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 Cor. v. 17-21. you have the very sum of our commission; "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled unto God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." So Mark xvi. 15, 16. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, (that is with such a converting faith as is expressed) and is baptized, shall be saved; and he that believeth not, shall be damned." And Luke xxiv. 46, 47. "Thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance (which is conversion) and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations." And, Acts, v. 30, 31. "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a tree: him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." And Acts xiii. 38, 39. "Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." And lest you think this offer is restrained to the Jews, see Gal. vi. 15. "For in Christ Jesus, nei

ther circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." And Luke xiv. 17. "Come, for all things are now ready."

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 fountain of this offer, (John iii. 16,) and the blood of the Son of God hath purchased it; the faithfulness and truth of God is engaged to make the promise good; miracles oft sealed the truth of it; preachers are sent through the world to proclaim it; the sacraments are instituted and used for the solemn delivery of the mercy offered to them that will accept it; and the Spirit doth 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 every one of you, if you will but be converted, may be saved.

Indeed, if you will needs 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 hath his promise of life, and the devil hath 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 ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matt. xviii. 3. "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John iii. 3, 5. Without holiness none shall see God." Heb. xii. 14. The devil's word, "You may be saved without being born again and converted; you may do well enough without being holy, God doth but frighten you; he is more merciful than to do as he saith, 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 saith, Turn or die: and the devil saith, 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 practise 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 say, that the unregenerate, unconverted, unsanctified, shall be saved? Show me such a word in Scripture. I challenge you if you can. 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 thee, though thou be converted.' He might have done so

and done you no wrong; but he did not; he doth 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 fulness 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 S. God taketh 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.

I shall first teach you how to understand this, and then clear up the truth of it to you.

And for the first you must observe these following things: 1. A simple willingness or complacency is the first act of the will following the single apprehension of the understanding, before it proceedeth to compare things together; but the choosing act of the will is a following act, and supposeth the comparing practical act of the understanding; and these two acts may often be carried to contrary objects, without any fault at all in the person.

2. An unfeigned willingness may have divers degrees; some things I am so far willing of as that I will do all that lieth in my power to accomplish it, and some things I am truly willing another should do, when yet I will not do all that I am ever able to procure it, having many reasons to dissuade me therefrom, though yet I will do all that belongs to me to do.

3. The will of a ruler, as such, is manifested in making and executing laws: but the will of man in his simple natural capacity, or as absolute lord of his own, is manifested in desiring or resolving of events.

4. A ruler's will, as lawgiver, is first and principally that his laws be obeyed, and not at all that the penalty be executed on any, but only on supposition that they will not obey his laws; but a ruler's will,

as judge, supposeth the law already either kept or broken, and therefore he resolveth our reward or punishment accordingly.

Having given you those necessary distinctions, I shall next apply them to the case in hand, in these following propositions:

1. It is in the glass of the word and creatures, that in this life we must know God; and so according to the nature of man we ascribe to him understanding and will, removing all the imperfections that we can, because we are capable of no higher positive conceptions of him.

2. And on the same grounds we do, with the scripture, distinguish between the acts of God's will, as diversified from the respects or the objects, though as to God's essence they are all one.

3. And the bolder, because that when we speak of Christ, we have the more ground for it from his human nature.

4. And thus we say, that the simple complacency, will, or love of God, is to all that is naturally or morally good, according to the nature and degree of its goodness, and so he hath pleasure in the conversion and salvation of all, which yet will never come to pass.

5. And God, as Ruler and Lawgiver of the world, had so far a practical will for their salvation, as to make them a free deed of gift of Christ and life, and an act of oblivion for all their sins, so be if they will not unthankfully reject it, and to command his messengers to offer this gift to all the world, and persuade them to accept it. And so he doth all that, as Lawgiver or Promiser, belongs to him to do for their salvation.

6. But yet he resolveth, as Lawgiver, that they that will not turn shall die; and as Judge, when their day of grace is past he will execute that decree.

7. So that he thus unfeignedly willeth the conversion of those that never will be converted, but not as absolute Lord with the fullest efficacious resolu