In the following moving terms, he pleads with his hearers to accept of Christ and his salvation:—"Your eternal enjoyment of God will be your element, which ye shall for ever delight in, and this shall be to praise and admire his love. For, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things that the Lord hath prepared for them that love Him. Oh, then, sirs, what think ye of Christ? Will ye not, at this time, say, He is your Beloved and your Friend? Oh, give your consent to become His friends, and accept of Him as your friend. I leave this offer at your door; He is willing to befriend you, if you will come into an estate of friendship with Him. Come, come, and take His offer off his hand. Say not that ye have continued so long in sin, that ye know not if He will befriend you now; for if ye will come to Him, He will yet befriend you. Therefore, for the Lord's sake, put not away such an offer, but take it in the present time; for ye know not if ever ye shall have an offer again. If ye will not take his offer off His hand this day, I will be a witness against you in the great day of judgment, that this day, the Son of righteousness offered Himself to be your friend, and ye have made light of the offer. Yea, the hills and mountains about us shall be witnesses that ye had Christ in your offer such a day, in such a place; therefore, my dear friends, say now that He is your beloved, and that He is your friend."
His close dealing with the conscience, and his solemn warnings and exhortations are exemplified in the following passages:—
"Consider your own condition without Christ. Ye are lost and undone, limbs of Satan, children of wrath, hell to be your dwelling-place, and devils and damned souls to be your company eternally, and where sin shall be your eternal torment. This is your condition without Jesus Christ. What think ye of eternal exclusion from the presence and comfort of God? What think ye of hell, where there is nothing but utter darkness, weeping and wailing for evermore, to be your dwelling-place? What think ye of devils to be your continual company? And what think ye of sin to be your continual life—always blaspheming the glorious name of God? And what think ye of your final condition—to be in continual torment—always weeping and gnashing your teeth? All this, I say, is abiding you who will not embrace Jesus Christ, whatever your profession be. For, believe me, a profession will not save you from this eternal misery, if ye receive not Jesus Christ. Whatever your sufferings be here, yet ye shall suffer this hereafter, if ye receive not Jesus Christ. My heart bleeds for many sufferers in Scotland, who shall suffer everlasting torment in hell, because they will not receive and embrace Jesus Christ, this gracious and free Saviour, who is now in your offer. Oh, embrace Jesus Christ, otherwise, be ye who ye will, and do what ye will, God's justice shall pursue you, and He shall have war against you without cessation: there shall be no discharge in that war. The great warriors of the earth are all lying with their weapons broken under their heads; but here is a war that hath no end. You who will not receive Jesus Christ, you will see that ye have made an evil choice, when ye pass through the dark gates of hell, to the inner chambers thereof. To move you, further consider, that if ye will take Him, ye shall have Him and all His. Ye shall drink of the waters of life; your feet shall stand on the sea of glass before the throne. Ye shall have His name, and bear His image, and wear a crown of pure gold upon your heads, and follow the Lamb with palms in your hands, saying, 'Hallelujah! and glory, and honour and power, unto the Lord our God.' Ye shall have the fine white linen garments of Christ's righteousness, to wear in heaven, in clothing eternally. Ye shall have the glorious cloud of witnesses—angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, for your continual company; and ye shall have a life of love and joy everlasting, with Him that is altogether lovely. Oh, then, come and take Jesus Christ. Would ye make a happy choice? Then take Him and embrace Him, old and young, man and woman, lad and lass. Now Christ is in your offer; and you are all invited to come to Him. And now I charge you all, as ye respect the glory of God, and as ye desire this happy condition that I have spoken of to you, slight not this offer. Now the golden chain of salvation is let down to you. Grip, grip it fast, before it is taken up again. Go not away fools, lest ye never be at such a market-day again. "What shall I say to persuade you? Let the excellency and glory of His great name do it. Be entreated to accept of Christ in this present offer. Here I obtest you, by what He hath purchased for sinners, and by what He has suffered, come and embrace Him. I obtest you by the blood He shed on the cross; I obtest you by the great drops of blood He shed in the garden, and by all the joys that are above the clouds in heaven, that ye put not this offer away. I obtest you, by all the torments of hell, that ye put not this offer away. I obtest you by the glory of heaven, and by the crowns which believers put on His head, that ye slight not this offer.
"Here I take every man and woman to witness against one another, that ye had Christ in your offer; and I shall be a witness against all of you that have not received Christ this night. Yea, though he should never be glorified in such a sort by me, yet I will be a witness against you. Here, before the throne of grace, I declare in His name, that I have made an offer of Him unto you; and, therefore, your blood shall be upon your own heads if ye perish, and I shall be free of the same."
In another place, he presses with like earnestness acceptance of the gospel offer:—"If ye would be rightly concerned, ye must at once come, and be a right son or daughter of the church, and member of Jesus Christ; until then, ye cannot have a fellow-feeling of the body. Come then, and Christ will give you a fellow-feeling with the sufferings of the church. Come and embrace Himself, and He will set the stamp of natural children upon you. Without Him, ye can do nothing; without Him, ye cannot be concerned with the sufferings of His name and members. Refuse not; reject not His offers, when He calls you to Himself. It is hard to say if some of you shall have an offer again. Now is the acceptable time—now is the day of salvation. He is now spreading his net, and will ye not come about the net's mouth, that a catch of you may be gotten. He is proclaiming unto you that He hath invincible power, though managed by apparent weakness. Oh, find you any of this irresistible power of Christ? Oh, come unto Him who is the joy of heaven, and it shall be a joyful time in heaven. He will have a good report of you through heaven, if ye shall have it to say that some poor lad or lass hath put a crown upon His head in such a place. But oh, how sad will it be, if Christ shall have it to say, 'I gave offer of myself to a people like stocks and stones, but they would not hear!'"
On the duty of devoting the best to God's service, in another discourse, he thus forcibly reasons:—
"Observe, that it cannot but be a great injury against God, and procure a curse, when people employ not their best things in His service. This is clear from the words, 'Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing.' So men that employ not their best things in the Lord's service, believe it, they are chargeable with this. He calls for your best things in His service, and not that you should spend that upon your lusts. Ye are called to employ the best of your time in his service; and many of you give Him but the refuse of your time, or at least, He gets but your by-time for His service. But ye should give Him the best of your time and strength, and your hearts—all should be employed in his service. Do not say that you do the best that you can; for I am persuaded that there is none of you but may do more for Him than ye do. Do not say that ye improve the talent that He hath given you to trade with, for ye but misimprove it; and the best of you, we fear, come short of improving it. If ye improve it, ye should find it increase upon your hand, and you would appear like his children. But because people do not improve their time and abilities to lay them out for God, it procures a curse. For though our obligations go far beyond our duties that we do, yet when we do not lay out all our abilities for Him, and do not bestow our love, our affections, and our time, and all that we have for Him, but bestow them upon other things, we procure His curse. Young folks, set to the work, and be entreated to give up yourselves to his service, and employ your best things for Him, now when your desires are fast and quick. Oh, will ye bestow them on precious Christ? You have a brave prize put in your hand, if ye set aright to the work; ye may see Zion's King come back, and the crown set upon his head again."
Urging the necessity of being found within the kingdom of God, he says:—
"Seeing that the gate is very strait and narrow that leads to the kingdom of heaven, then what shall become of many of you, that never came the length that hypocrites have come? Oh, what will ye say, and how will ye meet with God, when He comes to count with you for a preached gospel? What will ye think of a Mediator that was offered to you, whom ye slighted and despised; when the heaven and earth shall melt away; and great men, and mean men, shall howl and cry, and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him? Oh! this will be the portion of hypocrites from God.
"It is of use for trial—for all of you to try yourselves, and ponder in your hearts, and say, 'Oh, soul, whether art thou in the kingdom of heaven or not?' Oh, be exhorted to this, whatever be thy state, O man and woman. It is safe for thee to search thy state; if matters be right betwixt God and thy soul, it will be thy peace; if not, thou mayest possibly get righted. For my part, I count him the best Christian that is most accurate in this searching and communing with his own heart; for if ye neglect this, ye may come to lose the sight of your interest in Christ, if ever ye had it. Do not satisfy yourselves with being near the kingdom of God, but go into it. For this end, break the bargain and peace with your lusts and idols; and make up your peace with God through Christ, our Peace-maker, and ye shall find great advantage in the exchange; for the wicked have peace, but with sin and sinful men, but the godly have peace with God. Oh, will ye quit all other things, and seek to be interested in Him? For it is to be feared that many here have proclaimed peace with sin, and some idol, or other. Oh, break the bargain, and make peace with Christ! Make choice of Him; for He can give you that which no other lover can give you. O break that peace with your lusts and idols, and make peace with Him. Remember, He offers himself to you freely this day. Choose, therefore, what ye will do. O seek for the fulness of the Spirit of Christ, and rest upon nothing but upon himself alone; and seek to be in the kingdom of God, by the thorough work of conversion upon your souls.