The blessedness of the righteous discoursed from Psal. 17, 15 /The blessednesse of the righteous discoursed from Psal. 17, 15 /

Destruction from the Lord was never a terror to thee. Thou wouldst never be brought upon thy knees, I had none of thy addresses, never didst thou sigh out a serious request for mercy: Thy soul was not worth so much in thy account. Thy blood, wretch be upon thy guilty head; Depart accursed into everlasting flames, &c.

Destruction from the Lord was never a terrour to thee. Thou would'st never be brought upon thy knees, I had none of thy addresses, never didst thou sigh out a serious request for mercy: Thy soul was not worth so much in thy account. Thy blood, wretch be upon thy guilty head; Depart accursed into everlasting flames, &c.

Come now, use thy reason a while; employ a few sober thoughts about this matter; remember, thou wilt have a long eternity, wherein to recognize the passages of thy life, and the state of thy case in the last judgement. Were it supposable, that one who had done as the former, should be left finally destitute of Divine Grace, and perish. Yet, in which of these cases wouldst thou choose to be found at last?

Come now, use thy reason a while; imploy a few sober thoughts about this matter; remember, thou wilt have a long eternitie, wherein to recognize the passages of thy life, and the state of thy case in the last judgement. Were it supposeable, that one who had done as the former, should be left finally destitute of Divine Grace, and perish. Yet, in which of these cases would'st thou chuse to be found at last?

But why yet shouldst thou imagine so sad an issue as that after thine utmost endeavours▪ ⟨p. 285⟩grace should be with-held, and leave thee to perish; because God hath not bound himself by promise to thee? what promise have the Ravens to be heard when they cry? But thou art a sinner. True, otherwise thou wert not without promise; the promises of the first Covenant would, at least, belong to thee. Yet experience tells the world his unpromised mercies freely flow every where; The whole earth is full of his goodness; yea, but his special grace is conveyed by promise only; and that only through Christ; and how can it be communicated [through him] to any but those that are in him? What then is the first inbeing in Christ no special grace? or is there any being in him before the first, that should be the ground of that gracious communication? things are plain enough, if we make them not intricate, or entangle our selves by foolish subtleties. God promises sinners indefinitely pardon, and eternal life for the sake of Christ, on condition that they believe on him. He gives of his good pleasure that grace whereby he draws any to Christ, without promise directly made to them, whether absolute, or conditional; though he give it for the sake of Christ also. His discovery of his purpose to give such grace to some indefinitely, amounts not to a promise claimable by any, for if it be said to be an absolute promise, to particular persons, who are they? whose duty is it to believe it made to him? If conditional, what are the conditions upon which the first grace is certainly promised? who can be able to assign them?