Gospel reconciliation, or, Christ's trumpet of peace to the world

For the First, The willingness of God for Reconciliation with sinners; Why God manifests this, To begin a little low, and then to rise higher; God ministers this, first by his patience towards sinners, in that the Lord is long suffering toward sinners, he doth manifest thereby that he is willing to be reconciled: the Scripture draws an argument from thence, in Rom. 2.4. as if the Apostle should say, the patience of God holds this forth unto you; that you should come in, and repent, that so you might obtain mercy from God, or otherwise it doth lead you to repentance. Except it should hold forth Gods willingness to be reconciled, it could not draw the heart to repentance; but it leads: and this hath a great deal of force to draw the heart of man to repentance, Because it holds forth the willingness of God to be reconciled unto sinners. If God were not willing to be reconciled to you, he would take you off, and there were an end of you, or at least he would exercise such patience that should not lead you to repentance: as he did with the Devils, as soon as they had sinned, he clapped his chains upon them, and reserves them in chains of darkness; there is no such patience of God towards them as to be any argument to draw them to repentance: therefore they cannot draw any encouraging conclusion from any work of Gods patience, as to bring ⟨p. 319⟩them towards God again: But all sinners may do it that are the sons of men. Hath God spared thy life at such, and such a time? know that in that work of his, he doth manifest his willingness to be reconciled unto thy Soul; as if a man hath an enemy at an advantage, and he will not take it: Doth not this signify that he is willing to be at peace with him? And that is the first thing.