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

CHAP. 78. Objections Answered concerning the willingness of God and Christ to be reconciled to sinners.

Object. You will say, Why should God do all this? and Christ do all this? you tell us that God is so willing to be reconciled, and hath so expressed himself, and Christ so willing to be reconciled, and hath so expressed himself, by entreating and beseeching; but both God and Christ knows, we can do nothing of our selves, and therefore to what end is all this that you have spoken? as if we should go into Golgothus or burial places, and entreat the dead to rise out of their graves, To what purpose would it be? we are dead in sins and trespasses, and now if we can do nothing, all that you have spoken is but to little purpose.

OBject. You wil say, Why should God do al this? and Christ do al this? you tel us that God is so willing to be reconciled, and hath so exprest himself, and Christ so willing to be reconciled, and hath so exprest himself, by entreating and beseeching; but both God and Christ knows, we can do nothing of our selves, and therefore to what end is al this that you have spoken? as if we should go into Golgothus or burial places, and entreat the dead to rise out of their graves, To what purpose would it be? we are dead in sins and trespasses, and now if we can do nothing, al that you have spoken is but to little purpose.

To that purpose I answer. First though it is true, we are dead in sins and trespasses and are not able to perform any true saving work by our own strength, yet first all those expressions of God and Christ in his word, and so of the ministers of God in their names, it may be of this use to stir up common gifts and graces of the spirit of God in us, and that is for to have them stirred up to the utmost that possible may be, people must not think (that because they cannot do any work that is indeed saving in it self, any work of spiritual life) that therefore there is nothing to be done by them, we are to know that though the saving works of God be more rare, yet there are common works of the spirit, that God doth dispense to many, yea to most, and in some degree or other to all, especially to those that live under the sound of the Gospel, there are none that live under the sound of the Gospel but they have some common gifts of the Spirit of God, in one degree or other. Now the Lord