Benjamin Keach (1640–1704) on God's Sincere Offers

Keach went to the 1689 General Assembly and subscribed the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.

II. The Gospel is glorious in respect of the tenders and offers made therein to the sons of men.

Quest. What is tendered?
Answ. Repentance is tendered, pardon is tendered, peace is tendered, bread and water of life is tendered, perfect righteousness is tendered, adoption is tendered, glorious liberty is tendered; in short, God is offered, he makes a tender of himself. Christ is tendered with all his benefits, who is the Pearl of great price, worth millions; yea, more than ten thousand worlds; a marriage with Christ is tendered, the Spirit is tendered with all the blessings of it, a kingdom is offered in the Gospel, a crown is offered, a crown of endless glory, a crown that fadeth not away, eternal life is tendered.
Quest. Who is it that makes these tenders and offers in the Gospel?
Answ. The great God, he that has them to bestow, and a right to give them.
Quest. Whom are they offered to?
Answ. To such that were his enemies, rebels even the worst of sinners; in word, whoever will, he that hath a will to receive them may have them, Rev. xxii. 17.
Quest. Upon what terms are they offered?
Answ. Freely offered, without money and without price, though a man, as to righteousness, hath nothing of worth nor beauty in him, being in himself but a lump of sin and filthiness, yet lie may have these things, they are offered unto such, Isa. lv. 1, 2, 3.

They are sincerely and faithfully offered; God doth not mock men and women, offer them such things as these, and yet never intend to bestow them upon them; if they have a heart and a mind to them, my life for theirs they enjoy all these and many more like glorious good things. Nay, and more than this, they have been often tendered with much affection and in bowels of compassion, God bewails, and Christ bewails, the state of such who refuse them. O! then what fools are mortals to slight and reject these tenders!

Benjamin Keach, Tropologia; A Key to Open Scripture Metaphors, in Four Books (London: William Hill Collingridge City Press, 1858), 555–556.

This first quote may be problematic, since Keach seems to suggest that the offer is made to sensible sinners, i.e. to such as "were" God's enemies and have a "will" to receive it. The textual reference to Isaiah makes it interesting. Nevertheless, his ending statements clarify the fact that God affectionately offers the gospel to such as refuse the offer, and bewails their state of rejection. The following quotes will elaborate on God's compassionate offer made to all.

XI. God is said to stretch forth his Arms, when he calls upon rebellious sinners, showing how willing he is, upon their repentance, to pardon, and forgive them, Isa. lxv. 2.

Ibid., 302. [note the text reference carefully]

God is willing to pardon all "sinners," but will only do so if they repent.

2. And this is one great part of a Minister's embassy, he is sent to let sinners know what goodwill the God of heaven and earth bears to them, and that he is desirous to bestow his own dear Son, the heir of all things, in marriage upon them; what favor and grace is this! Can sinners be so sottish, foolish, and ungrateful, as not readily to receive and embrace this offer?

Ibid., 852.

By "sinners," he clearly means to include the sottish, foolish and ungrateful who do not receive and embrace the offer, i.e., the reprobates. I think it's safe to conclude that Keach believed in well-meant offers, since God is "desirous" and "willing" to bestow the blessings of Christ on sinners, even those who are sottishly and ungratefully not receiving the offer. This helps to establish, at least in the case of Keach, how the 1689 Confessional material on gracious offers was interpreted.

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Westminster Stats

Of the Westminster Assembly, Dr. Curt Daniel writes:

...about 3/4 of the divines were Infralapsarian, 1/4 Supralapsarian. About 2/3 were for limited atonement, 1/3 for either universal atonement or a ‘dual’ approach.."

Curt Daniel, The History and Theology of Calvinism (Springfield, Ill: Good Books, 2003), 51.

(HT: Josh)

John Flavel (1630–1691) on Christ Knocking: Chapter 2

HAVING pondered Christ's solemn preface to his earnest suit, the next thing which comes under our consideration, is the person soliciting and pleading for admission into the hearts of sinners, which is Christ himself.

John Flavel, Christ Knocking at the Door of Sinners' Hearts; or, A Solemn Entreaty to Receive the Saviour and His Gospel in This the Day of Mercy (New York: American Tract Society, 1850), 27.

Yet here he saith, "Behold, I stand;" not my messengers and ministers only, but I by my spiritual presence among you; I your sovereign Lord, and owner, who have all right and authority by creation and redemption to possess and dispose of your souls; it is I that stand at the door and knock, I by my Spirit, soliciting and moving by the ministry of men. You see none but men; but believe it, I am really and truly, though spiritually and invisibly, present in all those administrations: all those knocks, motions, and solicitations, are truly mine; they are my acts, and I own them, and so I would have you to conceive and apprehend them."

Ibid., 27.

Satan is a jealous prince, and will raise all manner of outcries and opposition against those heavenly heralds who come to proclaim a new prince in his dominions, and withdraw his miserable subjects from their cursed allegiance to him. What is it to preach the gospel, saith Luther, but to drive the fury of the world upon the head of the preacher? But this would be easily supportable, did our work but prosper upon the hearts of our hearers. But this, alas, is the killing consideration of all; we know the worth of souls, and how great a service it is to save them from death. James 5 20. We also know the terrors of the Lord, which excite our utmost endeavors to persuade men. 2 Cor. 5:11. We feel the compassions of Christ stirring within us, which makes us long after their salvation. Phil. 1:8. We preach, we pray, yea, we travail again, as it were, in birth until Christ be formed in them. Gal. 4:19. And when we have done all, we find their hearts as iron and brass. Jer. 6:28. We mourn in secret when we cannot prevail, and often our hands hang down with discouragement, and we are ready to say with the prophet, "I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name." Jer. 20:9. But here is our relief, under all discouragements : the work is Christ's, the power is his, he is with us, and we are workers together with him.

Ibid., 38–39.

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John Flavel (c.1627–1691) on Romans 2:4

2. The Lord exercises this patience towards sinners, thereby to lead them to repentance; this is the direct intention of it. The Lord desires and delights to see ingenuous relentings and brokenness of heart for sin; and there is nothing like his forbearance and patience in promoting such an evangelical repentance. All the terrors of the law will not break the heart of a sinner, as the patience and long-suffering of God will; therefore it is said that the goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering of God, lead men to repentance. Rom. 2:4. These are fitted to work upon all the principles of humanity which incline men to repentance; reason, conscience, gratitude, feel the influences of the goodness of God herein, and melt under it. Thus Saul's heart relented: "Is this thy voice, my son David? and Saul lifted up his voice and wept. And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil." 1 Sam. 24:16, 17. Thus the goodness and forbearance of God doth, as it were, take a sinner by the hand, lead him into a corner, and say, "Come, let us talk together; thus and thus vile hast thou been, and thus and thus long-suffering and merciful has God been to thee; thy heart has been full of sin, the heart of thy God has been full of pity and mercy." This dissolves the sinner into tears, and breaks his heart in pieces. If any thing will melt a hard heart, this will do it. How good has God been to me. How have I tried his patience to the uttermost, and still he waits to be gracious, and is exalted that he may have compassion. The sobs and tears, the ingenuous relentings of a sinner's heart, under the apprehensions of the sparing mercy and goodness of God, are the music of heaven.

John Flavel, Christ Knocking at the Door of Sinners' Hearts; or, A Solemn Entreaty to Receive the Saviour and His Gospel in This the Day of Mercy (New York: American Tract Society, 1850), 81–82.

Now, there may be some thinking to themselves, "But Tony, Flavel is merely speaking of Christ in his humanity desiring," etc. No, sorry. That Nestorian-like strategy won't work here :-)

Consider him BEFORE HIS INCARNATION, and you will find two things in that state which plainly speak his desire after union with us.

Ibid., 141.

Stay tuned for many more quotes like this. Flavel boldly speaks of Christ's "vehement desire" in several places in this work.

John Flavel (1628–1691) on Christ Knocking: Chapter 1

NKJ Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

This text is Christ's wooing voice, full of heavenly rhetoric to win and gain the hearts of sinners to himself;...

John Flavel, Christ Knocking at the Door of Sinners' Hearts; or, A Solemn Entreaty to Receive the Saviour and His Gospel in This the Day of Mercy (New York: American Tract Society, 1850), 10.

(2.) The suitor, Christ himself, "I stand;" I who have a right of sovereignty over you; I who have shed my invaluable blood to purchase you, and might justly condemn you upon the first denial or demur, "behold, I stand:" this is the suitor.

(3.) His posture and action, "I stand at the door and knock:" the word is fitly translated, "I stand," yet so as that it notes a continual action. "I have stood, and do still stand with unwearied patience; I once stood personally and bodily among you in the days of my flesh, and I still stand spiritually and representatively in my ambassadors at the door, that is, the mind and conscience, the faculties and powers which are introductory to the whole soul."

The word "door" is here properly put to signify those introductory faculties of the soul, which are of like use to it, as the door is to the house. This is the Redeemer's posture, his action is knocking, that is, his powerful and gracious attempts to open the heart to give him admission. The word "knock" signifies a strong and powerful knock; he stands patiently, and knocks powerfully by the word outwardly, by the convictions, motions, impulses, and strivings of his Spirit inwardly.

Ibid., 11.

And, to set home all, these special benefits are proposed by Christ to all sorts of sinners, great and small, old and young: "If any man hear my voice, and open the door:" that no soul might be discouraged from believing by the greatness or multitude of his sins, but the vilest of sinners may see free grace triumphing over all their unworthiness, on their consent to take Christ according to the gracious offers of the gospel.

Ibid., 12.

Here you see ministers have a double office, to propose and offer Christ, and then to bear witness for or against those to whom he is thus offered; they are expressly called God's witnesses. Rev. 11:7. Their labors witness, their sufferings witness, their solemn appeals, to God witness, yea, the very dust of their feet shaken off against the refusers of Christ, turns to a testimony against them.

Ibid., 13.

(2.) Records are also made of all the instruments God has employed for the conversion and salvation of your souls. So many ministers, whether fixed or transient, as have spent their labors upon you, are upon the book of your account. "The Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened nor inclined your ear to hear." Jer. 25:4. They have wasted their health, dropped their compassionate tears, and burnt down one after another like candles, to direct you to Christ and salvation, but all in vain.

Ibid., 15–16.

But the main use of this point will be for EXHORTATION. that seeing all the offers of Christ are recorded and witnessed, with respect to a day of account, every one of you would immediately embrace the present gracious tender of Christ in the gospel, as you hope to be acquitted in that great day: take heed of denials, nay, even of delays; "for if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward: how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Heb. 2:2, 3.

Ibid., 21.

8. Consider the nature, weight, and worth of the mercies which are this day freely offered you. Certainly they are mercies of the first rank, the most precious and necessary among all the mercies of God. Christ the first-born of mercies, and in him pardon, peace, and eternal salvation are set before you: it would be surprising to see a starving man refuse offered bread, or a condemned man a gracious pardon. Lord, what a compound of sloth and stupidity are we, that we should need so many entreaties to be happy.

9. Consider who it is that makes these gracious tenders of pardon, peace, and salvation, to you; even that God whom you have go deeply wronged, whose laws you have violated, whose mercies you have spurned, and whose wrath you have justly incensed. His patience groans under the burden of your daily provocations: he loses nothing if you are lost, and receives no benefit if you are saved; yet the first motions of mercy and salvation to you freely arise out of his grace and good pleasure. God entreats you to be reconciled. 2 Cor. 5 : 20. The blessed Lord Jesus, whose blood thy sins have shed, now freely offers that blood for thy reconciliation, justification, and salvation, if thou wilt but sincerely accept him ere it be too late.

10. Reflect seriously upon your own vileness, to whom such gracious offers of peace and mercy are made. Thy sins have set thee at as great a distance from the hope of pardon, as any sinner in the world. Consider, man, what thou hast been, what thou hast done, and what vast heaps of guilt thou hast contracted by a life of sin; and yet, that unto thee pardon and peace should be offered in Christ after such a life of rebellion, how astonishing is the mercy. The Lord is ready to pass by all thy former rebellions, thy deep-dyed transgressions, and to sign an act of oblivion for all that is past, if now at last thy heart relents for sin, and thy will bows in obedience to the great commands and calls of the gospel. Isa. 55:2; 1:18.

11. Consider how many offers of mercy you have already refused, and that every refusal is recorded against you; how long you have tried, and even tired the patience of God already, and that this may be the last overture of grace that ever God will make to your soul. Certainly there is an offer that will be the last offer, a striving of the Spirit which will be his last striving; and after that, no more offers without you, no more motions or strivings within you for evermore. The treaty is then ended, and your last neglect or rejection of Christ recorded against the day of your account; and what if this should prove to be that last tender of grace which must conclude the treaty between Christ and you? what an undone wretch must you then be, with whom so gracious a treaty breaks off upon such dreadful terms.

12. Consider well the reasonable and gracious nature of the gospel-terms on which life and pardon are offered to you. Acts 20:21. The gospel requires of you repentance and faith. Can you think it hard when a prince pardons a rebel, to require him to fall on his knees, and stretch forth a willing and thankful hand to receive his pardon? Your repentance and faith are much of the same nature. Here is no legal satisfaction required at your hands, no reparation of the injured law by your doings or sufferings; but a hearty sorrow for sins committed, sincere purposes and endeavors after new obedience, and a hearty, thankful acceptance of Christ your Saviour; and for your encouragement herein, his Spirit stands ready to work in you all that you need. "Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you." Prov. 1:23. "Thou also hast wrought all our works in us.'' Isa. 26:12.

Ibid., 22–24.

The gospel is as uncertain as your life; God hath made no such settlement of it, but that he may at pleasure remove it, and will certainly do so if we thus trifle under it: it is but a candlestick, though a golden one, Rev. 2:5, and that you all know is a movable thing. Not only your life, and the means of your eternal life, I mean the gospel, are uncertain; but even the motions and strivings of the Spirit with your soul are as uncertain as either. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2:12, 13. That God now works with you is matter of great encouragement to your work; but that he works at his own pleasure, as a free agent who can cease when he pleases and never give one knock at your heart more, should make you work with fear and trembling.

15. Think what a fearful aggravation it will be both of your sin and misery, to perish in the sight of an offered remedy; to sink into hell between the outstretched arms of a compassionate Redeemer, that would have gathered you, but you would not."

Ibid., 25.

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Collected Works of Several Puritans

If you're interested in the collected works of John Howe (8 volumes), Richard Sibbes (8 volumes), Thomas Brooks (6 volumes) and John Owen (20 volumes) in either pdf or text format, they are all available on the Internet Archive for free.

William Whitaker’s (1548–1595) A Disputation on Holy Scripture

William Whitaker’s book A Disputation on Holy Scripture: Against the Papists, Especially Bellarmine and Stapleton (Cambridge: The University Press, 1849) is also on Google books to freely view and download. It deals with the the following subjects:

Question the First of the First Controversy: Of the number of the Canonical Books of Scripture

Question the Second: Of the Authentic Edition and Versions of the Scriptures

Question the Third: Of the Authority of Scripture

Question the Fourth: Of the Perspecuity of Scripture

Question the Fifth: Of the Interpretation of Scripture

Question the Sixth: Of the Perfection of Scripture against Unwritten Traditions

Edward Reynolds (1599–1676) on God Beseeching

Here's a quote from vol. 1 of his Works:

Eighthly, The evil doth not reach to men only, but the scandal and indignity overspreads the Gospel; a great part of the life of sin is drawn from the several respects it hath to God's acknowledged will. When we sin not only against the law of nature in our hearts, but against the written law; not only against the truth, but against the mercy and spirit of God too; this must be an heavy aggravation. O what a Hell must it be to a soul in Hell to recount, 'So many sabbaths God reached forth his Word unto me, so many sermons he knocked at my door, and beseeched me to be reconciled; he wooed me in his Word; allured me by his promises; expected me in much patience; enriched me with the liberty of his own precious oracles; reached forth his blood to wash me; poured forth his tears over me; but against all this I have stopped the ear, and pulled away the shoulder, and hardened the heart, and received all this grace in vain; and notwithstanding all the rain which fell upon me, continued barren still. God might have cut me off in the womb, and made me there a brand of Hell, as I was, by nature, a child of wrath: he might have brought me forth into the world out of the pale of his visible church, or into a corrupted synagogue, or into a place full of ignorance, atheism, and profaneness; but he hath cast my lot into a beautiful place, and given me a goodly heritage: and now he requires nothing of me, but to do justly, and work righteousness, and walk humbly before God; and I requite evil for good, to the hurt of mine own soul.'

Edward Reynolds, "The Sinfulness of Sin," The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Edward Reynolds (Ligonier: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1992), 1:207–208.

This volume is also available to download and search online here:

Edward Reynolds on "The Sinfulness of Sin," in The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Edward Reynolds, Lord Bishop of Norwich (London: Printed for B. Holdsworth, 1826), 1:207–208.

Here is a quote from volume 5 of his Works:

2. To take heed that the labour of your ministers for your souls be not, by your carelessness, all in vain. Do not with our sermons, which cost us so hard labour, as David did with the water of the well of Bethlehem,—spill them on the ground, and let them cry from thence, like the blood of Abel against you. So long as he keeps to his commission, and deliver the counsel of God, you cannot despise the work of your minister, but you do therewithal despise the blood of your Saviour. If your souls be dear in their eyes, should they he vile in your own? Will you, by your wickedness, turn the prayers of your pastors into curses, their sermons into a savour of death, and their tears into the blood of your own souls? Shall they beg mercy for you, and will you reject it! Shall they tender grace unto you, and will you resist it? Shall they open for you the door of life, and will you shut it against yourselves? Shall Christ by them beseech you, and will you, by your impenitency, refuse him? Is it not a reasonable request, though you will not love your ministers, yet not to hate nor destroy yourselves? Must he teach, and you not learn? Must he open his lips, and you shut your ears? Are sermons preached to be praised only, and not obeyed? Must he reprove sin in you, and will you reprove God in him? Shall he take up the weapons of God to withstand sin? and will you take up the weapons of lust to withstand God? Is it good to kick against the pricks? Will God's word be impune despised? Can his law be put to flight? where it doth not persuade, can it not curse? Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? Shall the minister in the name of God, forewarn us of the wrath to come, and shall we belie the Lord, and say, It is not he? Shall we bless, where God curseth? and promise peace, where God proclaimeth war? Shall we sell ourselves to sin, and make a covenant with hell and death, as if we could sin securely, and choose whether we would perish or no? Will not the Lord make us know at the last, whose word shall stand, his or ours? Oh that the love of Christ might constrain us, and his goodness lead us unto repentance, that, when Christ doth beseech us, we would be persuaded not to deny him! Did Satan die for us? did the world or the flesh ever redeem us? were they scourged, or mocked, or crucified to save us? Oh that Christ should be persuaded to die for us, and we should give him his blood back again, and choose rather to die ourselves. Consider what I say; and the Lord give you understanding in all things.

Edward Reynolds, "Sermon XXV: The Pastoral Office," in The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Edward Reynolds, Lord Bishop of Norwich (London: Printed for B. Holdsworth, 1826), 5:407–408.

Volume 6 is HERE.

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A Presbyterian by conviction, he nonetheless wanted to maintain the unity of the national church, and argued for a milder form of episcopacy that would accommodate Presbyterian beliefs. He wrote out his convictions in A Sermon Touching the Peace & Edification of the Church (1638).

In 1643, he was appointed to serve as a divine at the Westminster Assembly. Though he spoke little, Reynolds played a major role in committee work on behalf of the assembly. He was the only divine who was a member of all three major committees for the Confession of Faith: the large committee of nineteen, with four later additions, appointed to set parameters; the drafting committee of seven for the first composition; and the committee of three, with four later additions, for proofing and final editing. More than anyone else, Reynolds provided continuity throughout the twenty-seven months it took to write the Confession. William Barker concludes, "It is ironic, however, that the one who seems to have contributed most of the Presbyterian doctrinal confession was the only Westminster divine to become a bishop after the Restoration and one of only four who were active in the Assembly who conformed" (Puritan Profiles, p. 180).

Joel R. Beeke & Randall J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans: With a Guide to Modern Reprints (Grand Rapids: RHB, 2006), 496–497.