N00341:53
The greatest sinners exhorted and encouraged to come to Christ, and that now without…
The greatest sinners exhorted and encouraged to come to Christ, and that now without delaying. Also, the exceeding danger of men's deferring their repentance. : Together with a discourse about the day of judgement. And on several other subjects. / By Increase Mather teacher of a church at Boston in N. England. ; [Six lines of Scripture texts]
printed by R.P. for Joseph Brunning i.e, 1686
Title page typeset from the transcription.
John 6.37. —And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Consider. 2, The great evil that is in not coming to Jesus Christ. This is the great damning Sin of Unbelief, concerning which the Scripture speaks so dreadfully. By that unbelief which the Scripture speaketh of as a damning sin, is not meant a man's doubting whether Christ dyed for him, or whether his sins are pardoned, many a believer has such doubtings, and some hypocrites have deluding confidences, they are persuaded if any in the world be saved they shall: But by Unbelief is meant, The not coming unto Christ when called when Invited. This is a most heinous Sin. Christ ⟨p. 21⟩saith the spirit shall convince the world of sin because they believe not on me. Joh. 16.9. h. e. he shall convince them that they have bin guilty of grievous sin in not believing. Whoever thou art; this is the greatest sin that ever thou wast guilty of in all thy life. Sins against the Gospel have more of evil in them, than sins against the Law only. It may be some of you have bin guilty of great sins: guilty perhaps of Drunkenness, Sabbath-breaking, Disobedience to Parents, Theft, Lying, these are fearful sins indeed: But thou hast been guilty of another sin worse than all these, that is, Unbelief. This is the most God-provoking sin in the world. As nothing pleaseth him so much as Faith so nothing provokes him like unbelief. If a man would be so wicked as to sit down and study how he might grieve and vex th• soul of God. he could not do it more than by unbelief. The unbelief of the Children of Israel provoked God to sware in his wrath against them, that they should never enter into his rest. Heb. 3.18, 19. To despise a great gift▪ is highly provoking: now Christ is the greatest gift. Joh. 4.10. He is the gift of God. God could not make a greater offer, or bestow a better gift than that. Now the Unbeliever slights, and maketh light of this offer. Th• preci••• blood of Christ has been offered to ⟨p. 22⟩thee in the Gospel, to wash thy soul, and to purge away thy sins, but by unbelief thou despisest it, as tho it were nothing worth. Men think the sin of the Jews, in crucifying the son of God was exceeding great, and so it was: But thou an unbeliever art guilty of that Sin. As it was said to Jerusalem, thou hast justified thy sister Samaria.