wil condemne and al wil judg unbelief, al wil find fault with an unbeleever, and al wil agree with God in what wrath he wil execute upon him, becaufe when God requires faith, he requires of us no more then what he gave, and he doth not deny to us what we want til we refufe to do what we may.

USE.

Toftirre you up to beleeve that your unbeliefe is pardonable, You may fave your labor (you wil lay it may be for that) for its cleer and evident before our eyes and we al do beleeve it.

My beloved, it wil be found one of the hardest things in the world to beleeve it: that is to beleeve it upon good grounds. When you look upon the mercy of God, from whom mercy fhould come,and when you look upon the greatnefs of your guilt, and the numbers of your fins that your unbelief nourisheth up in your converfation. Many a mạn that faith that Jefus Chrift is God and good yet when he hath come to grapple with the pangs of death and with the terrors of the Almighty, hath faid, Oh he is not good nor kind unto nie, my tin he wil not forget, it is fuch a finas is not to be paft by. You know what the Text faith in verfe 16. that there is a beleeving unto life everlafting, and my beloved there is a beleeving that is temporary, and not unto everlasting life. That Faith whiph brings eternal life with it,is grounded upon the teftimony of God, that Faith is accompanied with the fenfe of a mans defects, to be fhut out of the favor of God forever, that Faith is accompanied with the purifying of a mans converfation from all uncleanefs both of Fleth and Spirit. Do but look on Paul, and into this Chapter, and you fhal find him

how

how he loads himself: Saith he, I am of finners the chief and how his fpirit is revived and quickned to glorify Chrift, To him be glory for ever and ever, as he fpeaks in verfe 17. Iffo be therefore that you did beleeve that unbelief was pardonable, there would be fome degree of thefe found in you, fome of thefe words would come from you. Whenas the Rebels hear that the ftate wil pardon them notwithftanding the murther and the outrages that they have committed, then they prefently fall, and lay down their weapons, and betake themselves to the obedience of that ftate. So my beloved, a man would throw away his fin, it fhould not be found in his hand, he would not work the work of the Flefh any more, if he were perfwaded of this that the Lord wil pardon all thofe works of the flesh that have been done heretofore by him. There is fuch a melting power in mercy, and fuch an overcomming power in a meffage of love unto the foul, that it cannot by any means have any ftrength to go on to the works of fin after the hearing of it. Lec me fpeak to you a little who have known what it is to be under the difpleafure of God. Do you find it an easie thing, can you quickly convince your felves that your ftanding out against Christ when he came and wooed you, that your doubting of the faithfulness of Chrift when God hath taken an Oath and Sworn to you that he will fulfill his word and promife to you? Do you find that your quarrelling and picking advantages against the Gofpel, are fuch things as will eafily be pardoned? There is no fin fticks more with a godly man than this fin of unbelief, and there is no fin that he is more afraid of than that, because through unbelief he hath defpifed mercy. God hath given him up (he thinks) unto the flattering and prefumptuoufnefs of his own heart, and will remember that

to

to his dying day. I befeech you be perfwaded. Say what you can for your felves, Let us hear it, and fee if you can cleer your felves. Produce your charge against this truth, and fee if this wil not anfwer it. What canft thou fay against thyself? Oh faith the foul, I can fay God fpared me many years, &I did nothing but drink in iniquity as a Fish drinks water, and when I thought he would have made an then end of my fin and of my hopes al at once, yet did he come and tel me that there was grace and falvation provided for fuch a finner as I: But when he spake graciously to me who am gracelefs, I rebelliously and gracelefly faid, not now Lord but when I am old, let me alone now till I have taken my fill in fin, But when that would not ferve the turn but that he made me to attend unto the offer of the Gospel,I then faid it cannot be, and it will not be, I fhall but be flattred with vain hopes and deceived of my expectations: Then have I gone and knit all the knots that could be upon the plain truths of the Gospel, That which other men have found by experience to be for certain,I have made to be but as a vain word to me,But although thou haft done al this, yet ftil thou haft done no more than Paul did and yet he obtained Mercy

But you wil fay, I have done thus a long while, and I am grown prophane, and I find an aking Tooth in me against any that are godly, and I cannot think or fpeak of them but my thoughts are full of blafphemy againft them and the grace of God.

And fo was Paul, he was a Blafphemer and a Perfecutor and yet obtained mercy. I beseech you do but confider it. Wil God (think you) fave none? Is his election come to nothing? If he faves any, he faves them out of unbelief, for therein are

all'

all men by nature. If God hath no bowels nor pitty towards thee, Hath he none unto his own glory? How fhal he be able to get honor to his name? Who wil acknowledge him to be a King, and Inmortall, and the only Wife God, but only thofe that have found his everlasting mercies and unchangeable goodnefs of which there is no comprehenfion, and that his thoughts are beyond our thoughts,that he hath mercy lain hid from eternity which now he will bring to knowledge. God loves his own Glory, And therefore for his own Glory and names fake will fhew mercy to fuch as you are. Therefore take it in, there is no danger, this word wil not flatter you to deftruction, it wil not glut you, and take away your appetite. Take in this word and fay, whatever I have been through unbelief, and though I and God and Chrift have been two all my daies, and though fin and I have been one al my daies, and all through unbelief, yet for that there may be mercy and grace.

CHAP. XII.

Afifth Reafon of the Doctrine: Forgiveneß of this fin works moft upon the Heart. The former Ufe continued, to perfwade that Unbelief is pardona.. ble. The benefits of believing this truth are ma

ny.

Pauls example in this cafe propounded to be confidered. Ule. 2. To glorify God for the pardon of Unbelief. Ufe 3. Confolation to two forts. 1. Such as bave neglected the offers of. Grace and now have none. 2. Such as fear God doth not love them, because they are so hardly brought to believe on and love him.

REASON V.

Herefore God wil forgive this fin of unbelief, because the forgivenefs of no fin works more upon the heart than the forgiveness of this fin doth. No fin forgiven doth work mere ftrongly and more upon the heart than the forgiveness of unbelief doth. That God takes a pleasure to do that which may make us beft and bring us into the greateft conformity and agreement to his will. Now look into this place and you fhall find what a change there was in Paul, I was in verfe 13. faith he a Blafphemer and had as illa tongue against religion as any man could have: AndI was a Perfecutor, an oppofer of the waies of God and as falfe in it as ever any that the earth did bear. But now he was humbled and as tender hearted towards the Saints Paul that before could not beleeve a word of the Gospel, now he fets his Seal to it as he faith in a following verfe, This is that which is worthy of all

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