hidings of His face, and
dreading the effects of His displeasure, have bewailed their condition with
bitter lamentations. How then will you endure when God shall pour out all His
vials, and set Himself against you to torment you, when He shall make your
conscience the tunnel by which He will be pouring His burning wrath into your
soul forever, and when he shall fill all your pores as full of torment as they
are now full of sin, when immortality shall be your misery, and to die the death
of a brute, and be swallowed in the gulf of annihilation, shall be such a
felicity as the whole eternity of wishes and an ocean of tears shall never
purchase? Now you can put off the evil day, and laugh and be merry, and forget
the terror of the Lord. But how will you hold out—or hold up, when God casts you
into a ’bed of torments’ (Revelation 2:22): and makes you to ’lie down in
sorrow’ (Isaiah 50:11); when roarings and blasphemies shall be your only music,
and the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the
cup of His indignation, shall be your only drink! (Revelation 14:10) In a word,
when the smoke of your torment shall ascend forever and ever, and you shall have
no rest day and night, no rest in your conscience, no ease in your bones; but
you shall be an execration and astonishment, and a curse and a reproach, for
evermore! (Jeremiah 42:18) Oh sinner, stop here, and consider. If you are a man,
and not a senseless block, consider. Think where you are standing—upon the very
brink of destruction. As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a
step between you and this. You do not know when you lie down to sleep
tonight—but you may be in hell before morning. You do not know when you rise up
this day—but you may drop in before night. Dare you make light of this? Will you
go on in such a dreadful condition, as if nothing ailed you? If you put it off
and say that this does not belong to you, look again over the previous chapter,
and tell me the truth. Are none of those black marks found upon you? Do not
blind your eyes. Do not deceive yourself. See your misery while you may prevent
it. Think what it is to be a vile outcast, a lost reprobate, a vessel of wrath,
into which the Lord will be pouring out His tormenting fury while He has a
being. Divine wrath is a fierce, devouring, everlasting, unquenchable fire—and
this must be your portion, unless you consider your ways, and speedily turn to
the Lord by a sound conversion. Sinner, it is in vain to flatter you—this would
be but to draw you into the unquenchable fire. Know from the living God that
here you must lie; with these burnings you must dwell until immortality dies and
immutability changes, until eternity runs out and omnipotence is no longer able
to punish—unless you be in good earnest renewed by sanctifying grace. 7. The LAW
discharges all its threats and curses at you. Oh how dreadfully does it thunder!
It flashes devouring fire in your face. Its words are as drawn swords, and as
the sharp arrows of the mighty. It demands satisfaction to the utmost, and
cries, Justice! Justice! It speaks blood, and war, and wounds, and death,
against you. O man away to your stronghold; away from your sins; haste to the
sanctuary, the city of refuge—even the Lord Jesus Christ. Hide in Him—or else
you are lost, without any hope of recovery. 8. The GOSPEL itself binds the
sentence of eternal damnation upon you. If you continue in your impenitent and
unconverted state, know that the Gospel denounces a much sorer condemnation than
ever would have been for the transgression only of the first covenant. Is it not
a dreadful case to have the Gospel itself fill its mouth with threats; to have
the Lord to roar from Mount Zion against you? (Joel 3:16). Hear the terror of
the Lord. ’He who believes not, shall be damned.’ ’Unless you repent, you shall
all perish.’ ’This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light.’ ’He who believes not—the wrath of God
abides on him.’ ’If the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall
we escape if we neglect so great salvation?’ ’He who despised Moses’ law died
without mercy: of how much more terrible punishment shall he be thought worthy
who has trodden under foot the Son of God?’ (Mark 16:16; Luke 13:3; John 3:19,
John 3:36; Hebrews 2:2-3; Hebrews 10:28-29). And is this true indeed? Is this
your misery? Yes, it is as true as God is. Better open your eyes and see it now
while you may remedy it, than blind and harden yourself until, to your eternal
sorrow, you shall feel what you would not believe. And if it is true, what do
you mean by lingering and loitering in such a state as this? Alas for you, poor
man! How effectually has sin undone you, depraved you and despoiled you even of
your reason to look after your own everlasting good! O miserable wretch! What
stupidity and senselessness have surprised you! Oh let me knock and awake this
sleeper! Who dwells within the walls of this flesh? Is there a soul here, a
rational, understanding soul; or are you only a senseless lump? Are you a
rational soul, and yet so far brutified as to forget that you are immortal, and
to think yourself to be as the beasts that perish? Having reason to understand
the eternity of the future state, do you yet make light of being everlastingly
miserable, which is to be so much below the brute, as it is worse to act against
reason than to act without it? Oh unhappy soul—that was the glory of man, the
companion of angels, and the image of God; that was God’s representative in the
world, and had the supremacy among the creatures, and the dominion over your
Maker’s works; are you now become a slave to the world? Are you heaping together
a little refined earth, so unsuited to your spiritual immortal nature? Oh why do
you not consider where you will spend eternity? Death is at hand; the Judge is
even at the door. Yet a little while, and ’time shall be no longer’ [Revelation
10:6]. And will you run the hazard of continuing in such a state, in which, if
you are overtaken, you are irrecoverably miserable? Come then, arise, and attend
to your nearest concerns. Tell me where you are going? What! will you live in
such a course, in which every act is a step to perdition; and you do not know
but the next night you may make your bed in hell? Oh, if you have a spark of
reason, consider, and turn and hearken to your true friend, who would show you
your present misery, that you might in time make your escape, and be eternally
happy. Hear what the Lord says. ’Do you not fear Me? Do you not tremble before
Me?’ (Jeremiah 5:22). O sinners, do you make light of the wrath to come? I am
sure there is a time coming when you will not make light of it. Why! the very
devils believe and tremble. What! are you more hardened than they? Will you run
upon the edge of the precipice? Will you play at the hole of the asp? Will you
put your hand into the cockatrice’s den? Will you dally with devouring wrath as
if you were indifferent whether you escape or endure it? There is no one so
insane as the willful sinner, who goes on in his unconverted state without
thinking—as if nothing ailed him. The man that runs into the cannon’s mouth and
sports with his blood—or lets out his life in a frolic, is sensible, sober, and
serious, compared with him who goes on still in his trespasses. ’He shakes his
fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty’ (Job 15:25). Is it wisdom
to sport with the second death—or to venture into the lake which burns with fire
and brimstone? What shall I say? I can find no expression, no comparison, by
which to set forth the dreadful madness of the soul that will go on in sin.
Awake! awake! O sinner, arise and take your flight. There is but one door that
you may flee by, and that is the narrow door of conversion and the new birth.
Unless you sincerely turn from all your sins, and come to Jesus Christ, and take
Him for the Lord your righteousness, and walk in Him in holiness and newness of
life; as the Lord lives, it is not more certain that you are now out of hell,
than that you shall without fail be in it but a few days or nights from now! Oh
set your heart to think of your case. Does not your everlasting misery or
welfare deserve a little consideration? Look again over the miseries of the
unconverted. If the Lord has not spoken by me, regard me not; but if it is the
very word of God that all this misery lies upon you, what a state you are in! Is
it for one that has his senses to live in such a condition, and not to make all
possible haste to prevent his utter ruin? O man, who has bewitched you, that in
the matters of this present life you shall be wise enough to forecast your
business, foresee your danger, and prevent your ruin; but in matters of
everlasting consequence shall be slight and careless, as if they little
concerned you? Is it nothing to you to have all the attributes of God engaged
against you? Can you live without His favor? Can you escape His hands—or endure
His vengeance? Do you hear the creation groaning under you, and hell groaning
for you—and yet think your case good enough? Are you under the power of
corruption, in the dark, noisome prison, fettered with lusts, working out your
own damnation—and is this not worth a thought? Will you make light of all the
terrors of the law, of all its curses and thunders, as if they were but the
threatenings of a child? Do you laugh at hell and destruction—or can you drink
the envenomed cup of the Almighty’s fury? Gird up now your loins like a man, and
answer me. Are you such a leviathan as that the scales of your pride should
resist your Maker? Will you esteem His arrows as straw, and the instruments of
death as rotten wood? Are you chief of all the children of pride, even that you
should count His darts as stubble, and laugh at the shaking of His spear? Do you
mock at fear, and are you not frightened, do you not turn back from God’s sword
when His quiver rattles against you, the glittering spear and the shield? Well,
if the threats and calls of the Word will not awaken you—I am sure death and
judgment will. Oh what will you do when the Lord comes forth against you, and in
His fury falls upon you, and you shall feel what you now read? If when Daniel’s
enemies were cast into the den of lions, both they and their wives and their
children, the lions had the mastery over them and broke all their bones in
pieces before they came to the bottom of the den—what shall become of you when
you fall into the hands of the living God? Oh, do not then contend with God.
Repent and be converted, so none of this shall come upon you. ’Seek the Lord
while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked one abandon
his way, and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so He may
have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive.’ (Isaiah
55:6-7).


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  CHAPTER 19: 1.07.     DIRECTIONS TO THE UNCONVERTED
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Alarm to the Unconverted by Joseph Alleine, 1671 Directions to the Unconverted

Before you read these directions, I advise you, yes, I charge you before God and
His holy angels, that you resolve to follow them, as far as conscience shall be
convinced of their agreeableness to God’s Word and your state; and call in His
assistance and blessing that they may succeed. And as I have sought the Lord and
consulted His oracles as to what advice to give you, so must you entertain it
with that awe, reverence, and purpose of obedience, which the word of the living
God requires. Now, then, attend. ’Set your heart unto all that I shall testify
unto you this day; for it is not a vain thing—it is your life’ (Deuteronomy
32:46). This is the aim of all that has been spoken hitherto, to bring you to
set your heart upon turning to God. I would not trouble you, nor torment you
before the time with the thoughts of your eternal misery—but in order that you
may make your escape. Were you shut up under your present misery without remedy,
it were but mercy to let you alone, that you might take in that little poor
comfort which you are capable of in this world; but you may yet be happy, if you
do not willfully refuse the means of your recovery. Behold, I hold open the door
to you; arise, take your flight. I set the way of life before you; walk in it,
and you shall live, and not die. It grieves me that you should be your own
murderers, and throw yourselves headlong, when God and man cry out to you, as
Peter in another case to his Master, ’Spare yourself.’ The destruction of
ungodly men is willful. God has made his people out to them, as Paul to the
jailer when about to murder himself, ’Do yourself no harm.’ [Acts 16:28] The
ministers of Christ forewarn them, and follow them, and would gladly have them
back; but alas! no expostulations or entreaties will prevail—but men will hurl
themselves into perdition, while pity itself looks on. What shall I say? Would
it not grieve a person of any humanity, if, in the time of a raging plague, he
should have a remedy that would infallibly cure all the country and recover the
most hopeless patients, and yet his friends and neighbors should die by hundreds
around him, because they would not use it? Men and brethren, though you carry
the certain symptoms of death on your faces—yet I have a prescription that will
cure you all infallibly. Follow these directions, and if you do not then win
heaven, I will be content to lose it. Hear, then, O sinner, and as ever you
would be converted and saved, take the following counsel. 1. Set it down with
yourself as an undoubted truth, that it is impossible for you ever to get to
heaven in this your unconverted state. Can any other but Christ save you? and He
tells you He will never do it except you are regenerated and converted. Does He
not keep the keys of heaven, and can you go in without His permission? as you
must, if ever you go in your natural condition, without a sound and thorough
conversion. 2. Labor to get a thorough sight and lively sense and feeling of
your sins. Until men are weary and heavy laden, and pricked at the heart, and
quite sick of sin, they will not come to Christ for cure, nor sincerely enquire,
’What shall we do?’ [Acts 2:37] They must see themselves as dead men, before
they will come unto Christ that they may live. Labor, therefore, to set all your
sins in order before you; do not be afraid to look upon them—but let your spirit
make diligent search. Enquire into your heart, and into your life; enter into a
thorough examination of yourself and all your ways, that you may make a full
discovery; and call in the help of God’s Spirit, out of a sense of your own
inability to do this by yourself, for it is His proper work to convince of sin.
Spread all before your conscience, until your heart and eyes are set weeping. Do
not leave striving with God and your own soul, until it cry out under the sense
of your sins, as the enlightened jailer, ’What must I do to be saved?’ [Acts
16:30] To this purpose, Meditate on the NUMBER of your sins. David’s heart
failed when he thought of this, and considered that he had more sins than the
hairs of his head. This made him cry out for the multitude of God’s tender
mercies. The loathsome carcass does not more hatefully swarm with crawling
maggots, than an unsanctified soul with filthy lusts. They fill his head, his
heart, his eyes and his mouth. Look backward; where was ever the place, what was
ever the time, in which you did not sin? Look inward; what part or power can you
find in soul or body which is not poisoned with sin; what duty do you ever
perform, into which this poison is not shed? Oh how great is the sum of your
debts, who ha been all your life running into debt, and never did or can pay off
one penny! Look over the sin of your nature, and all its cursed brood, the sins
of your life. Call to mind your omissions and commissions; the sins of your
thoughts, words, and actions; the sins of your youth, and the sins of your riper
years. Do not be like a desperate bankrupt who is afraid to look over his books.
Read the records of conscience carefully. These books must be opened sooner or
later. Meditate upon the AGGRAVATIONS of your sins, as they are the grand
enemies of the God of your life, and of the life of your soul; in a word, they
are the public enemies of all mankind. How do David, Ezra, Daniel, and the good
Levites, aggravate their sins, from the consideration of their opposition to God
and His good and righteous laws, and of the mercies and warnings against which
they were committed! Oh the work that sin has done in the world! This is the
enemy that has brought in death; that has robbed and enslaved man, that has
turned the world upside down, and sown the dissensions between man and the
creatures, between man and man, yes, between man and himself, setting the animal
part against the rational, the will against the judgment, lust against
conscience; yes, worst of all, between God and man, making the sinner both
hateful to God and the hater of God. O man, how can you make so light of sin?
Sin is the traitor that thirsted for the blood of the Son of God, that sold Him,
that mocked Him, that scourged Him, that spat in His face, that tore His hands,
that pierced His side, that pressed His soul, that mangled His body, that never
left Him until he had bound Him, condemned Him, nailed Him, crucified Him, and
put Him to an open shame! Sin is that deadly poison, so powerful of operation
that one drop of it, shed on the root of mankind, has corrupted, spoiled,
poisoned, and ruined the whole race. Sin is the bloody executioner that has
killed the prophets, burned the martyrs, murdered all the apostles, all the
patriarchs, all the kings and potentates. Sin has destroyed cities, swallowed
empires, and devoured whole nations. Whatever weapon it was done by, it was sin
that caused the execution. Do you yet think sin only a small thing? If Adam and
all his children could be dug out of their graves, and their bodies piled up to
heaven, and an inquiry were made as to what heinous murderer were guilty of all
this blood, it would be all found in sin! Study the nature of sin, until your
heart incline to fear and loathe it; and meditate on the aggravations of your
particular sins, how you have sinned against all God’s warnings, against your
own prayers, against mercies, against corrections, against clearest light,
against freest love, against your own resolutions, against promises, vows, and
covenants of better obedience. Charge your heart with these things until it
blush for shame, and be brought out of all good opinion of itself. Meditate on
the DESERT of sin. It cries to Heaven; it calls for vengeance. Its due wages are
death and damnation; it brings the curse of God upon the soul and body. The
least sinful word or thought lays you under the infinite wrath of God. O what a
load of wrath, what a weight of curses, what treasures of vengeance, have all
the millions of your sins deserved! Oh judge yourself that the Lord may not
judge you. Meditate on the deformity and DEFILEMENT of sin. It is black as hell,
the very image and likeness of the devil drawn upon the soul. It would terrify
you to see yourself in the hateful deformity of your nature. There is no mire so
unclean, no plague or leprosy so detestable as sin, in which you are plunged and
rendered more displeasing to the pure and holy nature of the glorious God than
the vilest object can be to you. Could you take up a toad into your bosom; could
you cherish it, and take delight in it? But you are as contrary to the pure and
perfect holiness of the divine nature, until you are purified by the blood of
Jesus and the power of renewing grace. Above all other sins, consider these two.
[1] The sin of your heart. It is to little purpose to lop off the branches while
the root of corruption remains untouched. In vain do men stop up the streams,
when the fountain is running which fills up all again. Let the axe of your
repentance, with David’s go to the root of sin. Study how deep, how permanent is
your natural pollution, how universal it is, until you cry out, with Paul,
against your body of death. The heart is never soundly broken until thoroughly
convinced of the heinousness of its original and deep-rooted depravity. Here fix
your thoughts; Sin is that which makes you backward to all good, and prone to
all evil; that sheds blindness, pride, prejudice, and unbelief into your mind;
enmity, inconstancy, and obstinacy into your will; inordinate heats and colds
into your affections; insensibleness and unfaithfulness into your conscience;
slipperiness into your memory. In a word, sin has put every wheel of the soul
out of order, and made it, from a habitation of holiness, to become a very hell
of iniquity. This is what has defiled and perverted all your members, and turned
them into weapons of unrighteousness, and servants of sin; that has filled the
head with carnal and corrupt designs, the hand with sinful practices, the eyes
with wandering and wantonness, the tongue with deadly poison. This is what has
opened the ears to tales, flattery and filthy talk, and shut them against the
instructions of life; and has rendered your heart the cursed source of all
deadly imaginations, so that it pours out its wickedness without ceasing even as
naturally as a fountain pours forth its waters—or the raging sea casts forth
mire and dirt. And will you yet be in love with yourself, and tell us any longer
of your good heart? Oh never leave meditating on the desperate contagion, the
original corruption of your heart, until, with Ephraim, you bemoan yourself; and
with the deepest shame and sorrow smite on your bosom, as the publican; and,
with Job, abhor yourself and repent in dust and ashes. [2] The particular evil
that you are most addicted to. Find out all its aggravations; set home upon your
heart all God’s threats against it. Repentance drives before it the whole
herd—but especially sticks the arrow in the beloved sin, and singles this out,
above the rest, to run it down. Oh labor to make this sin odious to your soul,
and double your guard and resolutions against it, realize that this is most
dishonoring to God and dangerous to you. 3. Strive to affect your heart with a
deep sense of your present misery. Read over the previous chapter again and
again, and get it out of the book into your heart. Remember when you lie down,
that for all you know, you may awake in flames; and when you rise up, that by
the next night you may make your bed in hell. Is it nothing to you to live in
such a fearful state, to stand tottering on the brink of the bottomless pit; and
to live at the mercy of every disease that, if it but fall upon you, will send
you forthwith into the burnings? Suppose you saw a condemned wretch hanging over
Nebuchadnezzar’s burning fiery furnace by nothing but a thread which was ready
to break every moment, would not your heart tremble for such a one? You are the
man! This is your very case, O man, woman, who reads this, if you are yet
unconverted. What if the thread of your life should break—and you know not but
it may be the next night, yes, the next moment—where would you be then? Where
would you drop? Truly, upon the breaking of this thread, you would fall into the
lake that burns with fire and brimstone, where you must lie while God has a
being, if you die in your present state. And does not your soul tremble as you
read? Do not your tears wet the paper, and your heart throb in your bosom? Do
you not yet begin to smite on your bosom, and think with yourself what need you
have of a change? Oh what is your heart made of? Have you not only lost all
regard to God—but all love and pity to yourself? O study your misery until your
heart cry out for Christ as earnestly as ever a drowning man did for a boat—or
the wounded man for a surgeon. Men must come to see the danger and feel the
smart of their deadly sores and sickness—or Christ will be to them a physician
of no value. The manslayer hastens to the city of refuge, when pursued by the
avenger of blood; but men must be even forced and driven out of themselves—or
they will not come to Christ. It was distress and extremity that made the
prodigal think of returning. While Laodicea thinks herself rich, increased in
goods, in need of nothing, there is little hope. She must be deeply convinced of
her wretchedness, blindness, poverty, and nakedness, before she will come to
Christ for His gold, raiment, and eye salve. Therefore hold the eyes of
conscience open, amplify your misery as much as possible, do not flee the sight
of it for fear it should fill you with terror. The sense of your misery is but
as it were the festering of the wound, which is necessary to the cure. Better
now to fear the torments that await you—than to feel them hereafter. 4. Settle
it in your heart that you must look outside of yourself and away from your own
doings for help. Do not think your praying, reading, hearing, confessing or
amending, will effect the cure. These must be attended to—but you are undone if
you rest in them. You are a lost man if you hope to escape drowning on any other
plank but Jesus Christ! You must renounce your own wisdom, your own
righteousness, your own strength, and throw yourself wholly upon Christ—or you
cannot escape. While men trust in themselves, and establish their own
righteousness, and have confidence in the flesh, they will not come savingly to
Christ. You must know your gain to be but loss, your strength but weakness, your
righteousness to be but rags and rottenness, before there will be an effectual
closure between Christ and you. Can the lifeless body shake off its
grave-clothes, and unloose the cords of death? Then may you recover yourself,
who are dead in trespasses and sins, and under an impossibility of serving your
Maker acceptably in this condition. Therefore, when you go to pray or
meditate—or to do any of the duties to which you are here directed, go out of
yourself, and call in the help of the Spirit, as despairing to do anything
pleasing to God in your own strength. Yet do not neglect duty. While the eunuch
was reading, then the Holy Spirit did send Philip to him. When the disciples
were praying, when Cornelius and his friends were hearing, then the Holy Spirit
fell upon and filled them all. 5. Henceforth renounce all your sins. If you
yield yourself to the practice of any sin, you are undone. In vain do you hope
for life by Christ, except you depart from iniquity. Forsake your sins—or you
cannot find mercy. You cannot be married to Christ except you be divorced from
sin. Give up the traitor—or you can have no peace with heaven. Keep not Delilah
in your lap. You must part with your sins—or with your soul: spare but one sin
and God will not spare you. Your sins must die—or you must die for them. If you
allow one sin, though but a little, a secret one, though you may plead
necessity, and have a hundred shifts and excuses for it, the life of your soul
must go for the life of that sin. And will it not be dearly bought? O sinner,
hear and consider. If you will part with your sins, God will give you His
Christ. Is not this a fair exchange? I testify unto you this day, that if you
perish, it is not because there was never a Savior provided, nor life
tendered—but because, with the Jews, you prefer the murderer before the Savior,
sin before Christ, and love darkness rather than light. Search your heart
therefore with candles, as the Jews did their houses for leaven before the
Passover. Labor to find out your sins; enter into your closet, and consider ...
What evil have I lived in? ... What duty have I neglected towards God? ... what
sin have I lived in against my brother? And now strike the darts through the
heart of your sin, as Joab did through Absalom’s. Do not stand looking at your
sins, nor rolling the morsel under your tongue—but cast it out as poison, with
fear and detestation. Alas, what will your sins do for you that you should
hesitate to part with them? They will flatter you—but they will undo you and
poison you while they please you, and arm the justice and wrath of the infinite
God against you. They will open hell for you, and pile up fuel to burn you.
Behold the gibbet that they have prepared for you. O treat them like Haman, and
do upon them the execution they would else have done upon you. Away with them,
crucify them and let Christ only be Lord over you. 6. Make a solemn choice of
God for your portion and blessedness. With all possible devotion and veneration,
take the Lord for your God. Set the world, with all its glory, and paint, and
gallantry, with all its pleasures and promotions, on the one hand; and set God,
with all His infinite excellencies and perfections, on the other; and see that
you do deliberately make your choice. Take up your rest in God. Sit down under
His shadow. Let His promises and perfections turn the scale against all the
world. Settle it in your heart, that the Lord is an all-sufficient portion, that
you cannot be miserable while you have God to live upon. Take Him for your
shield and exceeding great reward. God alone is more than all the world; content
yourself with Him. Let others possess the preferments and glory of the world;
but you must place your happiness in the favor of God, and in the light of His
countenance. Poor sinner, you have fallen off from God, and have engaged His
power and wrath against you; yet know, that of His abundant grace He offers to
be your God again in Christ. What do you say? Will you have the Lord for your
God? Take this counsel, and you shall have Him. Come to Him by Christ, renounce
the idols of your pleasures, gain, reputation. Let these be pulled from their
throne, and set God’s interest uppermost in your heart. Take Him as God, to be
chief in your affections and purposes; for He will not endure to have any set
above Him. In a word, you must take Him in all His personal relations and in all
His essential perfections. [1] In all His personal relations. God the FATHER
must be taken for your Father. O come to Him with the prodigal: ’Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and am not worthy to be called your
son’ [Luke 15:21]; but since of Your wonderful mercy You are pleased to take me,
that am of myself most vile, even a beast and no man before You—to be Your
child, I solemnly take You for my Father, commend myself to Your care, and trust
to Your providence, and cast my burden on You. I depend on Your provision, and
submit to Your corrections, and trust under the shadow of Your wings, and hide
in Your chambers, and fly to Your name. I renounce all confidence in myself; I
repose my confidence in You. I declare my engagement with You; I will be for
You, and not for another.’ God the SON must be taken for your Savior, your
Redeemer, and your Righteousness. He must be accepted, as the only way to the
Father, and the only means of life. O then put off the raiment of your
captivity, put on the wedding garment, and go and marry yourself to Christ.
’Lord, I am Yours, and all I have, my body, soul, and estate. I give my heart to
You; I will be Yours undividedly, Yours everlastingly. I will set Your name on
all I have, and use it only as Your goods, during Your absence, resigning all to
You. I will have no king but You to reign over me. Other lords have had dominion
over me; but now I will make mention of Your name only, and do here take an oath
of fidelity to You, promising to serve and fear You above all competitors. I
reject my own righteousness, and despair of ever being pardoned and saved for my
own duties or graces, and lean solely on Your all-sufficient sacrifice and
intercession for pardon, life, and acceptance before God. I take You for my only
Guide and Instructor, resolving to be directed by You, and to wait for Your
counsel.’ Lastly, God the SPIRIT must be taken for your Sanctifier, for your
Advocate, your Counselor, your Comforter, the Teacher of your ignorance, the
Pledge of your inheritance. ’Awake, you North wind, and come, you South wind—and
blow upon my garden’ (Song of Solomon 4:16). ’Come, Spirit of the Most High;
here is a temple for You; do You rest here forever; dwell here. Lo, I give
possession to You, full possession; I send You the keys of my heart, that all
may be Yours. I give up the use of all to You, that every faculty and every
member may be Your instrument to work righteousness and do the will of my Father
who is in heaven.’ [2] In all His essential perfections. Consider how the Lord
has revealed Himself to you in His Word. Will you take Him as such a God? O
sinner, here is the most blessed news that ever came to the sons of men: The
Lord will be your God, if you will but close with Him in His excellencies. Will
you have the merciful, the gracious, the sin-pardoning God to be your God? ’O
yes,’ says the sinner, ’otherwise I am undone.’ But He further tells you, ’I am
the holy and sin-hating God; if you will be owned as one of My people, you must
be holy—holy in heart, holy in life. You must put away all your iniquities, be
they ever so dear, ever so natural, ever so necessary to the maintaining of your
worldly interest. Unless you will be at enmity with sin, I cannot be your God.
Cast out the leaven. Put away the evil of your doings; cease to do evil; learn
to do well. Bring forth My enemies—or there is no peace to be had with Me.’ What
does your heart answer? ’Lord, I desire to be holy as You are holy, and to be
made partaker of Your holiness. I love You, not only for Your goodness and
mercy—but for Your holiness and purity. I take Your holiness for my happiness. O
be to me a fountain of holiness. Set on me the stamp and impress of Your
holiness. I will thankfully part with all my sins at Your command. My wilful
sins I do henceforth forsake; and for my infirmities that cleave unto me, though
I would be rid of them, I will strive against them continually. I detest them,
and will pray against them, and never let them have rest in my soul.’ Beloved,
whoever of you will thus accept the Lord, He shall be your God. Again, He tells
you, ’I am the all-sufficient God. Will you lay all at My feet, give up all to
My disposal, and take Me for your only portion? Will you own and honor my
all-sufficiency? Will you take Me as your happiness and treasure, your hope and
bliss? I am a sun and a shield all in one; will you have Me for your all?’ Now
what do you say to this? Does your soul long for the onions and fleshpots of
Egypt? Are you loath to change your earthly happiness for a portion in God; and
though you would be glad to have God and the world too—yet can you not think of
having Him, and nothing but Him; but had rather take up with the earth below, if
God would but let you keep it as long as you would? This is a fearful sign. But
now, if you are willing to sell all for the Pearl of great price; if your heart
answers, ’Lord, I desire no other portion but You. Take the grain and the wine
and the oil who will—just so that I may have the light of Your countenance. I
fix upon You for my happiness; I gladly venture myself on You, and trust myself
with You. I set my hope in You; I take up my rest with You. Let me hear You say,
"I am your God, your salvation," and I have enough, all I wish for. I will make
no terms with You but for Yourself. Let me have You for sure, let me be able to
make my claim and see my title to Yourself; and for other things, I leave them
to You. Give me more or less, anything or nothing; I will be satisfied in my
God.’ Take Him thus, and He is your own. Again, He tells you, ’I am the
sovereign Lord; if you will have Me for your God you must give Me the supremacy.
You must not make Me second to sin or any worldly interest. If you will be My
people I must have the rule over you; you must not live at your pleasure. Will
you come under My yoke? Will you bow to My government? Will you submit to My
discipline, to My Word, to My rod?’ Sinner, what do you say to this? ’Lord, I
had rather be at Your command than live at my own will. I had rather have Your
will to be done than mine. I approve of and consent to Your laws, and account it
my privilege to be under them. And though the flesh rebels, and often break its
bounds, I have resolved to take no other Lord but You. I willingly take the oath
of Your supremacy, and acknowledge You for my Sovereign, and resolve all my days
to pay the tribute of worship, obedience, love, and service to You, and to live
to You to the end of my life.’ This is a right acceptance of God. To be short,
He tells you, ’I am the true and faithful God. If you will have Me for your God
you must be content to trust Me. Will you venture yourselves upon My Word, and
depend on My faithfulness, and take My bond for your security? Will you be
content to follow Me in poverty, and reproach, and affliction here; and to tarry
until the next world for your preferment? Will you be content to labor and
suffer, and to tarry for your returns until the resurrection of the just? My
promise will not always be instantly fulfilled; will you have the patience to
wait?’ Now, beloved, what do you say to this? Will you have this God for your
God? Will you be content to live by faith, and trust Him for an unseen
happiness, an unseen heaven, an unseen glory? Do your hearts answer, ’Lord, we
will venture ourselves upon You. We commit ourselves to You, we cast ourselves
upon You. We know whom we have trusted. We are willing to take Your word; we
prefer Your promises before our own possessions, and the hopes of heaven before
all the enjoyments of earth. We will do Your pleasure—what You will here, so
that we may have but Your faithful promise for heaven hereafter.’ If you can in
trust, and upon deliberation, thus accept of God, He will be yours. Thus there
must be, in a right conversion to God, a closing with Him suitable to His
excellencies. But when men close with His mercy—but yet love sin, hating
holiness and purity; or will take Him for their Benefactor—but not for their
Sovereign; or for their Patron, and not for their Portion; this is no thorough
and sound conversion. 7. Accept the Lord Jesus in all His offices as yours. Upon
these terms Christ may be had. Sinner, you have undone yourself, and are plunged
into the ditch of most deplorable misery, out of which you are never able to
escape; but Jesus Christ is able and ready to help you, and He freely offers
Himself to you. Be your sins ever so many, ever so great—or of ever so long
continuance—yet you shall be most certainly pardoned and saved, if you do not
wretchedly neglect the offer that in the name of God is here made to you. The
Lord Jesus calls you to look to Him and be saved. Come unto Him, and He will
never cast you out. Yes, He beseeches you to be reconciled. He cries in the
streets; He knocks at your door. He invites you to accept Him, and live with
Him. If you die, it is because you would not come to Him for life (Isaiah 45:22;
John 6:37; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Proverbs 1:20; Revelation 3:20; John 5:40).
Accept an offered Christ now, and you are made forever. Give your consent to Him
now, and the match is made; all the world cannot hinder it. Do not stand off
because of your unworthiness. I tell you, nothing can undo you but your own
unwillingness. Speak, man; will you give your consent? Will you have Christ in
all His relations to be yours—your King, your Priest, your Prophet? Will you
have Him and bear His cross? Do not take Christ without consideration—but sit
down first and count the cost. Will you lay all at His feet? Will you be content
to run all hazards with Him? Will you take your lot with Him, fall where it
will? Will you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him? Are you
deliberately, understandingly, freely determined to cleave to Him in all times
and conditions? If so, you shall never perish—but you have passed from death
unto life. Here lies the main point of your salvation, that you are found in
your covenant-closure with Jesus Christ; and therefore, if you love yourself,
see that you be faithful to God and your soul here. 8. Resign all your powers
and faculties, and your whole interest to be His. ’They gave their own selves
unto the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 8:5). ’Present your bodies a living sacrifice’
(Romans 12:1). The Lord seeks not yours—but you. Resign therefore your body with
its members to Him, and your soul with all its powers, that He may be glorified
in your body and in your spirit, which are His. In a right closing with Christ
all your faculties are given up to Him. Your judgment says, ’Lord, You are
worthy of all acceptance, Chief of ten thousand: happy is the man who finds You.
All the things that are to be desired are not to be compared with You’ (Proverbs
3:13-15). The understanding lays aside its corrupt reasonings and cavils, and
its prejudices against Christ and His ways. It is now past questioning, and
determines for Christ against all the world. It concludes it is good to be here,
and sees such a treasure in this field, such a value in this pearl, as is worth
all (Matthew 13:44-46). ’O here is the richest prize that ever man was offered;
here is the most sovereign remedy that ever mercy prepared. He is worthy of my
esteem, worthy of my choice, worthy of my love, worthy to be embraced, adored,
admired, for evermore (Revelation 5:12). I approve of His articles: His terms
are righteous and reasonable, full of equity and mercy.’ Again, the will
resigns. It stands no longer wavering—but is peremptorily determined: ’Lord,
Your love has overcome me, You have won me, and You shall have me. Come in,
Lord; to You I freely open; I consent to be saved in Your own way. You shall
have anything—nay, have all, let me have but You. The memory gives up to Christ:
’Lord, here is a storehouse for You: out with the trash: lay in the treasures.
Let me be a repository of Your truth, Your promises, Your providences.’ The
conscience comes in: ’Lord, I will ever side with You: I will be Your faithful
registrar. I will warn when the sinner is tempted, and smite when You are
offended. I will witness for You, and judge for You, and guide into Your ways,
and will never let sin have quiet in this soul.’ The affections also come to
Christ: ’O,’ says Love, ’I am sick for You.’ ’O,’ says Desire, ’now I have what
I sought for. Here is the Desire of nations; here is bread for me, and balm for
me: all that I want.’ Fear bows the knee with awe and veneration: ’Welcome,
Lord, to You will I pay my homage. Your Word and rod shall command my actions;
You will I reverence and adore; before You will I fall down and worship.’ Grief
likewise puts in: ’Lord, Your displeasure and Your dishonor, Your people’s
calamities and my own iniquities, shall be what shall set me a-weeping. I will
mourn when You are offended; I will weep when Your cause is wounded.’ Anger
likewise comes in for Christ: ’Lord, nothing so enrages me as my folly against
You, that I should be so besotted as to hearken to the flatteries of sin and the
temptations of Satan against You.’ Hatred, too, will side with Christ: ’I
protest mortal enmity to Your enemies, that I will never be a friend to Your
foes. I vow an eternal quarrel with every sin. I will give no quarter, I will
make no peace.’ Thus let all your powers yield to Jesus Christ. Again, you must
give up your whole interest to Him. If there is anything that you keep back from
Christ, it will be your undoing (Luke 14:33). Unless you will forsake all, in
preparation and resolution of your heart, you cannot be His disciple. You must
hate father and mother, yes, and your own life also, in comparison with Him, and
as far as it stands in competition with Him. In a word, you must give Him
yourself, and all that you have without reservation—or else you can have no part
in Him. 9. Choose the laws of Christ as the rule of your words, thoughts and
actions. This is the true convert’s choice. But here remember these three rules.
1. You must choose them all, there is no getting to heaven by a partial
obedience. It is not enough to take up the cheap and easy part of religion, and
let alone the duties that are costly and self-denying, and oppose the interests
of the flesh; you must take all or none. A sincere convert, though he makes
conscience of the greatest sins and weightiest duties—yet he makes true
conscience of little sins and of all duties. 2. You must choose Christ’s laws
for all times, for prosperity and adversity. A true convert is resolved in his
course; he will stand to his choice, and will not set his back to the wind, and
be of the religion of the times. ’I have stuck to your testimonies; I have
inclined my heart to perform your statutes always, even to the end. Your
testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever. I will have respect to your
statutes continually’ (Psalms 119:31, Psalms 119:112, Psalms 119:117). 3. This
must be done deliberately and understandingly. The disobedient son said, ’I go,
sir,’ but he went not. How fairly did they promise, ’All that the Lord our God
shall speak unto you we will do it!’ And it is likely they meant what they said.
But when it came to the trial it was found that there was not such a heart in
them as to do what they had promised (Deuteronomy 5:27, Deuteronomy 5:29). If
you would be sincere in closing with the laws and the ways of Christ, study the
meaning, and breadth, and extent of them. Remember that they are spiritual; they
reach the very thoughts and inclinations of the heart; so that, if you will walk
by this rule, your very thoughts and inward motions must be under government.
Again, they are very strict and self-denying, quite contrary to your natural
inclinations. You must take the strait gate, the narrow way, and be content to
have the flesh curbed from the liberty it desires. In a word, they are very
large, for ’your commandment is exceeding broad’ (Psalms 119:96). Do not rest in
general commands, for there is much deceit in them—but bring down your heart to
the particular commands of Christ. Those Jews, in the prophet, seemed as well
resolved as any in the world, and called God to witness that they meant as they
said. But they rested in generals. When God’s command crosses their inclination,
they will not obey (Jeremiah 42:1-6; Jeremiah 43:2). Take the Westminster
Assembly’s Larger Catechism, and see their excellent and most comprehensive
exposition of the commandments, and put your heart to it. Are you resolved, in
the strength of Christ, to set upon the conscientious practice of every duty
that you find to be required of you, and to set against every sin that you find
to be forbidden? This is the way to be sound in God’s statutes, that you may
never be ashamed (Psalms 119:80). Observe the special duties that your heart is
most against, and the special sins that it is most inclined to, and see whether
it be truly resolved to perform the one and forgo the other. What do you say to
your bosom sin, your profitable sin? What do you say to costly, hazardous, and
flesh-displeasing duties? If you halt here, and do not resolve, by the grace of
God, to cross the flesh and be in earnest, you are unsound. 10. Let all this be
completed in a solemn covenant between God and your soul. Set apart some time,
more than once, to be spent in secret before the Lord—in seeking earnestly His
special assistance and gracious acceptance of you—in searching your heart,
whether you are sincerely willing to forsake all your sins, and to resign
yourself, body and soul, unto God and His service; to serve Him in holiness and
righteousness all the days of your life. Compose your spirit into the most
serious frame possible, suitable to a transaction of so high importance. Lay
hold on the covenant of God, and rely on His promise of giving grace and
strength, by which you may be enabled to perform your promise. Do not trust to
your own strength, to the strength of your own resolutions; but take hold on His
strength. Being thus prepared, on some convenient time set apart for the
purpose, enter upon the work, and solemnly, as in the presence of the Lord, fall
down on your knees and spreading forth your hands towards heaven open your heart
to the Lord in these—or the like words: ’O most holy God, for the passion of
Your Son, I beseech You accept Your poor prodigal now prostrating himself at
Your door. I have fallen from You by my iniquity, and am by nature a son of
death, and a thousand-fold more the child of hell by wicked practice. But of
Your infinite grace You have promised mercy to me in Christ, if I will but turn
to You with all my heart. Therefore, upon the call of Your gospel, I am now come
in, and throwing down my weapons, submit myself to Your mercy. And because You
require, as the condition of my peace with You, that I should put away my idols,
and be at defiance with all Your enemies, which I acknowledge I have wickedly
sided with against You, I here from the bottom of my heart renounce them all,
firmly covenanting with You, not to allow myself in any known sin—but
conscientiously to use all the means that I know You have prescribed for the
death and utter destruction of all my corruptions. ’And whereas formerly I have
inordinately and idolatrously set my affections upon the world, I do here resign
my heart to You who made it, humbly declaring before Your glorious Majesty, that
it is the firm resolution of my heart, and that I do sincerely desire grace from
You, that when You shall call me hereunto, I may practice this my resolution
through Your assistance, to forsake all that is dear unto me in this world,
rather than to turn from You to the ways of sin; and that I will watch against
all its temptations, whether of prosperity or adversity, lest they should
withdraw my heart from You. I beseech You also to help me against the
temptations of Satan, to whose wicked suggestions I resolve by Your grace never
to yield myself a servant. And because my own righteousness is but as filthy
rags, I renounce all my confidence therein, and acknowledge that I am of myself
a hopeless, helpless, undone creature, without righteousness or strength. ’And
forasmuch as You have of Your bottomless mercy offered most graciously to me, a
wretched sinner, to be again my God through Christ, if I would accept You; I
call upon heaven and earth to record this day, that I do here solemnly avouch
You for the Lord my God, and with all possible veneration, bowing the neck of my
soul under the feet of Your most sacred Majesty, I do here take You the Lord
Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for my portion and chief good, and do
give myself, body and soul, to be Your servant, promising and vowing to serve
You in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life. ’And since You have
appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the only means of coming unto You, I do here
solemnly join myself in a marriage covenant to Him. ’O Blessed Jesus, I come to
You hungry and thirsty, poor and wretched, miserable, blind and naked, a most
loathsome polluted wretch, a guilty condemned criminal, unworthy to wash the
feet of the servants of my Lord, much more to be solemnly married to the King of
Glory. But such is Your unparalleled love, I do here with all my power accept
You, and do take You for my Head and Husband, for better, for worse, for richer,
for poorer, for all times and conditions, to love, honor and obey You before all
others, and this to the death. I embrace You in all Your offices. I renounce my
own worthiness, and do here avow You to be the Lord my Righteousness. I renounce
my own wisdom, and do here take You for my only Guide. I renounce my own will,
and take Your will for my law. ’And since You have told me that I must suffer if
I will reign, I do here covenant with You to take my lot, as it falls, with You,
and by Your grace assisting to run all hazards with You, truly supposing that
neither life nor death shall part between You and me. ’And because You have been
pleased to give me Your holy laws, as the rule of my life, and the way in which
I should walk to Your kingdom, I do here willingly put my neck under Your yoke,
and set my shoulder to Your burden; and subscribing to all Your laws as holy,
just, and good, I solemnly take them as the rule of my words, thoughts, and
actions; promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel—yet I will endeavor
to order and govern my whole life to Your direction, and will not allow myself
to neglect anything that I know to be my duty. ’Only because through the frailty
of my flesh, I am subject to many failings, I am bold humbly to request, that
unintentional shortcomings, contrary to the settled bent and resolution of my
heart, shall not make void this covenant, for so You have said. ’Now, Almighty
God, Searcher of hearts, You know that I make this covenant with You this day,
without any known guile or reservation, beseeching You, that if You espy any
flaw or falsehood therein, You would reveal it to me, and help me to do it
aright. ’And now, O God the Father, whom I shall be bold from this day forward
to look upon as my God and Father, glory be to You for finding out such a way
for the recovery of undone sinners. Glory be to You, O God the Son, who have
loved me and washed me from my sins in Your own blood, and are now become my
Savior and Redeemer. Glory be to You, O God the Holy Spirit, who by the finger
of Your almighty power, has turned about my heart from sin to God. ’O high and
holy Jehovah, the Lord God Omnipotent, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are now
become my covenant Friend, and I through Your infinite grace am become Your
covenant servant. Amen, so be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.’ This covenant I advise you to make, not only in
heart—but in word; not only in word—but in writing; and that you would with all
possible reverence spread the writing before the Lord, as if you would present
it to Him as your Act and Deed. And when you have done this, set your hand to it
and sign it. Keep it as a memorial of the solemn transactions that have passed
between God and you, that you may have recourse to it in doubts and temptations.
11. Take heed of delaying your conversion—but make a speedy, an immediate
surrender of your heart to God. ’I made haste, and delayed not’ (Psalms 119:60).
Remember and tremble at the sad instance of the foolish virgins who did not come
until the door of mercy was shut, and of a convinced Felix who put off Paul to
another season—but we do not find that he had another season. O come in while it
is called today, lest you should be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin;
lest the day of grace should be over, and the things which belong to your peace
should be hid from your eyes. Now mercy is wooing you; now Christ is waiting to
be gracious to you, and the Spirit of God is striving with you. Now ministers
are calling; now conscience is stirring; now the market is open, and oil may be
had, you have opportunity for the buying. Now Christ is to be had for the
taking. Oh! strike in with the offers of grace. Oh! now—or never. If you make
light of this offer, God may swear in His wrath that you shall never taste of
His supper (Luke 14:24). 12. Attend conscientiously upon the Word, as the means
appointed for your conversion. Attend, I say, not customarily—but
conscientiously, with this desire, design, hope, and expectation, that you may
be converted by it. Come to every sermon you hear with this thought: ’O I hope
God will now come in; I hope this day may be the time, this may be the man by
whom God will bring me home.’ When you are coming to the privileges of God’s
house, lift up your heart to God thus: ’Lord, let this be the Sabbath, let this
be the season in which I may receive renewing grace. O let it be said that this
day such a one was born unto You.’ Objection. You will say, I have been a hearer
of the Word a long time—yet it has not been effectual to my conversion. Answer.
Yes; but you have not attended upon it in this manner, as a means of your
conversion, nor with this design, nor praying for and expecting the happy effect
from it. 13. Strike in with the Spirit when He begins to work upon your heart.
When He works convictions, O do not stifle them—but join in with Him, and beg
the Lord to give you saving conversion. ’Quench not the Spirit.’ [1
Thessalonians 5:19] Do not reject Him, do not resist Him. Beware of stifling
convictions with evil company or worldly business. When you are in anguish on
account of sin and fears about your eternal state, beg of God that you may have
peace only in thoroughly renouncing all sin, loathing it in your inmost soul,
and giving your whole heart, without reserve, to Christ. Say to Him, ’Strike
home, Lord; do not leave the work half-done. Go to the bottom of my corruption,
and let out the lifeblood of my sins.’ Thus yield yourself to the working of the
Spirit, and hoist your sails to His gusts. 14. Set upon the constant and
diligent use of serious and fervent prayer. He who neglects prayer is a profane
and unsanctified sinner. He who is not constant in prayer is a hypocrite, unless
the omission be contrary to his ordinary course, under the force of some instant
temptation. One of the first things conversion appears in, is that it sets men
a-praying. Therefore set to this duty. Let not one day pass in which you have
not, morning and evening, set apart some time for solemn prayer in secret. Also,
call your family together daily to worship God with you. Woe be unto you, if you
be found among the families that call not upon God’s name (Jeremiah 10:25). But
cold and lifeless devotions will not reach halfway to heaven. Be fervent and
importunate. Importunity will carry it; without violence the kingdom of heaven
will not be taken. You must strive to enter, and wrestle with tears and
supplications as Jacob, if you would gain the blessing. You are undone forever
without grace, and therefore you must set to it, and resolve to take no denial.
That man who is fixed in this resolution says, ’Well, I must have grace—or I
will never give over until I have grace; I will never cease earnestly pleading,
and striving with God and my own heart, until He renews me by the power of His
grace.’ 15. Forsake your evil company, and forbear the occasions of sin. You
will never be turned from sin until you decline and forego the temptations of
sin. I never expect your conversion from sin, unless you are brought to some
self-denial, so as to flee the occasions. If you will be nibbling at the bait,
and playing on the brink, and tampering with the snare—your soul will surely be
taken. When God exposes men, in His providence, unavoidably to temptation, and
the occasions are such as we cannot remove, we may expect special assistance in
the use of His means; but when we tempt God by running into danger, He will not
engage to support us when we are tempted. And, of all temptations, one of the
most fatal and pernicious is evil companions. O what hopeful beginnings have
these often stifled! O the souls, the estates, the families, the towns, that
these have ruined! How many poor sinners have been enlightened and convinced,
and been just ready to escape the snare of the devil, and have even escaped it:
and yet wicked company has pulled them back at last, and made them sevenfold
more the children of hell! In a word, I have no hopes for you, except you shake
off your evil company. Your life depends upon it: forsake this—or you cannot
live. Will you be worse than the donkey of Balaam, to run on when you see the
Lord with a drawn sword in the way? Let this sentence be written in capitals
upon your conscience, ’A companion of fools shall be destroyed!’ (Proverbs
13:20). The Lord has spoken it, and who shall reverse it? And will you run upon
destruction when God Himself forewarns you? If God ever changes your heart, it
will appear in the change of your company. O fear and flee the gulf by which so
many thousands have been swallowed up in perdition. It will be hard for you
indeed to make your escape. Your companions will be mocking you out of your
religion, and will study to fill you with prejudices against strictness, as
ridiculous and comfortless. They will be flattering you and alluring you; but
remember the warnings of the Holy Spirit: ’My son, if sinners entice you—do not
consent. If they say, Come with us, cast in your lot among us; walk not in the
way with them, refrain your foot from their path; avoid it, pass not by it, turn
from it, and pass away. For the way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not
at what they stumble. They lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk privily
for their own lives’ (Proverbs 1:10-19; Proverbs 4:15-19). My soul is moved
within me to see how many of my hearers and readers are likely to perish, both
they and their houses, by this wretched mischief, even the frequenting of such
places and company, by which they are drawn into sin. Once more I admonish you,
as Moses did Israel, ’Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men’
(Numbers 16:26). O flee from them as you would those that had the plague-sores
running in their foreheads. These are the devil’s pimps and decoys; and if you
do not make your escape they will draw you into perdition, and will prove your
eternal ruin. 16. Set apart a day to humble your soul in secret by fasting and
prayer, to work a sense of your sins and miseries upon your heart. Read over a
thorough exposition of the Commandments, and write down the duties omitted, and
sins committed by you against every commandment, and so make a catalogue of your
sins, and with shame and sorrow spread them before the Lord. And if your heart
be truly willing to the terms, join yourself solemnly to the Lord in that
covenant set down in Direction 10 of this chapter, and the Lord grant you mercy
in His sight. Thus, I have told you what you must do to be saved. Will you now
obey the voice of the Lord? Will you arise and set to the work? O man, what
answer will you make, what excuse will you have, if you should perish at last
through very wilfulness, when you have known the way of life? I do not fear your
miscarrying, if your own idleness does not at last undo you, in neglecting the
use of the means that are so plainly here prescribed. Rouse up, O sluggard, and
ply your work. Be doing, and the Lord will be with you.

A Short Soliloquy for an Unregenerate Sinner Ah! wretched man that I am! What a
condition have I brought myself into by sin! Oh! I see my heart has deceived me
all this while, in flattering me that my condition was good. I see, I see, I am
but a lost and undone man, forever undone, unless the Lord help me out of this
condition. My sins! My sins! Lord, what an unclean, polluted wretch I am! More
loathsome and odious to You than the most hateful venom or repulsive carcass can
be to me. Oh! what a hell of sin is in this heart of mine, which I have
flattered myself to be a good heart! Lord, how universally am I corrupted, in
all my parts, powers, performances! All the imaginations of my heart are only
evil continually. I am under an inability to, and aversion from, and an enmity
against anything that is good; and am prone to all that is evil. My heart is a
very sink of sin: and oh the innumerable hosts and swarms of sinful thoughts,
words and actions that have flowed from it! Oh the load of guilt that is on my
soul! My head is full, and my heart is full; my mind and my members, they are
all full of sin. Oh my sins! How do they stare upon me! Woe is me, my creditors
are upon me: every commandment takes hold upon me, for more than ten thousand
talents, yes, ten thousand times ten thousand. How endless then is the sum of
all my debts! If this whole world were filled up from earth to heaven with
paper, and all this paper written over within and without by arithmeticians—yet,
when all were added up, it would come inconceivably short of what I owe to the
least of God’s commandments. Woe unto me, for my debts are infinite, and my sins
are increased. They are wrongs to an infinite Majesty, and if he who commits
treason against an earthly king is worthy to be racked, drawn and quartered;
what have I deserved that have so often lifted up my hand against Heaven, and
have struck at the crown and dignity of the Almighty? Oh my sins! my sins!
Behold, a troop comes! Multitudes! multitudes! there is numbering of their
armies. Innumerable evils have compassed me about; my iniquities have taken hold
upon me; they have set themselves against me. Oh! it were better to have all the
regiments of hell come against me, than to have my sins fall upon me, to the
spoiling of my soul. Lord, how am I surrounded! How many are they that rise up
against me! They have beset me behind and before; they swarm within me and
without me; they have possessed all my powers, and have fortified my unhappy
soul as a garrison, which this brood of hell mans and maintains against the God
who made me. And they are as mighty as they are many. The sands are many—but
then they are not great: the mountains great but then they are not many. But woe
is me, my sins are as many as the sands, and as mighty as the mountains! Their
weight is greater than their number. It were better that the rocks and the
mountains should fall upon me, than the crushing and unsupportable load of my
own sins. Lord, I am heavy laden; let mercy help—or I am gone. Unload me of this
heavy guilt, this sinking load—or I am crushed without hope, and must be pressed
down to hell. If my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my sins laid in the
balance together, they would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my
words are swallowed up: they would weigh down all the rocks and the hills, and
turn the balance against all the isles of the earth. O Lord, You know my
manifold transgressions, and my mighty sins. Ah, my soul! Alas, my glory! How
are you humbled! Once the glory of the creation, and the image of God: now, a
lump of filthiness, a coffin of rottenness, replenished with stench and
loathsomeness. Oh what work has sin made with you! You shall be termed
’Forsaken’ and all the rooms of your faculties ’Desolate’, and the name that you
shall be called by is ’Ichabod’—or, ’Where is the glory?’ How are you come down
mightily! My beauty is turned into deformity, and my glory into shame. Lord,
what a loathsome leper am I! The ulcerous bodies of Job or Lazarus were not more
offensive to the eyes and nostrils of men, than I must needs be to the most holy
God, whose eyes cannot behold iniquity. And what misery have my sins brought
upon me! Lord, what a state I am in! Sold under sin, cast out of God’s favor,
accursed from the Lord, cursed in my body, cursed in my soul, cursed in my name,
in my estate, my relations, and all that I have. My sins are unpardoned, and my
soul within a step of death. Alas! what shall I do? Where shall I go? Which way
shall I look? God is frowning on me from above, hell gaping for me beneath,
conscience smiting me within, temptations and dangers surrounding me without.
Oh, where shall I fly? What place can hide me from Omniscience? What power can
secure me from Omnipotence? What do you mean, O my soul, to go on thus? Are you
in league with hell? Have you made a covenant with death? Are you in love with
your misery? Is it good for you to be here? Alas, what shall I do? Shall I go on
in my sinful ways? Why then, certain damnation will be my end; and shall I be so
besotted and mad as to go and sell my soul to the flames, for a little ale—or a
little ease, for a little pleasure or gain or comfort to my flesh? Shall I
linger any longer in this wretched state? No: if I tarry here I shall die. What
then, is there no help? No hope? None, except I turn. Why—but is there any
remedy for such woeful misery? Any mercy after such provoking iniquity? Yes: as
sure as God’s oath is true, I shall have pardon and mercy yet, if I presently,
sincerely, and unreservedly turn by Christ to Him. Why then, I thank You upon
the bended knees of my soul, O most merciful Jehovah, that Your patience has
waited for me hitherto; for had You taken me away in this state, I had perished
forever. And now I adore Your grace, and accept the offers of Your mercy, I
renounce all my sins, and resolve by Your grace to set myself against them, and
to follow You in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life. Who am I,
Lord, that I should make any claim to You—or have any part or portion in You,
who am not worthy to lick up the dust of Your feet? Yet since You hold forth the
golden scepter, I am bold to come and touch. To despair would be to disparage
Your mercy; and to stand off when You bid me come, would be at once to undo
myself and rebel against You under pretense of humility. Therefore I bow my soul
unto You, and with all possible thankfulness accept You as mine, and give up
myself to You as Your. You shall be Sovereign over me, my King, and my God. You
shall be on the throne, and all my powers shall bow to You, they shall come and
worship before Your feet. You shall be my portion, O Lord, and I will rest in
You. You call for my heart. Oh that it were any way fit for Your acceptance! I
am unworthy, O Lord, everlastingly unworthy to be Yours. But since You will have
it so, I freely give my heart to You. Take it, it is Yours. Oh that it were
better! But Lord, I put it into Your hands—who alone can mend it. Mold it after
Your own heart; make it as You would have it, holy, humble, heavenly, soft,
tender, flexible—and write Your law upon it. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
Enter in triumphantly. Take me up for Yourself forever. I give myself to You, I
come to You, as the only way to the Father, as the only Mediator, the means
ordained to bring me to God. I have destroyed myself—but in You is my help.
Save, Lord—or else I perish. I come to You, with the rope about my neck. I am
worthy to die and to be damned. Never was the pay more due to the laborer; than
death and hell, my just wages, are due to me for my sins. But I fly to Your
merits; I trust alone to the value and virtue of Your sacrifice, and prevalence
of Your intercession. I submit to Your teaching, I make choice of Your
government. Stand open, O everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may enter
in. O You Spirit of the Most High, the Comforter and Sanctifier of Your chosen,
come in with all Your glorious train, all Your courtly attendants—Your fruits
and graces. Let me be Your habitation. I can give You but what is Your own
already; but here with the widow I give my two mites, my soul and my body, into
Your treasury, fully resigning them up to You, to be sanctified by You, to be
servants to You. They shall be Your patients—cure their maladies. They shall be
Your agents—govern You their actions. Too long have I served the world; too long
have I hearkened to Satan; but now I renounce them all, and will be ruled by
Your dictates and directions, and guided by Your counsel. O blessed Trinity, O
glorious Unity, I deliver myself up to You. Receive me: write Your name, O Lord,
upon me, and upon all that I have, as Your proper goods. Set Your mark upon me,
upon every member of my body, and every faculty of my soul. I have chosen Your
precepts. Your law will I lay before me; this shall be the copy which I will
keep in my eye, and study to write after. According to this rule do I resolve by
Your grace to walk: after this law shall my whole man be governed. And though I
cannot perfectly keep one of Your commandments—yet I will allow myself in the
breach of none. I know my flesh will hang back: but I resolve, in the power of
Your grace, to cleave to You and Your holy ways, whatever it cost me. I am sure
I cannot come off a loser by You: and therefore I will be content with reproach,
and difficulties and hardships here, and will deny myself, and take up Your
cross, and follow You. Lord Jesus, Your yoke is easy, Your cross is welcome, as
it is the way to You. I lay aside all hopes of a worldly happiness. I will be
content to tarry until I come to You. Let me be poor and low, little and
despised here, so I may be but admitted to live and reign with You hereafter.
Lord, You have my heart and hand to this agreement. Be it as the laws of the
Medes and Persians, never to be reversed. To this I will stand: in this
resolution, by Your grace, I will live and die. I have sworn, and will perform
it, that I will keep Your righteous judgments. I have given my free consent, I
have made my everlasting choice. Lord Jesus, confirm the contract. Amen.


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  CHAPTER 20: 1.08.     MOTIVES TO CONVERSION
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Alarm to the Unconverted by Joseph Alleine, 1671 The Motives to Conversion

Though what has already been said of the necessity of conversion and of the
miseries of the unconverted might be sufficient to induce any considerate mind
to resolve upon a present turning to God; yet, knowing what a piece of desperate
obstinacy and untractableness the heart of man naturally is, I have thought it
necessary to add some motives to persuade you to be reconciled to God. ’O Lord,
do not fail me now, at my last attempts. If any soul has read hitherto, and is
yet untouched, Lord, fasten on him now, and do Your work. Take him by the heart,
overcome him, persuade him, until he says, "You have prevailed, for You are
stronger than I." Lord, did not You make me a fisher of men, and have I toiled
all this while and caught nothing? Alas, that I should have spent my strength
for nothing! and now I am casting my last net. Lord Jesus, stand upon the shore,
and direct how and where I shall spread my net; and let me so with arguments,
enclose the souls I seek, that they may not be able to get out. Now, Lord, for a
multitude of souls; now for a full draught. O Lord God, remember me, I pray You,
and strengthen me this once, O God.’ Men and brethren, heaven and earth call
upon you; yes, hell itself preaches the doctrine of repentance unto you. The
ministers of the churches labor for you. The angels of heaven wait for you, for
your repenting and turning unto God. O sinner, why should devils laugh at your
destruction, and deride your misery, and sport themselves with your folly? This
will be your case, except you turn. And were it not better you should be a joy
to angels—than a laughingstock and sport for devils. Truly, if you would but
come in, the heavenly hosts would take up their anthems and sing, ’Glory to God
in the highest’; the morning stars would sing together, and all the sons of God
shout for joy, and celebrate this new creation as they did the first. Your
repentance would, as it were, make a holiday in heaven, and the glorious spirits
would rejoice, in that there is a new brother added to their society, another
heir born to the Lord, and a lost son received safe and sound. The true
penitent’s tears are indeed the wine that makes glad both God and man. If it be
little that men and angels would rejoice at your conversion, know also that God
Himself would rejoice over you, even with singing (Luke 15:9; Isaiah 62:5).
Never did Jacob with such joy weep over the neck of his Joseph, as your heavenly
Father would rejoice over you upon your coming to Him. Look over the story of
the Prodigal Son. I think I see how the aged father lays aside his state and
forgets his years; behold, how he runs. O the haste that mercy makes: the sinner
makes not half that speed. I think I see how his heart moves, how his
compassions yearn. How quick-sighted is love! Mercy spies him a great way off;
forgets his riotous course, unnatural rebellion, horrid unthankfulness—not a
word of these—and receives him with open arms, clasps him about his neck, kisses
him; calls for the fattened calf, the best robe, the ring, the shoes—the best
cheer in heaven’s store, the best attire in heaven’s wardrobe. Yes, the joy
cannot be held in his own bosom. Others must be called to participate. The
friends sympathize; but none know the joy the father has in his newborn son,
whom he has received from the dead. I think I hear the music at a distance. O
the melody of the heavenly choristers! I cannot learn the song (Revelation 14:3)
but I think I overhear the theme at which all the harmonious choir with one
consent strike sweetly in: ’For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was
lost, and is found.’ [Luke 15:24] I need not explain the parable further. God is
the father: Christ is the provision, His righteousness the robe, His grace the
ornaments, ministers, saints and angels, the friends and servants, and you that
read, if you will but sincerely repent and turn, the welcome prodigal, the happy
instance of this grace, the blessed subject of this joy and love. O rock! O
adamant! What! not moved yet? Not yet resolved to turn and to close with mercy?
I will try yet once again. If one were sent to you from the dead, would you be
persuaded? Why, hear the voice from the dead, from the damned, crying to you,
that you should repent: ’I pray you that you would send him to my father’s
house; for I have five brethren; that he may testify to them, lest they also
come into this place of torment; if one went to them from the dead, they will
repent’ (Luke 16:27-28). Hear, O man; your predecessors in impenitence preach to
you from the infernal flames, that you should repent. O look down into the
bottomless pit. Do you see how the smoke of their torment ascends forever and
ever? What do you think of those chains of darkness? Can you be content to burn?
Do you see how the worm gnaws, how the fire rages? What do you say to that gulf
of perdition? Will you take up your habitation there? O lay your ear to the door
of hell. Do you hear the curses and blasphemies, the weepings and wailings, how
they lament their follies and curse their day? How do they roar and gnash their
teeth! how deep their groans! how inconceivable their miseries! If the shrieks
of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, were so terrible when the earth clave asunder and
opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and all that appertained to them, that
all Israel fled at the cry of them (Numbers 16:33-34), O how fearful would the
cry be, if God would take off the covering from the mouth of hell, and let the
cry of the damned ascend in all its terror among the children of men! And of
their moans and miseries this is the piercing, killing emphasis and burden,
’Forever! forever!’ As God lives—who made your soul, you are but a few hours
away from all this—unless you be converted. O! I am even lost and swallowed up
in the abundance of those arguments that I might suggest. If there be any point
of wisdom in all the world, it is to repent and come in. If there be anything
righteous, anything reasonable—this is it. If there be anything that may be
called madness and folly, and anything that may be counted sottish, absurd,
brutish, and unreasonable, it is this, to go on in your unconverted state. Let
me beg of you, as you would not willingly destroy yourself, sit down and weigh,
besides what has been said, these following motives, and let conscience say if
it be not most reasonable that you should repent and turn. 1. The God who made
you, most graciously invites you. His most sweet and merciful nature invites
you. O the kindness of God, His boundless compassion, His tender mercies! As the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways above our ways, and His
thoughts above our thoughts. ’He is full of compassion, and gracious,
longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy’ (Psalms 86:15). This is a great argument
to persuade sinners to come. ’Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious
and merciful. He is not easily angered. He is filled with kindness and is eager
not to punish you.’ [Joel 2:13] If there were no hope of mercy, it would be no
wonder that rebels should stand out; but never had subjects such a gracious
prince, such pity, patience, and clemency to deal with, as you have. ’Who is a
God like unto You, that pardons iniquity?’ (Micah 7:18). O sinners, see what a
God you have to deal with. If you will but turn, ’He will have compassion on
you; He will subdue your iniquities, and cast all your sins into the depths of
the sea!’ ’Return unto me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return unto you’
(Malachi 3:7). Sinners do not fail in that they have too high thoughts of God’s
mercies—but in that they overlook His justice—or they promise themselves mercy
outside of God’s way. His mercies are beyond all imagination; great mercies,
manifold mercies (Nehemiah 9:19), tender mercies, sure mercies, everlasting
mercies—and all is yours, if you will but turn. Are you willing to come in? The
Lord has laid aside His terror and erected a throne of grace. He holds forth the
golden scepter: touch and live! Would a merciful man slay his enemy when
prostrate at his feet, acknowledging his wrong, begging pardon, and offering to
enter with him into a covenant of peace? Much less will the merciful God. Study
His name (Exodus 34:7), ’Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin.’ Also read experience, Nehemiah 9:17. God’s
soul-encouraging calls and promises invite you. Ah, what an earnest suitor is
mercy to you! How lovingly, how instantly, it calls after you! How earnestly it
woos you! ’Return O backsliding Israel, says the Lord, and I will not cause my
anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not keep
anger forever; only acknowledge your iniquity. Turn, O backsliding children,
says the Lord; return, and I will heal your backslidings. You have played the
harlot with many lovers; yet return unto me, says the Lord’ (Jeremiah 3:12-13).
’As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked—but
that he turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will
you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11). ’If the wicked will turn from all
his sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and do that which is
lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All the transgressions
that he has committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him; in his
righteousness that he has done, he shall live [Ezekiel 18:21-22]. ... Repent,
and turn you from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Cast away from you all your transgressions, and make you a new heart and a new
spirit; for why will you die, O Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of
him who dies, says the Lord God, therefore turn yourselves, and live!’ (Ezekiel
18:30-32). O melting, gracious words: the voice of God, and not of a man! This
is not the manner of men, for the offended sovereign to sue to the offending,
traitorous rebel. O how does mercy follow you, and plead with you! Is not your
heart broken yet? O that today you would hear His voice! 2. The doors of heaven
are thrown open to you. The everlasting gates are set wide open for you, and an
abundant entrance into the kingdom of heaven is administered to you. Christ now
addresses you, and calls upon you to arise and take possession of this good
land. View the glory of the other world, as set forth in the map of the gospel.
Get up into the Pisgah of the promises, and lift up your eyes northward, and
southward, and eastward, and westward, and see the good land that is beyond
Jordan, and that goodly mountain. Behold the Paradise of God, watered with the
streams of glory. Arise and walk through the land, in the length of it, and in
the breadth of it; for the land which you see, the Lord will give it to you
forever, if you will but return. Let me say to you, as Paul to Agrippa, ’Do you
believe the prophets?’ [Acts 26:27] If you believe indeed, view what glorious
things are spoken of the city of God, and know that all this is here offered in
the name of God to you. As truly as God is true, it shall be forever yours, if
you will but thoroughly turn. Behold the city of pure transparent gold, whose
foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones, whose gates are
pearls, whose light is glory, whose temple is God. Do you believe this? If you
do, are you not beside yourself, that will not take possession when the gates
are thrown open to you, and you are bidden to enter? O you sons of folly, will
you embrace the ash-heap and refuse the kingdom? Behold, the Lord takes you up
into the mountain, shows you the kingdom of heaven and all the glory thereof,
and tells you, ’All this I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me;
if you will submit to mercy, accept my Son, and serve me in righteousness and
holiness.’ ’O fools and slow of heart to believe!’ [Luke 24:25] Will you seek
and serve the world, and neglect eternal glory? What! not enter into paradise
when the flaming sword, which was once set to keep you out, is now used to drive
you in? But you will say I am uncharitable to think you infidels and
unbelievers. What, then, shall I think of you? Either you are desperate
unbelievers that do not believe it; or that you are beside yourselves, that you
know and believe the excellence and eternity of this glory, and yet do so
fearfully neglect it. Do but attend to what is offered you: a blessed kingdom, a
kingdom of glory, a kingdom of righteousness, a kingdom of peace, and an
everlasting kingdom. Here you shall dwell, here you shall reign forever, and the
Lord shall seat you on a throne of glory, and with His own hand shall set the
royal diadem upon your head, and give you a crown—not of thorns, for there shall
be no sinning nor suffering there: not of gold, for this shall be viler than the
dirt in that day; but a crown of life, a crown of righteousness, a crown of
glory, yes, you shall put on glory as a robe, and shall shine like the sun in
the firmament of your Father. Look now on your worthless flesh. This flesh,
which is mere dust and ashes, shall be brighter than the stars. In short, you
shall be made like unto the angels of God and behold His face in righteousness.
Look now and tell me, do you not yet believe? If not, conscience must pronounce
you an infidel; for it is the very word of God that I speak. But if you say you
believe, let me next know your resolution. Will you embrace this for your
happiness? Will you forgo your sinful gains, your forbidden pleasures? Will you
trample on the world’s esteem, and stop your ears to its flatteries, and wrest
yourself out of its embraces? Will you be content to take up with reproach and
poverty, if they lie in the way to heaven, and follow the Lord with humble
self-denial, in a mortified and flesh-displeasing life? If so, all is yours—and
that forever! And is not the offer a fair one? Is it not just that he should be
damned, who will go on and perish, when all this may be had by taking it? Will
you not take God at His word? Will you not let go your hold of the world, and
lay hold on eternal life? If not, let conscience tell you whether you are not
beside yourself, that you should neglect so happy a choice, by which you might
be made happy forever. 3. God will give you unspeakable privileges in this life.
Though the fullness of your blessedness shall be reserved until hereafter—yet
God will give you no little things in hand. He will redeem you from your
thraldom. He will pluck you from the paw of the lion. The serpent shall bruise
your heel—but you shall bruise his head. He shall deliver you from this present
evil world. Prosperity shall not destroy you; adversity shall not separate Him
and you. He will redeem you from the power of the grave, and make the king of
terrors to be a messenger of peace to you. He will take out the curse from the
cross, and make affliction the refining-pot to purify the metal, the fan to blow
off the chaff, the medicine to cure the mind. He will save you from the arrest
of the law, and turn the curse into a blessing to you. He has the keys of hell
and of death, and shuts and no man opens, and He will shut its mouth, as once He
did the lions’, that you shall not be hurt of the second death. Besides, He will
not only save from misery—but install you into unspeakable prerogatives. He will
bestow Himself upon you; He will be a Friend and a Father unto you. He will be a
Sun and a Shield to you. In a word, He will be a God to you. And what more can
be said? What may you expect that God should do for you, and be to you? That He
will be, that He will do. She who marries a prince expects he should do for her
like a prince—that she may live in suitable state, and have an answerable dowry.
He who has a king for his father or a friend, expects he should do for him like
a king. Alas, the kings and monarchs of the earth, so much above you, are but
like the painted butterflies among the rest of their kind—or the fair colored
palmerworm among the rest of the worms, if compared with God. As He infinitely
exceeds the glory and power of His glittering dust, so He will, beyond all
proportion, exceed in doing for His favorites whatever princes can do for
theirs. He will give you grace and glory, and withhold no good thing from you.
He will take you for His sons and daughters, and make you heirs of His promises,
and establish His everlasting covenant with you. He will justify you from all
that law, conscience and Satan can charge upon you. He will give you free access
into His presence, and accept your person, and receive your prayers. He will
abide in you, and hold a constant and friendly communion with you. His ear shall
be open, His door open, His store open, at all times to you. His blessing shall
rest upon you, and He will make your enemies serve you, and work out all things
for good unto you. 4. The terms of mercy are brought as low as possible to you.
God has stooped as low to sinners as with honor He can. He will not be the
author of sin, nor stain the glory of His holiness; and how could He come lower
than He has, unless He should do this? God does not impose anything unreasonable
or impossible, as a condition of life, upon you. Two things were necessary to be
done, according to the tenor of the first covenant. 1. That we should fully
satisfy the demands of justice for past offences. 2. That we should perform
personally, perfectly, and perpetually, the whole law for the time to come. By
our sins we render salvation through either of these ways impossible. But behold
God’s gracious provision in both. He is content to take of the Surety, and He of
His own providing too, what He might have exacted from you. ’All things are of
God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the
ministry of reconciliation: namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us
the word of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). He declares Himself to have
received a ransom, and that He expects nothing but that you should accept His
Son, and He shall be righteousness and redemption to you. If you come in His
Christ, and set your heart to please Him, making this your chief concern, He
will graciously accept you. O consider the condescension of your God! Let me say
to you, as Naaman’s servant to him, ’My father, if the prophet had bid you do
some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather when he says to
you, Wash and be clean!’ [2 Kings 5:13] If God demanded some great, some severe
and rigorous thing of you, to escape eternal damnation, would you not have done
it? Suppose it had been to spend all your days in sorrow in some howling
wilderness—or pine with famine, would you not have thankfully accepted eternal
redemption, though these had been the conditions? Nay, farther, if God had told
you that you should burn in the fire for millions of ages—or be so long
tormented in hell, would you not have accepted it? Alas, all these are not so
much as one grain of sand in the glass of eternity. If your offended Creator
should have held you but one year upon the rack, and then bid you come and
forsake your sins, accept Christ, and serve him a few years in self-denial or
lie in this case forever and ever; do you think you would have hesitated at the
offer, and disputed the terms, and have been unresolved whether to accept the
proposal? O sinner, return and live; why should you die when life is to be had
for the taking, when mercy entreats you to be saved? Could you say, ’Lord, I
knew you, that you were a hard man’, [Matthew 25:24] even then you would have no
excuse; but when the God of Heaven has stooped so low, and condescended so far,
if still you stand off, who shall plead for you? Objection: Notwithstanding all
the advantages of the new covenant, I am unable to repent and believe, and so
comply with its conditions. Answer: These you may perform by God’s grace
enabling; but let the next consideration serve for a fuller answer. 5. God
offers all needed grace to enable you. ’I have stretched out my hand, and no man
regarded’ (Proverbs 1:24). What though you are plunged into the ditch of that
misery from which you can never get out? Christ offers to help you out; He
reaches out His hand to you; and if you perish, it is for refusing His help.
’Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man open to me, I will come in.’
(Revelation 3:20). What though you are poor, and wretched, and blind, and naked?
Christ offers a cure for your blindness, a covering for your nakedness, riches
for your poverty. He offers you His righteousness, His grace: ’I counsel you to
buy of me gold, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be
clothed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.’ [Revelation
3:18] Do you say, ’The condition is impossible; for I have nothing with which to
buy?’ You must know that this buying is ’without money and without price.’
[Isaiah 55:1] This buying is by begging and seeking with your whole heart. God
commands you to know Him, and to fear Him. Do you say, ’Yes—but my mind is
blinded, and my heart is hardened from His fear?’ I answer that God offers to
enlighten your mind, and to teach you His fear. So that now, if men live in
ignorance and estrangement from the Lord, it is because they will not
understand, and do not desire the knowledge of His ways. ’If you cry after
knowledge, if you Seek her as silver, then shall you understand the fear of the
Lord, and find the knowledge of God.’ (Proverbs 2:3-5). Is not this a fair
offer? ’Turn at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you’
(Proverbs 1:23). Though of yourselves you can do nothing—yet you may do all
through His Spirit enabling you, and He offers assistance to you. God bids you
’wash and be made clean’ [Isaiah 1:16]. You say you are unable, as much as the
leopard to wash out his spots. Yes—but the Lord offers to cleanse you; so that
if you are filthy still, it is through your own wilfulness: ’I have purged you,
and you were not purged’ (Ezekiel 24:13). ’O Jerusalem, will you not be made
clean: when shall it once be?’ (Jeremiah 13:27). God invites you to be made
clean, and entreats you to yield to Him. O accept His offers, and let Him do for
you, and in you, what you cannot do for yourselves!


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  CHAPTER 21: 1.09.     CONCLUSION
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Alarm to the Unconverted by Joseph Alleine, 1671

Conclusion

And now, beloved, let me know your mind. What do you intend to do? Will you go
on and die—or will you turn and lay hold on eternal life? How long will you
linger in Sodom? How long will you halt between two opinions? Have you not yet
resolved whether Christ or Barabbas, whether bliss or torment, whether this vain
and wretched world—or the paradise of God, is the better choice? Is it a
disputable case whether the polluted waters of this world are better than all
the streams of Eden; or whether the vile pool of sin is to be preferred before
the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of
the Lamb? Can the world really do that for you, which Christ can? Will it stand
by you to eternity? Will pleasures, lands, titles, and treasures go with you
after death? If not, had you not need look after something that will? What do
you mean to stand wavering? Shall I leave you at last, like Agrippa, only almost
persuaded? You are forever lost if left here; as good be not at all—as not
altogether a Christian. How long will you rest in idle wishes and fruitless
purposes? When will you come to a fixed, firm, and full resolve? Do you not see
how Satan cheats you by tempting you to delay? How long has he drawn you on in
the way of perdition! Well, do not put me off with a dilatory answer; tell me
not later. I must have your immediate consent. If you are not now resolved,
while the Lord is treating with you and inviting you, much less likely are you
to be later, when these impressions are worn off, and you are hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. Will you give me your hand? Will you set open the door
and give the Lord Jesus the full and ready possession? Will you put your name
unto His covenant? What do you resolve upon? If you still delay, my labor is
lost, and all is likely to come to nothing. Come, cast in your lot; make your
choice. ’Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation; [2 Corinthians
6:2] today, if you will hear His voice.’ [Hebrews 3:7] Why should not this be
the day from which you are able to date your happiness? Why should you venture a
day longer in this dangerous and dreadful condition? What if God should this
night require your soul? O that you might know in this your day the things that
belong to your peace, before they be hid from your eyes! This is your day—and it
is but a day. Others have had their day—and have received their doom! And now
are you brought upon the stage of this world, here to act your part for your
eternity. Remember, if you do not make a wise choice now, you are undone
forever. What your present choice is—such must be your eternal condition. And is
it true indeed? Are life and death at your choice? Why, then, what hinders but
that you should be happy? Nothing does or can hinder but your own wilful neglect
or refusal. It was the saying of the eunuch to Philip, ’See, here is water, what
hinders me to be baptized?’ [Acts 8:36] So I may say to you, ’See, here is
Christ, here is mercy, pardon, life; what hinders you from being pardoned and
saved?’ One of the martyrs, as he was praying at the stake, had his pardon set
by him in a box, which indeed he rightly refused, because upon unworthy terms;
but here the terms are most honorable and easy. O sinner, will you perish with
your pardon by you? Do but henceforth give your consent to Christ, to renounce
your sins, deny yourself, take up the yoke and the cross—and you win the day.
Christ is yours; pardon, peace, life, blessedness, are all yours. And is not
this an offer worth embracing? Why should you hesitate or doubtfully dispute
about the case? Is it not past controversy whether God is better than sin—and
glory than vanity? Why should you forsake your own mercy—and sin against your
own life? When will you shake off your sloth, and lay by your excuses? Boast not
of tomorrow, you know not where you may lodge this night! Now the Holy Spirit is
striving with you. He will not always strive. Have you not felt your heart
warmed by the Word, and been almost persuaded to leave off your sins and come to
Christ? Have you not felt some motions in your mind, in which you have been
warned of your danger, and told what your careless course would end in? It may
be you are like young Samuel who, when the Lord called once and again, knew not
the voice of the Lord—but these motions are the offers, and callings, and
strivings of the Spirit. O take advantage of the tide, and know the day of your
visitation. Now the Lord Jesus stretches wide His arms to receive you. He
beseeches you by us. How movingly, how meltingly, how compassionately He calls.
The church is put into a sudden ecstasy at the sound of His voice, ’it is the
voice of my beloved!’ [Song of Solomon 2:8]. O will you turn a deaf ear to His
voice? Is it not the voice that breaks the cedars, and makes the mountains to
skip like a calf; that shakes the wilderness, and divides the flames of fire? It
is not Sinai’s thunder—but a soft and still voice. It is not the voice of Mount
Ebal, a voice of cursing and terror—but the voice of Mount Gerizim, the voice of
blessing and glad tidings of good things. It is not the voice of the trumpet nor
the noise of war—but a message of peace from the King of peace. I may say to
you, O sinner, as Martha to her sister, ’The Master has come, and he is calling
for you.’ [John 11:28] Now then, with Mary, arise quickly and come unto Him. How
sweet are His invitations! He cries in the open concourse, ’If any man
thirsts—let him come unto me and drink’ (John 7:37). How bountiful is He! He
excludes none. ’Whoever will, let him take the water of life freely’ (Revelation
22:17). ’Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mingled.
Forsake the foolish and live’ (Proverbs 9:5-6). ’Come unto me, take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me, and you shall find rest to your souls’ (Matthew 11:28-29).
’Him who comes to me, I will never cast out’ (John 6:37). How does He bemoan the
obstinate refuser! ’O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered your
children, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings—and you would not!’
(Matthew 23:37). ’Behold me, behold me: I have stretched out my hands all the
day to a rebellious people’ (Isaiah 65:1-2). O be persuaded now at last to throw
yourselves into the arms of His love. Behold! The Lord Jesus has thrown open the
prison doors—and now He comes to you by His ministers, and beseeches you to come
out. If it were from a palace or paradise that Christ did call you, it were no
wonder that you were unwilling; and yet how easily was Adam beguiled from it;
but it is from your prison, from your chains, from the dungeon, from the
darkness, that He calls you, and yet will you not come? He calls you unto
liberty, and yet will you not hearken? His yoke is easy, His laws are liberty,
His service is freedom, and whatever prejudice you may have against His ways, if
God may be believed, you shall find them all pleasure and peace, and shall taste
sweetness and joy unutterable, and take infinite delight and felicity in them
(Proverbs 3:17; 1 Peter 1:8; Psalms 119:103, Psalms 119:111, Psalms 119:165).
Beloved, I am reluctant to leave you. I cannot tell how to give you up. I am now
ready to close—but I would see a covenant made between Christ and you before I
end. What! shall I leave you at last as I found you? Have you read thus far, and
not yet resolved to abandon all your sins and to close with Jesus Christ? Alas,
what shall I say? What shall I do? Will you throw away all my importunity? Have
I run in vain? Have I used so many arguments, and spent so much time to persuade
you—and must I sit down at last in disappointment? But it is a small matter that
you disregard me; you put a slight upon the God who made you; you reject the
compassion and beseechings of a Savior, and will be found resisters of the Holy
Spirit—if you will not now be prevailed upon to repent and be converted. Well,
though I have called you long, and you have refused, I shall yet this once more
lift up my voice like a trumpet, and cry from the highest places of the city
before I conclude, with the miserable exclamation, ’All is over!’ Once more I
shall call after heedless sinners, that, if it be possible, I may awaken them;
’O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord’ (Jeremiah 22:29). Unless you
are resolved to die, lend your ears to the last calls of mercy. Behold, in the
name of God, I make open proclamation to you, ’Hearken unto me, O children; hear
instruction and be wise, and refuse it not’ (Proverbs 8:32-33). "Come, all you
who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and
eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on
what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to
me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David." (Isaiah
55:1-3). Ho, everyone who is sick of any manner of disease or torment—or is
possessed with an evil spirit, whether of pride, fury, lust—or covetousness—come
to the Physician! Bring your sick! Lo, here is He who heals all manner of
sicknesses, and all manner of diseases, among the people (Matthew 4:23-24). Ho,
everyone who is in distress, gather yourselves unto Christ, and He will become a
Captain over you. He will be your protection from the arrests of the law; He
will save you from the hand of justice. Behold, He is an open sanctuary to you;
He is a known refuge. Away with your sins and come in unto Him, lest the avenger
of blood seize you, lest devouring wrath overtake you. Ho, every blind and
ignorant sinner, come and buy eye salve, that you may see. Away with your
excuses; you are forever lost if you continue in this state. But accept Christ
for your Prophet, and He will be a light unto you. Cry unto Him for knowledge,
study His Word, take pains about religion, humble yourself before God, and He
will teach you His way, and make you wise unto salvation. But if you will not
follow Him—but sit down because you have but one talent, He will condemn you for
a wicked and slothful servant (Matthew 25:24-26). Ho, every profane sinner, come
in and live! Return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy on you; be entreated.
O return, come! You who have filled your mouth with oaths and execrations; all
manner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven you, if you will but thoroughly
turn unto Christ and come in. O unclean sinner, put away your whoredoms out of
your sight, and your adulteries from between your breasts, and give yourself
unto Christ, as a vessel of holiness, alone for His use; and then, ’though your
sins be as scarlet—they shall be white as snow; though they be red like
crimson—they shall be as wool’ (Luke 7:47; Isaiah 1:18; Hosea 2:2). Hear, O you
drunkards, how long will you be drunk? Put away your wine. Though you have
rolled in the filthiness of your sin, give yourselves unto Christ, to live
soberly, righteously, and godly; embrace His righteousness; accept His
government; and though you have been vile, He will wash you (Revelation 1:5).
Hear, O you loose companions, whose delight is in vain and wicked society, to
sport away your time in carnal mirth; come in at Wisdom’s call, and choose her
and her ways, and you shall live (Proverbs 9:5-6). Hear, O you scorners, hear
the word of the Lord. Though you make a mock at godliness and its professors,
though you have made a scorn of Christ and His ways—yet even to you does He
call, to gather you under the wings of His mercy. In a word, though you should
be found among the worst of that black roll—yet upon your thorough conversion
you shall be washed, you shall be sanctified, you shall be justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 6:10-11). Ho, every
formal professor, you who are but lukewarm and resting in the form of godliness.
Give over your halting; be a true Christian; be zealous and repent; and then,
though you have been an offence to Christ—you shall be the joy of His heart
(Revelation 3:16-20). And now bear witness that mercy has been offered you. ’I
call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that I have set before you
life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that you may live’
(Deuteronomy 30:19). I can only entreat you and warn you. I cannot otherwise
compel you to be happy; if I could, I would. What answer will you send me with
to my Master? Let me speak to you as Abraham’s servant to Nahor’s family, ’And
now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me.’ O for such a
happy answer as Rebecca gave them: ’And they called Rebecca, and said unto her,
Will you go with this man? and she said, I will go’ (Genesis 24:49-58). O that I
had this answer from you! Why should I, who agonize for your salvation—be your
accuser? Why should the passionate pleadings of mercy be turned into horrid
aggravations of your obstinacy and additions to your misery? Judge in
yourselves; do you not think their condemnation will be doubly dreadful—who
shall still go on in their sins, after all endeavors to recall them? Doubtless
it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, yes, for Sodom and Gomorrah, in
the day of judgment, than for you! (Matthew 11:22-24). Beloved, if you have any
pity for your perishing souls, close with the present offers of mercy. If the
God that made you have any authority with you, obey His command and come in. If
you are not the despisers of grace, and would not shut the doors of mercy
against yourselves, repent and be converted. Let not heaven stand open for you
in vain. Let not the Lord Jesus open His stores and bid you buy without money
and without price in vain. Let not His Spirit and His ministers strive with you
in vain, and leave you now at last unpersuaded, lest the sentence go forth
against you, ’The bellows blow fiercely to burn away the lead with fire, but the
refining goes on in vain; the wicked are not purged out. They are called
rejected silver, because the Lord has rejected them’ (Jeremiah 6:29-30). ’Father
of spirits, take the heart in hand that is too hard for my weakness. Do not
end—though I have done. A word from Your effectual power will do the work. O You
who has the key of David, who opens and no man shuts—open this heart, as You did
Lydia’s, and let the King of Glory enter in, and make this soul Your captive.
Let not the tempter harden him in delays. Let him not stir from this place, nor
take his eyes from these lines, until he resolves to forego his sins, and accept
life on Your self-denying terms. In Your Name, O Lord God, did I go forth to
these labors; in Your name do I close them. Let not all the time they have cost
be lost hours; let not all the thoughts of the heart, and all the pains that
have been about them be lost labor. Lord, put Your hand upon the heart of this
reader, and send Your Spirit, as once You did Philip to join himself to the
chariot of the eunuch while he was reading the Word. And though I should never
know it while I live—yet I beseech You, O Lord God, let it be found at the last
day that some souls are converted by these labors; and let some be able to stand
forth and say that by these persuasions they were won unto You. Amen, Amen.’ Let
him who reads say, Amen.


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  CHAPTER 22: 2. ALARM TO THE UNCONVERTED (CHOICE EXCERPTS)
========================================================================

Choice excerpts from Joseph Alleine’s "An Alarm to the Unconverted" 1671

But now the tune is changed

Conversion turns the bent of the affections. These all run in a new channel.
Christ is now his hope. This is his prize. Here his eye is—here his heart. He is
content to cast all overboard, as the merchant in the storm about to perish—so
that he may but keep this jewel.

The first of his desires is not after gold—but grace. He hungers for it, he
seeks it as silver, he digs for it as for hidden treasure. He had rather be
gracious than great. He had rather be the holiest man on earth than the most
learned, the most famous, the most prosperous. While carnal, he said, ’O if I
were but in great esteem, rolling in wealth, and swimming in pleasure—then I
would be a happy man!’ But now the tune is changed. ’Oh!’ says the convert, ’if
I had but my corruptions subdued, if I had such a measure of grace, and
fellowship with God—though I were poor and despised, I would not care, I would
account myself a blessed man!’

Reader, is this the language of your soul?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The hypocrite’s life

The hypocrite’s life is sadly deficient. He speaks, it may be, like an angel—but
he has a covetous eye, or the gain of unrighteousness is in his hand. His hand
is white—but his heart is full of rottenness (Matthew 23:27), full of
unmortified cares, a very oven of lust, a shop of pride, the seat of malice! It
may be, with Nebuchadnezzar’s image, he has a golden head—a great deal of
knowledge; but he has feet of clay—his affections are worldly, he minds earthly
things, and his way and walk are sensual and carnal.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It opens the eye of the mind

Conversion is a deep work, a heart work. It makes a new man in a new world. It
extends to the whole man—to the mind, to the members, to the motions of the
whole life.

Conversion turns the balance of the judgment, so that God and His glory outweigh
all carnal and worldly interests. It opens the eye of the mind, and makes the
scales of its native ignorance fall off, and turns men from darkness to light.
The man who before saw no danger in his condition, now concludes himself lost
and forever undone—except renewed by the power of grace. He who formerly thought
there was little hurt in sin, now comes to see it to be the chief of evils. He
sees the unreasonableness, the deformity and the filthiness of sin; so that he
is affrighted with it, loathes it, dreads it, flees from it, and even abhors
himself for it (Romans 7:15; Job 42:6; Ezekiel 36:31). He who could see little
sin in himself, and could find no matter for confession, now sees the rottenness
of his heart, the desperate and deep pollution of his whole nature. He cries,
’Unclean! Unclean! Lord, purge me with hyssop, wash me thoroughly, create in me
a clean heart.’ He sees himself altogether filthy, corrupt both root and branch.
He writes ’unclean’ upon all his parts, and powers, and performances. He
discovers the filthy corners that he was never aware of, and sees the blasphemy,
and theft, and murder, and adultery, that is in his heart, of which before he
was ignorant.

His hatred boils, his anger burns against sin. He has no patience with himself;
he calls himself ’fool’ and ’beast’; and thinks any name too good for
himself—when his indignation is stirred up against sin. He could once wallow in
it with much pleasure; now he loathes the thought of returning to it, as much as
of licking up the filthiest vomit!

Hitherto he saw no form nor loveliness in Christ, no beauty that he should
desire Him; but now he finds the Hidden Treasure, and will sell all to buy this
field. Christ is the Pearl he seeks.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Like a splinter in his eye

When a man is converted, he is forever at enmity with sin; yes, with all sin—but
most of all with his own sins—and especially with his bosom sin. Sin is now the
object of his indignation. His sin swells his sorrows. It is sin which pierces
him and wounds him; he feels it like a thorn in his side, like a splinter in his
eye. He groans and struggles under it, and not formally—but feelingly cries out,
’O wretched man!’ He is not impatient of any burden—so much as of his sin. If
God should give him his choice, he would choose any affliction so he might be
rid of sin; he feels it like the cutting gravel in his shoes, pricking and
paining him as he goes.

Before conversion he had light thoughts of sin. He cherished it in his bosom, as
Uriah his lamb; he nourished it up, and it grew up together with him; it did
eat, as it were, of his own plate, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his
bosom, and was to him as a sweet daughter. But when God opens his eyes by
conversion, he throws it away with abhorrence, as a man would a loathsome toad,
which in the dark he had hugged fast in his bosom—and thought it had been some
pretty and harmless pet.

When a man is savingly changed, he is deeply convinced not only of the danger
but the defilement of sin; and O, how earnest is he with God to be purified! He
loathes himself for his sins. He runs to Christ, and casts himself into the
fountain set open for him and for uncleanness. If he falls into sin, what a stir
is there to get all clean again! He has no rest until he flees to the Word, and
washes and rubs and rinses in the infinite fountain, laboring to cleanse himself
from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Satan may sometimes catch his foot in a trap

Before conversion, the devil could no sooner hold up his finger to the sinner to
call him to his wicked company, sinful games, and filthy delights—and
immediately he followed, ’like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer
stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into
a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life’ (Proverbs 7:22-23). No sooner
could Satan bid him to lie—but immediately he had it on his tongue. No sooner
could Satan offer a filthy object—but he was overcome with lust.

But after he is converted he serves another Master, and takes quite another
course; he goes and comes at Christ’s bidding. Satan may sometimes catch his
foot in a trap—but he will no longer be a willing captive. He watches against
the snares and baits of Satan, and studies to be acquainted with his devices and
plots.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ His once-idolized righteousness

Before conversion, man seeks to cover himself with his own fig-leaves, and to
make himself acceptable with God by his own duties. He trusts in himself, sets
up his own righteousness—and does not to submit to the righteousness of God. But
conversion changes his mind; now he counts his own righteousness as filthy rags.
He casts it off, as a man would the verminous tatters of a nasty beggar! Now he
is brought to poverty of spirit, complains of and condemns himself; and all his
inventory is, ’I am poor, and miserable, and wretched, and blind, and naked!’ He
sees a world of iniquity in his holy things, and calls his once-idolized
righteousness but filth and loss; and would not for a thousand worlds be found
in it! Now he begins to set a high price upon Christ’s righteousness. He sets
himself down for a lost undone man without Him. Before, the gospel of Christ was
a stale and tasteless thing; but now—how sweet is Christ! In a word, the voice
of the convert is, ’None but Christ!’

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They cannot leave the lap of Delilah

The unsound convert takes Christ by halves. He is all for the salvation of
Christ—but he is not for sanctification. He divides the offices and benefits of
Christ. Hypocrites do not love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. They will not have
Him as God offers, ’to be a Prince and a Savior’ (Acts 5:31). They divide what
God has joined, the King who rules—and the Priest who saves. They desire
salvation from suffering—but they do not desire to be saved from sinning. They
would have their souls saved—but still would have their lusts. They would be
content to have some of their sins destroyed—but they cannot leave the lap of
Delilah, or divorce the beloved Herodias. They cannot be cruel to the right eye
or right hand.

The sound convert takes a whole Christ, and takes Him for all intents and
purposes, without exceptions, without limitations, without reserve. He is
willing to have Christ upon any terms. He is willing to have the dominion of
Christ as well as deliverance by Christ. He says with Paul, ’Lord, what will you
have me to do?’ Anything, Lord! He gives Christ the blank page—to write down His
own conditions.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What would you ask for?

That night God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, "What do you want? Ask,
and I will give it to you!" 2 Chronicles 1:7

If God should give you your choice, as He did to Solomon, what would you ask
for? Go into the gardens of pleasure, and gather all the fragrant flowers
there—would these satisfy you? Go to the treasures of mammon; suppose you may
carry away as much as you desire. Go to the towers, to the trophies of honor—and
become a man of renown. Would any of these, would all of these satisfy you, and
make you to count yourself happy? If so, then certainly you are carnal and
unconverted.

Converting grace turns the heart from its idols—to the living God. Before
conversion, the man minded his farm, friends, pleasures—more than Christ. He
found more sweetness in his merry company, wicked games, earthly delights—than
in Christ. Now he says, ’But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for
the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the
surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost
all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ!’ Php 3:7-8

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Certain signs of an unconverted sinner

"If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15

The predominant love of the world is a sure evidence of an unsanctified heart.
But how often does this sin lurk under the fair cover of profession. Yes, such a
power of deceit is there in this sin that many times, when everybody else can
see the man’s worldliness and covetousness—he cannot see it himself! He has so
many excuses and pretenses for his eagerness after the world, that he blinds his
own eyes and perishes in his self-deceit! How many professing Christians are
there, with whom the world has more of their hearts and affections than Christ,
’who mind earthly things’, and thereby are evidently after the flesh, and likely
to end in destruction (Romans 8:5; Php 3:19).

Did they but carefully search their hearts, they would quickly see that their
greatest satisfaction is in the world, and that their greatest care and main
endeavor are to get and secure the world—which are the certain signs of an
unconverted sinner.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Death will knock off their fingers

"When the wicked die—their hopes all perish." Proverbs 11:7

Wicked men are fixed in their carnal hope, and will not be beaten out of it;
they hold it fast, they will not let it go; but death will knock off their
fingers. Though we cannot undeceive them, death and judgment will. When death
strikes his dart through the wicked man’s heart, it will ruin both his soul and
his hopes together.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Your enemy!

"I myself, the Sovereign Lord, am now your enemy!" Ezekiel 5:8

Unconverted sinner! You are not only against God—but God is against you! As
there is no friend like Him—so there is no enemy like Him. As much as heaven is
above the earth, omnipotence above impotence—so much more terrible is it to fall
into the hands of the living God, than into the paws of bears and lions, yes,
furies or devils! God Himself will be your tormentor! Who or what shall deliver
you out of His hands? Sinner, I think this would go like a dagger to your
heart—to know that God Himself is your enemy! Oh where will you go? Where will
you shelter yourself?

The infinite God is engaged against you! He hates all workers of iniquity. Man,
does not your heart tremble to think of your being an object of God’s hatred?
"As surely as I live, when I sharpen My flashing sword and begin to carry out
justice, I will bring vengeance on My enemies and repay those who hate Me!"
(Deuteronomy 32:40-41)

The power of God is mounted like a mighty cannon against you. Sinner, the power
of God’s anger is against you—and power and anger together make fearful work.
There is no escaping His hands—no breaking loose from His prison.

"O consider this, you who forget God, lest He tear you in pieces, and there be
none to deliver!" (Psalms 50:22)

Submit to mercy. Let not dust and stubble battle against the Almighty. "Woe to
him who strives with his Maker!" (Isaiah 45:9)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Devil’s trap

"Then they may come to their senses and escape the Devil’s trap, having been
captured by him to do his will." 2 Timothy 2:26

It is the common misery of all the unsaved—that the devil is their god. His
drudges they are, and his lusts they do. However Satan may provide his slaves
with various pleasures—yet it is but to draw them into endless perdition. O
dreadful case!

The serpent comes with the fruit in his mouth, but, like Eve—you do not see the
deadly sting! He who is now your tempter—will one day be your tormentor! O that
I could but make you see how bad a master you serve, how merciless a tyrant you
gratify; whose pleasure is to make your perdition and damnation sure, and to
heat the furnace hotter and hotter in which you must burn for millions and
millions of ages!


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  CHAPTER 23: S. THE GOSPEL IN A MAP
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THE GOSPEL IN A MAP

A view of the exceedingly great and precious Promises by Joseph Alleine

O all you inhabitants of the world dwelling on the earth, come; see and hear;
gather yourselves together unto the proclamation of the Great King. Hear, you
who are afar off and you who are near! He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the Lord.
Let every valley be exalted, and every mountain be made low, for the glory of
the Lord is to be revealed." Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way,
cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones, lift up the standard for
the people; for the Lord proclaims salvation to the ends of the earth. Tidings!
tidings, O you captives!

Hear, all you who look for salvation in Israel. Behold, I bring you glad tidings
of great joy, which shall be unto all people. Blessed news! Prepare your ears
and hearts! The Lord has commanded me, saying, "Go unto the people, and sanctify
them; let them wash and be ready; for the Lord is coming down upon Mount Zion in
the sight of all nations; not in earthquakes and fire, not in clouds and
darkness, not in thunderings or burnings, rending the mountains and breaking the
rocks in pieces." He speaks not to you out of blackness, darkness, and tempests.
You shall say no more, "Let not God speak to us lest we die." He comes
peaceably; the law of kindness is in His mouth. He preaches peace; peace to him
who is afar off and to him who is near. Behold, how He comes, leaping upon the
mountains. He has passed Mount Ebal (Deuteronomy 11:20; Deuteronomy 27:12-13);
no more wrath or cursing. He is come to Mount Gerizim, where He stands to bless
the people. As Mordecai to his nation, He writes "the words of truth and peace,
seeking the welfare of His people, and speaking peace to all His seed."

Behold how He comes! Clothed with flames of love, with a heart of compassion,
plenteous redemption, and multiplied pardons.

Hearken therefore, O you children, hearken to me. To you it is commanded, O
people, nations, and languages, that at what time you hear the joyful sound, the
trumpet of jubilee, the tidings of peace, in the voice of the everlasting
gospel, you fall down before the throne, and worship Him who lives forever and
ever.

Arise and come away; prepare, prepare yourselves. Do not hear with an
uncircumcised ear; you are not looking upon a common thing. Behold, the throne
is set, the throne of grace, where majesty and mercy dwell together. From there
the Lord will meet you; from there He will commune with you; from the mercy
seat, from between the cherubim, upon the ark of the testimony. Lo, the Lord
comes out of His pavilion, the mighty God from Zion. His glory covers the
heavens, the earth is full of His praise. A fire of love goes before Him; mercy
and truth round about Him; righteousness and peace are the habitation of His
throne. He rides on His horses and chariots of salvation; the covenant of life
and peace is in His mouth.

Rejoice, you heavens; make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Let the
sea roar, the floods clap their hands, and the multitudes of the isles rejoice.
Stand forth, the host of heaven; prepare your harps, cast down your crowns, be
ready with your trumpets; bring forth your golden vials full of odors, for our
voice will jar, our strings will break, we cannot reach the note of our Maker’s
praise.

Yet, let those who dwell in the dust arise and sing. Bear your part in this
glorious service, but consider and attend. Call out your souls, and all that is
within you. Lift up your voices, fix your eyes, enlarge your hearts, extend all
their powers. There is work for them all. Be intent and serious, you cannot
strain too high.

Come forth, you graces, set the way; be all in readiness. Stand forth, faith and
hope. Flame, O love! Come, you warm desires, and break with longing. Let fear,
with all veneration, do its obeisance. Joy, prepare your songs; call up all the
daughters of music to salute the Lord as He passes by. Let the generation of the
saints appear and spread the way with boughs and garments of salvation, and
songs of deliverance. You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God,
your captains, your elders, your officers, with all the men of Israel, your
little ones, your wives, and the stranger that is within your camp, from the
hewer of wood to the drawer of water, that you should enter into covenant with
the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 29:10-13), and into His oath, which the Lord your
God makes with you unto Himself and, that He may be unto you a God, as He has
said unto you, and as He has sworn.

I have done my errand. The messenger of the morning disappears when the Orient
Sun comes forth out of His chambers. I vanish, I put my mouth in the dust. The
voice of the Lord! The soft and still voice! O my soul, wrap your face in the
mantle, bow yourself to the ground, and put yourself into the cleft of the rock
while Jehovah proclaims His name, and makes all His goodness to pass before you.
THE VOICE OF THE LORD

Hear, O you ends of the earth; the mighty God, the Lord has spoken: Gather My
saints unto Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice (Psalms
50:1; Psalms 50:5). Behold, I establish My covenant between Me and you (Genesis
17:7). By My holiness have I sworn that I will be your covenant Friend. I lift
up My hand to heaven. I swear I live forever, and because I live you shall live
also (John 14:9). I will be yours (Jeremiah 32:38-40), your for all intents and
purposes, your refuge and your rest (Jeremiah 50:6; Psalms 90:1; Psalms 46:1),
your patron and your portion (Psalms 73:26; Isaiah 25:4-5), your heritage and
your hope, your God and your guide (Psalms 48:14). While I have, you shall never
lack; and what I am to Myself, I will be to you (Psalms 34:9-10). You shall be
My people, a chosen generation, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, a peculiar
treasure unto Me above all people (Exodus 19:5-6; 1 Peter 2:9). I call heaven
and earth to witness this day that I take you for Mine forever. My name shall be
upon you, and you shall be pillars in the temple of your God, and shall go out
no more (Revelation 3:12). My livery shall you wear, and the stamp of My own
face shall you carry (Ezekiel 36:25-26; Ephesians 4:24); and I will make you My
witness and the epistles of Christ unto the world (2 Corinthians 3:3). You shall
be chosen vessels to bear My name before the sons of men. And that you may see
that I am in earnest with you, lo, I make with you an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure (2 Samuel 23:5). And I do here solemnly deliver
it to you as My act and deed, sealed with sacred blood (1 Corinthians 11:25),
and ratified with the oath of a God (Hebrews 6:17) who cannot lie, and who knows
no place for repentance (Titus 1:2).

Come, you blessed ones, receive the instrument of your salvation: take the
writings, behold the seals; here are the conveyances of the kingdom. Fear not,
the donation is full and free. See, it is written in blood, founded on the
all-sufficient merits of your Surety (Hebrews 9:1-38), in whom I am well pleased
(Matthew 3:7), whose death makes this testament unchangeable forever; so that
your names can never be put out, nor your inheritance alienated, nor your
legacies diminished. Nothing may be altered, nothing added, nothing subtracted,
no, not forever (Galatians 3:15-17). Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like unto
you, O people (Deuteronomy 33:29)! Only believe, and know your own blessedness.
Attend, O My children, unto the blessings of your Father; hear and know the
glorious immunities and the royal prerogatives that I here confirm upon you.

Here I seal to you your pardons. Though your sins are as many as the sands and
as mighty as the mountains, I will drown them in the deeps of My bottomless
mercies (Micah 7:19). I will be merciful to your unrighteousness. I will
multiply your pardon (Hebrews 8:12; Isaiah 55:7); where your sins have abounded,
My grace shall superabound; though they be as scarlet, they shall be white as
snow; though red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18). Behold, I
declare Myself satisfied and pronounce you absolved (Job 33:24). The price is
paid, your debts are cleared, your bonds are canceled (Isaiah 43:25; Colossians
2:13-14).

Whatever the law, conscience, or the accuser has to charge upon you, I here
exonerate and discharge you. I even I, am He who blots out your transgressions
for My name’s sake. Who shall lay anything to your charge when I acquit you? Who
shall impeach you when I proclaim you guiltless (Romans 8:33-34)? Sons,
daughters, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you (1 John 2:12; Mark 9:2).
I will sprinkle your consciences, and put the voice of peace into your mouths
(Ezekiel 36:25; Hebrews 9:14; Isaiah 57:19), and they shall be your registers in
which I will record your pardon, and the voice of guilt, wrath, and terror shall
cease (Hebrews 10:22; Isaiah 27:4-5).

Here I sign your release from the house of bondage (Romans 6:17-18; 1
Corinthians 7:22). Come forth, you captives; come forth, hope; for I have found
a ransom (Job 33:24). I proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to those who are bound (Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 42:7). Behold, I have broken
your bonds, shaken the foundations of your prisons, and opened the iron gates
(Luke 4:18). By the blood of the covenant I have sent forth the prisoners out of
the pit wherein there is no water (Zechariah 9:11). Arise, O redeemed of the
Lord; put off the clothing of your captivities, arise and come away. The dark
and noisome prison of sin shall no longer detain you (John 8:34-36). I will
loosen your fetters and knock off your bolts. Sin shall not have dominion over
you (Romans 7:14). I will heal your backslidings, I will subdue your iniquities
(Micah 7:19; Jeremiah 3:12), I will sanctify you wholly (1 Thessalonians
5:23-24), and will put My fear in your hearts so that you shall not depart from
Me (Jeremiah 32:40). Though your corruptions are strong and many, yet the aids
of My Spirit, the cleansing virtue of My Word, and the medicine of My
corrections shall so work together with your prayers and endeavors that they
shall not finally prevail against you, but shall surely fall before you (Ezekiel
36:37; Ephesians 5:26; Isaiah 27:9). From the strong and reeking jail of the
grave I deliver you. O death, I will be your plague. O grave, I will be your
destruction (Hosea 13:14). My beloved shall not ever see corruption (Psalms
16:10). I will change your rottenness into glory, and make your dust arise and
praise Me (Daniel 12:2-3; Isaiah 26:19). What is sown in weakness, I will raise
in power; what is sown in corruption, I will raise in incorruption; what is sown
a natural body, I will raise a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). This
very flesh of yours, this corruptible flesh, shall put on incorruption; and this
mortal flesh shall put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53). Death shall be
swallowed up in victory and mortality of life (1 Corinthians 15:54; 2
Corinthians 5:4).

Fear not, O children. Come, and I will show you the enemy that you dreaded. See,
here lies the king of terrors, like Sisera in the tent, fastened to the ground
with a nail struck through his temples. Behold the grateful present, the head of
your enemy on a platter. I bequeath to you your conquered adversary, and make
over death as your legacy (1 Corinthians 3:22). O death, where is your sting?
Where now is the armor in which you trusted (1 Corinthians 15:55)? Come, My
people, enter into your chambers (Isaiah 26:20). Come to your beds of dust and
lay down in peace; let your flesh rest in hope (Isaiah 57:2); for even in this
flesh shall you see God (Psalms 16:9; Job 19:25-27). O you slain by death, your
carcasses, now as loathsome as the carrion in the ditch, I will redeem from the
power of the grave (Psalms 49:5), and fashion those vile bodies like unto the
glorious body of your exalted Redeemer (Php 3:21). Look, if you can, on the sun
when it shines in its strength; with such dazzling glory. I will clothe you, O
you of little faith (Matthew 13:43). From the terrible dungeon of eternal
darkness I do hereby free you. Fear not, you shall not be hurt by the second
death (Revelation 2:11; Romans 8:1); you are delivered from the wrath to come,
and shall never come into condemnation (1 Thessalonians 1:10; John 5:24). The
flames of Tophet shall not be able to singe the hairs of your heads, no, nor the
smell of the fire pass upon you. Stand upon the brink and look down into the
horrible pit, the infernal prison, from where I have freed you. Do you see how
the smoke of their torment ascends forever (Revelation 14:11)? Do you hear the
cursings and ravings, the roarings and blasphemies (Matthew 25:30)? What do you
think of those hellish fiends? Would you have been willing to have had them for
your companions and tormentors (Matthew 25:41)? What do you think of those
chains of darkness? Of the river of brimstone, of the instruments of torment of
both soul and body, of the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth? Can you
think of everlasting banishment, of hearing "Go you cursed ones"? Could you
dwell with everlasting burnings? Could you abide with devouring fire (Isaiah
33:14)? This is the inheritance you were born to (Ephesians 2:3). But I have
wrought for you a great salvation. I have not ordained you to wrath (1
Thessalonians 5:9), but My thoughts towards you are thoughts of peace (Jeremiah
29:11).

Here I deliver to you your protection. From all your enemies I will save you (2
Kings 17:39). I grant you a protection from the arrests of the law. Your Surety
has fully answered it (Galatians 3:13; Romans 5:10). My justice is satisfied, My
wrath is pacified, and My honor is repaired (Daniel 2:24; 2 Corinthians
5:19-20). Behold, I am near Him justifies you; who is he who shall condemn you?
From the usurped dominion of the powers of darkness I will deliver you. I will
tread Satan shortly under you, and will set your feet in triumph upon the necks
of your enemies (Romans 16:20). Let not your hearts be troubled; though you are
to wrestle with principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of
this world (Ephesians 6:12); for stronger is He who is in you than he who is in
the world (1 John 4:4). He may bruise your heel, but you shall bruise his head
(Genesis 3:15). Behold your Redeemer leading captivity captive, spoiling
principalities and powers, triumphing over them openly through His cross
(Colossians 2:15). See how Satan falls like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18),
and how the Samson of your salvation bears away the gates of hell, posts and
all, upon His shoulders, and sets them up as trophies of His victory; how He
pulls out the throat of the lion, lifts up the heart of the traitor upon the top
of His spear, washes His hands, and dyes His robes in the blood of your enemies
(Isaiah 63:1-3). From the victory of the world I will deliver you (1 John 5:4;
Galatians 1:4). Neither its frowns nor its flatteries shall be too hard for your
victorious faith. Though it raises up Egypt, Amalek, Moab, and all its militia
against you, yet it shall never keep you out of Canaan. Be of good comfort, your
Lord has overcome the world (John 16:33). Thought its temptations are very
powerful, yet this, upon My faithfulness, I promise you: nothing shall come upon
you but what you shall be able to bear. But if I see such trials, which you fear
would be too hard for your grace and would overthrow your soul, I will never
allow them to come upon you. No, I will make your enemy to serve you (1
Corinthians 10:13), and I bequeath the world as part of your dowry to you (1
Corinthians 3:22). From the curse of the cross I will deliver you (Psalms
119:71). Afflictions shall prove a wholesome cup to you; your Lord has drunk the
venom into His own body, and what remains for you is but a healthful potion
which I promise shall work for your good (Romans 8:28). Do not be afraid to
drink, nor desire that the cup should pass from you. I bless the cup before I
give it to you (Job 5:17). Drink all of it and be thankful; you shall find My
blessing at the bottom of the cup to sweeten the sharpest afflictions to you
(James 1:12; Psalms 94:12). I will stand by you in all conditions, and be a
unchanging Friend to you in every change (Isaiah 43:2). In the wilderness I will
speak comfortably to you, and in the fire and water I will be with you (Hosea
2:14). I will be a strength to the poor and a strength to the needy in his
distress; a refuge from the storm, and a shadow from the heat, when the blast of
terrible ones is as a storm against the wall (Isaiah 25:4). Your sufferings
shall not be a cup of wrath, but a grace cup; not a curse, but a cure; not a cup
of trembling, but a cup of blessing to you (Hebrews 12:6-8). They shall not hurt
you, but heal you (Psalms 119:67). My blessing shall attend you in every
condition (Genesis 26:3). I say not only "Blessed shall you be in your basket,
and blessed in your store," but "Blessed shall you be in your poverty (Genesis
28:15), and blessed shall you be in your straits"; not only shall you be blessed
in your cities and in your fields, but blessed shall you be in your beds and
your banishments (Mark 10:29-30). Blessed shall you be when you are persecuted,
and when you are reviled and your name is cast about as evil; yes, then doubly
blessed (Matthew 5:10-12). My choicest blessings, greatest good, and richest
sweets will I put into your evil things (1 Peter 4:13-14; Luke 6:20-22). These
happy immunities, these glorious liberties of the sons of God, by this immutable
charter I forever settle upon you. And I do, in and with my covenant,
unalterably, irrevocably, and everlastingly convey them unto you and confirm
them upon you.

Yes, I will not only free you from your miseries, but will confer upon you ROYAL
PRIVILEGES and prerogatives, and instate you into higher and greater happiness
than every you have fallen from. Lo, I give Myself to you, and all things with
Myself.

Behold, O you sons of men! Behold and wonder. Be astonished, O heavens! Be
moved, O strong foundations of the earth! For you shall be My witnesses. This
day I do, by covenant, bestow Myself upon My servants (Genesis 17:7). I will be
your God forever and ever (Psalms 48:14; Jeremiah 32:38; Revelation 21:3). Your
very own God (Psalms 57:6; Psalms 16:2). Nothing in the world is so much yours
own as I am. The houses that you have built, or the ones you have bought, are
not so much yours as I am. Here you are but tenants; but I am your eternal
inheritance (Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26). These are loans for a season, but I am
your dwelling place in all generations (Psalms 90:1). You have nowhere so great
a propriety, so sure and unalterable a claim, as you have here. What do you
count your own? Your bodies, your souls? No, these are not your own; they are
bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). But you may boldly make your claim
to Me; you may freely challenge an interest in Me (Jeremiah 3:19; Isaiah 63:16).
Come near and fear not; where could you be free if not with your own? Where
could you be bold if not at home? You are never in all the world so much at home
as when you are with Me. You may freely make use of Me, or of any of My
attributes, whenever you need (Psalms 50:15; Jeremiah 49:11; Psalms 145:18).

I will be all to you that you can wish. I will be a FRIEND to you (Isaiah 41:8;
James 2:2-3). My secrets shall be with you (Psalms 25:14; John 15:15), and you
shall have free access to Me, and liberty to pour out all your hearts into My
bosom (Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 4:16).

I will be a PHYSICIAN to you. I will heal your backslidings and cure all your
diseases (Hosea 14:4; Psalms 103:3). Fear not, for never did a soul miscarry
that left itself in My hands, and would follow My prescriptions.

I will be a SHEPHERD to you (Psalms 23:1; Psalms 80:1). Do not be afraid of evil
tidings, for I am with you. My rod and My staff shall comfort you. You shall not
lack, for I will feed you; you shall not wander or be lost, for I will restore
you. I will cause you to lie down in green pastures, and will lead you beside
the still waters (Psalms 23:1-6). I will gather you with My arm, carry you in My
bosom, and will lead on as softly as the flock and the children are able to
endure (Isaiah 40:11; Genesis 33:13-14). If officers are careless, I will do the
work Myself. I will judge between cattle and cattle. I will seek that which was
lost, and bring again that which was driven away. I will bind up that which was
broken, and strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the
strong, and will feed them with judgment (Ezekiel 34:16-17 compared with Ezekiel
34:2-4). I will watch over My flock by night (Isaiah 27:3). Behold, I have
appointed My ministers as your watchmen, as overseers who watch for your souls
(Hebrews 13:17; Acts 20:28). Yes, My angels shall be your watchers, and shall
keep a constant guard upon My flock (Daniel 3:17; Daniel 3:23; Psalms 34:7). And
if the servants should sleep (Matthew 13:25; Matthew 13:27), My own eyes shall
keep a perpetual watch by night and by day (Psalms 34:15; Psalms 33:18; 2
Chronicles 16:9). The Keeper of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps (Psalms
121:3-5), nor withdraws His eyes from the righteous (Job 36:7). I will guide you
with My eye. I will never trust you out of My sight (Psalms 32:8).

I will be a SOVEREIGN to you. The Lord is your Judge; the Lord is your Lawgiver;
the Lord is your King (Isaiah 33:22). Do not fear the unrighteousness of men,
for I will judge your cause and defend your rights (Deuteronomy 32:36; Psalms
140:12; Psalms 9:4). You shall not stand at man’s bar; you shall not be cast out
by their vote (1 Corinthians 4:3-5; 2 Corinthians 10:18). Let them curse; I will
bless. Let them condemn; I will justify (Isaiah 50:9; Genesis 12:3). When you
come upon trials in your lives, such as will decide your eternal state, you
shall see your Friend and your Father upon the bench (Psalms 80:9; Ecclesiastes
3:16-17). Into My hands shall your cause be cast, and you shall surely stand in
judgment and be found at the right hand among the sheep. You shall hear the King
say, "Come, you blessed; inherit the kingdom" (Matthew 25:33-34).

I will be a HUSBAND to you (Isaiah 54:5). In loving-kindness and mercy I will
betroth you unto Myself forever (Hosea 2:19-20). I will espouse your interest,
and will be as one with you, and you with Me (Matthew 25:40; Matthew 25:45; Acts
9:4-5). You shall be for Me and not for another; and I also will be for you
(Hosea 3:3). Though I found you as a helpless infant, exposed in its own blood,
all your unworthiness did not discourage Me. Lo, I have looked upon you, and put
My loveliness upon you. Moreover, I swear unto you, and enter into covenant with
you, and you shall be Mine (Ezekiel 16:4-10). Behold, I do, as it were, put
Myself out of My own power, and do here solemnly, in My marriage covenant, give
away Myself to you (Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 30:21-22; Jeremiah 31:33-34), and
with Myself all things (Revelation 21:7). I will be an everlasting portion to
you (Ezekiel 54:28; Jeremiah 51:19; Psalms 119:57). Now lift up your eyes to the
east, to the west, to the north, and to the south. Have you not a worthy
portion, a goodly heritage? Can you fathom your riches or count your own
happiness? Can you grasp immensity, reach omnipotence, or comprehend eternity?
All this is yours. I will set open all My treasures to you, and will keep back
nothing from you.

All the ATTRIBUTES in the Godhead, and all the persons in the Godhead, do I
hereby make over to you. I will be yours in all My essential perfections and in
all My personal relations. In all My essential perfections: My ETERNITY shall be
the date of your happiness. I am the eternal God, and while I am, I will be life
and blessedness to you (Psalms 90:1-2 compared with Psalms 48:14; 1 Timothy 1:17
compared with 1 Peter 5:10). I will be a never-failing fountain of joy, peace,
and bliss unto you (Psalms 36:7-9; Psalms 16:11; Isaiah 35:10). I am the first
and last, who was and is and is to come. And My eternal power and Godhead shall
be bound to you (Jeremiah 32:40).

I will be your God, your Father, and your Friend as long as I have any being
(Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 10:10). I have made My everlasting choice in pitching upon
you (Psalms 132:13-14; Hosea 2:19). Fear not, for the eternal God is your
refuge, and underneath you are the everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:27). My
unsearchable riches and righteousness shall be yours (Proverbs 8:18). Though all
should forsake you, yet will I not forsake you (Hebrews 13:5; Psalms 27:10).
When the world, and all that is therein, shall be burned up, I will be a
standing portion for you. When you are forgotten among the dead, I will remember
you with everlasting loving-kindness (Isaiah 54:10). My UNCHANGEABLENESS shall
be the rock of your rest (Psalms 62:6-7). When all the world is like a tumbling
ocean round about you, here you may fix and settle. I am your resting place
(Jeremiah 50:6; 2 Chronicles 14:11). The immutability of My nature, of My
counsel and of My covenant, are sure footing for your faith, and a firm
foundation for your strong and everlasting consolation (2 Timothy 2:19; Hebrews
6:17-18). When you are afflicted, tossed with tempests (Isaiah 54:11), and not
comforted, go to Me. I am a haven of hope. I am a harbor of rest for you. Here
cast your anchors, and you shall never be moved (Jeremiah 17:13; Jeremiah 17:17;
Psalms 46:1-2; Psalms 46:5; Psalms 125:1). My OMNIPOTENCE shall be your guard. I
am God Almighty, your almighty Protector, your almighty Benefactor (Genesis
15:1; Genesis 17:1). What if your enemies are many? More are they who are with
you than they who are against you; for I am with you (2 Chronicles 32:7-8; 2
Kings 6:16). What if they are mighty? They are not almighty. Your Father is
greater than all, and none shall pluck you (whatever else they might pluck) out
of My hands (John 10:29). Who can hinder My power or obstruct My salvation
(Isaiah 43:13; Daniel 4:35)? Who is like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rides on
the heaven for your help, and in His excellency on the sky? I am the sword of
your strength and the shield of your excellency (Deuteronomy 33:26; Deuteronomy
33:29). I am your rock and your fortress, your deliverer, your strength, the
horn of your salvation, and your high tower (Psalms 18:2). I will maintain you
against all the power of the enemy. You shall never sink if Omnipotence can
support you (1 Peter 1:5). The gates of hell shall not prevail against you
(Matthew 16:18). Your enemies shall find hard work of it. They must first
overcome victory, enervate Omnipotence, corrupt fidelity, or change immutability
before they can finally prevail against you; either they shall bow or break
(Revelation 3:19; Isaiah 66:24). Though they should exalt themselves as the
eagle, though they should set their nest among the stars, even there will I
bring them down (Obadiah 1:4; Jeremiah 49:16). My FAITHFULNESS shall be your
security (Psalms 89:33-35). My truth, yes, My oath shall fail if ever you come
to be losers by me (Isaiah 54:9-10 compared with Mark 10:29-30). I will make you
to confess, when you see the results and upshot of all My providences, that I
was a God worthy of being trusted, worthy of being believed, worthy of being
rested in and relied upon (Psalms 34:4-6; Psalms 34:8; Psalms 84:12; Psalms
146:5; Jeremiah 17:7-8; Psalms 22:4-5). If you do not walk in My judgments, you
must look for My threats and frowns, yes, and blows too; and you will see that I
am not jesting with you, nor will I indulge you in your sins (Psalms 89:30-32;
Amos 3:2; 2 Samuel 12:1-31, 2 Samuel 13:1-39, 2 Samuel 14:1-38, 2 Samuel
15:1-37; 1 Peter 4:7). Nevertheless, My loving-kindness I will never take from
you, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not break, nor alter
the thing that has gone out from My lips. My MERCIES shall be your store (Isaiah
53:7; Psalms 119:41). I am the Father of mercies, and such a Father I will be to
you (2 Corinthians 1:3). I am the fountain of mercies, and this fountain shall
ever be open to you (Psalms 36:9 compared with Revelation 21:6). My mercies are
very many, and they shall be multiplied towards you (Nehemiah 9:17 compared with
Isaiah 55:7); very great, and they shall be magnified upon you (1 Chronicles
21:13 compared with Genesis 19:19); very sure, and they shall forever be sure to
you (Isaiah 55:3); very tender, and they shall be infinitely tender of you
(Psalms 119:156 compared with Psalms 103:4). Though the fig-tree does not
blossom, nor the vine bear fruit, nor the flock bring forth, fear not, for My
compassions fail not (Habakkuk 3:17; Lamentations 3:22). Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow you all the days of your lives (Psalms 23:6). Even to your
old age I am He, and even to hoary hairs will I carry you. I have made you, and
I will bear you, carry you, and deliver you (Isaiah 46:4). I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, that I will not turn away from you to do you good
(Jeremiah 32:40). I swear that I will show you the kindness of God (1 Samuel
20:14-17). I can as soon forget to be God as forget to be gracious (Psalms
77:9). While My name is Jehovah—merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in
goodness and truth—I will never forget to show mercy to you (Psalms 102:17
compared with Psalms 34:6-7). All My ways towards you shall be mercy and truth
(Psalms 25:10). I have sworn that I would not be wroth with you nor rebuke you;
for the mountains shall depart and the hills removed, but My kindness shall not
depart from you, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed. Thus says
the Lord who has mercy on you. My OMNISCIENCE shall be your overseer. My eyes
shall ever be open, observing your needs to relieve them, and your wrongs to
avenge them (1 Peter 3:12; Exodus 3:7). My ears shall ever be open to hear the
prayers of My poor, and the cries of My oppressed, the clamors, calumnies, and
reproaches of your enemies (Psalms 34:5; Exodus 2:24-25; Zephaniah 2:8-10).
Surely I have seen your affliction and know your sorrows. And shall not God
avenge His own elect? I will avenge them speedily (Luke 18:7-8). I see the
secret plots and designs of your enemies against you (Jeremiah 18:23), and will
disannul their counsels (Isaiah 8:10 with Isaiah 29:14-15; Psalms 33:10). I see
your secret integrity, and the uprightness of your hearts towards Me, while the
carnal and censorious world condemns you as hypocrites (Job 1:8-11; 2 Chronicles
15:17). Your secret prayers, fasts, and tears, which the world knows not of, I
observe and record them (Matthew 6:6; Matthew 6:18; Acts 10:4). Your secret care
to please Me, the secret pains within your hearts, your secret self-searchings
and self-denial, I see them all, and your Father, who sees in secret, shall
reward them openly (Matthew 25:34-36; 2 Chronicles 34:27). My WISDOM shall be
your counselor. If any lacks wisdom, let him ask of Me, and it shall be given
him (James 1:5). I will be your deliverer. When you are in darkness, I will be a
light to you. I will make your way plain before you (Isaiah 48:19; Isaiah
57:14). You are short-sighted, but I will be eyes to you (Isaiah 52:6-7; Isaiah
29:6)). I will watch over you, to bring upon you all the good I have promised
(Jeremiah 31:28 with Jeremiah 32:24), and to keep off all the evil you fear, or
at least turn it into good (Psalms 91:10; Psalms 91:14; Jeremiah 24:5). You
shall have your food in its season and your medicine in its season; mercies,
afflictions, and everything suitable, all in their season (Psalms 23:2-3; 1
Peter 1:6; Isaiah 27:7-9).

I will outwit your enemies and make their oracles to speak but folly (Isaiah
19:11-15). The old serpent shall not deceive you. I will acquaint you with his
devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). The deceitful hearts you fear shall not undo you.
I will reveal their wiles.

I know how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust to
the day of judgment to be punished (2 Peter 2:9). Trust in Me with all your
hearts, and do not lean on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). I am God, who
performs all things for you (Psalms 57:2). I will forfeit the reputation of My
wisdom if I do not make you to acknowledge, when you see the end of the Lord
(James 5:11) though at present you wonder at and do not understand the meaning
of My proceedings that all My works are in weight, in number, in time, and in
order (Ecclesiastes 3:14); if I do not cause you to cry out, "Manifold are Your
works; in wisdom have You made them all" (Psalms 33:4; Psalms 104:24; Psalms
145:10). My JUSTICE shall be your revenger and rewarder (2 Thessalonians 1:6; 2
Timothy 4:8). Fear not to approach; fury is not in Me (Isaiah 27:4). My justice
is not only appeased towards you, but engaged for you. I am so fully satisfied
in the sacrifice of My beloved Son that justice itself, which was as a flaming
sword drawn against you, now greatly befriends you; and that which was an
amazing, confounding terror shall now become your relief and consolation
(Ecclesiastes 3:16-17; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Psalms 96:10-13; Psalms 97:1 with
Psalms 99:1). Under all your oppressions, here shall your refuge be (Psalms 6:9;
Psalms 103:6). Let me know your grievances, and My justice will right your
wrongs and reward your services (Psalms 146:7; Hebrews 6:10). You may conclude
upon your pardons, conclude upon your crowns, conclude upon reparation for all
your injustices, and all from the sweet consideration of My justice (1 John 1:9;
2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 2:23), the thought of which to others is as the horror of
the shadow of death. If you sin, despair not; remember, I am just to forgive
you. If you are at any pains or cost for Me, do not count it as lost, for I am
not unrighteous to forget you. I am the righteous Judge who has laid up for you,
and will set upon you, the crown of righteousness. Are you reviled, persecuted,
or defamed? Do not forget that I am righteous to render tribulation to those who
trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest in Me. Though all your services
and sufferings do not deserve the least good at My hands, yet as I have freely
passed My promise to reward them, so I will as justly keep it. My OMNIPRESENCE
shall be company for you (1 Chronicles 22:18; Joshua 1:5; Joshua 1:9; Isaiah
41:10). Surely I will be with you to bless you (Genesis 27:24). No bolts, no
bars, no bonds, nor banishment shall remove you from Me, nor keep My presence
and the influences of heaven from you (Genesis 39:21; Genesis 39:23). I am
always with you (Matthew 28:20); in your darkest nights, in your deepest
dangers, I am close at hand, a very present help in the time of trouble (Psalms
46:1; Psalms 34:18). I am not a God who is afar off, or asleep, or on a journey
when you need My counsel, My ear, or My aid. I am always near unto those who
fear Me. No Patmos, no prison shall hinder the presence of My grace from you
(Revelation 1:9-10; Acts 16:25-26). My presence shall perfume the most putrid
wards, and lighten the darkest dungeon where you can be thrust (Acts 13:7;
Isaiah 58:10). My HOLINESS shall be a fountain of grace to you (John 1:16; 2
Peter 1:4). I am the God of hope (Romans 15:13), the God of love (2 Corinthians
13:11), the God of patience (Romans 15:5), the Author and Finisher of faith
(Hebrews 12:2), the God of all grace (1 Peter 5:10), and I will give grace to
you (Psalms 84:11). My design is to make you partakers of My holiness (Hebrews
12:10). I will be a constant spring of spiritual life to you (Galatians 2:20;
John 14:1-31; John 8:12; John 10:10). The water that I shall give you shall be
in you as a well of water, springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14). The
seed of life that I shall put into you shall be so fed and cherished, and
maintained by My power, that it shall be immortal (1 John 3:9; 1 Peter 1:23;
Colossians 2:19). The unction that you shall receive from the Holy One shall
abide in you and teach you all things necessary for you; and as it has taught
you, you shall abide in Him (John 14:16-17; 1 John 2:20; 1 John 2:27). Only keep
the pipes open, and apply the means which I have prescribed, and you shall
flourish in the courts of your God (Proverbs 8:34; Psalms 92:13). Yes, I will
satisfy your souls in drought and make your bones fat, and you shall be like a
watered garden. Lo, I will be as the dew unto you, and you shall grow as the
lily and cast forth your roots as Lebanon. Your branches shall spread and your
beauty shall be as the olive tree (Hosea 14:5-6). You shall still bring forth
fruit in an old age; you shall be fat and flourishing. My SOVEREIGNTY shall be
commanded by you (Genesis 32:26-28). You shall be My favorites, men of power to
prevail with Me (Hosea 12:4; James 5:17-18). All My attributes shall be at the
command of your prayers (Isaiah 45:11). In summary, My ALL-SUFFICIENCY shall be
the lot of your inheritance (Genesis 17:1; Lamentations 3:24; Psalms 16:5-6). My
fullness is your treasure (Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:9). My house is your
home (Psalms 91:1; Psalms 91:9). You may come as freely to My store as to your
own cupboard (Ephesians 3:12). You may have your hand as freely in My treasures
as in your own purses. You cannot ask too much; you cannot look for too much
from Me (Ephesians 3:20; Matthew 7:8). I will give you (or will be Myself to you
instead of) all comforts (Genesis 15:1; Psalms 84:11). You shall have children,
or I will be better to you than ten children (Isaiah 56:5). You shall have
riches, or I will be more to you than all riches (2 Corinthians 6:10).

You shall have friends, if best for you, or else I will be your Comforter in
your solitude (Isaiah 51:3; John 14:26; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4), your Counselor in
your distress (Psalms 73:24). If you leave father, mother, houses, or lands for
My sake, you shall have a hundredfold in Me, even in this time (Mark 10:30).
When your enemies shall remove your comforts, it shall be but as letting the
cistern run and opening the fountain, or putting out the candles and letting in
the sun. The swelling waters shall raise higher the ark of your comfort (Romans
5:3; Hebrews 10:34; Acts 5:41). I will be the staff of bread to you, your life,
and the strength of your days (Deuteronomy 30:20; Isaiah 33:16). I will be a
house and a home to you; you shall dwell with me, yes, dwell in Me and I in you
(Deuteronomy 33:12; John 14:23; 1 John 3:24). I will stand and fall with you
(Psalms 37:17; Psalms 37:24; Psalms 54:4; Isaiah 41:10). I will repair your
losses and relieve your needs (Php 4:19; Mark 8:35; Matthew 19:27-29). Can you
put out the lamp of heaven, or empty the boundless ocean with your hands? Why,
the sun shall be dark and the sea dry before the Father of lights, the Fountain
of mercies shall be exhausted. Behold, though the world has been spending upon
the stock of My mercy ever since I created man upon earth, yet it runs with a
full stream still. My sun diffuses its rays and disburses its light, and yet it
shines as bright as ever; much more can I dispense of My goodness and fill My
creatures’ brim full and running over, and yet have never the less in Myself.
And until this self-sufficiency is spent, you shall never be undone. I am the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and whatever I was to them I will be to you.
Are you in need? You know where to go. I am ever at home; you shall not go away
empty from My door. Never distract yourselves with cares and fears, but make
known your requests by prayer and supplication to Me (Php 4:6). I will help when
all others fail (Psalms 73:26; Isaiah 63:5; Psalms 102:17). When friends and
hearts fail; when your eye-strings and heart-strings crack; when your
acquaintances and souls leave you, My bosom shall be open to you (Psalms 49:15;
2 Corinthians 5:1; Luke 16:22). I will lock up your dust and will receive your
souls. And My infiniteness shall be the extent of your inheritance. Can you by
searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty to perfection? He is as
high as heaven; what can you do? He is deeper than hell; what can you know (Job
11:7-8)? This incomprehensible height, this unfathomable depth, shall be all
yours, forever yours.

I am your inheritance, which no line can measure, no arithmetic can value, and
no surveyor can describe (Ezekiel 44:28; Ephesians 3:8; 1 Timothy 6:16; Psalms
145:3). Lift up your eyes now to the ancient mountains, to the utmost bounds of
the everlasting hills; all that you can see is yours. But your short sight
cannot perceive half of what I give you. And when you see and know most, you are
no less than infinitely short of the discovery of your own riches (Job 26:14).

Yes, further, I will be yours in all My personal relationships: I am the
everlasting Father, and I will be a Father to you (John 20:17). I take you for
My sons and daughters (2 Corinthians 6:18). Behold, I receive you not as
servants, but as sons to abide in My house forever (John 8:35-36). Whatever love
or care children may look for from their father, that you may expect from Me
(Matthew 6:31-32), and so much more since I am wiser, greater, and better than
any earthly parents. If earthly fathers will give good things to their children,
much more will I give to you (Luke 11:13). If such cannot forget their children,
much less will I forget you (Isaiah 49:15). What would My children have? Your
Father’s heart, His house, His care, His ear, His bread, and His rod? These
shall all be yours.

You shall have My fatherly affection. My heart I share among you. My tenderest
loves I bestow upon you (1 John 3:1; Jeremiah 31:3; Isaiah 54:8).

You shall have My fatherly compassion. As a father pities his children, so will
I pity you (Psalms 103:13-14). I will consider your frame, and not be extreme to
mark what is done amiss by you, but will cover all with the mantle of My
excusing love (Psalms 78:39).

You shall have My fatherly instruction. I will cause you to hear the sweet voice
behind you, saying, "This is the way" (Isaiah 30:21). I will be tender to your
weaknesses, and inculcate My admonitions, line upon line, and will feed you with
milk when you cannot digest stronger food (Isaiah 28:13; 1 Corinthians 3:2). I
will instruct you and guide you with My eyes (Psalms 32:8).

You shall have My fatherly protection. In My fear is strong confidence, and My
children shall have a place of refuge (Proverbs 14:26). My name shall be your
strong tower, to which you may at all times fly and be safe (Proverbs 18:10). To
your stronghold, you prisoners of hope (Zechariah 9:12). I am an open refuge, a
near and inviolable refuge for you (Psalms 48:3; Deuteronomy 4:7; John 10:29).

You shall have My fatherly provision. Do not be afraid of need; in your Father’s
house there is bread enough (Psalms 34:9; Luke 15:17). I will care for your
bodies. Do not worry about what you shall eat, drink, or put on. Let it suffice
you that your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all things (Matthew
6:25-34; Luke 12:22-32). I will provide for your souls: food for them, mansions
for them, and portions for them (John 6:30-59; Lamentations 3:23).

Behold, I have spread the table of My gospel for you, with privileges and
comforts that no man can take from you (Isaiah 25:6; Matthew 22:4; Proverbs
9:2). I have set before you the bread of life, the tree of life, and the water
of life (John 6:48; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:17). Eat, O friends; drink
abundantly, O beloved! But all this is but a taste of what I have prepared. You
must have but smiles and hints now, and be content with glimpses and glances
here. But you shall be shortly taken up into your Father’s bosom and live
forever in the fullest views of His glory (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

You shall have My fatherly correction. I will chasten you because I love you, so
that you may not be condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:32; Proverbs
3:11-12).

I give My Son unto you in a marriage covenant forever (Isaiah 9:6; 2 Corinthians
11:2). I make Him over to you as wisdom for your illumination, righteousness for
your justification, sanctification for curing your corruptions, and redemption
for deliverance from your enemies (1 Corinthians 1:30). I bestow Him upon you
with all His fullness, all His merits, and all His graces. He shall be yours in
all His offices.

I have anointed Him for a PROPHET. Are you ignorant? He shall teach you. He
shall be eye salve to you (Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 42:16; Revelation 3:18). I have
sent Him to preach the gospel to the poor and to recover sight for the blind, to
set at liberty those who are bruised (Luke 4:18).

I have established Him by oath as a PRIEST forever (Psalms 110:4). If you sin,
He shall be your advocate. He shall expiate your guilt and make the atonement (1
John 2:1-2; Zechariah 13:1). Have you any sacrifice, any service to offer? Bring
it to Him, and you shall receive and answer of peace (1 Peter 2:5; Hebrews
13:15). Present your petitions to Me by Him, for He will I accept (John
16:23-24). Having such a High Priest over the house of God (Hebrews 10:19-22),
you may come to Me with boldness, you may come and be welcome.

I have set Him up as KING upon My holy hill of Zion. He shall rule you and
defend you (Isaiah 9:6-7). He is the King of righteousness, the King of peace;
and such a King He shall be to you (Hebrews 7:2; Jeremiah 23:6; Ephesians 2:14).
I will set up His standard for you (Isaiah 49:22). I will set up His throne in
you (Psalms 110:2). He shall reign in righteousness and rule in judgment, and He
shall be a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, and the shadow
of a great rock in a weary land (Isaiah 32:1-2). He shall hear your causes,
judge your enemies (Isaiah 11:3-5), and reign until He has put all under His
feet (Psalms 110:1; 1 Corinthians 15:25), yes, and under your feet; for they
shall be as ashes under you, and you shall tread them, said the Lord of hosts
(Malachi 4:3). Yes, I will undo those who afflict you, and all those who
despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet (Isaiah 60:14;
Zephaniah 3:19). And you shall go forth and behold the carcasses of the men who
have trespassed against Me, for their worm shall not die, neither shall their
fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh (Isaiah 66:24). My
SPIRIT I give unto you as your Counselor and Comforter (John 16:7; Romans 8:14).
He shall be a constant Indweller with you, and shall reside in you and abide
with you forever (Ezekiel 36:27; John 14:16-17). I consecrate you as temples to
His holiness (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19). He shall be your
guide. He shall lead you into all truth (Galatians 5:18; John 16:13). He shall
be your Advocate to indite your prayers and make intercession for you; and He
shall fill your mouths with the arguments that He knows will prevail with Me
(Romans 8:26-27). He shall be oil to your wheels, strength to your ankles, wine
to your hearts, marrow to your bones, and wind to your sails. He shall witness
your adoption (Romans 8:16). He shall seal you up to the day of redemption, and
be to you the earnest of your inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession (Ephesians 4:30; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:22). And as I
give you MYSELF, so much more all things with Myself (Romans 8:32): earth and
heaven, life and death, things present and things to come (1 Corinthians 3:22).

Things PRESENT are yours. Lo, I give you Caleb’s blessing, the upper springs and
the nether springs. I will bless you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). To you pertains the adoption, the glory, the
covenants, the service of God, and the promises (Romans 9:4). To you I will give
the white stone and the new name (Revelation 2:17), access into My presence
(Ephesians 3:12), the acceptance of your person (Ephesians 1:6), and audience to
your prayers (1 John 5:14-15).

PEACE I leave with you. My peace I give unto you (John 14:27). I will undertake
for your perseverance, keep you to the end, and will then crown My own gift with
eternal life (Jeremiah 32:40; John 10:28-29; 1 Peter 1:5; Php 1:6). I have made
you heirs of God and coheirs with your Lord Jesus Christ; and you shall inherit
all things (Romans 8:17; Revelation 21:7).

I have granted you My ANGELS as your guardians. The courtiers of heaven shall
attend upon you; they shall be all ministering spirits for your good (Hebrews
1:14). Behold, I have given them charge over you, upon their fidelity to look
after you, and, as tender nurses, to bear you in their arms and keep you from
coming to any hard (Psalms 91:11-12). These shall be as careful shepherds to
watch over My flock by night and to encamp round about My fold (Psalms 34:7). My
MINISTERS I give as your guides (Ephesians 4:11). Paul, Apollos, Cephas, all are
yours (1 Corinthians 3:22). I am always with them, and they shall be with you
always, to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20; Ephesians 4:13). You shall have
pastors after My own heart (Jeremiah 3:15; Jeremiah 23:4). And this shall be My
covenant with you: "My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put
into your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor the mouth of your seed,
nor of your seed’s seed,’ says the Lord, from henceforth and forever"(Isaiah
59:21). In short, all My officers shall be for profiting and perfecting you
(Ephesians 4:12).

All My ORDINANCES shall be for edifying and saving you (Acts 10:33; Romans
1:16). The very severities of My house, admonitions and censures, and the whole
discipline of My family, shall be for preventing your infection, curing your
corruption, and procuring your salvation (1 Corinthians 5:5-7; Matthew 18:15).
My WORD I have ordained for converting your soul, enlightening your eyes,
rejoicing your hearts, cautioning you of danger, cleansing your defilements, and
conforming you to My image (Psalms 19:7-9; Ephesians 5:26; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
To you I commit the oracles of God (Romans 3:2). Here you shall be furnished
against temptations (Matthew 4:4; Matthew 4:7; Ephesians 6:17); hence you shall
be comforted under distresses and afflictions (Psalms 119:92-93). Here you shall
find My whole counsel (Acts 20:27). This shall instruct you in your way, correct
you in your wanderings, direct you into the truths to be believed, and detect to
you the errors to be rejected (2 Timothy 3:16; Psalms 119:105). My SACRAMENTS I
give you as the pledges of My love. You shall freely claim them; they are
children’s bread. Lo! I have given them as seals to certify all that I have here
promised you (Romans 4:11); and when these sacred signs are delivered unto you,
then know and remember and consider in your hearts that I therein pledge you My
betrothal, set to My hand, and thereby ratify and confirm every article of these
indentures, and do actually deliver into your own hands this glorious charter,
with all its immunities and privileges as your own forever (1 Corinthians 11:25;
Genesis 17:10). And since I have shown to you so largely in spiritual blessings,
shall you not much more reap the temporal? Do not be of a doubtful mind; all
these things shall be added unto you (Luke 12:29-31). My creatures I grant for
your servants and supplies (Psalms 8:3-9). Heaven and earth shall minister to
you. All the stars in their courses shall serve you, and, if need be, shall
fight for you (Judges 5:20). I will make My covenant for you with the beasts of
the field and with the fowls of heaven; and you shall be in league with the
stones of the field, and all shall be at peace with you (Job 5:23; Hosea 2:18).
I will undertake for all your necessities. Do I feed the fowls and clothe the
grass, and do you think I will neglect My children (Matthew 6:25-34)? I hear the
young ravens when they cry, and shall I not much more fulfill the desires of
those who fear Me (Psalms 145:19; Psalms 147:9)? Fear not, you shall surely lack
no good thing (Psalms 34:10); and you would not desire riches, pleasures, or
preferment to your harm. I will give food to those who fear Me. I will be ever
mindful of My covenant (Psalms 111:5). My PROVIDENCES shall cooperate for your
good (Romans 8:28). The cross winds shall blow you sooner and more swiftly to
your harbor. You shall be preferred when you seem most debased, and be the
greatest gainers when you seem to be the deepest losers. I will most effectually
promote your good when you seem most to deny it (2 Corinthians 4:17; Mark 10:29;
Php 1:29).

THINGS TO COME are yours: the perfecting of your souls, the redemption of your
bodies, and the consummation of your bliss. When you have glorified Me for
awhile on earth, and finished the work I have given you to do, you shall be
caught up into paradise and rest from your labors, and your works shall follow
you (Revelation 14:13; Luke 23:43). I will send My own lifeguard to bring home
your departing souls (Luke 16:22), and will receive you among the spirits of
just men made perfect (Hebrews 12:23). And you shall look back upon Pharaoh and
all his host, and see your enemies dead upon the shore. Then shall be your
redemption from all your afflictions, and all your corruptions (Luke 21:28;
Ephesians 4:30). The thorn in the flesh shall be pulled out and the hour of
temptation shall be over, and the tempter out of work forever. The sweat shall
be wiped off your brows, the day of cooling and refreshing shall come, and you
shall sit down forever under My shadow (Acts 3:19; Hebrews 4:9). For the Lamb
who is in the midst of the throne shall feed you, and lead you to the living
fountains of water (Revelation 7:17). The tears shall be wiped away from your
eyes, and there shall be no more sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain; for the former things are passed away, and, behold, I make all things
new (Revelation 21:4-5). I will change Marah into Naomi, the cup of sorrow into
the cup of salvation; and the bread and water of affliction I will change into
the wine of eternal consolation (John 16:20-22; Luke 6:21). You shall take down
your harps from the willows, and I will turn your tears into pearls, and your
penitential psalms into songs of deliverance. You shall change your Ichabods
into hosannas, and your laments of sorrow into hallelujahs of joy (Revelation
19:1; Revelation 19:4; Revelation 19:6). The cross shall be taken off your
backs, and you shall come out of your great tribulations and wash your robes,
making them white in the blood of the Lamb; and you shall be before the throne
of God, and serve Him night and day in His temple. He who sits on the throne
shall dwell among you, and you shall hunger and thirst no more, neither shall
the sun light upon you, nor any heat (Revelation 7:14-16). The load shall be
taken from your consciences. Sins and doubts shall no more defile or distress
you (Revelation 22:17; Hebrews 12:23). I will make an end of sin, and will knock
off the fetters of your corruptions. And then you shall be a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish.

Thus shall you be brought to the King all glorious in clothing of needlework and
clothing of gold; with gladness and rejoicing shall you be brought, and enter
into the King’s palace (Psalms 45:9; Psalms 45:13-15). So shall the beloved of
the Lord dwell safely by Him, and you shall stand continually before Him,
beholding the beauty of the Lord and hearing His wisdom (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Then will I open in you an everlasting spring of joy, and you shall break forth
into singing. You shall never cease nor rest, day or night, saying, "Holy, holy,
holy" (Revelation 4:8; Psalms 16:11).

Thus shall the grand enemy expire with your breath, and the body of death be put
off with your dying body. The day of your death shall be the birthday of your
glories (Php 1:23; Luke 23:43). Have faith in God (Mark 11:22). Wait but a
little, and sorrow shall cease and sin be no more. And then a little longer and
death shall be no more (Revelation 20:14; Revelation 21:4). You last enemy shall
be destroyed and your victory completed. Yet a little while and He who shall
come will come, and you also shall appear with Him in glory (Hebrews 10:37;
Colossians 3:4). This same Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, shall so
come as He went up into heaven (Acts 1:11); and, when He comes, He will receive
you to Himself, that where He is there you may be also (John 14:3). Behold His
sign: He comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and every eye
shall see Him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn because of Him
(Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:30); but you shall lift up your heads because the
day of your redemption draws near (Luke 21:28). Then He shall sound His trumpet
(1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16), and make you hear His voice in your
dust (John 5:28), and shall send His mighty angels to gather you from the four
winds of heaven (Matthew 24:31), who shall carry you in the triumphant chariot
of the clouds to meet your Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:17). And you shall be
prepared for Him, and presented to Him, as a bride adorned for her husband
(Revelation 2:2). And as you have borne the image of the earthly, so you shall
bear the image of the heavenly; and you shall be fully conformed both in body
and spirit to your glorious Head (Php 3:21; Hebrews 12:2-3). Then shall He
confess you before His angels (Revelation 3:5), and you shall receive your open
absolution before all flesh, and be owned, approved, and applauded in the public
audience of the general assembly (Matthew 10:32; Matthew 25:32-35). And you
shall be, with all royal solemnities, married unto the King of glory, in the
presence of all His shining courtiers (Revelation 19:7-8; 2 Corinthians 4:14;
Matthew 25:31), to the envy, gnashing, and terror of your adversaries (Luke
13:28). So shall your Lord with His own hand crown you (Revelation 2:10), and
set you on thrones (Revelation 3:21; Matthew 19:28); and you shall judge man and
angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3), and you shall have power over the nations
(Revelation 2:26-27), and you shall set your feet upon the necks of your enemies
(Psalms 49:14).

Lo, I have set the very day for your installment (Acts 17:31). I have provided
your crowns (2 Timothy 4:8), and have prepared the kingdom (Matthew 25:34). Why
do you doubt, O you of little faith? These are the true sayings of your God
(Revelation 19:9). Are you sure that you are now are on earth? So surely shall
you be shortly with Me in heaven. Are you sure that you shall die? So surely
shall you rise again in glory. Lo, I have said it, and who shall reverse it? You
shall see Me face to face, be with Me where I am, and behold My glory (1
Corinthians 13:12; John 17:24). For I will be glorified in My saints, and
admired by all those who believe (2 Thessalonians 1:10); and all flesh shall
know that I have loved you (Revelation 3:9). For I will make you the examples of
My grace (Ephesians 1:5-6; Ephesians 2:7), in whom the whole world shall see how
unutterably the Almighty God can advance the poor worm’s food and dust of the
ground. And the despisers shall behold and wonder and perish (Acts 13:41), for
they shall be witnesses to the riches of My magnificence, and the exceeding
greatness of My power (Luke 16:23). They shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but you into life eternal (Matthew 25:46). For no sooner shall their
doom be past but the bench shall rise (Matthew 25:41; Matthew 25:46), and the
Judge shall return with all His glorious train; with sound of trumpet and
incredible shouts He shall ascend, and shall lead you to your Father’s house
(Psalms 45:14-15; Matthew 25:23; John 14:2; 2 Corinthians 5:1). Then shall the
triumphal arches lift up their heads, and the everlasting gates shall open; the
heavens shall receive you all, and so shall you ever be with the Lord (John
12:26; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). And then I will rejoice over you with singing, and
you will rest in My love. Heaven shall ring with joys and acclamations, because
I have received you safe and sound (Luke 15:20-27). And in that day you shall
know that I am a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Me (Hebrews 11:6), and
that I recorded your words (Malachi 3:16), bottled your tears, watched your
wanderings (Psalms 56:8), and kept an account, even to a cup of cold water, of
whatever you said or did for My name (Matthew 10:42). You shall surely find that
nothing is lost (1 Corinthians 15:58), but you shall have full measure, pressed
down and running over, thousands of years in paradise for the least good
thought, and thousands and thousands more for the least good word. And then the
reckoning shall begin again, until all arithmetic is exhausted. For you shall be
swallowed up in a blessed eternity; the doors of heaven shall be shut upon you,
and there shall be no more going out (Daniel 12:2-3; Revelation 3:12; Luke
16:26). The glorious choir of My holy angels, the goodly fellowship of My
blessed prophets, the happy society of triumphant apostles, the royal hosts of
victorious martyrs- these shall be your companions forever (Matthew 8:11-12;
Hebrews 12:22-23). And you shall come in white robes, with palms in your hands,
everyone having the harps of God and golden vials full of odors, and shall cast
your crowns before Me, and strike in with the multitude of the heavenly hosts,
glorifying God and saying, "Hallelujah! The Lord God omnipotent reigns
(Revelation 7:9-12; Revelation 19:5-6). Blessing, honor, glory, and power be
unto Him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever"
(Revelation 5:13). In short, I will make you equal to the angels of God, and you
shall be the everlasting trumpets of My praise (Revelation 7:10-12; Revelation
7:15). You shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of My house; and I
will make your drink of the rivers of My pleasures (Psalms 36:8). You shall be
an eternal excellency (Isaiah 60:15); and, if God can die and eternity run out,
then, and not else, shall your joys expire. For you shall see me as I am (1 John
3:12), and know Me as you are known (1 Corinthians 13:12); you shall behold My
face in righteousness, and be satisfied with My likeness (Psalms 17:15). And you
shall be the vessels of My glory, whose blessed use shall be to receive the
overflowings of My goodness, and to have My infinite love and glory poured out
into you to the brim, running over forevermore (Romans 9:23; 2 Timothy 2:20;
Revelation 22:1). And blessed is he who has believed, for there shall be a
performance of the things that have been told him (Luke 1:45). The Lord has
spoken it. You shall see My face, and My name shall be written on your
foreheads. You shall no longer need the sun nor the moon, for the Lord God shall
give you light, and you shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 22:3-5). And as
I give Myself to you as your God, and all things with Myself, so I take you for
My covenant people (Hebrews 8:10; Isaiah 43:1). And you shall be Mine in the day
when I make up My jewels; and I will spare you as a man spares his own son who
serves him (Malachi 3:17). The Lord shall declare, "Surely they are My children"
(Psalms 87:6).

I do not only require you to be Mine, if you would have Me to be for you, but I
promise to make you Mine (Leviticus 20:26; Ezekiel 36:28), and to work in you
the conditions which I require of you. I will circumcise your hearts to love Me
(Deuteronomy 30:6). I will take the heart of stone out of you (Ezekiel 36:26),
and My laws I will write within you (Jeremiah 31:33).

Yet you must know that I will be sought for all these things (Ezekiel 36:37).
And if ever you expect to partake of these mercies, I charge you to lie in the
pool, wait for My Spirit, and be diligent in the use of the means (Proverbs
2:3-5; Proverbs 8:34; Luke 11:13).

I am content to abate the rigor of the old terms (Romans 4:6). I shall not
insist upon satisfaction (Luke 7:42). I have received a ransom, and only expect
your acceptance (Revelation 22:17; 1 Timothy 2:6). I shall not insist upon
perfection (1 John 1:8-9). Walk before Me and be upright, and sincerity shall
carry the crown (Proverbs 11:20; Genesis 17:1; Psalms 97:11). Yes, both the
faith and obedience that I require of you are My own gifts (Ephesians 2:8).

I require you to accept My Son by believing; but I will give you a hand to take
Him (Php 1:29; John 6:65), and to submit to and obey Him. But I must and will
guide your hand to write after Him, and cause you to walk in My statutes
(Ezekiel 36:27). I will take you by the arms, and teach you to go (Hosea
11:3-4). I will order your steps (Psalms 37:23; Psalms 37:31). Yes, those things
I will accept from you as the conditions of life which, viewed in the strictness
of My justice, would deserve eternal death (Ephesians 3:8; 1 Thessalonians 3:10;
Hebrews 5:5; Hebrews 5:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20). Grace! Grace! THE VOICE OF THE
REDEEMED

Amen, hallelujah! Be it to Your servants according to Your Word. But who are we,
and what is our Father’s house that You have brought us here? And now, O Lord
God, what shall Your servants say unto You? For we are silenced with wonder and
must sit down in astonishment; for we cannot utter the least note of Your
praises. What does the height of this surpassing love mean? And why is this unto
us, that the Lord of heaven and earth should condescend to enter into covenant
with His dust, and take into His bosom the viperous brood, that has so often
spit their venom in His face?

We are not worthy to be as the handmaids, to wash the feet of the servants of
our Lord. How much less worthy are we to be Your sons and heirs, and to be made
partakers of all those blessed liberties and privileges which You have settled
upon us? But, for Your goodness’ sake, and according to Your own heart, You have
done all these great things. Even so, Father, because it seemed good in Your
sight.

Wherefore You are great, O God, for there is none like You, neither is there any
God besides You. And what nation on earth is like Your people, whom God went to
redeem for a people to Himself, and to make Himself a name, and to do for them
great and terrible things? For You have confirmed them to Yourself to be a
people unto You forever, and You, Lord, have become their God (2 Samuel 7:18) to
the end.

Wonder, O heavens, and be moved, O earth, at this great thing (Revelation 21:4)!
For, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them; and
they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and shall be their
God. Be astonished and ravished with wonder, for the infinite breach is made up.
The offender is received; God and man are reconciled; a covenant of peace is
entered; and heaven and earth are agreed upon the terms, and have struck their
hands and sealed the indentures. Oh, happy conclusion! Oh, blessed affiliation!
Shall the stars dwell with the dust, or the wide, distant poles be brought to
mutual embraces? But here the distance of the terms is infinitely greater.
Rejoice, O angels! Shout, O seraphim! Oh, all you friends of the Bridegroom,
prepare a wedding song; be ready with the marriage song. Lo, here is the wonder
of wonders: Jehovah has betrothed Himself forever to His hopeless captives, owns
the marriage before all the world, and has become one with us and we with Him.
He has bequeathed to us the precious things of heaven above, and the precious
things of the earth beneath, with the fullness thereof, and has kept nothing
back from us. And now, O Lord, You are that God, and Your words are true. You
have promised this goodness unto Your servants, and has left us nothing to ask
at Your hands but what You have already freely granted. All we ask is this: the
Word which You have spoken concerning Your servants, establish it forever; do as
You have said, and let Your name be magnified forever, saying, "The Lord of
Hosts, He is the God of Israel." Amen, and hallelujah!


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/writings-of-joseph-alleine/
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