Free Grace Magnified

_REVEL. 22:17_Let him that is a thirst come, and whoever will let him take of the waters of life freely.

Not to stand to open the words, we may observe in them five parts.

First, an offer to all men.

Secondly, that God calls and inviteth us to come.

Thirdly, that whoever will come must thirst.

Fourthly, that if they so come they shall take of the water of life.

Fifthly, and that freely.

I purpose at this time to speak of the second, viz. That God inviteth man to come.

The point we will deliver is not a point of controversie, which we rather decline, but a point of singular and great comfort, and that is that rious Gospel which Paul did so much magnifie, that mystery the Angels did so much labor to prie into, that secret that was so much kept from the Iewes, -and revealed in due time to the Gentiles, and that is the offer of Christ to all men in the world, that would take him without all exceptions of persons or sins, God does not only or meerly offer Christ, but he sends out his Ministers and Ambassadours, beseeching us to be reconciled, he does not only tell us that there is a Marriage of his Son, and that whoever will come may come, but he sends Messengers to beseech, and to use an holy violence and earnest perswasion; indeed, and not only thus, but he commandeth men and chargeth them upon their allegiance to come, this is his commandment says the Apostle that you believe on him whom he has sent, indeed he chargeth us upon death and damnation to come, If you believe you shall be saved, If you believe not you shall not be damned.

The first reason of this is, because God would not have the death of his Son to be of none effect, he would not have the blood of his Son spilt in vain, and therefore he does not make a bare offer of Christ, but he beseecheth and compelleth men to come and believe on him: Saint Paul useth the same reason why he would not preach with eloquent words, because then he should convert none to Christ, and if none be converted to Christ, the death of Christ would be in vain and of none effect, so say I, if God did not send out his Messengers to beseech and perswade and command men to believe, the death of Christ would be in vain.

The second reason is to shew forth the riches of Gods mercy and the abundance of his love to mankind, the same motives he had to give Christ, the same motives he has to entreat men to believe, and this is his love, and this he shows to the elect, that they might know the greatness and largeness of his love to them; and to the wicked, that the glory of his justice might appear in their damnation, when they shall see that they have displeased and despised so gracious an offer.

The third reason is, because it is acceptable to God that the Gospel should be obeyed, that is, that men should believe that they might live and not dye; and therefore he says he desires not the death of a sinner, and so are many speeches scattered in the Scripture, Oh that my people would harken, why will you die O you house of Israel? these and many more shows that it is a thing very pleasing to God that, men should not perish, but that they come in and believe, and live for ever.

But here may objections arise, for when you hear that it is a thing pleasing to God that all men should believe, here it may be objected. How can these two stand together, that God desires that men should believe and live, and he it is that must give them ability to believe, and yet does not, he has it in his power to make them to believe, and yet will not, notwithstanding he expresseth in the forenamed places of scripture such an earnest desire to have men live and not die.

To this I answer, that the scope of all places in scripture is, to shew that if men will come in, there shall be no impedient upon Gods part, and they shew that he is full of mercy and compassion, the fault shall be in their own stubborness and contempt, and these declare that it is more acceptable to God to save them, then to condemn them, and that he is full of mercy and ready to forgive, that he has such a disposition as was in the father of the Prodigal. This I say is the main scope of those and such like places of Scripture. But there is a double consideration of the will of God, it is either simply considered, and so to believe and repent and obey, all these are pleasing to him, for it cannot be but when any object is put into the will of any, if it be suitable and agreeable to the will, it must needs [•…]well-pleasing to it, and therefore God being Holy and pure must needs be delighted in the faith and repentance and obedience of his creature, but then there is a secret will of God, by which he dispenseth to man an ability to believe, and this he gives to some and not to others, for reasons best known to himself, and in this consideration all those places of Scripture are to be taken and considered, that he will have mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth, and that it is not in him that runneth, but in God that shows mercy; so that according to the first consideration we must understand that it is acceptable to God to have men to believe.

It may be objected, is it possible that the same will should be carried upon the same object in different respects, as if God should will the damnation and Salvation of Judas both at one time?

To this I answer, that it is most possible for a man to will and nill one and the same thing upon the same object if it be in different respects; as for example, a man may will his friends departure from him, and yet not will it, he wills his departure out of a desire he has of his friends good, and yet will it not out of a love he has of his friends company, and so God here he willeth that all men should be saved, and therefore he beseecheth men to believe, because it is agreeing to him, and it is so, neither can it be otherwise because of the conformity the thing it self has with his will; yet he will not use all means to bring this to pass, A father will not have his son drunk, if he will tie him up in a chamber he will not be drunk, yet he will not take such a course, though he has a will his son should not be drunk, so God though he do will that men should believe and repent and be saved, yet he will not be said to use all means for the effecting of it in all men, because he will glorifie his justice as well his as mercy.

It may be here objected that when God offereth Christ to all, and beseecheth them and perswadeth them, and commandeth men to come in and believe, and yet knows before hand that man of himself has no ability to believe, It may seem that God has some collusion and deceit in this, in that notwithstanding he knows men cannot believe of themselves, yet he offereth Christ and perswadeth and commandeth men to lay hold on him by faith.

To this I answer first, that God may seriously offer and give a thing, and yet know aforehand that the party to whom it is offered will not receive it out of the stubborness and refractoriness of his own will. A Prince may offer and give a pardon to a Rebel, and yet know aforehand that the Rebel to whom it is offered, out of pride and contempt will not receive it; so I say when God offereth Christ, he offereth him in good earnest, here is no deceit, what he promises he will perform, he offereth him to the reprobate, to this I will adde two similitudes, The one by St. Ambrose on those words The Sunne shineth upon the just and unjust, now (says he) if any but of neglect or carelesness of it hides himself in a place to keep the Sun off from him, the fault is not in the Sun but in him. And another useth this similitude; the death of Christ is like a medicine, that has efficacy enough to heal all mankind, if they will apply it, now if men will not take it, and receive it, it is not out of a defect in the thing it self, but out of the contempt and stubborness of their own will.

It may be further objected here, God does Command and beseech men to believe and to be saved, (which seemeth to be an unreasonable thing) when as it is impossible for them to do so of themselves, as if a man should beseech & command a man to escape out of prison, when he is inthralled and bound with chaines, or for a man to command or intreat a man to come out of a Well when it is so deep that he cannot.

To this I answer first, that there is an end in speaking to a man inspiritual bonds, to desire and command him to escape, for the very words do put life into such a man, such is the word we preach, it has power going along with it to put life into those that hear it, as Christ when he spoke to the sick man to arise, it was to some purpose, such I say is the word we do preach.

Secondly, I answer that these similitudes hold not, because it is very difficult to exhort and command a man to do a thing when there is an extream impediment, as it is with a man in a Well and in Prison. But that is not the case here, for if a man has but the will to come to Christ, there is no external impediment, and therefore if we exhort and command men to come to Christ, and they come not, we cannot only say that they cannot come, but rather that they will not come; here then is reason enough for our exhortations in this kind.

It may be objected that men cannot will to come, there is an impossibility, though no external impediment, because they cannot will.

To this I answer first, that it is false that men cannot will, in two cases indeed it is true, either when the thing is not revealed to a man, in such a case it may be truly said that a man cannot will, because the thing is not made known to him, and therefore those that never heard of Christ can not will Christ, and therefore they shall not be condemned for not receiving of Christ.

Secondly, If the thing be revealed to a man, yet if it be revealed as a thing impossible, in this case also a man cannot will; it is against the order of nature for a man to will that which he conceiveth to be impossible to be attained, for he must look upon it as a thing possible to be had afore it can be said that he can will it. But Christ is revealed to men in the Church, and so propounded not as a thing impossible, but as a thing possible; now it cannot be said only that they cannot will, but that they will not will, and therefore when as men complain, that it is impossible to will, here is the glory of Gods justice made manifest, because there is a freedom in the manner of refusing, they might have had Christ if they would.

It is objected that the Covenant that is made by God, seemeth to be made with the elect only, and therefore the condition belongeth only to them, how can Christ belong to all, seeing the exhortation and commandement must not exceed the Covenant, for the benefit is propounded to the Elect, and the condition to be required of none but of such as are within the covenant.

To this I answer, that there is a Covenant of grace, and that is double, either a general covenant propoudned without exception, Let whoever will come and believe in Christ he shall be saved, here is none excluded, and that none are excluded out of this general covenant this reason will shew. Baptism the seal of the Covenant is to be administered to all within the Church, to Infants though afterwards they do not actually and visibly believe. Now God would not appoint that the seal of the Covenantshould be given to those to whom it does not generally belong. But secondly, there is another Covenant of grace which belongeth, peculiarly to the elect, for in this God does not only promise to give salvation, if men believe, but he promises to give them ability to believe, as may be seen, Ier. 31:33. Ezekiel 36. In the first place God promises that he wil put his law in their inward parts, and that they shall not teach any more every man his neighbour, but they shall all know me from the least to the greatest, and so the like in other places, where God promises the thing, and ability of performing of it, which belongeth only to the Elect, But the other general Covenant belongeth to all without exception.

Lastly it is here objected, that the prayer which Christ made before his death, was but only for some I pray not for the world but for those that you have given me out of the world, and therefore the death of Christ belongeth to such only as he made intercession for.

To this I answer, that the intercession and prayer of Christ does not fall upon his death, to make that belong to some and not to others, for that is not mentioned in the intercession, but the prayer falleth upon the persons to whom his deathis effectual, and therefore he prayeth that some may have ability to come (that they may believe and be saved) though others have not. I pray for them, I pray not for the rest that belong not to my election; Therefore where you finde any other intercession of Christ in any other place, you must understand, that it falleth not on the act of his redemption, but on such to whom his death is made effectual, for Christ is made the second Adam, and by his death he has set open the gates of heaven to all that believe, but to some he gives ability to come, and to others he denieth it.

So much for the clearing of this point; the use of it followeth.

And first, if Christ be offered to all freely without exception, and also seeing God has commanded, and beseech men to come and receive him; then let us take good heed of refusing of it, for if there be no greater mercy then the offer of Christ, so then there is no greater curse followeth, then if it be refused. For the clearing of this point we are to know that we are all by nature enemies to God, and this enmity we encrease by our personal rebellions, and so we are become liable to the curse, man now being in this condition, God sends forth his messengers to beseech men to be reconciled, assuring them that the pardon is general, no matter what they are or have been, but if they thirst after Christ he is for them; but indeed you must take whole Christ, as well as Priest or Prophet, as a King to rule over all your affections; hereupon some take him and others will not, they think the condition too hard, and therefore they will not forgo their profits and pleasurs, and their liberties falsly so called, and therefore notwithstanding this year of Jubile, they love their old master still, that is the lust that they serve, and they would rather be bored in the ear to serve them perpetually, they love the flesh-pots of Egypt, and loathe this spiritual Manna, notwithstanding it is the most precious and excellent that ever was offered to mankind. Now this I say of all the sins that can be committed, Original sins, All our personal rebellions provoke not God so much to anger, as the rejection of his Son, for this contempt of the Gospel, we know how angry God was with those that refused to come to the Marriage of his Son, they had in many things carried themselves stubbornly against God aforetime, yet God was never so angry as now, he was now angry to the death. A resemblance of this we have in the Iewes before they entered into the land of Canaan, when they refused the offer that God made to them, nothing angered God so much as this, they had committed grosse idolatry, and many great rebellions, yet the refusing of Gods mercies in offering them that good land provoked God more to wrath then all the rest, and now he sweares in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest, and so cut them off, but Caleb and Ioshua, and God was angry afterwards with them many times, yet his wrath came not upon them to the uttermost till they had refused Christ, because the Gospel was preached so freely, and Christ offered to them, and they refused it, therefore the wrath of God came upon them, as it is to be seen at this day. This is a point that we had need to put you in mind of, because many when they look back upon their former wayes and see what they have done, consider not what they do when they do refuse Christ Iesus, and the pardon that has been offered, how they have taken the grace of God in vain, whereas I assure you, whatever your sins be, sins often committed against conscience and knowledge, which are the circumstances that aggrevateth sin, they are nothing to the rfeusing of the pardon offered in Christ. To this end consider, that when Christ is offered, it is not such an offer as when a man offereth a thing, if it be not taken the party offering looseth nothing, but it is such an offer as when the thing offered is spilt and lost, if it be not received and taken, not as when a man inviteth another to a feast and he cannot come, the master is at no charge, but when the promise is made, and the dinner prepared, and then the guests not to come, it is loss, so it is in this offer of Christ, all is ready Christ is slain, and his blood is poured out, if you do not come and take it, you put away from you the blood of Christ, and so in as much as in you lieth you make the death of Christ of none effect, and so by consequence you shall be guilty of the blood of Christ, and therefore the Apostle says, 1 Peter 1:19. You are not redeemedwith silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ.

First, If you had put God to the losse of silver and gold and precious stones it had been no great losse, but you have put him to the losse of Christ and his blood, so that whoever refuseth Christ is guilty of the spilling of his most precious blood.

Secondly, consider that the Gospel which you refuse agrevateth the sin, for the Gospel disobeyed has much more terrour then the law disobeyed, and therefore the Apostle in, Heb. 2. verse 2. reasoneth to this purpose, for says he, If the Law that was given by Angels, was stedfast, and every transgression received a due reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which was manifested to us by his Son, and so Chap. 10. If the Law that was given by Moses, if he that disobeyeth that Law should die, how much more shall he be worthy of punishment that trampleth underfoot the blood of Christ. First, It is the refusing of Christs most precious blood, therefore I say in these respects, the Gospel has more terrour in it then the Law disobeyed; For the clearer understanding of this, you are to know that the Gospel has two parts. Not only if you believe you shall be saved, but also if you believe not you shall be damned, which shows that the Gospel broken is more terrible then the Law, and therefore John Baptist the first preacher of the Gospel came with more terrour and severity then the Prophets did, he came in a course habit, and severe in his doctrine, and therefore when he came to preach the Gospel, he says, Now is the axe laid to the root of the tree, and those that are found chaffe shall be cast into the fire, and what was the reason, because the Gospel was preached, therefore if it be refused, and this pardon rejected, God will now sooner lay the axe to the root, then aforetime, and so indeed they found it by experience afterwards, for if we observe the Scripture from the time that the Iews became a Nation, for all their transgressions he gave them not a fullbill of divorcement, till Christ was preached to them, and they refused to receive him, then those natural branches were broken off and the wild Olive ingrafted in, till that time I say the Iewes were not rejected; by this therefore we may see the danger of refusing the Gospel, God had indured their provocations, yet now for their refusing of Christ he cut them off, and so he will do to every particular person, for there is no Law that can be preached that is so dangerously refused as the Gospel, and therefore we shall see the Carriage that is appointed to the seventy Disciples which he sent forth to preach the Gospel, that when they offered Christ, and the Kingdom of Heaven, and remission of sins, if they will receive the mercy offered so it is, they shall be saved, but if not, Tell them the Kingom of God is come near them indeed, but seeing they have refused it, shake off the dust of your feet against that City, and here you may see what terrour there is in the Gospel, if they would receive it, well and good, if not, shake off the dust of your feet against them; and further consider that nothing but their refusing the land of Canaan made God swear in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest, God can bear with other sins, but this is a sin that provoketh God to anger more then the rest.

For the better understanding of this we will compare the Law and the Gospel together; you shall find these differences between them.

First, the condition of the Law is, do this and live.

The condition of the gospel is, Believe and live. The condition of the law is much more difficult, the condition of the Gospel is more easie, and therefore the sin committed against the Law is less hainous then the sin against the Gospel.

Secondly, the command in the Law cost God nothing but his word, but the command in the Gospel cost him the Death of his Son.

Thirdly, when we broke the Law we did it in the loins of Adam, with whom we accompanied our voices and consent, but when we reject the Gospel we do it in our own persons.

Fourthly, when the Law was broken there was but one breach to God, but in rejecting of the Gospel there is a is a double Law transgrest, for when we had cast our selves into a desperate condition with Adam, God offered us an help and means of recovery, now the refusing of this makes sin the greater, by how much the more the mercy is the greater, with the Angels Gods intent was to exercise only a single, mercy, and therefore a peremptory command was given them; If you will obey you shall live. But now this was not only offered to mankind, but a second mercy was also offered a greater then ever was offered to the Angels, now God offereth you a board to swim upon, after ship-rack; to the Angels God would show but one kind of mercy, to mankind a double mercy, a sparing mercy, a merciful mercy, and so a severer kind of justice upon the refusal of it; and therefore the reprobates that live in the Church shall exceed the Devils in Hell in judgement, because they have had more mercy tendred to them then ever the Devils had, and therefore in this respect God will exercise on them a more severe kind of justice. Let all these things teach you how dangerous it is to disobey the Gospel and to refuse Christ.

Thirdly, you are to consider that Christ who is offered to you is the Chiefest of all Gods works, the utmost end that God propounded to himself in making of mankind, it is he that is the top of his fathers glory, in whom the glory of God most shineth; therefore be assured God will not lose his, chiefest glory, he will not lose one jot of his glory, much lesse the principal part of it, and therefore he that refuseth Christ, contemneth the chiefest of Gods works, and layeth the chiefest of his glory in the dust, and therefore God will not suffer that to be done without great judgement.

Whatever God is known by, that is his Name, whatever he makes himself more known by that is his special Name, and his Name he will not suffer to be taken in vain, and therefore he says, he will not hold him guiltless th takes his Name in vain, and certainly this will bring the heaviest, condemnation, the offer of Christ being the greatest mercy that was ever shewed to any creature either in Heaven or in earth, and therefore the refusing of this mercy must needs produce the greatest judgement: and for this Capennaum though exalted to Heaven, was cast down to Hell, if it had had no more means thTyre and Zidon their condemnation should have been no more, but the means were greater, because the Gospel was more plentifully preached to them, and therefore seeing by this means they were lifted up to Heaven, their condemnation should be the greater; and this is Gods manner of proceeding in all his wayes, when he first created Adam, had he no more then created him, his sin in transgressing the Law had not been so much, but because he gave him a possibility of living for eyer, therefore he was condemned to die for ever, because he rejected the mercy offered; If we had been guilty of Adams sin only, we should have had the judgement that Adam had upon breach of the condition. But we are offered Christ, and to be heirs of Heaven upon condition of obedience to the Law of faith, answerable therefore to the greatness of this my shall be the greatness of this cond emnation if we refuse it. Let all these things stir us up most affectionately to embrace Christ, and consider what an injury and offense it is against God to refuse Christ. Remember those compassionate tearmes that he useth, Come to me, And why will you dye O house of Israel? And I delight not in the death of a sinner, and many such like places, take heed of refusing when God offereth his Sonne, rather kisse the Sonne least he be angry and you perish, and remember not only to take him, but take him in time, now God calls upon you, and if you will not hear, beware least when you call he will not hear, when the day of sickness and extremity commeth, then you will finde that Christ is Christ indeed, and that faith is faith indeed, and that the feet of the messenger are beautiful, but then you shall not see them, for this is Gods judgement, if they will not receive it in time of peace, he either offereth it no more, or else gives them no hearts to receive it, therefore defer not the taking of his offer, take heed least God swear in his wrath you shall not enter into his rest, if you refuse this excellent gift, Remember that though it be true, that the whole time of this life be a time of grace, yet there is an opportunity in which God offereth grace, and after that offer, it is no more; And therefore he would offer Jerusalem no more peace, because she knew not the time of her visitation, and afterwards God either offered her none at all, or gave her not an heart to take it.

If God beseech and intreat men to believe, then it followeth that faith is a thing very pleasing and acceptable to God; if you therefore make the Querie of the Iews,What shall we do to work the workes of God? I answer with Christ, believe on him whom he has sent, So also if you ask what is the great Commandement? I answer, that you believe in the only begotten Sonne of God, you can do nothing so acceptable to God as to believe on his Sonne, for faith is the very life of a Christian, that which distinguisheth him from all other men. But what is this faith? It is not a small matter to believe (as our adversaries afaffirm) which riseth out of the mistaking of the nature of faith, for it is not only to give assent to a proposition that it is true, but this justifying faith takes and layeth hold on Christ, now in taking there are two things to be understood.

First, You must let go all that is in your hands before.

Secondly, You must lay hold on the thing offered, so in faith, first, there is an emptying quality where by a man is made empty of all that is in himself, he must forgo father and mother, and pleasures and profits, and all to receive Christ: Secondly, there is an apprehending quality to lay hold on Christ, a forsaking of any thing that is precious, and a receiving of him, and a resting on him with a purpose to serve him only with a perfect heart, and a willing mind, it is true, there is much excellency and necessity in works; but faith is the wel-head from where all the streams of good works arise; And therefore faith exceedeth them, as much as the cause does the effect, for faith is the spring of good works, the more faith the more works, where there is more oyl, there is the greater flame; faith then being the cause of works, it must needs follow, that the stream cannot rise higher then the fountain.

Again, all the good works that we do, give not so much glory to God as faith; now nothing is so dear to God as his glory; and therefore faith is most acceptable to God, and therefore it is said, Abraham believed and gave glory to God, first by his believing him to be such a God as he professed himself to be; and so that which makes him evident to all the world, to be a God most merciful is, the receiving of Christ by faith: Further in this does the true worship of God principally consist, now God delighteth in his worship, and the worship of God consisteth not only in the bowing of the knee, but it mainly consisteth in the inward perswasion of the heart, when a man is perswaded that God is a most holy, a most wise; just and merciful God, and out of this he worshippeth and obeyeth him, and this is an act of faith; Remember therefore that faith is that which God does principally cll for, and therefore faith goes far before works, in as much as without faith it is impossible to please God, Let us therefore be exhorted to labor to believe, seeing it is a thins so acceptable to God, and that this exhortation be not in vain, it is needful for men to know whether they believe or no, to this end therefore I will give you two or three signes of faith.

First if you would know whether you truly believe, whether you are within the number of those that are within the compasse of regeneration, consider whether you be soundly humbled, for that is a preparation that goes before faith, and without which no man is made ever partaker of Christ, for the direction of Christ is made to those that mourn in Zion, not that it is simply necessary to salvation, but because without this no man comes to Christ, I denie not but God is able to send Lightning without thunder, hee might have preached the Gospel to Adam without the Law, but his will was not so, he first convinceth Adam of his sin, and then preaches the Gospel, first he made a preparation by fire and an earthquake before he came in the soft and still voice; so God humbleth a man before he works by faith to lay hold on Christ.

The murderer will not seek to the City of refuge, before the revenger of blood follow him, and this must not be done slightly, but your conscience must be awakened to apprehend sin fully, and this prepareth you for Christ, for in these three things stands the sound conversion of a sinner to God: first, humiliation, secondly, the taking of Christ as the chiefest good, thirdly, when you will not forsake for him any worldly thing. And these three things follow one another, for if sin be the chiefest sorrow, Christ must needs be the chiefest joy, & if we once have Christ we can never forgo him; those therefore that are not soundly humbled have cause to fear that they have no part in Christ. Secondly, Consider whether you live in Christ or no, for if you live not in him you have not received him, for who takes Christs nrted into him as into a living stock; if you would therefore know whether you have taken Christ in good earnest or no (for many think they have Christ when they have him not:) I ask you this question, do you grow in Christ, and wax green in Christ, are you changed into the same nature with him? If you find these things, it is a sure sign you have taken Christ, but if you find not this new life in you, it is a sign you never received him, and this is not a light cha, but a great and manifest change, as apparent as the difference is between a dead man and a living man, because when a man takes the Son he has the spirit of the Son within him, and if he has the spirit he has the dispossition of the Son, the same life that the Son has; for the spirit is to the soul, as the soul is to the body, and therefore if you find no life, it is a sign you have no part in Christ.

Lastly, Consider whether you be broken off from the old stock upon which you did grow, from where you did take sap and bring forth fruit those therfore deceive themselves that think they can take Christ and yet follow their pleasure, and covetousness, this cro[•…]th their comixtures, and I assure you they make the way too broad, for whoever will receive Christ must prt with all things else, though they be nevr so dear to him.