Gospel which you enjoy leads you to the Fountain of pardon and peace Iâ—a 53. 5. By his stripes we are healed The voice of the Gospel is peace peace to every one that believeth a rational peace founded upon the full satisfaction of Christ Ephes. 1. 7. In whom we have redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his Grace Here you see Justice and Mercy kissing each other God satisfied and the Sinner justified for Conscience demands as much to satisfie it as God demands to satisfie him if God be satisfied Conscience is satisfied O blessed are the people that hear this joyful sound Psal. 89. 15. And doubtless it is a joyful sound to every convinced humbled Soul Beautiful upon the Mountains are the Feet of them that bring good tydings that publish peace It is a Gospel worthy of all acceptation 1 Tim. 1. 15. it brings with it a fulness of blessings among the People O England O Dartmouth Provoke not thy God to extinguish this blessed light Great is our wantonness and ominous is our barrenness and ingratitude Yet a little while the light is with you walk whilst ye have the light lest darkness come upon you for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth John 12. 35. Should God blow out this light whither will you go Who shall pour in Balm to your distressed bleeding Consciences ' II. Inference Hence in like manner it follows that the greatness heinousness of past sins is no bar to believing and accepting Christ upon Gospel terms Let no sinner be dismaid by the atrocity and heynousness of sins past from coming unto Jesus Christ for remission and peace I am awar what mischievous use Satan makes of former sins to discourage Souls from the work of Faith by heaping them together he raiseth up a Mountain betwixt Christ and the distressed Soul but behold this day Christ leaping over these Mountains and skiping over these Hills Could this objection be rouled out of the way sinners would go on in hope but certainly if God have given thee a broken Heart and a willing Mind the greatness of thy sin need not discourage thee from believing For 1. thou hast sufficient encouragement from the sufficiency of the causes of pardon whatever thy particular enormities have been there is a sufficiency in the impulsive cause the Free Grace and Mercy of God Exod. 34. 6 7. Micah 7. 18 19. Isa. 55. 7 8 9. It is well there is Mercy enough in God to heal and cover all and there is no less sufficiency in the meritorious cause of pardon the Blood of Jesus Christ which taketh away all sin 1 Iohn 1. 7. 1 Iohn 29. And it must needs be so because it is Divine Blood Acts 20. 28. Neither is there any defect in the applying cause the Spirit of God who hath already begun to work upon thy Heart and is able to break it and bow it and bring it home fully to Christ and to compleat the work of Faith upon thee with power thou complainest thou canst not mourn nor believe as thou wouldst but he wants no ability to supply all the defects of thy repentance and faith Well then if the mercy of God be sufficient to pardon the sin of a Creature if the Blood of Christ the Treasures and Revenues of a King be able to pay the debts of a Beggar if the Spirit of God who works by an Almighty Power be able to convince thee of righteousness as well as sin Iohn 16. 9. I say if all the three causes of forgiveness be sufficient every one in its kind the first to move the second to purchase and the third to apply what hinders but thy trembling Conscience should go to Christ and thy discouraged Soul move onward with hope in the way of believing whatever thy former enormities have been 2. If God raises glory to his Name out of the greatness of the sins he pardoneth then the greatness of sin can be no discouragement to believing but so God doth he raiseth the glory of his Name from the multitude and magnitude of the sins he pardoneth Ier. 33. 8 9. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against me and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against me And it shall be to me a name of joy a praise and an honour before all the Nations of the Earth which shall hear all the good I do unto them And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it As a cure performed upon a Man labouring under a desperate Disease it magnifies the Physitian and spreads his Name far and near The Devil envies God this glory and thy Soul this comfort and therefore scares thee off from Christ by the aggravations of thy sins David was willing to give God the glory of pardoning his great iniquities and with that very argument moves him for a pardon Psal. 25. 11. Pardon mine iniquitie for it is great You see there are strange ways of arguing in Scripture which are not in use among Men this is one Lord pardon my sin for it is great he doth not say Lord pardon it for it is but a small offence no but pardon it because it is great and the greater it is the greater Glory wilt thou have in pardoning it And then there is another way of arguing for pardon in Scripture which is peculiar and that is to argue from former pardons unto new pardons when Men beg their pardon one of another they use to say I never wronged you before and therefore forgive me now but here it is quite otherwise Lord thou hast signed thousand of pardons heretofore therefore pardon me again such is that plea Numb 14. 19. Pardon I beseech thee the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven them from Egypt even until now 3. As great sins as those that now stare in the Face of thy Conscience have been actually forgiven to Men upon their humiliation and closing with Christ. Poor sinners under trouble of Conscience are apt to think there is no sin like theirs God forbid I should diminish and extenuate sin but certain I am that Free Grace hath pardoned as great Sinners as thou art upon their repentance and faith What think you had you had a Hand in putting Christ to Death would not that sin have been as dreadful as any that now discourages you Yea certainly you would have thought that an unpardonable sin and yet behold that very sin was no bar to their pardon when once they were pricked at the Heart and made willing to come to Christ Acts 2. 36 37 38. 4. If it be the design and policy of Satan to object the greatness of your sins to prevent the pardoning of them then certainly 't is neither your duty nor interest
Adam which are as the Sand upon the Sea shore that not only so many persons but all that they have done must come into Judgment even the very thoughts of their Hearts which never came to the knowledge of Men their Consciences to be interrogated all other Witnesses fully heard and examined how great a day must this day of the Lord then be The Second Vse But the main Use of this Point will be for Exhortation that seeing all the offers of Christ are recorded and witnessed with respect to a day of account every one of you would therefore immediately embrace the present gracious tender of Christ in the Gospel as ever you expect to be acquitted and cleared in that great day take heed of denials nay of delays and demurs For if the word spoken by Angels were stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Heb. 2. 2 3. The question is put but no answer made How shall we escape The wisdom of Men and Angels cannot tell how to enforce this Exhortation I shall present you with Ten weighty Considerations upon the matter which the Lord follow home by the blessing of his Spirit upon all your Hearts I. CONSIDERATION Consider how invaluable a mercy it is that you are yet within the reach of offered Grace The mercies that stand in offer before you this day were never set before the Angels that fell no Mediator was ever appointed for them Oh astonishing mercy that those Vessels of Gold should be cast into everlasting Fire and such Clay Vessels as we are thus put into a capacity of greater happiness than ever they fell from Nay the mercy that stands before you is not only denied to the Angels that fell but to the greatest part of your fellow Creatures of the same rank and dignity with you Psal. 147. 19 20. He sheweth his Word to Jacob his Statutes and his Iudgments unto Israel he hath not dealt so with any Nation and as for his Iudgments they have not known them praise ye the Lord. A mercy deservedly celebrated with a Joyful Allelujah What vast Tracts are there in the habitable World where the name of Christ is unknown T is your special mercy to be born in a Land of Bibles and Ministers where it is as difficult for you to avoid and shun the Light as it is for others to behold and enjoy it II. CONSIDERATION Consider the nature weight and worth of the mercies which are this day freely offered you Certainly they are mercies of the first Rank the most ponderous precious and necessary among all the mercies of God. Christ the first born of mercies and in him pardon peace and eternal Salvation are set before you it were astonishing to see a starving Man refusing offered bread or a condemned Man a gracious pardon Lord what compositions of sloath and stupidity are we that we should need so many intreaties to be happy III. CONSIDERATION Consider who it is that makes these gracious tenders of pardon peace and Salvation to you even that God whom you have so deeply wronged whose Laws you have violated whose mercies you have spurned and whose wrath you have justly incensed His patience groans under the burden of your daily provocations he loses nothing if you be damned and receives no benefit if you be saved yet the first motions of Mercy and Salvation to you freely arise out of his Grace and good pleasure God intreats you to be reconciled 2 Cor. 5. 20. The blessed Lord Jesus whose blood thy sins have shed now freely offers that blood for thy Reconciliation Justification and Salvation if thou wilt but sincerely accept him ere it be too late IV. CONSIDERATION Reflect seriously upon your own vileness to whom such gracious offers of Peace and Mercy are made Thy sins have set thee at as great a distance from the hopes and expectations of pardon as any sinner in the World. Consider Man what thou hast been what thou hast done and what vast heaps of guilt thou hast contracted by a life of sin and yet that unto thee Pardon and Peace should be offered in Christ after such a life of Rebellion how astonishing is the mercy The Lord is contented to pass by all thy former Rebellions thy deep died Transgressions and to sign an Act of Oblivion for all that is past if now at last thy Heart relent for Sin and thy Will bow in obedience to the grâ—at commands and call of the Gospel Isa. 55. 2. 1. 18. V. CONSIDERATION Consider how many offers of mercy you have already refused and that every refusal is recorded against you How long you have tried and even tired the patience of God already and that this may be the last overture of Grace that ever God will make to your Souls Certainly there is an offer that will be the last offer a striving of the Spirit which will be his last striving and after that no more offers without you no more motions or strivings within you for evermore The Treaty is then ended and your last neglect or rejection of Christ recorded against the day of your account and what if this should prove to be that last tender of Grace which must conclude the Treaty betwixt Christ and you what undone wretches must you then be with whom so gracious a Treaty breaks off upon such dreadful terms VI. CONSIDERATION Consider well the reasonable mild and gracious nature of the Gospel terms on which Life and Pardon are offered to you The Gospel requires nothing of you but Repentance and Faith Acts 20. 21. Can you think it hard when a Prince pardons a Rebel to require him to fall upon his Knees and stretch forth a willing and thankful Hand to receive his Pardon Your Repentance and Faith are much of the same nature Here is no legal satisfaction required at your Hands no reparation of the injured Law by your doings or sufferings but an hearty sorrow for sins committed sincere purposes and endeavours after new obedience and a hearty thankful acceptation of Christ your Saviour and for your encouragement herein his Spirit stands ready to furnish you with Powers and Abilities Prov. 1. 23. Turn ye at my reproof behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you I will make known my Words unto you and Isa. 26. 20. Lord thou hast wrought all our Works in us VII CONSIDERATION Again consider how your way to Christ by Repentance and Faith is beaten before you by thousands of sinners for your encouragement You are not the first that ever adventured your Souls in this path multitudes are gone before you and that under as much guilt fear and discouragement as you that come after can pretend unto and not a man among them repulsed or discouraged here they have found rest and peace to their weary Souls Heb. 4. 3. Acts 13. 39. Here the greatest of sinners have been set forth for an ensample to you
solemn Amen So be it or So it shall be To open this Point distinctly we are to consider that there is a threefold presence of Christ 1. Corporeal 2. Represented 3. Spiritual First There is a Corporeal Presence of Christ which the Church once enjoyed on Earth when he went in and out amongst his People Acts 1. 21. When their Eyes saw him and their Hands handled him 1 Iohn 1. 1. This presence was a singular consolation to the Disciples and therefore they were greatly dejected when it was to be removed from them But after Redemption-Work was finished on Earth this Bodily Presence was no longer necessary to be continued in this World but more expedient to be removed to Heaven Iohn 16. 7. as indeed it was and must there abide until the time of the restitution of all things Acts 3. 21. And in this respect he tells the Disciples Iohn 16. 28. leave the World and go to my Father Secondly There is a Represented Presence of Christ in Ordinances As the Person of a King is represented in another Country by his Ambassadors so is Christ in this World by his Ministers 2 cor 5. 26. We then are Ambassadors for God as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God. Christ is about other work for us in Heaven but we stand in his stead on Earth And this speaks the great Dignity of the Ministerial Office whatever abuses or contempts are cast on them they reflect upon Christ Luke 10. 16. He that despiseth you despiseth me It also teacheth us whence the validity of Gospel administrations is Christ ratifies and confirms them with his own Authority It also instructs us how Wise Spiritual and Holy Ministers should be who represent Christ to the Word A Drunkard a Persecutor a sensual Worldling is but an ill representative of the blessed and holy Jesus Thirdly Beside and above the two former there is a Spiritual Presence of Christ in the Churches and Ordinances and this Presence of Christ by his Spirit who is his Vicegerent is to be considered as that from which all Gospel Ordinances derive 1. Their Beauty and Glory 2. Their Power and Efficacy 3. Their awful Solemnity 4. Their Continuance and Stability First From the presence of Christ by his Spirit the Ordinances and Churches derive their beauty and glory Psal. 27. 4. To see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary Look as the beauty of the Body is a result from the Soul that animates it and when the Soul is gone the beauty of the Body is gone also so the beauty and glory of all Ordinances comes and goes with the Spirit of Christ which is the very Soul of them The Churches are indeed golden Candlesticks but the Candlestick hath no light but what the Candle gives it hence that magnificent description of the new Temple is closed up in this expression Ezek. 48. ult The name of that City shall be The Lord is there Secondly From this Spiritual Presence of Christ all Gospel Ordinances derive all that Power and Efficacy which is by them exerted upon the Souls of Men either in their Conversion or Edification This power is not inherent in them nor do they act as natural necessary agents but as instituted means which are successful or unsuccessful according as Christ by his Spirit co-operates with them 1 Cor. 3. 7. He that plants is nothing neither he that watereth but God that giveth the increase that is they are nothing to the purpose nothing to the accomplishment of Mens Salvation without the concurrence of the Spirit of Christ. For when the Apostle makes himself and Apollos with all other Ministers nothing we must understand him speaking not absolutely but comparatively and relatively they are necessary in their places and sufficient in their kind for what they are appointed to else it would be a reflection upon the Wisdom of God that instituted them but singly in themselves and disjunctively considered they are nothing as a Trumpet or wind Instrument is nothing as to its end and use except breath be inspired into it and that breath modulated by the art and skill of the inspirer like Ezekiets Wheels that move not but as the Spirit that was in them moved and directed their motions If Ordinances wrought upon Souls naturally and necessarily as the fire burneth then they could not fail of success upon all that come under them But it is with them as with the Waters of the Pool of Bethesda whose healing vertue was only found at that season when the Angel descended and troubled them Thirdly This Spiritual Presence of Christ gives the Ordinances of the Gospel that awful solemnity which is due upon that account to them The Presence of Christ in them commands reverence from all that are about him God is greatly to be feared in the Assemblies of his Saints and to be had in reverence of all that are round about him Hence is that solemn caution or threatning Levit. 26. 23 24. If you walk contrary unto me then will I also walk contrary unto you the Hebrew word in that Text signifies to walk rashly or at an adventure with God sine personae discrimine without considering with whom we have to do and what an awful Majesty we stand before And the punishment is suitable to the sin I also will walk at an adventure with you making no discrimination in my Judgments betwixt your persons and the persons of the worst of Men. Oh that this were duly considered by all that have to do with God in Gospel institutions Fourthly 'T is the Spiritual Presence of Christ in his Churches and Ordinances that gives them their Continuance and Stability when ever the Spirit of Christ departs from them it will not be long before they depart from us or if they should not their continuance will be little to our advantage When the Glory of the Lord once dismounted from betwixt the Cherubims when that sad voice was heard in the Temple migremus hinc let us go hence how soon was both City and Temple made a desolation And truly Christ's Presence is not so fixed to any Place or any Ordinances but the sins of the people may banish it away Rev. 2. 5. Who will tarry in any place longer than he is welcom if he have any where else to go But more particularly let us here discuss these two points I. How it appears Christ is thus Spiritually Present with his Churches and Ordinances II. Why it is necessary he should be so First By what evidences doth it manifestly appear that there is such a presence of Christ with his Churches and Ordinances And this will appear by two undeniable evidences thereof 1. By their wonderful Preservations 2. From their supernatural Effects First From their wonderful Preservations for it is wholly unaccountable and unconceiveable how the Churches Ministers and Ordinances should be supported and preserved without it
Verily verily I say unto you you must be born again Iohn 3. 5. O sinner that hard Heart of thine must be humbled thy stubborn and refractory Will must be bowed all the powers of thy Soul must be unlockt and opened unto Christ he must come into thy Soul or thou canst never see the face of God in peace It is Christ in you that is the hope of glory Col. 1. 27. Till thy Heart be opened Christ with all the hopes of glory stand without thee And if hopes from the death of Christ without us without the application of his person be enough to save Men then why are any damned Consult 1 Cor. 1. 30. Adams sin damns none but only such as are in him and Christs righteousness saves none but those only that are by faith in him the eternal purposes of the Father the meritorious death of the Son puts no Man into the state of Salvation and happiness till both be brought home by the Spirits powerful application in the work of saving conversion T is good news good indeed that Christ died for sinners t is good news that Christ is brought to our very doors in the tenders of the Gospel and that the Spirit knocks at the door of our Hearts by many convictions and perswasions to open to him and enjoy the unspeakable benefits of his death these things bring us nigh to Christ the next door to Salvation and yet all this may be eventually but a dreadful aggravation of our damnation and will certainly be so to them whose Hearts are but almost opened to Christ. V. Inference See hence the necessity of fervent prayer to accompany the preaching of the Gospel Without the Spirit and power of God accompanying the Word no Heart can ever be opened to Christ Alas such Bars as these are too strong for the breath of Man to break Let Ministers pray and the People pray that the Gospel may be preached with the holy Ghost sent down from Heaven 1 Pet. 1. 12. It greatly concerns us that preach the Gospel to wrestle with God upon our knees to accompany us in the dispensation of it unto the People to steep that seed we sow among you in tears and prayers before you hear it and I beseech you Brethren let us not strive alone joyn your cries to Heaven with ours for the blessing of the Spirit upon the Word How doth Paul beg of the People as a beggar would beg for an alms at the door for their assistance in Prayer Rom. 15. 30. I beseech you brethren for the Lord Iesus Christ sake and for the love of the Spirit that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me For want of such wrestlings with God in prayer there is so little efficacy in Ordinances Martha told her Saviour Iohn 11. 21. Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died and I may tell you that if the Spirit had been here your Souls had not remained dead under the Word as they do this day Oh when the Sabbath draws near let fervent cries ascend from every Family to Heaven Lord pour out thy Spirit with thy Word make it mighty through thy Power to open these Gates of Iron and break asunder these Bars of Brass Second Vse of Exhortation Seeing the Case stands thus that all Hearts by nature are barr'd and shut up against Christ let every Soul do what it can and strive to its uttermost to get the Heart and Will opened to Christ Strive to enter in at the straight gate Christ is at the Door Oh strive with your selves as well as with God now to get it opened now that Salvation is come so near to your Souls Object But have you not told us that no sinner can open his own Heart nor bow his own Will to Christ Answ. True he cannot convert himself but yet he may do many things in order to it and which have a remote tendency towards it which he doth not do and so he perisheth not though he cannot but because he will not Divers things may be done by poor sinners with their own Hearts which are not done and though in themselves they are insufficient yet being the way and method in and by which the Spirit of God usually works we are bound to do them As for Example 1. Though it be not in your power to open your Hearts to Christ yet it is in your power to forbear the external acts of sin which fasten your Hearts the more against Christ Who forceth thine Hands to steal thy Tongue to swear or lye who forces the cup of excess down thy Throat 2ly Though you cannot open your Hearts under the Word yet it is in your power to wait and attend upon the external Duties and Ordinances of the Gospel Why cannot those Feet carry thee to the Assemblies of the Saints as well as to an Ale-house 3ly And though you cannot let the Word effectually into your Hearts yet certainly you can apply your minds with more attention and consideration to it than you do Who forces thine Eyes to wander or closes them with sleep when the awful matters of eternal Life and Death are founding in thine Ears 4ly Though you cannot open your Hearts to embrace Christ yet certainly you can reflect upon your selves when the obvious characters of a Christless state are plainly held forth before your Eyes God hath given you a self-reflecting power The spirit of a Man knoweth the things of a Man 1 Cor. 2. 11. When you hear of Convictions of sin compunctions of Heart for sin deep concernments of the Soul about its eternal state hungerings and thirstings after Christ restless and anxious Days and Nights about Salvation others have felt you can certainly turn in upon your selves and examine whether ever it were so with you and if not methinks it were not hard to aggravate your own misery to take your poor Souls aside and bemoan them saying Ah my poor Soul canst thou endure everlasting burnings What will become of thee if Christ pass thee by and his Spirit strive no more with thee Why can't you throw your selves at the Feet of God and cry for mercy Prayer is a part of natural Worship distress usually puts Men upon it that yet have no Grace Ionah 1. 5. Do but this towards the opening and saving of your own Souls which though it be not in it self sufficient nor puts God under any meritorious obligation or necessity to add the rest yet it puts you into the way of the Spirit And is not thy Soul sinner worth as much as this comes too Have you not taken a great deal more pains than this for the trifles of this World And will it not be a dreadful aggravation of sin and misery to all eternity that you perished so easily Dont you see many striving round about you for Christ and Salvation whilst you sit still with folded Arms as if you had nothing to do for another World
reluctancy of the Will by the efficacy of his Grace which some Divines call victrix delectatio a sweet and pleasant victory and so the door of the Will still opens freely Hosea 11. 4. I drew them with the cords of a Man with the bands of Love. I drew them there 's Almighty Power but how did this Power draw them With the cords of a Man i. e. with rational arguments convincing the Judgment Beasts are driven and forced but Men are drawn by reason and will not move without it if they act like themselves it must be confessed that when the day of God's Power is come for the bringing home of a poor sinner to Christ he cannot resist the Power of God's Spirit that draws him effectually Every one that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me yet still the Soul comes freely by the consent of his Will for this is the method of Christ in drawing Souls to him There is in the day of a sinners Conversion a kid an offer made for the Will both by Satan and Christ. Satan bids Riches Honours and Pleasures with ease and quietness to the flesh in the enjoyment of them abide where thou art saith Satan remain with me and thou shalt escape all the Persecutions losses and troubles of the World which Conscience entangles other Men in thou shalt draw thy life through peace and pleasure to thy dying day O saith the flesh this is a good motion what can be better for me But then saith Christ dost thou not consider that all these enjoyments will quickly be at an end and what shall become of thee then Behold I offer thee the free full and final pardon of thy sins Peace and reconciliation with God treasures in Heaven all these shall be thine with Troubles Reproaches and Persecutions in this World. The Understanding and Conscience of a sinner being convinced of the vanity of earthly things and the indispensable necessity of pardon and peace with God I say when a convinced Judgment hath duly ballanced these things and laid them before the Will and the Spirit of God put forth his Power in the renovation of it it moves towards Christ freely and yet cannot according to its natural order act otherwise than it doth And doubtless this is the true meaning of that expression so often mistaken and abused in Luke 14. 23. Compel them to come in What! by forcing Men against the light of their Consciences No no to the shame of many Protestants let us hear the Gloss of Stella a Popish Commentator upon the place Christ saith he compels Men to come in by shewing to their Will such an excelling good as it cannot but embrace for volunt as natur aliter fertur in bonum The Will is naturally carried to the choice of the best good And thus the Spirit works upon the Soul harmoniously and agreeably to its own Nature That 's the Third thing implied in Christ's knocking Fouthly Christ's knocking at the door of the Soul manifestly implies the immediate access of the Spirit of God unto the Soul of Man that he can come to the very innermost door of the Soul at his pleasure and make what impressions upon it he pleaseth As for other instruments used in this Work they have no such privilege or Power Ministers can but knock at the external door of the senses Thine Eyes shall see thy Teachers we can see their persons and hear their voices we can reason with sinners and plead with their Souls but awaken them we cannot open their Hearts we cannot We can only lodge our message in their Ears and leave it to the Spirit of God to make it effectual This is a Royalty belonging unto the Spirit of God incommunicable to Angels or Men. If an Angel from Heaven were the Preacher he could not give one immediate stroak to the Conscience much less can Man we have no dominion over your Consciences The keys of the doors of your Souls hang not at our girdles but are in the Hands of Christ Revel 3. 7. He hath the key of David he openeth and no Man shutteth and he shutteth and no Man openeth The Consciences and all the faculties lye naked and open to the stroak of God's Spirit he can wound them and heal them and make what impressions he pleaseth upon them Learn hence what need there is both for Ministers and People before they enter upon the solemn Ordinances of God to lift up their Hearts by Prayer for the blessing and Power of the Spirit upon them Lord send forth thy Spirit pour it forth upon and with thy Word Ah how many Sermons have we Preach'd and you heard and yet there is no opening These are the four things implied in Christ's knocking at the door viz. Condescending Grace All first motions begin in God The motions of his Spirit are congruous and agreeable to the nature of the Soul And that his Spirit can have immedate access to the innermost faculties and Powers of the Soul at his pleasure Now in the next place let us consider Thirdly By what Instruments Christ knocks at the Doors that is the Judgment Conscience and Will of a sinner And these are two viz. By 1. His Word 2. His Providence Here my Work will be to shew you how the Spirit of God makes use both of the Word and Works of God to rouse and open the Consciences and Hearts of Sinners These are the two Hammers or instruments of the Spirit by which he knocks at the door of the Heart 1. The Word written or preached but especially preached to this Christ gives the preference to all other instruments imployed about this Work and answerably the Word is called God's Hammer Ier. 23. 29. Is not my Word like fire and as the Hammer which breaketh the rocks in pieces By this Hammer Christ raps at the door of a sinners Soul to give warning that he is there The Spirit of God can open the Heart immediately if he pleaseth but he will honour his Word in this Work. And therefore when Lydias Heart was to be opened Paul the great Gospel Preacher must be invited even by an Angel to come over to Macedonia and assist in that blessed Work Acts 16. 9. Lydia was to be converted her Heart must be opened to Christ the Angel could not do it but calls for the help of the Apostle Gods appointed Instrument to carry on that Work. I have made thee saith God to Paul a Minister and a witness to open their Eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God Acts 26. 18. Now there be three ways in which the Spirit uses the Word as his Hammer in knocking at the door of the Soul. 1. He knocks by the particular convictions of of the Word upon the Conscience this knock by conviction rings and sounds through all the rooms and chambers of the Soul particular and effectual conviction wounds to the very centre of the Soul. Ah when
will try what that will do go Poverty and blast his Estate and see what that will do go Sickness and smite his Body and shake him over the Graves mouth I will see what that will do Thus God sends to sinners as Absolom sent to Ioab who refused to come near him till he set fire to his field of Corn and then away comes Ioab 2 Sam. 14. 29 30 31. And thus the Lord opened the Heart of the Iaylor by putting him into a fright a panick fear of Death Acts 16. 27. And thus doth the Lord devise means to bring back his banished II. As God makes use of the Hammer of Judgments so he makes use also of Mercies to make way for Christ into the Hearts of Men. Every Mercy is a call a knock of God and truly if there be any ingenuity left unextinguished in the Heart one would think Mercy should prevail more than all the Judgments in the World Rom. 2. 4. Knowest thou not that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance q. d. Dost thou not see the Hand of Mercy stretched out to lead thee into a corner there to mourn over thy sins committed against so gracious and merciful a God By every Mercy you receive Christ doth as it were â—ee you to open your Hearts to him they are so many gifts sent from Heaven to make way for Christ into your Hearts It would be an endless task to enumerate all the Mercies bestowed to this end upon the unregenerate but surely this is the errand of them all and the Lord takes it very ill when his end is not answered in them hence is that complaint Ier. 5. 24. Neither say they in their Heart Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth us rain both the former and the latter in his season Some of you have been marvelously preserved in times of common Contagion and Death when thousands have fallen at your right-hand and left then have you been preserved or recovered according to that Exod. 15. 26. I will put none of those Diseases upon thee for I am the Lord that healeth thee I am Iehovah Rophe the Lord the Phisitian many of you have been at the Graves mouth in many Diseases others upon the Deeps yet the Hand of Mercy pulled you back and suffered you not to drop into the Grave and Hell in the same moment O what a knock was here given by the Hand of Mercy at thy hard Heart Certainly if Men would but observe they might see a strange marvellous working and moulding of things by the Hand of providence for the production of thousands of Mercies for them and if Mercy would do the work and win you over to Christ many rods had been spared which your obstinacy hath made necessary O ungrateful sinners Doth your Redeemer thus woo and fee you by so many gifts of Mercy and yet will you shut him out Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise For which of all his benefits do your ungrateful Souls shut the door upon him III. You see what Christ's knocking at the Soul of a sinner implies and by what instruments it is performed In the last place we will consider the manner how this action is performed in the Ten following Particulars wherein much of the mistery of Conversion will be opened the Lord grant your experience may answer them VVe cannot indeed exactly describe and mark all the footsteps of the Spirit in this VVork upon the Souls of Men yet these things seem eminently observable 1. The knocks of Christ at the sinners Heart are silent and secret to all persons in the VVorld except the Soul it self at whose door he knocks here be many hundreds of you this day under the VVord if the Lord shall this day knock by Conviction at any Man's Heart none will hear that knock but that Man only for it is a knock without sound or noise to any but the particular Soul concerned in it It was fore-prophesied of our Redeemer and of this very act of his Isa. 4. 2. 2. He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the Street The Kingdom of God cometh not into the Souls of Men with publick observation you read in 1 Cor. 2. 11. No Man knoweth the things of a Man saving the Spirit of a Man that is in him None knows what Convictions another Man's Conscience feels until he himself shall discover them you hear the same sound of the Gospel but you hear not the inward stroaks it gives to another Man's Conscience Christ's approaches to the Soul make no noise little do we know what the Spirit of Christ whispers in the Ear of him that sits next us 'T is said of the inward comforts of the Spirit I will give him the hidden Manna which no Man knows but he that eateth of it This is true also of inward terrors and troubles Christ's knocks by Conviction are but a secret whisper of his Spirit in the Ear of a sinner saying Thou art the Man this is thy case That is the first thing in the manner of Christ's knocking 't is a silent knock without publick sound 2ly These silent inward knocks of the Spirit of Christ though they are heard by none but the Soul it self yet do they greatly differ as to the terror or mildness of them in different subjects Some hear them with more terror and astonishment others in a mild and gentle manner when the Lord knockt at the Iaylors Conscience Acts 16. 29 30. it was a terrible stroak he called for a light and sprang in like a Man distracted and trembling and astonied fell down at the Apostles feet crying Sirs what must I do to be saved Here was a terrible knock indeed which almost affrighted his Soul out of his Body it is as if he had said Tell me for the Lord's sake and tell me quickly whether there be any way of Salvation and where it lies for I am a lost Man an undone Soul. But when the Lord opened the Heart of Lydia there were no such terrors the Lord spake to her in a more mild and gentle voice as you see verse 14. the Spirit of God varies his method according to the temper of the Soul he worketh on Knotty pieces need greater wedges and harder blows to rive them asunder and as he directs his Ministers Iude 22. to make a difference to deal tenderly and compassionately with some but others to save with fear so he himself observeth like different methods 3ly Some knocks of Christ are succesful and obtain the desired effect He knocks and the Soul opens but others are insuccessful he knocks once and again by Convictions which may cause the Conscience for the present to startle a little but there is no opening to Christ by Faith. O friends this is of dreadful consideration Prov. 1. 24. I called and you refused I stretched out my Hand and no Man regarded There 's a call without an answer a
now for no less than the prize of eternal Life 't is now for all or none for life or death for Heaven or Hell the powers of Hell are now all in Arms to destroy Convictions and secure the possession of the Soul against Christ as when a Granado falls into a Garison the first care of the Defendants is to stifle and choak it before it break Whilst Christ is speaking by his Spirit in one Ear the Devil is whispering in the other and the things he whispers to quench Convictions are usually such as these It is time enough yet what need such hast Enjoy thy pleasures a little longer thou maist come to Christ and be saved at last if that will not do then he changeth his voice to what purpose wilt thou go to Christ 'T is now too late the time of Grace is over hadst thou come to him in thy youth and obeyed his first call it had been somewhat but now it is â—o no purpose If this will not quiet the Soul then he saith Thy sins are too great to be pardoned there 's no hope for such a prodigious sinner as thou art If the Lord help the Soul to overcome this by discovering to it the riches of mercy pardoning the greatest of sinners then he represents the multitudes which are in the same case with the convinced sinner come fear not if it go ill with thee it will be as bad for millions of Men and Women if thou go to Hell thousands will go with thee but if the Soul be loath to be damned for company then he bids it look upon the train of troubles and afflictions that come along with Christ and will certainly follow him if the door be opened to let him in if Christ come in reproaches losses and sufferings will certainly come in with him troops of miseries and calamities follow him himself hath told thee so and art thou mad to ruine all thy comforts in the World and plunge thy self into a Sea of trouble for what thine Eyes never saw But if the Soul reply These are more tollerable than damnation better my flesh suffer for a time than my Soul be cast away for ever then he represents the insuperable difficulties of Religion what a hard thing it is to be saved how many painful duties and acts of mortification the Soul must pass through Thus you see what an allarm Conviction gives to the powers of Hell. 9ly Every effectual knock of Christ is followed on and new Convictions revive old and former ones and the Lord never leaves knocking till the door be opened if one Sermon will not do another shall if one wound be plaistered and healed by the art of Satan a fresh wound shall be made if a former Conviction vanish the next shall be sealed upon the Soul and when the Spirit of the Lord sealeth a Conviction upon the Conscience raze it out who can And here 's the difference betwixt special and common Convictions common Convictions come and go they put the Soul in a fright for a day or a month and then trouble it no more for ever but special Convictions will be continued one thing backs another for Christ is in pursuit of the Soul and will give it chase till at last he overtake and come up with it 10ly In the last place All the knocks of Christ cease and end when the sinners day of grace is ended This is of dreadful consideration when the time of Mercy is over no more strivings of the Spirit with a Man after that Christ saith to the drousie sinner as he spake to the drousie Disciples in the Garden Sleep on now and take your rest So here I called thee in such a Sermon but thou heardest not by such a providence but thou obeyedst not sleep on now and take thy rest My people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me So I gave them up to their own Hearts lust to walk in their own counsels Psal. 81. 11 12. q. d. I have done with them the treaty is ended I will make no more essays towards their Conversion and Salvation So I gave them up Methinks it sounds as much as this Take him Sin Take him Devil I will have no more to do with him So Hosea 4. 17. Ephraim is joyned to idols let him alone His Heart is glued fast to sin he is enamoured upon other Lovers let him a lone O beloved 't is a dreadful thing for God to say let this Man alone in his formality and that Man in his carnal security Let not this be misapplied by poor trembling Souls under Conviction I know the fear of this Judgment is upon their Hearts nothing makes them tremble more than lest the day of Grace be ended with them But there is no ground for this fear whilst the Spirit continues Convincing and the Soul trembling lest his Convictions should prove ineffectual Thus much of the nature instruments and manner of Christ's knocking at the door of a sinners Heart Our way is now opened to a fruitful Application of this Point which will wind up in divers necessary Uses I. Vse for Information And first The Point before us will be useful for Information in the following Inferences and Deductions I. Inference Into how deep a sleep hath sin cast the Souls of sinners that Christ must stand so long and give such loud repeated knocks before it will awake and open to him There is the Spirit of a deep sleep fallen upon Men like that into which God cast Adam God speaketh once yea twice but Man regards it not 't is the hardest thing in the World to rouze and awaken a Man out of his carnal security Look over Satans Kingdom and you shall find a general stilness and quietness among his Subjects There 's no trouble for Sin no strivings after Salvation no cryings out What shall we do to be saved Go into the crouds of carnal Men and Women and you shall find them all intent and busie about other matters How long shall you be in their company before you hear one groan for sin Or see one tear slide from their Eyes on that account Oh what a marvelous thing is here Do not their Consciences know the guilt that lyes upon them Are they not aware of a day of reckoning which approacheth Yes yes these things are not hid from their Consciences What art then is used to keep them so still and quiet Why there are divers Rattles to still the Consciences of sinners and they do it effectually There are five causes and occasions of this wonderful stilness in the Souls of sinners 1. Ignorance of the nature of regenerating Grace taking that for regeneration which is none of it thus did the Iews Ioh. 8. 55. confidently affirm God to be their God and yet they did not know him How many proor ignorant creatures think there is no need of any other Work of regeneration but what passed upon them in Baptism They were
so others have found who have had the very same fears you have I say the question is not whether you be able but whether you be heartily willing Christ asks but your Will he will provide Ability the greatest Believer in the World cannot say I am able to suffer this or that for Christ but the least Believer in the World must say I am willing the Lord assisting me to endure and suffer all things for his sake and this is the Second thing included in opening to Christ. 3ly The Third thing which perfects and consummates the whole act is an entire choice of of Jesus Christ upon all those terms prescribed by him the entireness of the choice without halfing or dividing excepting or reserving makes the consent full and effectual There is a twofold consent of the Will to Christ. 1. One partial and with exception 2. The other entire and without any reservation I. There is a partial consent which is always hypocritical defective lame and ineffectual thus the hypocrite consents to the offer of Christ he is really willing to have the pardons of Christ and the glory purchased by Christ but to part with his beloved lusts and to give up his earthly enjoyments that his Will cannot consent to II. There is a full and entire consent of the Will called a believing with all the Heart Acts 8. 37. Now this integrity and fulness of the Wills choice is that which closes the match betwixt Christ and the Soul and frees a Man from the danger of hypocrisie And there are three things which make the consent to and choice of Christ compleat and full 1. When we give up all we are and have to him 2. When we derive and draw all we want from him 3. When we are ready to deny any thing for his sake 1. We do then heartily consent to be Christs when we give up all we are and have to him so that after this choice of Christ we look upon our selves thenceforth as none of our own but bought with a price to glorifie God in our Body and Soul which are his 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. Soul and Body is all that we are and both these parts of our selves do now pass by an act of our own consent into the Redeemers right we are not to have the dispose of them that belongs to him that purchased them You know in all purchases property is altered you did live as your own followed your own Wills Lusts Passions were under the dominion and at the beck of every Lust but now the case is altered Titus 3. 3. We our selves were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures So many Lusts so many Lords but now the case is altered we have given our selves to Christ no more to be swayed this way or that against his Word and the voice of our own Conscience Thus our Souls and Bodies are his hallowed dedicated things to Christ Temples for God to dwell in and then all other things follow of course if I am the Lords then my time my talents and all that I have is his 2ly As we must give up all to Christ so we must derive and draw all we want from him else your choice of Christ is not entire and full God hath stored up in Christ all that you want a suitable and full supply for every need and made it all communicable to you 1 Cor. 1. 30. Who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness sanctification and redemption All the believers fresh springs are in Christ Have I any difficult buisness to do that requires counsel Then I must repair to Christ the Fountain of Wisdom Am I under any guilt Then I must repair to Christ for righteousness Is my Soul defiled by corruption Then must I go to Christ for Sanctification Do I groan under troubles of Soul or Body temptations afflictions c. then must I relieve my self by the Faith and Hope of that compleat Redemption and final deliverance procured by Christ from all these if you consent to be Christs you must not look for Justification partly upon his Righteousness and partly upon your own Graces and Duties but must make mention of his Righteousness even of his only If there be but one Conduit in a Town and not a drop of Water to be had elsewhere then all the Inhabitants of that Town repair thither for Water In the whole City of God there is but one Conduit one Fountain and that is Christ there 's not a drop of Righteousness Holiness Strength or Comfort to be had else where Then do we fetch all from Christ when we live upon him as the new born Infant doth upon the Mothers Breast 3ly Then is our consent to and choice of Christ intire and full when we are ready to deny give up and part with any thing we have for his sake reckoning nothing to be lost to us which goes to the glory of Christ how dear soever our Liberties Estates or Lives are to us if the Lord have need of them we must let them go thus you read Rev. 12. 11. They loved not their lives unto the death These three things shew saving Faith to be another manner of thing than the World generally understands it to be and it is impossible for any Mans Will to open to and receive Christ upon terms of such deep self-denial as these until there be 1. A Conviction of our sin and misery 2. A Discovery of Christ in his glory and necessity 3. The drawing Power of the Spirit upon the Soul. 1. Conviction of our sin and misery makes these terms of Religion acceptable poor sinners stand huckling with Christ excepting and objecting against his terms until the Lord have shaken them by Conviction over Hell made them to see the dreadful danger they are in and then the next cry is Men and Brethren what shall we do Acts 2. 37. q. d. Prescribe any means impose upon us the greatest difficulties we are willing to comply with them 2ly Nor will Souls ever comply with these terms of the Gospel until a discovery have been made to them of Jesus Christ in his glory and necessity when a Man feels his wants and sees a compleat remedy his Will then complies and bows readily and freely the convinced sinner sees a full and suitable supply in Christ for all his wants a compleat Saviour in whom there is nothing defective but in all respects according to the wish of a sinners heart 1 Cor. 1. 24. 3ly To all this must be superadded the powerful drawings of the Spirit in the vertue whereof the Will comes home to Christ Iohn 6. 44. No Man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him When these things are past upon the Soul then it hears Christs voice his powerful call which breaks asunder all the ties and bonds betwixt a Man and his Lusts a Man and his Earthly enjoyments and without these things the Will is
in the world raises not such a dust as the sins of prophane ones do But certainly it is as abominable in the eyes of God as the sins that stink so much in the nostrils of Nature Civilized persons thus trusting to their own civility and neglecting Jesus Christ will be one day put into the Van of that wretched Crue that are going to Hell a portion with unbelievers as the Scripture speaks III. Consideration Lastly It hath been always found a more rare and difficult thing to convince and bring home to Christ the civilized part of the world than it is to convince and work upon the prophane part of it Matth. 21. 31. Publicans and Harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you Publicans were reckoned the vilest sort of men and Harlots the worst sort of women yet either of these were easier to be brought to Christ than self-righteous Pharisees Well then away with your vain and idle pretensions that your Case is safer and better than others By what hath been said it evidently appears that you stand in as much need of Christ as the most infamous Sinners in the world do III. Vse This point winds up in encouragement to every willing and obedient soul whom the Lord shall perswade to comply with the Call of the Gospel whatever his former Rebellions have been There are some whose hearts the Lord hath touched with a deep sense of their sin and misery and of the all-sufficient remedy that is in Christ but the sense of former rebellions appals and daunts them they cannot hope for acceptance with him Here 's good news for such souls Christ is at the door and former Rebellions are no barr to him provided there be now a hearty compliance with his voice I will come in to him A glorious promise comprising five inestimable benefits or mercies in it 1. This is the most glorious work of God that ever was wrought or can be wrought in this world upon the heart of a poor sinner to open it by Repentance and Faith and put Christ into the full possession of it The power of all the Angels in Heaven Ministers on Earth Duties and Ordinances cannot effect this this is the peculiar work of God 1. Cor. 1. 30. But of him are ye in Christ Iesus Look as it was the marvellous work of God to unite our Nature unto Christ by an Hypostatical Union so it is no less a marvellous work of God to unite our persons to Christ by a Mystical Union to prepare the soul as an habitation for Christ and give him the possession of it 2. This Coming of Christ into the Soul is the very foundation of all our Hopes for Glory till this be done we are without hope But in the same hour Christ comes in to the Soul a solid Foundation of the hopes of Glory is laid in that Soul Col. 1. 27. Which is Christ in you the hope of Glory I know the unregenerate World is full of hope but their hopes are built upon that Sand. Union with Christ is the steady foundation on which the hopes of Heaven are laid 3. I will come in to him that is to dwell in his soul for ever never to leave him more Therefore Eph. 3. 17. he is said to dwell in our hearts by faith not sojourn for a night but abide there for ever Nothing can seperate Christ and that Soul Rom. 8. 35. Thy Soul shall never be an habitation for Satan any more When Christ comes in he saith as of the Temple Here will I dwell for ever 4. This Coming in of Christ intitles the Soul to all Spiritual Priviledges 1 Iohn 5. 12. He that hath the Son hath life and 1 Cor. 3. ult All is yours for ye are Christs 5. This is the highest honour that ever God put upon a Creature I will come in to him O how should the Soul feel it self advanced by such an honour as this What to be the living Temple of Jesus Christ for Christ to dwell and walk in thy Soul as it is 2 Cor. 6. 16. I tell you this is an honour beyond and above the honour done to Angels And how near art thou to all these blessed Priviledges in the day that thy heart is wounded for sin thy thoughts become solicitous about union with Christ and thy Will begins to bowe and yield after a serious debate of the terms of the Gospel in thy most solemn thoughts Now is the door half-open and Christ ready to make his first entrance into thy Soul. God forbid any thing should now hinder the compleating of so great a Work. SERMON VIII Revel 3. 20. Behold I stand at the door and knock if any Man hear my voice and open the door I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me IN the former Sermon Christs free and general invitation to sinners hath been considered in the next place we are to take into consideration the principal means or instrument by which the Heart of a sinner is opened to receive Christ and that is not by the native power of his own Will nor by the alone efficacy of the Gospel preached but by the voice of Iesus Christ which opens the Will and makes the perswasions of the Gospel effectual If any Man hear my voice Hearing is either External or Internal for the Soul hath its Ears as well as the Body He that hath an Ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches Rev. 2. 17. i. e. He that hath a Spiritual Ear to perceive and judge the voice of the Spirit by and it is a sore Judgment when God denies such an Ear to the Soul Isa. 6. 9. Go tell this people hear ye indeed but understand not Spiritual hearing is the Work of the inner Man. And though we have many Auditors yet in this sense no more hearers than believers words of sense do in Scripture connote affections This hearing of Christs voice implies not only the receiving of the sound of the Gospel into the external organ but it notes the work of the understanding which by the Ear trieth words as the Mouth tasteth meat Iob 12. 11. And the work of the affections which receive the truth in love 2 Thes. 2. 10. It also implies the obedience of the Soul to what we hear We cannot be said in this sense to hear what we obey not Our minds may be delighted with the pleasant air and melody of the Gospel and yet it is all one as if we heard it not when obedience doth not follow hearing Ezek. 33. 32. Thou art unto them a very lovely son c. for they hear thy words but they do them not but in this place it especially signifies the vital sound of Christs efficacious internal voice which is the principle of Spiritual Life to the Souls of dead sinners according to that expression of Christ Iohn 5. 25. Verily verily I say unto you the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear
word And thus much of the general nature of Christs Spiritual Internal voice but all this gives us but a remote imperfect knowledge of it Therefore Thirdly I shall endeavour to open the innate characters and special properties of this Internal Spiritual voice of Christ which must be heard or there can be no opening the door of the Heart to receive him I. Character And the first Character is this It is a secret and a still voice whereby somewhat is as it were whispered into the Ear of the Soul making a particular application of what is spoken Externally to the Ear much like that of Nathan to David Thou art the Man. This still voice sounds throughout the whole Soul yet none hear it but the Soul concerned in it it is said 1 Sam. 9. 15. The Lord told Samuel in his Ear the night before c. That is he whispered the secret into the Prophets mind so the Spirit of Christ whispers a word into the Ear of a sinner which makes his Heart to tremble after this manner This is thy very state and condition this is thy sin which is now opened by the Gospel in thine Ears This is a voice without sound or noise to any others but very intelligible to the Soul unto whom it is â—poken You read in 1 Kings 19. 11 12. when Elijah stood upon the Mount before the Lord there came a great and strong wind which rent the Mountains and brake in pieces the Rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voice And it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle c. So it is here Dreadful things are thundred against men by the voice of the Law the Terrours of the Lord are made known Hell and Damnation are set before the eyes of Sinners but until the Lord come in the still voice of his Spirit and apply those things to the Conscience the Sinner never covers his face with shame and confusion nor goes aside to mourn and lament his misery This voice of God sounds to the very Centre of the Soul. As for the outward voice of the Gospel alone it signifies little in hearing men hear not Matth. 13. 13. They have the voice of Man but not the voice of God They hear the sound but feel not the power of the Word What is spoken externally dyes in the ear that hears it But this still voice of the Spirit by secret passages makes its way to the heart and none knows what God speaks but the Soul to whom he speaks That is the first Character II. Character The internal spiritnal voice of Christ is a personal and particular voice speaking distinctly and particularly to the case and state of the Soul as if it were by name Ministers do and must speak in general they draw the Bow of the Gospel at an adventure not knowing to whom God will direct the Arrow but the Spirit guides it to the Mark. He applies general Truths unto particular persons so as the Soul to whom he directs it is fully convinced and satisfied the Lord intends and means it in such a convictive and threatning Expression O saith the Soul hath the Lord singled me out in special this is my very state and case You read Iohn 10. 5. that Christ calleth his sheep by name How doth he call them by name but by speaking directly and particularly to their Condition and Case as if he called them by their particular Names He doth not now in an extraordinary way as of old call Samuel Samuel or Saul Saul but he sends a Beam of convincing light into the Conscience plainly discovering this or that to be our sin danger or duty and so as to the effect it is all one as if God named him And truly till it comes to this the Word hath no saving operation upon the Soul. A man may hear ten thousand general Truths assent to them and never be the better for them How still and quiet was David's Conscience till Nathan struck the nail upon the head by an home personal application and then his Conscience startled Thus God singles out one man or woman from among a thousand in the Congregation speaks to the heart rips up the secure Conscience the rest hear the same words but feel not the same efficacy And truly 't is a choice mercy when God shall please thus to single out one person from among many after this manner to speak to his heart As Christ said in Luke 4. 25 26. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias c. but to none of them was Elias sent save unto Sarepta a City of Sydon unto a woman that was a widow so here Multitudes sate with you under the same Prayer or Sermon but unto none of them at that time was the Spirit sent to make a particular convictive application thereof but unto thee In this the peculiar goodness of God shines out and should for ever be admired in the eyes of that Soul. III. Character Thirdly This spiritual internal voice of Christ is distinguishable by the Soul that hears it from all other voices Iohn 10. 4. The Sheep know his voice As in the style of the Scriptures there is a weight and majesty which distinguishes it from all human composures so in this voice of Christ there is a Majesty a peculiar Efficacy a divine and awful Authority by which the Soul distinguishes it from all human voices It was said of Christ in the days of his flesh Iohn 7. 46. Never man spake like this man. The same may we say of his spiritual voice the Soul never heard such a voice before it seals the truth upon the heart so firmly that no Objections are left against it It was not so when we heard the voice of man. And there are two things in this inward voice of Christ which apparently difference it from all human voices 1. A marvellous light comes into the Soul with it which discovers all the secrets of the heart God shines into the heart the same time he speaks unto it 2 Cor. 4. 6. and now the secrets of the heart are manifest and God is acknowledged to be in that Word of Truth 1 Cor. 14. 25. 2ly A marvellous Power accompanieth this voice to make a deep and firm impression of what is spoken upon the Soul and this Power is an innate Character of the voice of God whereby the Soul receives it as his with much assurance as the Apostle speaks 1 Thess. 1. 5. Our Gospel came not to you in Word only but also in Power and in the Holy Ghost and in much Assurance They could not be more certain of any thing in the world than they were of this That it was the Lord that spake to them in that Word
knowledge of it but under these things his vain hopes lived and flourish'd until the spiritual sense of the Law came home to his heart by the teaching and voice of the Spirit and then his vain hopes gave up the ghost and his sin and guilt stared in the face of his Conscience VII Character The voice of Christ whereof we now speak is generally and ordinarily conveyed to the Souls of men through the Word preached which is the chosen Organ or Instrument of its Conveyance We cannot absolutely and universally affirm that Christ always speaks to men this way but certainly this is his standing and ordinary course 1 Thess. 1. 5. Our Gospel came not to you in word only but in power and in the Holy Ghost Our Gospel because preached and ministred by us but had that been all it had come to you in word only as it doth to many thousand others in the world who hear and feel nothing in it more than what is human but unto you it came in power and in the Holy Ghost that is our words were the Vehicle or Organ through which the vital power of the Spirit was conveyed into your Souls Providences have their voices as well as the Word and sometimes the voice of Christ hath accompanied the voice of Providence to the conversion of mens Souls but this is more rare and unusual The established and ordinary way of Christ's speaking to the hearts of Sinners is by the Word and especially the Word preached which upon that very account and consideration as it is the Organ of conveying the voice and power of Christ to the Soul is therefore called the power of God to salvation Rom. 1. 16. This Instrument the Lord generally 〈◊〉 and honours for the conveyance of spiâ—itual life into the Souls of men though it be despised and contemned in the world The preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God 1 Cor. 1. 18. i. e. the chosen Instrument by which the saving power of God communicates it self to the Souls of men And although God may exert his saving power through Providences yet we seldom or never find he doth so where the Word may be had but is despised and neglected And truly herein God consults our peace and satisfaction for suppose he should make use of another medium as a voice from Heaven c. and after Calling which is an usual case the called Soul should question all and say How do I know bâ—t all this may be a Delusion may not Satan impose upon poor Mortals and this voice from Heaven be a counterfeit voice my Eternal estate depends upon it and I had need to be sure it was the very voice of God himself In such a case as this it would be hard to give such clear distinguishing Characters as might be to the satisfaction of the Soul and clearly difference the one from the other But now when God makes the Word his Instrument in this matter it yield abundantly more satisfaction we have a more sure Word of Prophesie surer than a voice from Heaven 2 Pâ—t 1. 19. And though Paul was converted by a voice from Heaven yet the Lord sends him to Aâ—anias to preach the Gospel to him Acts 9. 17. The Lord will honour his Word Providences may make way and prepare the heart but the Word is the Instrument by which the Lord puts forth his power ordinarily to salvation VIII Character The voice of Christ leaves abiding effects and lasting impressions upon the Soul that hears it The words of men are scattered into the wind but the effects of Christ's voice are durable and lasting things Psal. 119. 93. I will never forget thy Word for by it thou hast quickned me How many hundred Sermons have we heard and all those excellent Truths vanished away as a Dream Oh but if ever thou heardest Christ speaking to thy heart in any Sermon or Prayer to be sure that will stick by thee for ever His words are sealed upon the Soul for ever they are written in the heart Ier. 31. 33. What Iob wished concerning his words that is really perform'd in the words of Christ they are written as in the Rock for ever We have slippery Memories but the weakest Memory will and must retain the words of Christ spoken to the heart by his Spirit for they are sealed upon it Iob 33. 16. He sealeth their instructions and this secures them Thus you have the innate Characters of Christ's voice Fourthly I shall next speak unto the personal Objects unto whom Christ ordinarily directs this his internal efficacious and saving Voice or Call. And although it be true that the Spirit of Christ is a free Agent acting with the greatest liberty and calleth whom he will according to that Iohn 3. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth And it is true de facto That Christ hath made some of all sorts and ranks of men to hear his voice yet if we consider the way he commonly takes we shall find that it is very rare and seldom that Christ directs this saving voice or call of his to the great and wise of this world 1 Cor. 1. 26. You see your Calling Brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called He saith not any but not many Some Christ doth call Lest as one notes the world should think that Christians were deceived through their simplicity and weakness One rich Ioseph of Arimathea one honourable Niâ—odemus but not many Men of the greatest fame and renown in the world have been the greatest and fiercest Enemies against Christ. Gallen the chief Physician Porphyry the chief Aristotelian Plotinus the chief Platonist Lybanus and Lucian the chief Orators were all the professed Enemies of Christ. Two things make a man great in the eye of the world The external endowments of Providence heaping up Riches and Honours upon the outward man and internal gifts and endowments of the mind adorning the inward man as strong Reason sharpness of Wit c. when both these meet as many times they do in one and the same person they make him great in the eye of the world and usually in his own eyes too yea too great to stoop to the simplicity of the Gospel and the humbling self-denying terms thereof These the Lord usually passes by and directs his voice to the poor the poor receive the Gospel God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and Heirs of the Kingdom James 2. 5. And this choice of God Christ blesseth him for 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 even so Father for so it seemeth good in thy sight And indeed the wisdom of God deserves our admiration in this dispensation For 1. hereby the freeness of his Grace is vindicated None can
now pretend that any earthly excellency commends any man to God or that the favour of Heaven is engaged by the same motives that the respects of this world are For now you see the truth of that Scripture Iob 34. 19. before your eyes He accepteth not the persons of Princes nor regardeth the rich more than the poor for they are all the work of his hands Earthly Riches and Honours as empty things as they are yet are too much idoliz'd by men What would they be could they procure our favour and acceptance with the Lord 2ly By such a choice as this the Lord plainly shews us That Religion needs not worldly props to support it As at first it was spread by the power of God in the world by poor contemptible men so it is still upheld without human policy or riches The church is called the Congregation of the poor Psal. 74. 20. The Lord will have us know that he is able to maintain and carry on his counsels in the world without the wealth of rich men the authority of great men or the policies of wise men he needs them not 3ly By this choice he pours contempt upon those things which are most admired among men So he tells us 1 Cor. 1. 27. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty And certainly shame and confusion of face will cover the great ones of this world in the world to come when they shall see those poor Christians whom they contemned and scorned upon earth as not worthy to come into their presence to be so infinitely preferred before them in the favour of God. In a word this efficacious spiritual voice of Christ is directed but to a few even of the many that sit within the sound and call of the Gospel Matth. 22. 14. Many are called but few are chosen Christ's flock is a little flock There be many Birds of prey to one Bird of Paradice Many common Pebles to one Saphir or Diamond 'T is not for us to dispute the Reason but to adore the Soveraignty of God in this matter And of those few whom he calleth the greatest part are of the lower rank and order of men The glitter and dazel of this world blinds the eyes of the greatest Extremity of pinching wants diverts the mind of the very lowest but betwixt these two extreams there is a third sort of persons whom the Lord most usually calls Fifthly If it be queried why the voice and call of Christ should be directed to this person rather than to that Certainly it is not from any dignity or excellency outward or inward that Christ sees in one above another for all are shut up under the same common sin and misery of the fall and therefore the Apostle told the Ephesians who had heard and answered the voice of Christ That they were by nature children of wrath even as others Eph. 2. 3. If it were not so Man would have something to glory in before God but Christ resolves this whole dispensation into its proper cause the good pleasure of the Divine Will Matth. 11. 26. Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight This good pleasure of the Will of God sometimes orders those to hear the voice of his Son that seem to stand at a far greater distance and improbability to hear it than others do 'T is said of the Ephesians that they were a far off Eph. 2. 13. yet they heard the voice of Christ when that discreet Scribe Mark 12. 34. who was not far from the Kingdom of God and Agrippa Acts 26. 28. who almost or within a very little was perswaded to be a Christian never heard it therefore it is said Matth. 8. 11 12. Many shall come from the East and West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven but the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness O marvelous dispensation Many a poor Soul under the greatest disadvantages a poor Servant that hath but little time and multitudes of encumbrances yet such a one is often called effectually by this voice of Christ when those that enjoy multitudes of opportunities and have abundance of time lying upon their Hands which they know not what to do with who have the choicest Books at command yet hear nothing feel nothing amidst all these advantages to any purpose all this is wholly to be resolved into the good pleasure of the Will of God. Sixthly In the next place let us view the effects of this voice of Christ upon the Souls of Men and we shall find divers remarkable effects wrought upon the Heart by it I. Effect And the first Effect of the voice of Christ is Conviction upon the Conscience Conviction both of sin and misery Iohn 16. 9. The Spirit when he cometh shall convince the World of sin This is a voice of terror it strikes dead the vain hopes of a sinner Rom. 7. 9. Now the Soul that was before secure and quiet becomes the seat of trouble and anxiety 'T is true there was a general Conviction of sin before they knew that all are sinners that they denied not but alas this general Conviction is quite another thing to what the Soul feels now now it can shift and wave the matter no longer This voice of Christ shews them their iniquities and how they have exceeded as the expression is Iob 36. 8 9. exceeded in number and exceeded in heinousness of aggravation A general Conviction of sin affects a Man no more than the sight of a painted Lion upon a Sign-post but when a particular Conviction is set on upon the Conscience by this special inward voice of Christ sm is now like a living Lion meeting a Man in the way and roaring dreadfully upon him This is the first Effect of Christs voice and is introductive unto the II. Effect Which is humiliation and contrition of Heart for sin those threats of Scripture against sin and sinners which were wont to be sleighted are now trembled at those Iews Acts 2. 37. to whose Hearts Christ spake in Peters Sermon as soon as ever they heard his voice sounding Conviction in their Consciences they were presently pricked at the Heart no Sword or Poyniard can make such a wound and put a poor creature into such pain as a sight of sin will do therefore Zach. 12. 10. they are said to mourn for Christ as for an only Son. Now this is the glorious prerogative of Jesus Christ to be able to reach and wound the Heart with a word The voice of Man cannot do it but the Spirit of a Man lies naked and open both to be wounded and healed by a word from the Mouth of Christ. No sooner hath a poor sinner heard the awful voice of Conviction spoken to his Conscience by the Lord Jesus but he feels himself sick at Heart home he goes
special season or hour as Christ calls it Iohn 5. 25. The hour cometh when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And elsewhere by the Apostle it is called the accepted Time the day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6. 2. And the conjunction of the Spirit of Christ with the Word Ordinances or Providences of God but especially the Word makes this blessed hour The Word alone though never so excellently preacht conduces no more to the Conviction and Salvation of a sinner than the Waters of Bethesda did when the Angel came not down to trouble them Iohn 5. 4. But when the Lord pours out his Spirit with the Word according to that promise Prov. 1. 23. I will pour out my Spirit upon you and make known my Words unto you then Christ speaks to the Heart this great conjunction of the Word and Spirit makes that blessed nick and season of Salvation The time of love the time of life Now the voice of Christ is heard with effect the Ordinances impregnated with convincing and converting efficacy There was an abundant effusion of the Spirit in the first Age of Christianity and then the voice of Christ was heard by multitudes of Souls at once There hath since been a restraint of the Spirit comparatively speaking whereas three thousand Souls were then converted at one Sermon possibly three thousand Sermons have since been preached and not one Soul effectually called This hath made the Church like a Wilderness a Land of drouth and so 't is like to remain until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high and the wilderness be a fruitful field according to that promise Isa. 32. 15. And such a time we expect Lord hasten it when the waters of the Ordinances shall be healed and every thing that liveth which moveth whithersoever the River shall come shall live And fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim they shall be a place to spread forth nets their fish shall be according to their kinds as the fish of the great Sea exceeding many Ezek. 47. 9 10. Then Ministers shall no longer fish with Angles catching now one then another but shall spread forth their nets and inclose whole shoals multitudes of Converts in the mean time there are some signal periods and happy seasons wherein Christ uttereth his Almighty voice in the World but that season is utterly unforeknown to Man we cannot say when it will come but are to wait for it as the Man did at the pool of Bethesda Ministers must preach in hope wait in hope if at any time God will give the people repentance 2 Tim. 2. 25. We are often mistaken in our conjectures when we have made the best preparations and find a more than ordinary enlargedness of Spirit we are apt to conclude certainly this is the blessed hour wherein Christ will speak to the Heart as we do to the Ear but we oft-times find our selves mistaken yet we must wait in hope and so must our people Such a happy time may come and when it doth it will be a day for ever to be remembred because then the first actual application of Christ will be made to your Souls without which all that the Father had done in Election and the Son in his meritorious Redemption had been of no benefit or advantage to your Souls And therefore you shall find that this work of the Spirit stands betwixt both those works and makes them both effectual to our Salvation 1 Pet. 1. 2. This is that blessed hour upon which your eternal blessedness depends eternity will be taken up in blessing God for this hour it will be celebrated for ever in your praises in the World to come O what an influence hath this hour into all eternity The hearing of this voice of Christ effectually opens the Cabinet counsels of Heaven and brings to light the eternal counsels of God concerning you 1 Thes. 1. 4 5. Knowing brethren beloved your election of God for our Gospel came not to you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost This gives greater assurance of the eternal love of God to a Mans Soul than the sweetest smile of providence or any oraculous voice from Heaven can do This is the time of life the day of your Spiritual Resurrection Iohn 5. 25. A greater and more glorious Resurrection by far than that of your bodies at the last day â—o much greater as the value of your Souls is above your Bodies As also because the blessedness of your Corporeal Resurrection depends upon this your Spiritual Resurrection by the voice of Christ. Dreadful will the voice of Christ be at the Resurrection of your Bodies except you first hear this vital voice of Christ quickning your Souls on Earth with spiritual life To conclude this is the great Aera or head of account from which you are to reckon and date all your spiritual sanctified mercies for as the Lord said unto the Jews Hag. 2. 19. From henceforth will I bless you So saith the Lord to you from this hour wherein you have heard and obeyed the voice of Christ will I bless you for ever with all Spiritual blessings in heavenly places in him I. Vse for Lamentation This Point presents us with abundant matter of Lamentation and mourning over the greatest part of those that sit under the sound of the Gospel but yet as Christ speaks of the Jews Iohn â— 37. who have not heard the voice of God at any time the Ministerial voice of Christ they hear dayly but this Efficacious Internal voice which makes the Ministerial voice the Word of Life and Power they have not heard The Gospel to the most of our hearers is but an empty sound this is a sad symptom 2 Cor. 4. 3. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them that believe not c. This hiding of the Gospel is not opposed to the external administration of it nor yet to the understanding of the true sense and meaning of the truths delivered by it but only to that internal efficacy which is here called the hearing of Christs voice Our people are generally well satisfied when they have heard a Sermon much more if they can remember something of it though the Lord hath not spoken one truth they have heard home to their Hearts Now this is a sad case and God grant it be not that very judgment threatned Isa. 6. 9. Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not So that hearing the meer voice of Man without feeling the power of God is all one as if we heard not Reflect sadly upon this you that sit as unconcerned under the Word as the Seats you sit upon God speaketh once yea twice but man perceiveth it not Well the eternal Decrees and Counsels of God are now executing upon the Souls of Men under the Gospel As many as
are ordained to eternal Life shall believe and feel the power of Gods truths upon their Hearts Acts 13. 48. And methinks it should be of a startling consideration when you shall see others struck to the Heart cast into fears and tremblings by the same Word that doth not in the least touch your Hearts It may be you think this is but fancy and melancholy that very thought is an artifice of Satan to blind your Eyes I am sure Christ makes another use of it when he told the secure and self-righteous Jews Matth. 21. 32. John came unto you in the way of righteousness and ye believed him not but the Publicans and Harlots believed him and ye when ye had seen it repented not afterward that ye might believe him q. d. What shift did you make to quiet your Consciences when you saw other poor sinners so humbled and bronght to Faith under Iohn's Ministry 'T is strange there should be no reflections in your Consciences upon your own state and condition but thus it must be one shall be taken and another left to some it shall be the savour of life unto life and to others the savour of death unto death O who can look over so great a part of a Congregation without melting bowels of compassion Considering that unto this day the Lord hath not given them Eyes to see nor Ears to hear They have heard multitudes of Sermons they have heard also what effects they have had upon other Mens Hearts but none upon theirs O that such poor Souls would cry to the Lord Jesus in such Language as that Cant. 8. 13. The companions hearken to thy voice cause me to hear it Lord let me not sit under the Word any longer deaf to the voice of thy Spirit in it Open and unstop the Ears of my Soul that I may hear thy voice and feel thy power otherwise the external ministerial voice will be ineffectual to my Salvation 'T will be but a Rattle to still and quiet my Conscience for a little while and a dreadful aggravation of my misery in the issue II. Vse of Information Secondly The Point before us presents five other Truths with equal clearness to ous Eyes I. Inference In the first Place hence it follows That we have this day before our Eyes a great Seal and confirmation of the truth of the Scriptures No miracles can seal it firmer than the events of it do which are visible to all that will observe them What you read in the Word you may see every day fulfill'd before your Eyes you read 2 Cor. 2. 15 16. We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish To the one we are the savour of death unto death and to the other the savour of life unto life And again Acts 28. 24. it is observed that when Paul in his lodgings had expounded and testified the Kingdom of God to the people and perâ—wading them to believe from morning till-evening it is observed I say that some believed 〈◊〉 things that were spoken and some believed not Here you see the different yea contrary events of the preaching of the Gospel according to the Scripture account of it it quickens some and kills others it brings some to Faith and leaves others still fixed in unbelief Compare this account with what is daily before your Eyes do you not see Souls differently influenced to contrary effects under the same word One melting and tender another hardned and wholly unconcerned Tell me you that are apt to ascribe all to nature how comes it to pass that men exercising reason alike men that have the same inbred fears and hopes of things eternal who have the same passions and affections and are in the self same condition and state with others yet one Mans Heart shall be wounded and go away trembling from under the self same word which affects the other no more than if it had been preached among the Tombs to the dead that lye there Say not some have more courage than others or clearer understandings for it is most certain the Word hath convinced as rational and courageous persons as those upon whom it hath had no such effect I doubt not but the Jaylor that was cast into such tremblings and astonishment Acts 16. 30. was as stout and rugged a person as any to whom Paul usually preached his very office bespake him such a Man wonder not what it is that makes Men fright at such a sound which you hear as well as they but it affects you not The Lord speaks in that voice to their Hearts but not to yours and so it must be according to the account the Scripture gives us of the contrary events of the Gospel upon them that hear it which is I say a fair and firm Seal of the truth of the Scriptures and highly worth the due observation of all Men. II. Inference What dignity hath God stampt on Gospel Ordinances in making them the organs and mediums through and by which Christ speaks life to dead Souls This greatly exalts the dignity of the Gospel and deservedly endears it to all our Souls I deny not but God can convey Spiritual life immediately without them but though he hath not tyed up himself yet he hath tyed us up to a diligent and constant attendance upon them and that with the deepest respect and reverence to them Luke 10. 16. He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Behold how the sin is graduated and aggravated to the hight of sinfulness The contempt of the Gospel runs much higher than Men are aware of We think it no great matter to neglect or contemn a messenger of Jesus Christ but that contempt flies in the very face and authority of Christ who gave them their Commissions yea in the very face of God the Father who gave Christ his Commission Christ speaks in and by his Ministers they are as his mouth Ier. 15. 19. Moreover the sin sticks at our own Souls and we injure them as well as Christ For the Word preached is his appointed Instrument to convey spiritual life the best of Blessings to our Souls Upon which account it is called the Word of life Phil. 2. 16. and the power of God to salvation Rom. 1. 16. We then militate against our life and salvation when we despise and neglect the Ordinances of God. 'T is good for men to lye under them and continually wait on them who knows when the Spirit of God will breathe life to your Souls through them What if yet you have found no such benefit from them the very next opportunity may be the time of life the appointed season of your salvation Bring your carnal Relations to them as they did their sick and diseased Friends in the days when Christ was on Earth laying them in the way he was to pass Christ will honour his Ordinances
important a Concern And truly this Caution is no more than needs for Satan is never more busie with the Souls of men than when Christ gives them their first Call to himself O what a thick succession of Discouragements do impetuously assault the Soul at this time Art thou young then he insinuates that it is too soon for thee to mind the serious things of Religion This will extinguish all thy pleasure in a dull melancholy thou maist have time enough hereafter to mind these matters This Temptation Augustine confesseth kept him off many years from Christ. But certainly if thou art old enough to be damned thou art not too young to mind Christ and Salvation There are Graves just of thy length and abundance of young Sprigs as well as old Loggs burning in Hell flames Besides all those godly young ones which turned to the Lord betime as Iosiah Abijah Timothy and many more will be your Judges and condemn you in the great day Never any repented that they opened to Christ too soon Thousands have repented that they kept him out so long Art thou old then he scares thee with the manifold sins of thy youth and rouls them as blocks in thy way to Christ. And whether young or old he will be sure to present the Sufferings Reproaches and Persecutions of Godliness to discourage thee from hearkning to the voice of Christ. But what are the Sufferings of Christ here to those Sufferings from Christ hereafter what are the pains of Mortification to the pains of Damnation Besides all the Promises of Christ promises of strength comfort success c. go along with the Command of Christ to believe and shall surely be performed to the obedient Soul. See therefore that thou refuse not his voice III. Vse for Trial. But you will say All that hear this spiritual voice of Christ are said to live Iohn 5. 25. Now I am much in the dark whether ever this vital voice of Christ hath founded unto my Soul. Alas I feel little if any thing of the spiritual life in my Soul. I am dead and dark By what means doth the Life of Christ discover it self in the Souls of Men I Answer There are divers Signs of spiritual life and blessed is the Soul that finds them First There is a spiritual sense and feeling flowing from and accompanying the spiritual life I speak not only of the sense and feeling of comfort for many a Soul that is in Christ feels little of that but certainly there is a sense and feeling of the burthensomness of sin Rom. 7. 24. And 't is well that we can feel that for there are Multitudes in the world that are past feeling Isâ— 6. 9. 10. 'T is a sign Christ hath spoken to thy heart if sorrows for sin begin to load it Secondly Spiritual Motions towards Christ are a sign of spiritual life at least that God is about that quickening work of Faith upon thy Soul Iohn 6. 45. Every man that bath beard and learned of the Father cometh unto me The effectual voice of God sets the Soul in motion towards Christ the Will is moving after him the Desires are panting for him The voice of God makes the Soul that hears it restless As for others their Wills are fix'd there is no moving of them Iohn 5. 40. Now consider how it is with thee Reader Art thou one that art weighing and pondering the terms of the Gospel strugling through discouragements and temptations to come to Christ upon his own terms lifting up thy heart to him for power to believe crying with the Sponse Draw me I will run after thee This is a comfortable sign Christ hath spoken to thy heart Thirdly A Spirit of Prayer is an Evidence of spiritual life as the effect of Christ's voice to thy Soul. Assoon as ever Christ had spoken effectually unto Paul's heart the first effect that appeared in him as a sign of spiritual life was Prayerbreath Acts 9. 11. Behold he prayeth God hath no still-â—orn Children Measure thy self by this Rule Time was when thou couldst say a Prayer and wast very well satisfied with it whether thou hadst any Communion with God in it or no but is it so still Is there not an holy restlesness of spirit after God since the time that his Word came home to thy heart Surely thou eanst remember when it was not with thee as it is now Fourthly There is a spiritual relish a divine gust resulting from the spiritual life which is also evidential of it Omnis vita gustu ducitur If God have spoken life to thy Soul there will be in it an agreeable pleasure and delight in spiritual things Psal. 63. 5. My Soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness c. Now thy thoughts can feed with pleasure upon spiritual things which they nauseated before Fifthly Spiritual aversations as well as spiritual inclinations speak spiritual life Every Creature hath an aversation to that which is noxious and destructive to it Now there is nothing so destructive and dangerous to the spiritual life as sin that 's the deadly poison which the renewed Soul dreads Psal. 19. 13. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins It cries out as a man that finds himself upon the brink of a Pit or edge of a Precipice Keep back thy Servant Such aversations to sin and tremblings under temptations tending thereunto are comfortable Sign Christ hath spoken life to thy Soul. Lastly Heavenly tendencies and propensions after God are an excellent Sign thy Soul hath heard his voice and been quickned with spiritual life by it Sanctification is a Well of water springing up into everlasting life Iohn 4. 24. If thou hast seen the beauty felt the power and heard the voice of Christ thy soul like an uncentred Body will be still propending gravitating and inclining Christ-ward When thou hast once heard his effectual Call Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me thy Soul will be continually echoing with the Spouse Rev. 22. 17. Come Lord Iesus The Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say Come A sweeter Sign of thy hearing Christ's voice can hardly be found in the Soul of man than restless longing to be with Christ in a state of perfect freedom from sin and full fruition of the beloved and blessed Jesus SERMON IX Revel 3. 20. If any Man hear my voice and open the door THE powerful voice of Christ is the Key that opens the door of the Soul to receive him The opening of the heart to receive Christ is the main design aimed at in all the external and internal administrations of the Gospel and Spirit The Gospel hath two great Designs and Intentions One is To open the heart of God to men and to shew them the everlasting counsels of Grace and Peace which were hid in God from Ages and Generations past that all men may now see what God had been designing and contriving for their happiness
in Christ before the world was Ephes. 3. 9. To make all men see what is the fellowship of the Mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God who created all things by Iesus Christ to the intent that now unto the Principalities and Powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God. The next Intention and Aim of the Gospel is to set open the heart of man to receive Jesus Christ without which all the glorious discoveries of the eternal Counsels and gracious Contrivances of God for and about us would signifie nothing to our real advantage Christ standing knocking and speaking by his Spirit of which we have before treated receive their Success and attain their End when the heart opens it self by Faith to receive him and not till then Hence note IX DOCT. That the opening of the heart to receive Christ by Faith is the great design and aim of the Gospel This is the Mark to which all the Arrows in the Gospel Quiver are levelled the Centre unto which those blessed Lines are drawn Iohn 20. 31. These things are written that you might believe and believing might have life through his Name All those precious Truths that are written in the Scriptures are to bring you to Faith. The great aim of the Spirit in his Illuminations Convictions Humiliations c. are the very same thing Iohn 6. 29. This is the work of God that you believe 'T is not only Opus Deo dignum a work worthy of such an Author but it is that on which God's eye is fixed in his workings upon us the end and aim of his work Great persons have great designs This is the glorious project of the great God and every Person in the Godhead is engaged and concerned in it 1. The Father hath his hand in this work and such a hand as without it no heart could ever open or move in the least towards Christ Iohn 6. 44. No man can come unto me saith Christ except my Father which hath sent me draw him None but he that raised up Christ from the dead can raise up a dead heart unto saving Faith in him 2. The sons hand is in this work he is not only the Object but the Author of our Faith 1 Iohn 5. 20. We know that the son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true and we are in him that is true even in his Son Iesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life 3 And then for the Spirit he comes from Heaven designedly and expresly to convince Sinners of their need of Christ and beget Faith in them Iohn 16. 9. So that this appears to be the great design of Heaven the drist and level both of the Word and Works of God. Touching this design of the Gospel I shall here speak indeavouring to open this great and glorious project of Heaven in the ensuing Properties of it which are 1. The Greatness of it 2. The Difficulty of it 3. The Instruments imployed in it 4. The Scope and aim of it And First Of the Greatness of this design of God we little understand what a marvellous thing is done in the Earth when the heart of a Sinner is brought to close with Christ by Faith. It would transport us with admiration did we throughly consider it Well may the Apostle place it in the first rank of all the glorious and wonderful works of God as he doth 1 Tim. 3. 16. Great is the mystery of godliness God was manifest in the flâ—sh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World. Observe with what works of wonder Faith is here ranked and associated It is an astonishing work of God that ever God should be manifested in flesh that he that thunders in the Clouds should be heard crying in a Cradle that he who is over all God blessed for ever should become a man. It is astonishing that when he was taken down dead from the Cross laid in the Sepulchre and the Stone sealed upon it he should rise on the third day from the dead by his own power That ever the Gospel should be preached to such a miserable and sorlorn people as the Gentiles were the scorn and contempt of the Jews And no less marvellous is it to see the hearts of such poor Creatures glued so fast to Idolatry so perfectly dead in sin to open to Christ upon such self-denying terms as to let go all they had in the world for a blessed Inheritance which they never saw And were not this a marvellous work of God indeed there would never be such joy and triumph in Heaven among the holy Angels as there is upon the opening of every Sinners heart to Christ Luke 15. 7. the whole City of God is moved with it Heaven rings again with the joyful tydings as soon as ever the Will begins to bowe and open to Christ the news is quickly in Heaven and all the Angels of God rejoyce at the tydings As when a young Prince is born the Conduits run with Wine there is Joy in every City throughout the Kingdom So also there is in Heaven when Christ hath gotten a new habitation in the Soul of any Sinner upon Earth Moreover the greatness of this design appears from the great Rewards promised by the Lord to every Servant of his who hath but the least hand to help it on God would never reward the Instruments so richly if the success of the work were not of great value in his eyes The Ministers of Christ may be ill rewarded by men perfecuted and reproached for their labour but God will bountifully repay their pains and faithfulness Dan. 12. 3. They that turn many unto righteousness shall shine as the Stars and as the brightness of the firmament for ever and ever All these things be speak it a very great and important design upon which the heart of God is much set Secondly And then in the next place as it is an exceeding great and important design and work of God so it is a very hard and difficult work in it self a work whose difficulties surmounts the abilities of Angels It is certainly a work carried on by the mighty power of God through the greatest oppositions imaginable And therefore it is noted Rev. 3. 7. that it is the peculiar Prerogative of Jesus Christ who only hath the Key of the house of David to open the heart of a Sinner by Faith. Men think it is an easie thing to believe but if you consult the Scriptures you will quickly be informed how grosly you mistake the nature of this work In Col. 2. 12. the believing Soul is said to rise with Christ through the faith of the operation of God who raised him from the dead In the Resurrection of Christ there was a glorious operation of the power of God indeed you know it astonished the
yet one thing and that the main thing Sanctifying Grace was wanting Hereupon the pangs of the New Birth seized his Soul and the Lord made him a most inward searching experimental Minister and crown'd his Labours with unusual Success This Minister to his dying day was not ashamed in all companies to acknowledge his mistake and bless God for his recovery out of it and in most of his Sermons he would endeavour to convince Professors of the necessity of a second Conversion 2. Fear is another pull-back which with-holds men from executing the Convictions of their own Consciences and obeying its calls in this grand case and concern of the Soul. They are pretty easie and safe under the External Profession and Duties of Religion and are afraid of throwing up their vain hopes and engaging themselves heartily and thoroughly in Religion and there be two things scare them 1 The inward pains and troubles of Spirit attending the New-Birth which they have read and heard of and seen the effects of in others Oh 't is a dreadful thing to lye under the Terrors that many have felt and so 't is with them as with one that hath a bone ill set who if he have any ease will rather endure a little dayly pain and be content to halt all his Life than undergoe the pain of another fraction or dislocation in order to a perfect cure 2 They are afraid of External Sufferings The form of Godliness leaves men a latitude to take or leave according as the times favour or frown upon the wayes of Religion but the power of Godliness that will engage and put them beyond retreat They must then stand to it come what will. But Soul let me tell thee if the just fears and apprehensions of Hell and the Eternal Wrath of God were upon thee to which thy Hypocrisie and formality will expose thee all these fears of inward or outward troubles would vanish the same Hour 3. Pride of Heart suffers not this Conviction of Conscience to work out its effects but holds this Truth in unrighteousness to the hazard and ruine of many Souls Men that live upon their own Duties and Self-Righteousness are not easily brought to renounce all this and live upon the Righteousness of Christ alone for Justification Proud nature will rather venture the hazzard of Damnation than such self denial Rom. 10. 3. As you see it common among poor People to live meanly on coarse Fare of their own than upon the Almes and bounty of another O but if once the day of Gods Power be come and a man begins to feel the Commandment come home to his Conscience as Paul did Rom. 7. 9. when he comes to realize the World to come the value of his Soul and the danger it is in then all these Remora's are as easily swept away as so many straws by the rapid Course of a mighty torrent Then let men say or think what they please I must not throw away my own Soul to maintain a vain Estimation among men Let inward or outward sufferings be never so great 't is better for me to feel them than to suffer the everlasting wrath of the great and terrible God. Let my own Righteousness be what it will all is but dung and dross to the pure and perfect Righteousness of Christ. Secondly As this General Conviction with respect to Mens State and Condition is held in Unrighteousness and Men and Women go with grumbling Consciences and frequent inward Fears by reason of it so there are many particular Convictions bound and imprisoned in Mens Souls Particular Convictions I say both as to sins committed and known Duties omitted against both Tables of the Law of God called in the Text ungodliness and unrighteousness Conscience labours and strives to bring men to confess bewail and reform them but cannot prevail contrary Lusts and Interests overpower them and detain them in unrighteousness What these are and how they are with-held by those Lusts I shall give some Instances I. Instance And First for Convictions of Vngodliness There are many that call themselves Christians whose Consciences tell them God is to be daily and duely worshipped by them both in Family and Closet Prayer It sets before them Iosua's pious practice Ios. 24. 15. As for me I and my house we will serve the Lord. They know God is the Founder the Owner the Master of their Families that all Family Blessings are from him and therefore he is to be owned acknowledged and sought in daily Family Prayers and Praises It tells them the Curse of God hangs over prayerless Families Ier. 10. 25. and that they live in the inexcusable neglect of these Duties seldom worshipping of God with their Families or in their Closets and that therefore they live without God in the World. And dreadful will the account and reckoning be at the Great Day for their own Souls which they have starved for want of Closet Prayer and for the Souls committed to their charge which perish for want of Family Duties This is the case of many who yet will needs pass for Professors of Christianity Lord how sad a case is here How can men possibly live in the daily neglect of so great so necessary a Duty Certainly 't is not for want of Light or Conviction the very light of Nature if we had no Bibles discovers these Duties But three things hold this Truth of God dictated by Mens Consciences in Unrighteousness viz. 1. The Love of the World. 2. Consciousness of Inability 3. A Disinclined Heart First The Love of the World choaks this Conviction in the Souls of some and they think it enough to plead for their Excuse the want of opportunities and many encumberances they have which will not allow them time for these Duties The World is a severe Taskmaster and fills their heads and hands all the day with Cares and Toyles And must the mouth of Conscience then be stopped with such a plea as this No no God and Conscience will not be answered and put off so The greatest number of Persons in the World from whom God hath the most Spiritual and excellent Worship are of the lower and poorer rank Psal. 74. 20. Iam. 2. 5. And it s highly probable your Necessities had been less if your Prayers had been more And what sweeter outlet and vent to all these troubles can you find than Prayer This would sweeten all your Labours and Sorrows in the World. Secondly Consciousness and sense of Inability and want of Gifts restrains this Conviction in others Should they attempt such duties before others they shall but expose their own ignorance shame But this is a vain pretence of shake off Duty The neglect of Prayer is a principal Cause of that inability you complain of Gifts as well as Grace grow by Exercise To him that hath shall be given and he shall have more abundantly And besides 't is the fruit of Pride and argues your eye to be more upon your own