Objec. 1. But I doubt my case is excepted by Christ himself, in Mat. xii. 31. where blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is exempted from pardon, and I have had many horrid blasphemous thoughts injected into my soul.
Sol Art thou a burdened and heavy laden soul ? If so, thy case is not in that, or any other scripture exempted from mercy ; for the unpardonable sin is always found in an impenitent heart : as that sin finds no pardon with God, so neither is it followed with con- trition and sorrow in the soul that commits it.
Objec. 2. But if I am not guilty of that sin, I am certainly guilty of many great and heinous abominations of another kind, too great for me to expect mercy for ; and therefore I dare not go to Christ.
Sol The greater your sins have been, the more need you have to go to Jesus Christ. Let not a motive to go to Christ be made an obstacle in your way to him. Great sinners are expressly called, Isa. i. 18. great sinners have come to Christ and found mercy, 1 Cor. vi. 7. and to conclude, it is an high reproach and dishonour to the blood of Christ, and mercy of God, which flows so freely through him, to objeet the greatness of sin to either of them. Certainly you have not sinned beyond the extent of mercy, or beyond the efficacy of the blood of Christ : but pardon and peace may be had, if you will thus come to Christ for it.
Objec. 3. Oh ! but it is now too late ; I have had many thou- sand calls by the gospel, and refused them ; many purposes in my heart to go to Christ, and quenched them ; my time therefore is past, and now it is to no purpose.
Sol. If the time of grace be past, and God intends no mercy for thee, how comes it to pass thy soul is now filled with trouble and distress for sin ? Is this the frame of a man's heart that is past hope. Do such signs as these appear in men that are hopeless ? Beside, the time of grace is a secret hid in the breast of God ; but coming to Christ is a duty plainly revealed in the text : And why will you object a thing that is secret and uncertain, against a duty that is so plain and evident? Nor do you yourselves believe -what you object ; for at the same time that you say your seasons are over, it is too late, you are, notwithstanding, found repenting, mourning, praying, and striving to come to Christ. Certainly, if Vou knew it were too late, you would not be found labouring in the use of means. Go on, therefore, and the Lord be with you. It is not presumption, but obedience, to come when Christ calls, as he here doth, " Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are " heavy laden."
Infer. 2. Hence it follows, That none have cause to be troubled,
SERM. 7K. THE METHOD OF GRACfc. ] 7j)
when God makes the souls of their friends or relations sick with the sense of sin. It was the saying (as I remember) of Hieron to Sa- binian, Nothing (said he) makes my heart sadder, than that nothing can make my heart sad. It is matter of joy to all that rightly under- stand the matter, when God smites the heart of any man with the painful sense of sin; of such sickness it may be said, " This sick- " ness is not unto death, but for the glory of God.1"' Yet how do many carnal relations lament and bewail this as a misery, as an undoing to their friends and acquaintances; as if then they must be reckoned lost, and never till then, that Christ is finding and saving them. O ! if your hearts were spiritual and wise, their groans for sin would be as music in your ears. When they go alone to bewail their sin, you would go alone also to bless God for such a mercy, that ever you should live to such a happy day : You would say, Now is my friend in the blessed pangs of the new birth ; now is he in the very way of mercy ; never in so hopeful a condition as now. I had rather he should groan now at the feet of Christ, than groan hereafter under the wrath of God for ever. O ! parents, beware, as you love the souls of your children, that you do not damp and discourage them, tempt or threaten them, divert or hinder them in such cases as this, lest you bring the blood of their soids upon your own heads.
Inf. 3. It also follows from hence, That those to whom sin zca.« never any burthen, are not yet come to Christ, nor have any interest in him. We may as well suppose a child to be born without any pangs, as a soul to be born again, and united to Christ, without any sense or sorrow for sin. I know many have great frights of consci- ence, that never were made duly sensible of the evil of sin ; many are afraid of burning, that never were afraid of sinning. Slight and transient troubles some have had, but they vanished like an early cloud, or morning dew. Few men are without checks and throbs of conscience at one time or other ; but instead of going to the closet, they run to the alehouse or tavern for cure. If their sorrow for sin had been right, nothing but the sprinkling of the blood of Christ could have appeased their consciences, Heb. x. 22. How cold should the consideration of this thing strike to the hearts of such persons ! Methinks, reader, if this be thy case, it should send thee away with an aking heart ; thou hast not yet tasted the bit- terness of sin, and if thou do not, thou shalt never taste the sweet- ness of Christ, his pardons and peace.
Inf. 4. How great a mercy is it for sin-burthened souls to be within the sound and call of Christ in the gospel !
There be many thousands in the Pagan and Popish parts of the world, that labour under distresses of conscience as well as we, but have no such reliefs, no such means of peace and comfort as we
180 THE METHOD OF GRACE. SERM. IX,
have that live within the joyful sound of the gospel. If the conscience of a Papist be burdened with guilt, all the relief he hath, is to af- flict his body to quiet his soul ; a penance, or pilgrimage, is all the relief they have. If a Pagan be in trouble for sin, he hath no knowledge of Christ, nor notion of a satisfaction made by him ; the voice of nature is, Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? The damned endure the terrible blows and wounds of conscience for sin, they roar under that terrible lash, but no voice of peace or pardon is heard among them. It is not, " Come unto me, ye that labour, and are heavy " laden," but " depart from me, ye'eursed."
Blessed are your ears, for you hear the voice of peace ; you are come to Jesus the Mediator, and to the blood of sprinkling. O, you can never set a due value upon this privilege.
Inf. 5. How siceet and ztnspeakably relieving is the closing of a burthened soul with Jesus Christ, by faith ! It is rest to the weary soul.