The justice of God in the damnation of sinners. Illustrated in a sermon

3. Why should God be looked upon as obliged to bestow salvation upon you, when you have been so ungrateful for the mercies he has bestowed upon you already? God has tried you with a great deal of kindness, and he never has sincerely been ⟨p. 37⟩thanked by you for any of it. God has watched over you, and preserved you, and provided for you, and followed you with mercy all your days; and yet you have continued sinning against him. He has given you food and raiment, but you have improved both in the service of sin. He has preserved you while you slept; but when you arose, it was to return to the old trade of sinning, God, notwithstanding this ingratitude, has still continued his mercy; but his kindness has never won your heart, or brought you to a more grateful behaviour towards him. It may be you have received many remarkable mercies, recoveries from sickness, or preservations of your life, when at one time and another exposed by accidents, when if you had died, you would have gone directly to hell: But you never had any true thankfulness for any of these mercies. God has kept you out of hell, and continued your day of grace, and the offers of salvation, this so long a time; and that, it may be, while you did not regard your own salvation so much as to go in secret and ask God for it: And now God has greatly added to his mercy to you, by giving you the strivings of his Spirit, whereby you have a most precious opportunity for your salvation in your hands. But what thanks has God received for it? What kind of returns have you made for all this kindness? As God has ⟨p. 38⟩multiplied mercies, so have you multiplied provocations.

And yet now are you ready to quarrel for mercy, and to find fault with God, not only that he does not bestow more mercy, but to contend with him, because he does not bestow infinite mercy upon you, heaven with all it contains, and even himself, for your eternal portion. What ideas have you of yourself, that you think God is obliged to do so much for you, though you treat him never so ungratefully for his kindness that you have been followed with all the days of your life?