Gospel reconciliation, or, Christ's trumpet of peace to the world wherein is shewed (besides many other gospel truth) ... that there was a breach made between God and man ... to which is added two sermons / by Jeremiah Burroughs.

Reason, 3.

A third Reason is this: Because the Lord saw that there was no such way to melt the heart of sinful Creatures, and to draw them to come, and close with himself, as this way; no such way to incorrage the hearts of poor sinners to come in to be reconciled unto God as this; even the Consideration of the great things that the Lord hath done to make peace and Reconciliation between himself and sinners. God (I say) foresaw this; and because he would have a way to break the hardest heart in the world, and to draw the most stout, and stubbarne sinner unto himself; therefore he hath chosen this way above al others of Reconciliation. This the Gospel tels us in that parrable wherein you have the letting out of the Vineyard unto Husbandmen; and it tels you when the Master sent one servant and they beat him; and he sent an other, and they beate him; and at length he said within himself, I wil send my Son,

surely they wil reverence him; as if he should have said; Here are a company of hard hearted, stubbarn, stout, wicked creatures in this world, and they have had this argument, and the other argument to work upon theire hearts to perswade them to come unto me, but so hard are their hearts, as that they give a rebound to al the arguments that they have; and there is nothing strikes into their hard hearts, there is nothing melts them, no∣thing perswades them to come unto me, But I have one argument more, and that shal break the stoutest, and hardest heart that is; and that argument shal be a pre∣vailing argument if they be those that are appointed to life; if they be such as are not lost Creatures for ever, and what is that argument? even this; that I am recon∣ciling my self to the world in my son; I wil send my Son into the world to work out this reconciliation; and there I wil reveale so much of my glory, that when they come to see this, O, their hearts shal be fil'd with admiration; they shal stand and wonder at the goodnes and riches of my grace, and their hearts shal melt before me, and shal at length be gained unto me. when they come to heare thereof Certaynly it is the most Dange∣rous thing in the world for the hearts of men not to be melted not to be gained upon with this Doctrin of our Reconciliation with God in Christ. And remember it; if your hearts when you come to hear of this Doctine be not gained upon, be not drawn unto God; it is a shrew'd argument that you are lost Creatures; for God himselfe looks upon this way of reconciliation as the most gaining and prevaling argument that posibly he can use to gaine the heart of any man. And except you finde your hearts gained upon by this, you may take it as an argument of a most dangerous Condition in which you are. I dare ap∣peal to those whose harts God hath gained to himselfe, let them Say, what was it that gained their hearts, what was it that broke their hearts most kindly at first and Caused them to fly unto God; was it not the o∣pening

of this mistery of Reconciliation in Christ, was it not Gods tender of his mercy to the souls of poore sin∣ful creatures in Christ, And woe to those Persons that shal Sit under the ministry of the Gospel the droppings of heaven and here the blesed tidings of Reconciliation in Christ, and yet not find their hearts gained by this argument; for this was one special end why God those this way of Reconciling himself to the world, that he might by this gaine the hearts of the Children of men to himselfe for ever.

So that now you have had al these things opened in the point besides the proof of it in Scripture. first you have had shewed unto you, that there cold be no Reconciliation but in Christ. secondly; That Christ was a fit mediator to reconcile God and us together; and in what particular. thirdly what Christ hath under∣took to do for the Reconciliation of us to God, and what he doth to this very day. Fourthly how we com to have Interest in what he hath done for our Reconciliati∣on. fiftly the several properties, or consequences of this Reconciliation which doth discover to us what a kinde of Reconciliation it is. And then the Reasons why God would reconcile the world to himself in this way rather then in any other way.