Sermon VI - Rev. 3:20

Sermon VI - Rev. 3:20

SERMON VI - REVEL. 3:20

Behold I [stand] at the door and knock, &c.

[I stand and knock.] HERE is pains and patience, all means used by Christ to gain entrance into the souls of sinners. It speaks the earnestness of his suit, and vehemency of his desire to be in union with the souls of men. The sixth observation therefore will be this, Doct. 6. That Jesus Christ is an earnest suitor for union and communion with the souls of sinners.

This point lies directly and fully in the very eye and intention of the text.

In the opening of it, two things must be spoken to, in the doctrinal part, viz.

I. The demonstration of this truth, that he is so.

II. The marvellous and admirable grace and condescension of Christ, that he should be so.

I. For demonstration of this truth, that Christ is an earnest suitor for union and communion with the souls of sinners. I shall draw down the demonstration of this truth, from a view and consideration of the dispositions, carriages, and actions of the Lord Jesus towards poor sinners from first to last: And when you have compared them all together, and by them seen the temper of his heart, how great and clear a light will shine upon this point! That his heart hath still inclined towards union and communion with sinful man, will evidently appear by Considering him in a fourfold state and time.

1. Before his incarnation.

2. In the days of his flesh.

3. At his death. And, 4. At, and since his ascension into heaven.

First, Consider him before his incarnation, and you will find two things in that state which plainly speak his desire after union with us.

Demonstrations 1. Demonst. In the covenant of redemption he made with God concerning us before this world had a being; for such covenants and promises did really pass betwixt him and the Father before all time, or else I know not how to understand that scripture, Tit. 1:2. "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." To whom could that promise be made but unto Christ, which bears date before the creation? What else can this mean but the covenant of redemption made betwixt the Father and the Son? the terms whereof are set down in Isa.

53:10, 11 where you find what Christ was to do, viz. To make his soul an offering for sin. And what should be his reward for pouring out his soul unto death, viz. To see his seed, to see the travail of his soul, even a church purchased with his own blood? Whether this be not a great demonstration of the propension and inclination of Christ's heart and desire towards union and communion with poor sinners, let all men judge. O what a value did Christ set upon our souls, that upon such costly terms he would consent to redeem them! Unto this agreement God the Father held him, Rom. 8:32. God spared not his own Son. And this very covenant Christ pleaded with the Father, John 8:6. "I have manifested thy name to the men which thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them me." This plainly shews the vehement desire of Christ's heart to be in union with men; according to that Prov. 8:31.

"Rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men." Blessed Jesus! nothing but the strength of thine own desire and love could ever have drawn thee out of that bosom of delights to suffer so many things for the sake of poor sinners.

2. Demonst. Secondly, Let us consider Christ's temper and disposition towards union and communion with sinners, within time; and every thing done by Christ carries and conforms this conclusion.

1. His assumption of our nature plainly speaks it.

2. His whole life upon earth evidently discovers it.

3. His doctrine is a clear proof of it.

4. His joy at the conversion of souls proves it.

5. His sorrows for men's unbelief evidence it.

6. His indefatigable labours plainly shew it.

7. His admirable encouragements to coming sinners.

8. His dreadful menaces to obstinate sinners.

9. His sending and encouraging ministers to draw and gather the world to himself.

All these things, which were transacted in the life of Christ, plainly demonstrate how greatly and earnestly his heart did propend and incline towards this desirable union with the sons of men.

1. Christ's assumption of our nature manifesteth his desire after union with us. Herein he gave two incomparable proofs of his transcendent love to us, and desire after us.

(1.) In passing by a more excellent nature.

(2.) In marrying our nature to himself.

(1.) He passed by a superior and more excellent nature, Heb. 2:6. "Verily he took not on him the nature of angels." Angels were excellent creatures, but behold vessels of gold cast into the fire, and earthen potsherds fitted for glory! It is true, the angels that kept their integrity are members of Christ's kingdom; he is a head to them by way of dominion, but unto us by way of vital union. Christ takes the believer into a nearer union with himself than any angel in heaven; but for the multitudes of apostate angels, he never designed their recovery, but left them, as they were

before, bound in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day, Jude, ver. 6. This preterition of Christ heightens his love to poor man.

(2.) In marrying our nature to himself, and that after sin had blasted its beauty, and let in so many direful calamities upon it, Rom. 8:3. "He was found in the likeness of sinful flesh," i.e. Flesh subject to weariness, pains and death, which though there be no sin in them, yet are the effects and consequences of sin: such a nature he assumed into a personal union with himself, not to experience any new pleasure in it, but to capacitate himself to suffer and satisfy for us; and therein to give a convincing proof of the strength of his love, and vehemency of his desire to us. His personal union with our nature shews his desire after a mystical union with our persons. He would never have been the Son of man, but to make us the sons and daughters of the living God: he came in our likeness, that we, by sanctification, might be made in his likeness. Behold how near

Christ comes to us by his incarnation! O what a stoop did he make therein to recover us! Rather than lose us, he was contented to lose his manifestative glory for a time; for his incarnation made him of no reputation, Phil. 2:7. Behold the desire of a Saviour after union with sinners!

2. The whole life of Christ upon earth was an evident proof and demonstration of the desire of his heart to be in union and communion with us; John 17:19. "For their sakes I sanctify myself." The life of Christ was wholly set apart for us; therefore it is said, Isa. 9:6. "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." What was the errand and business upon which Christ came into this world, but to seek and to save that which was lost.

All the miracles he wrought on earth were so many works of mercy; he could have wrought his miracles to have destroyed and ruined such as received him not; but his Almighty Power was employed to heal and save the bodies of men, that thereby he might win their souls unto him; Acts

10:38. "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." When the apostles desired a commission from him to fetch fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans, he rebuked them, saying, "Ye know not what manner of spirit

ye are of; for the Son of man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them," Luke 9:54, 55, 56. The whole life of Christ in this world was nothing else but a wooing, drawing motive to the hearts of sinners; he rejected not the vilest of sinners, Luke 7:39. He rejected none that came unto him; he would not have little children forbidden to be brought unto him, Mark 10:13. What his winning carriage should be, was long before predicted by the prophet, Isa. 42:3. "A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench." Lentulus, the proconsul, in his epistle, ad. S. P. Q. R. having graphically described the person of Christ, gives this account of his carriage and deportment; "In his reproofs he was terrible, in his admonitions fair and amiable, cheerful without levity; he was never seen to laugh, but often to weep; his words grave, few, and modest," &c.

Christ was in the world as a load-stone drawing all men to him; his deportment was every way suitable to his commission, which was "to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound," Isa. 51:1.

3. As his life, so his doctrine was a wooing and inviting doctrine: a most pathetical invitation unto sinners: Never man spake as he spake; whenever he opened his lips, heaven opened, the very heart of God was opened in it to sinners; the whole stream and current of his doctrine was one continued powerful persuasive to draw sinners to him. This was his language, "Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Mat. 11:28. In the last day, the great day of the feast,

Jesus stood up and cried, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink," John 7:37. Himself resembles it to the clucking of a hen, to gather her chickens under her wings, Luke 13:34. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings!" Certainly the whole stream of the gospel is nothing else but the charming voice of the heavenly bridegroom.

4. The joy he always expressed for the success of the gospel, speaks him to be an earnest suitor for the hearts of sinners. It is very remarkable, that all the evangelists who have recorded the life of Christ, never mentioned one laugh or smile that ever came from him, for he was a man of sorrows.

Yet once you read, that he rejoiced in spirit; and you shall see the occasion of it, in Luke 10:21. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit. And what was it that gladdened his heart, but the report brought him by the seventy, who returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven, ver. 17, 18. Satan's kingdom was going down in the world, and the mysteries of salvation revealed unto babes; this made his holy heart leap with joy within him, to be hold the success of the gospel destroying Satan's kingdom; and the poorest, meanest among men enlightened and converted by it. This was a cordial to his very soul, and spake the earnestness of his desire after union and communion with sinners.

5. His sorrows and mourning upon the account of the obstinacy and unbelief of sinners, speaks the vehemency of his desire after union with them; it is said, Mark 3:5. "When he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts," &c. You see from hence, that a hard heart is a grief to Jesus Christ. O how tenderly did Christ resent it, when Jerusalem rejected him! It is said, Luke 19:41.

"That when Jesus came nigh to the city, he wept over it." The Redeemer's tears wept over obstinate Jerusalem, spake the zeal and fervency of his affection to their salvation; how loth Christ is to give up sinners. What a mournful voice is that in John 5:40. "And you will not come unto me, that you might have life." How fain would I give you life? but you would rather die than come unto me for it. What can Christ do more to express his willingness? All the sorrows that ever touched the heart of Christ from men, were upon this account, that they would not yield to his calls and invitations.

6. This appears to be the great design of Christ, by the unwearied labours he underwent day and night to accomplish it: Many weary journeys

Christ took, many sermons and prayers he preached and poured out, and all upon this design, to open the hearts of sinners to him, and win the consent of their wills, to become his; this was the work which he preferred to his necessary food; John 4:34. "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work:" q. d. My bringing home the elect of God, and saving them from wrath to come, is more to me than

meat and drink. So vehement and intense were his desires after the winning of sinners, that he would lose no occasion to accomplish it. If he were never so weary with his travels and labours, yet if any occasion offered to save a lost soul, he would be sure to improve it. You have an instance of this in John 4:6. "Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, called

Sychar, &c. now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore being weary with his journey, sat thus on the well," &c. Christ was weary with his journey, and sat on the well for a little rest and refreshment, in the heat of the day.

At the same time comes a woman of Samaria, to draw water; a great sinner she was: Christ compassionately beholding this miserable object, forgets his own weariness, presently falls a preaching repentance to this sinner, and opens her heart; a greater refreshment to him than that well could afford him, by giving him a seat to sit on, or water to drink.

7. The great and admirable encouragements Christ always gave to coming and willing souls, plainly speak the earnest desire of his heart after union with them; never were the like encouragements given that Christ gave to draw the souls of men to him. It is remarkable in what general terms and forms of expression he delivered them, that none might be discouraged, but come on in hope towards him: Come unto me all ye that labour,

Matth. 11:28. If any man thirst, John 8:7. All along, the terms of invitation are exceeding large, which speak the desire of his heart to be so also; and his practice was answerable to his invitation; his mercies and compassions never failed when the vilest of sinners came to him in the way of repentance and faith. You read in Luke 7:41, 42 that when Christ sat at meat in the house of Simon the Pharisee, there came in a poor convinced sinner, who had guilt enough upon her to sink ten thousand souls to the bottom of hell; this poor wretch comes with a great deal of humility unto Christ, not presuming to come before his face, but falls down behind him, kisseth his feet, washeth them with tears, and wipes them with the hair of her head; all demonstrations of a broken heart. And how did the merciful Jesus welcome this poor sinner? He seals her pardon, commends the fervour of her affections, and sends her away a joyful soul; herein making good that gracious promise, He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.

8. The dreadful threatenings of Christ against all that refuse him, and

shut the doors of their hearts against him, speak his vehement desire to prevent the loss and ruin of souls. The threats of Christ are not intended to discourage any from coming to him, to fright away souls from him; no, that is not their intention; but to bring them under a blessed necessity of compliance with his terms. O the dreadful threatenings, which, like claps of thunder, brake from the mouth of Christ against all that should refuse or delay to come unto him! "If you believe not, you shall die in your sins: he that believeth not shall not see life," John 3:36. What a terrible thunder-clap is that against all unbelievers! So Mark 16:16. He that believeth not shall be damned. All these, and many more are warningpieces shot off from heaven to prevent the ruin and damnation of men; the very threatenings of the gospel carry a design of mercy in them; damnation is threatened, that it may be prevented.

9. And then in the last place herein appears the earnestness of Christ after union with sinners, that when he could be no longer a preacher to this world in his own person, he ordained a succession of ministers, in his bodily absence from us, to gather and build the church, and to continue to the end of the world; to carry on the suit that Christ had begun, as long as there was one elect soul in the world lying in the state of sin and nature.

Reader, Christ could not always abide here; he must die, or we could not live; he must rise again, or we could not be justified; our business called him to another place and state: Now when Christ was to ascend to heaven, what doth he do? Why, he chooseth and calleth men, men made of the same clay with ourselves, whose presence and appearance should not affright or discourage us; who should treat with us in a familiar way about the great concerns of our salvation in his name and stead: 2 Cor.

5:20. "We then are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did beseech you, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." He did not commissionate angels to be his Legates, their presence would confound and terrify us; but men cast into the same mould with yourselves, who may say to you as Elihu said to Job, Job 33:6, 7. "Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead; I also am formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee." Upon these commission-officers of Christ he poured forth excellent

gifts, in great diversity and useful variety, to fit the capacities and various disposition of men's souls: When he ascended up on high, he gave gifts unto men; this ministerial office is by him established in the church, "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ," Ephes. 4:11, 12, 13. Unto these his ministers he gives the highest encouragements to quicken them to their labours: If one do but one part of the work, and another the other; one soweth, another reapeth; he tells them both, "He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together," John 4:36. He tells them that every soul they win to him shall be as a jewel in their crown of glory; Dan. 12:3. "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever". What is Christ's intention in all these encouragements to his ministers? Surely it is as if he should say to his servants, study hard, pray earnestly, plead with sinners affectionately; every soul you win to me shall make an addition to your glory in heaven.

Weigh now the force of this second demonstration from the life of Christ; will you have a proof of Christ's earnest suit to gain the hearts of sinners? his whole life upon earth was a great proof of it; his doctrine, so full of pathetical invitations, proves it; the joy of his heart at the success of the gospel; his tears and sorrows for the obstinacy of unbelievers; his labours and travels to gather sinners to him; his admirable encouragements put into general invitations; his dreadful threatenings to all that reject his motions; his commissionating and qualifying, continuing and encouraging his ministers to carry on his suit in his name: all these things make up a full demonstration that Jesus Christ is an earnest suitor for union and communion with the souls of sinners; which was the thing to be proved.

3. Demonst. Thirdly, the death of Christ is the fullest demonstration that ever was or can be given of his love to sinners, and desire after union and communion with them. His doctrine and life discovered much, but his death and sufferings abundantly more; in his doctrine he spent his breath, but upon the cross he spent his blood. Here he comes a suing to

the souls of sinners in his scarlet robes, his red garments; garments dipt in his own blood. You may now propound the same admiring question the church propounded, Isa. 63:1, 2. "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?" Wilt thou know, sinner, why he comes to thee in red garments? It is to give thee such a demonstration of his love as may draw forth all the love of thy heart to him; by this blood he hath bought and purchased thy soul for a spouse for himself, Acts 20:28. Now there are two things in the death of Christ evidential of the fervency of his desires after us.

1. The greatness of the sufferings which he endured.

2. The use and end to which they were designed.

Both these shew how the heart of Christ is heated with the vehemency of his own desires after union with our poor souls.

1. The greatness of the sufferings of Christ discover the ardency of his affection. Christ's sufferings are twofold.

(1.) External, in his body.

(2.) Internal, in his soul.

Both together making up the fulness of his sufferings: when you shall hear what Christ hath endured in both kinds, to purchase you to himself, then you may guess what a value he put upon you, what desire he hath after you. Now (1.) as to the external sufferings of Christ in his body, they were exceeding great, for the death he died was not a natural but violent death; indeed he could not die a natural death, for there was no sin in his nature to open a door to death that way: his body was intended for a sacrifice to God, and as a sacrifice it died; therefore it is said, 1 Pet. 3:18.

He was put to death in the flesh; his soul and body were violently rent asunder in the fulness and perfection of his strength and vigour. And this violent death was also a cursed death; he was made a curse for us, For it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree, Gal. 3:13. A

ceremonial curse was affixed to the death of the cross; He that is hanged is accursed of God, saith the law: the intention of that death was to shew the person that died to be so vile, that he was not worthy to touch heaven or earth, and therefore was hanged betwixt both. Moreover, this violent death Christ died was a most painful death; full of torture, and very slow and lingering: the cross was a rack to the body of Christ; I may tell all my bones, saith he, they look and stare upon me, Psal. 21:17. But yet (2.) the sufferings of his body were but the body of his sufferings; it were the sufferings of his soul that were the very soul of his sufferings. These inward sufferings of Christ may likewise be considered two ways. (1.) In his bitter propassions in the garden; O what agonies and conflicts, what sharp encounters and distresses did his soul there meet with from the wrath of God there endured for your sakes! once and again he cried out,

Abba Father, all things are possible, let this cup pass; Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass; thrice he returned to the same place, rolling himself on the ground. The sufferings of his soul cast his blessed body into a bloody agony: "His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground," Luke 20:43, 44. (2.) In the fulness of his passion on the cross, there was his blessed soul for a time deserted of the Father, as to any sensible communications of joy and comfort from him; which occasioned that bitter outcry, Matth. 27:46, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Never was there such a cry heard since the heavens were spread over the earth; never had Christ seen one frown in his

Father's face, from eternity, before this time; but now the smiling face of God was hid, and a strong impression of his wrath made upon him. And now, brethren, you see what Christ hath endured both in his body and in his soul; and all for the sake of sinners. What think you now, is not Christ an earnest suitor? Doth not all this fully and plainly speak the ardour of his love, the fervency of his desire after union and communion with us? If this do not, then nothing can demonstrate love and desire. That is the first thing, the greatness of the sufferings which he endured,

2. Let us next consider the use and intention of these sufferings of Christ, and how this also demonstrates the earnestness of his desire after conjugal union with us. Now there was a double use and end of the sufferings of Christ,

(1.) To make us free, that we might be capable of espousals.

(2.) To win our affections by the argument of his sufferings.

(1.) One end of Christ's death was, to purchase our freedom, that we might be capable of being espoused to him; for you must know that we were not in a capacity whilst under the curse of the law, to be married unto Christ: the apostle, Rom. 7:2, 3, 4 compares the law to a husband, to whom the wife is bound as long as he liveth, and not capable of a second marriage until her husband be dead. The death of Christ was the death of the law, as a covenant of works holding us under the bond of the curse of it; and so it gave us a manumission or freedom from that bond, and a capacity of espousals to Christ, as ver. 4. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead." A slave to another is not capable of being disposed in marriage, until made free; you were in bondage to the law; the slaves of sin and Satan; Christ bought out your liberty (for his blood is called a ransom, Mat. 20:28) and so put you into a capacity of being espoused unto himself: here you see Christ loved you not for any advantage he could have by you, for you had nothing to bring him; nay, he must purchase you, and that with his own blood, before he can be united to you. O incomparable love! O fervent desires!

(2.) Another design and end of the death of Christ was to win and gain our hearts and affections to himself, by the arguments of his death; this himself hath declared to be the very end and intention of it, John 12:32.

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me: this he said, signifying what death he should die." Christ endured all that you have heard, and infinitely more than the tongue or pen of man can express; and all to draw thy soul, and win thy consent to come unto him: the Lord Jesus, by his sufferings, casts a threefold cord over the souls of sinners, to draw them to himself.

1. The death of Christ obtains complete righteousness for guilty sinners; and if any thing in the world will draw the heart of a sinner, this will. The anxious search and enquiry of a convinced sinner is after a perfect righteousness to justify him before God. O, that is it the sinner wants! conscience saith, thou hast broken all the laws of God, and art therefore a

law-condemned wretch; the sentence of the law casts thee for hell. Now what would a poor sinner give for a release from this sentence of the law?

Oh, ten thousands worlds for a pardon? Why here it is, saith Christ; come unto me, and thou shalt receive a free, full, and final pardon; my blood cleanseth from all sin, my righteousness answers all the demands of the law. I have taken away the hand-writing that was against thee, and nailed it to my cross, Gal. 2:14. Come unto me, and take up thy bonds, thy cancelled bonds; come unto me, and that dreadful attribute of Divine

Justice shall never scare or fright thy conscience any more; nay, thou shalt build thy hope upon it. You read, Rom. 3:25. "That God hath set forth Christ to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God: to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness; that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." Here you see the justification and pardon of a sinner built upon that very attribute which was so frightful and dreadful to him before. Well then, poor sinner, is there guilt upon thy conscience? And doth thy soul shake and quiver to think how it shall stand before the just and terrible God in the great day?

Hearken to the voice of Christ crucified, who calls thee to him to receive thy discharge; which if thou refuse, the law still stands in its full force and virtue against thy soul. This is one cord Christ casts from the cross over the souls of guilty sinners, to draw them to him.

2. The death of Christ purchases and procures perfect cleansing from the filth and pollution of sin to wash the defiled souls of sinners from all their uncleanness. For, "this is he that came by water and by blood; not by blood only, but by water also," 1 John 5:6. He comes by way of sanctification, as well as by way of justification. Lord, saith a convinced sinner, what an unclean nature, heart, and life have I? Oh! I am nothing but a heap of uncleanness, an abhorrence to God and myself? how shall such a heart as mine, such an Augean stable be cleansed? Come unto me, saith Christ; I came by water as well as blood; in me thou shalt find a fountain for sanctification as well as justification: come unto me, my

Spirit shall undertake the cleansing of thy heart; he shall take away the pollutions of sin perfectly, so that it shall be presented to God without spot.

3. And, lastly, the transcendent love of Christ shines out in its full strength upon the souls of sinners from the cross; and there is nothing like love to draw love. When Christ was lifted up upon the cross, he gave such a glorious demonstration of the strength of his love to sinners, as one would think should draw love from the hardest heart that ever lodged in a sinners breast. "Herein is love, (saith the apostle) not that we loved

God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins," 1 John 4:10 q. d. Here is the triumph, the riches and glory of Divine

Love; never was such love manifested in the world. There is much of God's love in temporal providences, but all is nothing to this; this is love in its highest elevation; love in its meridian glory; before it was none like it, and after it shall none appear like unto it. And thus you see Christ, from the cross, casting forth a threefold cord (which is not easily broken) to draw the hearts of sinners to him.

4. Demonst. Fourthly, to conclude; what mighty demonstration of the desire of his heart towards us, did our Redeemer give at and since his ascension into heaven? As the whole life of Christ upon earth was a persuasive argument to draw sinners to him, so his ascension to heaven hath many things in it which are mighty attractives to the hearts of men. I will only mention two:

1. The gifts he bestowed at his ascension.

2. The ends and designs of his ascension.

1. The gifts he bestowed on men at his ascension, for this very end and purpose; whereof the Psalmist gives this account, Psal. 68:18. "Thou hast ascended on high; thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." He alludes to the Roman conquerors, who in the day of their triumph did spargere missilia, scatter their largesses among the people. Thus Christ at his ascension shed forth the gifts of the Spirit in various kinds, qualifying men for the work of the ministry; to enable them to plead with your souls, and carry on his suit when he should be in heaven. These gifts were extraordinary in the first age; as the gifts of tongues and miracles, &c. and ordinary, to continue to the end of the world, Eph. 4:8, 9. To some he gives depth of learning and judgment, to others a mighty Pathos, a melting influence

upon the affections; but all designed to win over your hearts to Christ.

This shews what care he took, and what provision he answerably made for the success of his great design to draw the hearts of sinners to him.

2. The ends of his ascension, as they are declared in scripture, plainly speak the vehemency of Christ's desire to draw souls to him. Now the declared ends of his ascension were, (1) To make way for the Spirit's coming to convince, convert, and comfort the souls of all that come unto him; John 16:7. "Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you: And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." Without the conviction of these things no man can come to Christ; and no such convictions can be wrought upon the conscience of any man, without the Spirit; and the Spirit could not come to effect these things upon men's hearts, if Christ had not ascended; John 7:39. "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." Thus Christ provided for the carrying on his great design upon your hearts when he was entering into his own glory: the. thoughts of that glory made him not to forget his great design upon earth. (2.) Another end of Christ's ascension was, to make intercession with the Father for all and every soul that should come unto him; that their future sins might make no breach of the bond of the covenant betwixt God and them: a privilege able to draw the hearts of all sinners to him; 1 John 2:1, 2. "My little children, these things I write unto you that ye sin not." Mark it, the intercession of Christ must encourage and embolden no man to sin; that would be a vile abuse of the grace of God: "But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins;" i.e. If sin surprize and deceive any gracious soul, the bent of whose heart is against it, let him not be discouraged; he hath a potent advocate ascended into the heavens, to continue the peace betwixt God and that soul. O what an encouragement is here to gain the consent of a sinners heart to embrace Jesus Christ! (3.) Another declared end of Christ's ascension was, to lead captivity captive, as in the forecited place, Psal.

68:17 that is, to captivate and triumph over Satan as a conquered enemy, who led us captive in the day of our vanity: he conquered Satan upon the

cross, Col. 2:15 and he triumphed over him at his ascension: and without such a conquest and triumph no soul could come to Christ. (4.) In a word,

Christ ascended into heaven to prepare mansions of rest and glory for every soul that should embrace him in the way of repentance and faith in this world; John 14:2. "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you: I go to prepare a place for you," q. d.

It satisfies me not to enjoy my glory in heaven alone; all that come unto me by faith, shall be with me where I am; let them know, for their encouragement, that the glory which God hath given me, I have given them, John 17:22. All these things loudly speak the fervent desire of Christ's soul after union and communion with poor sinners; which was the thing to be demonstrated.

II. Having proved the point, that Christ is an earnest suitor for union and communion with the souls of sinners; we next come to shew the marvellous and admirable grace and condescension of Christ that it should be so. And this will appear five ways to the astonishment of every considering soul.

1. Though Christ be thus intent and earnest in his suit for your consent, yet he gaineth nothing by you when you do consent; the gain is to yourselves, but not to him: He is over all, God blessed for ever, Rom. 9:5. above all accessions from the creature. What doth the sun gain by enlightening and animating the lower world? Or what doth a fountain gain when men drink and are refreshed by its waters? If any soul that heareth me this day should presently resolve henceforth to break asunder all the ties and engagements betwixt him and sin; to subscribe the articles of the gospel; to give away himself, soul and body to Christ; to live henceforth as a hallowed, dedicated creature to the Lord Jesus; this indeed would turn to the infinite and everlasting advantage of such a soul; but yet Christ cannot be profited thereby.

2. And that which still increases the wonder is this, that though Christ make no gain or profit by our conversion, yet hath he impoverished himself to gain such unprofitable creatures as we are to him. He hath made himself poor to make us rich; so speaks the apostle in 2 Cor. 8:9.

"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be

rich." He expends his riches, makes no advantage unto himself; his incarnation impoverished his reputation, Phil. 2:7. How poor was Christ when he said, Psal. 22:6. "But I am a worm, and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people?" How poor in temporal comforts, when he said, Matth. 8:20. "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Yea, how poor was he in spiritual comforts, when that astonishing out-cry brake from him upon the cross, Matth. 27:46. "My God, my God, why hast thou for saken me?" O let it astonish us, that Christ should earnestly desire union with our souls upon terms of such deep self-denial to himself.

3. Though Christ gain nothing by you, and impoverished himself for you; yet doth he endure many vile repulses, delays, and denials of his suit, and will not leave it for all that: O astonishing grace! One would think that the least delay, and much more a refusal of an overture from Christ, upon such terms as you have heard, should make his indignation presently to smoke against such a soul; and that he should say, Thou hast refused my offer, so full of self-denying and condescending grace, never shall another offer be made to so unworthy a soul; and yet you see he is contented to wait as well as knock, Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

4. Herein the admirable grace of this heavenly suitor appears, that Jesus Christ passeth by millions of creatures, of more excellent gifts and temperaments, and never makes them one offer of himself, never turneth aside to give one knock at their door: but comes to thee, the vilest and basest of creatures, and will not be gone from thy door without his errand's end.

Knowest thou not, sinner, that among the unsanctified there are to be found multitudes of men and women of more raised and excellent parts, nimble wits, strong memories, solid judgments; yea, men and women of cleaner conversations, strict morality, adorned with excellent homolitical virtues, capable, if called, to do him abundantly more service than thou canst; yet these are past by, and he becomes a suitor to such a poor worthless thing as thou art; yea, and rejoices in his choice. Matth. 11:25.

"I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Here is the triumph of free-grace.

5. And lastly, This justly increases the wonder, that ever Jesus Christ should desire and delight to dwell in such an unclean heart as thine, which, from the beginning, hath been the seat and throne of Satan, full of all uncleanness and abominations. O that ever Christ should make an overture of love to such a polluted soul! That he should chuse to erect his throne where Satan's seat was! Look into thine own heart, sinner, and think what can Christ see there to be desired? Thou knowest thy heart hath been a sink of sin, thy conscience like the common sewer, into which all the filth of thy life hath been cast; yet Christ passeth by thee, as thou liest in thy blood and filthiness, and casteth love upon thee, and desire towards thee, as it is, Ezek. 16:6, 8. All these things put together make it justly admirable, and astonishing in our eyes, that ever Jesus Christ, the Lord from heaven, should become an earnest suitor for union and communion with the souls of sinners.

I. Use, for Information Infer. 1. If Christ be such an earnest suitor for union and communion with the souls of sinners, then it follows, That sinners can justly charge their damnation upon none but themselves. Your blood must be upon your own heads; salvation by Christ is not only freely offered, but you are with great importunity persuaded to accept it. Christ offers you life, you chuse rather to die than accept it upon his terms; where now can your damnation be charged but upon your own wilful obstinacy? Hosea 13:9. O

Israel, thy destruction is of thyself! Thou art the author of thine own ruin; I would have gathered thy children, saith Christ to Jerusalem, but thou wouldest not; your ruin, therefore, lies upon yourselves, and upon none beside. Indeed, if the ministers of Christ be negligent in their duty, they may come in as accessories to your destruction; but that is a poor relief to you; as for myself, I hope I may with Paul, take God to record this day, that I am free from the blood of all men. Now, consider what a dismal aggravation of your destruction will this be, that you perished by your own hands: this cuts off all plea and apology.

Inf. 2. Hence it also follows, That distressed sinners have no reason to question Christ's willingness to receive them, when their hearts are made willing to come unto him. It were no less than a blasphemous imputation

of insincerity to Christ himself, to question his willingness to receive broken-hearted sinners, after so many protestations as he hath made in the gospel, of his zeal and earnestness for their salvation; that scripture,

John 6:37 puts it out of doubt, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." I know guilt breeds many fears and jealousies in the hearts of sinners; will Christ ever accept and receive such a one as I? Try him, soul, he hath said he will; let him have but the deliberate consent of thy heart to his terms, and then, if thou be rejected, thou wilt be the first soul in the world that ever met with a repulse from him.

Inf. 3. By Christ's earnest suit for the souls of sinners, you may estimate the invaluable worth, and precious nature of the soul of man. Were not the soul of a creature of great value, Jesus Christ would never be so deeply concerned about the winning and saving of it. Sinners have a vile esteem of their own souls, they will sell them for nought; but Christ knows their true worth, and his solicitude to save them is answerable to his estimation of them; he counts when he hath gained a soul, he hath gained a treasure. Therefore he pleads, woos and waits so earnestly and assiduously for the salvation of them. Two things speak the great value of the soul of man.

1. That it is a marriageable creature to Christ now.

2. That it is capable of glory with Christ hereafter.

1. It is a marriageable creature to Christ now, capable of espousals to the Son of God; upon which account it is that Christ so earnestly seeks its love, and sues for its consent. Now this is a dignity beyond all other creatures in heaven or earth; no angel in heaven, no other creature but the soul of man on earth is capable of espousals to Christ; it is a dignity above that of angels, for Christ took not on him their nature, and the hypostatical union is the ground and foundation of the mystical union.

They are members indeed of Christ's kingdom, and he is to them a head of dominion; but this honour was never conferred upon angels to be members of his body, flesh, and bones, as the saints are, Eph. 5:30.

2. As the soul is capable of espousals to Christ on earth, so it is capable of glory with Christ in heaven throughout eternity, John 17:24. "Father, I

will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold the glory which thou hast given me." It hath a natural capacity of enjoying eternal blessedness which the souls of other creatures have not. And this will be the aggravation of hell-torments, that men capable of the highest happiness, should, as it were, receive that capacity in vain; but that which constitutes an actual right to the everlasting enjoyment of Christ in glory, is the soul's espousals to him here in the way of grace. Upon these two accounts it is, that Christ puts such a price upon them, courts their love so passionately; laments their loss so pathetically; and encourages his ministers to all diligence in persuading and wooing them for him with such abundant rewards, Dan.

12:3. Know then your own worth and dignity, neither pawn nor sell so precious a thing as thy soul for any thing Satan can set before thee by way of exchange for it; What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Inf. 4. Is Christ such an earnest suitor for union with sinners? then certainly, they are the enemies of Christ, and the souls of men, that any way endeavour to hinder or break off the match betwixt Christ and them?

Some there are that labour to create jealousies, and beget distastes and prejudices in the souls of men against Christ and his ways; men that bring up an evil report upon Christ, and strict religion, as that which will beggar them, and expose them to all the miseries of the world: Who instigated by Satan, whisper such stories into the soul's ear, whom Christ is wooing for himself, that the severity of religion will certainly extinguish all their joys and pleasures; they shall never laugh more, never be merry more; beside, it will expose all their comforts upon earth to hazard, their estates and lives must fall a prey to their enemies, and this is the estate in which Christ will jointer them in, if they consent to his terms: and that this is no groundless jealousy of their own, but that Christ himself hath openly declared as much; "That he that will come after him must hate father and mother, wife and children, yea, and his own life also." This is what they must expect as the fruit of their consent to Christ's proposals. But, O what will these men have to answer, and how will they stand before Christ another day, who are such professed enemies to his cross, and set themselves so directly in opposition to the great design Christ is driving on in the world! Is it not enough that you will not enter yourselves, but

you will hinder them that Would? Mat. 23:13. Thus carnal parents discourage their children, one relation another. But, to help souls under this discouragement, I will leave only this one caveat with them, That such seeming friends are their real mortal enemies, their words are poison to your souls: Satan hath fee'd them to do his work, hired their tongues for his service. But if the serious cares of salvation, and fervent love of Christ be in thy heart, thou wilt resolve, as Jerom did, 'If my father who begat me, and my mother who bare me, should hang about my neck with tears and entreaties, to keep me from Christ, I would fling off my father, and tread upon my mother, to go to Christ.'

To this head also belong all those scandals and offences which loose and careless professors cast in the way to discourage others from coming unto

Christ; Wo to the world (saith Christ) because of offences, Matth. 18:7.

Wo to the world, this will be their ruin and undoing; by this means such prejudices will be begotten in their souls against Christ and religion, as they will never be able to free themselves from. "But woe to them by whom such offence cometh; it were better a mill-stone were hanged about their necks, and they were cast into the bottom of the sea." Christians, look carefully to your conversations; for besides the evil effects of sin upon yourselves, you see the mischievous effects of it upon others. And thus we may understand those words, Cant. 2:7. "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love till he please." Roes and hinds are timorous creatures, the least crack of a stick will startle and fright them away; such are comers on toward Christ; young beginners in the ways of religion, how small a matter may damp and discourage them? O friend, you have sins enough of your own, bring not the sin and ruin of other men upon your account also.

Inf. 5. To conclude, How great is the blindness and ignorance of sinners, that need so much entreaty and importunity to be made happy? It is your ignorance, sinners, that makes all the gospel-importunity necessary; did you know your own misery, and see Christ in his necessity, suitableness, and excellency, all these persuasions might be spared; nay, you yourselves would become importunate suitors for Christ: He would not need to be twice offered: there is a conscience in every man and woman,

set there on purpose by the Lord to give them an alarm; but the alarm goes off for want of a spring, to wit, the knowledge of your sin and misery.

Ah soul! didst thou but know who it is that sues for thy love, what the benefits of union with Christ are, thou wouldst answer his first call in such language as this: Lord Jesus, write down thine own terms; be they what they will, I am ready to subscribe them with the fullest consent of heart and will; and then, how soon would the match be made betwixt

Christ and you! Yea, you would watch for, and hang on half a word of encouragement from Christ's mouth, as Benhadad's servant did on that word of Ahab, My brother Benhadad, 1 Kings 20:32, 33. There is no need of rhetoric to persuade a condemned malefactor to accept his pardon, a hungry man to sit down at a full table; but, alas! Sin is not felt, Christ is not known; therefore the one is not bewailed, nor the other desired.

II. Use, for Exhortation In the next place, the point naturally leads us to an use of exhortation, to persuade sinners to embrace Christ's motion, subscribe his terms, and debate no more with him, but end the treaty in a cordial present consent; and so close up the match betwixt him and your own souls. How long sinner, wilt thou be at shall I, shall I? and thy will hang undetermined betwixt Christ and sin, bivious and unresolved in so great and deep a concernment? O that Christ's next overture might bring the matter to an issue! Why will you trifle and dally with him at this rate? There is, indeed, a treaty on foot betwixt Christ and you; but you may perish for all that; there is no conclusion or agreement made; Christ and you may yet part.

The Lord help you therefore to ponder and deliberate, with all speed and seriousness, the terms propounded by Christ in the gospel; to count the cost, and yet not always to be deliberating neither, but to bring matters to an issue, and that, with all the convenient speed you can: in order whereunto, I will lay two things before you; weigh and seriously ponder them.

1. What are the advantages you will gain by Christ?

2. What is the most you can lose by your consent to his terms? and then bring thoughts to an issue.

First, Ponder well the advantages you will gain by Christ; these are so great and manifold, that it is impossible for me to enumerate or value them: it shall suffice in this place, to shew you one of those bunches of the grapes of Eshcol, that by it you may estimate the riches and fertility of that good land, settled upon you by Christ as a dowry or jointure; and these are four.

1. The payment of all your debts to the law.

2. An honour above angels.

3. An eternal inheritance in heaven.

4. A glorious and joyful presentation of you to the Father, in the great day, by Christ, as his spouse and wife.

1. The same day and hour you give your cordial consent to take Christ upon gospel-terms, that is to say, Christ with his yoke of obedience, and Christ with his cross of sufferings, all your debts to the law are discharged and paid. What have you been doing, ever since you came into the world, but running upon score to God, deeper and deeper every day? Oh, what a vast sum owest thou to his justice! and not able to pay one farthing. If thou consent not to Christ's offer, the bailiff and executioner, death and the devil, will shortly be upon thy back, and hurry thee away to that prison, from whence thou shalt not come until thou hast paid the last farthing, Mat. 5:25, 26. If thou consent to Christ's terms, thy debts are paid upon thy marriage-day, thy bonds cancelled, and thy discharge in heaven sealed; Rom. 8:1. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ;" and the reason is given, ver. 4. In this, "That the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us that believe." But how in us? certainly the meaning is not that the το credere, the act of faith doth, as it is a work of ours, satisfy the demand of the law, and fulfil its righteousness; no, but it apprehends the righteousness of Christ, applies it, and makes it ours, and so "the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us that believe." It is an ease, it is a comfort to be out of debt? Then embrace the offer of Christ; for after thy espousals to him, the law cannot touch thee by an act of condemnation; it goes to the husband, Christ; thou art discharged. Well then, resolve what to do: shall the debt run on and

increase till justice come to levy it upon you in hell-torments? Or will you accept of Christ and the riches of righteousness that are in him, and so be fully and finally acquitted from all your debts at once, and be able to lie down in peace, and enjoy your lives without slavish fear? He that owes nothing, fears no bailiffs, but may (as we use to say) whet his knife upon the compter threshold.

2. Your consent to Christ's terms, will advance you to an honour above and beyond the honour of angels. It is said, that the children of the resurrection shall be equal unto angels; and it is most sure, that in some respect their union with Christ advances them far above angels; for the apostle tells us, Heb. 1:14. "They are ministering spirits, sent forth for the good of them that shall be heirs of salvation:" as the great peers and nobles in a kingdom, count it no dishonour to perform their service to the heir apparent. The ministry of angels is a mystery which we little understand; but by it we receive great and manifold advantages, and it certainly puts a great deal of honour upon all the members of Christ.

3. Christ will not only pay all your debts, and exalt you to a dignity above angels; but in that day wherein you cordially consent to his terms he will entitle you to the most glorious inheritance purchased by his blood; "You shall be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ," Rom. 8:17. Oh, what an inducement is here to close the match betwixt Christ and our souls! If I consent to take Christ upon gospel-terms, I shall thereby be entitled to all the glory that is in heaven; it shall be mine as truly as it is Christ's. It is true the glory of Christ will in some respects far surpass the glory of the saints; he will shine among them as the sun compared with the stars; but yet the glory which God gave him, that is, the communicable glory shall be truly theirs, as it is his, John 17:22. "The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them." Tell my brethren (saith he) John 20:17. "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God." This, you shall gain also by closing this treaty with a hearty consent to Christ's terms and proposals.

4. If you will consider and Consent, you shall be presented by him to the Father, pure and spotless, with exceeding joy and gladness in the great day. This will be such a presentation of your persons to God as will make your hearts leap for joy to read what the scriptures speak about it. This,

methinks, should induce every soul, without further delay, to present himself, soul and body, cheerfully and willingly to Jesus Christ. For, (1)

Christ will bring you in the great day to his Father, in the shining beauty of perfect holiness, not a spot or wrinkle upon your souls, Eph. 5:27. The blood of Christ perfectly washes off every spot of guilt; for then, the Spirit of Christ hath perfectly cleansed the soul from all the defilement and filth of sin; so that it shall come to God a pure and beautiful creature out of Christ's hand. (2.) This presentation will be made with the greatest honour and solemnity; we little think in what state and triumph Christ intends to bring the poorest believer to his Father, Psal. 45:14, Psal.

45:15. "With joy and gladness shall they be brought," &c. So Jude, ver. 24.

"They shall be presented faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy:" Joy running over joy, upon all hands; God himself will rejoice, that ever he created such a soul as hath sincerely bestowed itself upon Christ: Jesus Christ will rejoice that ever he shed his blood for that soul that now places his sole righteousness therein: the Holy Spirit will rejoice, that ever he came with a commission from the Father and the Son to draw such a soul to Christ, who hath obeyed his voice. The angels will rejoice with joy unspeakable, Luke 15:10. "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." If the consent of any of your souls shall be this day gained to Christ; if the word you have heard this day shall send any poor soul hence to his closet, or into a corner, there to make his covenant with Christ, (for that is the way of making up the match with Christ) in that hour the news of it will be in heaven, and excite joy among the angels of God. Lay these and many other privileges together, which I want time to mention, but the scriptures will abundantly furnish you with them; and then consider what a rich bargain, what an advantageous match, Jesus Christ is for your souls.

Secondly, Upon the other side cast up the account, what you may lose by your consent to be Christ's; and whether these losses be sufficient to balance or preponderate the gain that comes by such a consent; that so your choice of Christ may be a deliberate and full choice, and you may never repent afterwards of the choice you have made. It is a rule in the civil law, Non consentit qui non sentit. He cannot consent that doth not think, understand, and deliberate: and this is the reason of so much flinching from Christ, and shameful apostasy in times of persecution;

men did not think of such sufferings and losses; they are mere surprisals to them. To prevent all such occasions of offence, our Lord deals candidly and openly with us, and tells us before-hand what are the worst things that may befal us for his sake, John 16:1, 2. "These things have I spoken unto you, that you should not be offended: They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think he doth God service." But, ver. 4 he adds, "These things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them:" q. d. Remember yourselves in times of persecution, that all these things were propounded, considered, and consented to; they were the very terms you subscribed to me; had you not liked them, you might, at the everlasting damage and ruin of your immortal souls, have refused and rejected them. Now the things you are to balance with the gain of Christ, must by you be sorted into two ranks.

1. Things that must be parted with.

2. Things that may be parted with for Christ.

1. The things that you must part with, viz. your lusts, and all the vicious pleasures you have had in them; how much profit or pleasure soever they have brought you in, away they must go; they must be devoted to destruction and mortification, or you can have no interest in Christ, you must shake hands for ever with all your sinful courses and companions,

Rom. 6:16. "His servants you are, to whom you obey." Be they as pleasant and profitable as your right hand or eye, they must be plucked out and cut off, Mat. 5:22, 30. Doth this sound harsh and unpleasant to your ears? Doth this cause the demur? O, consider, what it is to part with sin; it is but to part with the disease of your souls, and the instruments of your everlasting ruin. Which of you would not be glad to part with a fever, the stone, or dropsy? What is passion, but the fever of the soul? What is a hard heart, but a stone? What is covetousness and earthly-mindedness, but the insatiable dropsy of the soul? Now, if men would be glad to be rid of such dreadful diseases in their bodies, and to be restored to soundness, case, and health; how much more should you be glad to be rid of your corruptions, and have the rectitude, ease, and pleasure of your souls restored again? yea, instead of these impure, vicious, brutish pleasures you have taken in sin, you shall enjoy the pure, divine, suitable and

everlasting pleasures of holiness. Consider now, and accordingly make your choice, whether you will take the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season, in exchange for the everlasting joys which are at God's right hand for ever.

2. There are other things which you may be called to part with, and give up for Christ. It is uncertain whether God may actually call you to part with your liberties, estates, relations, and lives for Christ: Many are never actually called forth to such sufferings; but because many are, and every one of you may be so called, you must realize them, ponder them, and subscribe those very terms, making full account of these things as if they were now before you, Luke 9:23. For so Christ hath propounded them:

But then withal, weigh these troubles with the gain and advantages you shall have by them, and not singly and alone by themselves; for so Christ hath presented them to you, Matth. 19:28. "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life."

Now, if you think such gainful troubles, such soul-enriching losses, be worth accepting for Christ's, sake; then close the match with Christ, and bring the matter to a conclusion: Do not befool yourselves with a fond and groundless presumption that these things will never befal you. I fear many flatter themselves with such vain hopes; the Lord knows how soon these suppositions, at a distance, may be turned into realities before your eyes: You have much reason to expect them, and much more to embrace them, whenever Christ shall call you to them. This is the great work you have now to do; and really you cannot safely demur any longer; this matter must come to a conclusion, and the sooner the better. For you know, (1.) that your lives are immediately uncertain, and it is an unaccountable madness to let the great concern of your salvation lie one day or night at hazard; your breath is continually coming and going, and that which is going must at last be gone, James 4:14. Your souls hang over everlasting dangers by the single thread of that feeble breath which plays in your nostrils, and every disease is like the flame of a candle held under that thread; and can it either be safe or comfortable to delay so great a work as this, upon which all your expectations and eternal

blessedness depend? (2.) Not only your lives are hazardous and uncertain, but the enjoyment of the gospel, and all the opportunities and means of your conversion, are as uncertain as they. It is true, and to the glory of God be it acknowledged, we now enjoy the freedom and fulness of gospel-mercies: but where has God made any such settlement of these blessings upon you, as puts the enjoyment of them out of hazard? The rain is over, but yet the clouds may return after the rain; we are upon our good behaviour: if it bring forth the fruits of your conversion, well; if not, the ax lieth at the root of the tree, Matth. 3:10. And if God remove the gospel from among us (as our delays and triflings may provoke him to do) then the treaty is ended, and there is little probability that any thing further will be done betwixt Christ and you, Luke 13:25. (3.) Bring this matter to an issue with all due speed, because you are not capable to give one sound reason for a moment's delay of so great and weighty a concernment. Can you be safe too soon? Can you be happy too soon?

Certainly you cannot be out of the danger of hell too soon; and therefore why should not your closing with Christ upon the terms propounded be your very next work? For certainly if the business, the main work and business of every man's life be to fly from the wrath to come, as indeed it is, Matth. 3:7 and to fly for refuge to Jesus Christ, as indeed it is, Heb.

6:18 then certainly, all delays are highly dangerous in such a business as this: the man-slayer, when flying to the refuge-city before the avenger of blood, when his heart was hot within him, did not think he could recover the city too soon. And now set all your own reason to work upon this matter; put the case as really it is: I am fleeing from wrath to come: the justice of God, and the curses of the law are closely pursuing me: is it reasonable that I now sit down in the way to gather flowers, or play with trifles? For such are all our other concernments in this world, compared with our salvation. (4.) Bring this treaty to an issue with all due speed, because most souls that perish, perish by delays; men think they have time enough before them, and that to-morrow will be as to-day, and so Satan gets part by part, what he had not confidence to demand in the whole lump. Most that perish under the gospel had convictions upon their consciences, and vain purposes in their hearts; but not bringing them to a speedy execution, that was their undoing; James 1:24. "He beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgets what manner of person he was." It is an allusion to a man that looks in the

morning into a glass, where he discerns a spot upon his face, and resolves with himself anon to wash it off; but some diversion or other falls in, other matters take up his thoughts, and so the spot remains all day, and he carries it to bed at night. O these delays are the undoing of millions!

(5.) Delay not to close this treaty with Christ, because all delay increases the difficulty; and the longer you neglect, the more will your hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, Heb. 3:13. Continuance in sin, and quenching of convictions, do insensibly harden the heart, and stiffen the will. Under the first convictions the heart is tender, the affections flowing:

O if this advantage were apprehended and pursued, how soon might the work come to a comfortable conclusion! but after a while, those soulaffecting words, sin, Christ, heaven, hell, death, and eternity, will become words of a common sound. (6.) And lastly, beware of delays in this matter, because you can never expect a fitter and fairer opportunity and season for the dispatch of this great concernment, than, by the special indulgence of heaven, you enjoy this day, 2 Cor. 6:1, 2. "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." You have now the wind and tide with you; if you will not weigh anchor now, you may lie wind-bound to your dying day. What advantages can you reasonably expect, which God hath not furnished you with at this day? You have the means of grace among you; you have liberty and freedom to attend on those means without fear. Say not, I have such or such troubles and encumbrances in the world; for you must never expect to be without them, except you, only, shall find the world another thing than all others find it. Have you health? O what a precious season and advantage is that? art thou sick! O what a spur is that! What is to be done must be done quickly.

III. Use, for Direction But it may be some souls may plead ignorance, that they know not how to manage and transact so great a concernment with Christ, and therefore set not about it; and it is very likely there may be much truth in that plea.

For the help and assistance of such souls, I will gather up the sum of what hath been, and ought to be further spoken about this matter, in the following directions; so that nothing but your unwillingness and slothfulness shall remain to hinder you.

Direct. 1. If ever you bring the treaty betwixt Christ and your souls to a

happy issue and conclusion, you must, as before was noted, sit down and count the cost, Luke 14:28 it will be vain else to engage yourselves in the profession of religion: it is not Christ's design to draw you under a rash inconsiderate engagement, and so to reap more dishonour by your apostasy and hypocrisy than ever he shall have glory by your profession.

No, he would have you foresee and seriously bethink yourselves of all the outward troubles and inconveniences you may afterwards meet with for his sake. You are to embark yourselves with Christ, and abide with him in storms as well as in halcyon days; you must follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, Rev. 14:4. There is no retreating after engagement to Christ: "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him," Heb. 10:38. It is eternal death by that martial law of heaven, to run from Christ's colours in the day of battle. Well then, retire thyself into the innermost closet of thy soul; sit quiet and patiently there, until thou hast debated this matter fully with thy own thoughts, and hast balanced the good and the evil, the profits and losses of religion; for want of this the church is filled with hypocrites, and hell with inconsiderate and rash professors; the more we deliberate the better we shall conclude.

Direct. 2. Having debated the matter over and over in thy most sedate and serious thoughts, let not Satan discourage thee from casting thy soul at Christ's feet with a hearty consent to all his terms, for want of such and such qualifications as thou canst not find in thine own soul. It is usual for Satan to suggest at this time, the want of greater sorrow and humiliation for sin; that the soul hath not lain long enough under the humbling work of the law; that the aggravations of its sins have been such, that there is no hope of acceptance. Free thy soul from these snares of Satan, by the consideration of this unquestionable truth; that Christ expects from thee no more humiliation than what produceth such a hearty deliberate consent as thy will is now to give; and such a consent once gained, no aggravation of sin is pleadable against the duty of believing.

Direct. 3. Distrust not the sincerity of Christ in those gracious offers he makes unto coming souls. Be satisfied, he speaks his very heart in them to thee; the devil labours to sow jealousy and beget suspicions in the hearts of poor convinced sinners, that they will not find such a welcome entertainment with Christ as he seems to promise them in those

encouraging scriptures, Mat. 11:28, 29. John 6:37 but that something else lies hid in those scriptures, as a mystery which they understand not, and so by shaking the assenting act, labours to hinder the accepting act of faith. This is a case as common as it is sad. The Lord help poor souls to avoid this snare, lest instead of honouring Christ, by a resolved adherence to him, they make him a liar, and impute insincerity to the God of truth:

For he that believeth not hath made him a liar.

Direct. 4. Look up to God for power to enable you to come to Christ in this supernatural and difficult work of faith. Do not think faith is of the growth of thine own heart; "No man can come unto me, (saith Christ) except my father which hath sent me, draw him." There is a legal spirit working under evangelical pretences in many souls; they look within them to find that which is quite above them. The apostle points you to the fountain of faith, in Eph. 2:8. "It is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God".

It is one of the greatest difficulties in the world to believe. For if the power of God must be owned as the cause of every new degree of faith in the greatest believers in the world, as is plain, Luke 17:5. "The apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith;" how much more is the production of faith itself, and the first vital act thereof to be ascribed to the Almighty

Power of God?

Direct. 5. Keeping thine eye of expectation upon that Almighty Power, pray and plead with the Lord assiduously and importunately for the exerting that power upon thy soul; and give not over thy suit, until thou feel that power coming upon thee. The time of believing is a time of earnest pleading thine own danger and necessity; and the Spirit of the Lord, improving them, will abundantly furnish thee with pleas and arguments to enforce this suit. Such as these; (1.) Lord, I have thy call and invitation; yea, I have thy command to encourage me to believe; it is not presumption, therefore, in thy poor creature, to come after thou hast invited and commanded me; hadst thou not encouraged me, I durst not have moved towards thee: Lord, whose word is it? 1 John 3:23 is it not thine own? This makes my faith an act of obedience. (2.) Yea, Lord, I have thy promise, as well as thy command, made upon no other condition but my coming to thee. Blessed Jesus, hast thou not said, John 6:37. "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out?" An invitation is much,

but thy promise is more. (3.) O my God, I have not only thy command, making it my duty to believe, and thy promise to encourage me to that duty, but I have the examples of other sinners that came unto thee long ago, and thou didst not reject them: nor do I abuse these examples in drawing encouragement from them; for it was thy very design in recording them, that they might be so many patterns to all that should hereafter believe on thee, 1 Tim. 1:16. (4.) O my God, I am shut up under a plain necessity; I have no other way to take: thus stands the case with me, I am beaten off from all other refuges; there is no help for me in angels nor in men, in duties or self-righteousness; in thee only my soul can find rest. I am shut up to thee as to the only door of hope, Gal. 3:23 here I must speed or perish; my soul is burdened and wearied; I know not how to dispose of it, but into thy hands; nor where to lay the burden of my guilt, but upon thee: If I miss here, I am gone for ever. (5.) Lord, I am willing to renounce and abandon all other hopes, refuges, and righteousness, and to stick to and rely upon thee only. Duties cannot justify me, tears cannot wash me, reformation cannot save me; nothing but thy righteousness can answer my end; I come to thee a poor naked creature, saying as the church, Hos. 14:3. "Ashur shall not save us, &c for in thee do the fatherless find mercy." Thus plead it with God, and still remember you are pleading for life, yea, for your eternal life.

Direct. 6. Labour to make a resolved adventure upon Christ, amidst all those encouragements, let the issue be what it will; resolve to venture, though you have not the least degree of assurance that you shall be accepted and pardoned. This is that brave and noble act of faith, which carries the soul to Christ: much as Esther came to the King, "Yet will I go into the king; and if I perish, I perish," Esth 4:16. It pities me to think how the faith of the fervent love of Christ alone should be enough to save a sinner, and make him justified without any act of belief; but you see faith is another matter. O there are great difficulties and mighty wrestlings in the work of believing: it is a great matter for a poor convinced sinner, in the face of so much guilt and vileness, and amidst such manifold damps and discouragements from Satan, to cast and adventure himself upon Christ, and that upon such self-denying terms: but the pinch of necessity will bring the soul to this, for now it reasons with itself as the lepers did, 2 Kings 7:4, 5. If we go to the camp of the

Assyrians, we can but die; and if we abide here, we must certainly die: thus here, if I sit still in the state of nature, and still continue demurring, and delaying, my damnation is unavoidable; to hell I must go: and if I cast myself upon Christ, I can but be rejected. But he hath said, He will not cast out those that come unto him: in this way of faith there is a possibility of salvation, yea, there dawns from it a strong probability: this therefore is my only way; To him I will go, and if I perish, I perish.

Direct. 7. Never measure the grace of God, nor the mercy of Christ, by the rule of your own narrow conception and apprehensions of him; but believe them to be far greater than your contracted and narrow understanding represents them to you. Our casting of the pardoning power and mercy of God in the mould of our own thoughts, disfigures and alters them, so that they look not like themselves, but with a very discouraging aspect upon our souls; by this, Satan keeps off many a soul from coming to Christ: the Lord knows how to forgive thee, though thou scarce knowest how to forgive thyself for the injuries thou hast done against him. That is a very considerable scripture to this purpose, in Isa.

55:7, 8, 9. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Man lies under a double misery, one by reason of affliction, another by reason of transgression; concerning both these, God's thoughts are not as ours, but far above what we can think: Either (1.) with simple cogitation: i.e. we cannot think such thoughts to others, under misery in themselves, or under transgression against us, as God doth towards us. Or (2.) by way of reflective comprehension; i.e. we cannot conceive what those thoughts of God are towards us, when we are under misery or sin, just as he thinks them; still his thoughts will be above ours, as the heavens are above the earth. Such is the altitude of heaven above the earth, that the vast body of the whole earth is but a small, inconsiderable point to it; the highest cedars, mountains, clouds, cannot reach it: God's thoughts are infinite, ours finite; his thoughts are continued, ours interrupted and at a stand; his are immutable, ours changeable; his are intuitive, ours discursive: therefore

never measure his by your own; the thoughts of pardoning grace in him, are rich, plenteous and glorious; but when our unbelieving hearts have practised upon them, they are quite another thing. Thou sayest, how can such a wretch as I obtain mercy? Thou knowest not, but the Lord knoweth. O if we could take in such a proper idea and apprehension of the mercy and goodness of God, as he hath given of them himself, in Exod. 34:6, 7 this would bring you to Christ with much encouragement.

Direct. 8. Be not discouraged in the work of faith, though no peace or comfort should come in by the first act of it: nay, though there should be an increase of trouble for the present; the first saving act of faith certainly puts you into a state of peace, but it may not presently produce the sense of peace; you may, after you have believed and really closed with Christ, meet with some discouragements which may make you question whether

Christ has received you or no, whether he has any love for your souls or no? Yet hold on, whether comfort come or not; though Christ and comfort are inseparable, yet Christ and the sense of comfort are not so: think not that all your troubles shall be over as soon as ever you believe, because it is said, Heb. 4:3. We which have believed do enter into rest:

That scripture speaks of a state of rest, and not of the present or continued sense of rest. The woman of Canaan, in Mat. 15:26, 27 did really believe in Christ, yet met with sore trials under the first act of her faith; yet this took her not off from the work of faith; but rather quickened and inflamed her the more; she was glad of a word from Christ, and she expected deeds. O but the words were discouraging; it is not meet to take the children's bread, and give it to dogs; yet this beats not off her faith; the dog belongs to the family, and crums to the dog. O woman, saith Christ, great is thy faith. If you resolve for Christ, you must not be discouraged; a resolute faith overcomes all difficulties. You pray, you believe, and yet no comfort; well, the vision of peace is for an appointed time, at the end it will speak, and not lie.

Direct. 9. In your treating with Christ, have a care of all secret reserves that will spoil the treaty betwixt Christ and you; If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear my prayer, saith David: If there be but a reserve of one lust, that reserve will break off the treaty: be honest with Christ, and say not of any sin, the Lord be merciful to me in this; and be sure

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