Grace defended. A censure on the ungodliness, by which the glorious grace of God,…

Finally; The Labour he uses to convince his Companion of his Impiety, and Reclaim him from it, and Quicken the Fear of God in him; it looks as if he came thither armed with a Zealous and Intense Desire to Propagate a Sense of God in the Hearts of others. A Repentance has usually made a little Progress, before it Comes into this Operation. One does not Per Saltum, come to this Degree. Methinks, All these Things conspire, to Proclaim a Saving work of Repentance begun in this Penitent, before his Last Hour came upon him. However, This I am sure they do; and this is what I mainly aim at: they utterly ⟨p. 33⟩destroy all the Assurance, which any Presuming Sinner has, that this Man did not Repent until his Last Hour was arrived unto him. They leave him therefore without any Assurance, that ever any One in the World, who disobeyed calls to Repent until the Last Hour, did it then Effectually, and found Mercy with God.

Finally; The Labour he uses to convince his Companion of his Impiety, and Reclame him from it, and Quicken the Fear of God in him; it looks as if he came thither armed with a Zealous and Intense Desire to Propagate a Sense of God in the Hearts of others. A Repentance has usually made a little Progress, before it Comes into this Operation. One does not Per Saltum, come to this Degree. Methinks, All these Things conspire, to Proclaim a Saving work of Repentance begun in this Penitent, before his Last Hour came upon him. However, This I am sure they do; and this is what I mainly aim at: they utterly ⟨p. 33⟩destroy all the Assurance, which any Presuming Sinner has, that this Man did not Repent until his Last Hour was arrived unto him. They leave him therefore without any Assurance, that ever any One in the World, who disobey'd calls to Repent until the Last Hour, did it then Effectually, and found Mercy with God.

I do not affirm that my Arguments, for the more Early Repentance of my Penitent, are absolutely Decisive, and infallibly Conclusive; but yet, I think them enough to retund the Confident Prof of them, who encourage the Delay of their Conversion to God, from the Pattern of the Thief, Repenting and Accepted on the Cross. And it may be further observed unto them, that the Holy and Worthy Divines, who take up with the common Opinion, and Glorify God, in the Highest Apprehensions of Miracle in the Sudden Producing and Ripening of this Repentance, do still with mighty Energy Thunderstrike, that Profane Abuse of the Example. They tell you, Ye Fools, That if it be a Pattern, yet it is a Pattern without a Promise. And as One of the Ancients Expresses it, Ad Consequendam Fidem non fuit illi Extrema Hora, sd Prima; they tell you, That it might more properly be said, He came in at the First Hour, than at the Last Hour; for he had not Enjoyed the Means of Grace before, nor Sinned against them, as they do, who embolden themselves to Sin, from what was done for him. They tell you, The most you can make, if the Example be granted you, is, One Example in all the Bible.