small weather-beaten crazy Cottage nay to visit some infamous Rebel justly confined to a Dungeon covered with nastiness and filth and there importune and entreat this miserable Wretch to be reconciled unto him that they may both dwell together and mutually rejoice in each others society What ought we then to think of our Blessed Saviour's soliciting and entreating with the greatest earnestness for admittance into our Hearts We may take notice of two general Parts in the words I. The main substance of the Verse which consists of two parts 1. Our Saviour's earnestness to be admitted into Sinner's Hearts I stand at the Door and knock c. 2. The Priviledges and Satisfaction consequent upon our receiving of him I will come in to him c. II. The way and manner how all this is commended to our consideration Behold I intend to say but little of this latter and therefore as it stands first in the Text so it shall immediately come under our consideration This word Behold noteth that something follows which is of weight and deserves to be observed Indeed it would greatly become and profit us to take a particular and distinct notice of those places of the Holy Scripture which are thus solemnly recommended to our consideration For God certainly best knows what is of greatest use for us And to suffer such Passages to slip our observation without a diligent heedful attendance to them which he hath set such a Mark upon and points out so carefully to our study argues much disregard to his Wisdom and Goodness and that our Religion is very weak and unoperative You may more particularly take notice that this word Behold hath three special significations in the Holy Scriptures or there are three several ends and purposes why it is used in the Scriptures 1. There is a Behold of Caution To warn us to take heed of what will be extreamly hurtful and injurious to our Souls John 5.14 Behold thou art made whole sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee God has done very much for thee and signally holpen thee and delivered thee take care thou do not wilfully provoke him again lest he afflict thee worse lest thou be hardened in thy Sins and Divine Wrath come upon thee to the uttermost 2. A Behold of Admiration Which calls us to wonder and admire with all the Powers of our Soul at the exceeding Riches of Divine Goodness and Grace 1 John 3.1 Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God! 3. A Behold designed to excite and stir us up to take notice of some important Matter speedily and to improve it without delay 2 Cor. 6.2 Behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of Salvation This word here in the Text may have all these Significations attributed to it 1. As designed to admonish us against resisting Christ any longer seeing he hath stood so long and urged us to give him admittance lest if we continue to keep our Hearts lock'd and barr'd against him he should depart from us in displeasure and never make us another offer of his Love and Grace O how fearful a thing is it to send Christ away grieved and enraged because of our final perversness and stubborness after he hath been long woing and perswading us to accept of him and his Benefits 2. As representing to us how great how wonderful how unexpected an Instance of Love Christ is pleased to vouchsafe us What greater Love can Christ express and shew to you than this He experienced and met with very hard and injurious usage here on Earth He underwent many afflicting grievous pains He suffered a very infamous tormenting kind of Death He endured for Sinners infinitely more than we can conceive yet did not all this allay and cool his Affection he loves us still with a Love as strong as ever What Love is this Love stronger than Death Love that the Floods cannot drown Love which neither Sufferings nor Death nor Life nor Glory can overcome Here is room indeed for our admiration and wonder cease then your wondering at other things which seem strange and unusual they are all nothing if compared with this Love of Christ Let all your admiration center here on this fathomless this infinite incomprehensible and unsearchable Object of it What can we justly wonder at besides the infinite Riches of our Saviour's Love and Condescention unless at that horrible and astonishing Prodigy that People should be so insensible sottish and sturdy as to slight neglect and despise all the exceeding abundance of the Riches of Divine Grace and Kindness 3. As exciting and stirring us up to take notice of our dear Saviour and with what tenderness and condescention he carries himself towards us Behold thy Saviour doth stand without and has been long waiting on thee and doth still entreat thee earnestly to give him admittance O take notice how the King of Glory is come to visit thee and is desirous to have communion with thee Behold Salvation is now come to thy House and what wilt thou deny reception to and shut thy Doors against such a Guest We may fairly enough furnish our selves with this Instruction from this word Behold as used in this place viz. That the Lord Jesus Christ hath wonderful Love to poor Sinners is a Truth of extraordinary importance and should be carefully observed and attended to But I design not to insist upon this any further than by acquainting you briefly with two things which clear and confirm the Proposition 1. The extraordinary usefulness of this Truth to us 2. The extraordinary strangeness of the Thing it self 1. The extraordinary usefulness of this Truth to us What is neither excellent in it self nor useful to us we justly overlook and take no notice of or if we do we therein betray our weakness and imprudence Now we have ordinarily many Interests and Designs on foot but we readily acknowledg that we are bound on all accounts to pursue with most care earnestness and diligence those things we are assured will most of all farther our highest Interests those Concernments we are most affected with and prefer and value above all the rest If a Man have a Trial depending for his whole Estate or for his Life and can hear of a certain Course he may take which will infallibly secure his Cause he will attend unto this Business before all his other Affairs and though there be other Matters he would be diligent and industrious about were this his principal Business well setled yet he omits and neglects them he lays them aside at present that he may follow his greater and more important Affair with greater freedom and less disturbance Now there is nothing so much concerns us as to be truly and savingly acquainted with the Riches of Divine Grace to be sensible of the gracious Visits Christ doth make and to embrace and close with his blessed Motions You may
us we are not only to cast away our Lusts and Sins but our Hearts must be fitted and disposed to receive him by the powerful Operation of his Holy Spirit beautifying and enriching them with Divine and Heavenly Qualifications And therefore it will concern us to be earnest in our Prayers that the good Spirit of God may come down upon us and make our Hearts and Souls meet Temples for the Son of God to dwell in IV. Go forth unto Christ by the actings of Faith upon all occasions Let Christ dwell in your Hearts by Faith Ephes 3.17 according to every alteration in your condition and according to all the diversities of Providence do you look unto Christ exercise Faith on him and by Faith fetch supplies of Grace from him V. Meditate much and often on the Love of Christ to Sinners Read over the Gospel the several Apostolical Epistles and the many Prophecies concerning Christ especially Isa 63. take notice of the many remarkable Passages there relating to Christ declaring his Condescention and Love weigh them seriously and press them upon thy own Soul and Conscience dwell on these Matters in thy Thoughts and expostulate with thy self about them What hath the Son of God taken my Nature has the King of Glory condescended to live here in the form of a Servant did he patiently undergo all the unjust Affronts and Contempts of lewd and prophane People did he bear the weight of God's Wrath and actually lay down his Life in the most open scandalous cursed linguering and painful kind of Death then known in the World and was all this for my sake O incomprehensible Love What shall I return unto my Saviour for all this I can never love Christ enough may I never cease admiring the many Instances wherein his Love hath broke forth unto me may I so wonder at and be affected with all these things that love to Christ may shine through all the passages of my Life May I never be at rest till I do arrive at the full enjoyment of my Saviour in his own Kingdom What has the Lord Jesus Christ done so much for me has he revealed such Truths made such Promises suffered such Sorrows submitted to such a Death as are recorded in the Holy Scriptures are so many glorious and wonderful Things related concerning him Doth he now reign in Heaven and hath he purchased such blessed Inheritance and satisfying Treasures for poor Sinners Nay doth he still importune and entreat me to accept of Him and his Benefits God forbid that I should oppose his Motions and resist his Love any longer Shall the King of Glory be slighted and excluded still by me Shall I wilfully cast away my own Soul and stubbornly neglect this great Salvation God forbid Shall it be writ on my Grave Here lies the sturdy ungrateful Wretch that did wilfully resist Jesus Christ the Wretch that resolved to force his way to Hell through all the Impediments and Discouragements infinite Justice and infinite Mercy had laid in his way that vile unpitiable Miscreant that would damn himself in spite of Love it self VI. Converse much with those who are experienced Christians and have much acquaintance with Christ He that walketh with wise Men shall be wise but a Companion of Fools shall be destroyed Prov. 13.20 Such People will very much assist thee in thy closing with Christ by their Discourses Exhortations and Practice They can tell thee such things concerning Christ from their own experience as will warm and melt thy Heart and inflame thy Affections They will contribute much to thy help by their advice and counsel by the accounts they can give thee off their own experiences by their watchfulness over thee and by their fervent effectual Prayers for thee VII Labour to be acquainted with and to observe all the Motions and Workings of Christ towards Sinners and close with and improve every one of them when he is pleased to exert any of them towards thy self Take notice of the Calls he doth give thee in his Word and the awakening visits he doth make thee by his providential Occurrences and improve these to put thee on a more diligent search and close walking after him and to excite and quicken in thee more fervent desires after Communion with him VIII Conscientiously frequent those Ordinances wherein Christ hath promised his more especial Presence Prepare thy self carefully to meet thy Lord and come with passionate Desires and confident Expectations grounded on his Faithfulness Word and Promise that he will exhibit himself unto those Souls that sincerely long and wait for him IX Lastly Faithfully resign and give up thy self to Christ When thy Heart is affected truly with a sense of Christ's Love then desire him by fervent Prayer that he will be pleased to take thee into Covenant with himself and make a hearty faithful entire resignation of thy self unto him O Blessed Jesus most Holy Saviour I am unworthy I acknowledg to make use of thy Name I have often resisted and sinned against thy constraining Love but I am heartily sorry now that ever I did so O compassionate and tender-hearted Saviour reject not an humble returning mourning Penitent embrace me the unworthiest of all others in the Arms of thy Mercy and admit me into thy favour the more stubborn and head-strong and wilful I have been the more abundantly let thy Grace be manifested toward me and bring me under the more powerful influences of thy Love Lord seize by the Power of thy Grace and take possession of this Soul Gracious Saviour whose Bowels have ever yearned over the miserable and who hast been always compassionate and gracious to the unworthy favourably accept of this poor Oblation Lord it is the purchase of thy own Blood O reject not despise not cast not away what thou hast bought at so dear a rate Lord here is my Soul my Body my Heart my Affections my Mind my Judgment my Will Lord here is all that I have Lord I resign up all unto thee without any reservation do with all as pleaseth thee best only accept of them O Lord I love thee above all I desire with my whole Soul to love thee every Day more and more Lord dwell in my Heart rule over my whole Man bring all my Powers unto a true and sound subjection unto and compliance with thee in every thing May my Soul always admire thee my Heart love thee my Tongue praise thee my Lips speak of thy Glory and Goodness May my Life glorify thee may I in every part of my practice serve and honour thee may all my Faculties and Members be ready and faithful Servants for and unto thee Lord I long to be with thee my Soul panteth after thee For me to live is Christ and to die is gain Phil. 1.21 FINIS
fear and horror do so prevail in my Soul I am not able to bear up under the same my Heart fails me and my Spirit is gone Why now one glimps of Christ one taste of his Goodness a sense of his Love will revive and exhilerate the Soul and disperse all these Clouds these Darknesses and Storms There is no condition a Person can be in but if Christ will dart into him a Ray of his special Love he will thence receive mighty even inexpressible support and comfort The continued Love of Christ is the most sovereign Cordial in every Estate and Condition We may go through Fire and Water we may adventure upon any suffering for the Name of Christ being assured of his Love O! what an excellent chearing Scripture is that of the Epistle to the Romans Chap. 8. v. 35 to the end What would the Scripture be to us how should we be effectually excited and encouraged to a course of Piety Or what could support us under Burthens and Troubles if Christ did not continue his Love to Sinners 2ly In the second place we are to consider the extraordinary strangeness of the thing it self We commonly take as particular notice as we can of strange and unwonted Occurrences How do People view and observe Comets and Blazing Stars How do they flock to see any strange sort of Beast when exhibited to be seen We admire and wonder at things which are considerable only by reason of their strangeness and rarity Things which are not of any great worth nor cannot produce us any profit and real advantage O! therefore let us be so wise as to turn all our admiration unto that which is truly strange and equally advantagious and comfortable The Love of Christ to Sinners is the strangest thing that ever was Without controversy great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World and received up into Glory 1 Tim. 3.16 This is a thing so strange even in the first Instances of it the blessed Angels stand amazed at it and desire to look into it 1 Pet. 1.12 If a Prince the only Son of a King or Emperor should condescend to take notice of a mean traiterous Wretch ready to have all the Torments and Punishments his Treason deserved inflicted on him and plead for this Person yea deny himself all the Pleasures Honours and Satisfactions in his Father's Court yea submit himself to all manner of Indignities for many Years together to procure the other's Pardon And being at last received to Court again and living in the greatest pomp and splendour should come to this Person whose Life he had saved at the forementioned rate and entreat and beseech and court him to be reconciled to him and that an intimate familiarity and correspondence may be setled betwixt them promising him all the Entertainments and Satisfactions he doth participate of himself Would not this be looked on by all as a most prodigious Instance of Affection and Love But alas what is this to that we are now discoursing of Here is the Son of God who is equal with God God blessed for ever who is the Brightness of his Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person whose Name is Wonderful Counsellor The mighty God The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace This is the Person who condescended to take on him our Nature who lived for many Years together a Life that was very mean and to outward appearance very contemptible What Indignities did he suffer from Men how deep did he drink of the Cup of God's Wrath when groaning and praying and sweating Blood in the Garden when expostulating so earnestly with his Father on the Cross He submitted to Death yea he became obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross The most painful the most lingering the most ignominious and cursed sort of Death then known in the World And all this was to reconcile Sinners and Enemies unto God and to save them from that eternal Misery and Damnation they could no other way be saved from And after all this having raised himself to Life and being received into Glory he continues his Love to these Sinners and many ways importunes and sollicites them to accept of the Mercy and Blessings which cost him so dear and to yield themselves up into the Bonds of Friendship that a constant mutual correspondence may be maintained betwixt them Is not this an incomprehensible astonishing Prodigy of Love what can be compared unto it What Heart so hard such Condescention such Love such passionate courting will not soften and overcome What so strange what so obliging as this that the Son of God should entreat and beseech Rebels to accept of Pardon should court and make so much ado be so importunate and keep such a stir with us who are only held by his Hand from falling into Hell to accept of Heaven There is nothing so strange as this unless it be that cursed Heart which is too obdurate and stubborn to be overcome and won by so kind so winning and so mighty a Force as this is Applic. What care now should we take to be throughly instructed and setled in this great Truth Do not labour only to be acquainted with it in the Theory but endeavour and pray that a saving Knowledg and Belief of it may be wrought in you by the Spirit of God This is a Matter concerns thee much thy Salvation depends upon it If thou lose thy Soul thou losest all If thou art ignorant of the Love of Christ if this Love have no influence on thee thou art miserable indeed All true Comfort is wrap'd up in this Acts 4.12 O study this great Truth and do not desist or leave off till it have its proper influence on thy Affections Heart and Life Let the Love of Christ constrain thee Resolve to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified Admire and adore the Love of Christ Improve the knowledg and consideration of it to fix and promote thy Faith thy Love thy Hope thy Patience and every other Grace But I will not insist any longer on this first word which is introductory and should lead us attentively unto that which followeth The rest of the Verse acquaints us with our blessed Saviour's seeking for and endeavouring to get admittance with us and the Priviledges which shall accrue to those who hearken to him and receive him I shall confine my self now unto the first of these which is represented to us in these words I stand at the Door and knock Though in discoursing of this I shall have occasion to acquaint you with the main Importance of some of the following words viz. If any Man hear my Voice and open the Door Our Saviour's seeking and endeavouring to get admittance with us is here exprest by three words 1. Standing 2. Knocking 3. The word Door The Person or rather the Heart of the Person
Canst thou endure the eternal Displeasure of Almighty God Canst thou bear up under the direful and astonishing Punishments which contemned Grace and abused Patience and Goodness expose to Canst thou dwell with everlasting Burnings O let the Long-suffering the Patience and the Goodness of thy Saviour lead thee to Repentance and prevail with thee to accept of and close with him and his gracious Offers This shall serve at this time concerning Christ's waiting to be gracious unto Sinners I proceed to say something II. In the second place of his importuning Sinners for admittance This is noted by the word knock Jesus Christ doth not only wait long but useth much importunity and is very earnest to get admittance with Sinners He knocks and knocks again he repeats his Entreaties and often renews his earnest Sollicitations that we will not reject and despise him but admit him into our Hearts and bid him welcome Now what Condescention is this that the Son of God should court and perswade us with so much warmth and fervour That he who cannot receive any advantage from us should thus importune us for our own advantage Indeed this doth plainly manifest our baseness and stupidity in that we are so hard to be wrought on and affected with our most important Interests And it doth as certainly and fully display and upbraid our wilfulness and impiety when we stand out and finally resist Christ as it doth demonstrate the unparallel'd condescention and kindness of our Saviour O! what Demonstrations have we of the tenderness of Christ to Sinners How do his Bowels yearn over us when we are inconsiderately ruining our selves How often doth he knock and entreat us to yield to him and accept of him and his Benefits O how hard and stubborn are our Hearts what will not all the Divine Methods and Artifices win us and bring us into a compliance with him that loveth us above Life and Death I need mention but two Generals to evidence more distinctly unto you how earnest and importunate the Lord Jesus is to be received by us 1. The Arguments he doth use to perswade us to accept of him 2. The Instruments he doth imply about this Work viz. to win us to comply with his gracious Motions and offers 1. The Arguments he doth use to prevail with us to accept of Him He urgeth the strongest Arguments and presseth on us those Considerations which carry along with them the greatest force and weight imaginable And these are managed with all the heartiness and affectionateness that is possible Arguments many strong various and such as are most proper to have an influence on our Affections Judgments and Minds Were any Motions urged that had but the thousandth part of the reason the least of these hath to engage us to strike in and close with any thing for our secular Advantage how effectual would they prove No Difficulties no Straights no Discouragements would affright or dishearten us But when the greatest and most weighing Instances as the Divine Wisdom can pitch upon are urged by the Lord himself to engage us not to forsake our own Mercies to attend to and close with our only Happiness Alas how unapprehensive how unconcerned are we We are then as little moved as if the Arguments had no weight in them or we had no Souls to take care of and be saved If Satan hath a mind to draw us unto any Sin or engage us in some destructive and damning course how easily doth he prevail how soon doth he gain our Ear our Hand our Heart How suddenly doth he hurry us into what he pleaseth Yea Men like our selves can easily work upon our Affections and prevail with us to do those things which will hasten our Misery our Shame our Destruction But alas Christ may stand and call and warn and entreat us by ever so many Considerations and yet have no admittance amongst us We deal with our Saviour as the wanton and undutiful Child doth when he lets an Enemy into the House at the first word But when his Parent calls and knocks he sits unconcerned turns a deaf Ear and never takes any notice though that Relation knock never so loud and be very importunate to be let in We are ready to follow Satan and do what he would have us to do if he do but promise us a little Pleasure or Wealth c. But Christ is shut out and not hearkned unto though he is most importunate and doth urge the weightiest Arguments to prevail with us to attend unto him The Arguments he doth urge are very many It shall suffice at present to name a few of them with a brief intimation of their worth and excellency 1. He lays before us his own transcendent Excellencies and Perfections The Dignity of his Person and how wonderful his Condescention is in that he is pleased to make such Vouchsafements unto us He is the Brightness of the Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person and he upholdeth all things by the Word of his Power Heb. 1.3 He is God over all blessed for ever-more Rom. 9.5 And what shall the Eternal God be repulsed when he makes such importunate Addresses to most miserable Worms Shall we deny admittance to the high and lofty One who inhabiteth Eternity whose Name is Holy and dwelleth in the high and holy Place when he condescendeth to come to us and earnestly entreateth us to let him have his abode with us He is not a mean contemptible Person which maketh Love to us whose Favour we may lose and be never the worse whose Kindness and Love if withdrawn may be made up another way or by another Person He is God He is the Lord of Glory The Angels adore and reverence glorify and worship him He can and will make thee truly and unspeakably blessed and happy if thou hearken to his Voice and entertain him Thou must needs be unconceivably miserable without him he has Power to make thee happy or miserable If thou receive him he will conduct thee to Heaven and constitute thee perfect and unalterably blessed But if thou stubbornly and finally despisest him and tramplest under thy Feet the offers of his Love and Grace he is able to punish thee for thy contempt and he will cast thee into and burn thee in Hell to all Eternity 2. He represents unto us the miserable and undone condition we are naturally in That whilst without him we are Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel we do not belong to the Society of those the Lord hath chosen and set apart for himself we are Strangers from the Covenant of Promise we have nothing to do with those great and precious Priviledges which are made over to them who are interested in the Divine special Love We have no hope we are in a desperate condition as to hereafter without any true and solid ground to encourage our selves to hope it shall be well with us We are without God in the World we are
destitute of true and sound Notions of God and without an interest in him as our reconciled God Ephes 2.12 Now what have such Persons to be proud of we who are dead in Trespasses and Sins Ephes 2.1 What have we to be conceited of that we should refuse to accept of Christ's Offers that we should think scorn to entertain him The discovery of our natural Estate should make us hasten to the Lord Jesus with all the speed we can But alas it is our not being sensible of our Condition our Infidelity our not believing that we are so worthless unclean and miserable as indeed we are that makes us slight Christ and refuse his gracious Offers 3. He makes known how real and extraordinary his Love is to us He does not complement us with words but hath a Heart for us O what demonstrations of Love hath he given us He hath done as much to approve the sincerity of his Love to us as can be desired or imagined Sinner there is no ground for thee to question the truth of his Love He hath vindicated and cleared his sincerity beyond all possibility of suspicion and doubt He pleads with the Sinner protests his Love to him and argues the matter with him Behold I have loved thee so long already with a transcendent Love And what is it thou wouldst or canst desire to make it appear my Love is hearty and real Do'st thou expect I should approve my Love by suffering some great hardships for thy sake Behold I have done that and more I have been scorned and contemned I have been abused and laugh'd at I have been derided and mock'd and spit upon nay I have sweat Blood for thee I have undergone inexpressible Agonies in my Mind such troubles and griefs in my Soul as no Tongue can explain for thy sake I have endured the frowns and born the displeasure of an angry God and incensed Father to preserve and save thee Here behold with thine own Eyes the Marks in my Hands and in my Feet those Nails have made which fastned me to the Cross see the Scars on my Forehead which were torn there by that Crown which was violently and reproachfully thrust on my Head Nay I did lay down my Life for thee I waxed not weary in compassing thy Salvation though the Pains and Sufferings I endured were very many very grievous and afflicting Death it self hath not quench'd nor conquered the Love I did bear unto thee Now who can resist the Arguings of a Saviour Do's Christ plead his Love and his Sufferings with thee do's he conjure thee by them to accept of him and wilt thou still stand out and reject him O how stubborn how invincible an Infidel how vile and unpitiable a Wretch wilt thou prove thy self to be if thou wilt not be moved by the entreaties and courtings of a bleeding Saviour 4. He doth urge his Authority over us and the right he hath unto us I do not mean only that which doth accrue to him by Creation or from our own particular promise and resignation of our selves unto him But that right he hath to us by purchase We are not our own to dispose of The Lord Jesus hath bought us out of the hands of our Enemies and is become on that account our rightful Lord and Master And how can we refuse him when he comes unto us but we must contract on our selves the dreadful guilt of the most detestable Rebellion rebellion against Heaven against the Lord of Love of Mercy of Life Our Hearts our Souls our Bodies our whole Man are purchased by him He has redeemed us unto himself he hath paid a sufficient price for us and shall we shut the Doors against him when he comes to dwell in his own House the Habitation he himself hath purchased Should a Servant keep any of us out of a House we have dearly bought with what indignation should we resent such usage And what may we expect from Christ if we will detain his own purchase from him and not admit him to have an abode with us 1 Cor. 6.19 20. Luke 19.27 It was a great Sin in the Jews that they slighted and disowned Christ when he came amongst them And their Sin was very much aggrevated on this account that they rejected him notwithstanding he had a peculiar and special right unto them John 1.11 O what will our Sin appear to be if after that Christ hath bought us with his most precious Blood we will not accept of and receive him when he knocks and pleads with us 5. He acquaints us with the necessity of our admitting him into our Hearts in order to our own happiness What shall we sin against our Lives and our Blessedness Shall we cast away our Souls and all that is justly dear to us and have nothing to say for our selves in our own vindication and excuse Is there any thing of prudence or of reason in doing thus Doth not our Nature doth not that Principle which differences us from Brutes detest such a thing Why if we would not be such Prodigals it highly concerns us to accept of Christ He comes to us and intreats us to accept of him for our own benefit He cannot receive any advantage or profit by it he doth not need us It is for our good he comes to us he importunes us thus because without accepting of him we must be eternally ruined We are in the way to Hell Satan and Lust are hurrying us apace to everlasting Misery and we cannot be delivered and saved any other way than by accepting of him Acts 4.12 6. He sets before us the Glory and Inheritance he hath provided for us and will certainly bestow on us if we do receive him The Things Christ hath treasured up for Believers are not the little transitory Things of this World These Things he casts abroad with a seemingly indifferent hand he never designed to make up a Portion for his own People of these perishing Things He hath greater and better Things to reward us with even an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and which fadeth not away but is reserved for us in Heaven 1 Pet. 1.4 He hath taken possession of glorious Mansions and will come again and receive us unto himself to be for ever where he is John 14.2 3. We have no ground to question our Saviour's Faithfulness or Bounty It is alledged as a strong and convincing Argument that God will not deny any useful thing unto his People because he hath given up his Son for them Rom. 8.32 And can we imagine that he who hath suffered for us and triumphed over all our Enemies and hath made such glorious Promises as are recorded in his Word and doth still testify such strong Affection and Love towards us will if we accept of him refuse to confer on us the great and the glorious Things he hath purchased for us by his bloody Sufferings Our Blessed Saviour when he was on Earth prayed that his Servants might be