this was to be an argument to them why they should yield themselves to God; not why they should not. Wherefore our way is now plain and open to what we are further to do, viz.

e

to him with whom we have to do ?” « and that he discerns it, if there be any heart among us that is not sincere in this thing?

5. Consider that this is the very design of the Gospel 2. To apply this practical doctrine, and press the pre- you live under. What doth it signify or intend, but to cept further upon you, which hath been opened to you, and recall apostate creatures back again to God? What is the pressed by parts in some measure already, in our insist- Christian religion you profess, but a state of devotedness ing on the several heads, which you have seen do belong to God, under the conduct and through the mediation of to it; and are one way or other comprehended in it. Christ? You frustrate the Gospel, and make your religion Which will therefore make this latter part of our work the a nullity and an empty name, till you do this. shorter, and capable of being despatched in the fewer 6. And how will you lift up your heads at last in the words; and with blessed effect, if the Spirit of the living great day? and before this God the Judge of all? You God shall vouchsafe to co-operate, and deal with your cannot now plead ignorance. If perhaps any among you hearts and mine. Shall we then all agree upon this thing? have not been formerly so expressly called, and urged to Shall we unite in one resolution, "We will be the Lord's." this yielding yourselves to God; now you are: and from Shall every one say in his own heart, "For my part, I will, his own plain word 'tis charged upon you. Will not this and so will I, and so will I?" Come now, one and all. be remembered hereafter? What will you say when the This is no unlawful confederacy, 'tis a blessed_combina- great God, whose creature you are, speaks to you with a tion! Come then, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a voice of thunder, and bids you gird up your loins, and perpetual covenant, not to be forgotten. With whatso- give him an answer? "Were you not, on such a day, in ever after-solemnity you may renew this obligation and such a place, demanded and claimed in my name? Were bond of God upon your souls, as I hope you will do it, you not told, were you not convinced, you ought to yield every one apart, in your closets, or in any corner, and you yourselves to me? and yet you did it not. Are you precannot do it too fully, or too often; yet let us now all re-pared to contest with your Maker? Where is your right, solve the thing; and this assembly make a joint-surrender where is your power, to stand against me in this contest?" and oblation of itself to the great God our sovereign right- 7. But if you sincerely yield yourselves, the main conful Lord, through our blessed Redeemer and Mediator, by troversy is at an end between the great God and you. All the eternal Spirit, (which I hope is breathing and at work your former sins are pardoned and done away at once. among us,) as one living sacrifice, as all of us alive from Those glad tidings you have often heard that import nothe dead, to be for ever sacred to him! O blessed assem- thing but "glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, bly! O happy act and deed! With how grateful and well and good will towards men," plainly show that the great pleasing an odour will the kindness and dutifulness of this God whom you had offended, hath no design to destroy offering ascend, and be received above! God will accept, you, but only to make you yield, and give him back his heaven will rejoice, angels will concur, and gladly fall in own. Though you have formerly lived a wandering life, with us. We hereby adjoin ourselves in relation, and in and been as a vagabond on the earth from your true owner, heart and spirit, "to the general assembly, to the church it will be all forgotten. How readily was the returning of the first-born ones written in heaven, to the innumera- prodigal received! and so will you. How quiet rest will ble company of angels, and to the spirits of just men made you have this night, when upon such terms there is a reperfect," and within a little while shall be actually among conciliation between God and you! You have given him them. Is it possible there should be now among us any his own, and he is pleased, and most of all for this, that he dissenting vote? Consider, hath you now to save you. You were his to destroy before, now you are his to save. He could easily destroy you against your will, but 'tis only with your will, he having made you willing, that he must save you. And his bidding you yield, implies his willingness to do so. O how much of Gospel is there in this invitation to you to yield yourselves to God! consider it as the voice of grace. Will he that bids a poor wretch yield itself, reject or destroy when it doth so?

1. 'Tis a plain and unquestionable thing you are pressed unto: a thing that admits of no dispute, and against which you have nothing to say, and about which you cannot but be already convinced. And 'tis a matter full of danger, and upon which tremendous consequences depend, to go on in any practice, or in any neglect, against a conviction of judgment and conscience, For your own heart and conscience must condemn you if you consider, and it betrays you if you consider not. How fearful a thing is it for a man to carry his own doom in his own bosom! to go up and down the world with a self-condemning heart, if it be awake, and which if it be not, yet cannot sleep always, and must awake with the greater terror at length. And in so plain case 'tis most certainly God's deputy, and speaks his mind: If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, f &c.

2. 'Tis that therefore the refusal whereof none of you would avow. Who among us can have the confidence to stand forth and say, I will be none of the Lord's? Would any man be content to go with this written upon his forehead from day to day? And doth not that signify such a refusal to be a shameful thing? That must needs be an ill temper of mind which one would be ashamed any one should know.

3. And 'tis a mean thing to dissemble, to be willing to be thought and counted what we are not, or do what in truth we do not.

4. And considering what inspection we are under, 'tis a vain thing. For do we not know that "eyes which are as a flame of fire," behold us, and pierce into our very souls? Do we not know "all things in us are naked and manifest

8. And how happily may you now live the rest of your days in this world. You will live under his care, for will he not take care of his own, those that are of his own house? An infidel would. You are now of his family, under his immediate government, and under his continual blessing. And were you now to give an account where you have been to-day, and what you have been doing; if you say, you have engaged this day in a solemn treaty with the Lord of heaven and earth, about yielding yourselves to him; and it be further asked, “Well, and what was the issue? Have you agreed?" Must you, any of you, be obliged by the truth of the case to say, "No?" Astonishing answer! What! hast thou been treating with the great God, the God of thy life, and not agreed? What, man! did he demand of thee any unreasonable thing? Only to yield myself." Why, that was in all the world the most reasonable thing. Wretched creature, whither now wilt thou go? What wilt thou do with thyself? Where wilt thou lay thy hated head? But if you can say, "Blessed be God, I gladly agreed to the proposal; he gave me the grace not to deny him :" then may it be said this was a good day's work, and you will have cause to bless God for this day as long as you have a day to live.

Heb. iv. 12.

THE

REDEEMER'S TEARS

WEPT OVER LOST SOULS.

A TREATISE ON LUKE XIX. 41, 42.

WITH AN APPENDIX,

WHEREIN SOMEWHAT IS OCCASIONALLY DISCOURSED, CONCERNING THE BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST, AND
HOW GOD IS SAID TO WILL THE SALVATION OF THEM THAT PERISH.

PREFACE.

WHEN spiritual judgments do more eminently befall a people, great outward calamities do often ensue. We know it was so in the instance which the text here insisted on refers to. But it is not always so; the connexion between these two sorts of judgments is not absolutely certain and necessary, yea, and is more frequent with the contraries of each. For this reason therefore, and because judgments of the former kind are so unexpressibly greater, and more tremendous, this discourse insists only upon them, about which serious monitions both have a clearer ground, and are of greater importance; and wholly waives the latter.

Too many are apt first to fancy similitudes between the state of things with one people and another, and then to draw inferences; being perhaps imposed on by a strong imagination in both; which yet must pass with them for a spirit of prophecy, and perhaps they take it not well, if it do not so with others too. It were indeed the work of another prophet certainly to accommodate and make application of what was spoken by a former to a distinct time and people. 'Tis enough for us to learn from such sayings as this of our Saviour, those rules of life and practice, such instruction and cautions as are common to all times, without arrogating to ourselves his prerogative, of foretelling events that shall happen in this or that. The affectation of venturing upon futurity, and foreboding direful things to kingdoms and nations, may, besides its being without sufficient ground, proceed from some or other very bad principle. Dislike of the present methods of Providence, weariness and impatiency of our present condition, too great proneness to wish what we take upon us to predict, the prediction importing more heat of anger than certainty of foresight, a wrathful spirit, that would presently fetch down fire from heaven upon such as favour not our inclinations and desires, so that (as the poet speaks) whole cities should be overturned at our request, if the heavenly powers would be so easy, as to comply with such furious imprecations: a temper that ill agrees with humanity itself, not to care at what rate of common calamity and misery a purchase be made of our own immunity from sufferings. Nay, to be willing to run the most desperate hazard in the case, and even covet a general ruin to others, upon a mere apprehended possibility that our case may be mended by it; when it may be more probable to become much worse. But O how disagreeable is it to the Spirit of our merciful Lord and Saviour, whose name we bear, upon any terms to delight in human miseries! The greatest honour men of that complexion are capable of doing the Christian name, were to disclaim it. Can such angry heats have place in Christian breasts, as shall render them the well-pleased spectators, yea authors, of one another's calamities and ruin? Can the tears that issued from these compassionate, blessed eyes, upon the foresight of Jerusalem's woful catastrophe, do nothing towards the quenching of these flames?

But I add, that the too-intent fixing of our thoughts upon any supposable events in this world, argues, at least, a narrow, carnal mind, that draws and gathers all things into time, as despairing of eternity; and reckons no better state of things considerable, that is not to be brought about under their own present view, in this world; as if it were uncertain or insignificant, that there shall be unexceptionable, eternal order and rectitude in another.

'Tis again as groundless, and may argue as ill a mind, to prophecy smooth and pleasant things, in a time of abounding wickedness. The safer, middle course, is, without God's express warrant, not to prophesy at all, but as we have opportunity, to warn and instruct men, with all meekness and long-suffering; for which the Lord's ordinary messengers can never want his warrant. And, after our blessed Saviour's most imitable example, to scatter our tears over the impenitent, even upon the (too probable) apprehension of the temporal judgments which hang over their heads, but most of all upon the account of their liableness to the more dreadful ones of the other state; which in the following discourse, I hope, it is made competently evident, this lamentation of our Saviour hath ultimate reference unto. For the other, though we know them to be due, and most highly deserved; yet concerning the actual infliction of them, even upon obstinate and persevering sinners, we cannot pronounce. We have no settled constitution, or rule, by which we can conclude it, any more than that outward felicity, or prosperity, shall be the constant portion of good men in this world. The great God hath reserved to himself a latitude of acting more arbitrarily, both as to promises and threatenings of this nature. If the accomplishment of either could be certainly expected, it should be of the promises

once to appear, in so mean and self-abasing a form, and offered himself to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And whereas he hath himself founded a dominion over us in his own blood, did die, and revive, and rise again, that he might be Lord of the living and of the dead; and the eternal Father hath hereupon highly exalted him, given him a name above every name, that at his name every knee should bow, and that all should confess that he is Lord, to the praise and glory of God; and hath required that all should honour the Son as himself is to be honoured; hath given him power over all flesh, and made him head of all things to the church: was it ever intended men should, generally, remain exempt from obligation to observe, believe, and obey him? was it his own intention to waive, or not insist upon, his own most sacred, and so dearly acquired rights? to quit his claim to the greatest part of mankind? Why did he then issue out his commission as soon as he was risen from the dead, to teach all nations, to proselyte the world to himself, to baptize them into his name, (with that of the Father and the Holy Ghost? O the great and venerable names that are named upon professing Christians!) Could it be his intention, to leave it lawful to men to choose this, or any, or no religion, as their humours, or fancies, or lusts should prompt them; to disregard and deride his holy doctrines, violate and trample upon his just and equal laws, reject and contemn his offered favours and mercy, despise and profane his sacred institutions! When he actually makes his demand, and lays his claim, what amazing guilt, how swift destruction, must they incur, that dare adventure to deny the Lord that bought them! And they that shall do it, among a Christianized people, upon the pretended insufficiency of the revelation they have of him, do but heighten the affront and increase the provocation. 'Tis to charge the whole Christian institution with foolery, as pretending to oblige men, when they cannot know to what, how, or upon what ground they should be obliged; to pronounce the means and methods inept, and vain, which he hath thought sufficient (and only fit) for the propagating and continuing Christianity in the world; to render the rational reception of it from age to age impossible, in his appointed way; or unless men should be taught by angels, or voices from heaven, or that miracles should be so very frequent and common, as thereby also to become useless to their end; and so would be to make the whole frame of Christian religion an idle impertinency; and, in reference to its avowed design, a self-repugnant thing; and consequently were to impute folly to him who is the Wisdom of God.

And how are other things known, of common concernment, and whereof an immediate knowledge is as little possible? Can a man satisfy himself that he hath a title to an estate, conveyed down to him by very ancient writings, the witnesses whereof are long since dead and gone? or that he is obliged by laws made many an age ago? Or could any records be preserved with more care and concern, than those wherein our religion lies? or be more secure from designed or material depravation? But this is no place to reason these things. Enough is said by otners, referred to before. I only further say, if any that have the use of their understandings, living in a Christian nation, think to justify their infidelity and disobedience to the Son of God, by pretending they had no sufficient means to know him to be so, the excuse will avail them alike, as that did him, who insolently said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? I know not the Lord, neither will I, &c. For have not we as good means to know who Christ is, as the Egyptians at that time had, to know who was the God of Israel, though afterwards he was more known by the judg ments which he executed? Although the knowledge of the only true God be natural, and the obligation thereto common to them; yet the indisposition to use their understanding this way, is so great and general, and the express revelation that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, requires so much less labour to understand it, than there is in arguing out the existence and attributes of God, by an inhabile, sluggish mind, that the difference cannot be great, if any, on that side. This latter only needs the inquiry, whence the revelation comes; which as it is not difficult in itself, so this occasion, viz. of its being proposed, doth invite and urge to it; whereas the generality of the pagan world have little of external inducement, leading them into inquiries concerning the true God. Therefore, all circumstances considered, I see not how they that live under the Gospel can be thought to have less advantage and obligation to own Jesus of Nazareth to be the Son of God, than the rest of the world, to own the only living and true God; or that the former should be less liable to the revelation of the wrath of God from heaven for holding supernatural truth in unrighteousness, than the other, for doing so injurious violence to that which is merely natural. Unto what severities, then, of the Divine wrath and justice, even of the highest kind, do multitudes lie open in our days.

For besides those (much fewer) mental, or notional, infidels, that believe not the principles of the Christian religion, against the clearest evidence, how vastly greater is the number of them that are so in heart and practice, against their professed belief! that live in utter estrangement from God, as without him in the world, or in open enmity against him, and contrariety to the known rules of the religion they profess! How many that understand nothing of its principal and plainest doctrines! as if nothing were requisite to distinguish the Christian from the pagan world, more than an empty name; or as if the Redeemer of sinners had died upon the cross, that men might more securely remain alienated from the life of God, not to reconcile and reduce them to him! or that they might with safety indulge appetite, mind earthly things, make the world their god, gratify the flesh, and make provision to fulfil the lusts of it, defy heaven, affront their Maker, live in malice, envy, hatred to one another! not to bless them, by turning them from these impieties and iniquities! As if it were so obscurely hinted, as that it could not be taken notice of that the grace of God, which bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared, teaching them to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, so looking for the blessed hope. And that Christ gave himself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify us to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works! How many, again, are Christians, they know not why! upon the same terms that others are Maho metans, because it is the religion of their country, by fate or by accident, not by their own choice and judgment! The same inconsideration makes them be Christians, that makes others be none.

And now, shall our Redeemer be left to weep alone over these perishing souls? have we no tears to spend upon this doleful subject? Oh that our heads were waters, and our eyes fountains! Is it nothing to us, that multitudes are sinking, going down into perdition, under the name of Christian, under the seal of baptism, from under the means of life and salvation! perishing! and can we do nothing to prevent it? We know they must perish that do not repent and turn to God, and love him above all, even with all their hearts and souls, and mind and might; that do not believe in his Son and pay him homage, as their rightful Lord, sincerely subjecting themselves to his laws and government. But this they will not understand, or not consider. Our endeavours to bring them to it, are ineffectual, 'tis but faint breath we utter. Our words drop and die between us and them! We speak to them in the name of the eternal God that made them, of the great Jesus who bought them with his blood, and they regard it not. The Spirit of the Lord is in a great degree departed from among us, and we take it not to heart! We are sensible of lesser grievances, are grieved that men will not be more entirely proselyted to our several parties and persuasions, rather than that they are so disinclined to become proselytes to real Christianity; and seem more deeply concerned to have Christian religion so or so modified, than whether there shall be any such thing! or whether men be saved by it or lost!

This sad case, that so many were likely to be lost under the first sound of the Gospel; and the most exemplary temper of our blessed Lord in reference to it, are represented in the following treatise; with design to excite their care for their own souls, who need to be warned, and the compassions of others for them who are so little apt to take warning. The good Lord grant that it may be, some way or other, useful for good!

JOHN HOWE.'

THE

REDEEMER'S TEARS

WEPT OVER LOST SOULS.

LUKE XIX. 41, 42.

AND WHEN HE WAS COME NEAR, HE BEHELD THE CITY, AND WEPT OVER IT, SAYING, IF THOU HADST KNOWN, EVEN THOU, AT LEAST IN THIS THY DAY, THE THINGS WHICH BELONG UNTO THY PEACE! BUT NOW THEY ARE HID FROM THINE EYES.