2. That we should perform personally, perfectly,
and perpetually, the whole law for the time to
come. By our sins we render salvation through
either of these ways impossible. But behold God's
gracious provision in both. He does not insist upon
satisfaction: he is content to take of the Surety,
and he of his own providing too, what he might
176 ALLEINE'S ALARM.
have exacted from you. " 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 unto
them; and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation." He declares himself to have re-
ceived a ransom ; and that he expects nothing but
that you should accept his Son, " who of God is
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanc-
tification, and redemption ;" and he shall be right-
eousness and redemption to you, " who his own
self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that
we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteous-
ness." If you come in Christ, and set your heart
to please him, making this your chief concern, he
will graciously accept you.
consider the condescension of your God ; let
me say to you, as Naaman's servant to him, " My
father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great
thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much
rather when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean !"
If God had demanded some terrible, some severe
and rigorous thing of you, to escape eternal damna-
tion, would you not have done it ? Suppose it had
been to spend all your days in sorrow in some howl-
ing wilderness, or pine with famine, would you not
have thankfully accepted eternal redemption, though
these had been the conditions ? Nay, farther, if God
THE MOTIVES TO CONVERSION. 177
had told you that you should burn in the fire for
millions of ages, or be so long tormented in hell,
would you not have accepted it ? Alas, all these
are not so much as one grain of sand in the glass
of eternity, ^f your offended Creator should have
holden you but one year upon the rack, and then
bidden you come and forsake your sins, accept
Christ, and serve him a few years in self-denial,
or lie in this case for ever and ever ; do you think
you should have hesitated at the offer, and disputed
the terms, and have been unresolved whether you
were to accept of the proposal ? sinner, return
and live ; why shouldst thou die when life is to be
had for taking, when mercy entreats thee to be
saved ? Couldst thou say, " Lord, I knew thee,
that thou wast a hard man," even then thou wouldst
have had no excuse ; but when the God of heaven
has stooped so low, and condescended so far, if still
thou stand off, who shall plead for thee ?
Objection. Notwithstanding all the advantages of
the new covenant, I am unable to repent and be-
lieve, and so comply with it.s conditions.
Answer. These you may perform by God's grace
enabling ; but let the next consideration serve for a
fuller answer.
5. God doth offer all needed grace to enable you.
" I have stretched out mine hand, and no man re-
garded." What though you are plunged into the
ditch of that misery from which you can never get
Allerac's Alarm.
178 ALLEINE'S ALARM.
out ? Christ offereth to help you out ; he reacheth
out his hand to you ; and if you perish, it is for
refusing his help. " Behold, I stand at the door and
knock ; if any man open to me, I will come in."
What though you are poor, and wretched, and blind,
and naked ? Christ offereth a cure for your blind-
ness, a covering for your nakedness, riches for your
poverty ; he tenders you his righteousness, his
grace: "I counsel thee to buy of me gold, that
thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed ; and anoint thy eyes with eye-
salve, that thou mayest see." Do you say, The
condition is impossible ; for I have not wherewith
to buy ? You must know that this buying is
"without money and without price." This buying
is by begging and seeking with your whole heart.
God commandeth thee to know him, and to fear him.
Dost thou say, Yea, but my mind is blinded, and my
heart is hardened from his fear? I answer, God
doth offer to enlighten thy mind, and to teach thee
his fear. So that now, if men live in ignorance and
estrangement from the Lord, it is because they will
not understand and desire the knowledge of his
ways. "If thou criest after knowledge, if thou
seekest her as silver, then shalt thou understand
the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of
God." Is not here a fair offer ? " Turn ye at my
reproof; behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto
you." Though of yourselves you can do nothing,
CONCLUSION. 179
yet you may do all through his Spirit enabling you,
and he offers assistance to you. God bids you
" wash and make you clean." You say you are
unable, as much as the leopard to wash out his
spots. Yea, but the Lord doth offer to cleanse you ;
so that if you are filthy still, it is through your own
wilfulness ; " I have purged thee, and thou wast not
purged." " Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made
clean ? When shall it once be ?" God invites you
to be made clean, and entreats you to yield to him.
accept his offers, and let him do for you, and in
you, what you cannot do for yourselves.
CONCLUSION.
i
And now, beloved, let me know your mind ; what
do you intend to do ? Will you go on and die, or
will you turn and lay hold on eternal life? How
long will ye linger in Sodom ? " How long will ye
halt between two opinions ?" Have you not yet
resolved whether Christ or Barabbas, whether bliss
or torment, whether this vain and wretched world,
or the paradise of God, be the better choice ? Is it
a disputable case whether the Abana and Pharpar
of Damascus be better than all the streams of Eden ;
or whether the vile pool of sin is to be preferred
before the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
180 ALLEINE'S ALARM,
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb ? Can
the world in good earnest do that for you which
Christ can ? Will it stand by you to eternity ? Will
pleasures, lands, titles, and treasures descend with
you ? If not, had you not need look after some-
thing that will ? What mean you to stand waver-
ing ? Shall I leave you at last, like Agrippa, only
almost persuaded ? You are for ever lost if left
here ; as good be not at all, as not altogether a
Christian. How long will you rest in idle wishes
and fruitless purposes ? When will you come to a
fixed, firm, and full resolve ? Do not you see how
Satan cheats you by tempting you to delays ?
How long hath he drawn you on in the way of per-
dition ?
Well, put me not off with a dilatory answer ; tell
me not of hereafter 1 ; I must have your immediate
consent. If you be not now resolved, while the
Lord is treating with you and inviting you, much
less are you like to be hereafter, when these im-
pressions are worn off, and you are hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. Will you give me your
hand ? Will you set open the door and give the
Lord Jesus the full and ready possession? Will
you put your name unto his covenant ? What do
you resolve upon ? If you still delay, my labor is
lost, and all is likely to come to nothing. Come,
cast in your lot ; make your choice. " Now is the
accepted time ; now is the day of salvation : to-day,
CONCLUSION. 181
if you will hear his voice." Why should not this
be the day whence thou shouldst be able to date
thy happiness ? Why shouldst thou venture a day
longer in this dangerous and dreadful condition?
What if God should this night require thy soul ?
" that thou mightest know in this thy day the
things that belong to thy peace, before they be hid
from thine eyes !" This is thy day, and it is but a
day. Others have had their day, and have received
their doom; and now art thou brought upon the
stage of this world, here to act thy part for thy
eternity. Kemember, thou art now upon thy good
behavior for everlasting ; if thou make not a wise
choice now, thou art undone for ever. What thy
present choice is, such must be thine eternal con-
dition.
And is it true indeed ? Are life and death at thy
choice ? Why, then, what hinders but that thou
shouldst be happy ? Nothing doth or can hinder
but thine own wilful neglect or refusal. It was the
saying of the eunuch to Philip, "See, here is water;
what doth hinder me to be baptized?" So I may
say to thee, See, here is Christ, here is mercy, par-
don, life; what hinders but that thou shouldst be
pardoned and saved ? One of the martyrs, as he
was praying at the stake, had his pardon set by him
in a box, which indeed he rightly refused, because
upon unworthy terms ; but here the terms are most
honorable and easy. sinner, wilt thou perish
182 < ALLEINE'S ALARM.
with thy pardon by thee ? Do but forthwith give
thy consent to Christ, to renounce thy sins, deny
thyself, take up the yoke and the cross, and thou
earnest the day : Christ is thine ; pardon, peace,
life, blessedness, are all thine. And is not this an
offer worth embracing? Why shouldst thou hesi-
tate or doubtfully dispute about the case ? Is it
not past controversy whether God be better than
sin, and glory than vanity? Why shouldst thou
forsake thy own mercy, and sin against thy own
life ? When wilt thou shake off thy sloth, and lay
by thine excuses ? " Boast not thyself of to-mor-
row, thou knowest not" where this night may lodge
thee.
Now the Holy Spirit is strivirfg with you he will
not always strive. Hast thou not felt thine heart
warmed by the word, and been almost persuaded to
leave off thy sins and come to Christ ? Hast thou
not felt some motions in thy mind, wherein thou
hast been warned of thy danger, and told what thy
careless course would end in? It may be thou art
like young Samuel, who, when the Lord called once
and again, knew not the voice of the Lord; but
these motions are the offers, and callings, and striv-
ings of the Spirit. take advantage of the tide,
and know the day of thy visitation.
Now the Lord Jesus stretcheth wide his arms to
receive you ; he beseecheth you by us. How mov-
ingly, how meltingly, how compassionately he call-
CONCLUSION. 183
eth. The church is put into a sudden ecstasy at
the sound of his voice, "the voice of my beloved."
O wilt thou turn a deaf ear to his voice ? Is it not
the voice that breaketh the cedars, and maketh the
mountains to skip like a calf ; that shaketh the wil-
derness, and divideth the flames of fire ? It is not
Sinai's thunder, but a soft and still voice. It is not
the voice of Mount Ebal, a voice of cursing and ter-
ror, but the voice of Mount Gerizira, the voice of
blessing and glad tidings of good things. It is not
the voice of the trumpet nor the noise of war, but a
message of peace from the King of peace. I may
say to thee, sinner, as Martha to her sister, " The
Master is come, and he calleth for thee." Now
then, with Mary, arise quickly and come unto him.
How sweet are his invitations ! He crieth in the
open concourse, " If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink." How bountiful is he ! He
excludeth none. " Whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely." " Come, eat of my bread,
and drink of the wine that I have mingled. For-
sake the foolish and live." "Come unto me, take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and ye shall
find rest to your souls." " Him that cometh unto
me, I will in no wise cast out." How doth he be-
moan the obstinate refuser ! " Jerusalem, Jeru-
salem, how often would I have gathered thy children,
as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,
and ye would not!" "Behold me, behold me: I
\
184 ALLEINE'S ALARM.
have stretched out my hands all the day to a rebel-
lious people." be persuaded now at last to throw
yourselves into the arms of his love.
Behold, O ye sons of men, the Lord Jesus hath
thrown open the prison, and now he cometh to you
by his ministers, and beseecheth you to come out.
If it were from a palace or paradise that Christ did
call you, it were no wonder that you were unwilling ;
and yet how easily was Adam beguiled thence ; but
it is from your prison, from your chains, from the
dungeon, from the darkness, that he calleth you,
and yet will you not come ? He calls you unto
liberty, and yet will you not hearken ? His yoke is
easy, his laws are liberty, his service is freedom, and,
whatever prejudice you may have against his ways,
if God may be believed, you shall find them all
pleasure and peace, and shall taste sweetness and
joy unutterable, and take infinite delight and felicity
in them.
Beloved, I am loath to leave you ; I cannot tell
how to give you over. I am now ready to close,
but I would see a covenant made between Christ
and you before I end. What, shall I leave you at
last as I found you ? Have you read hitherto, and
not yet resolved to abandon all your sins and to
close with Jesus Christ ? Alas, what shall I say ;
what shall I do ? Will you turn off all my impor-
tunity? Have I run in vain? Have I used so
CONCLUSION. 185
many arguments, and spent so much time to per-
suade you, and must I sit down at last in disap-
pointment ? But it is a small matter that you turn
me off; you put a slight upon the God that made
you ; you reject the compassion and beseechings of
a Saviour, and will be found resisters of the Holy
Ghost, if you will not now be prevailed upon to
repent and be converted.
Well, though I have called you long, and you
have refused, I shall yet this once more lift up my
voice like a trumpet, and cry from the highest
places of the city before I conclude, with the miser-
able exclamation, " All is over !" Once more I shall
call after regardless sinners, that, if it be possible, I
may awaken them : " earth, earth, earth, hear the
word of the Lord." Unless you be resolved to die,
lend your ears to the last calls of mercy. Behold,
in the name of God, I make open proclamation unto
you: "Hearken unto me, O ye children; hear in-
struction and be wise, and refuse it not."
" Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters ; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy
and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without
money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend
your money for that which is not bread, and your
labor for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken dili-
gently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and
let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your
ear and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall
186 ALLEINE'S ALARM.
live ; and I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David." Isa.
55 : 1-3.
Ho, every one that is sick of any manner of dis-
ease or torment, or is possessed with an evil spirit,
whether of pride, fury, lust, or covetousness, come
ye to the Physician ; bring your sick ; lo, here is he
that healeth all manner of sicknesses, and all man-
ner of diseases, among the people. Matt. 4 : 23, 24.
Ho, every one that is in distress, gather yourselves
unto Christ, and he will become a Captain over you.
He will be your protection from the arrests of the
law ; he will save you from the hand of justice.
Behold, he is an open sanctuary to you ; he is a
known refuge. Away with your sins and come in
unto him, lest the avenger of blood seize you, lest
devouring wrath overtake you.
Ho, every blind and ignorant sinner, come and
buy eye-salve, that thou mayest see. Away with
thy excuses ; thou art for ever lost if thou continue
in this state. But accept of Christ for thy Prophet,
and he will be a light unto thee. Cry unto him for
knowledge, study his word, take pains about re-
ligion, humble thyself before God, and he will teach
thee his way, and make thee wise unto salvation.
But if thou wilt not follow him, but sit down be-
cause thou hast but one talent, he will condemn
thee for a wicked and slothful servant. Matthew
25 : 24-26.
CONCLUSION. 187
Ho, every profane sinner, come in and live. Re-
turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy on thee ;
be entreated. return, come. Thou that hast filled
thy mouth with oaths and execrations, all manner
of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven thee, if
thou wilt but thoroughly turn unto Christ and come
in. unclean sinner, put away thy whoredoms out
of thy sight, and thy adulteries from between thy
breasts, and give up thyself unto Christ, as a vessel
of holiness, alone for his use ; and then, " Though
thy sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow ;
and though they be red like crimson, they shall be
as wool." Luke 7 : 47 ; Isa. 1:18; 4:7.
Hear, ye drunkards, how long will ye be
drunken ? Put away your wine. Though you have
rolled in the filthiness of your sin, give up your-
selves unto Christ, to live soberly, righteously, and
godly ; embrace his righteousness ; accept his gov-
ernment ; and though you have been vile, he will
wash you. Rev. 1 : 5.
Hear, ye loose companions, whose delight is in
vain and wicked society, to sport away your time in
carnal mirth ; come in at Wisdom's call, and choose
her and her ways, and you shall live. Prov. 9 : 5, 6.
Hear, ye scorners, hear the word of the Lord.
Though you make a sport at godliness and the pro-
fessors thereof, though you have made a scorn of
Christ and of his ways, yet even to you doth he
call, to gather you under the wings of his mercy.
188 ALLEINE'S ALARM.
In a word, though you should be found among the
worst of that black roll, 1 Cor. 6:10, yet upon your
thorough conversion you shall be "washed, you
shall be justified, you shall be sanctified in the name
of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
Ho, every formal professor, thou art but a luke-
warm Christian, and restest in the form of godliness.
Give over thy halting ; be throughout a Christian,
and be zealous and repent ; and then, though thou
hast been an offence to Christ, thou shalt be the joy
of his heart. Rev. 3 : 16-20.
And now bear witness that mercy hath been
offered you. " I call heaven and earth to record
against you this day, that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing ; therefore choose
life, that you may live." I can but entreat and warn
you ; I cannot otherwise compel you to be happy ;
if I could, I would. What answer will you send
me with to my Master ? Let me speak to you as
Abraham's sei*vant to Nahor's family, " And now if
you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell
me." for such a happy answer as Rebecca gave
them: "And they said, We will call the damsel,
and inquire at her mouth. And they called Re-
becca, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this
man? and she said, I will go." that I had but
this from you. Why should I be your accuser, who
agonize for your salvation ? Why should the pas-
sionate pleadings of mercy be turned into horrid ag-
CONCLUSION. 189
gravations of your obstinacy and additions to your
misery ? Judge in yourselves ; do you not think
their condemnation will be doubly dreadful, that
shall still go on in their sins, after all endeavors to
recall them? Doubtless "it shall be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon, yea, for Sodom and Gomorrah,
in the day of judgment, than for you !" Matthew
11 : 22, 24.
Beloved, if you have any pity for your perishing
souls, close with the present offers of mercy. If the
God that made you have any authority with you,
obey his command and come in. If you are not
the despisers of grace, and would not shut the
doors of mercy against yourselves, repent and be
converted ; let not heaven stand open for you in
vain ; let not the Lord Jesus open his stores, and
bid you buy without money and without price in
vain ; let not his Spirit and his ministers strive with
you in vain, and leave you now at last unpersuaded,
lest the sentence of condemnation go forth against
you.
FATHER OF SPIRITS, take the heart in hand that is
too hard for my weakness. Do not thou end, though
I have done. A word from thy effectual power will
do the work. thou, that hast the key of David,
that openest and no man shutteth, open thou this
heart, as thou didst Lydia's, and let the King of
glory enter in, and make this soul thy captive. Let
190 ALLEINE'S ALARM.
not the tempter harden him in delays ; let him not
stir from this place, nor take his eyes from these
lines, till he resolve to forego his sins, and accept
of life on thy self-denying terms. In thy name,
Lord God, did I go forth to these labors ; in thy
name do I close them. Let not all the time they
have cost be lost hours ; let not all the thoughts of
the heart, and all the pains that have been about
them, be but lost labor. Lord, put thy hand upon
the heart of this reader, and send thy Spirit, as once
thou didst Philip to join himself to the chariot of
the eunuch while he was reading the word. And
though I should never know it while I live, yet I
beseech thee, Lord God, let it be found at the
last day that some souls are converted by these
labors; and let some be able to stand forth and
say, that by these persuasions they were won unto
thee. Amen, Amen. Let him that readeth say,
Amen.
THE END.
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