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
world to hear of it The very same power that wrought that must also be put sorth to work this or else it would never be wrought So again Eph. 2. 8. By Grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God not of your selves You are no more able to believe in Christ than you were to raise him from the dead No more able to come one step towards him by Faith in your own power than Lazarus was able to unbind himself in the Grave and come forth Yea in Eph. 1. 18 19 20. the work of believing is ascribed unto the exceeding greatness of the power of God Nothing but power can do it no other power but the Almighty power of God can do it It exceeds the power of Ministers yea of Angels Three things will evince the difficulty of this work Viz. 1. The Nature of it 2. The Subject of it 3. The Enemies of it First The Nature of the work of Faith which is wholly supernatural it is no less than the gaining over the hearty and full consent of the Will to take Jesus Christ with his yoke of Obedience Matth. 11. 29. and with his Cross of Sufferings Matth. 16. 24. And how far these will carry a man into outward dangers losses torments and sufferings who can tell and all this upon the account of an unseen happiness and glory dearest Lusts and Corruptions must be mortified sweetest Pleasures and Profits in the World abandoned and forsaken all Reproaches Losses Pains and Penalties the Devil and the World can lay upon us for Christs sake must be embraced and wellcomed and can it be supposed that any power beneath the Almighty Power of the Lord any voice except the efficacious voice of Christ can prevail with the Will to give its firm explicite consent to such difficult and self-denying terms as these Secondly Consider the Subject wrought upon viz. the dead hard obstinate heart of a blind perverse sinner an heart harder by Nature than the nether Millstone It is as easie to melt the most obdurate Rock into a sweet Syrup as it is to melt the heart of a Sinner into penitential forrows for sin What! to bring a dead heart to life To make that man bitterly bewail the sins that were his pleasure and delight more than ever he bewailed the death of the nearest and dearest Relation in the world To make a proud heart renounce its own self-righteousness which it so dotes upon and take all shame and reproach to it self upon the account of sin This is wonderful You would think it a strange thing to see the course of the Tyde stopt with the breath of a man but O what a marvellous thing is here that at the preaching of the Gospel by a poor worm the Lord should turn the Tyde of the Will and thus work about the Soul to a ready compliance with his most self-denying terms and proposals Thirdly And that which farther encreaseth the difficulty of believing is the fierce and obstinate opposition made by the Enemies of Faith All the powers of Hell and Earth Devils and Men without us are confederate and in league with the Corruptions within us to resâ—â—t and hinder this work of believing Never is the Devil more busie than when Christ and the Soul are treating about Union Oh the Discouragements Objections and Difficulties that are rowled into the way of Faith One while it is the highest Presumption another while it is impossible and utterly too late Sometimes blasphemous injections like fiery Darts are shot reeking hot out of Hell into the Soul Otherwhile the invincible difficulties of Religion are objected all Losses Torments c. opposed unto this work The Tempter casts himself into a thousand shapes to hinder the Souls passage out of Nature unto Christ. Sometimes objecting the greatness of sin and sometimes the lapse and loss of the proper season and opportunity of mercy together with the want of due qualifications to come to Christ. Thus and many other ways he endeavours to rap off the fingers of Faith from taking hold of Christ. And as every Devil in Hell opposes this work so every Carnal interest we have in the world is an Enemy to Faith. We have Enemies enough within us as well as without us both conspiring together to obstruct this work All things increase the difficulty of believing Thirdly We are next to speak of the instruments imployed in this great design and these are 1. Principal or 2. Subordinate 1. The Principal instrument in whose efficacy the Heart is opened is the Spirit of God without whom it is impossible the design should ever prosper neither Ordinances Providences or Ministers can successfully manage it without him If the Lord will make use of any Man for the Conversion and Salvation of anothers Soul he may rejoyce in it but withal must say as Peter to the Jews Acts 3. 12. Why look ye so earnestly on us as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk So may the ablest Minister in the World say when God blesses his labours to the conversion of any Soul look not upon me as though by the strength of my reason or power of my gifts I had opened thy Soul to Christ this is the work of Gods Spirit in whose hand I am an instrument 1 Cor. 3. 7. He that plants is nothing and he that waters is nothing Nothing in himself the very first stroak of conviction which is introductive to the whole work of conversion is justly ascribed to the Spirit Iob. 16. 9. The Spirit when be cometh shall convince the world of sin He is the Lord of all sanctifying and gracious influences Ordinances are but as the sayls of a Ship Ministers as the Seamen that manage those sayls the Anchor may be weighed the sayls spread but when all is done there is no sayling till a gale come We preach and pray and you hear but there is no motion Christward until the Spirit of God comparded to the wind Iohn 3. 8. blow upon them till he illuminate the understanding with divine light and bow the Will by an Almighty power there can be no Spiritual motion Heaven-ward Now the Spirit of the Lord is a free agent tyed to means time or instruments but as at a certain time an Angel came down upon the waters of Bethesda and put a healing virtue into them so it is here Therefore never come to any Gospel Ordinance without an Eye to the Spirit on whom all their blessing and efficacy depends Oh lift up your Hearts for his blessing upon the means as ever you expect saving benefits from them 2ly The Subordinate instrumental means by which this blessed design is effectually managed in the World is the Gospel-ministry 1 Cor. 3. 5. Who then is Paul and who is Apollo but Ministers by whom ye believed This is the ordinary stated method of begetting Faith and though God hath not tyed himself to this
believing and hungering after Christ Their examples shall be your Judges These are Gods Witnesses Secondly Next let us consider what are the object matters unto which they give their testimony and that will be found two-fold according to the two-fold event the Gospel hath upon them that hear it of both which the Apostle gives us this account 2 Cor. 2. 16. Vnto some we are the savour of life unto life and unto others the savour of death unto death Accordingly a double Record is made 1. Of the obedience and faith of some which Record will be produced to their joy and comfort in the day of the Lord when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe because our testimony among you was believed in that day Ministers are Instruments of espousing Souls to Christ and Witnesses to those espousals and contracts made betwixt him and them 2 Cor. 11. 2. Both these offices are exceeding grateful and pleasant to every faithful Minister 2. A Record is made and Witness taken of all the refusals disobedience and slightings of Christ by others Thus Moses will be the accuser of the Jews John 5. 45. Do not think I will accuse you to the Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom you trust This is the saddest part of a Ministers-work the fore-thoughts of it are more afflictive than all our Labours and Sufferings There is a three-fold Record made in this case 1st Of the time men have enjoyed under the means of Salvation how many years they have sat barren and dead hearted under the labours of Gods faithful Ministers Luke 13. 7. Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this Fig-tree and find none Behold the same term of Notification with that in the Text applyed to the time of Gods patience towards them And again Ier. 25. 3. From the thirteenth year of Josiah even unto this day that is the three and twentieth year the word of the Lord hath come unto me and I have spoken unto you rising early and speaking but ye have not hearkened Oh consider all the years and days you have spent under the Gospel are upon your Dooms-day-book 2dly Records are also made of all the instruments that ever God employed for the Conversion and Salvation of your Souls So many Ministers whether fixed or transient as have spent their labours upon you are upon the Book of your account Ier. 25. 4. The Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the Prophets rising early and sending them but ye have not hearkened nor enclined your ear to hear They have wasted their Lungs dropt their compassionate tears and burnt down one after another as Candles to direct you to Christ and Salvation but all in vain 3dly Every call perswasion and argument used by them to espouse you to Christ is likewise upon the Book of account Prov. 1. 24. 25. Because I have called and you refused I have stretched my hand and no man regarded but you have set at nought all my counsels and would none of my reproofs These calls and counsels are of too great value with God though of none with you to be lost and left out of your account Thirdly we shall in the last place inquire into the grounds and reasons of these Judicial procedures of God why he will have every mans obedience and disobedience Registred and Witnessed for or against him under Gospel administrations and there are two weighty reasons thereof First that wherever the end of the Gospel is attained in the Conversion of any soul that soul and all that were instrumentally employ'd about the salvation of it may have their proper reward and comfort in the great day 2 Cor. 1. 14. As also you have acknowledged us in part that we are your rejoycing even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Iesus This will be matter of joy unspeakable both to you that shall receive and to them that shall give such a comfortable testimony for you Oh the joyful congratulations that will be in that day between Laborious Faithful Ministers and their Believing Obedient Hearers Lord this was the blessed instrument of my happy Illumination and Conversion though I might have ten thousand Instructers in Christ yet not many Fathers for by the blessing of thy Spirit upon this mans Ministry my Soul was begotten to Christ. And on the other side Lord these are the Souls for whom I travelled as in birth until Christ was formed in them 'T is a glorious thing to say as the Prophet Here am I and the children God hath given me Nay those that were but collaterally useful to help on the work of God begun by others must not lose their reward in that day Iohn 4. 36. And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoyce together Secondly Records are now made and Witnesses taken that thereby the Judicial Sentence of Jesus Christ in the last day may be made clear and perspicuous to all the world that every mouth may be stopt and no Plea or Apology left in the mouth of any condemned Sinner For Christ in that day cometh to convince all that are ungodly Iude ver 15. to convince by demonstration that all that are Christless now may be found speechless then Matth. 22. 12. Here it is said Psal. 1. 5. That the wicked shall not stand or rise up in the Iudgment And no wonder when so many full testimonies and unexceptionable Witnesses shall come point blank against them the Minister that preach'd the word they preached their own consciences and the examples of all Believers will be produced against them 1. INFERENCE First The undoubted certainty of a day of Iudgment is hence evinced To what purpose else are Records made and Witnesses taken but with respect to an Audit day this is a truth sealed upon the consciences of the very Heathens Rom. 2. 15. their consciences bear witness But in vain are all these Records made unless there be a day to produce and plead them and of that day the Prophet Daniel speaks Dan. 7. 10. The Iudgment was set and the Books were opened And again Rev. 20. 12. And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their works Believe it Friends these are no devised Fables but most awful and infallible truths according to the saving effects the Gospel now hath it will be a time of refreshing to our Souls Acts 3. 19. to all others a day of terrour wrath and amazement 2 Thes. 1. 7 8. The day in which the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not
the Gospel at Macedonia there Lydia was converted but how Not by their Skill or Eloquence but the Spirits influence Acts 16. 14. The Lord opened the Heart of Lydia The Church could not be propagated without Conversion Conversion could never be wrought without Christs Influence and Spiritual Presence So that this Presence is of absolute necessity the Church cannot subsist nor the great ends of Ordinances attained without it The first Inference Is Christ really Present in all Gospel Administrations how awfully Solemn then is every part of Gospel Worship We having to do with Christ himself and not with Men only in Gospel Ordinances Happy were it if under this Consideration all our People did receive the Word we Preach as the Thessalonians did not as the Word of Man but as the Word of God 1 Thes. 2. 13. then it would Work effectually in us as it did in them But alas We have loose and low apprehensions of the Word we come to Judge the Gifts of the Speaker not to have our Minds informed our Consciences searched our Lusts mortified and our Lives regulated But oh that Men would realize the Presence of Christ in Ordinances and seriously consider that Word of his Rev. 2. 23. All the Churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the Reins and Hearts and I will give to every one of you according to your Works How would it compose vain and wandering Hearts unto holy seriousness Oh if Men would but consider that they are before the Lord Jesus Christ as Cornelius and his Family did Acts 10. 33. We are all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. If they would consider the Word as the executioner of Gods eternal Decrees which returns not in vain but accomplishes that whereunto God sends it Isa. 55. 11. and eventually proves the savour of Life or Death eternal to them that sit under it 2 Cor. 2. 16. In a word were it but considered as the Rule by which its hearers shall be judged in the great Day Ioh. 12. 48. then how would Men tremble at the Word What mighty effects would it have upon their Hearts How would it run and be glorified But alas as Iob speaks Iob 9. 11. He goeth by me and I see him not he passeth on also but I perceive him not Few realize the Spiritual Presence of Christ in Ordinances Second Inference If Christ be really present with his Churches and Ordinances how vain are all the attempts of Enemies to subvert and destroy them That promise Matth. 28. ult supposes the continuance of a Gospel Church and Ministry to the end of the World else there would be a Promise without a Subject as de Iure there ought to be a Church so de facto there shall be a Church with Ministers and Ordinances let Satan and Antichrist do their worst I do not say this Promise secures this or that particular Church or Nation for the presence of Christ is moveable from one place to another but still the Church is safe And there are three things that secure it against all hazards First The invaluable Treasures God hath lodged in the Church viz. his Truths his Worship and his Elect such a precious Cargo secures the Vessel that carries it what ever Storms or Tempests may befal it Secondly The Covenant and Promise of God with the Church is its abundant security Matth. 16. 18. Vpon this Rock will I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it The faithfulness of God is pawned for his Peoples security If the Church fail God's faithfulness must fail with it Thirdly But above all the Presence of Christ in the midst of it puts it out of all danger of miscarrying In that Promise Lo I am with you alway are found all munitions and fortifications whatsoever Here we have his Eye of Providence his Hand of Power and whatsoever else is needful to support and secure it God accounts his Presence our safety Isa. 41. 10. The Enemies of God and his People account it so too Exod. 14. 25. and shall it not be so in our own account Provoke not the Lord Jesus to withdraw his Presence and fear not the consultations and oppositions of Hell or Earth Third Inference From this Spiritual Presence of Christ all his faithful Ministers should draw incouragement amidst the manifold difficulties and discouragements they dayly encounter in his Work and Service Christ is with them they Work in Fellowship with him let them not be dismaid The difficulties and discouragements the Ministers of Christ meet with are great and many and the more faithful and successful any of them are in their Masters Work the fiercer opposition they must expect Besides all the discouragements rising out of their own Hearts which are not a few they must encounter First The opposition of Enemies from abroad Secondly The obstinacy and stubornness of the Hearts they work upon Satan is a jealous Prince and will raise all manner of outcries and oppositions against those heavenly Heraulds that come to Proclaim a new Prince in his Dominions and withdraw his miserable Subjects from their cursed Allegiance to him What is it to Preach the Gospel said Luther but to derive the fury of the World upon the Head of that Preacher But this would be easily supportable did our Work but prosper upon the hearts of our hearers but this alas is the killing consideration of all we know the worth of Souls and how great a service it is to save them from death Iames 5. 20. We also know the terrors of the Lord which excite our utmost endeavours to perswade men 2 Cor. 5. 11. We feel the compassions of Christ stirring in our own bowels which makes us long after their Salvation Phil. 1. 8. We preach we pray yea we travail again as it were in birth until Christ be formed in them Gal. 4. 19. And when we have done all we find their Hearts as Iron and Brass Ier. 6. 28. We mourn in secret when we cannot prevail and oft times our Hands hang down with discouragement and we are ready to say with the Prophet We will speak no more in his name Jer. 20. 9. But here is our relief under all discouragements from abroad and at home the Work is Christs the Power is his he is with us and we are Workers together with him There was a time when Three thousand Souls were born to Christ at one Sermon it may be now Three thousand Sermons may be preacht and not a Soul Converted Yet let us not be discouraged a time of eminent Conversions is Promised and to be expected in these latter days Ezek. 47. 9. when the living waters of the Gospel shall make every thing to live whither they come And when the Fishers i. e. the Ministers of Christ shall not fish with Angles as now they do taking now one then another single Convert but shall spread forth their Nets but inclose multitudes at
skin which are not accidental but connate as the reasonings of Men can prevail to remove the mighty power of customary sin Physitians find it a hard thing to Cure a Cakexia or ill habit of Body 'T is a grave and serious note of Seneca A teneris assuescere multum est 'T is a great matter to be accustomed this way or that from our childhood every repeated act of sin confirms and strenghtens the habit and hence it is that we see so few Conversions in old Age. It was a wonder in the Primitive times that Marcus Caius Victorius imbraced Christianity in the sixtieth year of his age take an habituated Drunkard a self-righteous Moralist lay before them the necessity of a change and you shall find it as easie to stop the course of a River with the breath of your Mouth as to stop them in an accustomed course of sinning That 's the fourth Bar to Christ. Fifth Bar. The Fifth Bar opposing and resisting Christs entrance into the Soul is the sin of Presumption this is the sin that parts Christ and thousands of Souls in the World presuming they hope and hoping they perish when Men presume their condition is safe already their Souls never make out after a Saviour This was the ruine of Laodicea Rev. 3. 17. Because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked This damning presumption is discovered in three things 1 Many think they have that grace which they have not mistaking the Similar for the saving Works of the Spirit a fatal mistake never rectified with many thousands till it be too late 2 They presume to find that mercy in God which they will never find for all the saving mercies of God are dispensed to Men through Christ in the way of Regeneration and Faith Iude vers 21. 3 They presume upon that time for Repentance and Faith hereafter which their Eyes shall never see And thus presumption locks up the Heart against Christ and leaves sinners perishing in the presence of a Saviour They make a bridge of their own shadow and so perish in the Waters Sixth Bar. The Sixth and last sin barring up the Heart against Christ is a strong prejudice against holyness and the strict duties of Religion Thus in the very infancy of Christianity the World was scared and driven off from Religion by the common prejudices that lay upon the Professors of it Acts 28. 22. As concerning this Sect we know that every where it is spoken against Thus Iustin Martyr complains that Christians were every where condemned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by common same and upon this account Christ pronounces a wo upon the World because of offences Matth. 18. 7. Alas it will be the ruine of Thousands some have suckt in such prejudicate Opinions and vile Notions of Religio◠and its Professors as makes them irreconcilable enemies to it Satan hath drest it up in their fancies in such an odious form and representation that makes them loath both name and thing These prejudices are drawn from various things sometimes from the necessary duties of Christianity which are laid as crimes upon the people of God Psal. 69. 10. When I wept and chastned my Soul with fasting that was to my reproach Sometimes the groundless and malicious slanders and inventions of the enemies of Christianity are the occasions of real prejudices to the World Ier. 18. 18. Come let us devise devices against Jeremiah and let us smite him with the Tongue Sometimes the innocent and serious Professors of godliness are censured and condemned for hypocritical professors sakes who never heartily espoused Religion And lastly the ways of holiness suffer for the slips and infirmities of weak Christians who commonly give too many occasions to disgust the World against the ways of God. By these things multitudes are kept off from attendance upon the means of Grace and multitudes more have their Hearts shut up from receiving any saving benefit under them These are the common Bars and Locks by which the strong Man armed secures his possession in the Souls of sinners and these Bars are too strong for any power beneath the Almighty power and Arm of God to remove or break t is said Acts 14. 27. That the Lord opened a door of Faith to the Gentiles The Arm of the Lord must be revealed or none will open to Christ by Faith Isa. 53. 1. 1. The iron Bar of the Law that thundering terrible Law cannot force open the Heart of an unbeliever all the dreadful curses flying out of its fiery mouth make no more impression than a Tennis ball against a wall of Marble Deut. 29. 19. You read of them that hear the words of this Curse yet bless themselves in their Heart saying they shall have peace though they walk in the imagination of their Hearts to add Drunkenness to Thirst. They play with Hell and Eternal Torments rush into iniquity as the Horse rusheth into the Battle act as men in love with their own Death as those that are at an agreement with Hell. Oh the besotting hardning infatuating power of sin 2. The Golden Key of free Grace cannot in it self remove these Bars and open mens Hearts to Christ Matth. 11. 17. We have piped unto you but ye have not danced The melodious and delicious Airs of Grace Mercy Peace and Pardon affect not the dead Hearts of unbelievers Like deaf Adders they stop their Ears at the voice of the Charmer charm he never so wisely These Gospel melodies only dispose them to a more quiet sleep in sin 3. No works of Providence are in themselves sufficient to open the Hearts of Men to Christ. 1. The Judgments of God cannot do it thousands have been made sick with smiteing that yet cannot be made sick for sin I have consumed them but they refused to receive correction they have made their Faces harder then a Rock they have refused to return Jer. 5. 3. Messengers of Judgment are abroad smiting some in their Estates scattering in one day the labour of many years and therein giving a warning blow at the Conscience to make sure of Christ and the World to come since their comfort and happiness is scattered in this World. Some are smitten in their dearest relations Death knocks at their doors and carries out the delight of their Eyes and with the same admonisheth their Souls to place their happiness in more durable comforts Some are smitten in their Bodies with Diseases giving warning of the near approach of their latter end and bidding them prepare for another habitation but all in vain 2ly No mercies of God are in themselves sufficient to open the obstinate Hearts of sinners to Christ. God hath heapt up mercies by multitudes upon many of you all these mercies of God lead you to repentance Rom. 2. 4 5. They take you in a friendly way by the Hand and thus talk with you
Ah sinner how canst thou grieve and dishonour that God that thus feedeth clotheth and comforteth thee on every side Do you thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Yet all will not do neither Judgments nor Mercies can affright or allure the carnal Heart to Jesus Christ. T is his Spirit his Almighty power alone that opens these everlasting Gates and makes these strong Bars give way and fly at his voice I. Inference Behold here the dismal state of nature the woful condition of all unregenerate Souls Christ the Redeemer shut out Sin and Satan shut in This is the horrid state of nature shut up in unbelief Rom. 4. 32. Ah Lord what a condition is this We should certainly account it an unspeakable misery to be shut into a House haunted by the Devil where we should be continually scared and frighted with dreadful noises and apparitions but alas what is an apparition of the Devil without us to the inhabitation of the Devil within us Nay what is the possession of a Body to Satans possession of the Soul Yet this is the very case of the unregenerate Luke 11. 21. The strong Man armed keepeth the Palace till Christ dispossess him by Sovereign victorious Grace Poor wretch canst thou start at a supposed vision of a Spirit and not tremble to think that thy Soul is the habitation of Devils There is a twofold misery lying upon all Christless unregenerated persons Satan is 1. Their Ruler in this World. 2. Their Tormenter in that to come 1. He is their Ruler in this World the Spirit that now worketh in the Children of disobedience Ephes. 2. 3. Look as the holy Spirit of God dwells and rules in sanctified Souls walks in them as in hallowed Temples guiding and comforting the Souls of the Saints so Satan dwells in unregenerate Hearts actuating their lusts inflaming them with his temptations using their faculties and members as instruments of unrighteousness And then 2ly He will be their Tormenter in the World to come He that Tempts now will Torment then Matth. 25. 41. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Flee therefore and escape for your lives sleep not quietly another Night in so dismal and dreadful estate If the Son make you free then are you free indeed II. Inference What a glorious and admirable effect of Sovereign omnipotent grace is the effectual conversion of a sinner unto God! If every Heart by nature be secured for Satan under so many Locks and Bars then the opening of any Heart to Christ is deservedly marvellous in our Eyes You all acknowledge that the opening of the Graves at the Resurrection will be a glorious display of Almighty power and so it will it will be a wonderful thing to behold the Graves opened and the dead raised at the voice of the Arch-angel and the trump of God but yet give me leave to say That the opening of thy Heart poor sinner to receive Christ is a more glorious work than that of raising the dead It is therefore deservedly put into the first rank of the great mysteries of godliness that Christ is believed on in the World 1 Tim. 3. 16. He that well views and considers Christ may justly wonder that all the Hearts in the enlightned World do not stand wide open to embrace him and he that shall consider the frame and temper of the natural Heart and how strongly Satan hath intrenched and fortified himself in it may justly wonder to hear of a work of Conversion in an age Oh Brethren consider the marvels of Conversion the wonderful works of God upon the Soul that opens unto Christ by Faith. 1. There 's a new Eye created in the mind The Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true 1 John 5. 20. Oh that Eye That precious Eye of Faith which shews the Soul as it were a new World a World of new and ravishing objects Eph. 5. 8. All the Angels in Heaven Ministers and Libraries upon Earth cannot create such an Eye give such an Illumination t is only he that commanded the light to shine out of the darkness that thus shineth into our Hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. 6. 2ly And what a glorious supernatural Work is the conviction of the Conscience by the powerful stroak of the saving beams of light upon it Now the Conscience that lay in a dead sleep begins to startle and look about it with fear and horror Life and sense is got into it and now it cries ah sick sick sick at the Heart for sin sick for a Saviour 3ly And no less marvelous an effect of the Almighty power is the bowing of the stuborn Will so efficaciously so congruously and so determinately and fixedly to the Lord Jesus The Will is efficaciously determined so as no power of Hell or Nature can resist or frustrate that Mighty power which worketh effectually in all them that believe 1 Thes. 2. 13. Yet it works not by way of compulsion but in a way congruous and agreeable to the nature of the Will Hosea 11. 4. I drew them with the cords of a Man with the bands of love Satan bids for the Soul Christ infinitely outbids all his offers Eternal Spiritual and unsearchable Riches instead of sensitive perishing enjoyments which determin the choice of the Will in its own natural method by the sight of the excelling glory of Spiritual things And thus the mighty supernatural power of God opens that Heart which Satan had secured so many ways against Christ. III. Inference Hence it also follows that Man hath no free will of his own to supernatural good The Will cannot by its own power open it self to receive Christ by faith When it doth open to him it is not virtute innata sed illata not by its natural power but by the power of God upon it The admirers of Nature talk much of the Sovereignty Virginity and Liberty of the Will as if it alone had escaped the fall and that no more but a moral swasion is needed to open it to Christ that is that God need do no more to save Men than the Devil doth to damn them But if ever God make you sensible what the work of â—aving Conversion is you will quickly find that your Will is lame its freedom to Spiritual things gone you will cry out of a wounded Will as well as of a dark Head and a hard Heart You will quickly find That it is God alone that worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. That the birth of the new Creature is not of the Will of Man but of God Iohn 1. 13. IV. Inference Learn hence the necessity of Conversion in order to Salvation Christ and Heaven are shut up against you till your hearts be savingly opened unto him
Fathers Face from Eternity before this time but now the smiling Face of God was hid and a strong impression of his Wrath made upon him And now Brethren you see what Christ hath endured both in his Body and in his Soul and all for the sake of Sinners What think you now is not Christ an earnest Suiter Doth not all this fully and plainly speak the ardours of his Love the fervencies of his desires after union and communion with us If this do not then nothing can demonstrate Love and Desire That 's the first thing the greatness of the Sufferings which he endured Secondly Let us next consider the Use and Intention of these Sufferings of Christ and how this also demonstrates the earnestness of his desires after Conjugal union with us Now there was a double Use and End of the Sufferings of Christ. 1. To make us free that we might be capable of Espousals 2. To win our Affections by the argument of his Sufferings I. One End of Christs death was to purchase our Freedom that we might be capable of being Espoused to him for you must know that we were not in a capacity whilst under the curse of the Law to be married unto Christ the Apostle Rom. 7. 2 3 4. compares the Law to a Husband to whom the Wife is bound as long as he liveth and not capable of a second marriage until her Husband be dead The Death of Christ was the Death of the Law as a Covenant of Works holding us under the bond of a Curse of it and so it gave us a manumission or freedom from that bond and a capacity of espousals to Christ as vers 4. Wherefore my brethren ye also are become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead A Slave to another is not capable of being disposed in marriage until made Free you were in bondage to the Law the slaves of of Sin and Satan Christ bought out your liberty for his Blood is call'd a ransom Matth. 20. 28. and so put you into a capacity of being espoused unto himself here you see Christ loved you not for any advantage he could have by you for you had nothing to bring him nay he must purchase you and that with his own Blood before he can be united to you O incomparable love O fervent desires II. Another design and end of the Death of Christ was to win and gain our Hearts and Affections to himself by the argument of his Death this himself hath declared to be the very end and intention of it Ioh. 12. 32. And I if I be lifted up from the Earth will draw all Men unto me this he said signifying what Death he should dye Christ endured all that you have heard and infinitely more than the Tongue or Pen of Man can express and all to draw thy Soul and win thy consent to come unto him the Lord Jesus by his sufferings casts a threefold cord over the Souls of Sinners to draw them to himself 1. The Death of Christ obtains compleat righteousness for guilty sinners and if any thing in the World will draw the Heart of a sinner this will the anxious search and enquiry of a convinced sinner is after a perfect righteousness to justifie him before God. O that 's it the sinner wants Conscience saith thou hast broken all the Laws of God and art therefore a Law condemned wretch the sentence of the Law casts thee for Hell Now what would a poor sinner give for a release from this sentence of the Law O ten thousand Worlds for a Pardon Why here it is saith Christ Come unto me and thou shalt receive a free full and final pardon my Blood cleanseth from all sin my righteousness answers all the demands of the Law. I have taken away the Hand-writing that was against thee and nayled it to my Cross Col. 2. 14. Come unto me and take up thy Bonds thy cancelled Bonds come unto me and that dreadful attribute of Divine Justice shall never scare or fright thy Conscience any more nay thou shalt build thy hope upon it you read Rom. 3. 25. That God hath set forth Christ to be a propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Iesus Here you see the justification and pardon of a sinner built upon that very Attribute which was so frightful and dreadful to him before Well then poor sinner is there guilt upon thy Conscience And doth thy Soul shake and quiver to think how it shall stand before the Just and Terrible God in the great Day Hearken to the voice of Christ crucified who calls thee to him to receive thy discharge which if thou refuse the Law still stands in its full force and vertue against thy Soul. This is one cord Christ casts from the Cross over the Souls of guilty sinners to draw them to him 2ly The Death of Christ purchases and procures perfect cleansing from the filth and pollution of sin to wash the defiled Souls of sinners from all their uncleanness For this is he that came by water and by blood not by blood only but by water also 1 Joh. 5. 6. He comes by way of Sanctification as well as by way of Justification Lord saith a convinced sinner what an unclean Nature Heart and Life have I O I am nothing but a heap of uncleanness an abhorence to God and my self how shall such an Heart as mine such an Augean Stable be cleansed Come unto me saith Christ I came by Water as well as Blood in me thou shalt find a Fountain for Sanctification as well as Justification come unto me and my Spirit shall undertake the cleansing of thy Heart he shall take away the pollutions of sin perfectly so that it shall be presented to God without spot 3ly And lastly The transcendent love of Christ shines out in its full strength upon the Souls of sinners from the Cross and there 's nothing like love to draw love when Christ was lifted up upon the Cross he gave such a glorious demonstration of the strength of his love to sinners as one would think should draw love from the hardest Heart that ever lodged in a sinners Breast Herein is love saith the Apostle not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 4. 10. q. d. Here 's the triumph the riches and glory of Divine Love never was such love manifested in the World. There 's much of Gods love in Temporal Providences but all 's nothing to this this is love in its highest Elevation Love in its Meridian Glory before it was none like it and after it shall none appear like unto it And thus you
the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live From hence the Eighth Observation will be this VIII DOCT. That no Mans Will savingly and effectually opens to receive Christ till the Spiritual quickning Voice of Christ be first heard by the Soul. Now touching this Almighty Spiritual voice of Christ by which the Hearts of sinners are effectually opened Six things must be opened in order 1. The divers sorts and kinds of Christs voice 2. The general Nature of this internal voice 3. The innate characters and special properties of it 4. The objects to whom it is directed 5. The motives inducing Christ to speak to one and not to another 6. The special effects wrought and sealed by it upon every Soul that hears it First We will speak of the divers sorts and kinds of Christs voices I am here only concerned about two viz. 1. His External 2. His Internal voice 1. There is an External voice of Christ which we may call his Ministerial voice in the Preaching of the Gospel the Scriptures are his Word and Ministers his Mouth Ier. 15. 19. He that heareth them heareth Christ. 2ly There is also an Internal energetical voice of Christ consisting not in sound but power And betwixt these two there are two remarkable differences 1. The External or Ministerial voice of Christ is but the Organ or Instrument of conveying his Internal and Efficacious voice to the Soul in the former he speaks to the Ear and in or by that â—ound conveys his Spiritual voice to the Heart 2ly The External voice is evermore ineffectual and successless when it is not animated by this Internal Spiritual voice it was marvellous to see the walls of Iericho falling to the ground at the sound of Rams-horns there was certainly more than the force of an external blast to produce such an effect but more marvellous it is to see at the sound of the Gospel not only the weapons of iniquity falling out of sinners Hands but the very enmity it self out of their Hearts Here you see is a voice in a voice an Internal efficacy in the External sound without which the Gospel makes no saving impression Secondly This Spiritual voice of Christ must be considered in its general Nature which implies two things in it 1. Almighty Efficacy 2. Great Facilty I. Almighty Efficacy to quicken and open the Heart with a word O what manner of voice is this which carries such a vital power along with it In all the mighty works of Christ his power was still put forth in some voice as at the Resurrection of Lazarus John 11. 43. He cryed with a loud voice Lazarus come forth and he that was dead came forth So in the curing of the deaf Man Mark 7. 34. He saith unto him Ephphathai and straight way his Ears were opened Thus in the exerting of his Almighty glorious power in quickning a Soul Spiritually dead and opening the Heart that was lockt up by ignorance and unbelief an Internal Almighty Efficacy passeth from Christ along with the voice of the Gospel to effect this glorious work upon the Soul an Emblem where of we have in Ezek. 37. 9 10. Then said he unto me Prophesie unto the wind prophesie Son of Man to the wind saith the Lord God Come from the four winds O breath and breath upon these slain that they may live So I prophesied as he commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood up upon their Feet an exceeding great Army The animating vital breath which quickned the dead came in or with the four winds of Heaven as this Almighty power of Christ doth with the sound of the Gospel and before it the Heart opens the Will bows Psal. 110. 3. Man can no longer oppose the power of God Man and Man stand upon equal ground the power of Man can repel the power of a fellow creature but when the power of Christ comes along with the voice of Man there is no more power to resist This voice of Christ then of which the Text speaks is an Almighty impression made upon the Soul of a sinner from Heaven which is to that Soul in stead of a voice and as fully expressive of Gods mind concerning it as any Articulate voice in the World can be It is a beam of light shining immediately from the Spirit into the Soul of a sinner as plainly and evidently discovering both its danger and duty as if a voice from Heaven had declared them thus it is said Isa. 8. 11. The Lord spake to Isaiah with a strong Hand that is by a mighty impression upon the Prophets Spirit which was as a voice to him thus here the Lord not only directs a suitable word to a sinners condition but also impresses it with such a strong Hand upon his Heart as leaves no doubt behind it but that it was the Lord himself that spake to his Soul this is Christs way of speaking by his Spirit to the inner Spiritual Ear of the Soul not by Oraculous voices which I take to be but the suppositions of an overtroubled fancy but by an efficacious impression upon the Heart As to Oraculous voices we may sooner meet Satanical delusions than Divine illuminations in that way The Learned Gerson speaks of a good Man who being in Prayer seemed to hear such a voice as this I am come in person to visit thee for thou art worthy but he justly suspecting a delusion of Satan shut his Eyes and said Nolo hic videre Christum c. I will not see Christ here it shall suffice me to see him in glory I am sure Christs voice in the written Word is more sure than a voice from Heaven 2 Pet. l. 1. 9. This inward Spiritual impression is Christs effectual call from Heaven and it is a voice sine strepitu Syllabarum without sound or syllable II. As this voice of Christ implies Almighty efficacy so it implies in like manner the facility of conversion unto Christ he can do it easily with a word of his Mouth as in the bodily cures performed by him in the days of his flesh how suddainly and easily did Christ effect them Speak the word only said the Centurion and my servant shall be healed Thus let the Spirit but speak internally to the deadest Soul and it lives Elijah did but cast his mantle upon Elisha as he was plowing in the Field and he presently entreats the Prophet to give him leave to go home and bid his friends farewel and he would follow him thus it is here let a beam of saving light shine from the Spirit into a Mans Heart let an effectual impression be made upon his Soul and he is presently made willing to quit and give up his dearest lusts and interests and to imbrace Christ upon the severest terms of the Gospel Conversion is too difficult a work for Angels or Men to effect in their own strength but Christ can do it with a
18 19. yet the fear of Coesar hurries him on to the greatest of wickednesses even to give Sentence against Innocent Blood yea the Blood of the Son of God. Darius in like manner Dan. 6. 14. He knew that Daniel was not only an excellent Person but that he was entrapt by the Nobles merely for his Conscience and that to put him to Death was to sacrifice him to their Malice this he and his Conscience debated all the day many encounters he had with it for the Text saith He was sore displeased with himself and set his Heart on Daniel to deliver him and laboured until the going down of the Sun to deliver him but after a days sharp fight betwixt him and his Conscience Lust prevails at last against Light and returns Victor out of the Field in the Evening So it was with poor Spira he seemed to hear as it were an inward Voice Don't write Spira don't write but the love of his Estate Wife and Children drew his Hand to the Paper though Conscience struggled hard to hold it back Thus as the restless Sea strives to beat down or break over its bounds so do impetuous Lusts strive to overbear Light and Conviction video meliora proboque deteriora sequor They know this or that to be a Sin and that they hazard their Souls by it but yet they will adventure on it and rush into Sin as the Horse into the Battle 4. I promised to give you some instances of the Conflicts betwixt Mens Consciences and their Corruptions wherein Conscience is vanquisht and overborn and by what Weapons the Victory over Conscience is obtained Now the Convictions of Men are two-fold viz. I. General Respecting their State. II. Particular Respecting this or that Action I. There are general Convictions and Notices given to some Men and Women by their Consciences that their Condition or State of Soul is neither right nor safe that they want the main thing which constitutes a Christian viz. Regeneration or a gracious change of Heart and Life They hear and read the signs and effects of these things but their Conscience plainly tells them it cannot find them in them that they enjoy the External priviledges of the Saints but they belong not to them that something is still wanting and that the main thing too O my Soul thou art not right thou hast gifts thou hast a Name to live but for all that thou art dead Some further work must be done upon thee or thou art undone to Eternity thou passest for a good Christian among Men but wo to thee if thou die in the State thou art These and such as these are the whispers of some Mens Consciences in their Ears and yet they cannot yield themselves up into the hands of their Convictions so as to confess and bewail their Hypocrisie and gross mistakes and seek for a better foundation to build their hope on Foelix his Conscience gave him such a terrible rouze and monition as this and made him to tremble whilst Paul reason'd with him about Righteousness and Temperance and Judgment to come Acts 24. 25. it whispered in his Ear such Language as this O poor Soul how shall such an Oppressor such an intemperate wretch as thou art stand before God in this day of Judgment which Paul proves in thy face is certainly future for as Tacitus sayeth of him He was inexplebilis Gurges an insatiable gulph of Covetousness so it was with Agrippa Acts 26. 28. He stood at half bent dubious and unresolved what to do He saw the Heavenly Doctrine of Christianity evidently confirmed by Doctrine and Miracles his Conscience pleaded hard with him to embrance it and had almost prevailed Almost or within a little as the word is thou perswadest me to be a Christian but Agrippa had too much Wealth and Honours to deny and forsake for Christ the Love of the present World overbore both the hopes and fears of the World to come And thus that Excellent Fisher for Souls who had throughly converted so many to Christ caught but a piece of Agrippa almost is a great deal for so great a person The Gospel is a Drag-net and brings up all sorts whole Christians and half Christians The Conscience is caught and the Will begins to incline but oh the power and prevalence of Sin which like the Rudder commands all to a contrary course If we come a little nearer and enquire what are those remoraes that stop Conscience in its course bind and imprison stifle and suppress its Convictions that although a Man strongly suspect his foundation to be but Sand his hopes for Heaven a strong delusion yet he will throw up his vain hopes consfess his self deceits and begin all anew What is it which overbears Conscience in this cafe Let Men impartially examine their hearts and it will be found that these three things bind and imprison these Convictions of Conscience and hold the truth in unrighteousness viz. shame fear and pride of Heart I. Shame Men that have been Professors and of good esteem in the World are ashamed the World should know the Mistakes and Errors of all their life past and what deluded Fools and self-deceivers they have been This is a powerful restraint upon Conviction how shall they look their Acquaintance in the face What will Men think and say of them How can ye believe which receive Honour one of another Saith Christ Iohn 5. 44. q. d. What you be Christians and yet not able to endure a censure or a scoff upon your Names That stand more upon your Reputation than your Salvation How can you believe Oh what Madness and exalted Folly appears in this Case Men will chuse rather to go on though Conscience tells them the end of that way will be Death than suffer the shame of a just and necessary retraction which yet indeed is not their shame but their Duty and Glory You that are so tender of the shame of men how will you be able to endure the contempt and shame that shall be cast on you from God Angels and Men in the great Day Luk 9 26. 'T is no shame to acknowledge your mistake but persist in it after Conviction is shameful Madness I knew an excellent Minister who proved an eminent Instrument in the Church of God who in the beginning of his Ministerial Course was not upon the right Foundation of Regeneration This Man had rare Abilities excellent Natural and Acquired Gifts and could Preach of Regeneration Faith and Heavenly-mindedness though he felt nothing of these things in his own Experience His Life was very unblameable and he had no mean Interest and esteem among good men It pleased the Lord whilst this Man was studying an excellent Spiritual Point to preach to others his Conscience first preach'd it in his Study to himself and that with such a close and rousing Application as made him to tremble at it telling him that though he had Gifts above many and sobriety in his Conversation