Baxter’s book, A Call to the Unconverted, was the gospel tract (a 134-page book!) of his day.  The book was circulated greatly and many came to a saving knowledge of Christ through the reading of it.  His book shares the gospel with clarity, accuracy, and depth.  The thoroughness with which he explains the gospel is quite different from how the gospel is often presented today.  He gives us much to learn, especially in view of today’s “gospel light” and easy-believism approach.  

Baxter’s book is based on Ezekiel 33:11, “Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord God, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

A Call To The Unconverted

by Richard Baxter

 PREFACE 

THE GREAT SUCCESS WHICH ATTENDED THE CALL WHEN FIRST PUBLISHED. 

IT may be proper to prefix an account of this book given by Mr. Baxter himself, which was found in his study, after his death, in his own words: 

"I published a short treatise on conversion, entitled, A Call to the Unconverted. The occasion of this was my conversation with Bishop Usher while I was at London; who, approving my method and directions for Peace of Con­science, was importunate with me to write directions suited to the various states of Christians, and also against particular sins. I reverenced the man, but disregarded these persuasions, supposing I could do nothing but what is done better already: but when he was dead, his words went deeper to my mind, and I purposed to obey his coun­sel; yet, so as that to the first sort of men, the ungodly, I thought vehement persuasions better than directions only; and so for such I published this little book, which God has blessed with unexpected success, beyond all the rest that I have written, except The Saint's Rest. In a little more than a year there were about twenty thousand of them printed by my own consent, and about ten thousand since; beside many thousands by stolen impressions, which poor men stole for lucre's sake. Through God’s mercy I have information of almost whole households converted by this small book which I set so light by; and, as if all this in England, Scotland, and Ireland, were not mercy enough to me, God, since I was silenced, has sent it over in His message to many beyond the seas; for when Mr. Elliot had printed all the Bible in the Indian language, he next translated this my Call to the Unconverted, as he wrote to us here.  And yet God would make some farther use of it; for Mr. Stoop, the pastor of the French Church in London, being driven hence by the displeasure of his superiors, was pleased to translate it into French. I hope it will not be unprofitable there; nor in Germany, when also it has been printed." 

It may be proper further to mention Dr. Bates' account of the author, and of this useful treatise. In his sermon at Mr. Baxter’s funeral, he thus says: “His books of practical divinity have been effectual for more conversions of sinners to God than any printed in our time: and while the church remains on earth, will be of continual efficacy to recover lost souls. There is a vigorous pulse in them, that keeps the reader awake and attentive. His Call to the Unconverted, how small in book, but how powerful in virtue! Truth speaks in it with that authority and efficacy, that it makes the reader to lay his hand upon his heart, and find that he has a soul and a conscience, though he lived before as if he had none. He told some friends, that six brothers were converted by reading that Call; and that every week he received letters of some converted by his books. This he spoke with most humbled thankfulness, that God was pleased to use him as an instrument for the salvation of souls.” 

A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED 

Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord God, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'  Ezekiel 33:11 

IT has been the astonishing wonder of many a man as well as me, to read in the Holy Scriptures how few will be saved, and that the greatest part even of those that are called will be everlastingly shut out of the kingdom of heaven, and be tormented, with the devils in eternal fire. Infidels believe not this when they read it, and therefore they must feel it; those that do believe it are forced to cry out with Paul, (Rom. h.13,) “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”  But nature itself does teach us all to lay the blame of evil works upon the doers ; and therefore when we see any heinous thing done, a principle of justice does provoke us to inquire after him that did it, that the evil of the work may return the evil of shame upon the author. If we saw a man killed and cut in pieces we would presently ask, Oh! who did this cruel deed? If the town was willfully set on fire, you would ask, what wicked wretch did this?  So when we read that many souls, will be miserable in hell for ever, we must needs think with ourselves, how comes this to pass? and whose fault is it? Who is it that is so cruel as to be the cause of such a thing as this? and we can meet with few that will own the guilt. It is indeed confessed by all, that Satan is the cause; but that does not remove the doubt, because he is not the principal cause. He does not force men to sin, but tempts them to it, and leaves it to their own wills whether they will do it or not. He does not carry men to a bar and force open their mouths and pour in the drink; nor does he hold them that they cannot go to God's service; nor does he force their hearts from holy thoughts. It lays therefore between God himself and the sinner; one of them must needs be the principal cause of all this misery, whichever it is, for there is no other to lay it upon; and God disclaims it; he will not take it upon him; and the wicked disclaim it usually, and they will not take it upon them, and this is the controversy that is here managing in my text. 

The Lord complains of the people; and the peo­ple think it is the fault of God. The same controversy is seen in Ezekiel 18:25 where they plainly say, "that the way of the Lord is not equal."  So here they say in verse 19, "If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how shall we then live?” As if they should say, if we must die, and be miserable, how can we help it? as if it  were not their fault, but God's. But God, in my text, does clear himself of it, and tells them how they may help it if they will, and persuades them to use the means, and if they will not be persuaded, he lets them know that it is the fault of themselves; and if this will not satisfy them, he will not forbear to punish them. It is he that will be the Judge, and he will judge them according to their ways; they are no judge of him or of themselves, as wanting authority, and wisdom, and impartiality; nor is it the caviling and quarrelling with God that shall serve their turn, or save them from the execution of justice, at which they murmur. 

The words of Ezekiel 33:11 contain: 

God's purgation or clearing himself from the blame of their destruction. This he does not by disowning his law, that the wicked shall die, nor by disowning his judgments and execution according to that law, nor giving them any hope that the law shall not be executed; but by processing that it is not their death that he takes pleasure in, but their returning rather, that they may live ; and this he confirms to them by his oath.  

An express exhortation to the wicked to return; wherein God does not only command, but persuade and con­descend also to reason the case with them. Why will they die? The direct end of this exhortation is, that they may turn and live. The secondary or reserved ends, upon supposition that this is not attained, are these two: First, To convince them by the means which he used, that it is not the fault of God if they be miserable. Secondly, To convince them from their manifest willfulness in rejecting all his commands and persuasions, that it is the fault of themselves, and they die, even because they will die. 

The substance of the text does lie in these observations following:

Doctrine I - It is the unchangeable law of God, that wicked men must turn or die.

Doctrine II -  It is the promise of God, that the wicked shall live, if they will but turn..

Doctrine III -  God takes pleasure in men's conversion and salvation, but not in their death or damnation: he would rather they would return and live, than go on and die.

Doctrine IV -  This is a most certain truth, which because God would not have men to question, he has confirmed it to them solemnly by his oath.

Doctrine V -  The Lord does redouble his commands and persuasions to the wicked to turn

Doctrine VI - The Lord condescends to reason the case with them; and asks the wicked why they will die?

Doctrine VII - If after all this the wicked will not turn, it is not the fault of God that they perish, but of themselves ; their own willfulness is the cause of their own damnation; they therefore die because they will die. 

Having laid the text open in these propositions, I shall next speak briefly of each or them in order.   

DOCTRINE I 

            It is the unchangeable law of God, that wicked men must turn, or die. 

If you will believe God, believe this: there is but one of these two ways for every wicked man, either conversion or damnation. I know the wicked will hardly be persuaded either of the truth or equity of this. No wonder if the guilty quarrel with the law. Few men are apt to believe that which they would not have to be true, and fewer would have that to be true which they apprehended to be against them. But it is not quarrelling with the law, or with the judge, that will save the malefactor. Believing and regard­ing the law, might have prevented his death; but denying and accusing it will but hasten it. If it were not so, a hundred would bring their reason against the law, for one that would bring his reason to the law, and men would rather choose to give their reasons why they should not be punished, than to hear the commands and reasons of their governors which require them to obey. The law was not made for you to judge, but that you might be ruled and judged by it. 

But if there be any so blind as to venture to ques­tion either the truth or the justice of this law of God, I shall briefly give you that evidence of both which I think should satisfy a reasonable man.

And first, if you doubt whether this be the word of God or not, besides a hundred other texts, you may be satisfied by these few: 

Matthew 18:3  “Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”  

John 3:3  “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again he cannot see the king­dom of God.” 

2 Corinthians 5:17  “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 

Colossians 3:9, 10  “Ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in know­ledge after the image of him that created him.” 

Hebrews 12:14  “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” 

Romans 8:8, 9.  “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” 

Galatians 6:5  “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” 

1 Peter 1:3  “According to his abundant grace he has be­gotten us to a lively hope.” 

1 Peter 1:23  “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” 

1 Peter 2:1, 2  “Wherefore laying aside malice and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and evil speaking, as new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” 

Psalm 9:17  “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” 

As I need not stay to open these texts which are so plain, so I think I need not add any more of that multitude which speak the like. If you be a man that does believe the word of God, here is already enough to satisfy you that the wicked must be converted or condemned. You are already brought so far, that you must either confess that this is true, or say plainly, you will not believe the word of God. And if once you come to that pass, there is but small hope for you: look to yourself as well as you can, for it is likely you will not be long out of hell. You would be ready to fly in the face of him that should give you the lie; and yet dare you give the lie to God? But if you tell God plainly you will not believe him, blame him not if he never warn you more, or if he forsake you, and give you up as hopeless; for to what purpose should he warn you, if you will not be­lieve him?  Should he send an angel from heaven to you, it seems you would not believe. For an angel can speak but the word of God; and if an angel should bring you any other gospel, you are not to receive it, but to hold him accursed (Gal. 1:8). And surely there is no angel to be believed before the Son of God, who came from the Father to bring us this doctrine. If He be not to be believed, then all the angels in heaven are not to be believed. And if you stand on these terms with God, I shall leave you till he deals with you in a more convincing way. God has a voice that will make you hear. Though he entreat you to hear the voice of his gospel, he will make you hear the voice of his condemning sentence, without entreaty. We cannot make you believe against your will; but God will make you feel against your will. 

But let us hear what reason you have why you will not believe this word of God, which tells us that the wicked must be converted, or condemned. I know your reason; it is because that you judge it unlikely that God should be so unmerciful: you think it cruelty to damn men everlastingly for so small a thing as a sinful life. And this leads us to the second thing, which is to justify the equity of God in his laws and judgments. 

First, I think you will not deny that it is most suitable to an immortal soul to be ruled by laws that promise an immortal reward, and threaten an endless punishment. Otherwise the law should not be suited to the nature of the subject, who will not be fully ruled by any lower means than the hopes or fears of everlasting things: as it is in cases of temporal pun­ishment, if a law were now made that the most hei­nous crimes shall be punished with a hundred years' captivity, this might be of some efficacy, as being equal to our lives. But, if there had been no other penalties before the flood, when men lived eight or nine hundred years, it would not have been sufficient, because men would know that they might have so many hundred years impunity afterward. So it is in our present case. 

Secondly, I suppose that you will confess, that the promise of an endless and inconceivable glory is not so unsuit­able to the wisdom of God, or the case of man: and why then should you not think so of the threatening of an endless and unspeakable misery! 

Third, when you find it in the word of God that so it is, and so it will be, do you think yourselves fit to con­tradict this word? Will you call your Maker to the bar, and examine his word upon the accusation or falsehood? Will you sit upon him and judge him by the law of your conceits? Are you wiser and better and more righteous than he? Must the God of heaven come to school to you to learn wisdom? Must Infinite Wisdom learn of folly, and Infinite Goodness be cor­rected by a sinner that cannot keep himself an hour clean? Must the Almighty stand at the bar of a worm? O horrid arrogancy of senseless dust! Shall ever mole, or clod, or dunghill, accuse the sun of dark­ness and undertake to illuminate the world? Where were you when the Almighty made the laws, that he did not call you to his counsel? Surely he made them before you were born, without desiring your advice; and you came into the world too late to re­verse them, if you could have done so great a work. You should have stepped out of your nothingness and have contradicted Christ when he was on earth or Mores before him, or have saved Adam and his sinful progeny from the threatened death, that so there might have been no need of Christ. And what if God withdraw his patience and sustaining power and let you drop into hell while you are quarrelling with his word, will you then believe that there is a hell? 

Fouthly, If sin be such an evil that it requires the death of Christ for its expiation, no wonder if it deserve our everlasting misery. 

Fifthly, If the sin of the devils deserved an endless torment, why not also the sin of man? 

Sixthly,  I think you should perceive that it is not possible for the best of men, much less for the wicked, to be competent judges of the desert of sin. Alas! We are both blind and partial. You can never fully know the desert of sin, till you fully know the evil of sin; and you can never fully know the evil of sin, till you fully know: 1 The excellency of the soul which it deforms; 2 The excellency of holiness which it obliterates; 3 The reason and excellency of the law which it violates; 4 The excellency of the glory which it despises; 5 The excellency and office of reason which it treads down; 6 No, nor till you know the infinite excellency, almightiness and holiness of that God against Whom it is committed. When you fully know all these, you shall fully know the desert of sin besides. You know that the offender is too partial to judge the law, or the proceeding of his judge. We judge by feeling which blinds our reason. We see, in common worldly things, that most men think the cause is right which is their own, and that all is wrong that is done against them; and let the most wise or just impartial friends persuade them to the contrary, and it is all in vain. There are few children but think the father is unmerciful, or deals severely with them if he whip them. There is scarce the vilest wretch but thinks the church does wrong him if they excommunicate him: or scarce a thief or murderer that is hanged, but would accuse the law and judge of cruelty, if that would serve their turn. 

Seventhly, Can you think that an unholy soul is fit for heaven? Alas, they cannot love God here, nor do him any service which he can accept. They are contrary to God, they loathe that which he most loves, and love that which he abhors. They are incapable of that imperfect communion with Him of which his saints here partake. How then can they live in that perfect love of him, and full delight and com­munion with him, which is the blessedness of heaven? You do not accuse yourselves of unmercifulness if you make not your enemy your bosom counselor; or if you take not your swine to bed and board with you: no, nor if you take away his life though he never sinned; and yet you will blame the absolute Lord, the most wise and gracious Sovereign of the world, if he condemn the unconverted to perpetual misery. 

USE.  I beseech you now, all that love your souls, that, instead of quarrelling with God and with his word, you will presently receive it, and use it for your good. All you that are yet unconverted, take this as the undoubted truth of God: You must, ere long, be con­verted or condemned; there is no other way but to turn, or die. When God, that cannot lie, has told you this; when you hear it from the Maker and Judge of the world, it is time for him that has ears, to hear. By this time you may see to what you have to trust. You are but dead and damned men, ex­cept you will be converted. Should I tell you other­wise, I should deceive you with a lie. Should I hide this from you, I should undo you, and be guilty of your blood, as the verses before my text assure me (Ezekiel 33:8).  “When I say to the wicked man, O wicked man, you shalt surely die; if you dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” You see then, though this be a rough and unwelcome doctrine, it is such as we must preach, and you must hear. It is easier to hear of hell than feel it. If your necessities did not require it, we would not gall your tender ears with truths that seem so harsh and grievous. Hell would not be so full, if peo­ple were but willing to know their case and to hear and think of it. The reason why so few escape it is because they strive not to enter in at the strait gate of conversion, and go the narrow way of holiness while they have time: and they strive not, because they are not awakened to a lively feeling of the danger they are in; and they are not awakened because they are loath to hear or think of it: and that is partly through foolish tenderness and carnal self-love, and partly be­cause they do not well believe the Word that threat­ens it. If you will not thoroughly believe this truth, I think the weight of it should force you to remem­ber it, and it should follow you, and give you no rest till you are converted. If you had but once heard this word by the voice of an angel, “You must be converted, or condemned: turn, or die” would it not stick in your mind, and haunt you night and day? So that in your sinning you would remember it, as if the voice were still in your ears, “Turn, or die!” O hap­py were your soul if it might thus work  with you and never be forgotten, or let you alone until it have driven home your heart to God. But if you will cast it out by forgetfulness or unbelief, how can it work to your conversion and salvation? But take this with you to your sorrow, though you may put this out of  your mind you cannot put it out of the Bible, but there it will stand as a  sealed truth, which you shall expe­rientially know forever, that there is no other way but, “Turn, or die.” 

O what is the matter then that the hearts of sinners are not pierced with such a weighty truth? A man would think now, that every unconverted soul that hears these words should be pricked to the heart, and think with himself,  ‘This is my own case,’ and never be quiet till he found himself converted. Believe it, this drowsy careless temper will not last long. Con­version and condemnation are both of them awakening things, and one of them will make you feel before long. I can foretell it as truly as if I saw it with my eyes, that either grace or hell will shortly bring these matters to the quick, and make you say, “What have I done? What a foolish wicked course have I taken?” The scornful and the stupid state of sinners, will last but a little while: as soon as they either turn or die, the presumptuous dream will be at an end, and then their wits and feeling will return. 

But I foresee there are two things that are likely to harden the unconverted, and make me lose all my labor, except they can be taken out of the way; and that is the misunderstanding on those two words: the wicked and turn. Some will think to themselves,  ‘It is true, the wicked must turn or die; but what is that to me, I am not wicked; though I am a sinner, all men are.’ Others will think, ‘It is true that we must turn from our evil ways, but I am turned long ago; I hope this is not now to do.’ And thus while wicked men think they are not wicked, but are al­ready converted, we lose all our labor in persuading them to turn. I shall therefore, before I go any fur­ther, tell you here who are meant by the wicked; and who they are that must turn or die; and also what is meant by turning, and who they are that are truly converted. And this I have purposely reserved for this place, preferring the method that fits my end. 

And here you may observe, that in the sense of the text, a wicked man and a converted man are contra­ries. No man is a wicked man that is converted; and no man is a converted man that is wicked; so that to be a wicked man and to be an unconverted man, is all one; and therefore in opening one, we shall open both. 

Before I can tell you what either wickedness or conversion is, I must go to the bottom, and fetch up the matter from the beginning. 

It pleased the great Creator of the world to make three sorts of living creatures.  Angels he made pure spirits without flesh, and therefore he made them only for heaven, and not to dwell on earth.  Beasts were made flesh, without immortal souls, and therefore they were made only for the earth, and not for heaven.  Man is of a middle nature, between both, as partaking of both flesh and spirit, and therefore he was made both for heaven and earth.  But as his flesh is made to be but a servant to his spirit, so is he made for earth but as his passage or way to heaven, and not that earth should be his home or happiness.  The blessed state that man was made for, was to behold the glorious majesty of the Lord, and to praise him among his Holy Angels, and to love him, and to be filled with his love forever.  And as this was the end that man was made for, so God did give him means that were fitted to the attaining of it.  These means were principally two: First, the right inclination and disposition of the mind of man.  Secondly, the right ordering of his life and practice.  For the first, God suited the disposition of man unto his end, giving him such knowledge of God as was fit for his present state, and a heart disposed and inclined to God in holy love.  But yet he did not fix or confirm him in this condition, but, having made him a free agent, he left him in the hands of his own free will.  For the second, God did that which belonged to him; that is, he gave him a perfect law, required him to continue in the love of God, and perfectly to obey him.  By the willful breach of this law, man did not only forfeit his hopes of everlasting life, but also turned his heart from God, and fixed it on these lower fleshly things, and hereby blotted out the spiritual image of God from his soul; so that man did both fall short of the glory of God, which was his end, and put himself out of the way by which he should have attained it, and this both as to the frame of his heart, and of his life.  The holy inclination and love of his soul to God, he lost, and instead of it he contracted an inclination and love to the pleasing of his flesh, or carnal self, by earthly things; growing strange to God and acquainted with the creature.  And the course of this life was suited to the bent and inclination of his heart; he lived to his carnal self, and not to God; he sought the creature, for the pleasing of his flesh, instead of seeking to please the Lord.  With this nature or corrupt inclination, we are all now born into the world; “for who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?” Job 14:4.  As a lion has a fierce and cruel nature before he does devour; and an adder has a venomous nature before she stings, so in our infancy we have those sinful natures or inclinations, before we think, or speak, or do amiss.  And hence springs all the sin in our lives; and not only so, but when God has, of his mercy, provided us a remedy, even the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of our souls, and bring us back to God again, we naturally love our present state, and are loathe to be brought out of it, and therefore are set against the means of our recovery: and though custom has taught us to thank Christ for his good-will, yet carnal self persuades us to refuse his remedies, and to desire to be excused when we are commanded to take the medicines which he offers, and are called to forsake all and follow him to God and glory. 

I pray you read over this again, and mark it; for in these few words you have a true description of our natural state, and consequently of wicked man; for every man that is in the state of corrupted nature is a wicked man, and in a state of death. 

By this also you are prepared to understand what it is to be converted: to which end you must further know, that the mercy of God, not willing that man should perish in his sin, provided a remedy, by causing his Son to take our nature, and being, in one person, God and man, to become a mediator between God and man; and by dying for our sins on the cross, to ransom us from the curse of God and the power of the devil.  And having thus redeemed us, the Father has delivered us into his hands as his own.  Here-upon the Father and the Mediator do make a new law and covenant with man, not like the first, which gave life to none but the perfectly obedient, and condemned man for every sin; but Christ has made a law of grace, or a promise of pardon and everlasting life to all that, by true repentance, and by faith in Christ, are converted unto God; like an act of oblivion, which is made by a prince to a company of rebels, on condition they lay down their arms and come in and be loyal subjects for the time to come. 

But, because the Lord knows that the heart of man is grown so wicked, that, for all this, men will not accept the remedy if they be left to themselves, therefore that Holy Spirit has undertaken it as his office to inspire the Apostles, and seal the Scriptures by miracles and wonders, and to illuminate and convert the souls of the elect. 

So by this much you see, that as there are three persons in the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, so each of these persons have their several works, which are eminently ascribed to them. 

The father’s works were, to create us, to rule us, as his rational creatures, by the law of nature, and judge us thereby; and in mercy to provide us a Redeemer when we were lost; and to send his Son, and accept his ransom. 

The works of the Son for us were these: to ransom and redeem us by his suffering and righteousness; to give out the promise or law of grace, and rule and judge the world as their Redeemer, on terms of grace; and to make intercession for us, that the benefits of his death may be communicated; and to send the Holy Spirit, which the Father also does by the Son. 

The works of the Holy Spirit, for us, are these: to indite the Holy Scriptures, by inspiring and guiding the Apostles, and sealing the word, by his miraculous gifts and works, and the illuminating and exciting the ordinary ministers of the gospel, and so enabling them and helping them to publish that word; and by the same word illuminating and converting the souls of men.  So that as you could not have been reasonable creatures, if the Father had not created you, nor have had any access to God, if the Son had not died, so neither can you have a part in Christ, or be saved, except the Holy Spirit do sanctify you. 

So that by this time you may see the several causes of this work.  The Father sends the Son: the Son redeems us and makes the promise of grace: the Holy Spirit indites and seal this Gospel: the Apostles are the secretaries of the Spirit to write it: the preachers of the Gospel to proclaim it, and persuade men to open it: and the Holy Spirit does make their preaching effectual, by opening the hearts of men to entertain it.  And all this to repair the image of God upon the soul, and to set the heart upon God again, and take it off the creature and carnal self to which it is revolted, and so turn the current of the life into a heavenly course, which before was earthly; and through this, embracing Christ by faith, who is the Physician of the soul. 

By what I have said, you may see what it is to be wicked, and what it is to be converted; which, I think, will yet be plainer to you, if I describe them as consisting of their several parts.  And for the first, a wicked man may be known by these three things: 

First, He is one who places his chief affections on earth, and loves the creature more than God, and his fleshly prosperity above the heavenly felicity. He savors the things of the flesh, but neither discern­s nor savors the things of the Spirit; though he will say, that heaven is better than earth, yet he cloth not really so esteem it to himself. If he might be sure of earth, he would let go heaven, and had rather stay here than be removed thither. A life of perfect holi­ness in the sight of God, and in his love and praises for ever in heaven, does not find such liking with his heart as a life of health, and wealth, and honor here upon earth. And though he falsely profess that he loves God above all, yet indeed he never felt the power of divine love within him, but his mind is more set on worldly or fleshly pleasures than on God. In a word, whoever loves earth above heaven, and fleshly prosperity more than God, is a wicked unconverted man. 

On the other hand, a converted man is illuminated to discern the loveliness of God, and so far believes the glory that is to be had with God, that his heart is taken up with it and set more upon it than any thing in this world. He had rather see the face of God, and live in his everlasting love and praises, than have all the wealth or pleasures of the world. He sees that all things else are vanity, and nothing but God can fill the soul; and therefore let the world go which way it will, he lays up his treasures and hopes in heaven, and for that he is resolved to let go all. As the fire does mount upward, and the needle that is touched with the loadstone still turns to the north, so the converted soul is inclined unto God. No­thing else can satisfy him: nor can he find any con­tent and rest but in his love. In a word, all that are converted do esteem and love God better than all the world, and the heavenly felicity is dearer to them than their fleshly prosperity. The proof of what I have said you may find in these places of Scriptures: Phil. 3:18, 21; Matt. 6:19, 20, 21; Col. 3:1,4; Rom. 8:5, 9, 18, 23; Psalm 73:25, 26. 

Secondly, A wicked man is one that makes it the principal business of his life to prosper in the world, and attain his fleshly ends. And though he may read, and hear, and do much in the outward duties of religion, and forbear disgraceful sins, yet this is all but by-the-by, and he never makes it the principal business of his life to please God, and attain everlast­ing glory, and puts off God with the leavings of the world, and gives him no more service than the flesh can spare, for he will not part with an for heaven. 

On the contrary, a converted man is one that makes it the principal care and business of his life to please God, and to be saved, and takes all the blessings of this life but as accommodations in his journey toward another life: and uses the creature in subordination to God; he loves a holy life, and longs to be more holy; he has no sin but what he hates, and longs, and prays, and strives to be rid of.  The drift and bent of his life is for God, and if he sin, it is contrary to the very bent of his heart and life; and therefore he rifleth again and laments it, and dares not willfully live in any known sin. There is nothing in this world so dear to him but he can give it up to God, and for­sake it for him and the hopes of glory.  All this you may see in Col. 3:1,5; Matt. 6:20, 33. Luke, 18: 22,23,29; Luke, 14:18,24,26, 27; Rom. 8: 13; Gal. 5:24; Luke 12: 21, &c. 

Thirdly, The soul of a wicked man did never truly discern and relish the mystery of redemption, nor thankfu1ly entertain an offered Savior, nor is he taken up with the love of the Redeemer, nor willing to be ruled by him as the Physician of his soul, that he may be saved from the guilt and power of his sins, and re­covered to God; but his heart is insensible of this un­speakable benefit, and is quite against the healing means by which he should be recovered. Though he may be willing to be outwardly religious, yet he never resigns up his soul to Christ and to the motions and conduct of his word and Spirit. 

On the contrary, the converted soul having felt himself undone by sin, and perceiving that he has lost his peace with God and hopes of heaven, and is in danger of everlasting misery, does thankfully enter­tain the tidings of redemption, and believing in the Lord Jesus as his only Savior, resigns himself up to him for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and re­demption. He takes Christ as the life of his soul, and lives by him, and uses him as a salve for every sore, admiring the wisdom and love of God in this wonder­ful work of man's redemption. In a word, Christ does even dwell in his heart by faith, and the life that he now lives is by the faith of the Son of God that loved him, and gave himself for him; yea, it is not so much he that lives, as Christ in him. For these, see Job 1:h, 12; 3:19,20. Rom.8: 9; Phil. 3: 7, 10; Gal. 2: 20; Job, 15: 2, 3, 4; 1 Cor.1: 20; 2: 2. 

You see now, in plain terms from the Word of God, who are the wicked and who are the converted. Igno­rant people think, that if a man be no swearer, nor curser nor railer, nor drunkard, nor fornicator, nor ex­tortioner, nor wrong any body in his dealings, and if he come to church and say his prayers, he cannot be a wicked man. Or if a man that has been guilty of drunkenness swearing, or gaming, or the like vices, do but forbear them for the time to come, they think that this is a converted man. Others think if a man that has been an enemy, and scorner at godliness, do but approve it, and be hated for it by the wicked, as the godly are, that this must needs be a converted man. And some are so foolish as to think that they are converted by taking up some new opinion, and falling into some dividing party. And some think, if they have but been affrighted by the fears of hell, and had convictions of conscience, and thereupon have purposed and promised amendment and take up life of civil behavior and outward religion, that this must needs be true conversion. And these are the poor deluded souls that are like to lose the benefit of all our persuasions; and when they hear that the wicked must turn or die, they think that this is not spoken to them, for they are not wicked, but are turned already. And therefore it is that Christ told some of the rulers of the Jews who were greater and more civil than the common people, that "publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of Christ before them" Matt. 21:31. Not that a harlot or gross sinner can be saved without conversion; but because it was easier to make these gross sinners perceive their sin and mi­sery , and the necessity of a change, than the more civil sort, who delude themselves by thinking that they are converted already, when they are not. 

O sirs, conversion is another kind of work than most are aware of. It is not a small matter to bring an earthly mind to heaven, and to show man the amiable excellence of God, till he be taken up in such love to him that can never be quenched; to break the heart for sin, and make him fly for refuge to Christ, and thankfully embrace him as the life of his soul; to have the very drift and bent of the heart and life changed; so that a man renounces that which he took for his felicity, and places his felicity where he never did before, and lives not to the same end, and drives not on the same design in the world, as he formerly did. In a word, he that is in Christ is a " new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." (2 Cor. 5:17). He has a new understanding, a new will and resolution, new sorrows, and desires, and love, and delight; new thoughts, new speeches, new company, (if possible) and a new conversation.  Sin, that before was a jesting matter with him, is now so odious and terrible to him that he flies from it as from death.  The world, that was so lovely in his eyes, does now appear but as vanity and vexa­tion: God, that was before neglected, is now the only happiness of his soul: before he was forgotten, and every lust preferred before him, but now he is set next the heart, and all things must give place to him; the heart is taken up in the attendance and observance of him, is grieved when be hides his face, and never thinks itself well without him. Christ himself, that was wont to be slightly thought of, is now his only hope and refuge, and he lives upon him as on his daily bread; he cannot pray without him, nor rejoice without him, nor think, nor speak, nor live without him. Heaven itself, that before was looked upon but as a tolerable reserve, which he hoped might serve his turn better than hell, when he could not stay any longer in the world, is now taken for his home, the place of his only hope and rest: where he shall see, and love, and praise that God that has his heart al­ready. Hell, that did seem before but as a bugbear to frighten men from sin, does now appear to be a real misery that is not to be ventured on, nor jested with. The works of holiness, of which before he was weary, and thought to be more than needful, are now both his recreation, and his business, and the trade that he lives upon. The Bible, which was before to him but almost as a common book, is now as the law of God; as a let­ter written to him, and subscribed with the name or the Eternal Majesty; it is the rule of his thoughts, and words, and deeds; the commands are binding, the threats are dreadful, and the promises of it speak life to his soul.  The godly, that seemed to him but like other men are now the most excellent and happy on earth. And the wicked that were his playfellows are now his grief; and he that could laugh at their sins is readier now to weep for their sin and misery, and to say with those of old, (Psalm 16:3; 15:4; Phil. 3:18) "But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight."  "In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honors them that fear the Lord: he that swears to his own hurt, and changes not."  "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ." In short, he has a new end in his thoughts and a new way in his endeavors, and therefore his heart and life are new. Before, his carnal self was his end, and his pleasure and worldly profits and credit were his way; and now God and everlasting glory are his end, and Christ, and the Spirit, and word, and ordinances. Holiness to God, and righteousness and mercy to men, these are his way. Before, self was the chief ruler, to which the matters of God and conscience must stoop and give place; and now God, in Christ, by the Spirit, word and ministry, is the chief ruler, to whom both self and all the matters of self must give place. So that this is not a change in one, or two, or twenty points, but in the whole soul, and in the very end and bent of the conversation. A man may step out of one path into another, and yet have his face the same way, and be still going toward the same place; but it is another matter to turn quite back, and take his journey quite the contrary way, to a contrary place. So it is here; a man may turn from drunkenness, and forsake other gross disgraceful sins, and set upon some duties of religion, and yet be still going to the same end as before, loving his carnal self above all, and giving it still the government of his soul; but when he is con­verted, this self is denied, and taken down, and God is set up, and his face is turned the contrary way: and he that before was addicted to himself and lived to himself is now, by sanctification, devoted to God, and lives unto God. Before, he asked himself what he should do with his time, his parts, and his estate, and for himself he used them; but now he asks God what he shall do with them, and use them for him. Before, he would please God so far as might accord with the pleasure of his flesh and carnal self but not to any great displeasure of them; but now he will please God, let flesh and self be never so much displeased. This is the great change that God will make upon all that shall be saved. 

You can say, that the Holy Ghost is our sanctifier; but do you know what sanctification is? Why, this is what I have now opened to you; and every man and woman in the world must have this, or be con­demned to everlasting misery. They must turn or die.  

Do you believe all this, sirs, or do you not? Surely you dare not say you do not; for it is past a doubt or denial. These are not controversies, where one learned pious man is of one mind, and another of another; where one party says this, and the other says that. Every sect among us that deserve to be called Chris­tians are all agreed in this that I have said; and if you will not believe the God of truth, and that in a case where every sect and party do believe him, you are utterly inexcusable. 

But if you do believe this, how comes it to pass that you live so quietly in an unconverted state? Do you know that you are converted?  Can you find this wonderful change upon your souls? Have you been thus born again, and made new? Are not these strange matters to many of you, and such as you never felt within yourselves? If you cannot tell the day or week of your change, or the very sermon that converted you, yet do you find that the work is done, that such a change indeed there is, and that you have such hearts as are before described? Alas!  The most do follow their worldly business, and little trouble their minds with such thoughts. And if they be restrained from scandalous bins, and can say, “I am no whore­monger, nor thief, nor curser, nor swearer, nor tippler, nor extortioner; I go to church, and say my prayers.”  They think that this is true conversion, and they shall be saved as well as any. Alas!  This is foolish cheat­ing of yourselves. This is too much contempt of an endless glory, and too gross neglect of your immortal souls. Can you make so light of heaven and hell? Your corpse will shortly lie in the dust, and angels or devils will presently seize upon your souls; and every man or woman of you all will shortly be among other company, and in another case than now you are. You will dwell in these houses but a little longer; you will work in your shops and fields but a little longer; you will sit in these seats and dwell on this earth but a little longer; you will see with these eyes, and hear with these ears, and speak, with these tongues, but a little longer, till the resurrection-day; and can you make shift to forget this? O what a place will you shortly be in of joy or torment! O what a sight will you shortly see in heaven or hell! O what thoughts will shortly fill your hearts with unspeakable delight or horror! What work will you be employed in!  To praise the Lord with saints and angels, or to cry out in fire unquenchable, with devils; and should all this be forgotten? And all this will be endless and sealed up by an unchangeable decree. Eternity, eternity will be the measure of your joys or sorrows: and can this be forgotten? And all this is true, sirs, most cer­tainly true. When you have gone up and down a little longer, and slept and awaked a few times more, you will be dead and gone, and find all true that now I tell you: and yet can you now so much forget it? You shall then remember that you had this call, and that, this day, in this place, you were reminded of these things, and perceive them matters a thousand times greater than either you or I could here conceive; and yet shall they be now so much forgotten? 

 Beloved friends, if the Lord had not awakened me to believe and to lay to heart these things myself, I should have remained in a dark and selfish state, and have perished for ever; but if he have truly made me sensible of them, it will constrain me to compassionate you as well as myself. If your eyes were so far opened as to see hell, and you saw your neighbors that were unconverted dragged there with hideous cries: though they were such as you accounted honest people on earth, and feared no such danger themselves, such a sight would make you go home and think of it, and think again, and make you warn all about you, as that lost worldling (Luke 16 :28) would have had his brethren warned, lest they come to that place of torment. Why, faith is a kind of sight; it is the eye of the soul, the evidence of things not seen. If 1 be­lieve God, it is next to seeing; and therefore I beseech you excuse me if I be half as earnest with you about these matters as if I had seen them. If I must die tomorrow, and it were in my power to come again from another world, and tell you what I had seen, would you not be willing to hear me?  Would you not believe, and regard what I should tell you?  If I might preach one sermon to you after I am dead, and have seen what is done in the world to come, would you not have me plainly speak the truth, and would you not crowd to hear me, and would you not lay it to heart? But this must not be; God has his appointed way of teaching you by Scriptures and mi­nisters, and he will not humor unbelievers so far as to send men from the dead to them, and alter his esta­blished way; if any man quarrel with the sun, God will not humor him so far as to set up a clearer light. Friends, I beseech you regard me now as you would do if I should come from the dead to you; for I can give you as full assurance of the truth of what I say to you as if I had been there and seen it with my eyes; for it is possible for one from the dead to deceive you; but Jesus Christ can never deceive you; the Word of God delivered in Scripture, and sealed by miracles, and holy workings of the Spirit, can never deceive you.  Believe this or believe nothing. Be­lieve and obey this, or you are undone. Now, as ever you believe the word of God, and as ever you care for the salvation of your souls, let me beg of you this reasonable request, and I beseech yon deny me not.  That you would now remember what has been said, and enter into an earnest search of your hearts, and ­say to yourselves: Is it so indeed; must I turn or die? Must I be converted or condemned? It is time for me then to look about me before it be too late. O why did not I look after this till now? Why did I venturously put off or neglect so great a business? Was I awake, or in my wits? O blessed God, what a mercy is it that you did not cut off my life all this while, before I had any certain hope of eternal life! Well, God forbid that I should neglect this work any longer. What state is my soul in? Am I converted, or am I not?  Was ever such a change or work done upon my soul? Have I been illuminated by the word and Spirit of the Lord to see the odiousness of sin, the need of a Savior, the love of Christ, and the excel­lence of God and glory? Is my heart broken or hum­bled within me for my former life? Have I thankfully entertained my Savior and Lord that offered himself with pardon and life for my soul? Do I hate my former sinful life and the remnant of every sin that is in me?  Do I fly from them as my deadly enemies? Do I give up myself to a life of holiness and obedience to God? Do I love it and delight in it? Can I truly say that I am dead to the world, and carnal self; and that I live for God and the glory which he has promised? Has heaven more of my estimation and resolution than earth? And is God the dearest and highest in my soul? Once I am sure I lived principally to the world and flesh, and God had nothing but some heartless services, which the world could spare, and which were the leavings of the flesh. Is my heart now turned another way? Have I a new design and a new end, and a new train of holy affections?  Have I set my hopes and heart in heaven?  And is it not the scope, and design, and bent of my heart, to get  well to heaven, and see the glorious face of God, and live in his love and praise?  And when I sin, is it against the habitual bent and design of my heart? And do I conquer all gross sins, and am I weary and willing to be rid of my infirmities?  This is the state of converted souls. And thus it must be with me, or I must perish. Is it thus with me indeed, or is it not?  It is time to get this doubt resolved, be­fore the dreadful Judge resolve it. I am not such a stranger to my own heart and life, but I may some­what perceive whether I am thus converted or not. If I be not, it will do me no good to flatter my soul with false conceits and hopes. I am resolved no more to deceive myself, but endeavor to know truly whether I be converted or not: that if I be, I may rejoice in it, and glorify my gracious Lord, and comfortably go on till I reach the crown: and If I am not, I may set myself to beg and seek after the grace that should con­vert me, and may turn without any more delay. For, if I find in time that I am out of the way, by the help of Christ I may turn and be recovered; but if I stay till either my heart be forsaken of God in blindness or hardness, or till I be caught away by death, it is then too late. There is no place for repentance and conversion then. I know it must be now or never. 

Sirs, this is my request to you, that you will but take your hearts to task, and thus examine them till you see, if it may be, whether you are converted or not? And if you cannot find it out by your own en­deavors, go to your ministers, if they be faithful and experienced men, and desire their assistance. The matter is great; let not bashfulness, nor carelessness hinder you. They are set over you, to advise you, for the saving of your soul, as physicians advise you for the curing of your bodies. It undoes many thousands that they think they are in the way to salvation when they are not; and think that they are converted when it is no such thing. And then when we call to them daily to turn, they go away as they came, and think that this concerns not them; for they are turned al­ready, and hope they shall do well enough in the way that they are in, at least if they pick the fairest path, and avoid some of the foulest steps, when, alas! all this while they live but to the world and flesh, and are strangers to God and eternal life; and are quite out of the way to heaven. And all this because we cannot persuade them to a few serious thoughts of their condition, and to spend a few hours in the ex­amining of their states. Are there not many self-deceivers who hear me this day, that never bestowed one hour, or quarter of an hour, in all their lives, to examine their souls, and try whether they are truly converted or not? O merciful God, that will care for such wretches that care no more for themselves, and that will do so much to save them from hell, and help them to heaven, who will do so little for it themselves! If all that are in the way to hell, and in the state of damnation, did but know it, they’d dare not continue in it. The greatest hope that the devil has of bring­ing you to damnation without a rescue, is by keeping you blindfold, and ignorant of your state, and making you believe that you may do well enough in the way that you are in. If you knew that you were out of the way to heaven, and were lost forever if you should die as you are, dare you sleep another night in the state that you are in? Dare you live another day in it? Could you heartily laugh, or be merry in such a state? What! And not know but you may be snatch­ed away to hell in an hour? Sure it would constrain you to forsake your former company and courses, and to betake yourselves to the ways of holiness and the communion of saints. Sure it would drive you to cry to God for a new heart, and to seek help of those that are fit to counsel you. There are none of you that care for being damned. Well, then I beseech you presently make inquiry into your hearts, and give them no rest till you find out your condition, that if it be good, you may rejoice in it, and go on; and if it be bad, you may presently look about you for recovery, as men that believe they must turn or die. What say you sirs, will you resolve and promise to be at thus much labor for your own souls? Will you now enter upon this self-examination? Is my request unreason­able? Your consciences know it is not.    Resolve on it then before you stir; knowing how much it con­cerns your souls. I beseech you, for the sake of that God that does command you, at whose bar you will all shortly appear, that you do not deny me this rea­sonable request. For the sake of  souls that must turn or die, I beseech you deny me not; but make it your business to understand your own conditions, and build upon sure ground, and know whether you are converted or not; and venture not your souls on negligent security. 

But perhaps you will say, ‘What if we should find ourselves yet unconverted, what shall we do then?’  This question leads me to my second Doctrine, which will do much to the answering of it, to which I now proceed. 

DOCTRINE II   

It is the promise of God, that the wicked shall live, if they will but turn – unfeignedly and thoroughly turn. 

The Lord here professes that this is what he takes pleasure in, that the wicked turn and live. Heaven is made as sure to the converted, as hell is to the unconverted.  Turn and live, is as certain a truth as turn or die. God was not bound to provide us a Sa­vior, nor open to us a door of hope, nor call us to re­pent and turn, when once we had cast ourselves away by sin. But he has freely done it to magnify his mercy. Sinners, there are none of you shall have cause to go home, and say I preach desperation to you. Do we use to shut the door of mercy against you? O that you would not shut it up against your­selves! Do we use to tell you that God will have no mercy on you, though you turn and be sanctified? When did you ever hear a preacher say such a word?  You that cavil at the preachers of the Gospel for de­siring to keep you out of hell, and say, that they preach desperation; tell me if you can; when did you ever hear any sober man say, that there is no hope for you, though you repent, and be converted? No, it is the direct contrary that we daily proclaim from the Lord; and whoever is born again, and by faith and repentance does become a new creature, shall cer­tainly be saved; and so far are we from persuading you to despair of this, that we persuade you not to make any doubt of it. It is life: not death, that is the first part of our message to you; our commission is to offer salvation, certain salvation; a speedy, glorious, everlasting salvation, to everyone of you; to the poorest beggar as well as the greatest lord; to the worst of you, even to drunkards, swearers, worldlings, thieves, yea, to the despisers and reproachers of the holy way of salvation. We are commanded by the Lord our Master to offer you a pardon for all that is past, if you will but now at last return and live; we are com­manded to beseech and entreat you to accept the offer, and return; to tell you what preparation is made by Christ; what mercy stays for you; what patience waits for you; what thoughts of kindness God has toward you; and how happy, how certainly and unspeakably happy you may be if you will. We have indeed also a message of wrath and death, yea, of a twofold wrath and death; but neither of them is our principal message. We must tell you of the wrath that is on you already, and the death that you are born under, for the breach of the law of works; but this is but to show you the need of mercy, and to provoke you to esteem the grace of the Redeemer. And we tell you nothing but the truth, which you must know; for who will seek for physic that knows not that he is sick ? Our telling you of your misery is not that which makes you miserable, but drives you out to seek for mercy. It is you that have brought this death upon yourselves. We tell you also of an­other death, even remediless and much greater tor­ment that will fall on those that will not be converted. But as this is true, and must be told you, so it is but the last and saddest part of our message. We are first to offer you mercy, if you will turn; and it is only those that will not turn, nor hear the voice of mercy, to whom we must foretell damnation. Will you but cast away your transgressions, delay no longer, but come away at the call of Christ, and be converted, and become new creatures, and we have not a word of damning wrath or death to speak against you. I do here in the name of the Lord of Life, proclaim to you all that hear me this day, to the worst of you, to the greatest, to the oldest sinner, that you may have mercy and salvation, if you will but turn. There is mercy in God, there is sufficiency in the satisfaction of Christ, the promise is free, and full, and universal; you may have life, if you will but turn. But then, as you love your souls, remember what turning it is that the Scripture speaks of. It is not to mend the old house, but to pull down all, and build anew on Christ, the Rock, and sure foundation. It is not to mend somewhat in a carnal course of life, but to mortify the flesh, and live after the Spirit. It is not to serve the flesh and the world, in a more reformed way, without any scandalous disgraceful sins, and with a certain kind of religiousness; but it is to change your master, and your works, and end; and to set your face the contrary way, and do all for the life that you never saw, and dedicate yourselves and all you have to God. This is the change that must be made, if you will live.

Yourselves are witnesses now, that it is salvation, and not damnation, that is the great doctrine I preach to you, and the first part of my message to you. Ac­cept of this, and we shall go no farther with you; for we would not so much as affright, or trouble you with the name of damnation, without necessity. 

But if you will not be saved, there is no remedy, but damnation must take place; for there is no middle place between the two; you must have either life or death. 

And we are not only to offer you life, but to show you the grounds on which we do it, and call you to believe that God does mean, indeed, as he speaks; that the promise is true, and extended conditionally to you, as well as others; and that heaven is no fancy, but a true felicity. 

If you ask, Where is your commission for this offer? Among a hundred texts of Scripture, I will show it to you in these few: 

First, You see it here in my text, and the following verses, and in the 18th of Ezekiel, as plain as can be spoken;  

And in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, you have the very sum of our commission:  “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 

So Mark 16:15, 16,  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  He who has believed (that is with such a converting faith as is expressed) and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”  

And Luke 24:46, 47, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance (which is conversion) for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” 

And Acts 5:30, 31, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.  He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” 

And Acts 13:38, 39, “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.” 

And lest you think this offer is restrained to the Jews, see Galatians 6:15, “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” 

And Luke 14:17, “Come; for everything is ready now.” 

You see by this time that we are commanded to offer life to you all, and to tell you from God, that if you will turn, you may live.

Here you may safely trust your souls; for the love of God is the foundation of this offer, (John 3:16) and the blood of the Son of God has purchased it; the faithfulness and truth of God is engaged to make the promise good; miracles often sealed the truth of it; preachers are sent through the world to proclaim it; and the Spirit does open the heart to entertain it, and is itself the earnest of the full possession: so that the truth of it is past controversy, that the worst of you all, and everyone of you, if you will but be converted, may be saved. 

Indeed, if you will believe that you shall be saved without conversion, then you believe a falsehood; and if I should preach that to you, I should preach a lie. This were not to believe God, but the devil and your own deceitful hearts. God has his promise of life, and the devil has his promise of life. God's promise is, Return and live. The devil's promise is, You shall live whether you turn or not. The words of God are, as I have showed you, “Except you be converted and become as little children, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).  “Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5).  “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).  The devil's word is,  “You may be saved without being born again and converted; you may do well enough without being holy, God does but frighten you; he is more merciful, than to do as he says, he will be better to you than his word.”  And, alas, the greatest part of the world believe this word of the devil before the word of God; just as our sin and misery came into the world.  God said to our first parents,  “If ye eat ye shall die” and the devil contradicted him, and said, “Ye shall not die” and the woman believed the devil before God. So now the Lord says, Turn or die: and the devil says, You shall not die, if you do but cry for God's mercy at last, and give over the acts of sin when you can practice it no longer. And this is the word that the world believes. O heinous wickedness to believe the devil before God. 

And yet that is not the worst; but blasphemously they call this a believing and trusting in God, when they put him in the shape of Satan, who was a liar from the beginning; and when they believe that the word of God is a lie, they call this a trusting God, and say they believe in him, and trust in him for salva­tion. Where did ever God that the unregenerate, unconverted, unsanctified, shall be saved?  Show me such a word in Scripture. Why this is the devil's word and to believe it is to believe the devil, and the sin that is commonly called presumption; and do you call this a believing and trusting in God? There is enough in the word of God to comfort and strengthen the heart of the sanctified, but not a word to strengthen the hands of wickedness, nor to give men the least hope of being saved though they be never sanctified. 

But if you will turn, and come into the way of mercy, the mercy of the Lord is ready to entertain you.  Then trust God for salvation, boldly and confidently; for he is engaged by his word to save you.  He will be a father to none but his children; and he will save none but those that forsake the world, the devil, and the flesh, and come into his family to be members of his Son, and have communion with his saints. But if they will not come in, it is the fault of themselves: his doors are open; he keeps none back; he never sent such a message as this to any of you, “It is now too late; I will not receive you, though you be converted.”   He might have done so and done you no wrong; but he did not; he does not to this day. He is still ready to receive you, if you were but ready, unfeignedly, and with all your hearts, to turn. And the fullness of this truth will yet more appear in the two following doctrines, which I shall therefore next proceed to before I make any further application of this. 

DOCTRINE III 

God takes pleasure in men's conversion and salvation, but not in their death or damnation. He had rather they would turn and live, than go on and die. 

“The Lord is long suffering toward us,” says the apostle, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should came to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He un­feignedly wills the conversion of all men, even of those that never will be converted, but not as absolute Lord with the fullest efficacious resolution nor as a thing which he resolves shall undoubtedly come to pass, or would engage all his power to accomplish. It is in the power of a prince to set a guard upon a mur­derer, to see that he shall not murder, and be hanged; but if, upon good reason, he forbear this, and do but send to his subjects to warn and entreat them not to be murderers, he may well say that he would not have them murder and be hanged; he takes no pleasure in it, but rather that they forbear and live, and if he do more for some upon some special reason, he is not bound to do so by all. The king may well say to all murderers and felons in the land, “I have no pleasure in your death, but rather that you would obey my laws and live; but if you will not, I am resolved, for all this that you shall die.” The judge may truly say to the murderer, “Alas, I have no delight in your death; I had rather you had kept the law and saved your life; but seeing you has not, I must condemn you, or else I should be unjust.” So, though God have no pleasure in your damnation, and therefore calls upon you to return and live, yet he has pleasure in the demonstration of his own justice, and the execut­ion of his laws; and therefore he is, for all this, fully resolved, that if you will not be converted, you shall be condemned. If God was so much against the death of the wicked as that he were resolved to do all that he can to hinder it, then no man should be condemned; whereas Christ tells you, that “nar­row is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” But so far God is opposed to your damnation as that he will teach you, and warn you, and set before you life and death, and offer you your choice, and command his ministers to entreat you not to destroy yourselves, but accept his mercy, and so to leave you without excuse. But if this will not do, and if still you be unconverted, he professes to you, he is resolved on your damnation, and has com­manded us to say to you in his name, verse 8, “O wicked man you shall surely die!” And Christ has little less than sworn it, over and over, with a "verily, verily except ye be converted and born again ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3; John 3:3). Mark, that he said, "you can­not.” It is in vain to hope for it, and in vain to dream that God is willing for it; for it is a thing that cannot be. 

In a word, you see then the meaning of the text, that God, the great Lawgiver of the world, does take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn and live; though yet He be resolved that none shall live but those that turn; and as a judge, even delights in justice, and in manifesting His hatred of sin, though not in the misery which sinners have brought upon themselves, in itself considered. 

And for the proofs of the point, I shall be very brief in them, because I suppose you easily believe it already.

1. The very gracious nature of God proclaimed. "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaim­ed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty" ( Ex. 34:6-7).  And frequently elsewhere, may assure you of this,  that He has no pleasure in your death. 

2. If God had more pleasure in your death, than in your conversion and life, He would not have so frequently commanded you in His word, to turn: He would not have made you such promises of life, if you will but turn: He would not have persuaded you to it by so many reasons. The tenor of His Gospel proves the point. 

3.  And His commission that He has given to the ministers of the Gospel does fully prove it. If God had taken more pleasure in your damnation, than in your conversion and salvation, He would never have charged us to offer you mercy, and to teach you the way of life, both publicly and privately: and to en­treat and beseech you to turn and live; to acquaint you with your sins, and foretell you of your danger; and to do all that possibly we can for your conversion, and to continue patiently so doing, though you should hate or abuse us for our pains. Would God have done this, and appointed His ordinances for your good, if He had taken pleasure in your death? 

4. It is proved also by the course of His providence. If God had rather you were damned than converted and saved, He would not second His word with His works, and entice you by His daily kindness to Himself, and give you all the mercies of this life, which are means "to lead you to repentance" (Rom. 2:4), and bring you so often under His rod, to lead you to your senses; He would not set so many examples before your eyes, no, nor wait on you so patiently as He does from day to day, and year to year. These are not signs of one that takes pleasure in your death. If this had been His delight, how easily could He have had you long ago in hell? How oft, before this, could He have caught you away in the midst of your sins with a curse or oath, or lie in your mouth, in your igno­rance, and pride, and sensuality? When you were last in your drunkenness, or last deriding the ways of God, how easily could He have stopped your breath, and tamed you with plagues, and made you sober in another world! Alas! how small a matter is it for the Almighty to rule the tongue of the profanest railer, and tie the hands of the most malicious persecutor, or calm the jury of the bitterest of His enemies, and make them know that they are but worms? If' He should but frown upon you, you would drop into your grave.  If He gave commission to one of His angels to go and destroy ten thousand sinners, how quickly would it be done! How easily can He lay you upon the bed of languishing and make you lie roaring there in pain, and make you eat the words of reproach which you have spoken against His servants, His word, His wor­ship and His holy ways, and make you send to beg their prayers whom you did despise in your presump­tion? How easily can He lay that flesh under pains, and groans, and make it too weak to hold your soul, and make it more loathsome than the dung of the earth? That flesh which now must have what it loves, and must not be displeased, though God be displeased; and must be humored in meat, and drink, and clothes, whatever God say to the contrary, how quickly would the frowns of God consume it? When you were passionately defending your sin, and quar­relling with them that would have drawn you from it, and showing your spleen against the reprover, and pleasing for the works of darkness; how easily could God have snatched you away in a moment, and set you before His dreadful Majesty, where you should see ten thousand times ten thousand glorious angels waiting on His throne, and have called you there to plead your cause, and asked you "What have you now to say against your Creator, His truth, His servants, or His holy ways? Now plead your cause, and make the best of it you can.  Now what can you say in excuse of your sins? Now give account of your worldliness and fleshly life, of your time, of all the mercies you have had." O how your stubborn heart would have melted, and your proud looks be taken down: and your countenance be appalled, and your stout words turned into speechless silence, or dreadful cries, if God had but set you thus at His bar, and pleaded His own cause with you, which you have here so maliciously pleaded against! How easily can He at any time say to your guilty soul, Come away, and live in that flesh no more till the resurrection, and it cannot resist! A word of His mouth would take off the poise of your pre­sent life, and then all your parts and powers would stand still; and if He say unto you, Live no longer, or, live in hell, you could not disobey. 

But God has yet done none of this, but has pa­tiently forborne you, and mercifully upheld you, and given you that breath which you did breathe out against Him, and given those mercies which you did sacrifice to your flesh, and afforded you that pro­vision which you did use to satisfy your greedy throat: He gave you every minute of that time which you did waste in idleness, or drunkenness, or world­liness; and does not all His patience and mercy show that He desired not your damnation? Can the candle burn without the oil? Can your houses stand without the earth to bear them? No more can you live an hour without the support of God. And why did He so long support your life, but to see when you would think you of the folly of your ways, and return and live? Will any man purposely put arms into his ene­my's hands to resist him, or hold a candle to a mur­derer that is killing his children, or to an idle servant that plays or sleeps the while? Surely it is to see whether you will at last return and live, that God has so long waited on you. 

5. It is further proved by the suffering of His Son, that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Would He have ransomed them from death at so dear a rate? Would He have astonished angels and men by His condescension? Would God have dwelt in flesh, and have come in the form of a servant, and have assumed humanity into one person with the God-head; and would Christ have lived a life of suffering, and died a cursed death for sinners, if He had rather taken pleasure in their death? Suppose you saw Him but so busy in preaching and healing of them; as you find Him in Mark 3:21; or so long in fasting, as in Matt. 4; or all night in prayer, as in Luke 6:12; or praying with the drops of blood trickling from Him instead of sweat, as Luke 22:44 ; or suffering a cursed death upon the cross, and pouring out His soul as a sa­crifice for our sins - would you have thought these the signs of one that delighted in the death of the wicked? 

And think not to extenuate it by saying, that it was only for His elect: for it was your sin, and the sin of all the world, that lay upon our Redeemer; and His sacrifice and satisfaction is sufficient for all, and the fruits of it are offered to one as well as another. But it is true, that it was never the intent of His mind to par­don and save any that would not, by faith and repen­tance, be converted. If you had seen and heard Him weeping and bemoaning the state of disobedience in impenitent people, (Luke 19:41-42) "And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, if you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things which belong unto your peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes" -or complaining of their stubbornness, as Matt. 23:37, " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” or if you had seen and heard him on the cross praying for His persecutors – “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” - would you have suspected that He had delighted in the death of the wicked, even of those that perish by their willful unbelief? When God has so loved, (not only loved, but so loved) as to give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believ­eth in Him (by an effectual faith) should not perish, but have everlasting life, I think He has hereby proved, against the malice of men and devils, that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but had rather that they would " turn and live." 

6. Lastly, if all this will not yet satisfy you, take His own word that knows best his own mind, or at least believe his oath: but this leads me to the fourth doctrine.  

DOCTRINE IV 

The Lord has confirmed to us by His Oath, that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that he turn and live; that He may leave man no pretence to question the truth of it. 

If you dare question his word, I hope you dare not question His oath. As Christ has solemnly protested that the unregenerate and unconverted cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:3; John 3:3); so God has sworn that His pleasure is not in their death, but in their conversion and life. And as the apostle said, “For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us” (Heb. 4:16- 18). If there be any man that cannot reconcile this truth with the doctrine of predestination, or the actual damnation of the wicked, that is his own ignorance; he has no pretence left to question or deny therefore the truth of the point in hand; for this is confirmed by the oath of God, and therefore must not be distorted to reduce it to other points: but doubtful points must rather be reduced to it, and certain truths must be believed to agree with it, though our shallow minds hardly discern the agreement. 

USE. --I do now entreat you, if you be an uncon­verted sinner that hears these words, that you would ponder a little upon the aforementioned doc­trines, and think awhile who it is that takes pleasure in your sin and damnation. Certainly it is not God; He has sworn for His part that He takes no pleasure in it. And I know it is not the pleasing of Him that you intend. You dare not say that you drink, and swear, and neglect holy duties, and quench the motions of the Spirit to please God. That were as if you should reproach the prince, and break his laws, and seek his death, and say you did all this to please him. 

Who is it then that takes pleasure in your sin and death? Not any that bear the image of God, for they must be like minded to Him. God knows, it is small pleasure to your faithful teachers to see you serve your deadly enemy, and madly venture your eternal state, and willfully run into the flames of hell. It is small pleasure to them to see upon your souls (in the sad effects) such blindness, and hard-heartedness and carelessness, and presumption; such willfulness in evil, and such unteachableness and stiffness against the ways of life and peace; they know these are marks of death, and of the wrath of God, and they know, from the word of God, what is like to be the end of them, and therefore it is no more pleasure to them than to a tender physician to see the plague-marks broke out upon his patient. Alas, to foresee your ever­lasting torments, and know not how to prevent them! To see how near you are to hell; and we cannot make you believe it and consider it. To see how easily: how certainly you might escape, if we knew but how to make you willing. How fair you are for everlast­ing salvation, if you would turn and do your best, and make it the care and business of your lives! But you will not do it; if our lives lay on it, we cannot per­suade you to it. We study day and night what to say to you that may convince and persuade you, and yet it is undone: we lay before you the word of God. And show you the very chapter and verse where it is written, that you cannot be saved except you be con­verted; and yet we leave the most of you as we find you. We hope you will believe the word of God, though you believe not us, and regard it when we show you the plain Scripture for it; but we hope in vain, and labor in vain as to any saving change upon your hearts! And do you think that this is a pleasant thing to us? Many a time, in secret prayer, we are fain to complain to God with sad hearts, "Alas, Lord, we have spoken to them in Your name, but they little regard us; we have told them what You bid us tell them concerning the danger of an unconverted state but they do not believe us: we have told them that you hast protested that there is no peace to the wicked (Isa. 57:21) but the worst of them all will scarcely believe that they are wicked. We have showed them Your word, where You have said that if they live after the flesh they shall die (Rom. 8:13) but they say, they will believe in You, when they will not believe You; and that they will trust in You, when they give no credit to Your word; and when they hope that the threats of Your word are false, they will yet call this a hoping in God ; and though we show them where You have said that when a wicked man dies, all his hopes perish, yet cannot we persuade them from their deceitful hopes (Prov. 11:7). We tell them what a base unprofitable thing sin is; but they love it, and therefore will not leave it. We tell them how dear they buy this plea­sure, and what they must pay for it in everlasting torment; and they bless themselves, and will not be­lieve it, but will do as the most do; and because God is merciful, they will not believe Him, but will ven­ture their souls, come what will. We tell them how ready the Lord is to receive them, and this does but make them delay their repentance and be bolder in their sin. Some of them say they purpose to repent, but they are still the same; and some say they do repent already, while yet they are not converted from their sins. We exhort them, we entreat them, we offer them our help, but we cannot prevail with them but they that were drunkards, are drunkards still; and they that were voluptuous flesh-pleasing wretches, are such still ; and they that were worldly, are world­ly still; and they that were ignorant, and proud, and self-conceited, are so still. Few of them will see and confess their sin, and fewer will forsake it, but comfort themselves that all men are sinners, as if there were no difference between a converted sinner and an unconverted. Some of them will not come near us, when we are willing to instruct them, but think they know enough already, and need not our instruction ; and some of them will give us the hearing and do what they list; and most of them are like dead men that cannot feel; so that when we tell them of the matters of everlasting consequence, we cannot get a word of it to their hearts. If we do not obey them, and humor them in doing all that they would have us, though never so much against the word of God, they will hate us, and rail at us; but if we beseech them to confess, and forsake their sins, and save their souls, they will not do it. They would have us dis­obey God and damn our own souls, to please them; and yet they will not turn and save their own souls to please God. They are wiser in their own eyes than all their teachers; they rage and are confident in their own way, and if we are ever so anxious we cannot change them. Lord, this is the case of our miserable neighbors, and we cannot help it; we see them ready to drop into hell, and we cannot help it; we know if they would unfeignedly turn, they might be saved, but we cannot persuade them; if we would beg it of them on our knees, we cannot persuade them to it; if we would beg it of them with tears, we cannot persuade them; and what more can we do?” 

These are the secret complaints and moans that  many a poor minister is compelled to make. And do you think that he has any pleasure in this? Is it a pleasure to him to see you go on in sin, and cannot stop you?  To see you so miserable, and cannot so much as make you sensible of it? To see you merry when you are not sure to be an hour out of hell? To think what you must for ever suffer, because you will not turn? And to think what an everlasting life of glory you willfully despise and cast away? What sadder thing can you bring to their hearts, and how can you devise to grieve them more? 

Who is it then that you please by your sin and death? It is none of your understanding godly friends. Alas it is the grief of their souls to see your misery, and they lament you many a time when you give them little thanks for it, and when you have not hearts to lament yourselves. 

Who is it then that takes pleasure in your sin? 

1. The devil indeed takes pleasure in your sin and death; for this is the very end of all his temptations; for this he watches night and day; you cannot devise to please him better than to go on in sin. How glad is he when he sees you going into the alehouse, or other sin and when he hears you curse, or swear, or rail?  How glad is he when he hears you revile the minister that would draw you from your sin, and help to save you? These are his delight. 

2. The wicked are also delighted in it; for it is agreeable to their nature. 

3. But I know, for all this, that it is not the pleas­ing of the devil that you intend, even when you please him; but it is your own flesh, the greatest and most dangerous enemy, that you intend to please. It is the flesh that would be pampered, that would be pleased in meat, and drink, and clothing; that would be pleased in your company, and pleased in applause and credit with the world, and pleased in sports, and lusts, and idleness; this is the gulf that devours all. This is the very god that you serve, for the Scripture says of such, that their bellies are their gods (Phil. 3:19).  But I beseech you stay a little and consider the bu­siness. 

1. Question. Should your flesh be pleased before your Maker?  Will you displease the Lord, and dis­please your teacher, and your godly friends, and all to please your brutish appetites, or sensual desires?  Is not God worthy to be the ruler of your flesh? If He shall not rule it, He will not save it; you cannot in reason expect that He should. 

2. Question. Your flesh is pleased with your sin, but is your conscience pleased? Does not it grudge within you, and tell you sometimes that all is not well, and that your case is not so safe as you make it to be; and should not your souls and consciences be pleased before your corruptible flesh? 

3. Question. But is not your flesh preparing for its own displeasure also? It loves the bait, but does it love the hook? It loves the strong drink and sweet morsels; it loves its ease, and sports, and merriment; it loves to be rich, and well spoken of by men, and to be somebody in the world; but does it love the curse of God? Does it love to stand trembling before His bar, and to be judged to everlasting fire? Does it love to be tormented with the devils for ever? Take all together; for there is no separating sin and hell, but only by faith and true conversion; if you will keep one, you must have the other. If death and hell be pleasant to you no wonder then if you go on in sin, but if they be not (as I am sure they are not), then what if sin were never so pleasant, is it worth the loss of life eternal? Is a little drink, or meat, or ease; is the good word of sinners, is the riches of this world to be valued above the joys of heaven? Or are they worth the sufferings of eternal fire? Sirs, these questions should be considered before you go any further, by every man that has reason to consider, and that believes he has a soul to save or lose. 

Well, the Lord here swears that He has no plea­sure in your death, but rather that you would turn and live; if yet you will go on and die rather than turn, remember it was not to please God that you did it: it was to please the world, and to please your­selves. And if men will damn themselves to please themselves, and run into endless torments for delight, and have not the wit, the hearts, the grace, to hearken to God or man that would reclaim them, what remedy is there, but they must take what they get by it, and repent it in another manner, when it is too late? Before I proceed any further in the application I shall come to the next doctrine, which gives me a fuller ground for it. 

DOCTRINE V 

So earnest is God for the conversion of sinners that He  doubles His commands and exhortations, with vehemency - Turn ye, turn ye, why will you die? 

This doctrine is the application of the former, as by a use of exhortation, and accordingly I shall han­dle it. Is there an unconverted sinner that hears these vehement words of God? Is there a man or woman in this assembly that is yet a stranger to the renewing sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost? It is a happy assembly, if it be not so with the most. Hearken then to the voice of your Maker, and turn to Him by Christ without delay. Would you know the will of God? Why this is His will, that you presently turn. Shall the living God send so earnest a message to His creatures, and should they not obey? 

Hearken then, all you that live after the flesh: the Lord that gave you your breath and being has sent a message to you from heaven; and this is His mes­sage, Turn ye, turn ye, why will you die? He that has ears to hear, let him hear. Shall the voice of the eternal Majesty be neglected? If He do but ter­ribly thunder, you art afraid. O but this voice does more nearly concern you. If He did but tell you “you shall die to-morrow”, you would not make light of it. O but this word concerns your life or death ever­lasting. It is both a command and an exhortation. As if He had said to you, "I charge you, upon the allegiance that you owe to Me your Creator and Redeemer, that you renounce the flesh, the world, and the devil, and turn to Me, that you may live.”  I condescend to entreat you, as you either love or fear Him that made you; as you love your own life, even your everlasting life, turn and live: as ever you would escape eternal misery, turn, turn, for why will you die?  And is there a heart in man, in a reasonable creature, that can once refuse such a message, such a command, such an exhortation as this? O what a thing, then, is the heart of man! 

Hearken, then, all that love yourselves, and all that regard your own salvation; here is the most joyful message that was ever sent to the ears of man, "Turn ye, turn ye, why will you  die?”  You are not yet shut up under desperation. Here is mercy offered you; turn, and you shall have it. O Sirs! With what glad and joyful hearts should you receive these tid­ings! I know this is not the first time that you have heard it; but how have you regarded it, or how do you regard it now? Hear, all you ignorant, careless sinners, the word of the Lord. Hear, all you world­lings, you sensual flesh-pleasers; you gluttons, and drunkards, and whoremongers, and swearers; you railers and backbiters, slanderers and liars - Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? 

Hear, all you cold and outside professors, and all that are strangers to the life of Christ, and never knew the power of His cross and resurrection, and never felt your hearts warmed with His love, and live not on Him as the strength of your souls - Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? 

Hear, all that are void of the love of God, whose hearts are not toward Him, nor taken up with the hopes of glory, but set more by your earthly prospe­rity and delights than by the joys of heaven; all you that are religious but a little-by-the-by, and give God no more than your flesh can spare; that have not de­nied your carnal selves, and forsaken all that you have for Christ, in the estimation and grounded resolution of your souls, but have some one thing in the world so dear to you that you cannot spare it for Christ, if He required it, but will rather venture on His displea­sure than forsake it - Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? 

If you never heard it, or observed it before, remem­ber that you were told from the word of God this day, that if you will but turn, you may live; and if you will not turn, you shall surely die. 

What now will you do, sirs? What is your reso­lution? Will you turn, or will you not? Halt not any longer between two opinions. If the Lord be God, follow Him: if your flesh be God, then serve it still. If heaven be better than earth and fleshly plea­sures, come away, then, and seek a better country, and lay up your treasure where rust and moths do not corrupt, and thieves cannot break through and steal; and be awakened at last, with all your might, to seek the kingdom that cannot be moved (Heb. 12 : 28) and to employ your lives on a higher design, and turn the stream of your cares and labors another way than formerly you have done. But if earth be better than heaven, or will do more for you, or last you longer, then keep it, and make your best of it, and follow it still. Sirs, are you resolved what to do? If you be not, I will set a few more moving considera­tions before you, to see if reason will make you resolve. 

Consider 1^st.  What preparations mercy has made for your salvation; and what pity it is that any man should be damned after all this. The time was, when the flaming sword was in the way, and the curse of God's law would have kept you back if you had been never so willing to turn to God. The time was when you and all the friends that you have in the world, could never have produced you the pardon of your sins past, though you had never so much la­mented and reformed them. But Christ has removed this impediment, by the ransom of His blood. The time was, that God was wholly unreconciled, as being not satisfied for the violation of His law; but now He is so far satisfied and reconciled, as that He has made you a free act of oblivion, and a free deed of gift of Christ and life, and offers it to you, and en­treats you to accept it; and it may be yours, if you will. For, "He was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and has committed to us the word of re­conciliation" (2 Cor. 5: 18, 19). Sinners, we too are commanded to deliver this message to you all, as from the Lord; "Come, for all things are ready" (Luke 14:17). Are all things ready, and are you unready? God is ready to entertain you, and pardon all that you have done against Him, if you will but come. As long as you have sinned, as willfully as you have sin­ned, He is ready to cast all behind His back, if you will but come. Though you have been prodigals, and run away from God, and have stayed so long, He is ready even to meet you, and embrace you in His arms, and rejoice in your conversion, if you will but turn. Even the worldlings and drunkards will find God ready to bid them welcome, if they will but come. Does not this turn your heart within you? O sinner! If you have a heart of flesh, and not of stone in you, me thinks this should melt it. Shall the dreadful in­finite Majesty of heaven even wait for your returning, and be ready to receive you, who have abused Him, and forgotten Him so long? Shall He delight in your conversion, that might at any time glorify His justice in your damnation? And yet does it not melt your heart within you, and are you not yet ready to come in? Have you not as much reason to be ready to come as God has to invite you and bid you welcome? 

But that is not all: Christ has died on the cross, and made such way for you to the Father, that, on His account, you may be welcome, if you will come. And yet are you not ready? 

A pardon is already expressly granted, and offered you in the gospel. And yet are you not ready? 

The ministers of the Gospel are ready to assist you, to instruct you, pray for you. And yet are you not ready? 

All that fear God about you are ready to rejoice in your conversion, and to receive you into the com­munion of saints, and to give you the right hand of fellowship, yea, though you had been one that had been cast out of their society: they dare not but forgive where God forgives, when it is manifest to them, by your confession and amendment; they dare not so much as reproach you with your former sins, because they know that God will not upbraid you with them. If you had been never so scandalous, if you would but heartily be converted and come in, they would not refuse you, let the world say what they would against you. And are all these ready to receive you, and yet are you not ready to come in? 

Yea, heaven itself is ready: The Lord will receive you into the glory of His saints. Vile as you have been, if you will be but cleansed you may have a place before His throne; His angels will be ready to guard your soul to the place of joy if you do but un­feignedly come in. And is God ready, the sacrifice of Christ ready, the promise ready, and pardon ready? Are ministers ready, and the people of God ready, and heaven itself ready? And angels ready? And all these but waiting for your conversion; and yet are you not ready? What! Not ready to live, when you have been dead so long? Not ready to come to your right understanding, as the prodigal is said to "come to himself" (Luke 15:17) when you have been beside yourself so long? Not ready to be saved, when you are even ready to be condemned? Are you not ready to lay hold on Christ, that would deliver you, when you are even ready to sink into damnation? Are you not ready to be drawn from hell, when you are even ready to be cast remediless into it? Alas, man! Do you know what you do? If you die unconverted there is no doubt to be made of your damnation; and you are not sure to live an hour. And yet are you not ready to turn and to come in? O miserable wretch! Have you not served the flesh and the devil long enough? Yet have you not enough of sin? Is it so good to you, or so profitable for you? Do you know what it is, that you would yet have more of it? Have you had so many calls, and so many mer­cies, and so many warnings, and so many examples? Have you seen so many laid in the grave, and yet are you not ready to let go your sins, and come to Christ? What! After so many convictions and pangs of conscience, after so many purposes and promises, are you not yet ready to turn and live? O that your eyes, your heart, were opened to know how fair an offer is now made to you! And what a joyful message it is that we are sent on, to bid you come, for all things are ready! 

2^nd. Consider also, what calls you have to turn and live. How many, how loud, how earnest? How dreadful: and yet what encouraging, joyful calls! For the principal inviter is God Himself. He that commands heaven and earth, commands you to turn, and that presently, without delay. He commands the sun to run its course, and to rise upon you every morning; and though it be so glorious an orb, and many times bigger than all the earth, yet it obeys Him and fails not one minute of its appointed time.  He commands all the planets, and all orbs of hea­ven, and they obey. He commands the sea to ebb and flow, and the whole creation to keep its course, and all obey Him; the angels of heaven obey His will, when He sends them to minister to such worms as we on earth (Heb. 1:14); and yet if He command but a sinner to turn, he will not obey Him. He only thinks himself wiser than God, and he cavils and pleads the cause of sin, and will not obey. If the Lord Almighty say the word, the heavens and all therein obey Him: but if He call but a drunkard out of an ale-house, he will not obey: or if He call a worldly fleshly sinner to deny himself; and mortify the flesh, and set his heart upon a better inheritance, he will not obey. 

If you had any love in you, you would know the voice, and say, O this is my Father's call! How can I find in my heart to disobey? For the sheep of Christ "know and hear His voice, and they follow Him, and He gives them eternal life" (John, 10:4). If you had any spiritual life and sense in you, at least you would say, “This call is the dreadful voice of God, and who dare disobey?” For says the prophet (Amos 3:8), “The lion has roared, who will not fear?” God is not a man, that you should dally and trifle with Him. Remember what He said to Paul at his conversion, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 9:5). Will you yet go on and despise His word, and resist His Spirit, and stop your ear against His call?  Who is it that will have the worst of this? Do you know whom you disobey, and contend with, and what you are doing? It were a far wiser and easier task for you to contend with the thorns, and spurn them with your bare feet, and beat them with your bare hands, or put your head into the burning fire. “Be not deceived, God will not be mocked” (Gal. 6:7).  Whoever else be mocked, God will not: you had better play with the fire in your thatch, than with the fire of His burn­ing wrath. “For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). O how unmeet a match are you for God!  “It is a fearful thing to fall into His hands” (Heb. 10:31). And therefore it is a fearful thing to contend with Him, or resist Him. As you love your own souls, take heed what you do: what will you say if He begin in wrath to plead with you? What will you do if He take you once in hand? Will you then strive against His judgment, as now you do against His grace?  “Fury is not  in Me” says the Lord: (that is) I delight not to destroy you: I do it, as it were un­willingly; but yet “who will set the briers and thorns against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. Or let him, take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me" (Isa. 27:4, 5).  It is an unequal combat for the briers and stubble to make war with the fire. 

And thus you see who it is that calls you, that would move you to hear His call, and turn: so con­sider also by what instruments, and how often, and how earnestly He does it. 

1. Every leaf of the blessed book of God has, as it were, a voice, and calls out to you, Turn, and live; turn, or you will die. How can you open it, and read a leaf or hear a chapter, and not perceive God bids you turn? 

2. It is the voice of every sermon that you hear: for what else is the scope and drift of all, but to call, and persuade, and entreat you to turn. 

3. It is the voice of many a motion of the Spirit that secretly speaks over these words again, and urges you to turn. 

4. It is likely, sometimes it is the voice of your own conscience. Are you not sometimes convinced that all is not well with you? And does not your con­science tell you that you must be a new man, and take a new course, and often call upon you to return? 

5. It is the voice of the gracious examples of the godly. When you see them live a heavenly life, and fly from the sin which is your delight, this really calls on you to turn. 

6. It is the voice of all the works of God: for they also are God’s books that teach you this lesson, by showing you His greatness, and wisdom, and good­ness; and calling you to observe them, and admire the Creator. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handy work: day unto day utter speech, night unto night show knowledge” (Psalm 19:1,2).  Every time the sun rises unto you, it really calls you to turn, as if it would say, “What do I travel and compass the world for, but to declare to men the glory of their Maker, and to light them to do His work ? And do I still find you doing the work of sin, and sleeping out your life in negligence? Awake you that sleeps, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light” (Eph. 5:14).  “The night is far spent, the day is at hand; it is now high time to awake out of sleep. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy­ing, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11, 14). This text was the means of Augustine’s conversion. 

7. It is the voice of every mercy you do possess; if you could but hear and understand them, they all cry out unto you, Turn. Why does the earth bear you, but to seek and serve the Lord? Why does it afford you its fruits, but to serve Him? Why does the air afford you breath, but to serve Him?  Why do all the creatures serve you with their labors and their lives, but that you might serve the Lord of them and you? Why does He give you time, and health, and strength, but to serve Him?  Why have you meat, and drink, and clothes, but for His service?  Have you any thing which you have not received?  And if you did receive them, it is reasonable you should remember from whom, and to what end and use, you did receive