time when the master erf" the house will rise up, and the door be shuti You liave had to do witli si meek and patient Christ hitherto ; but believe it, sinners, there is a day called the day of ike wrath of the Lamh^ and that day is dreadfal, Rev. vi. 16. where you find sinners crying to the roclis and mountains to Jail upon tliem, and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. O if this wrath be once kindled* though but a little ; blessed are they that trust in him, that have finished their agreement with him. The day of Christ's pa- tience towards Jerusalem, was a long day, but it had an end, Mat. xxiii. 37. and it ended in their desolation : therefore try the patience of Christ no further ; you know not the limits of it, it may end with your next refusal, and then where are you ? 2. The longer Christ hath exercised his patience already towards you, the more terribly will he avenge the abuse of it in hell upon you. It is past doubt with me, that there are different degrees of torment in hell ; the scriptures are plainly, and clearly for it. Now among all the aggravations of the torments of hell, none can be greater than the reflections of damned souls upon the abused patience and grace of Christ : those that had the best means, the loudest calls, and the longest day under the gospel, will certainly have the hottest place in hell, if the goodness and long-suffering of Christ do not now lead them to repentance ; the cries of such souls wall be heard above the cries of all other miserable wretches that are cast aAvay. "It " shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for Ca- " pemaum,'' Mat. xi. 23v O friends^ you little know the smart reflections of conscience in hell, upon such hours as you now enjoy ; such wooing, charming voices and allurements to Christ as you now hear. There are many thousands of souls in hell, that came thither out of the dark, heathenish parts of the world, where they never heard of Christ ; but your misery will be far beyond theirs, your reflections more sharp and bitter : therefore delay no longer, lest you perish with peculiar aggravation of misery. 3. Try the patience of Christ no further. I beseech you, for as much as you see every day the patience of Christ ending towards others ; patience coming down, and justice ascending the stage, to triumph over the abusers of mercy. You do not only read in Scripture the finishing and ending of God's patience with men, but you may see it every day with your own eyes. If you look into Scripture, you may find the patience of God ended towards multitudes of sinners, who possibly had the same presumptions, and vain hopes, for the continuance of it, that you now have ; if you look into 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. you shall there find, that Christ went and preached to the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient, ivhen once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah. The meaning of it is this, that in the days before the flood, Christ by his Spirit strove with the disobe-
dient and rebellious sinners in the ministry of Noah, wlro then were li\inor men and women, as now we are, but now are sj)irits in pri- son, i. e. damned souls in hell, for their disobedience : and truly^ brethren, you may frequently behold tlie glass of patience run down> the very last sand in it :ipent upon others. Whenever you see a wicked, christless man or woman die, you see the end of God's patience with that man or woman ; and all this for a warn-" ing to you, tliat you adventure not to trifle and dally with it as they did. 4. Lastly, Do not try God's patience any longer (if you love your souls) for this reason, because when men grow bold, and en- courage themselves in sin, upon the account of God's forbearance and long-suffering towards them, there cannot be a more certain sign that his patience is very near its end towards that soul. It is time for God to put an end to his patience, when it is made an en- couragement to sin ; God cannot suffer so vile an abuse of his glo- rious patience, nor endure to see it turned into wantonness : this quickly brings up sin to its finishing act and perfection, and then patience is just upon finishing also. That patience is thus abused, appears from Eccl. viii.,11. and when it is so abused, look for a sudden change. O, therefore, beware of provoking God, for now tJie day of patience is certainly near its end with sinners, Prov. L 24, 25, 26. " Because I have called, and ye refused, I have *' stretched out my hand, and no man regardeth ; but ye have set " at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also " will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh ; " when your feareth cometh as desolation, and your destruction " cometh as a whirlwind.'" Ah, when sinners scoff and mock at the thrcatenings of God, and bear themselves up upon his patience, as that which will never crack under them ; then look out for a whirlwind, a sudden tempest of wrath, which will hurry such souls into hell. Then misery comes like a storm blowing furiously from all quarters. Well, the heavens are yet clear over you, but a storm is nigh, and may certainly be presaged from such vile abuses of the glorious patience of Christ towards you. This is the first exhortation, try not the patience of Christ, by any further de- lays.
Exliort. 2. Admire Chrisf s patience and forbearance of you un- til now, that he hath not cut you off in your sin, but lengthened out his patience unto this day, and brought about your salvation by his long-suffering towards you. Here now I must change my voice, and turn it unto those whose hearts the Lord hath opened. Stand amazed at the riches of his grace towards you, and see that you account this long-suffering of God to be your salvation ; for in plain truth it is so : your salvation was bound up in Christ's for- bearance. If Christ had not borne as he did, you had not been
where yo^J ^i'^- I could heartily wish, that all the time yoxi (-art redeem from the necessary employments you have in tlie world, may now be spent in an humble, thankful admiration of this admi- rable grace and patience of Christ, and answerable duties to the intentions and ends thereof To this end I shall subjoin divers weighty considerations, which, methinks, should melt every heart wherein the least dram of saving grace is found.