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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
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CHRIST 
 
 KNOCKING AT THE DOOR 
 
 SINNERS' HEARTS; 
 
 OS, 
 
 A SOLEMN ENTEEATY TO RECEIVE THE SAYIOUE AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 THIS THE DAY OF MERCY. 
 
 BY RE^^J^C^g FLAYEL. 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 
 
 150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 
 

 %J73/ 
 
PREFATORY NOTICE 
 
 The following is a revised edition of an admirable treatise 
 by the author of " The Fountain of Life" and '-'The Method of 
 Grace." 
 
 It appeared originally under the title of '^ England's Duty;" 
 and consisted of twelve sermons, preached, under the rich effu- 
 sions of the Spirit, to the author's congregation, in the years 
 1688-9, about two years before his death, on the restoration of 
 religious freedom, through the revolution that virtually annulled 
 the Act of Uniformity, by wliich the author for twenty-five years 
 had been restrained from the free and public exercise of his 
 ministry. 
 
 In this edition the treatise has been arranged in the form of 
 chapters, and while considerable liberty has been taken with the 
 language, in changing obscure phraseology, substituting modern 
 for obsolete words, and omitting repetitious passages, the spirit 
 of the wTiter and his views of Christian doctrine have been care- 
 fully preserved, and every scriptural quotation has been verified. 
 A new title has likewise been adopted, more significant of the 
 subject-matter of the work. It is believed, that in its present 
 form, it will be esteemed a worthy companion to those already 
 named, and, under the divine blessing, add greatly to the useful- 
 ness of the estimable author. 
 
Digitized by the. Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/christknockingatOOflavrich 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 From the Author's Epistle to the Reader, I* 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE OFFERS OF MERCY RECORDED AND WITNESSED 
 FOR THE JUDGMENT-DAY. 
 " Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open 
 the door, I will come in to him, and •will sup with him, and he "vfith me." 
 Rev. 3:20 ' 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 
 " Behold, I stand at the door and knock," 27 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE HEART BARRED AGAINST CHRIST. 
 "Behold, I statid at the door and knock," 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CHRIST'S PATIENCE IN WAITING UPON OBSTINATE 
 
 SINNERS. 
 
 " Behold, I stand at the door and knock, 73 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 EVERY CONVICTION OF CONSCIENCE AND MOTION OP 
 
 THE SPIRIT A KNOCK FROM CHRIST. 
 
 "Behold, I stand at the dioox and knocks 107 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CHRIST'S EARNEST ENTREATY FOR UNION AND COM- 
 MUNION WITH SINNERS. 
 "Behold, I stundat the door and Icnoch^'' 141 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CHRIST REJECTS NONE WHO OPEN TO HIM. 
 ''^ If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him," 181 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NONE RECEIVE CHRIST UNTIL HIS SPIRITUAL QUICK- 
 ENING VOICE IS HEARD. 
 " If any man Ibcar my voice, and open the door, I ■will come in to him,"- 216 
 
 . CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE OPENING OF THE HEART TO CHRIST BY FAITH 
 
 THE GREAT DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 " If any man hear my voice, a7i.d open the door, I will come in to him," 248 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CHRIST BRINGS GREAT BLESSINGS TO THE SOUL THAT 
 
 OPENS TO HIM. 
 *'If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and 
 will svp with him,, and he with «je," 271 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 COMMUNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEVERS ON 
 
 EARTH. 
 
 ** I will come in to him, and vnll sup with him, and he with 7»e," • • • 304 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 COMMUNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEVERS ON 
 
 EARTH— coNTiNTrED , 
 
 " I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me,''' 324 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE TRUTH HELD IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 " The wrath of Grod is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and un- 
 righteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." Rom. 
 1:18, 349 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE TRUTH HELD IN UNRIGHTEOUSNE SS— continued. 
 '*The wrath of G-od is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and un- 
 righteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." Rom. 
 1:18, 376 
 
FROM THE 
 
 AUTHOR'S EPISTLE TO THE READER. 
 
 Candid Reader — The following discourse comes to thy hand 
 in the native plainness in which it was preached. I was con- 
 scientiously unwilling to alter it, because I found by experi- 
 ence the Lord had blessed and prospered it in that dress, far 
 beyond any other composures on which I had bestowed more 
 pains. Let it not be censured as vanity or ostentation, that I 
 here acknowledge the goodness of God in leading me to, and 
 blessing my poor labors on this subject. Who and what am I, 
 that I should be continued and again employed in the Lord's 
 harvest, and that with success and encouragement, when so 
 many of my brethren, with much richer gifts and graces, have 
 in my time been called out of the vineyard, and are now silent 
 in the grave. It is true, they enjoy what I do not; and it is as 
 true, I am capable of doing some service for God which they 
 are not. In preaching these sermons, I had many occasions to 
 reflect upon the sense of that scripture, " The ploughman shall 
 overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth 
 seed." Amos 9:13. Sowing and reaping times trod so close 
 upon each other, that, in all humility I speak it to the praise of 
 God, it was the busiest and most blessed time I ever saw since I 
 first preached the gospel. 
 
 We have now a day of special mercy : there is a wide door 
 of religious opportunity opened to us. that it may prove an 
 effectual door. It is wonderful, that after all our sinful provoca- 
 tions this sweet voice is still heard, " Behold, I stand at the door 
 and knock." Our mercies and liberties are obtained for us by 
 our potent Advocate in the heavens : if we bring forth fruit, well; 
 if not, the axe lieth at the root of the tree. Let us not feel 
 secure. Jerusalem was the city of the great King; the seat of 
 
8 EPISTLE TO THE READER. 
 
 his worship and the symbols of his presence were fixed there ; it 
 was the joy of the whole earth, the house of prayer for all na- 
 tions ; thither the tribes went up to worship, the tribes of the 
 Lord unto the testimony of Israel. For there were set thrones 
 of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Psa. 122 : 4, 5. 
 These privileges she enjoyed through the succession of many 
 ages, and she had remained the glory of all nations to this day, 
 had she known and improved in that day the things that belong- 
 ed to her peace ; but her people neglected their season, rejected 
 their mercies, and miserably perished in their sins : for there ever 
 was and will be found to be an inseparable connection betv/een 
 the final rejection of Christ, and the destruction of the rejecters, 
 Matt. 22 : 5-7, the contemplation of which drew compassionate 
 tears from the Redeemer's eyes, when he beheld it in his descent 
 from the mount of Olives. Luke 19 : 41, 42. 
 
 As to this treatise, thou wilt find it a persuasive to open thy 
 heart to Christ. Thy soul, reader, is a magnificent structure 
 built by Christ ; such stately rooms as thy understanding, will, 
 conscience, and afiections, are too good for any other to inhabit. 
 If thou art in thy unregenerate state, he solemnly demands in 
 this treatise admission into the soul he made, by the consent of 
 the will ; which, if thou refuse to give him, then witness is taken 
 that Christ once more demanded entrance into thy soul, which 
 he made, and was denied it. If thou hast opened thy heart to 
 him, thou wilt, I hope, meet somewhat in this treatise that will 
 clear thy evidences and cheer thy heart. Pray, read, ponder, 
 and apply. I am 
 
 Thine and the church's servant, 
 
 JOHN FLAVEL. 
 
^^ or THE ^ 
 
 versity; 
 
 CHRIST 
 KNOCKING AT THE DOOE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE OEFERS OF MERCY RECORDED AND WIT- 
 NESSED EOR THE JUDGMENT-DAY. 
 
 ''BEHOLD, I STA^^D AT THE DOOR AND. KNOCK: IF ANY MAN 
 HEAR MY VOICE, AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN TO HIM, 
 AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME." Rev. 3 : 20. 
 
 This day hath our compassionate Redeemer opened unto 
 us a door of Hberty — Hberty to us to preach, and Uberty for 
 you to hear the glad tidings of the gospel. This is a day 
 few looked for ; how often have I said in the years that are 
 past, God hath no more work for me to do, and I shall have 
 no more strength and opportunities to work for God. And 
 how often have you said in your hearts, we have sinned our 
 ministers out of their pulpits, and our eyes shall no more 
 behold these our teachers. But lo, beyond the thoughts oi 
 most hearts, a wide and, I hope, an efiectual door is now 
 opened in the midst of us. that it may be to us as the 
 valley of Achor was to Israel, "for a door of hope," Hosea 
 2 : 15 ; not only making the troubles they met with in that 
 valley an inlet to their mercies, as ours have been to us, but 
 giving them that valley as a pledge of greater mercies intend 
 ed for them. Upon the first appearance of this mercy, my 
 thoughts were how to make the most fruitful improvement 
 of it among you, lest we should sin ourselves back again into 
 bondage. 
 
 1* 
 
10 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 In the contemplation of this matter, the Lord directed 
 me to this scripture, wherein the same hand that opened to 
 you the door of liberty, knocks importunately at the doors of 
 your hearts for entrance into them, and for union and com- 
 munion with them. It will be sad indeed if he who hath 
 let you into all these mercies, should himself be shut out of 
 your hearts ; but if the Lord help you to open your hearts 
 now to Christ, I doubt not this door of liberty will be kept 
 open to you, how many soever the adversaries be that will 
 do their utmost to shut it up. Ezek. 39 : 29. The mercies 
 you enjoy this day are the fruits of Christ's intercession with 
 the Father for one trial more : if we bring forth fruit, well ; 
 if not, the axe lieth at the root of the tree. Under this con- 
 sideration I desire to speak, and even so the Lord help you 
 to hear what shall be spoken from, this precious scripture, 
 •* Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man 
 
 HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL COJIE IN TO HIM, 
 AND \\TLL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME." 
 
 These words are a branch of that excellent epistle dicta- 
 ted by Christ, and sent by his servant John to the church of 
 Laodicea, the most formal and degenerate of all the seven 
 churches; yet the great Physician will try his skill upon 
 them, both by the rebukes of the rod and by the persua- 
 sive power of the word, "Behold, I stand at the door and 
 knock," etc. 
 
 This text is Christ's wooing voice, full of heavenly rhet- 
 oric to win and gain the hearts of sinners to himself; wherein 
 we have these two general parts. 
 
 1. Christ's suit for a sinner's heart. 
 
 2. The powerful arguments enforcing his suit. 
 
 1. Christ's suit for a sinner's heart, in which is, (1,) 
 the solemn preface, ushering it in, " Belwldy The preface 
 is exceedingly solemn ; for besides the common use of this 
 word beliold in other places, to excite attention or put 
 weight into an affirmation, it stands here, as a judicious 
 
OFFERS OF MERCY. 11 
 
 expositor says, as a term of notification or public record, 
 •wherein Christ takes witnesses of the most g^racious ofler he 
 was now about to make to their souls, and will have it stand 
 for a perpetual memorial of this offer, as a testimony for or 
 against their souls to all eternity, to cut off all excuses and 
 pretences for time to come. 
 
 (2.) The suitor, Christ himself, " /stand ;" I who have 
 a right of sovereignty over you ; I who have shed my iii val- 
 uable blood to purchase you, and might justly condemn you 
 upon the first denial or demur, "behold, I stand:" this is 
 the suitor. 
 
 (3.) His posture and. action, "I stand at the door and 
 knock :" the word is fitly translated, "I stand," yet so as that 
 it notes a continual action. I have stood, and do still stand 
 with unwearied patience ; I once stood personally and bodily 
 among you in the days of my flesh, and I still stand spirit 
 ually and representatively in my ambassadors at the door, 
 that is, the mind and conscience, the faculties and powers 
 which are introductory to the whole soul. 
 
 The word " door " is here properly put to signify those 
 introductory faculties of the soul, which are of Hke use to it, 
 as the door is to the house. This is the Redeemer's posture, 
 his action is knocking, that is, his powerful and gracious 
 attempts to open the heart to give him admission. The 
 word "knock" signifies a strong and powerful knock; he 
 stands patiently, and knocks powerfully by the word out- 
 wardly, by the convictions, motions, impulses, and strivings 
 of his Spirit inwardly. 
 
 (4.) The design and end of the suit; it is for " open- 
 ing" to him, that is, consenting, receiving, and heartily 
 accepting him by faith. The Lord opened the heart of 
 Lydia, Acts 16 : 14 ; that is, persuaded her soul to beUeve ; 
 implying that the heart by nature is strongly barred and 
 locked up against Christ, and that nothing but a power from 
 him can open it. 
 
13 CHEIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 2. The 'powerful arguments and motives used by Christ 
 to obtain his suit in the sinner's heart ; and they are drawn 
 from two inestimable benefits which accrue to the opening 
 or believing soul. 
 
 (1.) Union: "I will come in to him;" that is, I will 
 unite myself with the opening, behoving soul; he shall be 
 mystically one with me, and I with him. 
 
 (2.) Communion: " I will sup with him, and he with 
 me ;" that is, I will feast the believing soul with the delica- 
 cies of heaven ; such comforts, joys, and pleasures as none 
 but believers are capable of. 
 
 And, to set home all, these special benefits are proposed 
 by Christ to all sorts of sinners, great and small, old and 
 young : " If any man hear my voice, and open the door :" 
 thait so no soul might be discouraged from believing by the 
 greatness or multitude of liis sins, but the vilest of sinners 
 may see free grace triumphing over all their unworthiness, 
 on their consent to take Christ according to the gracious 
 ofiers of the gospel. 
 
 The words thus opened afibrd many great and useful 
 points of doctrine, comprehending in them the very substance 
 of the gospel. The first which arises from the solemn and 
 remarkable preface, " Behold," will be this: 
 
 That every offer of Christ to the souls of sinners is 
 recorded and witnessed vrith respect to the day of account 
 and reckoning. 
 
 Here we shall inquire into three things : Who are God's 
 witnesses to all the ofl!ers of the gospel ; what they witness 
 to ; and why God records every ofl^er of Christ, and takes a 
 witness thereof 
 
 I. Who are God's witnesses to all the tenders and 
 ofiers made of Christ by the gospel ? and they will be found 
 to be more than a strict legal number ; for, 
 
 1. His ministers, by whom he makes them, are all wit^ 
 
OFFERS OF MERCY. 13 
 
 nesses as well as officers of Christ to the people. "I have 
 appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister 
 and a witness." Acts 26 : 16. Here you see ministers have 
 a double office, to propose and offer Christ, and then to bear 
 witness for or against those to whom he is thus offered ; they 
 are expressly called God's witnesses. Rev. 11 : 7. Their 
 labors witness, their sufferings witness, their solemn appeals, 
 to God witness, yea, the very dust of their feet shaken off 
 against the refusers of Christ, turns to a testimony against 
 them. Mark 6 : 11. Every sigh, every drop of sweat, 
 much more of blood, are placed in God's book along with all 
 their sermons and prayers, and will be produced and read in 
 the great day against all the refusers and despisers of Christ. 
 
 2. The gosjjel itself, which is preached to you, is a tes- 
 timony or witness for God against every one who rejects it. 
 " He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath 
 one that judgeth him ; the word that I have spoken, the 
 same shall judge him in the last day." John 12 : 48. And 
 this is the sense of Christ's word. Matt. 24 : 14, '* And this 
 gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, 
 for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end 
 come." Ah, what a solemn record is here ; every sermon 
 you hear, yea, every reproof, persuasion, and conviction is a 
 witness for God to condemn every soul in judgment that 
 complies not immediately with the calls of the gospel : so 
 many sermons, so many witnesses, 
 
 3. Every man's co?tscience is a witness for God, that 
 he has a fair offer made him ; the very consciences of the 
 heathen who never saw a Bible, who had no other preachers 
 but the sun, moon, and stars and other works of nature ; 
 yet of them the apostle says, that they " show the work of 
 the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bear- 
 ing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing 
 or else excusing one another." Rom. 2 : 15. Certainly if 
 such vigor and activity was put into the consciences of 
 
14 CHRIST KNOCKINCr AT THE DOOR. 
 
 heathen, who could only read the will of God by the dim 
 moonlight of natural reason, how much more vigorous and 
 active will conscience be in its accusing office against all 
 who live under the bright beams of gospel light. Their 
 consciences will be swift witnesses, and will ring sad peals 
 in their ears another day. They " shall know that there 
 hath been a prophet among them." Ezek. 2 : 5. This 
 single witness is instead of a thousand other witnesses for 
 God. 
 
 4. The examples of all tvlio believe a7id obey the gospel, 
 are so many witnesses for God against the despisers and neg- 
 lecters of the great salvation. Every mourning, trembling 
 soul among you is a witness against all the dead-hearted, un- 
 believing, disobedient ones that sit with them under the same 
 ordinances. Hence it is said, " Do ye not know that the saints 
 shall judge the world ?" 1 Cor. 6 : 2. They shall be asses- 
 sors with Christ in the great day, and condemn the world by 
 their examples, as Noah did the old world. Thus, "John 
 came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed 
 him not : but the publicans and the harlots believed him ; 
 and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that 
 ye might believe him." Matt. 21 : 32. As if he had said. 
 What shift do you make to quiet your consciences and stifle 
 your convictions, when you see publicans, the worst of men, 
 and harlots, the worst of women, repenting, believing, and 
 hungering after Christ ; their examples shall be your judges. 
 These are God's witnesses. 
 
 II. Next let us consider what is the object matter 
 unto which they give their testimony, and that will be found 
 twofold, according to the twofold effect the gospel has upon 
 them who hear it : of both which the apostle gives this ac- 
 count, " To the one we are the savor of death unto death ; 
 and to the other the savor of life unto life." 2 Cor. 2 : 16. 
 ^Accordingly a double record is made. 
 
 1 . Of the obedience and faith of some, which record 
 
OFFERS OF MERCY. 15 
 
 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 testi- 
 mony among you was believed) in that day." 2 Thess. 
 1 : 10. Ministers are instruments of espousing souls to 
 Christ, and witnesses to those espousals between him and 
 them. 2 Cor. 11 : 2. Both these offices are exceedingly 
 grateful and pleasant to every faithful minister. 
 
 2. A record is made, and witness taken of all the re- 
 fusals, disohcdience, aful slightings of Christ by others. 
 Thus Moses will be the accuser of the Jews. " Do not think 
 that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that 
 accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." John 5 : 45. 
 This is the saddest part of a minister's work ; the fore- 
 thoughts of it are more afflictive than all our labors and 
 sufferings. There is a threefold record made in this case. 
 
 (1.) Of the time men have enjoyed under the means of 
 salvation, how many years they have sat barren and cold- 
 hearted under the labors of God's faithful ministers. " Be- 
 hold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, 
 and find none." Luke 13 : 7. "Behold," the same term 
 of notification with that in the text, applied to the time of 
 God's patience towards them. And again, "From the 
 thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, 
 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 heark- 
 ened." Jer. 25 : 3. consider, all the years and days you 
 have spent under the gospel are upon your doomsday-book. 
 
 (2.) Records are also made of all the instruments God 
 has employed for the conversion and salvation of your souls. 
 So many ministers, whether fixed or transient, as have spent 
 their labors upon you, are upon the book of your account. 
 " The Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, 
 rising early and sending them ; but ye have Hot hearkened 
 
16 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 nor inclined your ear to hear." Jer. 25 : 4. They have 
 wasted their health, dropped their compassionate tears, and 
 burnt down one after another like candles, to direct you to 
 Christ and salvation, but all in vain. 
 
 (3.) Every call, persuasion, and argument used by them 
 to espouse you to Christ, is likewise upon the book of account. 
 " Because I have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched 
 out my hand, and no man regarded ; but ye have set at 
 naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof" 
 Prov. 1 : 24, 25. 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. 
 
 III. We shall inquire into the grounds and reasons of 
 these judicial procedures of God : why he vvdll have every 
 man's obedience and disobedience registered and witnessed 
 for or against him, under gospel administrations ; and there 
 are two weighty reasons thereof 
 
 1. That wherever the end of the gospel is attained in 
 the conversion of a soul, that soul, and all who were i^istru- 
 9nentally employed about the salvation of it, may have the 
 pi'oper reward and comfort in the great day. " As also 
 ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, 
 even as ye also are "ours in the day of the Lord Jesus." 2 
 Cor. 1 : 14. 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. the joyful congratula- 
 tions of that day between laborious, faithful ministers, and 
 their believing, obedient hearers. " Lord, this was the bless- 
 ed instrument of my happy illumination and conversion ; 
 though I might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet 
 not many fathers ; for by the blessing of thy Spirit on this 
 man's ministry, my soul was begotten to Christ." And, on 
 the other side, " Lord, these are the souls for whom I trav- 
 ailed, as in birth, until Christ was formed in them." It is 
 a glorious thing to say, as the prophet, " Here am I, and the 
 
OFFERS OF MERCY. 17 
 
 children God hath given me." Nay, those who were but 
 collaterally useful to help on the work of God begun by 
 others, must not lose their reward in that day. *• And he 
 that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto Hfe 
 eternal, that both he that spweth and he that reapeth may 
 rejoice together." John 4 : 36. 
 
 2. Records are now made, and witness taken, tlmt there- 
 by the judicial sentence of Jesus Christ in the last day 
 may be made clear to all the world ; that every mouth may 
 be stopped, and no plea left in the mouth of any condemned 
 sinner. For Christ in that day cometh "to convince all that 
 are ungodly," Jude 15 ; to convince by demonstration, that 
 all that are Christless now may be found speechless then. 
 Matt. 22 : 12. Hence it is said, "The ungodly shall not 
 stand in the judgment." Psalm 1:5. And no wonder, 
 when so many full testimonies and unexceptionable wit- 
 nesses shall come point blank against them : the ministers 
 that preached, the word they preached, their own conscien- 
 ces, and the example of all believers will be produced against 
 them. 
 
 Inference 1. The undoubted certainty of a day of 
 judgment is hence evinced. To what purpose else are 
 records made, and witness taken, but with respect to an 
 audit-day ? This is a truth sealed on the conscience of the 
 very heathen ; their consciences bear witness. Rom. 2:15. 
 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, " The judgment was set, and the books were 
 opened." Daniel 7:10. And again, "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 book, according to their works." Rev 
 20 : 12. 
 
 Believe it, friends, these are no cunningly devised fables, 
 
18 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 but awful and infallible truths. If the gospel now produces 
 saving cfTects, it will then be a time of refreshing to our 
 Bouls, Acts 3:19; but to all who reject it, it will be a day 
 of terror, \NTath, and amazement. It will be the day in 
 which the Lord Jesus 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 of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8. 
 
 2. Wliat a motive is here to ministerial diligence and 
 faithfulness. It is an awful work that is under our hands ; 
 the effects of the gospel which we preach will be the savor 
 of life or death to them that hear us. If the Lord prosper 
 it in our hands, we shall be witnesses for you ; it will be an 
 addition to our glory in heaven. " They that be wise, shall 
 shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn 
 many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." 
 Dan. 12 : 3. But if we are ignorant, lazy, or men-pleasers, 
 our people will come in as swift witnesses against us, and 
 their blood will be required at our hands ; it will be an intol- 
 erable aggravation to our misery in hell, to have any that 
 sat under our ministry thus upbraiding us : "0 cruel man, 
 thou sawest my soul in danger, and never didst deal faith- 
 fully and plainly with me ; the time and breath that was 
 spent in idle and worldly discourse, might have been instru- 
 mental to save me from this place of torment." Let minis- 
 ters consider themselves as witnesses for God, and their 
 people as witnesses for or against them; and under that 
 consideration, let them so study, preach, and pray, that they 
 may with Paul take God to record that they are free from 
 the blood of all men : no men on earth have more motives to 
 diligence and faithfulness than we have. 
 
 3. Wliat an argument is this to banish formality from 
 all who hear us. Every Sabbath, every sermon, is recorded 
 in heaven for or against your souls : in what way soever 
 you attend to the word, all that you hear is set down in the 
 
OFFERS OF MERCY. 19 
 
 book of your account ; think not you shall return as you 
 came ; the word will have its effect ; it shall not return in 
 vain, but shall accompUsh the end for which it is sent. Lsa. 
 55 : 11. The decrees of heaven are executed by the gospel ; 
 some souls shall be quickened, and others shall be slain by 
 the word of God's mouth. The gospel is a river of the 
 water of life, which quickens and refreshes every thing that 
 lives ; but the miry and marshy places shall not be healed. 
 Ezek. 47: 11. How weighty, therefore, is that caution of 
 our Lord, "Take heed how ye hear." Luke 8 : 18. When 
 you come under an ordinance, you are sowing seed for eternity, 
 which will spring up in the world to come. Preaching and 
 hearing may be considered two ways, physically and moral- 
 ly ; in the former respect, these acts are quicldy over and pass 
 away. I shall by and by have done preaching, and you 
 hearing ; but the consequences thereof will abide for ever. 
 Therefore, for the Lord's sake, away with formaUty ; no 
 more drowsy eyes or wandermg thoughts. Oh, when you 
 come to attend upon the ministry of the gospel, that such 
 thoughts as these may prepare your minds : The word I am 
 goiflg to hear will quicken or kiU, save or condemn my soul ; 
 if I sit dead under it, and return barren from it, I shall wish 
 one day that I had never seen the face nor heard the voice 
 of the minister who preached it. 
 
 4. What a dreadful condition are all those in who 
 arc enemies to the gospel and those who preach it : who, 
 instead of embracing and obeying the message of the gospel, 
 reject and despise it ; instead of opening their hearts to re- 
 ceive it, open their blasphemous mouths to deride it, and 
 hiss it, if it were possible, out of the world. Ah. *vhat a 
 book of remembrance is written for such men. I fear that 
 never, since Christianity blessed this nation, was there an 
 age more deeply drenched in the guilt of tliis sin than the 
 present. How ate the messengers of the gospel slighted and 
 rejected I What have we done to deserve it ? Is not our 
 
20 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 case this day much like that of the prophet ? " Shall evil 
 be recompensed for good ? for they have digged a pit for my 
 soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for 
 them, and to turn away thy wrath from them." Jer. 18 : 20. 
 What brutish madness hath possessed the souls of these 
 mien ! But alas, it is not so much they, as Satan acting in 
 them ; he is a jealous prince, the gospel alarms him, his sub- 
 jects are in danger of revolting from him : no wonder, there- 
 fore, he makes an outcry at the preaching of the gospel, as is 
 usually made when an enemy invades a kingdom. In this 
 case Christ directs his ministers to shake off the dust of their 
 feet for a testimony against them. Mark 6:11. The mean- 
 ing of which is this, that as you shake off the dust of your 
 feet, even so Jesus Christ will shake off those men who de- 
 spise the gospel and abuse his messengers. 
 
 5. Hence it likevnse follows, tliat the case of the hea- 
 then world udll be easier in the day of judgment, than 
 theirs who live and die unregenerate and disobedient under 
 the gospel of Christ. There are more witnesses prepared, 
 and records filed against the day of your account, than can 
 possibly be against them : they have abused but one talent, 
 the light of nature ; but we thousands, even as many as we 
 have had opportunities and calls under the gospel. Upon 
 this account Christ saith, " Whosoever shall not receive you, 
 nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or 
 city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily, I say unto you, 
 it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Go- 
 morrah, in the day of judgment, than for that city." Matt 
 10:14, 15. 
 
 Ah, what a fearful aggravation does it put on our sin 
 and misery, that we are not only accountable for all the 
 hght we had, but for all that we might have had in the 
 gospel-day. Capernaum was lifted up to heaven in the en- 
 joyment of means and precious opportunitidfe, Matt. 11 : 23; 
 and had an answerable downfall into the depth of misery 
 
OFFERS OF MEECY. 21 
 
 from that height of mercy ; as the higher any one is lifted 
 up upon a rack, the more terrible is the injury he receives 
 by the fall. 
 
 6. We may also infer, tliat the day of judgment 
 must take up a vast space of time. God will bring every 
 thing into judgment, Eccl. 12 : 14 : not only sinful actions, 
 but vi'ords, Matt. 12 : 36 ; not only words, but heart- secrets. 
 E-om. 2 : IG. If all the records and registers now made 
 shall then be opened and read, all the witnesses for or 
 against every man examined and heard, judge then what a 
 vast space of time will that great day take up. This is 
 sure, things will not be huddled up, nor shuffled over in 
 haste ; you have taken your time for sinning, and God will 
 take his time for judging. 
 
 Consider the multitudes, multitudes without number, 
 who are to be judged in that day, even all the posterity of 
 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 kno-yvledge of men; their consciences 
 to be interrogated, and all other witnesses fully heard : how 
 great a day must this day of the Lord be. 
 
 But the main use of this point will be for exhortation. 
 that seeing all the offers of Christ are recorded and wit 
 nessed, with respect to a day of account, every one of you 
 would immediately embrace the present gracious tender of 
 Clirist in the gospel, as you hope to be acquitted in that 
 great day : take heed of denials, nay, even of delays ; "for 
 if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every trans- 
 gression and disobedience received a just recompense of re- 
 ward : how shall we escape if we neglect so great salva- 
 tion?" Hob. 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 shaP 
 
22 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 present you with ten weighty considerations, which may the 
 Lord follow home, by the blessing of liis Spirit on all your 
 hearts. 
 
 7. Consider how invaliuible a mercy it is tliat you are 
 yet iciihin the reach of offered grace. The mercies set 
 before you this day, were never set before the angels who 
 fell ; no Mediator was ever appointed for them. aston- 
 ishing mercy ! that those vessels of gold should be cast into 
 everlasting fire, and that such clay vessels as we are, should 
 be thus put into a capacity of greater happiness than ever 
 they fell from; nay, the mercy offered to you is not only de- 
 nied to the angels that fell, but to the greatest part of your 
 fellow-creatures of the same rank and dignity with you : ' 
 ** He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judg- 
 ments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation : 
 and as for liis judgments, they have not known them. Praise 
 ye the Lord." Psalm 147 : 19, 20. A mercy deservedly 
 celebrated with a joyful Alleluia. What vast tracts are 
 there in the world where the name of Christ is unknown ; 
 it IS your special mercy to be born in a land of Bibles and 
 ministers, where it is as difficult for you to avoid the light, 
 as it is for others to behold and enjoy it. 
 
 8. Consider the nature^ weight, and worth of the mer- 
 cies which are this day freely offered you. Certainly they 
 are mercies of the first rank, the most precious and neces- 
 sary among all the mercies of God. Christ the first-born of 
 mercies, and in him pardon, peace, and eternal salvation are 
 Bet before you : it would be surprising to see a starving man 
 refuse ofiered bread, or a condemned man a gracious pardon. 
 Lord, what a compound of sloth and stupidity^re wc, that 
 we should need so many entreaties to be happy. 
 
 9. Consider wlw 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 wratlj 
 
OFFERS OF MERCY. 23 
 
 you have justly incensed. His patience groans under tho 
 burden of your daily provocations : he loses nothing if you 
 are lost, and receives no benefit if you are saved ; yet the 
 first motions of mercy and salvation to you freely arise out 
 of his grace and good pleasure. God entreats you to be 
 reconciled. 2 Cor. 5 : 20. The blessed Lord Jesus, vv^hoso 
 blood thy sins have shed, now freely offers that blood for thy 
 reconciliation, justification, and salvation, if thou wilt but 
 sincerely accept him ere it be too late. 
 
 10. Reflect seriously upon your own vileness, to whom 
 such gracious offers of peace and mercy are made. Thy 
 suis have set thee at as great a distance from the hope of 
 pardon, as any sinner in the world. Consider, man, what 
 thou hast been, what thou hast done, and what vast heaps 
 of guilt thou hast -contracted "by a life of sin ; and yet, that 
 unto thee pardon and peace should be offered in Christ after 
 such a hfe of rebellion, how astonishing is the mercy. The 
 Lord is ready to pass by all thy former rebellions, thy deep- 
 dyed transgressions, and to sign an act of obhvion for all that 
 is past, if now at last thy heart relents for sin, and thy will 
 bows in obedience tq the great commands and calls of the 
 gospel. Isa. 55 : 2 ; 1:18. 
 
 11. Consider how m/iny offers of mercy you have 
 already refused, and tJiat every refusal is recorded against 
 you; how long you have tried, and even tired the patience 
 of God already, and that this may be tho last overture of 
 grace that ever God wdll make to your soul. Certainly 
 there is an offer that will be the last offer, a striving of the 
 Spirit which will be his last striving ; and after that, no 
 more offers without you, no more motions or strivings wdthin 
 you for evermore. The treaty is then ended, and your last 
 neglect or rejection of Christ recorded against the day of 
 your account ; and what if this should prove to be that last 
 tender of grace which must conclude the treaty between 
 Clirist and you ? what an undone wretch must you then be, 
 
24 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOil. 
 
 with whom so gracious a treaty breaks off upon such dread- 
 ful terms. 
 
 12. Consider well' the reasonable and gracious nature 
 of the gospel-terms on which life and pardon are offered 
 to you. Acts 20 : 21. The gospel requires of you repent- 
 ance and faith. Can you think it hard when a prince par- 
 dons a rebel, to require him to fall on his knees, and stretch 
 forth a willing and thanldul 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 repa- 
 ration of the injured law by your doings or sufierings ; but a 
 hearty sorrow for sins committed, sincere purposes and en- 
 deavors after new obedience, and a hearty, thankful accept- 
 ance of Christ your Saviour; and for your encouragement 
 herein, his Spirit stands ready to work in you all that you 
 need. "Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out 
 my Spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto 
 you." Prov. 1 : 23. " Thou also hast wrought all our 
 works in us." Isa. 26 : 12. 
 
 13. Consider hoiv your way to Christ, by repentance 
 and faith, Jias been travelled before you by thousands of sin- 
 nersfor your encourageme7it. You are not the first that ever 
 ventured his soul in this path ; multitudes have gone before 
 you, and that under as much guilt, fear, and discouragement 
 as you can pretend to ; and not a man among them was re- 
 pulsed or discouraged : here they have found rest and peace 
 to their weary souls. Heb. 4:3; Acts 13 : 39. Here the 
 greatest sinners have been set forth for an ensample to you 
 that should afterwards believe on his name. 1 Tim. 1:16. 
 You see, if you will not, others will joyfully accept the offers 
 of Christ. "What discouragements have you that they had not ; 
 or what greater encouragements had they which God has not 
 given you this day ? therefore they shall be your judges. 
 
 14. Consider the great hazard of the precious seasons 
 you noio enjoy. Opportunity is the golden spot of time, but 
 
OFFERS OF MERCY. 25 
 
 it is a veiy slijjpery and uncertain thing : great and manifold 
 are the hazards attending it. Your Hfe is uncertain, your 
 breath continually going in your nostrils ; and that which is 
 every moment going, will be gone at last. The gospel is as 
 uncertain as your life ; God hath made no such settlement 
 of it, but that he may at pleasure remove it, and will cer- 
 tamly do so if we thus trifle under it : it is but a candlestick, 
 though a golden one, Rev. 2 : 5, and that you all know is 
 a movable thing. Not only your hfe, and the means of your 
 eternal life, I mean the gospel, are uncertain ; but even the 
 motions and strivings of the Spirit with your soul are as un- 
 certain as either. " Work out your own salvation with fear 
 and trembling ; for it is God which worketh in you both to 
 will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2 : 12, 13. That 
 God now works with you is matter of great encouragement 
 to your work ; but that he works at his own pleasure, as a 
 free agent who can cease when he pleases and never give 
 one knock at your heart more, should make you work with 
 fear and trembling. 
 
 15. Think wliat a fearful aggravation it vdll be both 
 of your sin and Tnisery, to x>erish in the sight of an offered 
 remedy ; to sink into hell between the outstretched arms of 
 a compassionate Redeemer, that would have gathered you, 
 but you would not. Heathens, yea, devils will upbraid you 
 in hell for such unaccountable folly and desperate madness ; 
 heathens will say, "Alas, we had but the dim light of na- 
 ture, which did indeed discover sin, but not Christ the rem- 
 edy. Ah, had your preachers and your Bibles been sent 
 among us, how gladly would we have embraced them." 
 God said to Ezekiel, " Surely, had I sent thee to them, they 
 would have hearkened unto thee." Ezek. 3 : 6. See also 
 Matt. 11 : 21. The very devils will upbraid you: " if 
 God had sent a Mediator in our nature, we would not have 
 rejected him as you have done ;" but " he took not on him 
 the nature of angels." 
 
 Chrict Knocktng. 2 
 
26 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 16. Hoiv just, as ^vell as sure, will your conilemruition 
 be in the great day, against ivhoni such a cloud of witnesses 
 taill ajp'pcar. how manifest will the righteousness of God 
 be ; men and angels shall applaud the sentence, and your 
 own consciences shall acknowledge the equity of it. You 
 that are Christless now, will be speechless then. Matt. 
 22 : 12. " Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, ^ve per- 
 suade men." 2 Cor. 5:11. I tremble to think of being 
 summoned as a witness against any of your souls. that 
 I may be your rejoicing, and you mine in the day of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. ** 
 
CHRIST IN HIS ORDINA^;^^^^^ ^'"^ 
 
 \v^ or THE 
 
 ^UNIVERSITY 
 
 CHAPTER n\^£j|Q3,^^ 
 
 THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN HIS 
 ORDINANCES. 
 
 " BEHOLD, I STAND AT TIIE DOOR AND KNOCK." Hev 3 : 20. 
 
 Having pondered Christ's solemn preface to his earnest 
 suit, the next thing which comes under our consideration, is 
 the person soliciti?ig and pleading for admission into the 
 hearts of sinners, which is Christ himself. 
 
 " Behold, / stand." The only difficulty here is rightly 
 to apprehend the manner of Christ's presence in gospel 
 administrations ; for it is manifest that the person of Christ 
 was at this time in heaven : his bodily presence was removed 
 from this lower world above sixty years before this epistle 
 was -v^Titten to the Laodiceans. John's banishment into 
 Patmos is, by Eusebius, out of Irenceus and Clemens Alex- 
 andrinus, placed in the fourteenth year of the reign of the 
 emperor Domitian, and under his second persecution, which 
 was about the ninety- seventh year from the birth of 
 Christ. 
 
 Yet here he saith, "Behold, I stand ;" not my messengers 
 and ministers only, but I by my spiritual presence among 
 you ; I your sovereign Lord, and owner, who have all right 
 and authority by creation and redemption to possess and 
 dispose of your souls ; it is I that stand at the door and 
 knock, I by my Spirit, soliciting and moving by the ministry 
 of men. You see none but men ; but believe it, I am really 
 and truly, though spiritually and invisibly, pr'esent in all 
 those administrations : all those knocks, motions, and solici- 
 tations, are truly mine ; they are my acts, and I own them, 
 and so I would have you to conceive and apprehend them. 
 Hence the second doctrine is this : 
 
28 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Jesus Christ is truly present with tnen in his ordi- 
 vunces, and hath to do with them, and they with him, 
 though he be not visible ta their carnal eyes. 
 
 Thus runs the promise : " Where two or three are gath- 
 ered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." 
 Matt. 18 : 20. The middle place in the Jewish assemblies, 
 was the seat of the president, where he might equally hear 
 and be heard of all. So, saith Jesus, will I be in the midst 
 of the assemblies of the faithful, met together in my name 
 and by my authority, to bless, guide, and protect them. 
 Hence the church is called the place of his feet, Isaiah 
 60 : 13 ; a manifest allusion to the ark, called God's foot- 
 stool. Psalm 99 : 5. And agreeably hereunto, Christ is said 
 to walk among the seven golden candlesticks. Rev. 2:1. 
 There are the spiritual walks of Christ ; there he converses 
 and communes with men. And this presence of Christ was 
 not the peculiar privilege of the first churches, but is com- 
 mon to all the churches of the saints to the end of the 
 world, as appears by that glorious promise so comfortably 
 extended to the church from first to last : *' Lo, I am with 
 you always, even to the end of the world." Matt. 28 : 20. 
 This promise is the ground of all our faith and expectation 
 of benefit from ordinances ; and the subjects of it are not 
 here considered personally, but ofiicially ; to you, and all 
 that succeed you in the same work and office ; not to you 
 only as extraordinary, but to all the succeeding ordinary 
 standing officers in my church. As for the apostles, neither 
 their life nor their extraordinary office was to continue 
 long, but this promise was to continue " to the end of the 
 world." 
 
 Nor is tHis promise made absolutely, but conditionally ; 
 tlio connection of the promise with the command enforces 
 this quahfied sense : "The Lord is with you, while ye be 
 with him." 2 Chron. 15:2. Ignorant, idle, unqualified 
 persons cannot claim the benefit of this gracious grant. 
 
CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 29 
 
 Once more, this promise is made to every hour and min 
 ute of time. I am with you " all the days," as it is in the 
 Greek text ; in dark and dangerous, as well as peaceable and 
 encouraging days : and it is closed with a 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. There is a corporeal prese^ice of Chi'ist, which the 
 church once enjoyed on earth, when he went in and out 
 among his people. Acts 1 : 21 ; when their eyes saw him, 
 and their hands handled him. 1 John, 1:1. This pres- 
 ence was a great consolation to the disciples, and therefore 
 they were much dejected when it was about to be removed 
 from them. But after his work was finished on earth, this 
 bodily presence was no longer necessary to be continued in 
 this world, but to be removed to heaven, John 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, " I leave the world, and go to the 
 Father." John 16 : 28. 
 
 2. There is a reiJresented presence of Christ in ordi- 
 nances. As the person of a king is represented in another 
 country by his ambassadors, so is Christ in this world by 
 his ministers : " We are ambassadors for Christ, as though 
 God did beseech you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead, 
 be ye reconciled to God." 2 Cor. 5 : 20. Christ is engaged 
 in other work for us in heaven, but we stand in his stead on 
 earth. And this shows the great dignity of the ministerial 
 office : whatever abuse or contempt is cast on ministers, it 
 reflects upon Christ : "He that despiseth you, despiseth me." 
 Luke 10 : 16. It also teaches us whence is the validity of 
 gospel administrations. 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 world. A drunlcard, a persecutor, a sensual world- 
 
30 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 ling, is but an ill representative of the blessed and holy 
 Jesus. 
 
 3. Besides these two, there is a spiritual 'presence of 
 Christ in the churches and ordinances ; and this presence of 
 Christ by his Spirit, who is his vicegerent or representative, 
 is to be considered as that from which all gospel ordinances 
 derive their beauty and glory, their power and efficacy, their 
 awful solemnity, and their continuance and stability. 
 
 (1.) From the presence of Christ by his Spirit, the ordi- 
 nances and churches derive their beauty a7id glory: "To 
 see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the 
 sanctuary." Psalm 63 : 2. 
 
 As the beauty of the body results from the soul which 
 animates it ; and when the soul is gone, the beauty of the 
 body is gone also ; so the beauty and glory of all ordinances 
 come and go with the Spirit of Christ, which is the very 
 soul of them. The churches are indeed golden candlesticks, 
 but the candlestick has no light but what the candle gives 
 it ; hence that magnificent description of the new temple is 
 closed up in this expression : " The name of the city from 
 that day shall be. The Lord is there." Ezek. 48 : 35. 
 
 (2.) From this spiritual presence of Christ, gospel-ordi- 
 nances derive all the power and ejfwacy 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 cooperates with them : " So then, neither is he that 
 planteth any thing, neither he that watereth ; but God that 
 giveth the increase." 1 Cor. 3 : 7. That is, they are noth- 
 ing to the accomplishment of men's salvation, without tlie 
 concurrence of the Spirit of Clirist. For when the apostle 
 makes himself and Apollos, with all other ministers, nothing, 
 we must understand him as speaking comparatively and rel- 
 atively ; they are necessary in their places, and sufficient in 
 
CHRIST IN HIS OEDINANCES. 31 
 
 their kind for what they are appointed to, else it would be 
 a reflection on the wisdom of God that instituted them : but 
 in themselves they are nothing ; as a trumpet or wind instru- 
 ment is nothing as to its use, except breath be inspired into 
 it, and that breath modulated by the skill of the inspircr ; 
 hke Ezekiel's wheels, that moved not but as the Spirit that 
 was in them moved and directed their motions. If ordi- 
 nances wrought upon souls naturally and necessarily, as the 
 fire burns, they could not fail of success on all that come 
 under them. But it is with them as with the waters of the 
 pool at Bethesda, whose healing virtue was only found at the 
 season when the angel descended and troubled them. 
 
 (3.) This spiritual presence of Christ gives the ordi- 
 nances of the gospel the 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 assembly of the saints, and to be 
 had in reverence of all them that are about him," Psalm 
 89 : 7 ; hence is that solemn caution or threatening, *'If ye 
 will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk 
 contrary unto me, then will I also walk contraiy unto you." 
 Lev. 2G : 23, 24. The Hebrew word signifies to walk rashly 
 with God, without considering with whom wd have to do, 
 and what an awful majesty we stand before. And the pun- 
 ishment is suitable to the sin : I also will walk at an adven- 
 ture with you, making no discrimination in my judgments 
 between your persons and the persons of the worst of men 
 that this were duly considered by all that have to do with 
 God in gospel-institutions. 
 
 (4.) it is the spiritual presence of Christ in his churches 
 and ordmances which gives them their continuance and 
 stability. Whenever 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 descended from between the 
 
32 CHRIST KNOCKINO AT THE DOOR. 
 
 cherubims, when that sad voice was heard in the temple. 
 *'Let us go hence," how soon were both city and temple 
 made a desolation ; and truly Christ's presence is not so 
 fixed to any place or ordinances, but the sins of the people 
 may banish it away. Rev. 2:5. Who will tarry in any 
 place longer than he is welcome, if he have anywhere else 
 to go? 
 
 But more particularly, let us here discuss these two 
 points : How it appears Christ is thus spiritually present with 
 his churches and ordinances ; and why it is necessary he 
 should be so. 
 
 I. By what evidence does it appear that there is such a 
 presence of Christ with his churches and ordinances ? And 
 this will appear by two undeniable evidences. 
 
 1. From their ivonderful preservation ; for it is wholly 
 inconceivable, how the churches, ministers, and ordinances 
 should be supported and preserved without it, amidst such 
 hosts of powerful and enraged enemies. If Christ were not 
 among them, they had certainly been swallowed up long ago. 
 It is he who holds the stars in his right hand. Rev. 2:1. 
 His walking among the seven golden candlesticlts is their 
 best security. The burning bush is a rare emblem to open 
 this mystery ; the bush burned with ihe, but was not con- 
 sumed. Exod. 3 : 3. The bush was a resemblance of the 
 church of God in Egypt, the flames upon it were their ter- 
 rible persecution ; the wonder, that no ashes appeared as the 
 efiects of those terrible flames ; the reason whereof was, God 
 was in the bush — Jesus Christ was in the midst of his 
 people. 
 
 By virtue of his presence we are here this day, in the 
 enjoyment of gospel liberty, no society of men in the world 
 have such security as the church has on this account. The 
 mightiest monarchies have been overturned, no policies nor 
 human power could preserve them ; but the church and 
 ordinances are still preserved, and shall ever be, by virtue of 
 
CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 33 
 
 that gracious promise, " For I am with thee, saith the Lord, 
 to save thee : though I make a full end of all nations 
 whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full 
 end of thee." Jer. 30 : 11. Babylonian, Persian, and Gre- 
 cian monarchies have destroyed and ruined one another, but 
 still the church of Christ lifts up its head, and beholds theij 
 nims. 
 
 2. This presence of Christ in and with his ordinances, is 
 undeniably evinced from their supernatural effects upon the 
 soids of men. ** The weapons of our warfare are not car- 
 nal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong 
 holds." 2 Cor. 10:4. The Spirit of Christ gives them 
 their success and efEcacy ; the sword of the gospel has its 
 point and edge, but it is impossible that the heart of a stupid, 
 hardened sinner should ever be wounded by it, if the Spirit 
 of Christ do not direct it. When sinners fall down convinced 
 under the authority of the word, they feel and readily ac 
 knowledge that God is m it of a truth. 1 Cor. 14 : 25 
 Ruffinus reports, that at the council of Nice, a godly man of 
 no great learning was the instrument of converting a learned 
 philosopher, whom the bishops, with all their arguments, 
 could not persuade ; of which the philosopher himself gave 
 this remarkable account: "While you reasoned with me," 
 said he, "against words I opposed words, and what was 
 spoken I overthrew by the art of speaking ; but when in- 
 stead of words power came out of the mouth of the speaker, 
 words could no longer withstand truth, nor man resist the 
 power of God." 
 
 And this, indeed, is the true and just account of all those 
 marvellous and gracious changes made on the souls of men 
 by the preaching of the gospel. Can the vanishing breath 
 of a dying man, think you, inspire spiritual and eternal life 
 into the souls of other men ? Can he search the conscience, 
 break the heart, and bow the will at this rate ? No, this is 
 the power and operation of Christ ; and of that presence, 
 
 2# 
 
34 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 says Mr. Burgess, we must say as Martha did to her Saviour- 
 concerning the death of her brother Lazarus, " Lord, if thou 
 hadst been here, my brother had not died." John 11 : 21. 
 So say I, if that presence and power of Christ were felt by 
 all, which has been certainly experienced by many, they 
 would not remain in the state of spiritual death as they do. 
 But though there are thousands under ordinances who never 
 felt this power of Christ upon them, yet, blessed be God, there 
 are also multitudes of witnesses and evidences of this truth, 
 that there is a real, spiritual, energetic presence of Christ 
 in his own appointments ; which was the first thing to be 
 evinced. 
 
 II. We inquire into the reasons, or the uses and 
 ENDS which make such a presence of Christ necessary. 
 And they are, 
 
 1 . To 2yres,crve and support his ministers and churches 
 amidst such hosts of powerful and enraged enemies. This 
 presence of Christ is as a wall of fire round about them. 
 The divine presence with Jeremiah was as a life-guard to 
 him against the rage of the princes and nobles of Israel : 
 "I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall; 
 and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail 
 against thee : for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver 
 thee, saith the Lord. And I will deliver thee out of the 
 hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand 
 of the terrible." Jer. 15 : 20, 21. 
 
 It was easier for the Roman army to scale the walls and 
 batter down the towers of Jerusalem, than for all the ene- 
 mies in that city to destroy the prophet of God, thus guarded 
 by the divine presence. Athanasius and Luther had the 
 power of the empire engaged against them, yet the presence 
 of Christ was their security. The witnesses could not be 
 elain till they had finished their testimony. Rev. 11 : 7. 
 To this presence alone the faithful witnesses of Christ owe 
 their marvellous preservation at this day; had not Christ 
 
CHIIIST IxX Ills OllDINANCES. 35 
 
 «iaid, *'Lo, I am with you," you had not said at this day, 
 " Behold, our niiiiisters are still with us." 
 
 2. The presence of Christ is necessary to assist his mi?i- 
 isfers in their work, for it is a work quite above their own 
 strength. It is well that we are workers together with God, 
 else we should soon faint under our labors. When Moses 
 objected, " I am not eloquent," the Lord told him, " I will be 
 with thy mouth." Exod. 4 : 10, 12. When God guides 
 the tongue, how powerful and persuasive must the language 
 be. When the apostles, ilUterate men, were sent out to 
 convert the M'orld, Christ promised to give them " a mouth 
 and wisdom," Luke 21 : 15 — a mouth to speak, and wisdom 
 to guide that mouth ; and then their words were demonstra- 
 tions; all their adversaries could not resist the spirit and 
 power by which they spoke. Empires and kingdoms full of 
 enemies received the gospel ; but the reason of this wonder- 
 ful success is given us : " They went forth and preached 
 everywhere, the Lord working with them." Mark 16 : 20. 
 It is sweet and prosperous working in fellowship with 
 Christ ; the Spirit of Christ gives a manifold assistance to 
 his ministers in their work ; it is he who directs their mind 
 in the choice of those subjects wherein they labor with such 
 puccess to their hearers. He dictates the matter, influences 
 their affections, guides their lips, and follows home their 
 doctrine with success. This is a special use and end of 
 Christ's presence with his ministers and ordinances. 
 
 3. The spiritual presence of Christ is necessary for the 
 Reparation and o]jeiii7ig of the people's heart to receive 
 and embrace the gospel to salvation. Not a heart will open 
 to receive Christ till the Spirit of Christ unlock it. Paul 
 and Timothy %vere extraordinarily called to preach the gos- 
 pel at Philippi, and there Lydia was converted. But how? 
 Not by their skill or eloquence, but by the Spirit's influence ; 
 che Lord opened the heart of Lydia. Acts 16 : 14. The 
 church could not Jdc increased -without conversion ; conver- 
 
36 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 sion could never be Avrought without Christ's influence and 
 spiritual presence. So that this presence is of absolute 
 necessity ; the church cannot subsist, nor the great ends of 
 ordmances be attained without it. 
 
 Inference 1. Is Christ really present in all gpspel ad- 
 ministrations ? how awfully solemn, then, is every part oj 
 gospel worship. "We have to do with Christ himself, and 
 not with men only, in gospel ordinances. Happy were it if, 
 under this consideration, all our people received the word we 
 preach as the Thessalonians did, not as the word of man 
 but as the word of God. 1 Thess. 2 : 13. Then it would 
 work eflectually in us as it did in them. But alas, we have 
 low apprehensions of the word ; we come to judge the gifts 
 of the speaker, not to have our minds informed, our con- 
 sciences searched, our lusts mortified, and our lives regu- 
 lated. But that men would reahze the presence of 
 Christ in ordinances, and seriously consider that word of his, 
 " All the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth 
 the reins and hearts ; and I will give unto every one of you 
 according to your works." Rev. 2 : 23. 
 
 How would this lead vain and wandering hearts to holy 
 seriousness. if men would consider that they are before 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, as Cornelius and his family did : 
 "Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear 
 all thmgs that are commanded thee of God," Acts 10 : 33 ; if 
 they would consider the word as the executioner of God's 
 eternal decrees, which returns not in vam, but accomplishes 
 that whereunto God sends it, Isa. 55 : 11, and eventually 
 proves the savor of life or death eternal to them who sit 
 under it, 2 Cor. 2:16; in a word, were it but considered 
 as the rule by which its hearers shaU be judged in the great 
 day, John 12 : 48, then how would men tremble at the 
 word. What mighty effects would it have on their hearts. 
 How would it run and be glorified. But alas, as Job speaks, 
 ' He gocth by me, and I sec him not : lie passcth on also, 
 
FI VERS II 
 
 CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCdiB. /> ^ .3'*" 
 
 but I perceive him not." Job 9:11. Few 
 spiritual presence of Christ in ordinances. 
 
 2. If Christ be really present with his churches and 
 ordinances, how vain are all attempts of enemies to subvert 
 a?td destroy them. That promise, Matt. 28 : 20, supposes 
 the continuance of a gospel and church-ministry to the end 
 of the world, else there would be a promise without a sub- 
 ject: as there ought to be a church, so there sliall be a 
 church with ministers and ordinances, let Satan and anti- 
 christ do their worst. I do not say this promise secures this 
 or that particular church or nation, for the presence of Christ 
 may cease to be realized in any one place ; but still, the 
 church is safe. And there are three things which secure it 
 against all hazards. 
 
 (1.) The irwalitahle treasures God has lodged in the 
 church, namely, his truths, his worship, and his elect ; such 
 a precious cargo secures the vessel which carries it, what- 
 ever storms or tempests may befall it. 
 
 (2.) The covenant and promise of God with the church 
 is its abundant security : " Upon this rock will I build my 
 church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
 Matt. 16 : 18. The faithfulness of God is pledged for his 
 people's security. If the church fail, his faithfulness must 
 fail with it. 
 
 (3.) But above all, the presence of Ch^-ist hi the midst 
 of the church, puts it out of all danger of failure. In that 
 ])romise, " Lo, I am with you always," are found all muni- 
 tions and fortifications whatsoever. Here we have his eye 
 of providence, his hand of power, and whatever else is need- 
 ful 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 account ? Provoke not the Lord Jesus to withdraw his 
 presence, and fear not the consultations and oppositions of 
 hell or earth. 
 
38 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 3. From this spiritual presence of Christ all his faithful 
 ministers should draiv encouragement, amidst the manifold 
 dificulties and discouragements they daily encou7iter in 
 his service. Christ is with them, and they work in fellow- 
 ship with him ; let them not be dismayed. The difficulties 
 and discouragements which the ministers of Christ meet 
 are great and manifold ; and the more faithful and success- 
 ful any of them are in their Master's work, the fiercer oppo- 
 sition they must expect. Besides all the discouragements 
 rising out of their own hearts, which are not a few, they 
 must encounter the opposition of enemies from abroad, and 
 the stubbornness of the hearts they work upon. Satan is a 
 jealous prince, and will raise all manner of outcries and 
 opposition against those heavenly heralds who come to pro- 
 claim a new prince in his dominions, and withdraw his mis- 
 erable subjects from their cursed allegiance to him. What 
 is it to preach the gospel, saith Luther, but to drive the fury 
 of the world upon the head of the preacher? But this 
 would be easily supportable, did our work but prosper upon 
 the hearts of our hearers. But this, alas, is the killing con- 
 sideration of all ; we know the worth of souls, and how great 
 a service it is to save them from death. James 5 : 20. "We 
 also know the terrors of the Lord, which excite our utmost 
 endeavors to persuade men. 2 Cor. 5:11. We feel the 
 compassions of Christ stirring within us, which makes us 
 long after their salvation. Phil. 1 : 8. We preach, we 
 pray, yea, we travail again, as it were, in birth until Christ 
 be formed in them. Gal. 4:19. And when we have done 
 all, we find their hearts as iron and brass. Jer. G : 28. 
 We mourn in secret when we cannot prevail, and often our 
 hands hang down with discouragement, and we are ready to 
 say with the prophet, " I will not make mention of him, nor 
 speak any more in his name." Jer. 20 : 9. But here is 
 our relief, under all discouragements : the work is Christ's, 
 tlie power is his, he is with us, and we are workers togethci 
 
CKE.1ST IN Ills ORDINANCES. 39 
 
 with him. There was a time when three thousand souls 
 were born to Christ during one sermon ; it may be now, three 
 tliousand sermons may be preached, and not one soul be con- 
 verted : yet, let us not be discouraged ; a time of eminent 
 conversion is promised, and to be expected in these latter days, 
 when the living waters of the gospel shall make every thing 
 to live whither they come, Ezek. 47 : 9 ; and when the 
 fishers, that is, the ministers of Christ, shall not fish with 
 hooks as they now do, taking now one, then another single 
 convert, but shall spread forth their nets, and inclose multi- 
 tudes at a draught — when they shall "fly as a cloud, and 
 as the doves to their windows." Isa. 60 : 8. God now 
 opens a door of opportunity beyond our expectation ; that 
 the hearts of ministers and people were suitably enlarged, 
 and the people made willing in the day of his power. 
 
 4. Hence, v/e also infer the great dignity of the ininis 
 tenal office, and the suitable respect due to all Christ's 
 faithful mi^tisters. The Lord Jesus himself is represented 
 by them, they stand in his stead, 2 Cor. 5 : 20 ; his author- 
 ity is put upon them : the honor and dishonor given them 
 redound to the person of Christ. The Galatians received 
 Paul as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Gal. 4 : 14. 
 Yet how have their persons and office been vilified and 
 despised in this degenerate age ; how many learned, pious, 
 laborious, peaceful ministers of Christ have, in this age, been 
 hunted up and down in the world as wild beasts, and been 
 made the filth and offscouring of all things. 1 Cor. 4:13. 
 The word signifies the filth which scavengers rake together 
 i|^the streets, to be carried to the dunghill. No doubt but 
 Satan designs in this to invalidate their ministry, discourage 
 their labors, and break their hearts ; but Jesus Christ will 
 support us under all these abuses, wipe off the dirt thrown 
 at us for his name's sake, and reserve some of us for better 
 days. 
 
 5. Is Christ present in his ordinances ? what a stro7ig 
 
40 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 engagement then lies upon you all to wait assiduously upon 
 the ministry of the word, and to bri^ig all tlmt are capable 
 to wait upon Christ with you. "We read in the days of 
 Christ's flesh, when he perfonned his miraculous cures upon 
 the sick, what thronging there was after him ; how parents 
 lirought their children, masters their servants, pressing in 
 multitudes, uncovering the house to let down their sick to 
 him. Luke 5:19; 12:1. Ah, shall men be so earuest 
 for a cure for their bodies, and so indifferent for their souls ? 
 It is true, the Spirit of Christ is not laid under any necessity 
 to* act always with the word : he acts as a free agent, " The 
 wind bloweth where it listeth," John 3:8; but it is encour- 
 agement enough to wait continually upon his ordinances, 
 that he sometimes graciously and effectually works with 
 them. It is good to lie in the path of the Spirit ; and there 
 is a blessing pronounced upon them who wait contmualiy at 
 his gates. Prov. 8 : 34. therefore neglect no opportunity 
 within your reach ; for who knows but it may be the season 
 of life to thy soul. 
 
 6. What an unspeakable loss is the loss of the gospel, 
 seeing the presence of Christ comes and goes with it. When 
 the gospel departs, the Spirit of Christ departs with it from 
 among men ; no more conversions, in God's ordinary way, 
 are then to be expected : well therefore might the Lord say, 
 " "Woe also to them when I depart from them." Hosea 
 9 : 12. The Spirit may, in some sense, depart, while the 
 ordinances are left standing for a time among the people ; 
 but we can then expect no benefit from them. But when 
 God takes away ordinances and the Spirit too, woe ind^d 
 to that people. Where then are the fruits answerable to our 
 precious means? The gospel is a golden lamp, and the 
 graces of the Spirit communicated by it are golden oil, as in 
 that stately vision, Zech. 4. Will God maintain such a 
 lamp, fed with such precious oil, for men to trifle and play 
 by? And no less ominous and portentous is that bitter 
 
CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 41 
 
 enmity to the gospel and the serious professors of it, which 
 IS too often found among us ; this great hatred brings on the 
 days of visitation and the days of recompense with a swift 
 and dreadful motion upon any people. Hosea 9:7. 
 
 7. If Christ be present by his Spirit and energy in his 
 ordinances, there is no reaso7i to dcs2)air of the conversion 
 and salvation of the greatest sinners that yet lie dead under 
 the gospel. What though their hearts be hard, their under- 
 standings dark, and their wills never so perverse and obsti- 
 nate ? all must give way, and open in the day of Christ's 
 power, when his Spirit joins himself with the word. This 
 makes it an irresistible word ; it is glorious to observe the 
 hearts of publicans and harlots opening and yielding to the 
 voice of Christ. Matt. 21:31. Who were those three 
 thousand persons, pricked to the heart by Peter's sermon. 
 Acts 2 : 36, but the very men that, with wicked hands, 
 had crucified the Lord Jesus ? And what were the con- 
 verted Corinthians but idolaters, turned from dumb idols, 
 whoremongers, adulterers, effeminate, and such like persons ? 
 1 Cor. 12 : 2 ; 6 : 11. God has his elect among the vilest of 
 men : the gospel will find them out, and draw them home 
 to Christ, when the Spirit animates and blesses it. Well 
 might the apostle therefore say, that the gospel preached 
 with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, is an object 
 worthy for angels to behold with admiration. 1 Pet. 1:12. 
 What though Satan has strongly fortified their souls against 
 Christ with ignorance, prejudice, and enmity, the weapons 
 of our warfare are mighty through God, to pull down these 
 strong ho^ds. Despair not therefore of your sinful and dead- 
 hearted relatives ; bring them to the gospel On the encour- 
 agement of these words of Christ, " The hour is coming, and 
 now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of 
 God ; and they that hear shall live." John 5 : 25. 
 
 8. Is Christ spiritually present in his ordinances ? 
 then wJiat an endeared affection should every gracious soul 
 
42 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 hear to the ordinances of God. They are the walks of 
 Christ and of his Spirit, the appointed times and places for 
 your meeting and communion with him ; there your souls 
 first met with Christ ; there you began your acquaintance 
 with him ; there you have had many sweet inter\dews with 
 him since that day ; they were the means oi 3-our regenera- 
 tion, 1 Pet. 1 : 23, the bread of Ufe by which your souls have 
 been sustained ever since, and therefore to be more esteemed 
 by you than your necessary food. Job 23 : 12. Here you 
 have found the richest cordials to revive your drooping 
 spirits, when ready to faint under sin within you and afflic- 
 tions upon you. Ko wonder David's soul even fainted for 
 the courts of God, Psalm 84 : 2, and that Hezekiah desired a 
 sign on liis sick-bed, that he should go up to the house of the 
 Lord. Isa. 38 : 22. Here are the choicest comforts of the 
 saints upon earth ;^ all our fresh springs are in Zion. Psalm 
 88 : 7. "What a dungeon, what a barren wilderness were 
 this world without them. Prize the ordinances, love the 
 ordinances, wait assiduously on the ordinances, and pray for 
 the Hberty and efficacy of the gospel, that it may continue 
 and increase in your days and in the days of your posterity. 
 
THE HEART CLOSED 43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE HEAUT BARRED AGAINST CHRIST 
 
 "BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK." Rbv. 3 : 20. 
 
 Having finished Christ's solemn preface, and shown the 
 manner of his presence in his churches and ordinances, I 
 now come to a third doctrine which is necessarily implied in 
 these words, " Behold, I stand at the door and knock ;" and 
 the sad truth therein implied is this : 
 
 The hearts oftiien are naturally locked, and fast barred 
 against Jesus Christ their only Saviour. 
 
 If it were not so, what need were there of all the pains 
 and patience exercised by Christ in waiting and knocking 
 importunately for entrance into the hearts of men? To 
 keep a clear method in this point, three things must he 
 stated in the doctrinal part : How it appears that the hearts 
 of men are thus shut up ; what are those locks and bars that 
 s^ut them up ; and that no power of man can remove these 
 bars. Let us consider, 
 
 I. How IT APPEARS that the hearts of men are thus shut 
 up. That all hearts are naturally shut and made fast 
 against Christ, is a sad but certain truth; we read, John 
 1 : 11, *' He came unto his own, and his own received him 
 not," He came unto his own people, from whose stock he 
 sprung — a people to whom he had been prefigured in all the 
 sacrifices and types of the law, and who might in him clearly 
 discern the accomplishment of them all. His doctrines and 
 his miracles plainly told them who he was, and whence he 
 came ; yet few discerned and received him as the Son of 
 God. Christ found the doors of men's hearts generally shut 
 against him, save only a few whose hearts were opened by 
 the almighty power of God, in the way of faith. John 
 1 : 12. These indeed received him, but all the rest exclu- 
 
44 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 ded and denied entrance to the Son of God. So again, John 
 5 : 33-40, Christ reasons with them, and gives undeniable 
 demonstrations that he was the Messiah come to save them. 
 He proves it from the testimony of John, verse 33, "Ye 
 sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth ;" he 
 tells them the design of his coming among them was their 
 salvation, verse 34 ; shows them the great seal of heaven, 
 his uncontrollable miracles, verse 36, " The works that I 
 do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me." 
 And if that were not enough, he reminds them of the imme- 
 diate testimony given of him from heaven, " The Father 
 himself which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me." He 
 did so at his baptism : " And lo, a voice from heaven, saying. 
 This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matt. 
 3 : 17. And so again at his transfiguration on the holy 
 mount, *' While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud over- 
 shadowed them : and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which 
 said. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; 
 hear ye him." Matt. 17 : 5. He bids them search the 
 Scriptures, and critically examine his perfect correspondeuQe 
 with them. John 5 : 39. This was enough, one would 
 think, to open the door of every man's understanding and 
 heart to receive him with full satisfaction ; and yet, after 
 all, behold the unreasonable obstinacy and resistance of their 
 hearts against him : *' Ye will not come to me, that ye might 
 have life." Ver. 40. 
 
 Not a soul will open, with all the reasons and demon- 
 strations in the world, till the almighty power of God be put 
 forth to that end. " If another come in his own name," 
 saith he, verse 43, ''him will ye receive ;'' any one rather 
 than the Son of God. Every impostor can easily deceive 
 you ; it is to me only your hearts have such a strong aver- 
 sion. Now there is a twofold shutting up of the heart against 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 1. Natural. Every soul comes into this world shut up 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 45 
 
 and fast closed against the Lord Jesus. The will of man, 
 which is the freest faculty, comes into the world barred and 
 bolted against Christ. " The carnal mind is enmity against 
 God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed 
 can be." Rom. 8:7. ** It is God which worketh in you 
 both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2 : 13. 
 This is a dismal eflect of the fall. Who does not feci strong 
 aversions and obstinate resistances in his own heart, when 
 moving towards Christ in the first weak and trembling acts 
 of faith ? 
 
 2. There is q. judicial shutting up of the hearf against 
 Christ. This is a sore and tremendous stroke of God, pun- 
 ishing former rebellions : " Israel would none of me, so I 
 gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts." Psalm 
 81 : 11, 12. This looks like a prelude of damnation, a very 
 near preparation to ruin. " Israel would none of me ;" 
 there is the natural shutting up of the heart : " so I gave 
 them up ;" there is the judicial shutting up of the heart : 
 they would not hear, they sliall not hear. fearful judg- 
 ment I Thus the Lord gave up the heathen, Rom. 1 : 26 ; 
 they had abused their natural light, and now their minds 
 are judicially darkened ; given up to a sottish and injudi- 
 cious mind, not able to distinguish duty from sin, safety from 
 danger — a mind that should choose the worst things, and 
 reject the best. This was the reprobate mind unto which 
 God gave them up ; what sadder word can the Lord speak 
 than this, unless it be, " Take him, Satan !" It is true, 
 those whom God shuts up he can open, and those whom 
 justice shuts up, mercy can set free ; but it is beyond all the 
 power of angels and men to do it. " He shutteth up a man, 
 and there can be no opening." Job 12 : 14. These two 
 closings of the heart are not always found together in the 
 same person ; and blessed be God that they are not. Christ 
 meets with many a repulse, and endures with much pa- 
 tience the gauisaying of shiners, before he pionounces the 
 
46 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 dreadful sentence upon them, "Go, and tell this people, hear 
 ye indeed, but understand not ; and see ye indeed, but per- 
 ceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make 
 iheir ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they see with 
 iheir eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand wilti 
 their heart, and convert, and be healed." Isa. 6 : 9, 10. 
 
 But when it comes to this, dreadful is the case of such 
 souls ; and none are in greater danger of this judicial stroke 
 of God, than those who have sat long mider the light, re- 
 belling against it. That is the first thing, the hearts of men 
 by nature are locked and shut up against Christ. 
 
 II. Let us examine what those locks and bars ae.e, 
 tvhich ojjposc and forbid Christ's entrance into the hearts 
 of sinners. And they will be found to be, ignorance, unbe- 
 lief, pride, custom in sin, presumption, and prejudices against 
 the ways of holiness. Bars enough to secure the soul in 
 Satan's possession, and frustrate all the designs of mercy, 
 except an almighty Power from heaven break them asunder. 
 
 1. The first bar making fast the soul of man against 
 Christ, is ignorance. If knowledge is a key that opens the 
 heart to Christ, as is plain from Luke 1 1 : 52, where Christ 
 denounceth a woe on them that took away "the key of 
 knowledge," then ignorance must needs be the lock that 
 makes fast the door of the heart against Christ. On this 
 ground Christ told the woman of Samaria, that her unbe- 
 lief grew upon the root of her ignorance. " If thou knewest 
 the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to 
 drink, thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have 
 given thee hving water." John 4:10. Ah, sinners, did 
 you but know what a Christ he is that is offered to your 
 souls in the gospel ; did you see his beauty, fulness, and 
 suitableness, and feel your own need of him, all the world 
 could not keep you from him : you would break through all 
 reproaches, all sufferings, all self-denials, to come to the 
 enjoyment of him. But alas, it is with you as it was 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 47 
 
 with those who said to the church, " What is thy beloved 
 more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?" 
 Sol. Soiigs, 5:9. Unknown excellences attract not: igno- 
 rance is Satan's sceptre which he sways over all his king- 
 dom of darkness, and by which he holds his vassals in mis- 
 erable bondage to him; hence the devils are called, "The 
 rulers of tlie darkness of tliis world." Eph. 6:12. Alas, 
 were the eyes of sinners opened to see their woful state and 
 their remedy in Christ, he could never hold them in sub- 
 jection one day longer ; they would break away from under 
 his cruel government and run by thousands to Christ ; for 
 so they do as soon as God opens their eyes : in the same 
 hour that they are "turned from darkness to hght," they 
 are also turned " from the power of Satan unto God." Acts 
 26 : 16. that you did but know the worth of your souls, 
 the dreadful danger they are in, and the fearful wrath that 
 hangs over them, v/ith the wilUngness and ability of Christ 
 to save them ; you could not sleep one night longer in the 
 state you are : your next cry would be, ** What shall I do to 
 be saved ?" Who will show me the way to Christ ? Help, 
 ministers I help, Christians I yea, help, Lord I These would 
 be the lamentations and cries of those who are now se- 
 cure and quiet. But " the god of this world hath blinded 
 the eyes of them which believe not," 2 Cor. 4:4: no cries 
 for a physician, because they have no consciousness how 
 their souls are wounded by sins of commission and by sins of 
 omission. that the great Physician would apply his excel- 
 lent eye-salve to your understandings, which are yet dark- 
 .ened with gross ignorance both of your misery and remedy. 
 
 2. The second bar or lock which shuts Christ out of 
 men's souls, is the sin of unbelief. This is one of the 
 strongest holds of Satan wherein he trusteth ; this is a sin 
 that not only locks up the heart of a sinner, but also binds 
 up the hand of a Saviour. " He did not many mighty 
 works there, because of their unbelief." Matt. 13 : 58. 
 
48 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOH. 
 
 Unbelief obstructed his miraculous works when he was 
 on earth, and it obstructs his gracious work how he is in 
 heaven. A Saviour is come into the world, but, poor unbe- 
 liever, thy soul can neither have union nor communion with 
 him till this bar of thy unbelief be removed. The gospel is 
 come among us with mighty arguments to convince and 
 powerful motives to persuade, but little saving efiect fol- 
 lows : its main design is to many frustrated, and all this 
 through unbelief, shutting up and hardening men's hearts 
 under it. " The word preached did not profit them, not 
 being mixed with faith in them that heard it." Heb. 4 : 2. 
 Ah, cursed bar ! which shuts up thy heart, shuts out thy 
 Saviour, and will effectually shut thee out of heaven, ex- 
 cept the almighty power of God break it asunder. They 
 could not enter in because of unbelief. Heb. 4:6. The 
 ruin of souls is laid at the door of unbelief; it is the damn- 
 ing sin, Mark 16 : 16, and truly called so, because no other 
 sin could condemn but in virtue of this sin. 
 
 3. The third bar denying entrance to Christ into the 
 hearts of sinners, is 'pride and stoutness of spirit. The 
 natural heart is a proud heart ; it lives upon its own stock, 
 it cannot stoop to a sincere and universal renunciation of its 
 own righteousness : " Being ignorant of God's righteousness, 
 and going about to establish their own righteousness, they 
 have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." 
 Rom. 10:3. Pride stiffens the will that it cannot stoop or 
 condescend to declare their own emptiness, discover their 
 own shame, and live wholly upon the righteousness of an- 
 other. Proud nature chooses the way of destruction, rather 
 than to deny itself in such a point as this. This makes 
 faith so exceedingly difficult, because it involves such deep 
 points of self-denial in it. To give up all to Christ, to draw 
 all from Christ, and to be willing to part with all for Christ — 
 what will can be brought to a deliberate consent to such 
 things as these, unless an omnipotent power bow it ? It is 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 49 
 
 natural to men rather to eat a brown crust, or wear a coarse, 
 ragged garment which they can call their own, tlian to feed 
 on the richest dainties, or wear the costliest garments which 
 they must receive as alms or a gift from another. how 
 hard is it to subdue this pride of the heart, even after light 
 and convictions are come into the soul — to convince men of 
 their undone condition, and the absolute necessity of another 
 and higher righteousness than their own. "When souls are 
 in treaty with Christ, this sin makes the last opposition. 
 Fain would they come to Christ, ten thousand worlds for 
 Christ ; but they think they must not approach him without ■ 
 some qualifications which are yet wanting. But, soul, if 
 ever Christ and thou conclude a union, thou must deny 
 self even in this the most refined form of it, j^nd come as 
 Abraham did, naked and empty-handed, to Him who justi- 
 fieth the ungodly. Down with this house-idol, thy self, thy 
 righteous self, dressed up, like another Agag, with such spe- 
 cious pretences of humility. 
 
 4. The fourth bar forbidding Christ's entrance into the 
 soul, is custom in sin. Sin has so fixed itself by long con- 
 tinuance in the soul, and the soul is so settled and confirmed 
 in its course, that all arguments and persuasions to change 
 our path are swept away by the power of custom, as straws 
 and feathers are by the rapid course of a mighty torrent. 
 " Can the Etliiopian change his skin, or the leopard his 
 spots ? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do 
 evil." Jer. 13 : 23. Soap and nitre may as soon make an 
 Ethiopian white, or take the spots out of the leopard's skin, 
 as the reasonings of men remove the mighty power of cus- 
 tomary sin. Physicians find it a hard thing to cure an ill 
 habit of body. It is a great matter to be accustomed this 
 way or that from our childhood ; every repeated act of sin 
 confirms and strengthens 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 embraced 
 
 Christ Knockins. 3 
 
50 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR 
 
 Christianity in the sixtieth year of his age. Take an habit- 
 ual drunkard, a self-righteous moralist, and lay before them 
 the necessity of a change, and you will find it as easy to stop 
 the course of a river with the breath of. your mouth, as to 
 stop them in an accustomed course of sinning. 
 
 5. The fifth bar resisting Christ's entrance into the 
 soul, is the sin of presumption : this sin parts Christ and 
 thousands of souls in the world ; presuming, they hope ; and 
 hoping, they perish. "When men presume that their condi- 
 tion is safe already, their souls never go out after a Saviour. 
 This was the ruin of Laodicea : " Because thou say est, I 
 am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of noth- 
 ing ; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and misera- 
 ble, and po»r, and blind, and naked." Rev. 3 : 17. 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 mis- 
 take, 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 dis- 
 pensed to men through Christ, in the way of regeneration 
 and faith. Jude, ver. 21. 3. They presume upon the 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 even inj<he 
 presence of a Saviour. They make a bridge of their own 
 shadow, and so perish in the waters. 
 
 6. The sixth and last sin barring the heart against 
 Christ, is a strong prejudice against holiness, and the 
 strict duties of religion. Thus, in the very infancy of Chris- 
 tianity, the world was driven off from religion by the com- 
 mon prejudices which lay upon the professors of it : " As 
 concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken 
 against." Acts 28 : 22. 
 
 Thus Justin Martyr complains that Christians were 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 61 
 
 everywhere condemned by common fame ; and on this account 
 Christ pronounces a woe upon the world, because of oflences. 
 Matt. 18 : 7. Alas, it will be the ruin of thousands ; some 
 have imbibed such prejudiced opinions and unjust notions of 
 religion and its professors, as to make them irreconcilable 
 enemies to it. Satan has dressed it up in their fancies in 
 such an odious form, as to make them loathe both the name 
 and the thing. These prejudices are drawn from various 
 things ; sometimes from the necessary duties of Christianity, 
 which are laid as crimes on the people of God : " "When I 
 wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my 
 reproach." Psalm 69 : 10. Sometimes the groundless and 
 malicious slanders and inventions of the enemies of Chris- 
 tianity are the occasion of real prejudices to the world : 
 " Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah, and let 
 us smite him with the tongue." Jer. 18 : 18. Sometimes 
 innocent and serious professors of godliness are censured and 
 condemned on account of hypocritical professors, who never 
 heartily espoused religion. And lastly, the ways of holiness 
 suffer from the infirmities of weak Christians, who give too 
 many occasions to prejudice the world against the ways of 
 God. 
 
 By these things multitudes are kept from attendance on 
 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 sin- 
 ners ; and, 
 
 III. These bars are too strong for any but the almighty 
 rowER OF GOD to removc or break. It is said that the Lord 
 opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. Acts 14 : 27. The 
 arm of the Lord must be revealed, or none will open to 
 Christ by faith. Isa. 53 : 1. 
 
 1. The iron bar oitJie divine law, that thundering, ter- 
 rible law, cannot force open the heart of an unbeliever ; all 
 
52 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOH. 
 
 the dreadful curses flying out of its fiery mouth, make no 
 more impression than a tennis-ball against a wall of mar- 
 ble. You read of them who hear the words of this curse, 
 yet bless themselves in their heart, saying, they shall have 
 peace, though they walk in the imaginations of their hearts, 
 to add drunkenness to thirst. Deut. 29 : 19. 
 
 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, and as those who are at an 
 agreement with hell. the besotting, hardening, infatu- 
 ating power of sin I 
 
 2. The golden key oi free-grace cannot, in itself, remove 
 these bars and open men's hearts to Christ : *' We have 
 piped unto you, and ye have not danced." Matt. 11 : 17. 
 The melodious sounds 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. 
 
 The judgments of God cannot do it ; thousands have 
 been sick with smiting, that yet cannot be made sick for 
 sin. *' Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused 
 to receive correction : they have made their faces harder 
 than a rock ; they have refused to return." Jer. 5:3. Mes- 
 sengers of judgment are abroad, smiting some in their es- 
 tates, scattering in one day the labor of many years ; and 
 therein giving a warning to the conscience to make sure of 
 Christ and the world to come, since their comfort and hap- 
 piness are scattered in this world. Some are smitten in 
 their dearest relatives ; death knocks at their door, and car- 
 ries out the delight of their eyes, and admonishes their souls 
 to place their happiness in more durable comforts : some 
 are smitten with disease, giving warning of the near ap- 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 53 
 
 proach of their latter end, and bidding them prepare for 
 another habitation ; but all in vain. 
 
 No mercies of God are in themselves sufficient to 
 open the obdurate hearts of sinners to Christ. God has 
 heaped up mercies by multitudes upon many of you ; all 
 these mercies of God should lead you to repentance. Rom. 
 2 : 4. They take you in a friendly way by the hand, and 
 thus talk with you : " Ah, sinner, how canst thou grieve 
 and dishonor the God who thus feedeth, clotheth, and com- 
 forteth thee on every side ? Do you thus requite the Lord, 
 foolish people and unwise ?" Yet all will not do, neither 
 judgments nor mercies can fright or allure the carnal heart 
 to Jesus Christ. It is his Spirit, his almighty power alone, 
 that opens these everlasting gates, and makes these strong 
 bars give way and fly at his voice. 
 
 Inference 1. BeJiold here the dismal state of nature^ 
 and the icoful condition of all U7irege?ierate souls ; Christ 
 the Redeemer shut out, sin and Satan shut in. This is the 
 horrid state of nature shut up in unbelief Rom. 11 : 32. 
 Ah, Lord, what a condition is this ; we should certainly ac- 
 count it an unspeakable misery to be shut up in a house 
 haunted by the devil, where we should be continually 
 frightened with dreadful noises and apparitions ; but alas, 
 what is an apparition of the devil without us, to the inhab 
 itation of the devil within us ? Nay, what is the possession 
 of a body, to Satan's 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 dispossesses 
 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 per 
 sons. 
 
 Satan is their rider in this world, "the spirit that 
 now worketh in the children of disobedience." Eph. 2 : 2 
 
54 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 As the Holy Spirit of God dwells and rules in sanctified 
 souls, walks in them as in hallowed temples, guiding and 
 comforting them ; so Satan dwells in unregenerate hearts, 
 inflaming them with his temptations, and using their facul- 
 ties and members as instruments of unrighteousness. And 
 then, 
 
 He will be their tormentor in the world to come : he 
 that tempts now, will torment then. " Depart from me, 
 ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
 angels." Matt. 25 : 41. Flee, therefore, and escape for your 
 lives, sleep not quietly another night in so dismal and dread- 
 ful a state. " If the Son make you free, ye shall be free in- 
 deed." John 8 : 36. 
 
 2. Wlmt a glo7'ious work 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, the opening of any heart to Christ is deserv- 
 edly 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 won- 
 derful thing to see the graves opened and the dead raised at 
 the voice of the archangel and the trump of God ; but give 
 me leave to say that the opening of thy heart, poor sinner, 
 to receive Christ, is a more glorious work than that of rais- 
 ing the dead ; it is therefore deservedly put in the first rank 
 of the great mysteries of godliness, that Christ is "believed 
 on in the world." 1 Tim. 3:16. He that well considers 
 Christ, may justly wonder that all the hearts in the enlight- 
 ened world do not stand wide open to embrace him ; yet he 
 that shall consider the frame and temper of the natural 
 heait, and how strongly Satan has intrenched and fortified 
 himself in it, may justly wonder to hear of a work of conver- 
 sion in an age. brethren, consider the marvels of conver- 
 sion, the wonderful works of God upon the soul that opens 
 unto Christ by faith. 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 55 
 
 There is a new eye created in the mind : " The Son 
 g( God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that 
 we may know him that is true." 1 John, 5 : 20. that 
 precious eye of faith, which shows the soul as it were a new 
 world, a world of new and ravishing objects. Eph. 5:8. 
 All the angels in heaven, all the ministers and libraries upon 
 earth, caimot create such an eye and give such an illumina- 
 tion; it is only He who " commanded the light to shine out 
 of darkness, that" thus "shineth in our hearts, to give the 
 light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of' 
 Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. 4:6. 
 
 And what a glorious supernatural work is the convic- 
 tio?i of the co?iscic?ice by the saving beams of light upon 
 it. Now the conscience, which lay in a dead sleep, begins 
 to startle and look about it with fear and horror. Life and 
 feehng have got into it, and now it cries, " Ah, sick, sick at 
 the heart for sin, sick for a Saviour." 
 
 And no less marvellous an effect of the Almighty pow- 
 er is the bowing of the s,tuhborn 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 Thess. 
 2:13. Yet it works not by way of compulsion, but in har- 
 mony .with and agreeably to the nature of the will : "I 
 drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love." Hosea 
 11:4. Satan bids for the soul, but Christ infinitely outbids 
 all his offers ; eternal, spiritual, and unsearchable riches, in- 
 stead of sensual, perishing enjoyments, which determine the 
 choice of the will in its own natural method, by the sight of 
 the excelhng glory of spiritual things. And thus the mighty, 
 supernatural power of God opens the heart which Satan had 
 secured so many ways against Christ. 
 
 3. Hence it also follows, that man has no will of his 
 own to supernatural good. The will cannot, by its own 
 
56 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 power, open itself to receive Christ by faith. When it does 
 open to him, it is not by its natural power, but by the power 
 of God upon it. The admirers of nature talk much of the 
 sovereignty of the will, as if it alone had escaped the fall, 
 and that no more than moral suasion is needed to open it to 
 Christ ; that is, that God needs do no more to save men than 
 the devil does to damn them. But if ever God makes you 
 sensible what the work of saving conversion is, you will 
 quickly find that your will is lame to spiritual tilings ; 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 
 which worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good 
 pleasure." Phil. 2 : 13. The birth of the new creature is 
 not of the will of man, but of God. John 1 : 13. 
 
 4. Learn, hence, the necessity of conversion in order to 
 salvation. Christ and heaven are shut up against you till 
 your hearts are savmgly opened unto him. " Marvel not 
 that I said unto thee, ye must be born again." John 3:7. 
 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 unlocked and opened to 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 is opened, Christ, with all the 
 hopes of glory, stands without thee. If hope from the death 
 of Christ, without the application of his Spirit, be enough to 
 save men, then why are any damned ? See 1 Cor. 1 : 30. 
 Adam's sin damns none but only such as are in him ; and 
 Christ's righteousness saves none but those that are by faith 
 in him : the eternal purpose of the Father, the meritorious 
 death of the Son, put no man into the state of salvation and 
 happiness till both are brought home by the Spirit's powerful 
 application in the work of saving conversion. It is good 
 news indeed, that Christ died for sinners ; it is good news 
 that Chiist is brought to our very doors in the tenders of the 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 57 
 
 gospel, and that the Spirit knocks at the door of* our hearts, 
 by many convictions and persuasions to open to him and 
 enjoy the unspeakable benefits of his death : these things 
 bring us nigh to Christ and salvation ; and yet all this may 
 be, eventually, but a dreadful aggravation of our damna- 
 tion, and will certainly he so to them whose hearts are but 
 almost opened to Christ-. 
 
 5. See, hence, tlie necessity of fervent prayer to accom 
 pany the preachi?tg 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 he preached "with the 
 Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." 1 Pet. 1 : 12. It 
 greatly concerns us who preach the gospel, to wrestle with 
 God upon our knees for help 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, breth- 
 ren, let us not strive alone ; join your cries to heaven with 
 ours, for the blessing of the Spirit upon the word. How 
 does Paul beg of the people, as a beggar would for alms, for 
 their assistance in prayer: "I beseech you, brethren, for 
 the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, 
 that; ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for 
 me." Rom. 15 :30. 
 
 For want of such wrestlings with God in prayer, there 
 is so little efficacy in ordinances. Martha told her Saviour, 
 "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died," 
 John 11 :21; 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. when the Sabbath draws near, let 
 fervent cries ascend from every family to heaven. Lord, 
 pour out thy Spirit with thy word ; make it miglTty through 
 thy power to open these gates of iron and break asunder 
 these bars of brass. 
 
 3* 
 
58 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 The subject supplies us with matter for exhoe-Tation to 
 duty. Seeing the case stands thus, that all hearts by nature 
 are barred and shut up against Christ, let every soul strive 
 to its uttermost to get the heart and will opened to Christ : 
 "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." Luke 13:24. 
 Christ is at the door; strive with yourselves as well as 
 with God now to get it opened, now that salvation is come 
 Ko near your souls. 
 
 Objection. But have you not told us that no sinner 
 can open his own heart, nor bow his own will to Christ ? 
 
 Answer. True, he cannot convert himself, but he may 
 do many things in order to it, and which have a tendency to 
 it, which he does not do ; and so he perishes, not because he 
 cannot, but because he will not open his heart to Christ. 
 
 Many things may be done by sinners which are not 
 done ; and though in themselves they are insufficient, yet 
 being the way in which the Spirit of God usually works, we 
 are bound to do them. As for example, 1. If it be not in 
 your power to open your heart to Christ, it is in your power 
 to forbear the external acts of sin, which set your heart the 
 more against Christ. "Who forces tliine hands to steal, or thy 
 tongue to swear or lie ? "Who forces the cup of excess down 
 your throat ? 2. If you cannot open your heart under the 
 word, it is in your power to 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 a tavern ? 
 
 3. And if you cannot admit the word effectually into your 
 heart, certainly you can apply your mind with more atten- 
 tion and consideration to it than you do. Who forces thme 
 eyes to wander, or closes them with sleep, when the awful 
 matters of eternal Ufe and death are sounding in thine ears ? 
 
 4. If you cannot open your heart to embrace Christ, cer- 
 tainly you* can reflect when the obvious characters of a 
 Christlcss state are plainly held forth before your eyes, 
 jod has given you a self-reflecting power : the spirit of 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 59 
 
 man knoweth the things of a man. 1 Cor. 2:11. "When 
 you hear of convictions of sin, compunction of heart for sin, 
 deep concern of the soul about its eternal state, hungering 
 and thirsting after Christ, anxious days and nights about 
 salvation, which others have felt, you can certainly examine 
 whether it were ever so with you ; and if not, methinks it 
 might conduce to the prevention of your misery, to bemoan 
 yourself, saying, " Ah, my poor soul, canst thou endure ever- 
 lasting burnings ? What will become of theo if Christ pass 
 thee by, and his Spirit strive no more with thee ?" Why 
 cannot you throw yourself at the feet of God, and cry for 
 mercy ? Prayer is a part of natural worship ; distress usu- 
 ally puts men upon it who have no grace. Jonah 1 : 5. 
 Bo this towards the opening and saving of your soul, which 
 though it be not in itself sufficient, nor puts God under any 
 obligation or necessity to show you mercy, yet it puts you in 
 the way of the Spirit. And is not thy soul, sinner, worth 
 as much as this? Have you not taken a great deal more 
 pains 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 ? Do not you see many round about 
 you striving for Christ and salvation, while you sit still with 
 folded arms as if you had nothing to do for another world ? 
 " The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent 
 take it by force." Matt. 11 : 12. 
 
 Why should other men's souls be dearer to them than 
 yours to you ? What discouragements have you which other 
 men have not; or what encouragements have they which 
 you have not ? 
 
 Objection. Say not. We have no assurance that our 
 pains shall prosper, or our strivings be made effectual to 
 conversion : if there were any promise in the gospel that 
 such endeavors should be seconded from heaven and made 
 available to salvation, then we would strive as long as 
 breath and life should last ; but all this may be to no 
 
60 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 purpose, we may be Christless and hopeless when all is 
 done. 
 
 Answer. But yet remember, God may bless these weak 
 endeavors, and give you his Almighty Spirit with them : 
 nay, it is highly probable that he will do so ; and is a strong 
 probability nothing with you ? Do you perform no actions 
 about your civil callings without an assurance of success ? 
 "When the merchant ventures his life or property at sea, is 
 he sure of a good return ; or does he not venture upon 
 the mere probabilities of a gainful voyage? When the 
 husbandman plows his land, and empties his bags and 
 purse upon it, is he sure of a good harvest ? May not a 
 blight defeat all his hopes ? Yet he ploweth and soweth in 
 Jiope, and ordinarily God makes him partake of his hope ; 
 but without such industry liis expectations would be in vain. 
 Away then with vain excuses ; up and be doing in the uso 
 of all appointed means, and the Lord be with you. 
 
 Before I dismiss this point, let us try ourselves by it, 
 whether God has opened our hearts to Christ, broken these 
 bars of ignorance, unbelief, custom, and prejudice — whether 
 we are ready to receive Christ Jesus the Lord. 
 
 This is a solemn application of the subject, and the con- 
 sequences of it may be great : that our faithfulness and 
 seriousness in the trial may be answerable. Try yourselves 
 by these following ]\lajiks : 
 
 Mark 1. If your eyes be not opened to see sin in its 
 vileness, and Christ in his glory, suitableness, and neces- 
 sity, then your hearts were never yet eflectually opened by 
 the gospel. Men's eyes may be opened to see sin, and tlieir 
 hearts at the same time be shut up by unbelief against 
 Christ ; but no man's heart can be opened to Christ while 
 his eyes are shut : " This is the will of him that sent me, 
 that every one which seeth the Son and belicveth on him, 
 may have everlasting life." John 6:40. The work of 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 
 
 n^ v^ OF THE 
 
 UNIVERS] 
 
 faith is always wrought in the light of conviction ; 
 of the heart begins at the eye of the mind, Acts 26 : 18, 
 " to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to 
 light, and from the power of Satan unto God." God opens 
 men's hearts by shining into them. 2 Cor. 4 : 6. If, there- 
 fore, any man's eyes be still blinded with ignorance and 
 prejudice, so that he sees not his own guilt and misery, nor 
 the worth and necessity of a Saviour, that man's heart is 
 still under Satan's lock and bar, sin is shut in and Christ is 
 shut out of his soul. 
 
 Mark 2. No heart opens to Christ by faith till it be first 
 wounded by compunction and humiliation; this heart- 
 wounding work is always antecedent to the work of faith. 
 
 1 doubt not but your thoughts forerun my discourse, and are 
 directed to that scripture where Peter, preaching to those 
 who had crucified Christ, and bringing his discourse close to 
 their consciences in the application of that sermon, convinces 
 them not only what an atrocious crime the crucifying of the 
 Son of God was in itself, but also charges it home upon them : 
 " Him, being dehvered by the determinate counsel and fore- 
 knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have 
 crucified and slain. When they heard this, they were prick- 
 ed in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the 
 apostles. Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" Acts 
 
 2 : 23, 37. Upon this outcry three thousand souls opened 
 in one hour to Christ. Now consider whether your hearts 
 have been thus wounded ; has sorrow for sin pierced thy 
 soul ? Vain sinner, that frothy heart of thine itiust bleed 
 under compmictions for sin, or there will be no room for 
 Christ in it. Come, soul, it is in vain to flatter yourself in 
 your ow^n eyes : reflect upon the frame of your heart, call 
 back the days that are past, and say, when was the time, 
 and where was the place when thou layedst at the foot of 
 God, mourning on account of thy sins. Did ever God hear 
 such a cr\' as this from thy soul? " Ah, Lord, my soul is dis- 
 
62 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 tressed ; I roll hither and thither for ease and comfort, but 
 find none. the insupportable weight of guilt ; the bit- 
 terness of sin. My soul fails under it ; Lord, undertake for 
 me." I do not say the degrees of compunction and humili- 
 ation are equal in all converts, - neither are their sins or their 
 ability to bear sorrows for them equal ; but this I say, thy 
 heart must ache for sin, or it will never open to Christ : he 
 binds up none but broken hearts. Isa. 61 : 1. 
 
 Mark 3. If Christ is come into thy heart, tlie love and 
 delight of every sin is gone oiit of it. Christ and the love 
 of sin cannot dwell together : what he said to the soldiers 
 that apprehended him in the garden, he says to every soul 
 that comes to apprehend him by faith, " If ye seek me, let 
 these go their way," John 18:8; away with the sin thou 
 most delightest in. Christ cannot come in till this be gone. 
 ** Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him 
 while he is near : let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
 unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the 
 Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, 
 for he will abundantly pardon." Isa. 55 : 6, 7. Here are 
 the terms of your acceptance and salvation plainly laid do"VMi, 
 forsake thy ways and thoughts : the way means the exter- 
 nal acts of sin, and the thoughts the internal acts of con- 
 trivance and delight in sin ; both these must be forsaken ; 
 and that is not all, for this makes but a negative holiness, 
 ** Let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy." It 
 is in vain for men to make the door of salvation wider than 
 God has made it; we cannot bring down Christ's terms 
 lower than he has set them : if we will not come up to them, 
 Christ and we must part. And this makes the great strug- 
 gle in the souls of converts. it is hard to give up pleasant 
 and profitable lusts ; but away they must go, a bill of 
 divorce must be signed for them, or you cannot be espoused 
 to the Lord Jesus. This will be found to be much harder 
 than to part with all external things for Christ's sake. 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 63 
 
 Mark 4. No heart can open truly to Christ, that is not 
 tnade willing upon due deliberation to receive him, with 
 his cross of sufferings ayid his yoke of obedience. Matt. 
 16 : 24 ; 11 : 29. Any exception against either of" these is an 
 effectual har to union with Christ ; he looks upon that soul 
 as not worthy of him, that puts in such an exception. Matt. 
 10 : 38. If thou judgest not Christ to be worth all suffer- 
 ings, all losses, all reproaches, he judges thee unworthy to 
 bear the name of his disciple. So for the duties of obedi- 
 ence, called his yoke ; he that will not receive Christ's yoke 
 can never receive his person, nor any benefit by his blood. 
 
 Mark 5. Every heart that opens sincerely and evangel- 
 ically to Christ, opens to him in deep humility and sense 
 of its emptiness and u?iworthi7iess ; all self-righteousness is 
 given up as dung and dross. Phil. 3:8. Thus Abraham 
 came to him as to one that justifieth the ungodly. " To him 
 that worketh not, but belie veth on him that justifieth the 
 ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." E-om. 4 : 5. 
 Yea, here is the true way of justification indeed ; where the 
 imputed righteousness of Christ comes, all self-righteousness 
 vanishes before it. By " him that worketh not," understand 
 not an idle, lazy believer, who takes no care of the duties of 
 obedience ; an idle faith can never be a saving faith. But 
 the meaning is, he worketh not to meet the demands of the 
 first covenant — to make up a righteousness for himself by 
 his own working, to cover himself with a robe of righteous- 
 ness of his own weaving. Thou must receive Christ into a 
 naked, unworthy soul, or not receive him at all. Paul 
 heartily rejected all his own righteousness, cast down that 
 house-idol to the ground, that he might be found in the 
 righteousness of Christ. Phil. 3:9. Cast that idol out of 
 doors, it stands in the way of a better righteousness. There 
 are divers ways wherein sinners maintain their own right- 
 eousness to their ruin. There is a gross and a more refined 
 self-righteousness ; the one more palpable and easily liable 
 
64 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 to conviction, the other much harder to be discovered and 
 cured. Ask some men on what their hopes of salvation are 
 grounded, and they will tell you they are just in their deal- 
 ings with men and constant in their prayers to God ; that is 
 all, and therefore they doubt not of their salvation. Thus 
 they substitute a righteousness of their own in the place of 
 Christ's blood, and are their own destroyers by seeking in 
 this way to be their own saviours. But there is a mora 
 refined way of self-righteousness, dressed up in such pretences 
 of humility that men are hard to be convinced of it. I 
 pity many souls on this account who stand off from Christ, 
 and dare not beHeve because they want such and such qual- 
 ifications to fit them for Christ. 0, saith one, could I find 
 so much brokenness of heart for sin, so much reformation 
 and power over corruptions, then I could come to Christ; 
 the meaning of which is, if I could bring a price in my hand 
 to purchase him, then I should be encouraged to go' to him. 
 Here now is horrible pride covered over with a veil of humil- 
 ity. Poor sinner, either come naked and empty-handed, 
 according to Isa. 55 : 1, and Rom. 4 : 5, or expect a repulse ; 
 for Christ is not the sale, but the gift of God. 
 
 Mark 6. Whatever soul opens to Christ, ojpens finally 
 and everlastingly to him ; the heart once opened to Christ, 
 must stand open for ever to him, never to shut him out any 
 more. And here is a very observable difference between a 
 man who comes to Christ in a sudden fright of conscience, 
 and parts from him again when that fright is over, and a 
 man who receives Christ to dwell in his heart by faith. 
 Eph. 3 : 17. When Christ comes into the heart, he saith, 
 " Here will I dwell for ever ;" and, " Lord," saith the soul, 
 " so I receive thee ; this is the day of union, let me never 
 know a day of separation ; let it never be in the power of 
 life or death, angels, principalities or powers, things present 
 or to come, to make a separation between thee and me." 
 " Soul," saith Christ, " thou shalt be mine while I am ia 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 65 
 
 heaven ;" and, " Lord," saith the soul, ** I will be thine while 
 I am on earth." "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," 
 saith Christ ; '* 0, my Lord," saith the soul, •' hold me fast 
 in thy hand, that I may never leave nor forsake thee ; my 
 estate, liberty, and Ufe may and must go, but it is the fixed 
 purpose of my heart never, never to let thee go." The 
 espousals between Christ and the soul are for ever : *' I will 
 betroth thee unto me for ever," yen, for ever. Hos. 2 : 19. 
 And here lies another great diflerence between the hypocrite 
 who takes Christ with a politic reserve, that will venture 
 with Christ at sea no further than he can see the shore, and 
 the upright heart that embarks itself with Christ without 
 reserve, come what will ; that saith to him, as Ittai to 
 David, when entreated to go back in a time of danger, "Nay, 
 where my Lord Jesus Christ is, whether it be in liberty or 
 in prison, in hfe or in death, there also will I be." Flesh 
 may persuade to a retreat ; but, saith the soul, I cannot 
 retreat : wherever the truths, the interest and glory of Christ 
 are, there also must I be ; for upon these terms I first received 
 him, and opened the door of my heart to him. These things 
 are no matters of surprise to me, Christ and I have debated 
 them long ago ; he dealt fairly with me, and I must deal 
 faithfully with him. 
 
 Now, brethren, view over these six trials ; have your 
 eyeft been opened to see sin in its vileness, and Christ in his 
 •beauty and necessity? Have your hearts been wounded 
 with compunction and sorrow for sin ? Are the love and 
 dehght of sin gone out of your souls ? Have you no excep' 
 tions either to the cross or yoke of Christ ? Have you given 
 up all your own righteousness, whether gross or refined, for 
 dung and dross, and received Christ for ever? Then thy 
 heart is savingly opened to him. 
 
 The last improvement of this doctrine will be, to draw 
 from it CONSOLATION to all whose hearts the Lord has thus 
 
66 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 opened to receive Christ at his knocks and calls of the 
 gospel. 
 
 Has God indeed opened your heart, and made you sin- 
 cerely willing to receive Christ? then there are ten sweet 
 consolations, like so many boxes of' precious ointment, to be 
 poured forth in the close of this discourse, upon every such 
 Boul. 
 
 Consolation 1. The opening of any man's heart to re- 
 ceive Christ, is a clear, scrij'itural evidence of the Lord's 
 love to and setting apart that man for himself from eter- 
 nity. I do not say that every man whose heart is opened 
 by faith, is thereupon immediately assured and satisfied that 
 God has chosen him to salvation. But whether he appre- 
 hend it or not, the thing in itself is certain. " Knowing, 
 brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came 
 not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the 
 Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." 1 Thess. 1 : 4, 5. 
 Their election of God was the thing to be proved ; but alas, 
 might they say, "Who can know that but God alone ? it is 
 among the divine secrets. Yes, saith the apostle, we know 
 it, and by this we know it ; for our gospel came not unto 
 you in an empty sound, but in mighty efficacy, eflectually 
 opening your hearts to believe. A more clear and certain 
 evidence of your election cannot be given in this world. 
 
 Again, look into Rom. 8:30: " Moreover, whom ht did 
 predestinate, them he also called ; and whom he called, them 
 he also justified ; and whom he justified, them he also glori- 
 fied." There are two great and ravishing truths cleared in 
 this scripture : the one is, that the whole number of the 
 called upon earth were predestinated to life before the world 
 was ; the other is, that as the whole number of the glorified 
 saints in heaven is made up of souls called and justified on 
 earth, so the called soul, that is, the soul that savingly opens 
 to Christ by faith, may, from that work of the Spirit upon 
 him, solidly reason backward to God's electing love before 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 67 
 
 all time, and forward to his glorification with God when 
 time shall be no more. how strong is the consolation 
 flowing out of tliis glorious work of the Spirit on our 
 hearts. 
 
 Consolation 2. The opening of the heart to receive 
 Christ, is tlie peculiar effect of the almighty power of God. 
 The arm of an angel is too weak to break those strong bars 
 before-mentioned; therefore the exceeding greatness of his 
 power is apphed unto this work of behoving : " The exceed- 
 ing greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according 
 to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in 
 Christ when he raised him from the dead." Eph. 1 : 19, 
 20. Here is power, the power of God, the greatness of his 
 power, the exceeding greatness of his power, the very same 
 power which wrought in Christ when he raised him from 
 the dead ; and all this is needed to make the heart of man 
 open by faith to receive Christ. The only key that fits the 
 cross wards of man's will and effectually opens his heart, is 
 in the hand of Christ : "He hath the key of David ; he open- 
 eth, and no man shutteth." Rev. 3 : 7. 
 
 Hpw long some of you sat under able ministers, search- 
 ing sermons, and alarming providences ; yet to no purpose, 
 till this almighty power came with the word, and then the 
 work was done. " Thy people shall be willing in the day 
 of thy power." Psalm 110:3. What a glorious power 
 was that which opened Christ's grave, when he lay in the 
 heart of the earth, with a weighty stone rolled upon his 
 sepulchre. And how mighty a power was that which broke 
 asunder all those bars which kept thy soul in the state of 
 sin and death. None feel tliis power but those whom God 
 intends for salvation ; and having once wrought this, it is 
 engaged to go through with all the rest which yet remains 
 to be done to perfect thy salvation. 
 
 Consolation 3. The opening of thy heart to Christ is 
 not only an efiect of almighty power, but an effect without 
 
68 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 ivhich all that Christ has done and suffered had been of 
 no avail to thy salvation ; neiihei the eternal decrees of 
 God, nor the meritorious suilerings of Christ, are effectual to 
 an)^ man's salvation, until this work of the Spirit be wrought 
 upon his heart. The offering of Christ is sufficient to pur- 
 chase our redemption, but the receiving of Christ by faith 
 brings home salvation to our souls. "Where there are many 
 causes to produce one efiect, that effect is not produced until 
 the last cause has wrought. Thus it is here : the moving 
 cause, namely, the free-grace of God, has wrought ; and the 
 meritorious cause, the death of Christ, has also wrought ; 
 but still the heart, even of an elect man, remains under guilt 
 and condemnation, till the Spirit, who is the applying agent, 
 has also wrought the blessed effect we now speak of It is 
 Christ in us, that is, in union with our souls, which is to us 
 the hope of glory. Col. 1 : 27 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 30. Behold, then, 
 the last stroke given in this opening of the heart by faith ; 
 herein electing love has brought home Christ, with all the 
 purchases and benefits of his death, into the actual possession 
 of thy soul. how transporting a consideration is this. 
 
 Consolation 4. In tliis work, the opening of the^ heart 
 by faith, the great design of the gospel is also accomiMslied, 
 You behold in the qjiurch a glorious frame of ordinances set 
 up by divine institution, ministers appointed to preach, sac- 
 raments, prayers, singing — a variety of ordinances set up and 
 excellent gifts bestowed on men, as the fruit of Christ's 
 ascension into heaven. Now, what was the design of God 
 in the institution of all these things, but that by them, as 
 instruments in his hand, our ignorant, dead, unbelieving 
 hearts might be opened to Christ in acts of repentance and 
 faith, and built up to a perfect man ? Ministers are sent to 
 open your eyes, to turn you from darkness to light, and from 
 the power of Satan to God. Acts 26 : 18. They arc not 
 Bent by Christ into this world to get a living, to pursue a 
 trade for themselves, but to bring you to faith. 1 Cor. 3 : 5. 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 69 
 
 When God's elect are thus brought in and built up in Christ, 
 you shall see this glorious frame of ordinances taken down ; 
 there will be no more preaching nor hearing, the end of all 
 these things being accomplished : " Then cometh the end, 
 when ho shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even 
 the Father." 1 Cor. 15 : 24. The consideration of the 
 accomplishment of the great and prmcipal design of the 
 gospel thus far upon thy heart, is matter of transporting joy. 
 Ministers may and must die, ordinances may be removed, 
 but this blessed eflect of them upon thy soul shall never die : 
 God will perfect what he hath begun. 
 
 Consolation 5. TJiat day wherein thy lieart is savingly 
 opened to receive Christ, tliat very day is salvation come 
 to thy sold. When the heart of Zaccheus was opened to 
 Christ, he tells him, '* This day is salvation come to thy 
 house." Luke 19 : 9. Salvation was come into the world 
 before thou wast born ; yea, salvation was come to thy door 
 in«the tenders of the gospel before ; but it never came into 
 thy soul till the day wherein thy heart opened to Christ by 
 faith. And is not this matter of singular consolation ? If 
 salvation be not, what is ? No wonder that the eunuch went 
 home rejoicing, when he had received Christ by faith, Acts 
 8:39; that the jailer rejoiced with all his house. Acts 
 16 : 34. Neither blame nor wonder at such men for rejoic- 
 ing, for it is the day of their salvation. It is true their sal- 
 vation was not finished that day, there were many things 
 yet to be done and suflered by them before the completion of 
 it ; but it was begun that day, the foundation was laid in 
 the soul that day, and the top-stone shall be set up with 
 shouting in due time, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 
 
 Consolation 6. The opening of a sinner's heart to 
 Christ makes joy in heaven, a triumph in the city of our 
 God above. " I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in 
 heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over 
 ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance." 
 
70 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Luke 15:7. As when a young prince is born, all the 
 kingdom rejoices, and there is a demonstration of joy and 
 thankfulness in every city and town ; it is much more so in 
 heaven, when a soul is born to Christ under the gospel. It 
 is a satisfaction to the heart of the Lord Jesus, who now 
 beholds more of the travail of his soul ; and to aU the angels 
 and saints, that another soul is espoused to him. 
 
 When the gospel is efTectually brought home by the 
 Spirit to the heart of a sinner, and wounds him for sin, and 
 sends him home, crying, sick, sick of sin, and sick for 
 Christ I the news thereof is presently in heaven, and sets 
 the whole city of God rejoicing. Christ never rejoiced over 
 thee before ; thou hast wounded him and grieved him a thou- 
 sand times, but he never rejoiced in thee till now* and that 
 which gives joy to Christ may weU be matter of joy to thee. 
 
 Consolation 7. The day thy heart is unlocked, unbarred, 
 and savingly opened by faith, that very day an intimate, 
 spi7'itual, and everlasting union is made beticeen ChAst 
 and thy soul; from that day Christ is thi7ie, and thou art 
 his. Christ is a great and glorious person ; but how great 
 and glorious soever he be, the feeble arms of thy faith may 
 surround and embrace him, and thou mayest say with the 
 church, "My beloved is mine, and I am his." Sol. Song, 
 2:16. For mark what he says in the text, " If any man 
 open to me, I will come in to him." That soul shall be my 
 habitation, there will I dwell for ever. Thus will Christ 
 dwell in your heart by faith. What soul feels not itself 
 advanced by this union with the Son of God ? Hereby the 
 believer becomes a member of his body, of his flesh and of 
 his bones : this is an honor bestowed upon thy soul, above 
 all that ever God bestowed upon any angel in heaven ; to 
 them Christ is a head by way of dominion, but to thee by 
 way of vital influence.- Angels are as the nobles of his 
 kingdom, but the believer his bride, and all the angels of 
 heaven are ministering spirits unto such. 
 
THE HEART CLOSED. 71 
 
 Consolation 8. The opening of thy heart to Christ 
 brings tliee not only into union ivith his person, but into 
 the state of sweet, soul-enriching communion tvith him. 
 So he speaks in the text, " If any man open the door, I will 
 come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." 
 Thou hast lived many years in the world, and never hadst 
 any communion with God till this day. Christ and thy soul 
 have been strangers till now. Thou mayest have had (^om-' 
 munion with ordinances, and even external communion with 
 saints, but for communion with Christ thou couldst know 
 nothing of it, till thou receivedst him into thy soul by faith. 
 Now thou mayest say, " Truly my fellowship is with the 
 Father, and with his Sou Jesus Christ." 1 John, i : 3. 
 And thenceforth thy communion with men is pleasant and 
 desirable. 
 
 Consolation 9. The opening of a man's soul to Christ 
 by faith, is a special and peculiar mercy. God has done 
 that for thee which he has not done to millions : " Who 
 hath believed our report ; and to whom is the arm of the 
 Lord revealed ?" that is, to how small a remnant in the 
 world. Isa. 53 : 1. And the apostle puts the work of faith 
 among the great mysteries of godliness, the wonders of relig- 
 ion : " Preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the 
 world." 1 Tim. 3 : 16. The sound of the gospel is gone 
 forth into the world : *' Many are called, but few are cho- 
 sen." Matt. 22 : 14. There were many widows in Israel 
 m the days of Elias, but to none of them was Elias sent, 
 save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was 
 a widow. Luke 4 : 25, 26. There may have been hundreds 
 who sat under the same sermon which opened thy heart to 
 Christ, but it may be to none of them was the Spirit of 
 God sent that day, to open their hearts by faith, but to thee ; 
 thou wilt freely acknowledge thyself as unlikely and unwor- 
 thy as the vilest sinner there. astonishing mercy ! 
 
 Consolation 10. And lastly, in the same day thy heart 
 
72 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE D00£. 
 
 opens by faith to Christ, all the treasures of Christ are 
 unlocked and opened to tliee. In the same hour in which 
 God turns the key of regeneration to open thy soul, the key 
 of free-grace is also turned to open to thee the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ ; then the righteousness of Christ becomes 
 thine to justify thee, the wisdom of Christ to guide thee, 
 the holiness of Christ to sanctify thee ; in a word, he is that 
 day made of God to thee, " wisdom, and righteousness, and 
 sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. 1 : 30. "All are 
 yours ; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 1 Cor. 
 3 : 22, 23. . Thus I have showed you some of the great 
 things God does for those souls who open their hearts to 
 receive Christ on the terms of tjie gospel. 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING. 73 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CHRIST'S PATIENCE IN WAITING UPON OBSTI- 
 NATE SINNERS. 
 
 "BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK." Rev. 3:20. 
 
 The verb here rendered " I stand," would strictly be 
 rendered "I have stood," but being joined with a verb of 
 the present tense, is here translated " I do stand," a frequent 
 Hebraism in Scripture. It intimates the continued patience 
 and long-suffering of Christ ; I have stood and still do stand,- 
 exercising wonderful patience towards obstinate sinners. 
 Which gives us this fourth doctrine : 
 
 Qreat and admirable is the patience of Christ, in wait- 
 ing on trifling and obstinate sinners. 
 
 Thus Wisdom, that is, Christ, expresses himself: " I have 
 called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, and 
 no man regarded." Pro v. 1 : 24. Here you have not only 
 Christ's earnest calls, but suitable gestures also, to gain 
 attention. The stretching forth of the hand was a signal 
 given to procure attention. Acts 21 : 40. Yet none regards ; 
 and this the Lord does not once or twice only, but all the 
 day long, Isa. 65 : 2, showing forth all long-suffering, as the 
 apostle speaks, 1 Tim. 1:16. In opening this point, I will 
 show what divme patience is ; wherein it is evidenced ; 
 and why it is exercised towards sinners. 
 
 I. What divine patience is. It is an ability in God 
 not only to delay the execution of his wrath for a time tow- 
 ards some, but to delay it in order to the eternal salvation 
 of others. 
 
 1. It is an effect of power in God, not the effect of 
 inability or want of opportunity. AU sinners are continually 
 within the reach of the arm of his justice, and he can strike 
 when and where he will. Esau had a revengeful mind 
 
 Christ Knocking. 4 
 
74 CHEIST KNOCKING AT THE. DOOR. 
 
 against Jacob, but wanted opportunity, and therefore was 
 forced to delay the execution of his wrath until the days of 
 mourning for his father were ended, and then, saith he, 
 " will I slay my brother Jacob." Gen. 27 : 41 . But in God 
 it is a glorious effect of power. " The Lord is slow to anger 
 and great in power." Nah. 1 :3. The greatness of his 
 patience flows from the greatness of his power. So the 
 apostle speaks, E,om. 9 : 22 : " What if God, willing to show 
 his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with 
 much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted," or made 
 up, "to destruction?" And therefore when Moses prays 
 for the exercise of divine patience towards the provoking 
 Israelites, he does it in this form : " And now, I beseech 
 thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou 
 hast spoken, saying, the Lord is long-suffering, and of great 
 mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression." Numbers, 
 14 : 17, 18. He could exercise this almighty power upon 
 thee, and crush thee by it as a moth is crushed ; but behold, 
 he exercises it upon himself in staying the execution of his 
 own justice. It is the power of God over his wrath, restrain- 
 ing it from day to day. 
 
 2. This patience is exercised towards such as perish, hi 
 a delay of their damnation ; and though this be but a sus- 
 pension of his wrath for a time, yet it is a glorious act of 
 patience in him, as Rom. 9 : 22 shows. Is it nothing for 
 a sinner condemned as soon as born, to be reprieved so many 
 years out of hell ? Thou hast been provoking him daily and 
 hourly to (Jut thee off, and send thee to thy own place ; and 
 yet to be on this side the everlasting burnings, this is whol- 
 ly owing to the riches of his forbearance. Ah, how is God 
 to be admired in this his glorious power over his own wrath ! 
 When we look abroad into the world, and see everj^where 
 sinners ripe for destruction, daring the God of heaven to his 
 face, yet forborne, how admirable is this power of God I 
 
 3. God not only exercises this power in a suspension of 
 
. HIS PATIENT WAITING. 75 
 
 his wrath against some, who, alas, must feel it at last ; but 
 he delays tJie execution of his wrath in a design of -mercy 
 towards others, tliat they ^nay never feel it. Isa. 48 : 8, 9. 
 Thus he bears with his own elect all the years of their lives 
 wherein they he in the state of nature, and go on in a course 
 of rebellion against God ; and tliis long-suffering of God 
 towards them proves their salvation, as you have it in 2 Pet, 
 3 : 15 ; "And account that the long-suffering of our Lord 
 is salvation." What is the meanmg of that ? Ah, Chris- 
 tian, thou mayest easily know the meaning of it, without 
 turning over many Commentaries. Thou art now in Christ, 
 safely escaped from the danger of wrath to come ; but thou 
 owest this thy salvation to the patience and long-suffering 
 of God towards thee. For what if he had cut thee off' in 
 the days of thy ignorance and rebellion against him, and 
 thou knowest that thou didst give him millions of provoca- 
 tions so to do, where hadst thou now been ? Thou hadst 
 never seen Christ, nor the least dawning hope of salvation 
 by him. Remember how oft you lay in those days upon 
 the bed of sickness and upon the brink of the grave ; and 
 what was it that saved thee from eternal wrath but this 
 admirable patience of Christ ? WeU, therefore, may the 
 apostle say, " Account that the long-suffermg of our Lord is 
 salvation." 
 
 This patience of God seems to spring out of his mercy ; 
 only it differs from mercy in this, that man as miser able is 
 the object of mercy, but man as criminal is the object of 
 patience. Such is the nature of divine patience, a power 
 of God over his own wrath, not only to suspend it for a time 
 towards them that perish, but to delay the execution of it 
 i:i a design of salvation towards others. 
 
 IL The evidences of this divine patience, or wherein it 
 appears in its glorious manifestations towards provoking 
 sinners ; and there are seven full evidences and discoveries 
 of it, which should make .the hearts of sinners melt wdthin 
 
76 CHRIST KNOCXINa AT THE .DOOR. 
 
 them, while they are sounding in their ears. Ah, methinks 
 such as these should melt down your hard hearts before the 
 Lord : 
 
 1. The first evidence shall be idikenfrom the multittule 
 of sins ivhich men are guilty of before him, the least of 
 which is a burden too heavy for any creature to bear ; the 
 Psalmist says, " Innumerable evils have compassed me 
 about." Psahn 40 : 12. It was true, as applied to the per- 
 son of David ; and though it be there also applied to the 
 person of Christ, yet none of them were his own sins, but 
 ours- — called his, by God's reckoning or imputmg them to 
 him. Men can number vast sums, millions of miUions ; but 
 no man can number his own sins, they exceed all account. 
 There is not a member of the body, though never so small, 
 but has been the instrument of innumerable evils. For in- 
 stance, the tongue, the apostle tells us, is a world of iniqui- 
 ty. Jas. 3:6. And if there be a world of sin in one mem- 
 ber, what then are the sins of all ? Ho\^ many idle, vain 
 words, has thy tongue uttered. And yet for them, Christ 
 says, men shall give an account in the day of judgment. 
 Matt. 12:36. And what have the sins of thy thoughts 
 been ? Solomon says, " The thought of foolishness is sin." 
 Prov. 24 : 9. who can understand his errors ? Yet the 
 patience of God has not failed under such innumerable evUs. 
 glorious patience I well may it be ushered in in the text 
 with a term of admiration, *' Behold, I stand !" 
 
 2. The second evidence of the divine patience shall be 
 taken from tlie heinous nature of some sins above others, 
 v.'hereby sinners fkj, as it were, in the very face of God ; 
 and yet he bears with long-suffering, restraining his hands 
 from cutting them off. All sins are not of equal magni- 
 tude ; some have a slighter hue, and some are deeper ; 
 called upon that account scarlet and crimson sins, Isaiah 
 1:18, double-dyed abominations; such are sins against 
 knowledge, or sins committed after convictions, and cove- 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING. 77 
 
 naiits, and rebukes of providence. I do not only speak of 
 outward gross acts of sin ; for though they are of greater 
 infamy, yet inward sins may be of greater guilt, even those 
 sins that never defamed thee in the world ; but whatever 
 they are, reader, whether outward or inward, thy conscience 
 is privy to them, and thy soul may stand amazed at the pa- 
 tience of God in forbearing all this while under such provo- 
 cations against him ; especially, considering how many are 
 this day in hell that never provoked God by simiing with 
 such a high hand as thou hast done. 
 
 3. There is a yet greater evidence of the patience of God 
 ill his bearing with us under the guilt of the special sin of 
 slighting and neglecting Jesus Christ. Here is a sin that 
 goes to the very heart of Jesus Christ. He can bear any 
 sin rather than that; and yet this has Christ borne from 
 every one of you. You have spurned the yearnings of his 
 mercy, slighted his grace, trampled his precious blood under 
 foot, and yet he has borne with you to this day. Let thy 
 conscience answer, whether thou art not equally deep in the 
 guilt of making light of Christ with those upon whom this 
 sin was charged by the Lord Jesus. Matt. 22 : 2-6. Christ 
 suffered the wrath of God in thy stead, and brought home 
 salvation in gospel-offers to thy door ; and then to be slight- 
 ed I No patience but his own could bear it. Every sermon 
 and prayer you have sat under with a dead heart, every 
 motion of his Spirit which you have quenched, what is this 
 but making light of Christ and the great salvation ? Here 
 the deepest project of infinite wisdom, and the richest gift oi 
 free-grace, wherein God commends his love to men, are un- 
 dervalued as small things : thus have you done days with- 
 out number ; and yet his hand is not stretched out to cut 
 thee off in thy rebelHon. " Who is a God like unto thee ?" 
 Micah 7:18. What patience is like the patience of Christ? 
 
 4. TJie length of time the patience of Christ lias borne 
 %(dth thee speaks its perfection and riches. Consider, sin- 
 
78 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOH. 
 
 ner, what age thou art of, how many years thou canst num- 
 ber, and that all this hath been a time of patience, for thou 
 wast a transgressor from the womb ; yet, for his name's sake 
 hath he deferred his anger and hath not cut thee off. Is^. 
 48 : 8, 9. How soon did the wrath of God break forth upon 
 the angels when they sinned in heaven ; and how long has 
 it borne with thee, while thou hast been provoking him on 
 earth. Was there ever patience like the patience of God ? 
 Many thousands have been sent away to hell since the 
 beginning of thy day, but thou art yet spared. that the 
 long-suffering of God might be salvation to thee. 
 
 5. A great evidence of the power of divine patience may 
 be drawn from the grievousness of our sins against God, 
 during the whole time of his foi'bearance. It is true there 
 is no passion in the divine nature, no perturbation; his 
 anger is a mild and holy flame ; yet the contrariety of sin 
 t9 the holiness of his nature is what makes his patience 
 wonderful in the eyes of men. The Scripture, speaking in 
 language fitted to the understanding of the creature, repre- 
 sents God as wounded to the heart by the sins of men : "I 
 am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed 
 from me," Ezek. 6:9; "Behold, I am pressed under you, 
 as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves," Amos 2 : 13, 
 when the axle-tree is ready to crack under the load. It is 
 said, " They mocked the messengers of God, and despised 
 his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the 
 Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy," 
 2 Chron. 36 : 16 ; his patience would endure no longer, and 
 therefore, when he executed his wrath upon provoking sin- 
 ners, that execution is represented in the nature of an ease 
 or relief to his burdened patience and justice: "Ah, I will 
 ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine ene- 
 mies." Isa. 1 : 24. Yet observe, it comes in with an Ah, 
 a kind of regret and reluctance ; so Isa. 10 : 25, " Yet a very 
 little while and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger 
 
HIS PATIENT WAlTINa. 70 
 
 in llieir destruction." God could have given ease and rest 
 tlii* way to his anger long ago, but he chooses rather still 
 to bear with thee, than on these terms to ease himself of 
 thee. 
 
 6 Tlie vast expense of his riches and bounty upon ttc^, 
 during the wlwle tione of his forbearance and patience 
 toivards lis, speaks him infinite in his long-suffering towards 
 us. *• Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbear-, 
 ance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of 
 God leadeth thee to repentance ?" Rom. 2:4. As if he 
 had said, " Vile sinner, canst "thou compute tjie treasures of 
 mercy thou hast been riotously wasting all this while ? 
 Dost thou know what vast sums Christ has spent upon thee 
 to preserve thee so long out of hell ?" There are two treas- 
 ures spendmg upon sinners, all the time of God's forbearance 
 with them : there is the precious treasure of thy time wasted, 
 and the invaluable streams of gospel-grace running all this 
 while to waste. Thy time is precious ; the whole of thy 
 time between thee and eternity is but Httle, and the most 
 of it has been wasted in sin and upon vanity. But that is 
 not all, the treasures of gospel-grace have been wasting all 
 this while upon thee. It is compared to golden oil, main- 
 taining the lamps of ordinances. Zech. 4:12. Who would 
 maintain a lamp with golden oil for careless children to play 
 by ? Yet this has God done while thy soul has trifled with 
 him. The witnesses and 'ministers of Christ, in Rev. 11:3, 
 4, are compared to those olive-trees that drop their precious 
 oil, their gifts, graces, yea, and their natural spirits with 
 them, into this lamp, to keep it burning. All this while 
 the blood of Christ has been running in vain, the ministers 
 of Christ preaching and beseeching in vain, the Spirit of 
 Christ striving with you in vain. You burn away golden 
 oil, and yet your lamp is not gone out. marvellous pa- 
 tience I the riches of God's forbearance I 
 
 7. The riches of divine patience towards you are greatly 
 
80 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 heightened hy the quick destruction the Lord luis sent on 
 othe? sinners, while he has spared and passed over ygu. 
 This comparative consideratiou calls upon you in the apos- 
 tle's language, " Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity 
 of God : on them which fell, severity ; but toward thee, 
 goodness, if thou continue in his goodness : otherwise thou 
 also shalt be cut off." Rom. 11 : 22. Some sinners have 
 been cut off in the beginning of their days, many in the very 
 acts of sin, and those not greater than thy sins ; they are 
 gone to their own place, and thou art still left a monument 
 of the patience and forbearance of God. The sin of Achan 
 was not a greater sin than thy covetousness and earthhness 
 of heart is ; the sin of Nadab and Abihu, in offering up 
 strange fire, was not greater than thy superstition in offering 
 up uncommanded services to God : yet the hand of God fell 
 on them, and smote them dead — in the day and place 
 wherein they sinned, they perished ; they were taken away 
 in their iniquities, but thou art reserved. that it may be 
 for an instance and example of the riches of divine patience, 
 which may at last lead thee to repentance. 
 
 Thus I have given you seven evidences of the wonderful 
 patience of Christ, who hath stood and still doth stand at 
 the door, knocking. 
 
 III. Next, we will inquire into the reasons of this mar- 
 vellous patience of Christ, this astonishing long-suffering of 
 God towards sinners. 
 
 1 . The exercise of his patience is a standing testimony 
 of his recorwilable and merciful nature towards sinful 
 man. This he showed forth in his patience towards Paul, 
 a great example of his merciful nature, for a pattern to 
 ll em who should hereafter believe on him. 1 Tim. 1:16. 
 The long-suffering of God is a special part of his revealed 
 glory ; and therefore when Moses desired a sight of his glory, 
 he proclaims his name, " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful 
 and gracious, long-sufferhig, and abundant in goodnesb and 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITINO^ ^ 81 
 
 truth." Exod. 34 : 6. He would have sinnei^^g^t-Birda 
 him as a God willing to be reconciled, a God that retains 
 not his anger for ever ; but if sinners will take hold of his 
 strength and make peace with him, they may have peace, 
 [sa. 27 : 5. This long-suffering is an attribute very ex- 
 pressive of the divine nature ; he is willing sinners should 
 know, whatever their provocations have been, that there is 
 room for pardon and peace, if they will yet come in to 
 accept the terms. Tliis patience is a diadem belonging to 
 the imperial crown of heaven; the Lord glories in it, as 
 peculiar to himself: " I will not execute the fierceness of 
 mine anger ; for I am God, and not man." Hos. 11:9. 
 As though he had said, " Had I been as man, the holiest, 
 meekest, and most mortified upon earth, I had consumed 
 them long ago; but * I am God, and not man :' my patience 
 is above all created patience ; no husband can bear with his 
 wife, no parent with liis child, as I have borne with you." 
 This is one reason of Christ's waiting upon trifling sinners, 
 to give proof of his gracious, merciful, and reconcilable na 
 ture towards the worst of men. 
 
 2. The Lord exercises this patience towards sinners, 
 thereby to lead them to repentance ; this is the direct inten- 
 tion of it. The Lord desires and delights to see ingenuous 
 relentings and brokenness of heart for sin ; and there is noth- 
 ing lilie his forbearance and patience in promoting such an 
 evangelical repentance. All the terrors of the law will not 
 break the heart of a sinner, as the patience and long-suffer- 
 ing of God will; therefore it is said that the goodness, for- 
 bearance, and long-suffering of God, lead men to repent- 
 ance. Rom. 2 : 4. These are fitted to work upon all the 
 principles of humanity which incline men to repentance ; 
 reason, conscience, gratitude, feel the influences of the good- 
 ness of God herein, and melt under it. Thus Saul's heart re- 
 lented : "Is this thy voice, my son David ? and Saul lifted up 
 his voice and wept. And he said to David, Thou art more 
 
 4* 
 
82 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOE,. 
 
 righteous than I ; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas 
 I have rewarded thee evil." 1 Sara. 24 : 16, 17. Thus the 
 goodness and forbearance of God doth, as it were, take a 
 sinner by the hand, lead him into a corner, and say, " Come, 
 let us talk together ; thus and thus vile hast thou been, and 
 thus and thus long-suffering and merciful has God been to 
 thee : thy heart has been full of sin, the heart of thy God 
 has been full of pity and mercy." This dissolves the sinner 
 into tears, and breaks his heart in pieces. If any thing 
 will melt a hard heart, this will do it. how good has 
 God been to me. How have I tried his patience to the 
 uttermost, and still he waits to be gracious, and is exalted 
 that he may have compassion. The sobs and tears, the in- 
 genuous relentings of a sinner's heart, under the apprehen- 
 sions of the sparing mercy and goodness of God, are the 
 music of heaven. 
 
 3. The Lord exercises this long-suffering towards sin- 
 ners, to clear his justice in the damnation of all obstinate 
 refusers of Christ and mercy. Christ waits at our doors 
 now, that he may be clear in his sentence against us here- 
 after. This patience of Christ takes away all pleas out of 
 the mouths of impenitent sinners ; the more Christ's patience 
 has been, the less defence they will have for themselves. 
 
 Think with thyself, sinner, what wilt thou answer in the 
 great day, when Christ shall say, "Did I not stand at thy 
 door from day to day, from Sabbath to Sabbath, from year to 
 year, calling and .persuading thee to be reconciled and ac- 
 cept pardon and mercy in the proper season of them, and 
 thou would est not ? "I gave her space to repent, and she 
 repented not." Rev. 2:21. The Lord gives you time now, 
 a space for repentance, such a space as millions of souls, 
 gone into a rpiserable eternity, never had. With whomso- 
 ever Christ has been quick and severe, surely he hath not 
 bjen so with you. This time of Christ's patience will be 
 evidence enough to clear him and condemn you ; men and 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING. 83 
 
 angels shall applaud the sentence, dreadful as it is, and say, 
 " Righteous art thou, Lord, in judging thus." 
 
 4. The Lord exercises his admirable patience towards sin- 
 ners /or the continuation and increase of the church. The 
 church must be continued and enlarged from age to age ; 
 and if God should cut off sinners as soon as they provoke 
 him, whence should the elect of God rise in this world ? 
 Many that will heartily embrace Christ, must be the descend- 
 ants of such as reject him. If God should cut off these in 
 the beginning of their provocations, how would the church 
 be continued ? Where had good Abijah and Hezekiah been, 
 if wicked Jeroboam and Ahaz had been cut off in their first 
 transgressions ? The Lord suffers many wicked parents to 
 stand for a time under his patience, because children are to 
 epring from them who will obey and embrace Christ whom 
 their wicked parents rejected. Yea, the wicked not only 
 propagate the church, but are useful to preserve and defend 
 it ; as the chaff is a defence to the wheat : " The earth helped 
 the woman." Eev. 12 : 16. 
 
 5. The Lord exercises this long-suffering towards sinners, 
 in gracious condescension to the 'prayers of his j^cople. Ex- 
 cept the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, 
 we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been 
 like unto Gomorrah. Isa. 1:9. The prayers and interces- 
 sions of the saints are a screen between wicked men and 
 the wrath of God for a time. The innocent preserve the 
 island. Job 22 : 30. The world stands by the prayers of 
 the saints ; what multitudes of rebellious, Christ-despising 
 sinners swarm in every part of this nation I Such declare, 
 by their open practice, that they will not have Christ to reign 
 over them ; they now contemn his ofiers, and despise his 
 messengers ; but blessed be God, yea, and let them bless him 
 too, there are others praying to the Lord for them, beseech- 
 ing liis forbearance towards them. Little do the wicked 
 know hov/ much they are beholden to the prayers of the 
 
84 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 saiats. These and such like reasons prevail with the Lord 
 Jesus to stand in a waiting posture at the door of sinners' 
 hearts. Ah, how loath is he to give them up. We now 
 proceed to the uses of this doctrine. 
 
 And first, this point will be very fruitful for information 
 of our understandings in several great and useful points, both 
 doctrinal and practical, wherein every soul is deeply con- 
 cerned ; and therefore, I beseech you, let them be heard and 
 pondered with an answerable attention and seriousness of 
 spirit. 
 
 Inference 1 . If the Lord Jesus exercises such admirable 
 patience, then hoiu much better is it for sinners to be in the 
 hands of Christ, tluin i?t the hands of the holiest man in 
 the world. sinner, it is better for thee to fall into the 
 hands of the meek and merciful Jesus, than into the hands 
 of the dearest friend thou hast on earth : no creature can 
 bear what Christ bears — no patience is like the patience of 
 Christ. It is said of Moses, " Now the man Moses was very 
 meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the 
 earth." Numb. 12:3. There was never such a man born 
 into the world, for patience, meekness, and long-suffering, as 
 Moses was ; and yet this mirror of meekness could not bear 
 the provocations of Israel : "Ye rebels," saith he, " must 
 we fetch water out of this rock ?" Numb. 20 : 10. Thus 
 was his spirit ruffled with the provocations of Israel, and 
 this lost him the land of Canaan. Jonah was a good man, 
 a prophet of the Lord ; yet because the Lord would not be 
 so quick and severe with Nineveh as Jonah had predicted, 
 in what uncomely language does his angry soul speak to 
 his God : " Lord, was not this my saying, when I was 
 yet in my country ? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish ; 
 for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow 
 to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the 
 evil. Therefore now, Lord, take, I beseech thee, ray life 
 from mc ; for it is better for me to die than to live " Jonah 
 
KliS PATIENT WAITING. 86 
 
 4 : 2, 3. As if he had said, " Ah, Lord, I know it would 
 come to this ; I knew thy gracious nature, how incUncd thou 
 art to mercy, and that upon the first appearance of their 
 repentance thou wouldst repent of the evil, and so free-grace 
 would make me seem as a deceiver among them." 
 
 Give me leave to speak a higher word than all this, ami 
 let it not seem strange, that the patience of the glorified 
 saints in heaven is nothing to the patience of Christ towards 
 provoking sinners upon earth. Those glorified souls, though 
 they have patience among other graces, perfected in its kind, 
 still it is but finite patience and cannot bear what Christ's 
 patience bears. Take an instance of it out of Rev. 6:9, 10, 
 11 : "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were 
 slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they 
 held ; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, 
 Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our 
 blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And it was said 
 unto them, that they should rest for a little season." Here 
 you see glorified souls less able to bear the slow pace of jus- 
 tice towards their enemies, than Christ was. There was no 
 sinful impatience, but yet a patience short of Christ's infinite 
 patience. Ah, if you were to depend on the patience of any 
 creature in heaven or earth, you had worn it out long ago. 
 " I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger ; for I am 
 God, and not man." It is well that we have to do with 
 God : " H' a man find his enemy, will he let him go well 
 away ?" 1 Sara. 24 : 19. No, he will reckon with him 
 before he parts with him. Sinner, the Lord finds thee daily 
 in thy sins, and yet allows thee to go; yet beware thou try 
 not his patience too far, lest vengeance overtake thee at last, 
 and pay the justice of God with all the arrears due to his 
 patience. 
 
 2. Hence it follows, that co7ivinced and hroken-hearted 
 sinners need 7iot be discouraged in going to Jesus Christ 
 for mercy, seeing he exercises such ivonderful patience 
 
86 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 towards, obstinate and refusing si?mers. This inference 
 breathes the pure gospel ; it is a cordial to cheer the heart 
 that is moving towards Christ with fear and trembling. It 
 is a great artifice of Satan, to daunt and discourage poor con- 
 vinced sinners by telling them there is no hope of mercy for 
 them ; that they shall find the arms of mercy closed ; that 
 the time of mercy is now past, and they come too late. 
 how busy is Satan with such suggestions as these in many 
 of your souls. But I am instructed to tell you that these are 
 but the artifices of the enemy. : you are going to the fountain 
 of mercy, patience, goodness, and long-suffering ; go on, and 
 you shall find abundantly more than you expect. He will 
 not cast off a soul that comes mourning and panting towards 
 him, and is willing to subscribe the gospel-articles of recon- 
 ciliation. No, he will not shut out such a soul, whatever 
 its rebelhons and provocations have been. Sinner, thou art 
 going to the meek and merciful Jesus, who has said, " Come 
 unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
 give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for 
 I am meek and lowly in heart." Matt. 11 : 28, 29. You 
 are going to meekness and mercy itself: he is " the Lamb of 
 God," that is his name. Go on then, trembling sinner; do 
 not stand any longer inquiring, shall I, shall I ? but make a 
 bold and necessary venture of faith ; try him once, and then 
 report what you find him to be. Certainly, if he exercises 
 such patience as he does towards the vessels of wrath while 
 they are fitting for destruction, Rom. 9 : 22, he will not 
 want patience for a vessel of mercy, preparing by humiliation 
 and faith for Christ and glory. Does he bear with those 
 that stand in defiance, and will he fall on those that are 
 mourning before him upon the knee of submission ? Shall 
 a condemned sinner, who is preparing for hell, find so much 
 forbearance, and a poor broken-hearted sinner none? It 
 cannot be. If Jesus Christ bore with thee when thy heart 
 was hard as a rock, and would not shed one tear for sin, will 
 
HIS TATIENT WAITING. 87 
 
 he execute his wrath upon thee, and show thee no mercy, 
 \\ lien thy heart is broken to pieces with sorrow, and filled 
 with loathing and detestation against sin, and thyself for sin ? 
 Did he bear with thee when sin was thy delight ; and will 
 he destroy thee now it is thy burden ? It cannot be. 
 
 Moreover, if the Lord Jesus were not willing to show 
 mercy to thy soul, now that thine eyes are opened and thy 
 heart touched to the quick, why has he foreborne the execu- 
 tion of his wrath so long ? He might have taken his own 
 time to cut thee off; he might have made any day the exe- 
 cution-day. But among all the days of thy life, the day of 
 thy humihation, the day of thy faith, is not likely to prove 
 that day. 
 
 Again, as great and vile sinners as thyself have ventured 
 upon the grace of Christ, and found it infinitely beyond their 
 expectation. These the Lord Jesus has set forth as encour- 
 aging examples to all broken-hearted sinners coming after ; 
 that they, seeing how it fared with those who went before 
 them to Christ, may be encouraged to go to him with more 
 confidence. " I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ 
 might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them 
 which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 
 1 Tim. 1:16. Then shut your ears against all the whispers 
 of Satan : entertain no evil reports of Christ. Satan loves to 
 draw a false picture of Christ, and represent him in the 
 most discouraging form to trembling sinners ; but you will 
 not find him so. What can Christ say more to convince and 
 satisfy souls than he has done ? He has left the bosom of 
 the Father, he has entered into union with thy nature, he has 
 poured out his soul unto death ; he has told us, that, he will 
 in nowise cast out those that come unto him. Thousands 
 have gone before us in the paths of repentance and faith, and 
 found it according to his word ; you have been spared all 
 your life to this day of mercy. do not stand off now upon 
 such weak objections. 
 
88 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOK. 
 
 3. The Imig-svffering of Christ towards sin7iers teaches 
 his ministers to imitate their Lord in patience and long- 
 snffering. Christ is our pattern of patience ; if he wait, 
 much more may we. We think it much to stand from Sab- 
 bath to Sabbath, pleading and inviting, and are apt to be 
 discouraJ^ed when we see no fruit follow. The want of suc- 
 cess is apt to cast us under Jeremiah's temptation, to speak 
 no more in his name, and make us lament with Isaiah that 
 we have labored in vain. It is a hard case to study, pray, 
 and preach, and see all our labors without fruit. It is not 
 so much the toil as the returning of our labors upon us in 
 vain, that discourages our hearts. Ministers would not die so 
 fast, says Mr. Lockyer on Colossians, nor be grey-headed so 
 soon, did they see the fruits of their labors upon their people. 
 But let us look to our Pattern in the text, "Behold, I stand at 
 the door and knock." If the master wait, let not the servant 
 be weary : " The servant of the Lord must not strive ; but 
 be gentle unto all men, apt to' teach, patient ; in meekness 
 instructing those that oppose themselves ; if God peradven- 
 ture will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the 
 truth." 2 Tim. 2 : 24, 25. 
 
 Though the beginning be small, our latter end may 
 greatly increase. Though we now fish with hooks, and take 
 but now one and then another, the time may come, and we 
 hope it is at the door, when we shall spread our nets and 
 inclose multitudes. Aretius, a pious divine, comforteth him- 
 self thus, under the unsuccessfulness of his labors : " Perhaps 
 future days will afford more tractable spirits and easier tem- 
 pers of mind than our present times give." Besides, the 
 fruit of our labors may spring up to a blessed harvest when 
 we are gone : " One soweth, and another reapeth," John 
 4 : 37 ; but if not, our reward Avill not be measured by the 
 success, but by the sincerity of our designs and labors. Our 
 zeal for the conversion of souls to Christ will be accepted, 
 but our discouragement in his service will certainly displeaso 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING. 89 
 
 him. If Israel be not gathered, yet shall we be glorious in 
 the eyes of the Lord. However, let this be a caution to you 
 that hear, that you cast not our souls under such discourage- 
 ments. If I may speak the sense of others from my own 
 experience, I can assure you that the fixedness of your hearts 
 in the ways of sin, and your untractableness to the calls of 
 God, are a greater burden and discouragement to ministers 
 than all the sufferings they meet with from the world ; yet 
 are they contented to pray and preach in hope, encouraging 
 themselves — the Lord grant it be not without ground — that 
 a crop shall yet spring up, which shall make the harvest-men 
 rejoice. 
 
 4. From the 'patience and long-suffering of Christ, we 
 may learn the invaluable preciousness of souls, and the 
 high esteem Christ lias for them. Though your souls be 
 cheap in your own eyes, and you are contented to sell them 
 for a trifle, for a little sensual pleasure and ease, yet cer- 
 tainly Jesus Christ has a high estimate of them, else he 
 would never stand knocking with such importunity, and 
 waiting with such wonderful patience for their salvation, 
 Christ knows their worth, though you do not ; he accounts, 
 and so should you, one of your souls of more worth than the 
 whole world. Matt. 16 : 26. The soul of the poorest child 
 or meanest servant is of greater value in Christ's eye, than 
 the whole world ; and he has given three great evidences 
 of it. 
 
 (1.) That he thought it worth his blood to redeem and 
 save it. " Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, 
 as silver and gold ; but with the precious blood of Christ." 
 1 Pet. 1 : 18, 19. Had they not been precious in bis eyes, 
 he would never have shed his most precious blood to ransom 
 them. 
 
 (2.) Were they not highly valuable hi his eyes, he would 
 never wait with such unwearied patience to save them. He 
 has borne thousands of repulses and unreasonable denials 
 
90 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 from you. Sinner, Christ has knocked at thy door in many 
 a sermon, in many a prayer, in many a sickness — in all 
 which thou hast denied liim or delayed him ; yet still he con- 
 tinues knocking and waiting. Thou couldst not have made 
 the poorest beggar in the world wait at thy door so long as 
 thy Redeemer has been made to wait, and yet he is not 
 gone ; at this day his voice sounds in thine ears, " Behold, I 
 stand at the door and knock." Here is clear demonstration 
 of the preciousness of thy soul in the Redeemer's eyes. 
 And then, 
 
 (3.) "When Christ ends the treaty, and gives up the souls 
 of men for lost, with what sorrow does he part with them. 
 Never did one friend part from another with such demonstra- 
 tions of sorrow as Christ parts with the souls of sinners. 
 The bowels of his compassion roll together ; for he knows 
 what is coming upon them, and what that eternal misery is 
 into which their wilful rejection of him will cast them. You 
 read of the Redeemer's tears shed over the obstinate inhab- 
 itants of Jerusalem : *' And when he was come near, he 
 beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst 
 known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which 
 belong unto thy peace I but now they are hid from thine eyes." 
 Luke 19:41, 42. Like unto this is that expression, Isa. 
 1 : 24, " Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge 
 me of mine enemies." Though it be an ease to his justice, 
 yet he cannot give them up without an "Ah," an interjection 
 of sorrow; so in Hos. 11 : 8, "How shaU I give thee up, 
 Ephraim ? How shall I deUver thee, Israel ?" I must do 
 it, but how shall I go about it ? All these expressions show 
 the great value God has for your souls ; and did you know 
 it also, you would not make Christ wait one hour longer. 
 
 5. Hence it follows, tluit greater is the sin, and severer 
 ivill be the condemnation of them, tliat jy^^ish under the 
 gospel, than of all others. Let me speak freely to you of 
 this. Jesus Christ has spent more of the riches of his 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING. 91 
 
 patience upon you in one year, yea, in this very day, than 
 he has spent upon the heathen in all their lives. They 
 never heard of Christ and the great salvation — they have 
 had no calls to faith and repentance as you have had ; do 
 not tliink God has dealt in this way w^ith other nations. 
 You have his Sabbaths, ministers, calls ; "He hath not dealt 
 so with any nation ; and as for his judgments, they have not 
 known them." Psalm 147 : 20. God has dealt in a pecu- 
 liar way with us, and these special favors will make dread- 
 ful accounts. He told the Jews, among whom he had 
 preached and vn-ought his miracles, it would be more toler- 
 able for Sodom and Gomorrah, m the day of judgment, than 
 for them ; and in his name I will tell you this day, that 
 barbarous Indians will have a milder hell than you. The 
 Lord told Ezekiel, " Thou art not sent to a people of a 
 strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou 
 canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they 
 would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel 
 wilt not hearken unto thee ; for they wiM not hearken unto 
 me : for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-heart- 
 ed." Ezek. 3:5-7. 
 
 Ah, had a heathen people had your Sabbaths, your mm- 
 isters, and Bibles, they would not have dealt by Christ as 
 you have done. But look you to it, for certainly the severity 
 of his justice will at last recompense the expense of his 
 patience. There are two glasses turned up this day, and 
 both are almost run down : the glass of the gospel running 
 down on earth, and the glass of Christ's patience running 
 down in heaven. Be sure of it, that for every sand of 
 mercy, every drop of love that runs down in vain in this 
 world, a drop of wrath runs into the vial of wrath which is 
 filling up in heaven. 
 
 6. If Christ hath exercised such ivonderful patience 
 and long-suffering towards you, before he could gain en- 
 trance into your hearts, then you liave reason to exercise 
 
92 CHUIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 your patience for Christ,, and accou?it all Imig-suffering 
 to be your unquestionable duty. Christ was not Avcary iii 
 waiting upon you, be not you weary in waiting upon him, 
 or for him. There are three things wherein the people of 
 God will have much occasion to exercise their patience with 
 respect to Christ. 
 
 (1.) You will need patience to wait for th-e answers of 
 your prayers : you knock and wait at the door of mercy, 
 and no answer comes ; hereupon discouragement and weari- 
 ness seize your spirits. Possibly some of you have prayers 
 many years gone upon the file in heaven, some upon spiritual 
 accounts and some upon temporal ; and because the answer 
 is not sent, your eyes are ready to fail with waiting : for 
 the Lord may bear long with his own elect. Luke 18:7. 
 The seed of prayer lies under the clods, and will at last 
 spring up. He never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me 
 in vain. Isa. 45 : 19. None seek God in vain, but those 
 who seek him vainly. You should not be too short-breathed 
 in waiting on God for the returns of prayer, considering how 
 long you made Christ wait on you. 
 
 (2.) You will have occasion to exercise your patience in 
 bearing the burden of reproaches and sufferings for Christ. 
 " For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only 
 to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." Phil 
 1 : 29. Sufierings, you see, are the gift of Christ; the com- 
 fort of suiTering is his gift, and so is the ability to suffer aL«o ; 
 and that which will increase your suffering abihty, will be 
 the consideration of Christ's long suffering towards you, and 
 the hard things he endured for you and from you. 
 
 (3.) You will have occasion to exercise your patience 
 for the day of your complete redemption and salvation. 
 If you love Christ fervently, the time of your separation from 
 him will be borne with difficulty ; vehement love needs tlie 
 allay of patience. " The Lord direct your hearts into the 
 love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ." 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING. 93 
 
 2 Thess. 3:5 Others need patience to die, but you will 
 need as much patience to live ; but wherever the exercise of 
 your patience shall be, whether in waiting for the returns of 
 your prayers, in bearing the cross of Christ, or in waiting 
 for the day of your complete redemption and enjoyment of 
 Christ, this single consideration, that Christ stood and waited 
 so long on you, is enough to fortify your patience against all 
 the difficulties it can encounter. 
 
 7. If Cknst thus patiently wait upoii trifling and 
 obstinate sinners^ then let no godly persons be discouraged 
 because tlwir unregenerate relatives have not yet made their 
 first step towards Christ, in the way of repentance and 
 faith. It may be you have laid up a stock of prayers for 
 them : the believing husband has prayed for his unbelieving 
 wife, and the believing wife for her unbelieving husband ; 
 godly parents for their ungodly children, and the pious child 
 for his ungodly parents ; and yet no returns of prayer appear. 
 Many cries are gone up to heaven like that of Abraham, "0 
 that Ishmael might live before thee." Gen. 17:18. Be 
 not discouraged, Christ waits, and therefore well may you. 
 Those cries of parents, " Lord, my poor child is in the state 
 of nature, look in mercy upon him, open his eyes, break his 
 heart for sin, draw his will to Christ," may not be lost, 
 though the fruit of them yet appear not. Consider how long 
 Christ waited on you. There are three things that encour- 
 age hope. 
 
 (1.) That your hearts and theirs were of the same nat- 
 ural character; and the same power which opened your 
 hearts, can open theirs : thy understanding was once as dark, 
 thy heart as hard, and thy will as inflexible as thy relatives' 
 now are. The same hand that opened thy heart can open 
 theirs. Do not think Christ had an easier task to win thy 
 heart than he will have to win theirs. Almighty power 
 wrought upon you, and the same power can work eflectually 
 upon them ; " the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it can- 
 
94 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 not save ; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." 
 Isa. 69:1. 
 
 (2.) You have reason to wait, as it is probable you your- 
 selves have put stumbling-blocks in the way of their souls to 
 Christ, and hindered the answers to your own prayers for the 
 conversion of your relatives. Christians, there is more 
 due to them than your prayers— prayers must be accom- 
 panied with example ; had they not only heard your cries 
 to God for them, but seen your suitable encouraging example 
 set before them also, you and they might have rejoiced 
 together long ago. But, 
 
 (3.) Consider that God many times makes the fruit of 
 such prayers to spring up after those that sowed them are 
 dead and gone. The Lord may give hfe to your prayers 
 when you are dead : certainly your prayers die not with you. 
 It is the opinion of some that Paul's conversion was the 
 return of Stephen's prayer, " Lord, lay not this sin to their 
 charge." Acts 7 : 60. Steplien died, but his prayers lived, 
 and were answered upon one that stood by and consented to 
 his death. But however it be, wait still upon God ; if 
 your prayers come not into their bosoms, they will certainly 
 return into your own. Here is duty discharged, and love to 
 Christ and their souls manifested, which will be your com- 
 fort, however God dispose the event. 
 
 But further, the doctrine of Christ's patience puts a 
 great and serious exhortation into my mouth, to press one 
 of the greatest duties. And could I deliver this exhortation 
 to you upon my knees, with tears of blood mingled with my 
 words, might that prevail, I would surely do it. 
 
 8. My exhortation is to all that are in an unregenerate 
 Btate, that they p^esuine not to try the patience of Christ 
 any longer. If you have any regard to your eternal hap- 
 piness, exercise not his patience another hour. that this 
 hour might put an end to Christ's waiting and your dan- 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING. 95 
 
 ger I Hitherto you have wearied men, but will you weary 
 God also? Christ has called, but you have refused ; he has 
 stretched out his hands, but you have not regarded. Prov. 
 1 : 24. Your thoughts have been wandering after vanity 
 while the voice of the gospel has been sounding in your 
 ears : some of you have been sottish, and incapable of appre- 
 hending spiritual truths ; others of you sensual, given up to 
 the pleasures of the world, and abandoning all serious 
 thoughts about the world to come. Some of you have 
 been buried alive in the cares of the world, and others 
 settled upon a dead formality in religion ; and to this day 
 Christ hath called upon you in vain. Now that which I 
 exhort you to is, that you venture not to try the patience of 
 Christ one day longer ; if you have any regard to the ever- 
 lasting happiness of your souls, come not under the guilt 
 and danger of one denial or delay more. If you ask me, 
 Why may we not venture a little longer ? Christ has borne 
 with us all this while, and will he not bear a little longer ? 
 May we not take a little more pleasure in sin ? May we 
 not hazard one sermon or Sabbath more ? I answer, No. 
 If your souls are precious in your eyes, let there be no more 
 denials, nor delays to Christ's suit. For, 
 
 (1 ) How patient and long-suffering soever Christ has 
 been, yet there will be an end of the clay of his patience — 
 a time when he will wait no longer, when his Spirit shall 
 strive no more with you. There will be a knock of Christ 
 at the heart, which will be the last knock that ever he 
 wilL give — a time when the master of the house will rise 
 up, and the door be shut. Matt. 25 : 10. You have had 
 to do with a meek and patient Saviour ; but believe it, 
 sinners, there is a day of " the tvrath of the Lamh^ and 
 that day will be dreadful. Then will sinners cry " to the 
 mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the 
 face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath 
 of the Lamb." Rev. 6 : 16. if this wrath be once kin- 
 
90 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 died, though but a little I Blessed are they that trust m 
 him, that have finished their agreement with him. The 
 day of Christ's patience towards Jerusalem was a long day, 
 but it had an end, and it ended in their desolation, Matt. 
 23 : 37 ; therefore try the patience of Christ no further : 
 you know not the limits of it ; it may end with your next 
 refusal, and then where are you ? 
 
 (2.) The longer Christ has exercised his patience already 
 towards you, the more terribly will he avenge the abuse of 
 it upon you in hell. It is past doubt with me, that there 
 are different degrees of torment in hell : the Scriptures are 
 plain and clear on this point. Now, among all the aggra- 
 vations of the torments of hell, none can be greater than 
 the reflections of damned souls upon the abused patience and 
 grace of Christ. Those who had the best means, the loudest 
 calls, and the longest day under the gospel, will certainly 
 have the hottest place in hell, if the goodness and long- 
 suffering of Christ do not now lead them to repentance. 
 The cries of such souls will be heard above the cries of aU 
 other miserable wretches who are cast away. It shall be 
 mor.e tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for Caperna- 
 um. Matt. 11 : 23. friends, you little know the reflec- 
 tions of conscience in hell upon such hours as you now enjoy — 
 ?uch wooing, charming voices and allurements to Christ as 
 you now hear. There are many thousands of souls in hell 
 from the dark, heathenish parts of the world, where they 
 never heard of Christ ; but your misery will be far beyond 
 theirs, your reflections more sharp and bittei: : therefore 
 delay no longer, lest you perish with peculiar aggravation 
 of misery. 
 
 (3.) Try the patience of Christ no further, I beseech you, 
 forasmuch as you see every day the patience of Christ end- 
 ing towards others — patience retiring, and j ustice ai'ising to 
 triumph over the abusers of mercy. You not only read in 
 Scripture the ending of God's patience with men, but you 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING. 97 
 
 may see it every day. If you look into scripture, you may 
 find the patience of God ended towards multitudes of sin- 
 ners, who possibly had the same presumptions and vain 
 hopes for the continuance of it that you now have. If you 
 look into 1 Peter, 3 : 19, 20, you there find that Christ 
 '• went and preached unto the spirits in prison ; which some- 
 time were disobedient, when once the long-suflering of God 
 Waited in the days of Noah." The meaning of which is, 
 that in the days before the flood, Christ by his Spirit strove 
 with the disobedient and rebellious sinners in the ministry 
 of Noah, who then were hving men and w^omen as we are, 
 but now are "spirits in prison," that is, damned souls in 
 hell, for their disobedience : and truly, brethren, you may 
 frequently behold the glass of patience run down, the very 
 last sand in it spent upon others. Whenever you see a 
 wicked, Christless man or woman die, you see the end of 
 God's patience with that man or woman ; and all this for a 
 warning to you, that you venture not to trifle and dally 
 with it as they did. 
 
 (4.) Do not try God's patience any longer, if you love 
 your souls, for this reason : because when men grow bold, 
 and encourage themselves in sin on account of God's for- 
 bearance and long-suflering towards them, there cannot be 
 a more certain sign that his patience is very near its end 
 towards them. It is time for God to put an end to his 
 patience, when it is made an encouragement to sin. He 
 cannot suffer so vile an abuse of his patience, nor endure to 
 see it turned into wantonness. This quickly brings up sin 
 to its finishing act, and then patience is just finishing also. 
 That patience is thus abused, appears from Eccl. 8:11: 
 " Because sentence against an evil work is not executed 
 speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set 
 in them to do evil." When divine patience is thus abused, 
 look for a sudden change. therefore beware of provok- 
 ing God, for now the day of patience is certainly near its 
 
 Christ KuockJBg. 
 
98 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR 
 
 end \vith sinners. *' Because I have called, and ye refused; 
 I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded : but 
 ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none o\ 
 my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will moch 
 when your fear cometh : when your fear cometh as desola- 
 tion, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind." Prov. 
 1 : 24-27. Ah, when sinners scofT and mock at the threat- 
 enings of God, and bear themselves up on his patience, as 
 that which will never break under them, then look out for 
 a whirlwind, a sudden tempest of wrath, which will hurry 
 such souls into hell. Then misery comes like a storm blow- 
 ing furiously from all quarters. The heavens are yet clear 
 over you, but a storm is nigh, and may certainly be presaged 
 from such vile abuses of the glorious patience of Christ 
 towards you. This is the first exhortation, try not the 
 patience of Christ by any further delays. 
 
 9. Again, admire Christ's patience and forbearance 
 until now, that he has not cut you off in sin, but brought 
 about your salvation by his long-suffering towards you. 
 Here now I must change my voice, and turn it to those 
 whose hearts the Lord hath opened. Stand amazed at the 
 riches of his grace towards you, and see that you account 
 this long-suffering of God to be your salvation ; for in plain 
 truth it is so : your salvation was bound up in Christ's for- 
 bearance. If Christ had not borne with you as he did, you 
 had not been where you are. I could heartily wish, that 
 all the time you can redeem from the necessary employ 
 ments you have in the world, may be spent in a humble, 
 thankful admiration of this wonderful grace and patience of 
 Christ, and in duties answerable to the intentions and ends 
 thereof. To this end I shall subjoin divers weighty consid- 
 erations, which, methinks, should melt every heart wherein 
 the least degree of saving grace is found. 
 
 (1 .) Bethink yourselves of the great and manifold prov- 
 ocations you have given the Lord to pitt an end to all 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING. 99 
 
 further patience towards you ; not only in the days of your 
 unregeneracy, but even since your reconciliation to him. D& 
 you not believe thousands of sinners are now in the dcjpths 
 of lieil, who never provoked the Lord more than you have 
 donii ? Were you not once among the vilest of sinners ? 
 " And such were some of you," 1 Cor. G : 11 — as vile as the 
 vilest among them ; yet you are washed in the blood of 
 Christ, while your companions are in the lowest hell : or if 
 your. lives were more clean, sure your hearts were as filthy 
 as theirs. And certainly your sins, since the time of your 
 reconcihation, have had special aggravations enough to put 
 an end to all further mercies towards you. Light and love 
 have aggravated these sins, and yet the Lord has not cast 
 you oiT. 
 
 (2.) How often have you been on the very brink of hell, 
 in the days of your unregeneracy. Every sickness and 
 every danger to life which you have escaped in those days, 
 was a marvellous escape from the everlasting wrath of God. 
 Had thy disease prevailed one degree further, thou hadst 
 been past hope and out of the reach of mercy's arm now. 
 Doubtless some of you can remember, when in such and 
 such a disease, you were like a ship riding in a furious storm 
 by one cable, and two or three of the strands even of that 
 cable were snapped asunder. So it has been with you : the 
 thread of life, how weak soever, has held till the bonds of 
 union between Christ and your souls were fastened, and the 
 eternal hazard over. This is admirable grace. 
 
 (3.) How often lias death entered i'nto your houses and 
 taken away your nearest relatives, but had no commission 
 to carry you out with them, because the Lord had a design 
 of mercy upon your soul. This cannot but aflect a gracious 
 heart, that God should smite so near, and yet spare you. 
 
 (1.) This also is affecting, that God has not only given 
 you time beyond others, but in that time the precious oppor- 
 tunities and means of your salvation, both external and in 
 
100 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 temal. There is the very marrow and kernel of the mercy. 
 Had God lengthened out his patience for a while, but given 
 you no means of salvation, or afforded you the means but 
 denied you the blessing and efficacy of them, at the most it 
 could have been but a reprieve from hell ; but for the Lord 
 to give you the gospel, and with the gospel to send down 
 his Spirit to persuade and open thy heart to Christ, here is 
 the riches of his goodness as well as forbearance. 
 
 10. This doctrine of the patience of Christ exhorts all 
 who have felt it, to exercise a Christlike patience towards 
 others. As you have found the benefit of divine patience 
 yourselves, see that you exercise the meekness and long- 
 suffering of Christians towards those who have wronged and 
 injured you. Who should show patience more than those 
 who have found it ? Do not be severe, short, and quick 
 with others, who have lived yourselves so many years upoii 
 the long-suffering of God. We are poor, hasty creatures, 
 quick to revenge injuries ; but 0, had God been so to us, 
 miserable had our condition been. Christ has made this 
 duty the scope of that excellent parable, Matt. 18, from 
 verse 23 onward, where the king takes an account of his 
 servants, reckoning with them one by one, and among them 
 finds ohe who owed him ten thousand talents ; and having 
 nothing wherewith to pay, his lord commands him, his wife 
 and children, and all he had, to be sold, and payment to be 
 made ; but the servant falling down and begging patience, 
 his lord was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and 
 not only forbore, but forgave the debt. One would think 
 the heart of this man would have been a fountain of com- 
 passion towards others ; but see the deep corruption of 
 nature : the same servant finding one of his fellow-servants 
 wlio owed him but a hundred pence, laid hands on him, and 
 took him by the throat. Alas, the wrongs done to us are 
 but trifles, compared with the injuries we have done to God ; 
 where others have wronged you once, you have wronged God 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITINa. 101 
 
 a tliou&aiid times. Methinks the patience of Chnst towards 
 you should melt your hearts into an ingenuous readiness to 
 forgive others ; especially, considering that an unforgiving 
 spirit is a dreadful sign of an unforgiven person. 
 
 1 1 . Burde7i not tlw 'patience of Christ after your recoti' 
 cUiation to him. Let it suffice that you tried his patience 
 long enough before. Give him no new trials of it, now he 
 is come to dwell in and with you for ever. There are two 
 ways wherein God's own people do greatly provoke him after 
 their reconciliation. 
 
 (1.) By shiggish?iess and deadncss of spirit in duty , 
 turning a deaf ear to the calls and motions of Christ's Spirit 
 exciting them to the sweet and pleasant duties of religion. 
 We^ have a sad instance of this in the bride : "It is the 
 voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my 
 sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled ; for my head is 
 filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." 
 Sol. Songs, 5:2. One would think that Christ might have 
 opened the heart of his own spouse with less sohcitation and 
 importunate arguments than he here uses. What wife 
 could shut the door upon her own husband, and bar him out 
 of his own house ? And yet see the idle excuse she makes, 
 *• I have put off my coat ; how shall I put it on ? I have 
 washed my feet ; how shall I defile them?" Ver. 3. 
 
 the sluggishness of even regenerate persons I Those 
 who have opened the door to Christ by regeneration, even 
 they do often shut it against him in the hours and seasons 
 of communion with him. Strange, that Christ should be 
 put off while calling to such pleasant and heavenly exer- 
 cises as communion with him ; but flesh will be flesh, even 
 in the most spiritual Christians. Little do we know what 
 a grief this is to Christ, and what a loss to us. 
 
 (2.) Many grieve Christ's Spirit, and sorely try his pa- 
 tience, even after reconciliation, by sinning against light 
 and love. That caution, Eph. 4': 30, is not without weighty 
 
102 CHRISI KNOCKING AT IHE DOOR. 
 
 cause: " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are 
 sealed unto the day of redemption." 
 
 Do we thus requite the Lord ? Is this the return we 
 make for all his kindness and unparalleled love towards us ? 
 Certainly, Christ can bear a thousand injuries from his ene- 
 iqies, easier than such affronts from his own people. Did 
 you not promise him better obedience ? Did you not engage 
 to more holiness and watchfulness, in the day that you sued 
 out your pardon and made your peace with him ? Are all 
 those vows and covenants forgotten ? If you have forgotten 
 them, God hath not. 
 
 12. Improve the time that remuins in this world with 
 double diligence, because you made Christ wait so long, 
 and cast away so great a part of your life, before you opened 
 your hearts to receive him. The morning of your Ufe, which 
 was certainly the freshest and freest part of it, was no 
 better than time lost with many of you ; all the days of 
 your unregeneracy Christ was shut out, and vanity shut 
 into your hearts. You never began to live till Christ gave 
 you life, and that was late in the day with many of you. 
 How should this provoke to extraordinary diligence in the 
 short remains of time we have yet to enjoy. It was Au- 
 gustine's lamentation, " Lord, it repents me that I loved 
 thee so late." Tliis consideration excited Paul to extraor- 
 dinary diligence for Christ. It made him fly up and down 
 the world like a seraph, in a flame of holy zeal for Christ. 
 Those who have much to write, and are almost come to the 
 end of their paper, had need write close. Friends, you have 
 something to do for God on earth, which you cannot do for 
 him in heaven. Isa. 38 : 18, 19. You who have ungodly 
 relatives, have something to do for them here which you 
 cannot do in heaven. You can now counsel, exhort, and 
 pray, in order to their conversion and salvation ; but when 
 you are gone down to the grave, these opportunities of ser- 
 vice are cut off. 
 
HIS PAIIENX WAillKOr. 103 
 
 13. Lee us all be ashamed and humbled for the base- 
 m<ss of our hearts, which made ChHst wait at the door so 
 long before we opened to him. what wretched hearts 
 have we. They are no more affected with the groans of 
 Christ's heart than with those of a beast ; nor so much, if 
 that beast were our own. the vileness of nature, to make 
 the Prince of the kings of the earth, bringmg pardon and 
 salvation with him, stand so long unanswered. Let who 
 will cry up the goodness of human nature, I am sure we 
 have reason to look upon the vileness of it with amazement 
 and horror. 
 
 14. Let Its bless the Lord Jesus for the continuation of 
 his patience, both to ourselves and to the nation in which 
 we live. The mercilul and long-suflermg Redeemer con- 
 tinues among us the ambassadors of his mercy, who proclaim 
 his readiness to pardon ; and with infinite compassion speaks 
 to us this day, as he did to Ephraim of old, " How shall I 
 deliver thee?" Look upon this day of mercy as the fruit 
 of the intercession of your great Advocate in heaven. Luke 
 13 : 7—9. God has put us upon one trial more : if now we 
 bring forth fruit, well ; if not, the axe lies at the root of 
 the tree. Once more Christ knocks at our door ; the voice 
 of the bridegroom is heard — those sweet voices, *' Come un- 
 to me," " Open to me." Your opening to Christ now, will 
 be unto you as the valley of Achor, for a door of hope. 
 Hosea 2 : 15. But what if all this should be turned into 
 wantonness and formality ! What if your obstinacy and 
 infidelity should wear out the remains of that little strength 
 and time left you, and that former labors and sorrows have 
 left your ministers ! Then we are ruined for ever : then 
 farewell gospel, ministers, reformation, because we knew 
 not the time of our visitation. What was the awful sen- 
 tence of God on the fruitless vineyard ? "I will take away 
 the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up ; and break down 
 the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down ; and I will 
 
104 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 lay it waste : I will also command the clouds that they rain 
 not upon it." Isa. 5 :6y 6. The hedge and the wall are 
 the spiritual and providential presence of God ; these are 
 the defence and safety of his people : the clouds and the ram 
 are the sweet influences of gospel-ordmances. If the hedge 
 be broken down, God's pleasant plants will soon be eaten 
 up ; and if the clouds rain not upon them, their root will 
 be rottenness and their blossom will go up as dust ; our 
 churches will soon become as the moimtains of Gilboa ; 
 therefore see that you know and improve the time of your 
 visitation. 
 
 I shall conclude this fourth doctrine by a few words of 
 CONSOLATION to thosc who have answered, and are now pre- 
 paring to answer, the design of Jesus Christ in all his patience 
 towards them, by their compliance with his great design 
 and end therein. blessed be God, and let his high praises 
 be for ever in our mouths, that at last Christ is hke to 
 obtain liis end upon some of us, and that all do not receive 
 the grace of God in vain. And there are three considera- 
 tions which will raise your hearts to the height of praise, if 
 the Lord has made them indeed willuig to open to the Lord 
 Jesus. 
 
 15. The faith and obedience of your hearts make it 
 emdent, that the Lord's waiting on you hitherto has been 
 191 pursuance of his design of electing love. What was 
 the reason God did not take you away by death, though 
 you passed so often upon the very brink of it, in the days of 
 your unregeneracy ? Surely this was the reason : that you, 
 and such as you, might be brought to Christ at last. There 
 tore, though the Lord allowed you to run on so long in sin, 
 btill he continued your lives and the means of your salva- 
 tion, because he had a design of mercy and grace upon you. 
 And now the time of mercy, even the set time, is come. 
 " Praise ye the Lord." 
 
HIS PATIENT WAITING-. 105 
 
 16. You may also see the sovereignty andfreeness of di- 
 vine grace in your vocation. Your hearts resisted all along 
 the most powerful means, and the importunate calls of Christ ; 
 and would have resisted still, had not free and sovereign 
 grace prevailed when the time of love was come. Ah, it 
 was not the tractableness of thine own will, or the easy 
 temper of thy heart to be wrought upon ; the Lord let thee 
 stand long enough in the state of nature to prove that there 
 was nothing in thy nature but obstinacy and enmity. Thou 
 didst hear as many pow^erfiil sermons and melting prayers, 
 and didst see as many awakening providences, before thy 
 heart was* opened to Christ, as thou hast since, yet thy 
 heart never opened till now ; and why did it open now ? 
 Because now the Spirit of God joined himself to the word ; 
 victorious grace went forth in the word to break the hard- 
 ness and conquer the rebellions of thy heart. The gospel 
 was now preached with the Holy Grhost sent down from 
 heaven ; "which things," says the apostle, "the angels desire 
 to look into." 1 Pet. 1:12. Ah, friends, it is a glorious sight, 
 worthy of angelic observation and admiration, to behold the 
 efiects of the gospel preached with the Holy Ghost sent 
 down from heaven ; to see, when the Spirit is present with 
 the word, the blind eyes of sinners are opened, and they are 
 brought into a new world of ravishing objects ; to behold 
 fountains of tears flowing for sin, out of hearts lately as hard 
 as rocks ; to see all the bars of ignorance, prejudice, custom, 
 and unbelief fly open at the voice of the gospel ; to see 
 rebels against Christ laying down their arms at his feet, and 
 on the knees of submission crying, " Lord, I will rebel no 
 more ;" to see the proud heart, hitherto wrapt up in its own 
 righteousness, now stripping itself naked, and made willing 
 that its own shame should add to the Redeemer's glory. 
 These are sights which angels desire to look into. 
 
 Certainly your hearts were more tender, and your wills 
 more ready to yield and bend in the days of your youth, 
 5* 
 
106 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 than they were when sin had so hardened them, and long- 
 continued custom riveted and fixed them ; yet then they did 
 aot, and now they do yield to the calls and invitations of 
 the gospel. Ascribe all to sovereign grace, and say, " Not 
 unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory." 
 Psa. 115 : 1. The experience of our own hearts will fur- 
 nish us with arguments enough to resist all temptations to 
 Belf-glory. Certainly you " were born not of blood, nor of the 
 will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 
 1:13. 
 
 17. This is a comfortable consideration, that he who 
 waited on you so long, and won your hearts al last, will 
 not now forsake you. I question not but there are many 
 fears and jealousies within you that all this will come to noth- 
 ing, and that you will perish at last. Divers things foment 
 these jealousies within your hearts : the weakness of your own 
 graces, which, alas, are but in their infancy ; the sense you 
 have of your remaining corruptions, and the great strength 
 they still retain ; the subtlety of Satan, who employs all his 
 temptations to reduce you, sometimes roaring after his es- 
 caped prey with hideous suggestions, which make your souls 
 tremble ; sometimes the discouraging apprehensions of the 
 difficulties of rehgion, feeling the spirituality of active obe- 
 dience and the difficulty of passive obedience to be above 
 your strength ; sometimes feeling within yourselves the hid- 
 ing of God's face, and the withdrawment of sweet and sen- 
 sible communion with him. These, and such things as 
 these, cause many a sorrow in your hearts ; but cheer up, 
 Christ will not lose at last what he pursued so long : he that 
 waited so many years for thy soul, will never cast it away 
 now that he has the possession of it. 
 
THE SPIRIT SIRlVlNa. 107 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 EVERY CONVICTION OF CONSCIENCE AND MO- 
 TION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT A KNOCK FROM 
 CHRIST. 
 
 "BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK.'' Rev. 3:20. 
 
 In the former chapter, we have seen the Redeemer's pos 
 ture, a posture of condescending humihty — rather the pos- 
 ture of a servant than of the Lord of all : " Behold, I stand 
 at the door." We now come to consider his action or mo- 
 tion for entrance : I stand " aJid knockr This metaphori- 
 cal action of knockmg, signifies nothing else but the motions 
 made by Christ for entrance into the souls of sinners ; and 
 afibrds us this fifth doctrine : 
 
 That every conviction of conscience and motion on the 
 hearts of sinners is a k9wck of Christ for entrance into 
 their souls. 
 
 This action of knocking is sometimes ascribed to the soul, 
 and is expressive of its desire to come into the gracious 
 presence and communion of God : so Matt. 7:7, "To him 
 that knocketh, it shall be opened ;" that is, to him that seeks 
 by importunate prayer, fellowship and communion with the 
 Lord, it shall be granted. But here it is applied to Christ, 
 and is expressive of his importunate desire to come into 
 union and communion with the souls of sinners. Here I 
 shall show what are the doors of the soul at which Christ 
 knocks ; what his knocking at these doors implies ; by what 
 instruments he knocks at them ; and in what maimer he 
 performs this action. 
 
 I. What are the doors of the soul at which Christ 
 knocks. You all know that the term Christ here used can- 
 not be literal, but metaphorical. It is a figurative speech ; 
 a "door" is introductory to the house, and whatever intro- 
 
108 • CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE BOOK. 
 
 duces into the souT is the door of the soul. In the soul of 
 raan there are many powers and faculties that have this 
 use, to introduce things into the soul. Some are more out- 
 ward, as we may speak compatatively ; and some more in- 
 ward, as the doors of our houses are. Christ knocks orderly 
 at them all, one after another, for the operations of the Spirit 
 disturb not the order of nature. 
 
 1 . The first door that opens into the soul is the under- 
 standing. Nothing passes into the soul but it first comes 
 through this door of the understanding ; nothing can touch 
 the heart or move the affections, but what has first touched 
 the understanding. Hence we read so often in Scripture of 
 the opening of the understanding, that being, as it were, 
 the front door of the soul. 
 
 2. Within this is the royal gate of the soul, namely, the 
 will, that noble and imperial power. Many things may pass 
 into the mind or understanding of a man, and yet be able to 
 get no further ; the door of the will maybe shut against them. 
 There were many precious truths of God let into the under- 
 standings of the heathen by the light of nature, but they 
 could get no further ; their hearts and wills were locked and 
 shut up against them. They held the truths of God in un- 
 righteousness, Rom. 1:18; that is, they bound and imprisoned 
 the common notices which the law of ijature impressed upon 
 their minds concerning the being and nature of God, and the 
 duties of both tables of the law. These truths could get no 
 further into their souls : and, which is a sad and dreadful 
 consideration, Christ himself stands between these two doors, 
 in the souls of many persons ; he has got into their under- 
 standings and consciences, and they are convinced of the ne- 
 cessity of receiving Jesus Christ, but still the door of their 
 will is barred against him, which drew from him the sad 
 complaint, "Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have 
 life." John 5 : 40. When this door of the will is once 
 eflectually opened, then all the inner doors of the affections 
 
Jy v^ or TUB 
 
 fUNIVFUSI 
 
 THE SPIRIT STE,IVlNa\V ^ 109 
 
 are quickly set open to receive and wclcome^jJ LgMJB Jte^- **. ^ 
 joy, delight, and all the rest, stand open to him. These are 
 the doors at which the Redeemer knocks. 
 
 II. We must consider what is meant by Christ's knock- 
 ing at the door, and what that action implies. In the gen- 
 eral, knocking is an action significant of the desire of one 
 who is without, to come in ; it is a sign appointed to that 
 end. And what is Christ's knocking, but a signification to 
 the soul of his earnest desire to come into it — a notice given 
 to the soul of Christ's willingness to possess it for his own 
 habitation? It is as if Christ should say, *' Soul, thou art 
 the house that was built by my hand, purchased and re- 
 deemed by my blood ; I have an unquestionable right to it, 
 and now demand entrance." More parti*cularly, there are 
 divers great things implied hi this* gracious act of Christ's 
 knocking at the door of the soul. 
 
 1. It implies the special favor and distinguishing 
 grace a7id goodness of Jesus Christ, that he will stand and 
 knock at our doors when he passes by so great a part of the 
 world, never giving one such knock or call at other men's 
 doors. It is certainly the most admirable condescension and 
 favor of heaven ; and shows a man to be highly favored of God. 
 amazing ! that when Christ passes by the souls of thou- 
 sands and millions, and gives not one effectual knock or call 
 at their doors all the days of their life, he will please to turn 
 aside to thy soul, and wait and knock there for entrance. 
 Here is one of the greatest acts of favor that can be shown 
 to the soul of a sinner. How many souls there are in the 
 world equal in natural dignity to yours, and of sweeter nat- 
 ural tempers, whom yet the Lord Jesus lets alone in the 
 quiet possession of Satan. Luke 11 : 21. There is a deep 
 silence and stillness in their consciences, no stirrings nor dis- 
 turbances by convictions, but, through a dreadful judgment 
 of God, they are left in a deep sleep ; and if their consciences 
 at any time begin to disturb them, how soon are they hushed 
 
]10 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 and quieted again by Satan I What the condition of th« 
 world was in former ages we know from the Scriptures, 
 whore we learn that God in times past suffered all nations 
 to walk in their own ways. Acts 14 : 16. It is the great- 
 est mercy for the sleepy conscience of a sinner to be roused 
 by convictions, because it is introductory to all other spirit- 
 ual mercies. This act of grace is little appreciated by the 
 sons and daughters of men : much rather would poor sin 
 ners be let alone, than, be thus disturbed by troublesome 
 convictions ; and when Christ disturbs their rest, how do 
 they startle at the knocks of his word and Spirit. How 
 angry are they that they cannot be let alone to enjoy their 
 quiet sleep in sin tiU the flames of hell awaken them I Mr. 
 Fenner, that great and eminent instrument of G od in this 
 work, tells us in one of his sermons how it fared with a 
 certain man that came to hear him preach. It seems the 
 word had got entrance into his conscience and gave it a 
 terrible alarm, and as he was going home, some that fol- 
 lowed him heard him thus blaming and bemoaning himself: 
 " what a fool, what a beast was I to come under this 
 sermon to-day ! I shall never have peace and quietness any 
 more." And what is the reason that smooth and general 
 preaching is so much applauded in the world, and close con- 
 vincing doctrine so much shunned and hated, but this, that 
 sinners are very loath to be disquieted and have their con- 
 sciences thoroughly awakened ? Whatever your apprehen- 
 sions be, certainly it is an unspeakable mercy for Christ to 
 knock, and disquiet the souls of sinners by his calls. 
 
 2. The next thing implied in this action of Christ is, tluit 
 the first motiojis towards the recovery and salvation of sin- 
 ners begin not in tJiemsdves, but in Christ. We never 
 knock at heaven's door by prayer till Christ has first knock- 
 ed at our door by his Spirit. Did not Christ move first, there 
 would be no motions after liim in our hearts : we move 
 towards him, because he hath first moved upon our souls. 
 
THE SPIRIT sTitivma. Ill 
 
 Christ would ever be unsought and undesired, did he not 
 make the first motion. All our motions are secondary and 
 consequential motions. " I am found of them that sought 
 me not." Isa. 65 : 1. As "we love him because he first 
 loved us," 1 John, 4: 19, so we seek him because he first 
 sought us. Alas, poor sinners are well satisfied to lie fast 
 asleep in the devil's arms. When the Spirit of God goes 
 forth with the word of conviction, he finds the souls of men 
 in the same posture which the angels who had surveyed the 
 world reported the whole earth to be in : " Behold, all the 
 earth sitteth still, and is at rest." Zech. 1:11. Every man 
 was settled and satisfied in his own way. What a strange 
 stilhiess and midnight silence is there among smners. Not 
 a sigh, not a cry to be heard for sin. So the psalmist repre- 
 sents the case of sinners : " The Lord looked down from 
 heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any 
 that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, 
 they are all together become filthy : there is none that doeth 
 good, no, not one." Psalm 14:2, 3. There is one thing 
 peculiarly strange in this case : that even those whose earthly 
 pleasures and delights, which brought them into this sleep 
 and security, are taken away from them by the hand of 
 Providence, I mean their estates, health, and children, even 
 they awake not ; they have no stirrings after God. what 
 a dead sleep hath sin cast the souls of sinners into. You 
 have a notable scripture to this purpose in Job 35 : 9, 10 ; 
 they are the words of Elihu concerning those under grievous 
 oppression from the cruel hands of wicked men : " By reason 
 of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to 
 cry ; they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. But 
 none saith. Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in 
 the night ?" that is, comfort and refreshment to the afflict- 
 ed. Here are men turned out of their estates, thrown into 
 prison, cast on all extremities and miseries, and what do 
 these poor creatures do ? Why, they cry by reason of their 
 
112 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOH. 
 
 oppression : my father, my mother, my wife, my child, my 
 estate, my liberty ! But none saith, Where is my God ? 
 my sin, or my misery by reason of sin ! " Where is he who 
 giveth songs in the night ?" The people of God when they 
 lie musing upon their beds under affliction, have their " songs 
 in the night ;" in the midst of the multitude of their troubled 
 thoughts within them, the comforts of God delight theii 
 souls. These are their songs in the night, but no such words 
 or thoughts have carnal men. How plain is it, that all the 
 first motions of salvation have their spring and rise in God, 
 and not in us. 
 
 3. Christ's knocking at the door of the heart slioivs the 
 metliod of the Spirit in conversion to be in harmony ivith 
 the nature of man's soul. Mark Christ's expression in the 
 text ; he does not say. Behold, I come to the door and break 
 it open by violence. Christ makes no forcible entries, 
 whether sinners will or not ; he will come in by consent of 
 the will, or not at all. " I stand and knock ; if any man 
 open the door, I will come in to him." There is a great 
 difTerence between a friendly admission by consent, and a 
 forcible entrance : in a forcible entrance, bars of iron are 
 brought to break open the door ; but in a friendly admission, 
 one knocks and the other opens. Forcible actions are un- 
 suitable to the nature of the will, whose motions are free and 
 spontaneous ; therefore it is said, " Thy people shall be will- 
 ing in the day of thy power." Psalm 110 : 3. It is true, 
 the power of God is upon the will of man in the day of his 
 conversion, or else it would never open to Christ ; but yet 
 that power of God doth not act against the freedom of man's 
 will ; God makes it willing, taking away the obstinacy and 
 leluctance of the will by the efficacy of his grace — a sweet 
 and pleasant victory ; and so the door of the will still opens 
 freely : " I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of 
 love." Hos. 11:4. ** I drew them," there is almighty 
 power ; but how did this power draw them ? '* With «jord? of 
 
THE sriRIT STRIVING. 113 
 
 a man," that is, with rational arguments convincing the 
 judgnlent. Beasts are driven and forced, but men are drawn 
 by reason. It must be confessed that when the day of God's 
 power is come for bringing liome a poor sinner to Christ, the 
 power of God's Spirit draws him efiectually : '* Every man 
 that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto 
 me," John G : 45 ; yet 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 sinner's conversion an offer 
 made for the will, both by Satan and by Christ ; Satan bids 
 riches, honors, and pleasures, with ease and quietness to the 
 flesh in the enjoyment of them. Abide where thou art, saith 
 Satan ; remam with me, and thou shalt escape all the perse- 
 cutions, losses, and troubles in which conscience entangles 
 other men ; thou shalt draw thy life through peace and pleas- 
 ure to thy dying day. 0, saith the flesh, this is good ; what 
 can be better for me ? But then, saith Christ, dost thou not 
 consider that all these enjoyments will quickly be at an end I 
 and what shall become of thee then ? Behold, I offer thee 
 the free, full, and final pardon of thy sins ; peace and recon- 
 ciliation 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 indispen- 
 sable necessity of pardon and peace with God — I say, when 
 a convinced judgment hath duly balanced these things, and 
 laid them before the will, and the Spirit of God puts 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 mean- 
 ing 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 ; to the shame of 
 many Protestants let us hear the explanation of Stella, a 
 popish commentator upon this passage : " Christ compels men 
 
114 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 to come 111, by sliowing to their will such an excelling good 
 as it cannot but embrace ;" for the will is naturally carried 
 to the best good. And thus the Spirit works upon the soul 
 harmoniously and agreeably to its nature. 
 
 4. Christ's knocking at the door of the soul implies tJie 
 immediate access of the Spirit of God to the soul of man. 
 He can come to the very innermost door of the soul at his 
 pleasure, and make what impression upon it he pleases. 
 Instruments used in this work 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 efiectual. This is a work belonging to the Spirit of 
 God, incommunicable to angels or men. If an angel from 
 heaven were the preacher, he could not give one efiectual 
 stroke 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. He hath the key of David ; he openeth, and no man 
 shutteth ; and he shutteth, and no man openeth. Rev. 3:7. 
 The conscience and all the faculties of the mind lie naked 
 and open to the stroke of God's Spirit ; he can wound them 
 and heal them, and make what impression he pleases 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 preached and you heard, and yet there is 
 no opening. In the next place let us consider, 
 
 III. By what instruments Christ knocks at the doors ; 
 that is, the judgment, conscience, and will of a sinner. And 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVING. 115 
 
 here my work will be to show how the Spirit of God makes 
 use both of the word and works of God to rouse the con- 
 sciences and open the 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 preach- 
 ed. To this Christ gives the preference above all other 
 instruments employed about this work ; and hence the word 
 is called God's hammer: " Is not my word like as a fire ? 
 saith the Lord ; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock 
 in pieces ?" Jer. 23 : 29. By this hammer Christ knocks 
 at the door of a sinner's soul, to give warning that he is 
 there. The Spirit of God can open the heart immediately, ii 
 he pleases ; but he will honor his word in this work. And 
 therefore, when Lydia's 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 bo 
 opened to Christ ; the angel could not do it, but calls for the 
 help of the apostle, God's appointed instrument to carry on 
 that work. So saith God to Paul, " I have appeared unto 
 thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness 
 both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things 
 in the which I will appear unto thee ; delivering thee from 
 the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send 
 thee to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkricss to 
 light and from the power of Satan unto God.*' Acts 
 26 : 16-18. There are three ways in which the Holy Spirit 
 uses the word as his hammer in knocking at the door of the 
 soul. 
 
 (1.) He knocks by particular convictions of the woi'd on 
 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 
 eoul. When the word comes home by the Spirit's applica- 
 
UG CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 tion, like that of Nathan to David, " Thou art the man," 
 then all the powers of the soul are roused and alarmed ; now 
 it pierces as a two-edged sword, Heb. 4:12, and divides the 
 soul and spirit, the superior and inferior faculties of it — lays 
 open the secret guilt and inmost thoughts of a man's heart, 
 before which the sinner cannot stand. The secrets of his 
 heart are made manifest ; and falling down on his face, h«» 
 must acknowledge that God is in the word of a truth. 1 Cor 
 14 : 25. these convictions of the word are such a knock 
 at the door of the conscience as will never be forgotten, no, 
 not in heaven to all eternity. 
 
 (2.) Christ knocks in the word by its awful threatenings, 
 menacing the soul that opens not with eternal ruin ; these 
 are dreadful knocks. 0, sinner, saith Christ, wilt thou not 
 open ? Shall all the tenders of my grace made to thee be 
 in vain ? Know then, that this thy obstinacy shall be thy 
 damnation. Thus the word denounces ruin, in the name of 
 the great and terrible God, to all impenitent and obstinate 
 unbelievers, John 3 : 36 : "He that believeth not the Son 
 shall not see Hfe ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 
 dreadful sound I like unto which is that in John 8 : 24, 
 " If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." 
 As if he had said, " Thy mittimus for hell shall be made and 
 signed. Will you not come to me, that you may have life ? 
 Then you shall even die in your sins. it were better for 
 thee to die any kind of death than to die in thy sins." These 
 are loud knocks of the word, terrible sounds, yet no more 
 than are needed to startle the drowsy consciences of sinners. 
 And then, 
 
 (3.) The Spirit knocks by the gracious invitations of 
 tJie word ; and without this, no heart would ever open to 
 Christ. It is not frosts and snow, storms and thunder, but 
 the gentle distiUing dews and cherishing sunbeams that make 
 the flowers open in the spring. The terrors of the law may 
 be preparatory, but only the grace of the gospel is that which 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVINa. 117 
 
 toflrfectually opens the sinner's heart. The obdurate flint will 
 sooner break when smitten upon the soft pillow, than upon 
 the anvil. Now the gospel abounds with alluring invita- 
 tions to draw the will and open the heart of a sinner ; such 
 as that, Matt. 11 : 28, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
 are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." What a charm- 
 ing voice is here ; he that considers it, may well wonder what 
 heart in the world can resist it. Like unto this is Isaiah 
 55:1, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, 
 and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, 
 come, buy wine and milk without money and without 
 price." Come, sinner, come ; though thou hast no qualifi- 
 cations nor worthiness, nor righteousness of thy own — ^though 
 thou art but a heap of sin and vileness, yet come ; grace is a 
 gift, not a sale. And such is John 7:37, "In the last day, 
 that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If 
 any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." As if he 
 had said. My grace is not a sealed fountain ; it is free and 
 open to the greatest of sinners ; if they thirst, they are in- 
 vited to come and drink. This is that oil of the gospel-grace 
 which makes the key turn so pleasantly and efiectually 
 among all the cross-wards of man's will. Thus you see how 
 the word preached becomes an instrument in the Spirit's 
 hand to open the door of a sinner's heart, at which it knocks 
 by its mighty convictions, dreadful threatenings, and gracious 
 invitations. 
 
 2. We now come to the second hammer by which the 
 Spirit knocks at the sinner's heart, and that is the jyroviden- 
 tial works of God. These, in subserviency to the word, are 
 of excellent use to awaken sinners and make them open 
 their hearts to Christ. God hath magnified his word above 
 all his name, yet there are some of the providential works 
 of God greatly serviceable in this case ; the word sanctifies 
 providences, and providences assist the word and make it 
 work. There are two sorts of providential dispensations 
 
118 CHRIST IvITOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 which the Lord Jesus makes use of to gain entrance for him 
 mto the hearts of men, namely, judgments and mercies. 
 
 (1.) Judgments and afflictions : the word of God many- 
 times works not till some stroke of God come to quicken and 
 assist it. Thus did the Lord open the heart of that monster 
 of wickedness, Manasseh ; the word could not work alone, but 
 a smart rod quickened its operation. " And the Lord spake 
 to Manasseh, and to his people ; but they would not hearken 
 Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the 
 host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among 
 the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him 
 to Babylon. And when he was in affliction he besought 
 the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the 
 God of his fathers." 2 Chron. 33 : 10-12. Thus the heart 
 of this man relented under the word, assisted by the rod. It 
 is good that God takes such a course with some sinners, else 
 the word would do them no good : and to this purpose is Job 
 36 : 8—10 : " If they be bound in fetters and be holden in 
 cords of affliction, then he showeth them their work and 
 their transgressions that they have exceeded. He openeth 
 also their ear to disciphne." This is the rough course which 
 the obstinacy of men's hearts makes necessary for their re- 
 covery ; and therefore it is observable, that some words of 
 God have lain dead in sinners' hearts for years together, and 
 at last have •begun to work under some smart rod. Alas, 
 while all things are pleasant and prosperous about us, the 
 word has but little efiect : "I spake unto thee in thy pros- 
 perity ; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy 
 manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. 
 The wind shall eat up all thy pastures, and thy lovers shall 
 go into captivity ; surely then shalt thou be ashamed and 
 confounded for all thy wickedness." Jer. 22:21, 22. As 
 though he had said. Your eyes are so dazzled with the beau- 
 tiful flowers, and your ears so charmed with the syren songs 
 of earthly delights, that my word can take no effect upon 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVING. 119 
 
 you. Let an east-wind blow, and wither up these flowers ; 
 then the word shall work, and conscience deeply feel the 
 concerns of eternity. This course God takes with many of 
 you ; you sit from Sabbath to Sabbath under the word, and 
 nothing takes effect on your hearts. Will you not hear the 
 voice of my word ? saith God ; go, death, smite that man's 
 child, I 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 grave's mouth, I will see 
 what that will do. Thus God sends to sinners, as Absalom 
 sent to Joab — who refused to come near him, till he set fire 
 to his field of com, and then away comes Joab. 2 Sam. 
 14:29-31. And thus the Lord opened the heart of the 
 jailer, by putting him into a fright, a panic fear of death. 
 Acts 16 : 27. Thus does the Lord devise means to bring 
 back his banished. 
 
 (2.) As God makes use of the hammer of judgments, so 
 he makes use 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 were any ingenuousness left unextin- 
 guished in the heart, one would think mercy would prevail 
 more than all judgments. Knowest thou not that the good- 
 ness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? Rom. 2:4. Or in 
 other words, 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, sue 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 ill when his end is not 
 answered in them : hence is that complaint, Jer, 5 : 24 ; 
 " Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord 
 our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in 
 
120 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 his season." Some of you have been marvellously 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 Exod. 15 : 26, "I will 
 put none of these diseases upon thee, for I am the Lord that 
 healeth thee." I am Jehovah Rophe, the Lord the physi- 
 cian : many of you have been at the grave's mouth in dis- 
 eases, others upon the deep ; yet the hand of mercy pulled 
 you back, and suffered you not to drop into the grave and 
 hell in the same moment. 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 marvellous working and 
 moulding of things by the hand of providence, for the pro- 
 duction 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 has made necessary. 
 ungrateful sinners, doth your Redeemer thus woo you by 
 so many gifts of mercy, and yet will you shut him out ? 
 " Do ye thus requite the Lord, foolish people and unwise ?" 
 For which of all his benefits do your ungrateful souls shut 
 the doors upon him ? 
 
 You have seen what Christ's knocking at the soul of a 
 sinner implies, and by what instruments it is performed. 
 
 IV. We will now consider the rla-Nner in which this ac- 
 tion IS PERFORMED in the ten following particulars, wherein 
 much of the mystery of conversion will be opened ; the Lord 
 grant that your experience may answer to them. "We can- 
 not indeed exactly describe and mark all the footsteps of the 
 Spirit, in this work upon the souls of men ; yet these things 
 eeem eminently observable. 
 
 1. The knocks of Christ at the sinner's heart are silent, 
 and secret to all persons in the world, except the soul itself 
 at whose door he knocks. Here are many hundreds this day 
 under the word : if the Lord shall this day knock by convic- 
 tion at any man's heart, none will hear that knock, but that 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVING. 121 
 
 man giily ; for it is a knock without sound or noise to any 
 but the particular soul concerned in it. It was foretold of 
 our Redeemer, and of this very act of his, " He shall not cry, 
 nor hft up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street." 
 Isa. 42 : 2. The kingdom of God cometh not into the souls 
 Df men with public observation. Luke 17:20. "What 
 man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man 
 which is in him?" 1 Cor. 2:11. None knows what con- 
 victions 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 strokes 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 who sits next to us. It is said of the inward 
 comforts of the Spirit, " To him that overcometh will I give 
 to eat of the hidden manna." Rev. 2:17. This is true also 
 of inward terrors and troubles. Christ's knocks by convic' 
 tion are but a secret whisper of his Spirit in the ear of a sin- 
 ner, saying, " Thou art the man ;" this is thy case. This is 
 the first thing in the manner of Christ's knocking, it is a 
 silent knock without public sound. 
 
 2. These silent, inward knocks of the Spirit of Christ 
 greatly differ as to the terror or mildTwss of them in differ- 
 ent persons. Some hear them with terror and astonishment, 
 others in a milder and more gentle manner. When the 
 Lord knocked at the jailer's conscience, it was a terrible 
 stroke ; he called for a light, and sprang in like a man dis- 
 tracted ; and trembling and astonished, fell down at the apos- 
 tles' feet, crying, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 
 Acts 16 : 29, 30. Here was a terrible knock indeed, which 
 almost affrighted his soul out of his body : it is as if he had 
 said, Tell me, m God's name, and tell me quickly, whether 
 there is 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. He spoke to her 
 
122 CHRIST KXOCKIKa AJ THE DOOR. 
 
 ill a more mild and gentle voice, as you see, Acts 1^ : 14 
 The Spirit of God varies his method according to the temper 
 of the soul he works on. Knotty pieces need greater wedges 
 and harder blows to rive them asunder. As God directs his 
 ministers to make a difference, to deal tenderly and compas- 
 sionately with some, but others to " save with fear," Jude 
 22, so he himself observes like different methods. 
 
 3. Some knocks of Christ are successful, and obtain the 
 desired effect. He knocks, and the soul opens. But others 
 are unsuccessful; he knocks once and again by convictions, 
 which may cause the conscience to startle a little, but there 
 is no opening to Christ by faith. friends, this is a dreadful 
 word to consider : *' I have called, and ye refused; I have 
 stretched out my hand, and no man regarded." Prov, 1 : 24. 
 There is a call without an answer, a knock and no opening ; 
 and these things are very common, especially among the un- 
 converted who live under a lively, rousing gospel-ministry. 
 Of this Christ complains. Matt. 16 : 17 : "Whereunto shall 
 I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in 
 the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying. We 
 have piped unto you, and ye have not danced ; we have 
 mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented." Neither 
 the delightful melody of gospel-grace, nor the mournful and 
 dreadful threats of perdition to unbelievers, avail to open 
 your hearts to embrace me ; no voices from mount Gerizim 
 or mount Ebal will prevail with you. How many witnesses 
 to this truth have we seen I God forbid it should be thus 
 with you. There are some souls who hear and open, even 
 every one who hath heard and learned of the Father. John 
 6 : 45. When the Spirit of God puts forth his power with 
 the word, then, and not till then, it becomes successful. 
 
 4. Sometimes Christ knocks with a succession of convic- 
 XionSy a quick repetition of his calls. Some men have had 
 thousands of convictions in a few years ; for in this case the 
 Lord saith, as in Exod. 4:8, "If they will not hearken to 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVINa. 123 
 
 the voice of the first sign," yet they may "believe the voice 
 of the latter sign." And yet sometimes neither the former 
 nor the latter avail any thing. " How often would I have 
 gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
 chickens under her wings, and ye would not I" Matt. 
 23 : 37. " How often I" intimating the many calls Christ 
 gave Jerusalem to come unto him, yet all in vain. Obsti- 
 nate sinners, Christ has been knocking and calling at some 
 of your consciences from your very childhood ; thousands of 
 convictions have been tried upon some of you, and yet to 
 this day your souls are shut fast against him. The Lord 
 hath waited from year to year for your answer, by this sig- 
 nifying how loath he is to part with you : at such a time 
 thou wast upon a sick-bed, nigh unto death ; at such a time 
 under such a sermon, and then Christ knocked at thy soul : 
 if all this is in vain, as many convictions as you have stifled, 
 so many fagots you carry with you to hell, to increase your 
 flames and torments. Yet commonly those quick repetitions 
 and redoublings of the strokes of convictions end well ; and 
 it is a good sign when one conviction revives another, and 
 the Lord keeps the soul still waiting. But 0, take heed and 
 try not his patience too long, lest the next stroke be more 
 dreadful than all the former — not to open your hearts, but 
 smite dead your hopes of heaven. 
 
 5. Sometimes Christ knocks intermittingly, knocking 
 and stopping, and that at a considerable distance of time ; a 
 conviction this day, and, it may be, not another for many 
 months. There are some aged sinners that have not had 
 more than one or two remarkable awakenings of conscience 
 in fifty or sixty years, and then no more. Do not think that 
 the Spirit will always strive with men. Gen. 6:3. There 
 is a time when God says to the word, Convict the conscience 
 of that man or woman no more, but henceforth be thou not 
 to open but to shut him up. Isa. 6:10. Reader, bethink 
 thyself, how long is it since thy conscience was roused and 
 
124 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOA. 
 
 awakened? 0, saith one, seven or eight years ago 1 heard 
 such a sermon, which tore my conscience to pieces ; I fell 
 under such a providence, which roused and awakened all 
 my fears ; but since that time, all has been still and quiet. 
 May the Lord give you a second awakening, lest you awake 
 with the flames of God's wrath about you. I observe it is 
 usual, when God works upon any very early in life, he knocks 
 thus intermittingly : now the conscience is active, and full of 
 trouble, then the vanities of youth extinguish these convic- 
 tions again ; but the Lord follows his design, and at last the 
 conviction settles and ends in conversion. 
 
 6. Christ sometimes knocks with both hands at once^ 
 with the word and the rod together ; the latter in subservi- 
 ency to the former ; and if ever the soul is likely to open, it 
 will open then, when ordinances and afflictions work together. 
 The word smites the conscience with conviction, and at or 
 about the same time Providence smites tlhe outward man 
 with some affliction, to make the word effectual ; or, under 
 some smart affliction, a suitable word is seasonably directed 
 to the conscience ; and thus the one assists the other, and 
 both together produce the desired effect. Thus the Lord 
 wrought upon the Thessalonians : "And ye became followers 
 of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much 
 affliction." 1 Thess. 1:6. A child dies, an estate is lost, 
 or sickness seizes you at the time when conscience is pre- 
 pared by a conviction from the word, or afflictions have pre- 
 pared it for the word. The rod upon the back helps the 
 word to work upon the heart ; and if both these working in 
 fellowship will not do the work, there is little hope that any 
 thing will do it. 
 
 7. Every knock of Christ disturbs the sinful rest of 
 the soul ; it rouses guilt in the conscience, and puts the 
 inner man into great distress and trouble.' Before Christ 
 comes and knocks at the door of the heart, all is still and 
 quiet within : "the soul is in a quiet sleep of sinful security, 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVING. 125 
 
 no fears or troubles molest its rest. " When a strong man 
 armel keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace ; but when 
 a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, 
 he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted." Luke 
 11 : 21, 22. The armor which Satan puts into the hands of 
 sinners, to defend themselves against the convictive strokes 
 of the word, are the general mercy of God, the outward du- 
 ties of religion, partial reformations, etc. But when Christ 
 comes by effectual conviction, he disarms the sinner of all 
 these pleas, and then the soul sees M^hat broken reeds it has 
 leaned upon. "When the commandment came, sin revived, 
 and I died," Rom. 7:9; all my vain hopes expired. No 
 artifice of Satan can any longer quiet the sinner's conscience ; 
 he sees himself in a miserable condition, and meditates an 
 escape ; farewell now to sound and quiet sleep : no peace 
 till out of danger. 
 
 8. Every effectual knock of Christ gives art alarm to 
 hdl, and puts Satan to all his shifts and arts to secure the 
 possession of the convinced sinner. The devil is a jealous 
 spirit, and when his interest is in danger he bestirs himself 
 to purpose ; the time of conviction is an hour of temptation. 
 " We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against princi- 
 palities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness 
 of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." 
 Eph. 6:12. The strife between Satan and the soul is 
 now for nothing less than the prize of eternal Hfe ; it 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 
 grenade falls into a garrison, the first care of the defendant 
 is to stifle it before it break. While Christ is speakizig 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 : There is time enough yet, Avhy such haste ? 
 Enjoy thy pleasures a Uttle longer, thou may est come to 
 
126 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Christ and be saved at last. If that will not do, then he 
 changes his voice : To what purpose wilt thou go to Christ? 
 It is now too late, the time of grace is over ; hadst thou 
 come to him in thy youth, and obeyed his first call, you 
 had been saved ; but now it is to no purpose. If this will 
 not quiet the soul, then he says. Thy sins are too great to 
 be pardoned ; there is no hope for such a prodigious sinner as 
 thou art. If the Lord help the soul to overcome this by dis- 
 covering to it the riches of mercy, pardoning the greatest of 
 sinners, then he represents the multitudes who 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 others ; if 
 thou go to heU, thousands will go with thee. But if the 
 soul be unwilling to be lost, even with so many others, 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 open to let him in : If Christ come in, reproaches, 
 losses, and sufferings will come in with him ; troops of mis- 
 eries follow him : he himself has told thee so ; and art thou 
 mad to ruin all thy comforts in the world, and plunge thyself 
 into a sea of trouble for what thine eyes never saw ? But if 
 the soul reply, These are more tolerable than danmation ; 
 better that my flesh sufier 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 alarm conviction gives to 
 the powers of hell. 
 
 9. Every effectual knock of Christ is continued; new 
 convictions revive former ones, and the Lord never ceases 
 to knock till the door is opened. If one sermon will not do, 
 another shall ; if one wound be 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 
 oi* the Lord sealeth a conviction upon the -conscience, raze it 
 
THE SPIKIT STllIVINa. 127 
 
 out who caji. And here is the difference between 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 following another, for Christ is in pursuit 
 of the soul, and will pursue it, till at last he overtake it. 
 
 10. All the knocks of Christ cease when the sinneis 
 day of grace is ended. This is a dreadful consideration — 
 when the time of mercy is over, no more strivings of the 
 Spirit. Christ says to the drowsy sinner, as to the drowsy 
 disciples in the garden, " Sleep on now, and take your rest." 
 Matt. 26 : 45. 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, and they walked in 
 their own counsels." Psa. 81 : 11, 12. I have done with 
 them, the treaty is ended ; I will make no more essays tow- 
 ards their conversion and salvation. " So I gave them up." 
 Methinks it sounds as much as this : Take them, sin — take 
 them, Satan, I will have no more to do with them. " Ephra- 
 im is joined to idols : let him alone." Hosea 4 : 17. His 
 heart is glued fast to sin, he is enamoured with other lovers, 
 let him alone. beloved, it is a dreadful thing for God to 
 say. Let this man alone in his formahty, and that man in 
 his carnal security. Let not this be misapplied by 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 wdth them. But there 
 is no ground for this fear, while the Spirit continues con- 
 vincing 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 sinner's 
 heart. Our way is now opened to an appHcation of this 
 point, which I will present in several particulars. 
 
128 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Inference 1 . Into how deep a deep Jiath sin cast the 
 souls of simmers, that Christ must stand so long, and give 
 such loud repeated knocks, before it will awake and apen 
 to him ! There is the spirit of a deep sleep fallen upon men, 
 like that into which God cast Adam. God speaks once, 
 yea, twice, but man regards it not ; it is the hardest thing 
 in the world to rouse and awaken a man out of his carnal 
 security. Look over Satan's kingdom, and you find a gene- 
 ral stillness and quietness among his subjects : there is no 
 trouble for sin, no strivings after salvation, no crying out, 
 "What must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30. Go into 
 the crowds of worldly men and women, and you find them 
 all intent and busy about other matters. How long will 
 you be in their company before you hear one groan for sin, 
 or see one tear fall from their eyes on that account. 
 what a marvellous thing is here I Do not their consciences 
 know the guilt that lies upon them ? Are they not aware 
 of a day of reckoning which approaches ? 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 means used to still the consciences of sinners, and they 
 do it effectually. There are four causes and occasions of 
 this wonderful stillness in the souls of sinners. 
 
 (1.) Ignorarwe of the nature of regenerating grace — 
 taking that for regeneration which is not such : thus did the 
 Jews confidently affirm God to be their God, yet they did 
 not know him. John 8 : 54. How many poor ignorant 
 creatures think there is no need of any other work of regen- 
 eration, but what passed upon them in baptism. They 
 were born and baptized Christians, and that is enough, they 
 think, to save them. " We have Abraham to our father." 
 j\latt. 3:9. They thought it sufficient that Abraham's 
 bloo^ ran in their veins, though there were not a spark of 
 Abraham's faith kindled in their souls. The Lord forgive 
 the sin of those men who lead souls into such fatal mistakes. 
 
« 
 
 THE SPIRIT STRIVING. l!S9 
 
 if men were but aware of the necessity of a greater and 
 further work to pass on their souls than their baptism, pow- 
 erless profession, or the similar works which appear in for- 
 mal hypocrites, heaven and earth would ring with their cries. 
 But ignorance of the nature and necessity of special regener- 
 ating grace, like a dose of opium, casts the consciences of 
 many into tliis deep sleep. 
 
 (2.) Freedom from grosser sins and pollutions of the 
 world stills and quiets the consciences of thousands : they 
 have had a sober and fair education ; and though there is 
 no grace and regeneration, yet what saints do they seem to 
 themselves, bemg adorned with sobriety and civility. This 
 stilled the conscience of the Pharisee : " God, I thank thee 
 that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adul- 
 terers, or even as this publican." Luke 18:11. Thus, 
 like delicate Agag, they pride themselves in moral and so- 
 cial virtues, wherein many thousands of the heathen were 
 better than themselves; but justice will hew them to pieces, 
 as Agag was, notwithstanding all their moral ornaments 
 and endowments. 
 
 (3.) The strict performance of the external duties of 
 religion quiets the consciences of many. They question not 
 but those who do so well shall fare well, and flatter them- 
 selves that God will never damn men and women who keep 
 their church and say their prayers as they do. Thus the 
 carnal Jews deluded themselves, crying, *' The temple of the 
 Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these." Jer. 7:4. As 
 malefactors, in some countries, flee to the church from the 
 hand of justice, so do these ; but God will pluck them from 
 the horns of the altar, and convince them that the empty 
 name of religion is no security from damnation. 
 
 (4.) Many consciences are quieted ui a natural, sinful 
 
 state, by misinterpreting the voice of providence. It may 
 
 be that God prospers your earthly affairs, succeeds and 
 
 smiles upon your undertakings ; and this you conclude must 
 
 6* 
 
1^0 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 be a token of his love and favor. But alas, this is a great 
 mistake : may the Lord give you better evidences of his love 
 than these ; lor who prosper more m the world than wicked 
 men ? And who are more crossed than the people of God ? 
 Read Job 21, and Psalm 73, and compare both with Eccl. 
 9:1, and you will quickly see the vanity of all hopes built 
 on such a foundation. But by such things as these the god 
 of this world bUnds the eyes of multitudes. 
 
 2. If every conviction he a knock of Christ, how deeply 
 are we all concerned in the success of convictions. Con- 
 viction is an embryo of the new creature : if it come to a 
 perfect new birth, it brings forth salvation to your souls ; if it 
 fails, you are finally lost. It is of infinite moment, therefore, 
 to every one, to be Render of these convictions of conscience. 
 It is true, conviction and conversion are two things : there 
 may be conviction without conversion, though there can be 
 no conversion without conviction. The blossoms on the 
 .trees in the spring of the year cannot properly be called fruit, 
 but are rather the rudiments of fruit, or something in order 
 to fruit. If they open kindly, and knit or set firmly, perfect 
 fruit follows them ; but if a blight or a frosty morning kill 
 them, no fruit is to be expected. Thus it is here. Great 
 care, therefore, ought to be taken about the preservation and 
 success of convictions, both by the soul itself that is under 
 them, and by all others who are concerned about them. 
 
 (1.) What care should the soul itself have, on whom 
 convictions are wrought. Beware, friends, how you quench 
 them or hinder their operations, lest you hinder, as much as 
 in you lies, the formation of Christ in your souls. The lift) 
 of your souls is boundup in the life of your convictions. I 
 know it is hard for men to dwell with their own convic- 
 tions : guilt and wrath are sad subjects for men's thoughts 
 to dwell upon ; but it is far better to dwell with the thoughts 
 of sin and wrath here, than to he under them in hell for 
 ever. You may be freed from your convictions and your 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVING 131 
 
 salvation together. Be not too eager after peace — a good 
 trouble is better than a false peace. And on the other hand, 
 beware that your convictions turn not into discouragements to 
 faith ; this will cross the proper intention of them : they are 
 Christ's knocks for entrance, and were never intended to be 
 bars or stumbling-blocks, but steps in your way to Christ. 
 
 (2.) Let all tJiat are concerned about conviticed souls, 
 beware what couTisels they give and what 'rules they pre- 
 scHbe, lest they destroy all in the bud. 
 
 There are two errors too commonly committed : one in 
 excess, persuading souls under trouble of conscience that 
 there is no coming to Christ for them', unless they are so and 
 so prepared, humbled just to such a degree : this is danger- 
 ous counsel ; it overheats the troubles of conscience, and keeps 
 the soul from its proper present duty and remedy. I am 
 sure Paul and Silas took no such course with the convinced 
 jailer, Acts 16:31, nor Peter with the three thousand 
 wounded consciences, Acts 2 : 38. Nor do I fmd where God 
 has stated the time and degree of spiritual troubles, so that 
 there must be no approaches to Christ in the way of faith, 
 until they have suffered them so long and to such a height. 
 If they have imbittered sin to the soul, and made it see the 
 necessity of a Saviour, it cannot move too soon after Christ 
 in the way of faith. Let no man set bounds where God 
 sets none. 
 
 There is another error committed in defect; when prom- 
 ises and comforts are applied before the nature of faith is 
 known, or one act of reliance put forth towards Christ. 
 These hasty comforts come to nothing ; they will hot, they 
 cannot stand. It is a dangerous thing to apply gospel-cor- 
 dials, and pour out the precious ointment of the promises 
 upon them who were never heart-sick for sin — to address to 
 such persons upon every slight trouble, which is but as an 
 early dew, the peculiar consolations of penitent and believ- 
 ing souls. How many such unskilful empirics are there in 
 
132 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 every place I Such as the prophet Jeremiah complains of: 
 " They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people 
 slightly, saying, Peace, peace ; when there is no peace." 
 Jer. 6 : 14. Remember, that the foundation is now laying 
 for eternity, and that this is the time of deep consideration ; 
 men must ponder the terms and count the cost, and deliber- 
 ately accept and close with Christ, before the consolations of 
 the promises can properly be administered to them. 
 
 3. WTiat a blessing is a rousing, faithful ministry 
 among a people. By such a ministry Christ knocks power- 
 fully : this is one of the greatest blessings God can bestow 
 upon a people, when he sends among them powerful and 
 judicious preachers of the gospel, under whose ministry their 
 consciences cannot sleep quietly. These are the instruments 
 by which Christ knocks at men's hearts ; and as for those 
 that sew pillows for drowsy sinners to sleep quietly upon, 
 the Lord owns them not as his. " Thy prophets have seen 
 vain and foolish things for thee : and they have not discov 
 ered thine iniquity." Lam. 2 : 14. 
 
 It is true that those ministers that give men no rest and 
 quietness in their sins, must expect but little rest and quiet- 
 ness themselves. What is it for ministers to preach home 
 to the consciences of others, but to pull down the rage of 
 the world upon their own heads ? But certainly you will 
 have cause to bless God to eternity," for casting your lot un- 
 der such a ministry ; and the Lord accounts such a mercy 
 sufficient to recompense any outward affliction that hes upon 
 you. You fare richly under such doctrine, though the Lord 
 should feed you with the bread of affliction, and give you 
 the waters of adversity to druik ; this makes amends for all. 
 Thine eyes shall behold thy teachers, and they shall be 
 driven no more into corners. Isa. 30 : 20. blessed bo 
 God that England's corners are this day emptied, that its 
 pulpits may be filled with laborious, faithful ministers. 
 that the knocks of Christ may be heard in all the cities 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVING. 1^3 
 
 towns, and villages of this nation. The kingdom of God 
 is come nigh unto us ; this mercy is invaluable : pray that 
 the Lord may continue it, and make all your ministers and 
 means, whether public or private, successful. 
 
 4. Let all men beware of wJiatever may deafen their 
 ears and drown the sound of Christ's knocks and calls in 
 the gospel. What pernicious enemies to the souls of men 
 are those persons who turn away men's ears from attending 
 to the knocks and calls of Christ in his word. Such are, 
 1. Profane, wicked men, who, like Elymas the sorcerer, 
 make it their business by wicked insinuations and jeers to 
 turn away men's ears from the gospel. ** full of all 
 subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou ene- 
 my of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the 
 right ways of the Lord?" Acts 13 : 10. All opposition to 
 godliness has a spice of devilishness, and no child more* 
 resembles his father than a scoffing enemy resembles his 
 father the devil. But blessed be Grod for the good provi- 
 dence which, in a great measure, has stopped the mouths 
 both of the father and his children. 2. Take heed of carnal 
 and ungodly relations, who discourage and threaten their 
 servants, and all who depend on them, from attending upon 
 the means, or giving way to the convictions which God has 
 awakened in their hearts. Cruel parents, who had rather 
 see their children turned into their graves, than turning to 
 the ways of serious godliness I that any should dare to 
 quench the beginnings of spiritual life in those to whom they 
 were instruments to convey natural life. 3. Take heed of 
 the world, its distracting cares and pleasures ; what a din and 
 noise do these things make in the ears of men. " The cares 
 of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts 
 of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh 
 unfniitful." Mark 4:19. Tell not them of getting Christ, 
 they must study how to get bread. These are some of the 
 distracting and diverting sounds which drown the voice of 
 
134 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Christ's knocks and calls in the gospel. As you value your 
 souls, beware of them. 
 
 Christ is now come near us in the gospel. Behold, he 
 •tands at the door and knocks : and I this day demand your 
 inswer — in his name I do solemnly demand it ; what shall 
 [ return to him who sent me ? "What sayest thou, sinner ? 
 Wilt thou open to Christ, or wilt thou shut him out, and 
 with him thy own pardon, peace, and salvation ? Once 
 more, let me try the force of a few more arguments upon 
 your hearts, and refute your vain pleas to the contrary, 
 Methinks no heart should be able to resist such motives 
 and rational persuasions as these following will be found 
 to be. 
 
 Motive 1. You are in extreme need of Christ; you 
 •want him more than bread or breath. Many things are 
 convenient for your bodies, but Christ is the " one thing 
 needful" for your souls.' Luke 10 : 42. Necessity is an engine 
 that will open any thing that can be opened : necessity will 
 make all fly before it. Now there is a plain, present, abso- 
 lute necessity lying on every one of you to open your heart 
 to Christ, and that without delay. Necessity goes before 
 the face of Christ, to open the way for him into the heart. 
 Thou must have him, or be lost for ever. Christ and faith 
 are not the may-be, but the must-be, to the happiness of thy 
 soul, A man may be poor, and happy ; reproached, and 
 blessed ; but he cannot be Christless and safe, nor Christ- 
 less and comfortable. You must have Christ, or you can- 
 not have life, John 3 : 36 ; you must have Christ, or you 
 can have no hope, Col. 1 : 27. Christ and life, Christ and 
 hope, go together : no Christ, no life ; no Christ, no hope. 
 Smner, thou must have Christ, or thou canst have no par- 
 don ; for Christ and pardon are undivided. Eph. 1:7. In 
 a word, you must have Christ, or you can have no salva- 
 tion. Acts 4 :12. Well, then, if thou canst have no life 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVING. 135 
 
 nor hope, no pardon nor salvation, without Christ, then a 
 plain necessity goes before Christ to open his way into thy 
 heart : methinks thou shouldst now say, Then will I open 
 to Christ, whatever the terms are. Come sufferings, losses, 
 reproaches, yea, death itself, all is one ; Christ I must have, 
 and Christ I will have : necessity is laid upon me, and my 
 heart is opened to Christ by it. Woe to me for ever, if I 
 miss of Christ. 
 
 Motive 2. The Lord Jesus is this day come nigh to 
 your souls. I may say to you as Christ did to the Jews, 
 " The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." Luke 10:9. 
 The Lord grant he be not as nigh to some of you as ever 
 he shall be ; for he must come nearer, or else you are lost 
 for ever. It is not Christ among you in the means of grace, 
 but Christ within you by the work of grace, which must be 
 unto you " the hope of glory." Col. 1 : 27. He is not only 
 among you in external means, but he is come into your un- 
 derstandings and consciences ; yea, some motions of his you 
 feel upon your affections : there wants but a little more to 
 make you eternally happy. what would one effectual 
 touch upon your wills be worth now ! The head-work is 
 done ; that the heart- work were done too. You are almost 
 saved; but to be almost saved, is to be wholly and eternally 
 lost, if it go no further. It is a sad thing for a man who 
 hath one foot in heaven, to slide from thence into hell ; it is 
 sad to be shipvnrecked at the harbor's mouth. 
 
 Motive 3. Jesus Christ has an unquestionable right 
 to enter into and possess every one of your souls. Satan is 
 but an usurper : Christ is your lawful owner and proprietor ; 
 thy soul, sinner, hath not so full a title to thy body, as Christ 
 hath to thy soul. Satan keeps Christ out of his right. Christ 
 knocks at the door of his own house ; he built it, and there- 
 fore may well claim admission into it : it is his own crea- 
 ture. " By him were all things created that are in heaven 
 and that are in earth, visible and invisible ;" bodies or souls. 
 
136 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Col. 1 : 16. The invisible part, thy soul, is his workman- 
 ship — a stately structure of his own raising. He has also 
 a right by redemption ; Christ hath bought thy soul, and 
 that at the invaluable price of his own blood. "Who then 
 can dispute the right of Christ to enter into his own house ? 
 But, alas, he cometh to his own and his own receive him 
 not. John 1:11. 
 
 Motive 4. Open the door to Christ, for a train of bless- 
 ings and mercies come in toith him — a troop of privileges 
 follow him. In the same day and hour that Christ comes 
 into thine heart by a full and deliberate choice, a pardon 
 comes with him of all the sins that ever thou hast commit- 
 ted, in thought, word, or action. "Will such a pardon be 
 welcome to thy soul ? Then let Christ be welcome, for 
 where Christ comes, pardon comes. Eph. 1:7. If you open 
 to Christ, you open to peace, and who would shut the door 
 of his soul against peace ? If peace be welcome, let Christ 
 be welcome ; for peace follows faith in Christ. Rom. 5:1. 
 Where Christ comes, liberty comes. '* If the Son therefore 
 shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8 : 36. 
 Are you in love with bonds and fetters ? Satan's laws are 
 written in blood. Christ's yoke is easy, and his commands 
 not grievous. If you love liberty, love Christ. In a word, 
 where Christ comes, salvation comes ; for he is " the author 
 of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." Heb. 5:9. 
 If therefore you love pardon, peace, liberty, and salvation, 
 shut not the door against Christ ; for all these follow him 
 wherever he goes. 
 
 Motive 5. Christ this day solemnly demands entrance 
 into thy soul ; he begs thee to open to him, 2 Cor. 5 : 20 ; 
 he commands thee to open unto him, 1 John 3 : 23 ; he 
 denounces eternal rum to those who refuse him entrance. 
 Now consider well — here is entrance demanded under pain 
 of the eternal wrath of God : this demand is recorded in 
 heaven ; at your own peril be it, if you shut the door against 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVINa. 137 
 
 him. Only this will I say in my Redeemer's behalf; if you 
 refuse, bear witness heaven and earth this day that Christ 
 solemnly demanded entrance into thy soul, and was refused ; 
 bear witness that the door was shut against the only Re- 
 deemer, who intreated, commanded, and threatened eternal 
 damnation to the rejecters of him. Oh, methinks that 
 scripture, Prov. 1 : 24-31, should strike terror into the very 
 centre of the soul that refuses the offers of Christ ! 
 
 Motive 6. And so I have done my master's errand : if 
 you now refuse the knock of Christ at your hearts, he may 
 never knock more ; and where are you then ? There is a 
 loiock which will be the last knock, a call which will be his 
 last call ; and after that no more knocks or calls, but an 
 eternal silence as to any overture of mercy. 
 
 Objection 1 . But if I do open to Christ, he will never 
 come in to such a filthy, polluted, sinful soul £ts mine is. 
 
 Answer. Who saith so ? Who dare affirm so impudent 
 a falsehood in the very face of the text, " If any man open 
 to me, I will come in to him ?" 
 
 Objection 2. If I open to Christ, I must bid farewell to 
 rest in this world ; reproaches, sufferings, and losses follow 
 him. 
 
 Answer. If Christ, pardon, and salvation are, in thy 
 estimation, not worth the enduring and suffering these small 
 things, sure thou valuest Christ and thy soul at a low rate. 
 who can sufficiently bewail the ignorance and folly of un- 
 believers, who will sell their souls and hopes of heaven for 
 such trifles ! And if Christ and thy soul must part on these 
 terms, then hear me, sinner, and let it sink into thine heart : 
 
 Thy damnation ivill he just ; for thou hadst thine 
 own choice, and hast deliberately preferred the insignificant 
 trifles of this world before Christ and salvation. It was 
 plainly told thee what the issue of thy rejecting Christ would 
 be ; and yet, after sufficient warning, thou hast ventured 
 upon it. Whatever other sinners will plead, I know not, 
 
138 CHRIST KNOCKiXa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 but as for thee, thou must be speechless. Matt. 22 : 12. If 
 thou die Christless, thou must appear at his bar speechless ; 
 and the day of judgment will be the day of the revelation 
 of the righteous judgment of God. Rom. 2 : 5. 
 
 It will also be UTiavoidable, for there is no other way 
 to salvation but this. Acts 4:12. No Christ, no heaven ; 
 no faith, no Christ. " How shall we escape, if we neglect 
 60 great salvation?" Heb. 2:3. Mercy itself cannot 
 save thee out of Christ, for all the saving mercy of God 
 is dispensed to men through him. Jude 21. It is to no 
 purpose to cry for mercy, when Christ, in whom all the 
 mercies of God are dispensed to men, is rejected by thee 
 
 This doctrine winds up in consolation to all such as, 
 hearing the knocks of Christ, have opened or are now re- 
 solved to open their hearts to him ; and that nothing, hence- 
 forth, may keep Christ and their souls asunder, to such I 
 shall address the following grounds of comfort. 
 
 1. An opening heart to Christ is a work wholly and 
 altogether supernxitural ; a special work of the Spirit of 
 God, never found upon any but an elect soul. There are 
 common gifts of the Spirit, such as knowledge, vanishing 
 convictions, etc., but the opening of the heart by faith is 
 the special, saving, and peculiar work of the Spirit. " This 
 is the work of God, that ye beheve on him whom He hath 
 sent." John 6 : 29. Yea, the almighty power of God, the 
 exceeding greatness of his power, is exerted in the work of 
 faith. Eph. 1:19. It rises not out of nature, as common 
 gifts do ; but of this it is expressly said, " Not of yourselves, 
 it is the gift of God." Eph. 2 : 8. Where this work is effect- 
 ually wrought, we may reason as sohdly as comfortably from 
 it, both backward to the electing love of God, and forward 
 to our eternal glorification with him. Rom. 8 : 30. 
 
 2. The opening of thy heart to Christ by saving faith 
 g'^es thee an interest 171 Christ the very same hour The 
 
THE SPIRIT STRIVINO. 139 
 
 relation is then constituted, the conjugal bond is fastened 
 between him and thy soul. " As many as received him, to 
 them gave he power," right or privilege, "to become the 
 sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." John 
 1:12. You neither need nor may expect an extraordinaiy 
 messenger or voice from heaven, to tell you that Christ is 
 yours and you are his ; you have a better foundation in this 
 word and work of faith. For my part, if God will give me the 
 clear and satisfying experience of this work upon my heart, 
 I would never desire more satisfaction on this side heaven. 
 I know not but the devil may counterfeit an extraordinary 
 voice, and cheat the soul by a lying oracle ; but if I really 
 feel my heart and will sincerely opening to Christ upon gos- 
 pel terms, I am sure there is no deceit in that. 
 
 3. The opening of thy heart to Christ by faith is a 
 good assurance that heaven shall be opened to thy soul here- 
 after. Heaven is shut against none but those who shut 
 their hearts against Christ by unbelief Will you bar Christ 
 out of your souls by ignorance and unbelief, and then cry, 
 Lord, open to us ? God will open to none but them that 
 open to Christ. Eternity itself shall but suffice to bless God 
 for this opening act of faith. " He that believeth shall be 
 saved." Mark 16 : 16. 
 
 4. The opening of thy soul to Christ by faith makes it 
 Christ's liabitation for ever : in that hour out go sin and 
 Satan, and in come Christ and grace. " If any man open 
 unto me, I will come in'to him," saith the text. Of such a 
 soul Christ saith, as it was said of the temple, " The Lord 
 hath chosen Zion ; he hath desired it for his habitation. This 
 is my rest for ever ; here will I dwell, for I have desired it." 
 Psa. 132 : 13, 14. The soul now becomes a hallowed tem- 
 ple to the Lord ; as he hath said, ^' I will dwell in them, 
 and walk in them ; and I will be their God, and they shall 
 bo my people." 2 Cor. 6:16. what a heaven on earth 
 i? Vere I Christ dwelling in the soul is the glory of the 
 
140 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 soul, as God's dwelling in the temple was the glory of the 
 temple. 
 
 5. In a word, the opening of the heart to Christ is the 
 work which answers the great design of the gospel. Where- 
 fore has God set up ordinances and ministers, yea, wherefore 
 is the Spirit sent forth, but to open the hearts of sinners to 
 Christ by faith ? When this is done, the main intention of 
 the gospel is attained ; the union is effected between Christ 
 and the soul ; it is now put out of hazard. The whole work 
 of the gospel after that, is but to build up, confirm, and com- 
 fort the soul, ripen its implanted graces, and make it meet 
 for glory. 
 
j^ \^^ OF THE ■ 
 
 UNION AND COMMUNIoiry |TT y T141 2 Jl] 
 
 CHAPTER YI. Xj^ilPO^^ 
 
 CHRIST'S EARNEST ENTREATY FOR UNION AND 
 COMMUNION WITH SINNERS. 
 
 " BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK." Rev. 3 : 20. 
 
 Here are pains and patience, all means used by Christ 
 to gain entrance into the souls of sinners. The language 
 speaks the earnestness of his suit, and the vehemency of his 
 desire to be in union with the souls of men. The sixth doc- 
 trine, therefore, will be, 
 
 Jesus Christ is an earnest suitor for union and cwrn 
 vtunion with the souls of sinners. 
 
 This doctrine lies directly and fully in the intention of 
 the text. In opening it, two things must be spoken to, in 
 the doctrinal part : the demonstration of this truth, that he 
 is so ; and the marvellous grace and condescension of Christ, 
 that he should be so. 
 
 The DEMONSTRATION of this truth, that Christ is an ear- 
 nest suitor ybr union and communion with the souls of sin- 
 ners, I shall draw from a view and consideration of the dis- 
 positions and actions of the Lord Jesus towards sinners from 
 first to last. And when you have compared them all to- 
 gether, and by them seen the temper of his heart, how great 
 and clear a Hght will shine upon this point. That liis heart 
 hath still inclined towards union and communion with sin- 
 ful man, will appear by considering him before his incarna- 
 tion ; in the days of his flesh ; at his death ; and since his 
 ascension into heaven. 
 
 I. Consider him before ms incarnation, and you will 
 fmd two things in that state which plainly speak his desire 
 after union with us. 
 
 1. In the covenant of redemption he made with God 
 concerning us before this world had a being ; for such a 
 
142 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 covenant and promise did really pass .between him and the 
 Father before all time, or else I know not how to understand 
 this scripture : " In hope of eternal life, which God, that 
 cannot He, promised before the world began." Titus 1 : 2. 
 To whom could that promise be made, which bears date be- 
 fore the creation, but unto Christ ? What else can this mean 
 but the covenant of redemption made between the Father and 
 the Son ? the terms whereof are set down in Isa. 53: 10, 11, 
 where you find what Christ was to do, namely, "to make his 
 soul an offering for sin" — and what should be his reward 
 for pouring out his soul unto death, namely, " To see liis 
 seed ; to see the travail of his soul," even a church purchased 
 with his own blood. Whether this be not a great demonstra- 
 tion of the inclination of Christ's heart towards union and 
 communion with sinners, let all men judge. what a value 
 did Christ set upon our souls, that upon such costly terms 
 he would consent to redeem them I Unto this agreement God 
 the Father held him : " God spared not his own Son." Rom. 
 8 : 32. And this very covenant Christ pleaded with the Fa- 
 ther : "I have manifested thy name unto the men which 
 thou gavest me out of the world : thine they were, and thou 
 gavest them me." Jolin 17:6. This plainly shows the 
 vehement desire of Christ's heart to be in union with men ; 
 according to Prov. 8:31: " Rejoicing in the habitable part 
 of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men." 
 Blessed Jesus, nothing but the strength of thine own desire 
 and love could have drawn thee out of that bosom of de- 
 lights to suffer so many things for the sake of sinners. 
 
 II. Let us consider Christ's disposition towards union 
 and communion with sinners, m the days of ms flesh ; 
 and every thing dene by Christ carries and confirms this 
 conclusion. 
 
 1. Christ's assumption of our nature manifested his 
 desire after union with us. Herein he gave two incompar- 
 able proofs of his transcendent love to us, and desire afler us 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 143 
 
 ( 1 .) In passing by a superior and more excellent nature 
 ** Verily he took not on him the nature of angels." Heb. 
 2:16. Angels were excellent creatures, but behold those 
 vessels of gold cast into the fire, and earthen potsherds fitted 
 for glory. It is true, the angels who kept their first estate 
 are members of Christ's kingdom ; he is a head to them by 
 way of dominion, but unto us by way of vital union. Christ 
 takes the behever into a nearer union with himself than any 
 angel in heaven. For the multitudes of apostate angels he 
 never designed recovery, but left them as they were before, 
 bound in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great 
 day. Jude 6. 
 
 (2.) In uniting our nature to himself, and that after 
 sin Jiad blasted its beaiUy, and let in so many direful calam- 
 ities upon it. He was found in the likeness of sinful flesh, 
 Rom. 8:3; that is, he was subject to weariness, pains, and 
 death, which, though there is no sin in them, are the efiects 
 and consequences of sin : such a nature he took into personal 
 union with himself, not to experience any new pleasure in 
 it, but to enable him to suffer and satisfy for us ; and thus 
 to give a convincing proof of the strength of his love, and the 
 vehemency of his desire to us. His personal union with our 
 nature shows his desire after a mystical union with our per- 
 sons. He would never have been the Son of man, but to 
 make us the sons and daughters of the living God ; he came 
 in our likeness, that we, by sanctification, might be con- 
 formed to his likeness. Behold how near Christ comes to us 
 by his incarnation. what a stoop did he make therein 
 to recover us. Rather than lose us, he was contented to lose 
 his manifested glory for a time ; for his incarnation made hira 
 "of no reputation." Phil. 2 : 7. Behold the desire of the 
 Saviour after union with sinners. 
 
 2. The whole life of Christ upon earth was an evident 
 proof and demonstration of the desire of his heart to be in 
 union and communion with us : " For their sakes I sanctify 
 
144 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 myself." Johii 17 : 19. The life of Christ was wholly set 
 apart for us ; therefore it is said, " Unto us a child is born, 
 unto us a son is given." Isa. 9:6. What was the errand 
 upon which Christ came into this world, but to " seek and to 
 save that which was lost ?" Luke 19:10. 
 
 All the miracles he wrought on earth were so many 
 works of mercy. He could have wrought miracles to destroy 
 and ruin such as received him not ; but his almighty power 
 was employed to heal and to save the bodies of men, that 
 thereby he might win their souls unto himself. " God anoint- 
 ed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power ; 
 who went about doing good, and heaHng all that were 
 oppressed of the devil ; for God was with him." Acts 
 10 : 38. When the apostles desired a commission from liim 
 to command fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans, he 
 rebuked them, saying, "Ye know not what manner of spirit 
 ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's 
 lives, but to save them." Luke 9 : 55, 56. The whole life 
 of Christ- in this w-orld was nothing else but a wooing, draw- 
 ing motive to the hearts of sinners ; he rejected not the vilest 
 of sinners. Luke 7 : 39. He rejected none that came to 
 him ; he would not have even little children forbidden to be 
 brought unto him. Mark 10:14. What his winning com- 
 passion should be, was long before predicted by the prophet : 
 " A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax 
 shall he not quench." Isa. 42 : 3. Christ was in the world 
 as a magnet drawing all men to him ; his deportment was 
 every way suitable to his commission, which was to preach 
 good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, 
 to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the 
 prison to them that are bound. Isa. 61:1. 
 
 3. As his life, so his doctrine teas a most pathetic i?ivi- 
 tation unto sinners. " Never man spake like this man." 
 John 7 : 46. Whenever he opened his lips, heaven opened, 
 the very heart of God was opened to sinners ; the whole 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 145 
 
 stream and cuiTent of liis doctrine was one continued power' 
 fui persuasive to draw sinners to him. This was his lan- 
 guage : " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11 : 28. " In the 
 last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, 
 If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." John 
 7 : 37. He compares his invitations to the call of a hen, to 
 gather her chickens under her wings: "0 Jerusalem, Jeru- 
 salem, how often would I have gathered thy children 
 together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings I" 
 Luke 13 : 34. Certainly the whole gospel is nothing but the 
 charming voice of the heavenly bridegroom. 
 
 4. The joy he always expressed for the success of tlie 
 gospel, shows him to be an earnest suitor for the hearts of 
 sinners. It is very remarkable that all the evangelists who 
 have recorded the life of Christ, never mention one laugh 
 or smile from him, for he was " a man of sorrows." Yet 
 once we read that he rejoiced in spirit ; and you shall see the 
 occasion of it in Luke 10 : 21 : "In that hour Jesus rejoiced 
 in spirit." And what was it that gladdened his heart 
 but the report brought him by the seventy, who returned 
 with joy, saying, " Lord, even the devils are subject to us 
 through thy name I" And he said unto them, " I beheld 
 Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Ver. 17, 18. Satan's 
 kingdom was going down in the world, and the mysteries of 
 salvation were revealed unto babes ; this made his holy heart 
 leap with joy, to behold the success of the gospel destroying 
 Satan's kingdom, and the poorest, meanest among men en- 
 lightened and converted by it. Tliis was a cordial to his 
 very soul, and showed the earnestness of his desire after 
 union and communion with sinners. 
 
 5. His sorrows and mourning upon account of the 
 ebsiinacy and unbelief of sinners, speak the vehemence of 
 his desire after union with them. It is said, Mark 3 : 5, 
 " When he had looked round about on them with anger, 
 
 Christ Koocldn?. 7 
 
146 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR, 
 
 being grieved for the hardness of their hearts." You see 
 that a hard heart is a grief to Jesus Christ. how tenderly 
 did Christ mourn over Jerusalem, when it rejected him. It 
 is said that when Jesus came nigh to the city, he wept over 
 it. Luke 19 :41. The Redeemer's tears wept over obsti- 
 nate Jerusalem spoke the zeal and fei vor of his concern for 
 their salvation ; how loath Christ is to give up sinners. What 
 a mournful voice is that in John 5 : 40 : *' Ye will not come 
 to me, that ye might have life." How ready would I be to 
 give you life ; but you would rather die than come to me for 
 it. What can Christ do more to express his willingness? 
 All the sorrows that ever touched the heart of Christ from 
 men, were on this account, that they would not yield to his 
 calls and invitations. 
 
 6. This appears to be the great design of Christ, by the 
 labors he underwent day and night to accomplish it. Many 
 weary journeys Christ took, many sermons and prayers he 
 preached and poured out, and all with the design to open 
 the hearts of sinners to him, and win the consent of their 
 wills to become his. This was the work which he preferred 
 to his necessary food : " My meat is to do the will of him 
 that sent me, and to finish his work." John 4 : 34. As if he 
 had said. My bringing home the elect of God and saving them 
 from the wrath to come, is more to me than meat and drink. 
 So vehement and intense were his desires after the winning 
 of sinners, that he would lose no occasion to accomplish it. 
 If he were never so weary with his travels and labors, and 
 an occasion oflbred to save a lost soul, he would be sure to 
 improve it. You have an instance of this in John 4 : Then 
 Cometh he to a city of Samaria, called Sychar. Now Jacob's 
 well was there. Jesus therefore being weary with his jour- 
 ney, sat thus on the well. Christ was weary with his jour- 
 ney, and sat on the well for a little rest and refreshment in 
 the heat of the day. At the same time comes a woman of 
 Samaria, to draw water ; a great sinner she was : Christ 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 147 
 
 compassionately beholding this miserable object, forgets his 
 own wearmess, and presently preaches repentance to this 
 sinner and opens her heart ; a greater refreshment to him 
 than that well could afford by giving him a seat to sit on or 
 water to drink. 
 
 7. The great encouragements Christ always gave to 
 corking and vnlling souls, plainly show the earnest desire 
 of his heart after union with them. Never were such en- 
 couragements given as Christ gave to draw the souls of men 
 to him. It is remarkable in what general terms and forms 
 of expression he delivered them, that none might be discour- 
 aged, but come in hope to him : " Come unto me, all ye that 
 labor." Matt. 11 : 28. " If any man thirst." John 7 : 37. 
 All the terms of invitation are exceeding large, which shows 
 the desire of his heart to be so also ; and his practice was 
 answerable to his invitation ; his mercies and compassions 
 never failed when the vilest sinners came to him in repent- 
 ance and faith. You read that when Christ sat at meat in 
 the house of Simon the Pharisee, there came in a poor con- 
 vinced sinner, who had guilt enough upon her to sink ten 
 thousand souls to hell ; this poor woman comes with great 
 humility unto Christ, not presuming to come before his face, 
 but falls down behind him, kisses his feet, washes them with 
 tears, and wipes them with the hair of her head — all demon- 
 strations of a broken heart. And how did the merciful Jesus 
 welcome this poor sinner ? He seals her pardon, commends 
 the fervor of her affections, and sends her away a joyful 
 soul, Luke 7 : 37-50 ; herein making good that gracious 
 promise, " Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." 
 John 6 : 37. 
 
 8. The dreadful threatenings of Christ against all 
 who refuse him and shut, the doors of their hearts against 
 him, show his vehement desire to prevent the loss and 
 ruin of souls. The threatenings of Christ are not intend- 
 ed to discourage any from coming to him, to fright away 
 
148 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 souls from him ; no, that is not their intention : but to 
 bring them under a blessed necessity of compliance with his 
 terms. the dreadful threatenings which, like claps of 
 thunder, come from the mouth of Christ against all who 
 refuse or delay to come unto hirri : "If ye believe not that 
 I am he, ye shall die in your sins." John 8 : 24. "He that 
 believeth not the Son shall not see life." John 3 :'36. 
 What a terrible thunder-clap is that against all unbelievers. 
 "He that believeth not, shall be damned." Mark 16 : 16. 
 All these and many more warnings are given from heaven 
 to prevent the ruin of men ; the very threatenings of the 
 gospel carry a design of mercy in them : damnation is threat- 
 ened, that it may be prevented. 
 
 9. And then, in the last place, herein appears the earnest- 
 ness of Christ after union with sinners, that when he could 
 be no longer a preacher to this world in his own person, he 
 ordained a succession of ministers, in his bodily absence 
 from us, to gather and build the church, and to continue to 
 the end of the world — to carry on the suit that Christ had 
 begun, as long as there was one elect soul in the world lying 
 in the state of sin and nature. 
 
 Christ could not always abide here ; he must die, or we 
 could not live ; he must rise again, or we could not be justi- 
 fied ; our interests called him to another place and state. 
 Now when Christ was to ascend to heaven, he chooses and 
 calls men, men like ourselves, whose presence and appear- 
 ance should not aflright or discourage us — who should treat 
 with us in a familiar way about the great concerns of our 
 salvation in his name and stead. " We are ambassadors 
 for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us : we pray 
 you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 2 Cor. 
 5 : 20. He did not commission* angels to be his legates, 
 their presence would confound and terrify us ; but men cast 
 in the same mould with yourselves, who may say to you as 
 Elihu said to Job, " Behold, I am according to thy wish in 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 149 
 
 God's stead : I also am formed out of the clay. Behold, my 
 terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be 
 heavy upon thee." Job 33 : 6, 7. Upon these commis- 
 fiioned oflicers of Christ he poured forth excellent gifts, ii\ 
 great and useful variety, to fit the capacities and various dis- 
 positions of men's souls. When he ascended up on high he 
 gave gifts unto men, Psalm G8 : 18 ; this ministerial office 
 is by him established in the church, "till we all come in the 
 unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of G od, 
 unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
 fulness of Christ." Eph. 4 : 13. Unto these his ministeis 
 he gives the highest encouragements to quicken them in their 
 labors. If one do one part of the work and another the 
 other — if one soweth and another reapeth, he tells them 
 both, " He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit 
 unto life eternal ; that both lie that soweth and he that reap- 
 eth may rejoice together." John 4 : 36. He tells them that 
 every soul they win to him shall be as a jewel in their crown 
 of glory. " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
 of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteous- 
 ness, as the stars for ever and ever." Dan. 12:3. What 
 is Christ's intention in all these encouragements to his min- 
 isters ? Surely, it is as if he should say to his servants, 
 Study hard, pray earnestly, plead with sinners afiectionately ; 
 every soul you win to me shall make an addition to your 
 glory in heaven. 
 
 Weigh now the force of this second demonstration from 
 the life of Christ. Will you have a proof of Christ's earnest- 
 ness to gain the hearts of sinners ? his whole life on earth 
 was a proof of it ; his doctrine, so full of pathetic invitations, 
 proves it ; the joy of his heart at the success of the gospel — 
 his tears and sorrows for the obstinacy of unbelievers — his 
 labors and travels to gather sinners to him — his admirable 
 encouragements put into general invitations — his dreadful 
 threatenings to all who reject his invitations — his commis 
 
150 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 sioning and qualifying, continuing and encouraging his min- 
 isters to carry on his suit in his name — all these things make 
 a full demonstration that Jesus Christ is an earnest suitor 
 for union and communion with the souls of sinners. 
 
 III. The death of Christ is the fullest demonstration 
 that ever was or can be given of his love to sinners, and 
 desire after union and communion with them. His doctrine 
 and life discovered much, but his sufferings and death abun- 
 dantly more. In his doctrine he spent his breath, but upon 
 the cross he spent his blood. Here he comes suing to the 
 souls of sinners in his scarlet robes, his red garments — gar- 
 ments dipt in his own blood. You may now propound the 
 same admiring question the church propounded, Isa. 63 : 1, 2 : 
 '* Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments 
 from Bozrah ; this that is glorious in his apparel, travel- 
 ling in the greatness of his strength ? Wherefore art thou 
 red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth 
 in the wine-fat ?" Wilt thou know, sinner, why he comes 
 to thee in red garments ? It is to give thee such a demon- 
 stration of his love as may draw forth all the love of thy 
 heart to him ; by this blood he has purchased thy soul as a 
 spouse for himself. Acts 20 : 28. There are two things in 
 the death of Christ which prove the fervor of his desires 
 after us : the greatness of the sufferings which he endured, 
 and the end to which they were designed ; both of which 
 show how the heart of Christ is heated with the vehemency 
 of his own desires after union with our poor souls. 
 
 1. The greatness of the sufferings of Christ shows the 
 ardor of his affection. Christ's sufferings are twofold, exter- 
 nal in his body, and internal in his soul ; both together 
 making up the fulness of his sufferings. When you shall 
 gee what Christ has endured to purchase you to himself, 
 then you may learn what a value he placed upon you, and 
 what desire he has after you. 
 
 (1.) The external sufferings of Christ in his body were 
 
UNION AND COIIMUNIUN. 151 
 
 exceedingly great, for the death he died was not a natural, 
 but a violent death. This death was not in accordance with 
 his nature ; for he was not a sinner, and no punishment was 
 due to him. His body was intended for a sacrifice to God, 
 and as a sacrifice it died; therefore it is said, he was "put to 
 death in the flesh," 1 Pet. 3 : 18 — his soul and body were 
 riolently rent asunder in the fulness of his strength and 
 vigor. And this violent death was also a cursed death : he 
 was "made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every 
 one that hangeth on a tree." Gal. 3 : 13. A ceremonial 
 curse was aflixed to the death of the cross ; he that is hanged 
 is accursed of God, saith the law : the intention of that death 
 was to show that the person who died was so vile that he 
 was not worthy to touch heaven or earth, and therefore was 
 hanged between both. Moreover, the violent death Christ 
 died was a most painful death — full of torture, slow and 
 lingering; the cross was a rack to the body of Christ : "I 
 may tell all my bones ; they look and stare upon me." 
 Psalm 22 : 17. But yet, 
 
 (2.) The suflerings of his body were but the body of his 
 sufierings ; the sufferings of his soul were the very soul of 
 his sufferings. These inward sufferings of Christ may like- 
 wise be considered two ways. 1. In his bitter sufferings in 
 the garden. what agonies and conflicts, what sharp en- 
 counters and distresses his soul there met with from the 
 wrath of God endured for your sakes. Once and again he 
 cried out, Abba, Father, all things are possible, let this cup 
 pass ; Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass : thrice he 
 returned to the same place, falling on his face to the ground. 
 The sufferings of his soul threw his blessed body into a 
 bloody agony: "His sweat was as it were great drops of 
 bbod falling down to the ground." Luke 22 : 44. 2. In 
 the fulness of his sufferings on the cross. There was his soul 
 for a time deserted of the Father, as to any communications 
 of joy and comfort from him, which occasioned the bitter 
 
152 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 outcry, " My God, my God, wliy hast thou forsaken me ?" 
 Matt. 27 : 46. Never was such a cry heard smce the heav- 
 ens were spread over the earth ; never had Christ seen a 
 frown m his Father's face, from eternity, before this time ; 
 but now the smiling face of God was hid, and a strong im- 
 pression of his wrath made upon his Son. -And now, breth- 
 ren, you see what Christ hath endured both in his body and 
 in his soul ; and all for the sake of sinners. What think 
 you now ; is not Christ an earnest suitor ? Does not all this 
 fully and plainly speak the ardor of his love, the fervor of 
 his desire after union and communion with us ? If this do 
 not, then nothing can demonstrate love and degire. 
 
 2. Let us next consider the intention of these sufferings 
 of Christ, and how this also demonstrates the earnestness 
 of his desire after union with us. There was a double use 
 and end of the sufferings of Christ. 
 
 (1.) One end of Christ's death was to pit/rchase our free- 
 dom, that we might be capable of being espoused to him ; 
 for we were not in a capacity, while under the curse of 
 the law, to be married unto Christ. The apostle 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. Rom. 7 : 2, 3. The death of Christ 
 was the death of the law, as a covenant of works hold- 
 ing us under its curse; and so it gave us a manumission 
 or freedom from that bond, and a capacity of espousals to 
 Christ : " 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." Verse 
 4. A slave to another is not capable of being disposed of 
 .in marriage until made free : you were in bondage to the 
 law — the slaves of sin and Satan ; Christ bought your lib- 
 erty, for his blood is called a ransom. Matt. 20 : 28, and so 
 put you into a capacity of being espoused to himself Here 
 you Bee Christ loved you not for any advantage he could re 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 153 
 
 ceive from you, for you had nothing to bring him ; nay, he 
 must purchase you, and that with his own blood, before he 
 could be united to you. incomparable love ; fervent 
 desires ! 
 
 (2.) Another design of the death of Christ was to gain 
 our hearts and affections to himself by the arguments of his 
 death; this he himself has declared to be the intention of it : 
 " I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto 
 me. This he said, signifying what death he should die." 
 John 12 : 32, 33. Christ endured all that you have heard, 
 and infinitely more than the tongue or pen of man can ex- 
 press ; and all to draw thy soul, and win thy consent to 
 come mito him. 
 
 The Lord Jesus, by his sufferings, casts a threefold cord 
 over the souls of sinners to draw them to himself 
 
 The death of Christ obtains complete righteousness for 
 guilty sinjiers ; and if any thing will draw the heart of a 
 sinner to Christ, this will. The anxious search and inquiry 
 of a convinced sinner is after a perfect righteousness to jus- 
 tify him before God. This is what the sinner wants ; con- 
 science says, Thou hast broken all the laws of God, and art 
 therefore condemned : the law sentences thee to hell. Now 
 what would a poor siimer give for a release from this sen- 
 tence of the law ? 0, 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 aM-^ay the handwriting that was 
 against thee, and nailed it to my cross. Col. 2:14. Come 
 unto me, and take up thy cancelled bonds ; come unto me, 
 and divine justice shall never fright thy conscience more ; 
 nay, thou shalt build thy hope upon it. You read 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 
 7* 
 
154 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Bay, at this time his righteousness ; that he might be just, 
 and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 
 3 : 25, 26. Here you see the justification and pardon of a 
 sinner built upon that very attribute which was so dreadful 
 to him before. "Well then, sinner, is there guilt upon thy 
 conscience, and does 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 receive thy discharge ; which if thou refuse, 
 the law still stands in its full force against thy soul. This is 
 one cord Christ casts from the cross over the souls of guilty 
 sinners, to draw them to him. 
 
 The death of Christ procures perfect cleansing from the 
 pollution of sin, and washes the souls of sinners from all 
 their uncleanness. For, " this is he that came by water and 
 blood, even Jesus Christ ; not by water only, but by water 
 and blood." 1 John, 5:6. He comes by sanctification, as 
 well as by justification. Lord, saith the convinced sinner, 
 what an unclean nature, heart, and life have I ? Oh, I am 
 nothing but uncleanness, an abhorrence to God and myself. 
 How shall such a heart as mine 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 justifi- 
 cation : come unto me, my Spirit shall cleanse thy heart ; he 
 shall take away the pollutions of sin, so that it shall be pre- 
 sented to God without spot. 
 
 The transcendent love of Christ shines out in its full 
 strength upon the soids of sinners from the cross; and there 
 is nothing like love to attract 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 sin- 
 ner's breast. " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but 
 that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for 
 our sins." 1 John, 4:10. Here is the triumph, the riches 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 156 
 
 and glory of divine love ; never was such love manifested in 
 the world. There is much of God's love in temporal provi- 
 dences, but all is as nothing to this ; this is love in its high- 
 est elevation, its meridian glory ; before it was none like it, 
 and after it shall none appear like it. Thus you see Christ 
 casting forth from the cross a threefold cord, which is not 
 easily broken, to draw the hearts of sinners to him. 
 
 IV. "What a mighty demonstration of the desire of his 
 heart towards us, did our Redeemer give at ms ascension 
 INTO HEAVEN. As the whole life of Christ upon earth was 
 a persuasive argument to draw sinners to liim, so his ascen- 
 sion to heaven has many mighty attractives for the hearts of 
 men. I will only mention two. 
 
 1. The gifts he bestowed on men at his ascension^ for 
 this very purpose; whereof the Psalmist gives this account : 
 " Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity cap- 
 tive : thou hast received gifts for men ; yea, for the rebellious 
 also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." Psalm 
 68: 18. He alludes to the Roman conquerors, who in the 
 day of their triumph, scattered their gifts among the people. 
 Thus Christ at his ascension shed forth the gifts of the Spirit 
 in various kinds, qualifying men for the work of the muiis- 
 try, to enable them to plead with your souls and carry on 
 his suit when he should be in heaven. These gifts were ex- 
 traordinary in the first age, as the gifts of tongues and mir- 
 acles ; and ordinary, to continue to the end of the world. 
 Eph. 4 : 8, 13. To some he gives depth of learning and 
 judgment, to others pathos, a melting influence upon the 
 aflections ; but all are designed to win your hearts to Christ. 
 This shows what care he took, and what provision he made 
 for the success of his great design to draw the hearts of sin- 
 ners to him. 
 
 2. Tlie ends of his ascension, as they are declared in 
 Scripture, plainly show the vehemency of Christ's desire to 
 draw souls to him. The declared ends of his ascension were, 
 
156 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 (1.) To make way for the Spirit's coming to convince, 
 convert, and comfort all that come unto him : " Neverthe- 
 less I tell you the truth ; it is expedient for you that I go 
 away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come 
 unto you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And 
 when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of 
 righteousness, and of judgment." John 16: 7, 8. Without 
 the conviction of these things, no man can come to Christ ; 
 and no such convictions can be wrought upon the conscience 
 of any man, without the Spirit ; and the Spirit could not 
 have come to effect these things upon men's hearts, if Christ 
 had not ascended : " But this spake he of the Spirit, which 
 they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost 
 was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." 
 John 7:39. Thus Christ provided for carrying on his great 
 design upon your hearts when he was entering into his own 
 glory : the thoughts of that glory made him not to forget his 
 great design upon earth. 
 
 (2.) Another end of Christ's ascension was, to make in- 
 tercession with the Father for every soul that should come 
 unto him ; that their future sins might make no breach of 
 the covenant between God and them : a privilege that 
 should draw the hearts of all sinners to him. " My little 
 children, these things I write unto you that ye sin not." 
 Mark it, the intercession of Christ must encourage no man 
 to sin ; that would be a vile abuse of the grace of God. 
 But " if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Fa- 
 ther, Jesus Christ the righteous : and he is the propitiation 
 for our sins." 1 John, 2:1,2. That is, if sin surprise and 
 deceive a regenerate soul, the bent of whose heart is against 
 it, let him not be discouraged ; he has a potent Advocate 
 ascended into the heavens, to continue the peace between 
 God and that soul. what an encouragement is hero 
 to gain the consent of a sinner's heart to embrace Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 167 
 
 (3.) Another declared end of Christ's ascension was, to 
 lead captivity cajMve, as in the forecited place, Psalm 
 68 : 18; that is, to lead captive and triumph over Satan as 
 a conquered enemy, who lead us captive in the days of our 
 vanity. He conquered Satan upon the cross, Col. 2:15, 
 and he triumphed over him at his ascension; and without 
 such a conquest and triumph no soul could come to Christ, 
 
 (4.) In a word, Christ ascended into heaven to prepare 
 'mansions of rest and glory for every soul that should em- 
 brace him by repentance and faith in this world. '* In my 
 Father's house are many mansions : if it were not so, I 
 would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." John 
 14 : 2. As if he had said, It satisfies me not to enjoy my 
 glory in heaven alone ; all that come unto me by faith, shall 
 be with me where I am ; let them know, for their encour- 
 agement, that the glory which God hath given me, I have 
 given them. John 17 : 22. All these things loudly speak 
 the fervent desire of Christ's soul after union and communion 
 with sinners ; which was the thing to be demonstrated. 
 
 Having proved the point that Christ is an earnest suitor 
 for union and communion with the souls of sinners, we next 
 come to show the marvellous grace and condescension 
 OF Christ that it should be so. And this will appear five 
 ways, to the astonishment of every considering soul. 
 
 1. Though Christ be thus intent and earnest in his suit 
 for your consent, yet he gains nothing by you when you do 
 consent; the gam is to yourselves, and not to him : He " is 
 over all, God blessed for ever," Rom. 9 : 5 — above all acces- 
 sions from the creature. What does the sun gain by enlight- 
 ening and animating the world ? Or what does a fountain 
 gain when men drink and are refreshed by its waters ? If 
 any soul that hears me this day should resolve henceforth to 
 break asunder all the ties and engagements between him and 
 sin — to subscribe the articles of the gospel — to give away 
 
158 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR 
 
 himself, soul and body, to Christ — to live henceforth as a 
 dedicated servant to the Lord Jesus — this would turn to the 
 infinite and everlasting advantage of such a soul ; but Christ 
 cannot be profited thereby. 
 
 2. And that which still increases the wonder is, that 
 though Christ make no profit by our conversion, yet has he 
 impoverished himself to gain such unprofitable creatures as 
 we are to him. He hath made himself poor to make us 
 rich ; so speaks the apostle : " For ye know the grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes 
 he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." 
 2 Cor. 8:9. He expends his riches, but gains no advan- 
 tage to himself. His incarnation impoverished his reputa- 
 tion. Phil. 2:7. How poor was Christ when he said, " But 
 I am a worm, and no man ; a reproach of men, and despised 
 of the people." Psalm 22 : 6. How poor in temporal com- 
 forts, when he said, " The foxes have holes, and the birds of 
 the air have nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to 
 lay his head." Matt. 8 : 20. Yea, how poor was he in spirit- 
 ual comforts, when that astonishing cry broke from him upon 
 the cross, *' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" 
 Matt. 27 : 46. let it astonish us, that Christ should ear- 
 nestly desire union with our souls upon terms of such deep 
 self-denial to himself. 
 
 3. Though Christ gain nothing by you, and impover- 
 ished himself for you, yet he endures many vile repulses, 
 delays, and denials of his suit, and yet will not leave you. 
 astonishing grace ! One would think that the least delay, 
 and much more a refusal of an overture from Christ, upon 
 such terms as these, would make his indignation quickly 
 rise against such a soul ; and that he would say. Thou hast- 
 refused my ofl'er, so full of self-denying and condescending 
 grace, and never shall another offer be made to so unworthy 
 a soul. Yet you see he is contented to wait as well as knock : 
 •'Behold, I stand at the door and knock." 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 159 
 
 4. Herein the admirable grace of tliis heavenly suitor 
 appears, that Jesus Christ passes by millions of creatures 
 of inore excellent gifts, and never makes them one offer of 
 himself, never turns aside to give one knock at their door; 
 but comes to thee, the vilest of creatures, and will not go 
 from thy door without being heard. Knowest thou not, sin- 
 ner, that among the unsanctified there are multitudes of men 
 and women of more excellent parts, strong memories, and 
 solid judgments — yea, of purer conversation, strict morality, 
 adorned with excellent social virtues, capable, if called, to 
 do him abundantly more service than thou canst ? yet these 
 are passed by, and he becomes a suitor to such a poor worth- 
 less thing as thou art, yea, and rejoices in his choice. "I 
 thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because 
 thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and 
 Tiast revealed them unto babes." Matt. 11 : 25. Here is 
 
 the triumph of free-grace. 
 
 5. This increases the wonder, that Jesus Christ shoula 
 desire and delight to dwell in such an unclean heart as 
 thine, which, from the beginning, has been the seat and 
 throne of Satan, full of all uncleanness and abominations. 
 that Christ should make an overture of love to such a 
 polluted soul — that he should choose to erect his throne 
 where Satan's seat was I Look into thine own heart, sinner, 
 and think what can Chrisi: see there to be desired ? Thou 
 knowest thy heart has been a sink of sin, thy conscience like 
 a sewer, into which all the filth of thy life has been cast ; 
 yet Christ passes by thee, as thou liest in thy blood and filthi- 
 ness, and casts his love upon thee and his desire towards 
 thee. Ezek, 16 : 6, 8. All these things make it astonishing 
 in our eyes that Jesus Christ, the Lord from heaven, should 
 become an earnest suitor for union and communion with the 
 souls of sinners. 
 
 Inference 1. If Christ is such an earnest suitor for 
 union and communion with the souls of sinners, it follows, 
 
160 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 that sinners can justly charge their damnation upon none 
 hut themselves. Your blood must be upon your own beads ; 
 salvation by Christ is not only freely offered, but you are 
 with great importunity persuaded to accept it. Christ offers 
 you life, and you choose rather to die than accept it upon his 
 terms ; where now can your ruin be charged but upon your 
 own wilful obstinacy? "0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thy- 
 self" Hosea 13 : 9. Thou art the author of thine own 
 ruin ; I would have gathered thy children, said Christ to 
 Jerusalem, but thou wouldest not ; your ruin, therefore, lies 
 upon yourselves, and upon none besides. Indeed, if the min- 
 isters of Christ are negligent in their duty, they may be 
 accessories to your destruction ; but that is poor relief to you. 
 As for myself, I hope I may, with Paul, take God to record 
 this day, that "1 am pure from the blood of all men." 
 Acts 10 : 26. Now, consider what a dismal aggravation oi 
 your destruction will this be, that you perished by your owe 
 hands : this cuts off" all plea and apology. 
 
 2. Hence it also follows, that distressed sinners have 
 no reason to question Christ's willingness to receive them 
 wlien their hearts are made ivilling to come unto him,. 
 It would be little less than a blasphemous imputation of 
 insincerity to Christ himself, to question his willingness to 
 receive broken-hearted sinners, after so many protestations as 
 he has made in the gospel, of his 'earnestness for their salva- 
 tion ; that scripture, John 6 : 37, puts it out of doubt : " Him 
 that Cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." I know 
 guilt breeds many fears and jealousies in the hearts of sin- 
 ners ; will Christ ever accept and receive such a one as I ? 
 Try him, he has said he will : let him have but the deliberate 
 consent of thy heart to his terms, and then, if thou art 
 rejected, thou wilt be the first soul that ever met a repulse 
 from him. 
 
 3. By CJirist's earnest suit for the souls of sinners, you 
 may see tJie inestimable worth of the ioul of man. Were 
 
UNION AND COM.MUNION. IGl 
 
 not the soul of man of great value, Jesus Christ would never 
 be so deeply concerned about winning and saving it. Sin- 
 ners have a low esteem of their own souls — they will sell 
 them for naught; but Christ knows their true worth, and 
 his solicitude to save them is answerable to his estimation 
 of them ; he counts when he has gained a soul, that he has 
 gained a treasure. Therefore he pleads and waits so ear- 
 nestly for the salvation of them. Two things speak the great 
 value of the soul of man. 
 
 (1.) Tliat it is now capable of espousals to the Son of 
 God; upon which account it is that Christ so earnestly seeks 
 its love, and sues for its consent. This is a dignity beyond 
 that of all other creatures in heaven or in earth ; no angel 
 in heaven, no other creature but the soul of man on earth, is 
 capable of espousals to Christ. It is a dignity above that 
 of angels, for Christ took not on him their nature, and the 
 union of the divine and human natures is the foundation of 
 the union between Christ and his people. Angels are mem- 
 bers indeed of Christ's kingdom, and he is to them a head of 
 dominion; but the honor was never conferred upon angels 
 to be members of his body, flesh and bones, as the saints 
 are. Eph. 5 : 30. 
 
 (2.) As the soul is capable of espousals to Christ on earth, 
 so it is capable of glory with Christ in heaven throyghout 
 eternity. "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast 
 given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold 
 my glory which thou hast given me." John 17 : 24. The 
 soul of man has a natural capacity of enjoying eternal bless- 
 edness which other creatures have not. And this will be 
 the aggravation of hell-torments, that men capable of the 
 highest happiness should, as it were, receive that capacity 
 in vain ; but that which constitutes an actual right to the 
 everlasting enjoyment of Christ in glory, is the soul's espou- 
 sals to him here by his grace. Upon these two accounts it is 
 that Christ puts such a price upon them, courts theii love so 
 
16iJ CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOE. 
 
 aflectionately, laments their loss so pathetically, and encour- 
 ages his ministers to all diligence in persuading and wooing 
 them for him with such abundant rewards. Dan. 12:3. 
 Know then your own worth and dignity ; neither pawn nor 
 sell so precious a thing as thy soul for any thing Satan can 
 set before thee by way of exchange for it. "What shall a 
 man give in exchange for his soul I" Mark 8 : 37. 
 
 4. Is Christ such an earnest suitor for union with sin- 
 ners ? then certainly, they are the enemies of Christ arid 
 the souls of men, who any ivay endeavor to hinder or break 
 off the uniqjp, between Christ and them. 
 
 Some there are who labor to create jealousies and preju 
 dices in the souls of men against Christ and his ways — men 
 that bring up an evil report of Christ and reHgion, as that 
 which will expose them to all the miseries of the world. 
 Instigated by Satan, they whisper into the soul's ear, whom 
 Christ is wooing for himself, that the severity of religion will 
 certainly extinguish all their joys and pleasures ; they shall 
 never laugh more, never be merry any more ; besides, it will 
 expose all their comforts upon earth to hazard, their estates 
 and Hves must fall a prey to their enemies, and this suffering 
 is the estate with which Christ will endow them if they con- 
 sent to his terms. And that this is no groundless jealousy 
 of their own, but that Christ himself has openly declared as 
 much : " He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not 
 worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than 
 me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, 
 and foUoweth after me, is not worthy of me." Matt. 10 : 37, 
 38. This is what they must expect as the fruit of their con- 
 sent to Christ's proposals. But 0, what will these men have 
 to answer, and how will they stand before Christ another day, 
 who are such professed enemies to his cross, and set them- 
 selves so directly in opposition to the great designs of Christ I 
 Is it not enough that you will not enter yourselves, but you 
 wUl hinder them that would ? Matt. 23 : 1 3 . Thus ungodly 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 163 
 
 parents discourage their cliildren, and one relative another. 
 But, to help souls under this discouragement, I will leave 
 only this one caution with them, that such seeming friends 
 are real enemies, their words are poison to your souls. Satan 
 has employed them to do his work, and hired their tongues for 
 his service. But if the serious care of salvation, and fervent 
 love of Christ be in thy heart, thou wilt resolve, as Jerome 
 did, " If my father and my mother should hang about my 
 neck with tears and entreaties to keep me from Christ, I 
 would fling off my father and my mother, to go to Christ." 
 
 To this head also belong all those scandals and offences 
 which loose and careless professors cast in the way to discour- 
 age others from coming unto Christ : "Woe unto the world 
 because of offences." Matt. 18:7. Woe to the world, this will 
 be their ruin ; for by this means such prejudices will be begot- 
 ten in their souls against Christ and religion, as they will 
 never be able to free themselves from. " Whoso shall offend 
 one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for 
 him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that 
 he were drowned in the depth of the sea." Matt. 18 : 6. 
 Christians, look carefully to your conversation; for besides 
 the evil effects of sin upon yourselves, you see the mischiev- 
 ous effects of it upon others. And thus we may understand 
 those words, " I charge you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not 
 up nor awake my love till he please." Sol. Song 2:7. Roes 
 and hinds are timid creatures, the least noise will startle 
 and fright them away : such are those who are coming to 
 Christ ; young beginners in the ways of religion, how small 
 a matter may discourage them. friend, you have sins 
 enough of your own ; bring not the sin and ruin of other 
 men upon you also. 
 
 5. Hoiu great is the blindness and ignorance of sin- 
 ners, who need so much entreaty and importunity to he 
 made hajppy! It is your ignorance, sinners, that makes all 
 
164 CHRIST KNOCKINO AT THE DOOR. 
 
 the gospel importunity necessary ; did you know your own 
 misery, and see Christ as to his necessity, suitableness, and 
 excellency, all these persuasions might be spared ; nay, you 
 yourselves would become importunate suitors for Christ. 
 He would not need to be twice ofTered : there is a conscience 
 in every man, set there on purpose by the Lord to give each 
 an alarm ; but the alarm is not heard for want of the know- 
 ledge of your sin and misery. Ah, soul, didst thou but know 
 who it is that sue9»lbr thy love, and what the benefits of union 
 with Christ are, thou wouldst answer his first call in such 
 language as this : Lord Jesus, write down thine own terms ; 
 be they what they will, I am ready to subscribe them with 
 the full consent of my heart and will. And then, how soon 
 would the union be made between Christ and you. Yea, 
 you would watch for and hang on half a word of encour- 
 agement from Christ's mouth, as Benhadad's servant did 
 on that word of Ahab, "my brother" Benhadad. 1 Kings, 
 20 : 32, 33. There is no need of rhetoric to persuade a con- 
 demned malefactor to accept his pardon, or a hungry man 
 to sit down at a full table ; but, alas, sin is not lelt, Christ 
 is not known ; and therefore the one is not bewailed, nor tho 
 other desired. 
 
 This doctrine also naturally leads us to persuade sinners 
 to embrace Christ's offer, subscribe to his terms, and debate 
 no more with him, but end the treaty in a cordial present 
 consent ; and so close the union between him and their souls. 
 How long, sinner, wilt thou halt, and thy will hang unde- 
 termined between Christ and sin, and unresolved in so 
 great and deep a concern? that Christ's overture may 
 bring the matter to an issue. "Why will you trifle and dally 
 with him at this rate? There is, indeed, a treaty on foot 
 between Christ and you; but you may perish for all that; 
 there is no conclusion or agreement made; Christ and you 
 may yet part. The Lord help you, therefore, to consider 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. IGb 
 
 with all seriousness the terms propounded by Christ in the 
 gospel ; to count the cost — not to be always deliberating, but 
 to bring matters to an issue, and that with all convenient 
 speed : in order whereunto I will lay two things before you. 
 Ponder well what are the advantages you will gain by 
 Christ, and what is the most you can lose by your consent 
 to his terms ; and then bring your thoughts to an issue. 
 
 6. Po7ider well tlie advantages you will gain by Christ : 
 these are so great and manifold, that it is impossible for me 
 to enumerate or estimate them. It shall suffice in this 
 place to show you one of those bunches of the grapes of 
 Eshcol, that by it you may estimate the riches and fertility 
 of the good land settled upon you by Christ as a dowry ; 
 and these are four. 
 
 (1.) The same day and hour you give your cordial consent 
 to take Christ upon gospel-terms, that is to say, Christ with 
 his yoke of obedience, and Christ with his cross of sufTeriiigs, 
 all your debts to the law are discharged and paid. What 
 have you been doing ever since you came into the world, 
 but running into debt to God, deeper and deeper every day ? 
 What a vast sum owest thou to his justice I and thou art not 
 able to pay one farthing. If thou consent not to Christ's 
 offer, the bailiff and executioner, death and Satan, will shortly 
 be upon thee, and hurry thee away to that prison from 
 whence thou shalt not come until thou hast paid the last 
 farthing. Matt. 5 : 25, 26. If thou consent to Christ's terms, 
 thy debts are paid upon thy marriage-day, thy bonds are 
 cancelled, and thy discharge in heaven is sealed : " There is 
 therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ," 
 Rom. 8:1; and the reason is given, The righteousness ol 
 the law is fulfilled in us that believe. Ver. 4. But how in 
 us ? Certainly the meaning is not that the act of faith doth, 
 as a work of ours, satisfy the demands of the law and ful- 
 fil its righteousness ; but it apprehends the righteousness of 
 Christ, applies it and makes it ours, and so "the riglueous- 
 
166 CHE.IST KNOCKlNa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 ness of the la tv is fulfilled in us that believe." Is it an ease 
 and a comfort to be out of debt ? Then embrace the offer of 
 Christ ; for after thy espousals to him, the law cannot touch 
 thee by an act of condemnation : it goes to the husband, 
 Christ ; thou art discharged. Then resolve what to do : 
 shall the debt run on and increase till justice come to exact 
 it upon you in hell-torments ? Or will you accept of Christ 
 and the riches of righteousness in him, and so be fiilly and 
 finally acquitted from all your debts at once, and able to 
 lie down in peace and enjoy your life without fear ? 
 
 (2.) Your consent to Christ's terms, tvill advance you to 
 an Iwnor above and heyond that of angels. It is said that 
 the children of the resurrection shall be equal to angels. 
 Matt. 22 : 30. And it is most sure, that in some respects 
 their union with Christ advances them far above angels ; for 
 the apostle tells us, they are ministering spirits, sent forth to 
 minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation, Heb. 1:14; 
 as the nobles in a kingdom count it no dishonor to perform 
 their service to the heir apparent. The ministry of angels 
 is a mystery which we little understand ; but by it we receive 
 great and manifold advantages, and it certainly puts great 
 honor on all the members of Christ. 
 
 (3.) Christ will not only pay all your debts and exalt 
 you to a dignity above angels, but in the day wherein you 
 cordially consent to his terms, he will entitle you to the niost 
 glorious inheritance purchased by his blood. You shall be 
 "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Rom. 8 : 17. 
 what an inducement is here to close the union between 
 Christ and our souls. If I consent to take Christ upon 
 gospel-terms, I shall be entitled to all the glory in heaven ; 
 it shall be mine as truly as it is Christ's. It is true the 
 glory of Christ will far surpass the glory of the saints ; he 
 will shine among them as the sun compared with the stars; 
 but the glory which God gave him, that is, the communi- 
 cable^lory, shall be as truly theirs, as it is his. " The glory 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 167 
 
 which thou gavesf me, I have given them." John 17 : 22. 
 Tell my brethren, saith he, John 20 : 17, " I ascend unto my 
 Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." 
 This you shall gain by closing this treaty with a hearty con- 
 sent to Christ's terms and proposals. 
 
 (4.) If you will consider and -consent, you shall be pre- 
 sented by Christ to the Father, pure and spotless, with 
 exceeding joy and gladness in the great day. This will be 
 a presentation of your persons to God that should make your 
 hearts leap for joy as you read what the Scriptures speak 
 about it. This, methinks, should induce every soul without 
 further delay to present himself, soul and body, willingly 
 and cheerfully to Jesus Christ. For, first, Christ will bring 
 you in the great day to his Father, in the beauty of perfect 
 holiness, not a spot or wrinkle upon your souls. Eph. 5 : 27. 
 The blood of Christ perfectly washes away every spot of 
 guilt. Then the Spirit of Christ shall have perfectly cleans- 
 ed the soul from all the defilement of sin ; so that it shall 
 come to God pure and beautiful out of Christ's hand. Second, 
 Tliis presentation will be made with the greatest honor and 
 solemnity. We little think in what triumph Christ intends 
 to bring the poorest believer to his Father. " With gladness 
 and rejoicing shall they be brought : they shall enter into 
 the king's palace." Psalm 45 : 15. They shall be presented 
 " faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding, 
 joy." Jude 24. Joy running over joy, upon all hands : 
 God himself will rejoice that he created a soul that has sin- 
 cerely bestowed itself upon Christ ; Jesus Christ will rejoice 
 that he shed his blood for the soul that places his sole right- 
 eousness therein ; the Holy Spirit will rejoice that hj came 
 with a commission from the Father and the Son to draw 
 such a soul to Christ, who has obeyed his voice. The angels 
 will rejoice with joy unspeakable. " There is joy in the 
 presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repent- 
 eth." Luke 15 : 10. If the consent of any of your souls 
 
1G8 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOH. 
 
 shall be this day gained to Christ — ^if the word you have 
 heard shall send any poor soul hence to his closet there to 
 make his covenant with Christ, for that is the way of making 
 the union with Christ — in that hour the news of it will be in 
 heaven and excite joy among the angels of God. Lay these 
 and many other privileges together, which the Scriptures 
 will abundantly furnish you, and then consider what a rich 
 bargain Jesus Christ confers on your souls. 
 
 7. Again, on the other hand, consider wliat you may 
 lose by your consent to be Christ's, and whether these 
 losses are sufficient to balance the gain of such a consent, 
 that so your choice of Christ may be deliberate and full, and 
 you may never repent of the choice you have made. It is a 
 rule in the civil law, Non consentit qui 7ion sentit — he 
 cannot consent that does not think, understand, and delib- 
 erate; and this is the reason of so much flinching from 
 Christ and shameful apostasy in times of persecution : men 
 did not think of such sufferings and losses, they are matters 
 of surprise to them. To prevent all such occasions of offence, 
 our Lord deals candidly and openly with us, and tells us 
 beforehand what are the worst things that may befall us for 
 his sake. " These things have I spoken unto you, that you 
 should not be offended. They shall put you out of the syn- 
 agogues ; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you 
 will think he doeth God service." John 16 : 1, 2. But he 
 adds, " These things have I told you that, when the time 
 shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them." 
 Ver. 4. Remember, in times of persecution, that all these 
 things were propounded and consented to ; they were the 
 very terms you subscribed to me ; had you not liked them, you 
 might, at the everlasting ruin of your immortal souls, have 
 refused and rejected them. The things you are to balance 
 with the gain of Christ may be divided into two classes. 
 
 (1.) The things that you must part wdth, namely, your 
 lusts and all tJie vicious pleasures you Jiave Jiud in them. 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. (m^ 169 A 
 
 However much profit or pleasure they have Nji^j^^j^ou, 
 away they must go ; they must be devoted to destruction 
 and mortification, or you can have no interest in Chiist ; you 
 must bid adieu for ever to all your sinful courses and com- 
 panions. " His servants ye are to whom ye obey." Horn. 
 5:16. Be they as pleasant and profitable as your right eye 
 or hand, they must be plucked out and ^ut off. Matt. 
 6 : 29, 30. Docs this sound harsh and unpleasant to your 
 ears? Does this cause you to demur? consider what 
 it is to part with sin ; it is but to part with the disease of 
 your souls, and the instruments of your everlasting ruin. 
 Wliich of you would not be glad to part with a fever, the 
 stone, or dropsy ? What is passion, but the fever of the 
 soul ? What is a hard heart, but a stone ? What is covet- 
 ousness or earthly-mindedness, but the insatiable dropsy of 
 the soul ? Now, if men would be glad to be rid of such 
 dreadful diseases in their bodies, and to be restored to sound- 
 ness, ease, and health ; how ifiuch more should you be glad 
 to be' rid of your corruptions, and have the rectitude, ease, 
 and pleasure of your souls restored again ? yea, instead of 
 the impure, vicious pleasures you have taken in sin, you shall 
 enjoy the pure, suitable, and everlasting pleasures of holiness. 
 Consider now, and accordingly make your choice, whether 
 you will take the pleasures of sin, which are but for a sea- 
 son, in exchange for the everlasting joys which are at God's 
 right hand for ever. 
 
 (2.) There are other things which you 7nay be called to 
 part with, and give up for Christ. It is uncertain whether 
 God onay call you to part ivith your liberty, estate, rela- 
 tion?,, and life for Christ. Many are never actually called 
 forth to such sufferings ; but because many are, and every 
 one of you may be so called, you must realize them, ponder 
 them, and subscribe to those very terms, making full account 
 of these things as if they were now before you, for so Christ 
 hath propounded them. Luke 9 : 23. But then weigh 
 
 Christ Knocking. 8 
 
170 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 these troubles with the advantages you shall have by them, 
 and not alone by themselves ; for so Christ has presented 
 them to you. "And every one that hath forsaken houses, 
 or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or chil- 
 dren, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred 
 fold, and shall inherit everlasting life." Matt. 19 : 29. 
 
 Now, if yoi^hink such gainful troubles, such soul-enrich* 
 ing losses are worth accepting for Christ's sake, then close 
 the union with Christ and bring the matter to a conclu 
 sion. Do not befool yourselves by a fond and groundless pre- 
 sumption that these things will never befall you. I fear many 
 flatter themselves with such vain hopes ; the Lord knows 
 how soon these suppositions at a distance may be turned 
 into realities before your eyes. You have much reason to 
 expect them, and much more to embrace them, whenever 
 Christ shall call you to them. This is the great work you 
 have now to do, and y*u cannot safely demur any longer ; 
 this matter must come to a conclusion, and the sooner the 
 better. For, 
 
 You know that your lives are uncertain, and it is mad- 
 ness to let the great concerns of your salvation lie one day at 
 hazard ; your breath is continually coming and going, and 
 must at last be gone. James 4:14. Your souls hang over 
 everlasting dangers by that feeble breath which plays in 
 your nostrils, and eveiy disease is hke the flame of a candle 
 held under that tliread ; and can it either be safe or com- 
 fortable to delay so great a work as this, upon which all 
 your expectations of eternal blessedness depend ? 
 
 Not only your lives are uncertain,. but the enjoyment oj 
 the gosjjcl, and all the opportunities and means of your con- 
 version, are as uncertain as they. It is true, and to the glory 
 of God be it acknowledged, we now enjoy the freedom and 
 fulness of gospel-mercies ; but where has God made any such 
 settlement of these blessings upon you, as puts the enjoyment 
 of them out of hazard ? The rain is over, but the clouds 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 171 
 
 may return after the rain. If your privileges bring forth good 
 fruit in your conversion, well ; if not, the axe lieth at the 
 root of the tree. Matt. 3 : 10. And if God remove the 
 gospel from us, as our delays and triflings may provoke him 
 to do, then the treaty is ended, and there is little probability 
 that any thing further will be done between Christ and you, 
 Luke 13 : 25. 
 
 Bring this matter to an issue with all due speed, because 
 you are not able to give one sound reason for a moment's 
 delay of so great and weighty a concern. Can you be safe 
 too soon? Can you be happy too soon? Certainly you 
 cannot be out of the danger of hell top soon ; and therefore 
 why should not your closing with Christ upon his own terms 
 be your very next work ? If the main work and business of 
 every man's life be to flee from the wrath to come, as indeed 
 it is, !Mlitt. 3 : 7, and to ilee for refuge to Jesus Christ, as 
 indeed it is, Heb. 6:18, then all delays are highly dangerous. 
 The man-slayer, when fleeing to the city of refuge before the 
 avenger of blood, when his heart was hot within him, did 
 not think he could reach the city too soon. Set your reason 
 to work upon this matter ; put the case as really it is : I am 
 fleeing from wrath to come ; the justice of God and the curses 
 of the law are closely pursuing me ; is it reasonable that I 
 should sit down in the way to gather flowers, or play with 
 trifles ? for such are all other concerns in this world, com- 
 pared with our salvation. 
 
 Bring this treaty to an issue with all due speed, because 
 ^nost souls tliat perish, perish hy delays ; men think they 
 have time enough before them and that to-morrow will be as 
 to-day, and so Satan gets, part by part, what he had not confi- 
 dence to demand in the whole lump. Most that perish under 
 the gospel had convictions upon their consciences, and vain 
 purposes in their hearts ; but not bringing them to a speedy 
 execution, that was their undoing. " He beholdeth himself, 
 and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner 
 
172 CHRIST KNOCKINO AT THE DOOR. 
 
 of man he was." James 1 : 24. It is an allusion to a man 
 that looks in the morning into a glass, where he discerns a 
 spot upon his face, and resolves with himself soon to wash it 
 off; but some diversion or other falls in, other matters take 
 up his thoughts, and so the spot remains all day and he 
 carries it to bed at night. these delays in closing with 
 Christ are the undoing of millions. 
 
 Delay not to close this treaty with Christ, because all 
 delay increases the difficulty ; and the longer you neglect, 
 the more will your hearts " be hardened by the deceitfulness 
 of sin." Heb. 3 : 13. Continuance in sin and quenching 
 convictions insensibly harden the heart and make the will 
 stubborn. Under the first convictions the heart is tender, 
 the aflections flowing ; if this advantage were apprehended 
 and pursued, how soon might the work come to a comfort- 
 able conclusion ; but after a while, those soul-affectin* words, 
 sin, Christ, heaven, hell, death, and eternity, will become 
 words of a common sound. 
 
 And lastly, beware of delays in this matter, because you 
 can never expect a fairer opportunity for the dispatch of 
 this great concern than, by the special indulgence of Heaven, 
 you enjoy this day. " Now is the accepted time ; behold, 
 now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6 : 2. You have the 
 wind and tide with you ; if you will not weigh anchor now, 
 you may lie wind-bound to your dying day. What advan- 
 tage can you reasonably expect, which God has not fur- 
 nished you with at this day ? You have the means of grace 
 among you, and you have freedom to attend on tliose means 
 without fear. Say not, I have such or such troubles and 
 encumbrances in the world ; for you must never expect to 
 be without them, except you shall find the world another 
 thing than all others find it. Have you health ? what 
 a precious season and advantage is that. Art thou sick ? 
 wliat a spur is that. What is to be done must be done 
 quickly. 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 173 
 
 But it may be some will plead ignorance, that they 
 know not how to transact so great a concern with Christ, 
 and therefore set not about it ; and it is likely there may 
 be truth in that plea. For the help of such souls, I will 
 gather up the sum of what has been spoken about this mat- 
 ter, in the following directions ; so that nothing but your 
 unwillingness shall remain to hinder you. 
 
 Direction 4. If ever you bring the treaty between 
 Christ and your souls to a happy conclusion, you must sit 
 doivn and count the cost, Luke 14 : 28, else it will be vain 
 to engage yourselves in the profession of religion. It is not 
 Christ's design to draw you under a rash, inconsiderate 
 engagement, and so to reap more dishonor by your apostasy 
 than ever he shall have glory by your profession. He would 
 have you foresee and seriously bethink yourselves of all the 
 troubles and inconveniences you may afterwards meet with 
 for his sake. You are to embark yourselves with Christ, 
 and abide with liim in storms as well as in sunshine ; you 
 must "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." Eev. 
 14 : 4. There is no retreating after engagement to Christ . 
 *' If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure 
 in him." Heb. 10 : 38. It is eternal death by the law 
 of heaven, to desert Christ's colors in the day of battle. 
 "Well, then, retire into the innermost closet of thy soul ; sit 
 quiet and patiently there, till thou hast debated this mat- 
 ter fully with thy own thoughts, and hast balanced the 
 good and the evil, the profits and losses of religion. For 
 want of this the church is filled with hypocrites, and hell 
 with inconsiderate and rash professors : the more we delib- 
 erate, the better we shall conclude. 
 
 Direction 2. Having debated the matter over and over 
 in thy most serious thoughts, let not Satan discourage thee 
 from casting thy soul at Christ' s feet, ivith a hearty consent 
 to all his terms, for want of such qualifications as thou canst 
 not find in thy own soul. It is usual for Satan to suggest, 
 
174 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 at such a time, the want of greater sorrow and humiliation 
 for sin — that the soul has not lain long enough under the 
 humbling work of the law — that the aggravations of sin 
 have been such that there is no hope of acceptance. Free 
 thy soul from these snares of Satan by the consideration of 
 the truth, that Christ expects from thee no more humilia- 
 tion than what produces such a hearty, deliberate consent as 
 thy will is now to give ; and such a consent once gained, 
 no aggravation of sin can be pleaded against the duty of 
 believing. 
 
 Direction 3. Distrust not the sincerity of Christ i?t the 
 gracious offers he makes to coming souls. Be sure that 
 he speaks his very heart in them to thee ; the devil labors 
 to sow jealousy and suspicions in the hearts of convinced 
 sinners, that they will not find such a welcome with Christ 
 as he seems to promise them in those encouraging scriptures, 
 Matt. 11 : 28, 29 ; John 6 : 37 ; but that something else lies 
 hid in such scriptures, as a mystery which they understand 
 not, and so labors to hinder the accepting act of faith. This 
 is a case as common as it is sad. The Lord help you to 
 avoid this snare, lest instead of honoring Christ by resolved 
 adherence to him, you make him a Uar, and impute insm- 
 cerity to the God of tiuth : "He that believeth not God, 
 hath made him a bar." 1 John, 5:10. 
 
 Direction 4. Look uj) to God to enable you to come to 
 Christ in this dijjicult work of faith. Do not think faith 
 is of the growth of thine own heart : " No man can come to 
 me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." 
 John 6 : 44. There is a legal spirit working under evangel- 
 ical pretences in many souls ; teaching them to look within 
 themselves to find that which is quite above them. The 
 apostle points you to the fountain of faith, in Eph. 2:8: 
 it is " not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God." If the power 
 of God must bo owned as the cause of every new degree of 
 faith in the greatest believers, as is plain from Luke 17:5, 
 
UNION AND COMLIUNION. 175 
 
 ** The apostles said uiito the Lord, Increase our faith ;" how 
 much more is the production of faith itself, and the first 
 vital act thereof to be ascribed to the almighty power of 
 God? 
 
 Direction 5. Keeping thine eye of expectation upon 
 that {ihnighty power ^ plead with the Lord importunately to 
 exert that p)oicer tqioii thy soul ; and give not over thy suit 
 till thou feel that power upon thee. The time of believing 
 is a time of earnestly pleading thine own danger and neces- 
 sity ; and the Spirit of the Lord will abundantly furnish 
 thee with pleas and arguments to enforce this suit. Such 
 as these : 
 
 (1.) Lord, I have thy call and invitation, yea, I have 
 thy command to encourage me to believe ; it is no presump- 
 tion therefore, in thy poor creature, to come after thou hast 
 invited and commanded me : hadst thou not encouraged me, 
 I dared not have moved towards thee. Lord, whose word is 
 it, "that we should believe oh -the name of his Son Jesus 
 Christ ?" 1 John, 3 : 23. Is it not thine own ? This makes 
 my faith an act of obedience. 
 
 (2.) Yea, Lord, I have thy promise, as well as thy com- 
 mand, made upon no other condition but my coming to thee. 
 Blessed Jesus, hast thou not said, " Him that cometh unto 
 me I will in no wise cast out ?" John 6 : 37. An invitation 
 is much, but thy promise is more. 
 
 (3.) my God, I have not only thy command, making 
 it my duty to believe, and thy promise to encourage me to 
 that duty, but I have the examples of other sinners who 
 came unto thee long ago, and thou didst not reject them : 
 nor do I abuse these examples in drawing encouragement 
 from them ; for it was thy very design, in recording them, 
 that they might be so many patterns to all that should here- 
 after believe on thee. 1 Tim. 1:16. 
 
 (4.) my God, I am shut up under a plain necessity ; I 
 have no other way to take ; I am beaten off from all other 
 
176 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 refuges ; there is no help for me in angels or in men, in duties 
 or self-righteousness ; in thee only my soul can find rest. I 
 am shut up to thee as to the only door of hope, Gal. 3 : 23 ; 
 here I must succeed or perish : my soul is burdened and 
 wearied; I know not how to dispose of it, but into thy 
 hands ; nor where to lay the burden of r ly guilt, but upon 
 thee. If I fail here, I am lost for ever. 
 
 (5.) Lord, I am willing to renounce all other hopes, 
 refuges, and righteousness, and to rely upon thee only. 
 Duties cannot justify me, tears cannot wash me, reformation 
 cannot save me ; nothing but thy righteousness can answer 
 for me. I come to thee a poor naked creature, saying as 
 they of old, " Asshur shall not save us ; we will not ride 
 upon horses : neither will we say any more to the work of 
 our hands, Ye are our gods ; for in thee the fatherless find- 
 eth mercy." Hos. 14 : 3. Thus plead with God, and still 
 remember you are pleading for Ufe, yea, for your eternal life. 
 
 Direction 6. Labor to make a revived adventure upon 
 Christ, amidst all these encouragements, let the issue be 
 what it toill; resolve to venture, though you have not the 
 least degree of assurance that you shall be accepted and par- 
 doned. This is that brave and noble act of faith which 
 carries the soul to Christ: much as Esther came to the king, 
 " So will I go in unto the king ; and if I perish, I perish." 
 Esther 4:16. It grieves me to think how some imagine 
 that the fervent love of Christ will save and justify them, 
 without any act of belief on their part; but you see that 
 scriptural faith is very different from all this. there are 
 great difficulties and mighty wrestlings in the work of 
 believing : it is a great matter for a convinced sinner, in the 
 face of so much guilt and vileness and amidst such mani- 
 fold discouragements from Satan, to cast and adventure 
 himself upon Christ, and that upon such self-denying tcrjus ; 
 but the pinch of necessity will bring the soul to this, for now 
 it reasons with itself as the lepers did. If we go to the camp 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 177 
 
 of the Syrians, we can but die ; and if we abide here, we 
 must certainly die. 2 Kings, 7:4. So here, if I sit still in 
 the state of nature and continue to delay, my destruction is 
 unavoidable — ^to hell I must go : and if I cast myself upon 
 Christ, I can but be rejected. But he has said, He will not 
 cast out those that come unto him : in this way of faith 
 there is a possibility, yea, assurance of salvation ; this there- 
 fore is my only way ; to him I will go, and if I perish, I 
 perish. 
 
 Direction 7. Never measure the grace of God, nor the 
 mercy of Christy by your own narrow apprehensions of 
 him; but believe them to be far greater than your con- 
 tracted understanding represents them to you. Our idea of 
 the pardoning power and mercy of God, cast in the mould of 
 our own thoughts, disfigures and alters them, so that they 
 look not like themselves, but with a very discouraging aspect 
 upon our souls. By this, Satan keeps off many souls from 
 coming to Christ. The Lord knows how to forgive thee, 
 though thou scarcely knowest how to forgive thyself, for the 
 mjuries thou hast done against him. That is a striking 
 scripture to this purpose, in Isa. 55 : 7—9 : "Let the wicked 
 forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; 
 and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have .mercy 
 upon him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 
 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your 
 ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are 
 higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your 
 ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Man lies 
 under a double misery, one by reason of affliction, another 
 by reason of transgression ; concerning both these, God's 
 thoughts are not as ours, but far above what we can think. 
 "VYe cannot think such thoughts in respect to others, under 
 misery in themselves or under transgression against us, as God 
 does towards us ; nor can we conceive what those thoughts 
 of God are towards us, when we are under misery or sin, as 
 
 8* 
 
178 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 he thinks them. His thoughts will still be above ours, as 
 the heavens are above the earth. So high is heaven that 
 the vast body of the whole earth is but a small, inconsider- 
 able point to it ; the highest cedars, mountains, clouds can- 
 not reach it. God's thoughts are infinite, ours finite ; his 
 thoughts are continued, ours interrupted and at a stand ; his 
 are immutable, ours changeable ; his are intuitive, ours dis- 
 cursive : therefore never measure his by your own. The 
 thoughts of pardoning grace in him, are rich, plenteous, and 
 glorious ; but when our unbelieving hearts practise upon 
 them, they seem quite another thing. Thou sayest. How 
 can such a wretch as I obtain mercy ? Thou knowest not, 
 but the Lord knoweth. if you could take in such a proper 
 idea and apprehension of the mercy and goodness of God, 
 as he has given of them himself, when he passed by Moses 
 and proclaimed himself, " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful 
 and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and 
 truth ; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and 
 transgression and sin," Exod. 34 : 6, 7, this would bring 
 you to Christ with much encouragement. 
 
 Direction 8. Be not discouraged in the work of faith, 
 though no comfort sJwuld come i7i by the first act of it ; nay, 
 though there should be an increase of trouble for the presr 
 ent. The first saving act of faith certainly puts you into 
 a state of peace, but it may not presently produce the sense 
 of peace ; after you have believed and really closed with 
 Christ, you may meet with some discouragements which 
 may make you question whether Christ has received you or 
 no — whether he has any love for your souls or no ? Yet per- 
 severe, whether comfort come or not ; though Christ and 
 safety are inseparable, yet Christ and the sense of comfort are 
 not so : think not that all your troubles shall be over as soon 
 as you believe, because it is said, " "We which have beheved 
 do enter into rest." Heb. 4 : 3. That scripture speaks of a 
 state of rest, and not of a present or continued sense of rest 
 
UNION AND COMMUNION. 179 
 
 The woman of Canaan did really believe in Christ, yet met 
 with sore trials under the first act of her faith ; yet this took 
 her not oft' from the work of faith, but rather quickened her 
 the more ; she was glad of a word from Christ, and she 
 expected deeds. The words were discouraging : " It is not 
 meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs ;" 
 yet this beats not off her faith : the dog belongs to the fam- 
 ily, and crumbs to the dog. "0 woman," saith Christ, 
 " great is thy faith." Matt. 15 : 26, 27. If you resolve for 
 Christ, you must not be discouraged ; a resolute faith over- 
 comes all difficulties. You pray, you believe, and yet have 
 no comfort ; well, the vision of peace is for an appointed 
 time ; at the end it will speak, and not lie. 
 
 Direction 9. In your treating with Christ, beware of 
 all secret reserves tliat will spoil the treaty between Christ 
 and you. '* If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will 
 not hear me." Psa. 66 : 18. If there be but a reserve of 
 one lust, that reserve will break off the treaty : be honest 
 wdth Christ, and say not of any sin, " the Lord be merciful 
 tp me in this ;" and be sure there is no secret purpose or 
 reserve in thy heart for a retreat in time of danger ; but 
 embark thyself with Christ for storms and tempests, troubles 
 and afflictions, as well as peace and prosperity. Christ 
 bestows himself wholly upon you, and he expects the same 
 from you : give up all, or you will receive nothing from him. 
 
 Direction 10. Close up your treaty with Christ by a 
 solemn covenant ivitli him; engage yourselves to be the 
 Lord's. " One shall say, I am the Lord's ; , and another 
 shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; and another shall 
 subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname liim- 
 self by the name of Israel." Isa. 44 : 5. Here you have 
 two things to do: 1. To give yourselves up to Christ, 
 according to that expression, they "first gave their own 
 selves to the Lord.'' 2 Cor. 8 : 5. Make your soul and 
 body, time and talents, henceforth, dedicated things to his 
 
180 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 service. 2. Take Christ in both his natures and in all his 
 offices to be yours ; and to this covenant you are to stand 
 to the last breath, whatever times or troubles shall come. 
 This consent of thy heart to be Christ's, this choice of thy 
 will in taking him for thine, is but the echo of Christ's 
 choice of thee ; and I would rather have such an evidence 
 of ray interest in him, than a voice from heaven to assure 
 me that Christ is mine. 
 
NONE REJECTED. 181 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CHUIST REJECTS NONE WKO OPEN TO HIM. 
 
 " IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR I WILL 
 COME IN TO HIM." Rev. 3 : 20. 
 
 This expression, " If any man," extends the gracious ofTer 
 of Christ, and brings in hope to every hearer. It is a gen- 
 etal proclamation : "If any man ;" as if Christ should say, 
 I will have this offer of my grace go round to every partic- 
 ular person ; if thou, or thou, or thou, the greatest, the vilest 
 of sinners, of what quaUty or condition soever, old or young, 
 profane or hypocritical, wilt hear my voice, and open to me, 
 I will come in to your soul. And hereby all objections are 
 obviated : as for example, I am the greatest of sinners, 
 says one; I have been a self-deceiving hypocrite, says 
 another ; I have resisted grace too long, and fear the time 
 of mercy is past, says a third. The ground of all these, and 
 a thousand more objections, is taken away by the gracious 
 extent of Christ's offer in the text ; for who is he that can 
 limit where Christ does not ? This gives us a seventh prof- 
 itable and comfortable doctrine : 
 
 Jesus Christ will not refuse to come in to the soul of 
 the vilest sinner, when once it is made willing to open 
 to him. 
 
 " If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will 
 come in to him." It is not unworthiness, but unwillingness, 
 that bars any man from Christ : thousands have missed of 
 Christ by their unwillingness, but Christ never put off one 
 soul on account of its unworthiness ; Christ is not the sale 
 but the gift of God ; you come not to make a bargain, but to 
 receive a free gift : faith is marriage with Christ, wherein 
 nothing but our hearty consent is expected ; so runs the 
 strain of the whole Scriptures. " Ho, every one that 
 thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no 
 
i82 CHRIST KNOCKlNa AT THE DOOit. 
 
 money," that is, no merit, no worthiness of his own, " come 
 3'e." Isa. 55:1. Behold the free-grace of Christ to the 
 vilest and most unworthy of sinners. So Rev. 22 : 17, 
 " Let him that is athirst come ; and whosoever will, let him 
 take the water of life freely." And in the very phrase of 
 my text he speaks again. And yet again, in John 7 : 37, 
 " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." It is 
 very observable throughout the whole gospel, that Christ 
 never made any objection against any soul that came to 
 liim, on account of its sinfulness and unworthiness ; but all 
 the complaints of Christ are on account of men's unwilling- 
 ness. So in his complaint over Jerusalem, Luke 13 : 34, 
 *' I would, but you would not ;" so again, John 5 : 40, 
 " Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." The 
 complaint is still upon their unwillingness. In stating this 
 point, I shall show what it is to be truly willing to receive 
 Jesus Christ ; and how it appears that they who are so, shall 
 certainly be received and graciously accepted of him. 
 
 I. What it is to be truly willing to receive Jesus 
 Christ ; for this is meant by opening the heart to him. 
 Now this implies many great and weighty things. 
 
 1. It imphes and necessarily includes the right under- 
 standing of gosjyel terms. These must be known, pondered, 
 and duly considered, before the. will can savingly open, in 
 an act of consent, to Christ's ofier. I desire this may be 
 especially observed, because multitudes are mistaken about 
 this thing : he thaf does not consider, does not consent ; you 
 must exercise your understandings upon the terms and 
 articles of Christianity, or else your consent is rash, blind- 
 fold, and unstable. This, in Luke 14 :%1, is called consulting ; 
 the consent of faith is the result of previous consultations 
 and debates in the mind : the soul that comes to Christ must 
 take up religion in his most sedate and serious thoughts; 
 turn both sides of it, the dark as well as the bright side of 
 religion, to the eye of his mind ; balance all the conven- 
 
NONE REJECTED. 183 
 
 iences and inconveniences, losses as well as gains. If I 
 open to Christ, this I shall gain, but that I must lose ; I 
 cannot separate Christ from sufferings : Christ will separate 
 me from my sins ; if I seek him, I must let them go ; if I 
 profess Christ, Providence will one time or other bring me to 
 this dilemma, either Christ or earthly comforts must go. It 
 is necessary, therefore, that I now propound to myself what 
 Providence may, one time or other, propound to me. He hath 
 set down his terms : " If any man will come after me, let 
 him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." 
 Matt. 16 : 24. This self denial deserves serious considera- 
 tion ; for Christ requires that I give up my life, my liberty, 
 my estate, my relations, and also my own righteousness, 
 which is as hard to be parted with as any of the former. 
 I must take up my cross, that is, the suiierings and troubles 
 which God shall appoint for me, and which I cannot avoid 
 without sin ; and I must follow Christ whithersoever he 
 goes. I know not what religion may cost me before I die ; 
 all this it has cost others ; and there is no bringing down 
 Christ's terms lower than he has laid them. I must come 
 up to them, they will not come down to me : if I like them 
 not as Christ has left them, the treaty between him and me 
 is ended. ** He that loveth father or mother more than me, 
 is not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter 
 more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh 
 not his cross and folio weth after me, is not worthy of me." 
 Matt. 10 : 37, 38. Where, by worthiness, we are not to 
 understand the meritoriousness of these acts, but the neces- 
 sary qualification of the will, and the due preparation of one 
 coming to Christ ; these previous consultations and debates 
 in the mind prepare the will to make a serious £^nd well- 
 advised choice of Christ : and for want of this, there are 
 Buch swarms of hypocrites and apostates in the world. 
 
 2. It implies such a sense of misery in us, and of tlie 
 necessity and excellency of Christ, as determines tJie tvill to 
 
184 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 the choice of him, notwithstanding all the difficulties which 
 have fallen or can fall under consideration in the mind. 
 When the soul sees that in Christ which preponderates over 
 all sufferings, all losses, and all reproaches, and then deter- 
 mines, I will have Christ though I sacrifice all that is dear 
 to me in the world for him, this is to he truly willing to open 
 to Christ. It is true, the enjoyments of this world are un- 
 derstood by Christians as much as other men ; they have a 
 feeling sense of the sweetness of earthly enjoyments ; their 
 souls have as much afi^ection to the body as other men ; they 
 understand the charming language of the world and their 
 dear relations in it, as well as others ; only they see a greater 
 necessity of Christ, and a greater worth in Christ, than they 
 do in these things. You read that in the famine of Jerusa- 
 lem they gave their pleasant things for meat to relieve their 
 soul — jewels, bracelets, gold, silver, any thing for bread, 
 Lam. 1:11; they understood the worth of these things, 
 knew the cost of them, but they parted with them to pre- 
 serve life. So it is here — no earthly enjoyment, of what value 
 soever it be, has such an excellency in it, such an absolute 
 necessity to us of enjoying it, as Christ has. 
 
 Objection. But 0, saith the soul, who can do this ? I 
 am wilhng to have Christ, and to come up to every term he 
 has laid down in the gospel ; I am willing to part with every 
 sin, and to endure any suffering for Christ ; but Oh, I trem- 
 ble to think, if it should come to a prison, to a stake, to an 
 actual separation from all the comforts and relations in the 
 world, what shall I do for strength to go through such diffi- 
 cult work as this ? Here is' the great difficulty in the way 
 of many souls ; they find a willingness, but fear the want of 
 strength^ 
 
 Answer. How or where you shall find strength to en- 
 dure these things for Christ, is not the question now before 
 you. God will take care for that, and it shall be given you 
 in that hour, and so others have found who have had the 
 
NONE REJECTED. 185 
 
 same fears you have. I say, the question is not whether you 
 are able, but whether you are 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. 
 
 3. The third thing which perfects the whole act, is an 
 entire cJwice of Jesus Christ ujwn all the terms 'prescribed 
 hy him; the entireness of the choice, Avithout halving or 
 dividing, excepting or reserving, makes the consent full 
 and effectual. There is a twofold consent of the will to 
 Christ. • 
 
 There is a partial consent, which is always hypocritical, 
 defective, and ineffectual ; thus the hypocrite consents to the 
 offer of Christ. He is really willing to have the pardon of 
 Christ, and the glory purchased by Christ ; but to part with 
 his beloved lusts, and to give up his earthly enjoyments, his 
 will cannot consent. 
 
 There is a full and entire consent of the will, called, a 
 believing with all the heart. Acts 8 : 37. Now this integ- 
 rity and fulness of the will's choice, is that which closeth 
 the union between Christ and the soul, and frees a man from 
 the danger of hypocrisy. And there are three things which 
 make the consent to and choice of Christ complete. 
 
 (1.) We heartily consent to be Christ's, when ive give 
 up all we are and have to him ; so that after this choice of 
 Christ, we look upon ourselves thenceforth as not our own, 
 but bought with a price, to glorify God in our body and soul, 
 which are his. 1 Cor. 6 : 19, 20. Soul and body are all 
 that we are, and both these parts of ourselves do now pass, 
 by an act of our own consent, into the Redeemer's right; we 
 are not to have the disposal of them ; that belongs to him 
 who purchased them. You know that in all purchases, 
 property is altered. You did Hve as your own, followed your 
 
186 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 own wills and passions, were under the dominion and at the 
 beck of every lust ; but now tRe case is altered. '' "VVe our- 
 selves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, 
 serving divers lusts and pleasures." Tit. 3:3. So many 
 lusts, so many lords. But now we have given ourselves to 
 Christ, no more to be swayed, this way or that, against his 
 word and the voice of our own consciences. Thus our souls 
 and bodies are his, hallowed, dedicated to Christ, temples fcr 
 God to dwell in. And then all other things follow of course : 
 if I am the Lord's, then my time, my talents, and all that I 
 have are his. • 
 
 (2.) As you must give up all to Christ, so you must 
 derive and draw all you want from him* else your choice 
 of Christ is not entire and full. God hath stored up in 
 Christ all that you want, a full supply for every need ; and 
 made it all communicable to you : " Who of God is made 
 unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and 
 redemption." 1 Cor. 1 : 30. All the behever's springs are 
 in Christ. Have I any difficult business to do that requires 
 counsel? then I must repair to Christ the fountain of wisdom. 
 Am I under guilt ? then I must repair to Christ for right- 
 eousness. Is my soul defiled by corruption ? then must I go 
 to Christ for sanctification. Do I groan under troubles of 
 soul or body, temptations, or afflictions ? then must I relieve 
 myself by the faith and hope of that complete redemption 
 and final deliverance, procured by Christ from all these. If 
 you consent to be Christ's, you must not look for justifica- 
 tion partly upon his righteousness and partly upon your own 
 graces and duties, but must make mention of his righteous- 
 ness, even of his only. Psalm 71:16. If there is but one 
 conduit in a town, and not a drop of water to be had else- 
 where, then all the inhabitants of that town repair thither 
 for water. In the whole city of God there is but one foun- 
 tain, and that is Christ ; there is not one drop of righteous- 
 Dess, holiness, strength, or comfort, to be had elsewhere. 
 
NONE REJECTED. 187 
 
 Then we draw all from Christ, when we live upon him, as 
 the new-born infant doth upon the mother's breast. 
 
 (3.) Then is our consent to and choice of Christ entire 
 and fuil, when we are ready to deny ourselves and part 
 with any thing ive have for his sake ; reckoning nothing 
 lost to us Avhich goes to the glory of Christ. How dear so- 
 ever our liberties, estates, or lives are to us, if the Lord have 
 need of them, we must let them go. Thus you read, " They 
 loved not their lives unto the death." Rev. 12 : 11. These 
 three things show saving faith to be another manner of thing 
 than the Avorld generally understands it to be ; and it is im- 
 possible for any man's will to open to and receive Christ, 
 upon terms of such deep self-denial as these, until there be a 
 conviction of our sin and misery, and discovery of Christ in 
 his glory and necessity ; and the drawing power of the Spirit 
 upon the soul. 
 
 Conviction of our sin and misery makes these terms of 
 religion acceptable ; sinners stand debating with Christ, ex- 
 cepting and objecting against his terms, until the Lord has 
 shaken them by conviction over hell, and made them see the 
 dreadful danger they are in ; and then their cry is, " Men 
 and Brethren, what shall we do ?" Acts 2 : 37 ; prescribe 
 any means, impose upon us the greatest difficulties ; \ve are 
 willing to comply with them. 
 
 Nor will souls ever comply with these terms of the gos- 
 pel, until a discovery has been made to them of Jesus Christ 
 in his glory and necessity. "When a man feels his wants, 
 and sees a complete remedy, his will then complies readily 
 and freely ; the convinced sinner sees a full and suitable sup- 
 ply in Christ for all his wants, a complete. Saviour, in whom 
 there is nothing defective, but in all respects according to the 
 wants of a sinner's heart. 1 Cor. 1 : 21. 
 
 To all this must be added the j)oiverful drawiitgs of the 
 Sjnrit, by which the will comes to Christ. " No man can 
 come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw 
 
188 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 him." John 6 : 44. When these things are felt on the soul, 
 it hears Christ's voice, his powerful caU, which breaks asun- 
 der all the bonds between a man and his earthly enjoyments ; 
 and without these things the will is not to be persuaded to 
 comply with the difficulties of religion. 
 
 II. We are to show how it appeae-S that Jesus Christ 
 will not refuse to come into the soul of any sinner, be his sins 
 ever so great, when once he is made willing thus to receive 
 Christ upon his own terms. Oh, sinner, what good tidijigs 
 are these to thy soul, that Christ will not disdain to be in 
 union and communion with thee, vile as thou art, if thy will 
 stand open to him. The tidings are sweet, and I hope thou 
 wilt find them as sure as they are sweet and comfortable, 
 when thou shalt have seriously pondered the following evi- 
 dences. 
 
 . Evidence 1. The truth of this assertion is seen in the 
 form and manner of gospelhimtatiotis. They are design- 
 edly put into large, free, and most extensive terms, to assure 
 sinners that Christ will not reject the worst sinner in the 
 world, thus made willing to embrace him ; they are framed 
 on purpose to anticipate or take away all objections from 
 sinners. No other condition is put in the gospel but this 
 only, Art thou heartily willing to take Christ upon his own 
 terms ? The offers of Christ are extended to all that desire 
 and thirst after him, John 7 : 37, to the greatest of siimers, 
 upon this one condition, that they be willing and obedient. 
 Isa. 1:19. *' Go ye into all the world, and preach the goS' 
 pel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, 
 shall be saved." Mark 16 : 15, 16. The invitation is ex- 
 tended to all nations ; for in Christ Jesus " there is neither 
 Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, 
 Scythian, bond nor free." Col. 3:11. If there is any soul 
 of any condition whatever, under the cope of heaven, whose 
 will is wrought to a hearty comi)liance with the terms of the 
 gospel, Christ will not be unwilling to come into that soul, 
 
NONE REJECTED. 189 
 
 though it has been never so vile and abominable ; the heart 
 of Mary Magdalene, which had been a habitation of devils, 
 and the soul of a Saul, a bloody, raging persecutor, will make 
 as delightful habitations for Christ as the soul of the most 
 exemplary person in the world, when once the will is thus 
 opened. 
 
 Evidence 2. The truth of this assertion further appears 
 from the encouraging pro?niscs inade by Christ, to all ivho 
 are thus made ivilling to come unto him. All the promises 
 with one mouth assure the willing sinner of a welcome to 
 Christ. Mark that glorious promise, from which so many 
 thousand souls have drawn encouragement and help at their 
 first coming to Christ : " All that the Father giveth me, shall 
 come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise 
 cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine 
 own will, but the will of him that sent me." John 6 : 37, 
 38. Note here, 
 
 •(1.) That this is not a promise made to those that are 
 already in Christ, that they shall never be cast out by apos- 
 tasy or final desertion ; but a promise made to coming souls, 
 to such as are moving towards Christ, under great discour- 
 agements, fears, and tremblings. When a sinner looks to 
 Christ, and sees his fulness and suitableness, and his own 
 pinching need and want of him, 0, says he, that I had an 
 interest in him, though I should beg my bread in desolate 
 places. But looking into his own heart, and seeing so much 
 guilt and unworthiness there, then saith he, how can I think 
 that Jesus Christ will come into such a heart as this ? These 
 are the persons upon whom this promise casts an encouraging 
 aspect. 
 
 (2.) And because the fears of such persons are much 
 more than the fears that others have, Christ has put a double 
 negative into this promise, for the soul's encouragement ; I 
 will not, in any case or at any hand, cast out such a soul 
 as this. 
 
190 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 (3.) And to put all beyond doubt, he not only assures the 
 Boul that he Avill not, but condescends to give it the reason 
 why he will not cast it out : "I came down from heaven, not 
 to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." 
 John 6 : 38. As if he had said, This was the very errand 
 upon w4iich I came down from heaven ; it was my great 
 business to receive all that were made willing to come to 
 me ; for this I had my Father's commission : " The Lord 
 hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; 
 he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to pro- 
 claim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the 
 prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the accept- 
 able year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our 
 God; to comfort all that mourn." Isa. 61 : 1, 2. I can- 
 not be faithful to the trust committed to me by my Father, 
 should I shut the door upon such souls. How can Christ 
 comfort the soul that mounis, but by opening his arms of 
 mercy to receive it ? If he should say to the convinced sin- 
 ner. Hold thy peace, I will give thee riches, honors, and 
 pleasures in the world ; but as for me, thou canst not have 
 union with me ; this would .never comfort the heart of a 
 convinced sinner: it is Christ, and none but Christ, can 
 quiet it. Like unto this, is that testimony and promise made 
 on purpose for the encouragement of wiUing souls : "To 
 him give all the prophets witness, that through his name 
 whosoever beheveth on him shall receive remission of sins." 
 Acts 10 : 43. • This you see is a truth confirmed by the tes- 
 timony of all the prophets, who foretold what his gracious 
 readiness to receive poor broken-hearted siimers should be; 
 and they neither did, nor could conspire to deceive the world. 
 These gracious assurances and promises cut off all pleas 
 against faith, from the greatness of sin ; and why should we 
 except where God has not excepted ? Had Christ said, AH 
 sinners of such a degree may come unto me, but let all others 
 Btaad back, the case had been otherwise ; but this promise 
 
NONE REJECTED. 19/ 
 
 assures us, that all the sincerely •willing, shall be truly wel- 
 come to Jesus Christ. Moreover, these universal promises 
 take away all fear of presumption in coming to Christ. 
 This is the case of many a soul. I am afraid I am running 
 from despair into presumption ; I fear I am an unbidden, 
 and therefore shall be an 'unwelcome guest to Christ. All 
 this is prevented by these sweet universal terms inserted on 
 purpose in these promises for our encouragement. 
 
 Evidence 3. The wilhngness of Christ to receive the 
 wiUing soul, however great its sins and unworthiness, ap- 
 pears from the actual grants ofpardo7i and mercy, even to 
 the vilest sinners on earth, when they thus come to him. 
 Here you see how the waters of free-grace rise higher and 
 higher. An invitation is much ; a promise of welcome is 
 more ; but the actual grant of mercy is most satisfying of 
 all. Come on, trembling soul, be not discouraged, stretch 
 out the weak arms of thy faith to that great and gracious 
 Redeemer ; open thy heart wide to receive him : he will not 
 refuse to come in. He hath sealed thousands of pardons to 
 as vile wretches as thyself; he never yet shut the door of 
 mercy upon a willing, hungering soul. It is a great matter 
 to have the way beaten before thee in thy way to Christ 
 If thou wert the first sinner that had cast his soul upon him, 
 I confess I should want the encouragement I am now giving 
 thee; but when so many have gone before thee, and all 
 found a welcome beyond their expectation, what encourage- 
 ment is breathed into thy trembling, discouraged heart to 
 go on and venture thyself upon Christ as they did. What 
 an example have we in Manasseh, 2 Chron. 33 : 3-12 — an 
 idolater, one that used enchantments, divinations, and famil- 
 iar spirits, and shed innocent blood in the streets of Jerusa- 
 lem. A man might rake the world, and hardly bring to 
 sight a viler wretch, a greater monster in wickedness ; yet 
 his heart being broken and his will bowed, this man found 
 mercy. How great a sinner was Mary, that came to Christ 
 
192 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 in the house of Simon the Pharisee, Luke 7 : 37-50 ; so 
 notorious a siiiner, that Simon took ofience at Christ for suf- 
 fering her to come into his presence. If this man were a 
 prophet, said he, he would have known who and what 
 manner of woman this is who touched him, for she is a sin- 
 ner. Yet Mary's heart being Broken for sin, and made 
 willing to accept of a Saviour, received a gracious demon- 
 stration of welcome from Christ, and all other sinners are 
 encouraged by her example. Once more, you have an emi- 
 nent example in the abundant welcome of another sinner to 
 Christ, who owned himself the greatest of sinners ; a perse- 
 cutor, a blasphemer, injurious ; but, saith he, " I obtained 
 mercy." 1 Tim. 1:16. And the example of his gracious 
 reception with Christ is recorded as an encouragement to 
 all that should hereafter beUeve. How many thousands are 
 now in hell that never were guilty of greater enormities than 
 the Corinthians. Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, 
 covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, such were some 
 of them ; yet they were sanctified, washed, justified, in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 
 1 Cor. 6 : 9-11. If ever Christ would have shut the door 
 of mercy upon any — ^if ever he would have been reluctant 
 to come into any souls, certainly these were the souls h6 
 would have disdained to come near. what a demonstra- 
 tion is here of that comfortable point before us : that Christ 
 will not refuse to come into the soul of the vilest sinner, 
 when once it is made heartily wilHng to open to him. 
 
 Evidence 4. A further evidence of this comfortable truth 
 shall be taken from the scrij^tural emblems of the abundant 
 grace of God, and riches of mercy in Christ, towards all 
 broken-hearted and icilling sin?iers. There are some 
 chosen emblems which bring down the grace of God before 
 the eyes of men ; among which I will single out three 
 glorious resemblances of free-grace, chosen by his wisdom 
 on purpose for the encouragement of drooping sinners. 
 
NONE REJECTED. 193 
 
 (1 .) A resemblance from the heavens that cover and 
 compass this earth. What an inconsiderable spot is the 
 whole terrestrial globe, to those high and all-surrounding 
 heavens I And yet these heavens are not at so vast a dis- 
 tance above the earth, as the pardoning grace of God is 
 above the guilt, yea, and the very thoughts of poor sinners. 
 For, of the pardoning grace of God to penitent and wdlling 
 souls, that precious scripture speaks, "Let the wicked for- 
 sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and 
 let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
 him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 
 Isa. 55 : 7. 0, saith the soul, I cannot think God will ever 
 have mercy on such a wretch as L Why? saith he ; my 
 thoughts are not your thoughts, and it is well they are not ; 
 for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my 
 thoughts higher than your thoughts. You cannot take the 
 height nor sound the depth of my pardoning grace. 
 
 (2.) Another emblem is* taken from tlie sun in the heav- 
 ens. You know, that soon this part of the world will be the 
 throne of darkness, the sable curtams of the night will spread 
 over all its beauties, and perhaps in the morning a thick fog 
 or mist will cover it ; thick clouds may darken the heavens. 
 But, behold the glorious creature the sun chasing before him 
 the darkness of the night, breaking up the mists of the 
 morning, scattering the dark and thick clouds of heaven ; 
 they are all gone, and there is no appearance of them. 
 Just so, saith God, shall it be with thy sins, and thy fears 
 arising out of them. " I have blotted out as a thick cloud 
 thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins." Isa. 44 : 22. 
 Thy soul is beclouded, thy fears have been like a mist, so 
 that thou canst not see the grounds of thy encouragement ; 
 but my grace shall rise upon thee like the sun in the heavens, 
 and scatter all these dismal clouds, both of guilt and fear, 
 and make a clear heaven over thee, and a clear soul within 
 thee. "Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of 
 
 Christ Knocking. 9 
 
194 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 righteousness arise with healing in his wings." Malachi 
 4:2. 
 
 (3.) Another resemhlance you have from the sea, the 
 great abyss, that vast congregation of waters whose depth 
 no line can fathom. Veer out as much line as you will, you 
 cannot touch the bottom. To this unfathomable ocean the 
 pardoning grace of God is also compared : " "Who is a God 
 like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the 
 transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? He retaineth 
 not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He 
 will turn again, he will have compassion upon us ; he will 
 subdue our iniquities ; and thou wilt cast all their sins into 
 the depths of the sea." Micah 7 : 18, 19. If the loftiest 
 pyramid or highest mountain were cast into the depth of the 
 sea, it would never be seen more by the eyes of men. God 
 has chosen these emblems of his grace, to obviate the com- 
 mon discouragement of Satan, taken from the greatness and 
 aggravation of sin ; and thou aft to make use of them, and 
 bless the Lord for them. He never designed them for 
 encouragement to sin, but for encouragement to repentance 
 and faith. 
 
 Evidence 5. The truth of this conclusion will also 
 appear from the character and properties of the grace and, 
 pardoning mercy of God towards penitent sinners. There 
 are three glorious characters of divine grace, which all assure 
 such sinners of welcome to Christ, whatever they have been 
 or done. 
 
 (1.) It is superabounding grace. "Waters do not so 
 abound in the ocean, nor light in the sun, as grace and com- 
 passion in God towards broken-hearted sinners. " Let him 
 return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; 
 and to our God, for he will abimdantly pardon." Isa. 55 : 8. 
 The compassion of God inserted that word on purpose to 
 relieve poor souls fainting under the sense of their abound- 
 ing iniquities. Here is abundant pardon for abounding 
 
NONE REJECTED. 195 
 
 guilt ; and, lest a desponding sinner should not find enough 
 here to quiet his fears, the Lord goes yet further in the ex- 
 pression of his grace : " Where sin abounded, grace did much 
 more abound." Eom. 5 : 20. It overflowed all the bounds, 
 it rose quite above the high- water mark of guilt ; but these 
 overflowings of grace run only through that channel of all 
 grace, Jesus Christ, to broken-hearted and obedient sinners. 
 
 (2.) The grace of God to such souls hfree — every way 
 free ; it is the design of the gospel to exhibit this its glory. 
 It costs you nothing but acceptance ; it is free without merit ; 
 yea, free against merit. You can deserve nothing of God, 
 therefore his grace is free without merit ; yea, you have 
 deserved hell as often as you have sinned against him, and 
 so it is free against merit. If a pardon were to be pur- 
 chased by us, we are wholly without means for such a pur- 
 chase ; neither could we borrow from men or angels a suffi- 
 cient sum : blessed be God, therefore, that it flows freely to 
 us without money and without price. Isa. 55 : 1. 
 
 (3.) Grace glories in another property also, which is 
 very encouraging to the soul of a drooping sinner — it is the 
 attribute which God greatly delights to exercise. The 
 mother gives not her breast with such delight to her hungry 
 crying child, as the Lord does his mercy to broken-hearted 
 and hungry sinners. In this attribute his people therefore 
 admire him : " "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth 
 iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the renmant of 
 his heritage ? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because 
 he delighteth in mercy." Micah 7 : 18. You cannot give 
 Jesus Christ more delightful employment than to bind up 
 the wounds of convinced and humbled sinners. Let every 
 such soul come to Christ and welcome ; for he greatly 
 dehghts in such employments. 
 
 Evidence 6. Such sinners need not doubt a welcome 
 reception with Christ ; for should he reject such as these, 
 then none can have the benefit of his blood, and conse 
 
196 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOIl. 
 
 quently it was shed in vain, as water spilt upon the ground. 
 Tlie blood of Chrut is invaluably precious, and it cannot 
 he lost ; it would be an impeachment of the wisdom and 
 goodness of God to think so ; yet so it must be, if broken- 
 hearted and willing souls are rejected and turned back from 
 him. There are but two sorts of sinners in the world, the 
 hardened and the broken-hearted, willing and unwilling 
 sinners. As for impenitent and obstinate sinners, they can 
 have no benefit by the blood of Christ ; they shall die in 
 their sins ; the gospel cuts them off from all expectation of 
 pardon and mercy. Now there is but one sort of sinners 
 more left in the world, and they are convinced and humbled 
 sinners, who are made heartily willing to receive Christ 
 upon his own terms — who stretch forth the hand of desire 
 to him, and pant after an interest in him. Should Christ 
 reject these also, who shall receive the benefit of his blood? 
 Did Christ die in vain ; or can the counsels of heaven prove 
 abortive ? No ; fear not therefore to go to Christ, thou 
 broken-hearted sinner, thou panting, longing soul ; fear not, 
 he will not cast thee out. 
 
 Evidence 7. Moreover, for the encouragement of all 
 such souls, mercy a7id pardon are designed for and bestow- 
 ed upon the greatest sinners, to enliance the glory of free- 
 grace to the highest, God chooses such sinners as you are, 
 on purpose to illustrate the glory of his grace in and upon 
 you : he knows that you, to whom so much is forgiven, will 
 love much. Luke 7 : 47. Ye that have done so much 
 against his glory, will excel others in zeal and obedience. 
 1 Cor. 15:9, 10. You will %o beyond others in service for 
 God, as you have done in sinning against him. 
 
 Inference 1 . Learn hence wlmt an invaluable Tncrcy 
 it is to enjoy the gospel, which is so great a relief to the dis- 
 tressed consciences of sinners. Here only is that balm that 
 heals your spiritual wounds. The gospel hath been too 
 little prized among us, the Lord pardon the guilt thereof to 
 
NONE REJECTED. 197 
 
 us. Ah, brethren, if you were in the heathen world with 
 your sick and wounded consciences, what would you do ? 
 There are no Bibles, ministers, or promises, not a breath of 
 Christ, or the blood of sprinkling, which are the true rem- 
 edies of sick souls. That is a pitiful cry, Micah 6:6, 7, 
 " Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself 
 before the high God ? Shall I come before him with burnt- 
 oflerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be 
 pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers 
 of oil ? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the 
 fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ?" Behold here the 
 anguish of a distressed, sin-burdened conscience ; it would 
 give up any thing in the world for peace ; men would cast 
 their dearest children, their first-born into the burning 
 flames, if that might be an atonement for their sins. the 
 power of conscience, and the misery of an unrelieved con- 
 science ; but the gospel which you enjoy leads you to the 
 fountain of pardon and peace. " With his stripes we are 
 healed." Isa. 53 : 5. The voice of the gospel is peace to 
 every one that beUeveth — a rational peace, founded upon 
 the full satisfaction of Christ, " In whom we have redemp- 
 tion through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to 
 the riches of his grace." Eph. 1 : 7. Here you see justice 
 and mercy embracing each other ; God is satisfied, and the 
 sinner justified ; for conscience demands as much to satisfy 
 it, as God to satisfy him ; if God be satisfied, conscience is 
 satisfied. " Blessed is the people that know the joyful 
 sound." Psalm 89 : 15. And doubtless it is a joyful sound 
 to every convinced and humbled soul. *' Beautiful upon the 
 mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, 
 that publisheth peace." Isa. 52 : 7. It is a gospel worthy 
 of all acceptation. 1 Tim. 1 : 15. It brings with it a ful- 
 ness of blessings among the people. Provoke not God to 
 extinguish this blessed light. Great is our wantonness, and 
 ominous is our barrenness and ingratitude. " Yet a Uttlo 
 
198 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light 
 lest darkness come upon you ; for he that walketh in darJk 
 ness, knoweth not whither he goeth." John 1 2 : 35. Should 
 God put out this light, whither would ye go ? Who shall 
 pour balm into your distressed consciences ? 
 
 2. Heyice it follows tliat the heinousness of past sins is 
 no bar to believing and accepting Christ upon gospel-terms. 
 Let no sinner be disniayed by the atrocity of sins past from 
 coming to Jesus Christ for remission and peace. I am 
 aware what mischievous use Satan makes of former sins to 
 discourage souls from the work of faith. By heaping them 
 together, he raises a mountain between Chi'ist and the dis- 
 tressed soul ; but behold this day Christ leaping over these 
 mountains. Could this objection be rolled out of the Avay, 
 sinners would go on in hope ; but certainly, if God has 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 suf- 
 ficiency of the causes of pardon, whatever thy particular 
 enormities have been. There is a sufficiency in the impul- 
 sive cause, the free-grace and mercy of God. Exod. 34 : G, 
 7 ; Mic. 7 : 18, 19 ; Isa. 55 : 7-9 ; 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 John, 1:7; John 1 : 29. 
 And it must needs be so, because of its divine blood. Acts 
 20 : 28. Neither is there any defect in the applying cause, 
 the Spirit of God, who has already begun to work upon thy 
 heart, and is able to break it and bow it, and bring it fully 
 to Christ, and to complete the work of faith upon thee with 
 power. Thou complainest that thou canst not mourn nor 
 believe as thou wouldst ; but he wants no ability to supply 
 all the defects of thy repentance and faith. If, then, the 
 mercy of God be sufficient to pardon the sins of a creature — 
 if the blood of Christ, the treasures and revenues of a king 
 
NONE REJECTED. 199 
 
 be able to pay the debts of a beggar — ^if the Spirit of God, 
 who works by an ahiiighty power, be able to convince thee 
 of righteousness, as well as sin, John 16 : 9, 10 — if all these 
 three causes of forgiveness be sufficient, the first to move, the 
 second to purchase, and the tliird to apply ; what hinders 
 but thy trembling conscience may go to Christ, and thy dis- ' 
 couraged soul move onward with hope iii the way of believ- 
 ing, whatever thy former enormities have been ? 
 
 (2.) If God raises glory to his name out of the great- 
 ness of the sins he pardons, then the greatness of sin can 
 be no discouragement to believing ; and this he does. " I 
 will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have 
 sinned against me ; and I will pardon all their iniquities, 
 whereby they have siimed and whereby they have trans- 
 gressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a 
 praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which 
 shall hear all the good that I do unto them : and they shall 
 fear and tremble for all the goodliess and for all the pros- 
 perity that I procure unto it," Jer. 33 : 8, 9 ; as a cure 
 performed upon a man laboring under a desperate disease 
 honors the physician, and spreads his name far and near. 
 Satan envies God this glory and thy soul this comfort, and 
 therefore scares thee of!" 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 
 entreats him for a pardon : " Pardon mine iniquity, for it is 
 great." Psalm 25: 11. 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 does not 
 say. Lord, pardon it, for it is but a small offence ; but par- 
 don 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 the Scripture, which 
 is peculiar ; and that is, to argue from former pardons unto 
 new pardons. When men beg pardon one of another, they 
 
200 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 are wont to say, I never wronged you before, and therefore 
 forgive now ; but bere it is quite otherwise : Lord, thou hast 
 signed thousands of pardons heretofore, therefore pardon me' 
 again. Such is the plea in Num. 14 : 19, " Pardon, I beseech 
 thee, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness 
 of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people from 
 Egypt even until how." 
 
 (3.) As great sins as those that now confront thy con- 
 science have been actually forgiven to men, upon their 
 humiUation and closing with Christ. God forbid I should 
 dimiidsh and extenuate sin ; but certain I am that free- 
 grace has 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 in their heart, and made willing to come 
 to Clirist. Acts 2 : 36-38. 
 
 (4.) If it be the design and pohcy of Satan to object the 
 greatness of your sins to prevent their pardon, then it is 
 neither your duty nor interest to use it for the same end ; 
 thus entering into a confederacy with your mortal enemy in 
 a plot against the honor of Christ, and the salvation of your 
 own soul. Take heed what you do, seal not Satan's con- 
 clusions. Do you think it is a small matter to be confed- 
 erate with the devil ? Certainly this is his design ; he mag- 
 nifies your sins to discourage you from faith. Wliile you 
 weie secure and carnal, he never magnified, but diminished 
 your sins to you ; but now the Lord has opened your eyes, 
 and you are brought near to the door of hope, mercy, and 
 p?rdon, he magnifies them, hoping thereby to lame and 
 weaken thy faith, that it shall not be able to carry thee 
 to Christ. 
 
 (5.) If thy sin is really unpardonable, then God has 
 
NONE REJECTED. 201 
 
 somewhere excepted it in the gospel-grant. He nas some- 
 where said, The man that has committed this sin, or con- 
 tinued so many years in it, shall never be forgiven : but in 
 the whole I\ew Testament there is but one sin that is abso- 
 lutely excepted from the possibility of pardon, and that such 
 a sin as thy sorrows and desires after Christ fully acquit thee 
 from the guilt of. This sin indeed is excepted : " The blas- 
 phemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto 
 men." Matt. 12: 31. Tliis is that which the Scripture 
 calls " a sin unto death." 1 John, 5 : 16. Let apostate 
 professors, transformed into persecutors, scoffers, and haters 
 of godliness and the professors of it, look to themselves ; 
 the dreadiul symptoms of this sin appear upon such. But 
 the humbled soul thirsting after Christ stands clear of the 
 guilt of that sin. 
 
 (6.) If there were no forgiveness with God for great 
 sinners, then great sinners had never been invited to come 
 to Christ. The invitations of the gospel are no mockeries, 
 but things of most awful solemnity. Now, such sinners are 
 called and invited under the encouragement of a pardon. 
 Consult Isa. 1 : 10-17, and see the horrid aggravations ot 
 the people's sins; and yet, at ver. 17, 18, you may read the 
 gracious invitations of God, with promises of a full remis- 
 sion. So in the third chapter of Jeremiah, what a sad cat 
 alo^e of sins with their aggravations do you find ? and 
 yet it is said, " Go and proclaim these words towards the 
 north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the 
 Lord ; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, for 
 I am merciful." 
 
 (7.) If thy sins had not been capable of remission, God 
 Mould never have given thee conviction of sin, nor have 
 drawn forth the desires of thy heart in this manner after 
 Christ. He hath united remission to repentance, Acts 5:31, 
 and a blessing to gracious desires and hungerings, Matt. 5 : 6. 
 There is therefore hope, that when God has given thee one, 
 
 9# 
 
202 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOE,! 
 
 he will not long withhold the other. This very wounding 
 of thy heart by compunction, and drawing forth thy will by 
 inchnation, shows that remission is not only possible, but 
 even at the door. 
 
 (8.) Let this also be thine encouragement, whatever 
 Satan or thine own heart may suggest to discourage thee, 
 that great sinners are moving in the way of repentance and 
 faith to a great Saviour, who hath merit enough in liis blood, 
 and mercy enough in his heart, to save to the uttermost all 
 that come unto God by him. Heb. 7 : 25. The Lord open 
 to the eyes of your faith the rich treasury of free-grace, 
 Exodus 34 : 6, 7, and give you a sight of that plenteous 
 redemption and forgiveness which are with God, Psalm 
 130 : 4, 7, that you may not cast reproach on the most 
 glorious attribute of God, undervalue the precious blood of 
 Christ, and stab your own souls with a death-wound of des- 
 peration ; which is what Satan intends, and what the gospel 
 designs to prevent. 
 
 3. If the vilest of sinners may as readily be pardoned, 
 on their closing with Christ by faith, as the least of sinners, 
 the pardon and salvation of sinners is not built upon any 
 righteousness in themselves, but only on the free-grace of 
 God ill Jesus Christ. Do not think God hath set the blood 
 of Christ to sale, and that those only are capable of the ben- 
 efits of it who have lived the most strict and sober lives. 
 No ; though sobriety, morality, and strictness in religious 
 duties are commanded and commended in the gospel, yet 
 no man by these things can purchase a pardon for the least 
 sin. "If by grace, then it is no more of works : otherwise 
 grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is 
 no more grace; otherwise work is no more work." Rom. 
 11:6. See how these exclude one another: thus Titus 
 3:5, " Not by works of righteousness TArhich we have done, 
 but according to his mercy he saved us." No man can sat- 
 isfy God by any thing he can do or sufiier ; not by doing, for 
 
tttt6'f 
 
 NONE REJECTED. \X\ " '^^ 20S? 
 
 all we do is mixed with sin, Job 14 : 4, aS^j^^SpL^hica U ^^ \ 
 is sinful can be no atx)nement for sin. All we a^ri&Mlt A *• 
 is a debt due to God, Luke 17 : 10, and one debt c^Snoi _ .'' 
 satisfy for another. Nor yet by suffering, for the sufferings 
 awarded by the law are everlasting ; and to be ever satisfy- 
 hig is never to satisfy : so then, by the works of the law 
 ihall no flesh living be justified in his sight. The saints in 
 til generations have fled to mercy for remission. Psalm 
 130 : 8. Of the two debtors, Luke 7 : 41, 42, though there 
 iv^as a vast difference in the debts, yet of the lesser, as well 
 IS of the greater, it is said they had nothing to pay. Noth- 
 ing but the satisfaction of Christ can meet the demands of 
 God upon you. 
 
 4. If the grace of Christ be thus free to the greatest of 
 sinners, it is both our sin and folly to keep away from 
 Christ, and to draw back from believing, for ivant of qual- 
 ifications which we find n/)t to be wrought in our hearts. 
 Poor convinced souls think if they had more humility, ten- 
 derness, love to God, and spirituahty of mind, this would 
 be some encouragement to believe ; but because they have 
 no such ornaments to dress up their souls withal, they are 
 not fit to go to Christ. Now, to correct this great mistake, 
 let two things be considered. 
 
 (1.) Such an idea as this crosses the very stream of the 
 covenant of grace, wjiere nothing is sold, but all is jfrcely 
 given. This is the very spirit of the covenant of works : 
 fain would we find something in ourselves to bring to God, 
 to procure his favor and acceptance ; but the gospel tells 
 tis we must come naked and empty-handed, to be justified 
 freely by his grace. Rom. 3 : 24. We must be justified as 
 Abraham was, who believed in him that justifieth the 
 ungodly ; " To him that worketh not, but believeth on him. 
 that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous- 
 ness." Rom. 4:5. The meaning is, to him that worketh 
 not in a law-sense, to procure pardon and acceptance by and 
 
204 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOil. 
 
 for his works. Go then, poor sinner, unto God through 
 Christ, and tell him thou hast nothing to br^ng him ; that 
 thou comest not to bring, but to receive. Lord, I am a vile 
 sinner, I have nothing to plead but thy mercy and Christ'8 
 merit. This is the spirit of the gospel. 
 
 (2.) By delaying faith, for want of these qualifications, 
 you invert the settled oi-der of the gospel. It is as if a man 
 should say, If I were cured of such and such disease, I 
 •would go to the physician. Alas, could you otherwise 
 piocure the healing of your corruptions, or the gracious 
 qualiii 3ations you speak of, you would have no need to go to 
 Christ at all. Nothing is required of us in corning to 
 Christ, but such a sense of and sorrow for sin, as makes us 
 heartily willing to accept Christ and subscribe the terms on 
 which he is offered in the gospel. 
 
 5. Behold the admirable condescension of Christ, that 
 he comes into the heart of the vilest sinne)-, and takes up 
 his abode in that soul which Jms been the seat of Satan, 
 where he has ruled, aiid every lust lias been Imrbored! 
 In two things the admirable condescension of Christ appears. 
 First, in taking union with our nature after sin had blasted 
 the beauty of it. This was marvellous indeed, and was j ustly 
 admired by the apostle : " He made himself of no reputation, 
 and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made 
 in the Hkeness of men." Phil. 2:7- " Yea, God sent his 
 own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." Rom. 8:3. But, 
 secondly, it is admirable in our eyes that Christ should 
 become united with our persons, and take up his abode in 
 our hearts, after Satan and sin had so long inhabited and 
 defiled them — that he should accept these members as 
 instruments of his service — ^that very tongue to praise him 
 •that had blasphemed him ; yet so he is willing to do, and 
 commands us to deliver them up to him : " As ye have 
 yielded your members servants to uncleanness, and to 
 iniquity unto iniquity ; even so now yield your members 
 
NONE REJECTED. 205 
 
 servants to righteousness, unto holiness." Bom. 6:19. One 
 would have thought Jesus Christ would have said, Vile 
 wretch, Satan has had the service of thy soul and body, 
 from the beginning to this day; thy memory hath been 
 his storehouse, thy mouth his shop, thy will his throne, 
 and all thy members his tools and instruments to sin against 
 me : thou hast been a creature dedicated to Satan, and to 
 him thou shalt go. Instead of this, the merciful Lord 
 declares his willingness, if thou wilt open thy soul to receive 
 him, to cleanse it by his Spirit, and make it his temple to 
 dwell in. admirable grace I 
 
 6. How just and i?ievitable will be their damnation 
 who consent not to the necessary and reasoyiahle terms oj 
 tlie gospel, which is the only point on ivhich Christ and 
 their souls part for ever. The terms required by the gos- 
 pel are every way equitable and reasonable. If a gracious 
 prince will bestow a pardon upon a traitor, on the condition 
 that he lay down his arms, acknowledge his offence, and 
 attach himself to his prince's service, and he shall refuse so 
 to do, how just would his destruction be. And what else 
 does God require of thee, but this ? " Let the wicked for- 
 sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and 
 let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
 him; 'and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 
 Isa. 55 : 7. And as the damjiation of such is just, so it will 
 be inevitable : for if there is no way to glory but by Christ, 
 as you know there is not, from Acts 4 : 12, "Neither is 
 there salvation in any other ;" and if there is no way to 
 Christ, but by accepting him upon these very terms, as it 
 plainly appears, from Luke 14 : 26, there is not, what 
 remains but inevitable destruction to all that reject the 
 terms of the gospel? If you will not have Christ with all 
 the sufferings and reproaches that attend him, your mouths 
 will be stopped ; no plea will be left you in the great day. 
 You refused the gracious offer when it was seasonably made 
 
206 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 you by the gospel, and you must expect no more such 
 offers to eternity. Thy blood, sinner, be upon thine own 
 head ; the freeness and importunity of the tenders of grace 
 will then only serve to illustrate and clear the righteousness 
 of God in thy condemnation. 
 
 In the next place, the doctrine naturally leads me to an 
 EARNEST PERSUASIVE uuto all siuucrs, of what kind or degree 
 soever they be, to hearken to the voice of Christ, who takes 
 them all within the compass of his gracious invitation in the 
 text, saying, *' If any man hear my voice and open the 
 door, I will come in." Let all sinners bless God for the 
 extent of this invitation — ^that they find themselves by it 
 within the reach of a merciful Redeemer ; and that there is 
 nothing wanting to secure their salvation, but the hearty 
 consent of their wills to the reasonable and necessary terms 
 of the gospel. In the whole book of God, there is but one 
 case absolutely excepted from the possibility of forgiveness ; 
 of which Christ speaks, Matt. 12 : 31, 32. And what is the 
 reason that this only is an incurable wound ? It cannot be 
 because the malignity of this sin exceeds the virtue of the 
 blood of Christ, but because there is no sacrifice appointed 
 by the Lord for it. God never designed that the blood of 
 Christ should be an expiatory sacrifice for that sin,*as the 
 apostle plainly speaks, Heb. 6 : 4-7. All other sins and 
 blasphemies shall be forgiven unto men, saith Christ ; that 
 is, they are capable of forgiveness, upon sincere and actual 
 repentance and faith ; yea, they have been pardoned unto 
 many. The greater any man's sins have been, the greater 
 need he has to hasten to Christ for pardon. There are 
 some greater sinners than others ; for though no sin be light 
 and trivial in itself, yet, compared one with another, there is 
 a vast difference between them in the aggravation of sins. 
 I will labor to show you by what rules men are to estimate 
 the greatness and aggravation of sin ; and then to convince 
 
NONE REJECTED. 207 
 
 you that the greatest of sinners may have mercy as well as 
 tlie less. "Publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom 
 of God before you," saith Christ, Matt. 22 : 31. The rules 
 by which to estimate the aggravations and greatness of sin 
 are these : 
 
 7. TJiere are sins of infirmity, committed out of weak- 
 ness ; and there are crying sins in the ears of the Lord. 
 Of sins of infirmity you read in Gal. 6:1, where it is 
 called being " overtaken in a fault." Here is no deliberate 
 consent, but a surprise : these go not to the account of gross 
 and heinous enormities, called in Scripture, crying sins, such 
 as the sin of oppression, Hab. 2 : 10, 11 : " The stone shall 
 ciy out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall 
 answer it." The meaning is, that the injustice and oppres- 
 sion which men have used in raising their houses, shall cry 
 in the ears of the Lord for vengeance. The stone in the 
 wall shall say, I was digged out of the quarry, hewn, and 
 laid here by the unrewarded labors of the poor mason ; and 
 the timber out of the beam shall say, I was hewn, squared, 
 and placed here by the unrewarded hands of the carpenter. 
 This is a crying sin ; so also is the sin of murder, when our 
 hands have been defiled with innocent blood. This makes a 
 dismal cry to heaven : " The voice of thy brother's blood 
 crieth unto me from the ground." Gen. 4:10. This is a sin 
 that makes a horrid outcry in both worlds at once : to God 
 and in the sinner's conscience. The sin of Sodom made a cry 
 which went up to heaven. ** The cry of Sodom and Gomor- 
 rah is great, and because their-sin is very grievous." Gen. 
 18 : 20. Compare these sins with those of common infirm- 
 ity, which come by way of involuntary surprise, and what a 
 vast difference will be foimd in the aggravation of them. 
 
 8. You find in Scripture a great difference jjut between 
 those sins committed against the light of knowledge in the 
 sinner's conscience, and sins of ignxyrance committed for 
 toant of knowledge. Christ himself puts a great difference 
 
208 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 between them, Luke 12 : 47, 48 ; and so doth the apostle 
 " To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him 
 it is sin," James 4 : 17 — sin with a witness. 
 
 9. There are single acts of sin, and continued or re- 
 peated acts of sin — sins committed after convictions, prom- 
 ises, and resolutions. There is not so much guilt in a smglc 
 act of sin. as in a continued course of sin, adding of drunk- 
 enness to thirst, Deut. 29 : 19 ; described also as adding sin 
 to sin, Isa. 30 : 1. For as it is in numbering, so in sin- 
 ning: if the first figure be 1, the second is 10, the third 
 100, the fourth 1,000 ; and every addition makes a greater 
 multiplication. what a dreadful reckoning will there be 
 for the consciences of sinners ! 
 
 10. Contrivers and studiers of sin are alivays in Scrip- 
 ture placed in the first rank of sinners. The best servant 
 God has in the world may be surprised by the deceitfulness 
 of sin, against the bent and resolution of his soul ; but the 
 contrivance and plotting sin is quite another thing ; therefore 
 it is said of the wicked, " They conceive mischief, and bring 
 forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit." Job 15 : 35. 
 Sin has its time of conception, growth, and birth ; and aD 
 this by the deliberate consent of the heart and will, which 
 cherish it. 
 
 1 1 . There are ringleaders in sin, and single personal 
 sins which spread no further than ourselves. A ring- 
 leader in sin is in Scripture reckoned among the greatest 
 sinners : " Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of 
 Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block be- 
 fore the children of Israel." Rev. 2 : 14. Thus Jero- 
 boam the son of Nebat made Israel to sin. There is the 
 same difference between these and single personal sins, as 
 there is between a chain-shot and a single bullet. Mind 
 this, you that have induced others to sin by your counsel 
 or example. 
 
 12. There are sins in which men take pleasure, and 
 
NONE REJECTED. 209 
 
 Sins for which men mourn. The more pleasure any man 
 takes in sin, the greater is the sin in its aggi'avation. We 
 read of some in whose mouths wickedness is sweet, and 
 they hide it under their tongue. Job 20 : 12. That is, 
 they draw a great deal of contemplative delight before and 
 after the commission of sin, as well as in the commission of 
 it. It is bad enough to sin and sigh, to sin and weep ; but 
 to sin and boast, to sin and make a mock of sin, what pro- 
 digious sinning is this ! sinner, what a heart hast thou, 
 that can sport with that which grieves God and crucified 
 Christ, and wliich, without deep repentance, will damn thine 
 own soul. 
 
 13. The more bonds of restraint any man breaks asun- 
 der to commit sin, the greater that sin is in the sight of 
 God. There are some persons upon whom God has laid 
 more restraints to keep them back from iniquity, than he 
 has upon others. The more mercies he has bestowed upon 
 you, the more restraints you have from sin. So many mer- 
 cies, so many ties, Jer. 2 : 5, 6 ; especially spiritual mercies, 
 as light in your minds, pardons sealed to your consciences, 
 love manifested to your souls. Such also are your own 
 vows and resolutions : " Thou saidst, I will not transgress." 
 Jer. 2 : 20. Didst not thou promise me, saith God, more 
 care- and circumspection for time to come ? And such are 
 all the examples and warnings God has given us by his 
 judgments upon others. 1 Cor. 10:11. These things 
 make sin out of measure sinful. The design of all this is 
 to show you the indispensable need of repentance and faith 
 to carry you to Christ. 
 
 Objection. But I am the person upon whom these 
 aggravated sins are found. You speak to me of going to 
 Christ ; alas, there is no hope of mercy for such a wretch 
 as I am. 
 
 Answer. Give me leave to tell you, that you have a 
 text before you which clears the way of your duty and sal 
 
210 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 vation at once : " If any man," be he what he may, and be 
 his sins never so great, " will hear my voice and open the 
 door, I will come in to him," saith Christ. There is mercy in 
 Jesus Christ for thee, who art guilty of crying sins ; for thee, 
 who hast sinned against light ; for thee, who " hast added 
 drunkenness to thirst ;" for thee, who hast contrived sin 
 with deliberation ; for thee, who hast induced others to sin 
 by counsel or example ; for thee, who hast taken pleasure 
 in iniquity, and made a sport of sin ; yea, and for thee, who 
 hast broken asunder the bonds of mercies, vows, and warn- 
 ings, provided thou wilt now hear the voice of Christ, and 
 thy will open to him with a hearty consent. Isa. 55 : 4. 
 You are great sinners; but I show this day a great and 
 almighty Saviour, one who is able to save to the uttermost 
 all that come unto God by him. Heb. 7 : 25. There is a 
 sacrifice appointed for these sins. Bless God for that ; they 
 are nowhere excepted from the possibility of forgiveness. 
 Nothing but the impenitence of thy heart, and the obstinacy 
 of thy will, can hinder thee from a full pardon. Look round 
 about thee to the uttermost horizon of thy guilt, and Christ 
 can save to the uttermost point the eye of thy conscience 
 can discern, yea, and beyond it too ; but then thou must 
 come unto him. You speak of the greatness of sin, and you 
 have* indeed cause to have sad thoughts about it ; but you 
 consider not that your unbelief, by which you stand off from 
 Christ your only remedy, is the greatest sin that ever you 
 were guilty of against the Lord. This is the sin that binds 
 the guilt of all your other sins upon you. Let me therefore 
 address myself, 
 
 (1.) 2b you whose consciences are alarmed with tJie 
 hideous aggravations of your si?is, by reason whereof your 
 own misgiving hearts, assisted by the policy of Satan, dis- 
 courage you from all attempts to gain Christ and pardon 
 through repentance and faith. Let me hint three or four 
 considerations to you, by way of encouragement. 
 
NONE REJECTED. 211 
 
 Tlie sparing goodfiess of God gives encouragement that 
 God may have a reserve of mercy for so great a sinner as 
 thou art. what a mercy is it, that thy life has been 
 spared hitherto. Many of thy companions in sin are beyond 
 hope, while thou art left. This is no sure sign of God's gra- 
 cious intention to thee, unless his goodness and forbearance 
 lead thee to repentance. Then the gracious intention of 
 God in prolonging thy life would appear. But it is itself a 
 great mercy, because without it no spiritual mercy could be 
 expected. 
 
 It is matter of encouragement, that though your disease 
 be dreadful, it is not incurable. The text brings it within 
 the compass of mercy ; bless God for those words, " If 
 any man." 
 
 As great sinners as you have been liave found mercy, 
 1 Tim. 1 : 16, and God would have it recorded for your 
 encouragement. If the Lord shall make thy heart break 
 and thy will bow, whatever thy sins have been they shall 
 not bar thee from forgiveness. But if thou resolve to go on 
 in sin, or sit down discouraged, and wilt not come at the 
 invitation of Christ, then thy woimd is incurable indeed, 
 and thy sentence has already passed upon thee for heU. 
 "The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God." 
 1 Cor. 6:9. God forbid that this should be the issue of 
 Christ's gracious invitations to thee, and forbearance of thee. 
 Seeing mercy is tendered to any man that will accept it 
 on Christ's terms, exclude not thyself 
 
 (2.) I will now address this exhortation to persons who 
 are not of the notorious rank of profane sinners, but whose 
 lives have been drawn more smoothly through a course of 
 morality. These have as great need to be pressed to repent- 
 ance and faith as the most notorious sinners in the world. 
 They are a generation that bless themselves in their own 
 eyes, and thank God with the Pharisee that they are " not 
 a£ other men." Luke 18 : 11. They acknowledge conver- 
 
212 CHRIST KNOCKma AT THE DOOE. 
 
 sion to be the duty of the profane, and that such sinners 
 stand in need of it. But as for themselves, they scarcely 
 know where to find matter for repentance, nor do they feel 
 any need of Christ. Now, I would lay three considerations 
 before such persons, to convince them that their case is is 
 sad and hazardous, yea, in some respects, more hazardous 
 than the state of the most notorious sinners ; and that a 
 change must also pass upon them, or else it had been good 
 for them that they had never been bom. 
 
 Consideration 1. Let the moral part of the world lay 
 this thought to their hearts, that though their sins are net 
 so gross to a2:>pearance as other men's are, yet, continued in^ 
 they will 2^rove as destructive as the greater abominations 
 of other men. No sin, absolutely considered, is small. 
 Every sin is damning without Christ. " The wages of sin 
 is death." Rom. 6 : 23. It is no great difference, if a man 
 be killed, whether it be by a sword or a penknife. The 
 least sin violates the whole law. He that offendeth in one 
 point, is guilty of all. James 2:10. The least transgres- 
 sion of the law pulls down its curse upon the sinner's head. 
 And this is your misery, that you are out of Christ and 
 stand under the terms of the first covenant. Moreover, the 
 law of God is violated not only externally, but internally. 
 Thus, every unchaste thought is adultery, and the inward 
 burning of malice and anger in the heart is murder. Now, 
 if the Lord shall bring the spiritual sense of the law home 
 to your consciences as he did to Paul's, Rom. 7 : 9, you will 
 certainly give up the plea, that you have not so much need 
 of conversion as other sinners have. There are sins of 
 greater infamy, and sins of deeper guilt. There may be 
 more guilt in sins that are stifled in thy heart, and never 
 defamed thee, than in some others that are seen by the 
 world. 
 
 Consideration 2. You are guilty of one sin more hei- 
 rums than any outward act, that is, your trusting Vo yo»49 
 
JTONE REJECTED. 213 
 
 own righteousness as the Pharisees did. " He spake this 
 parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they 
 were righteous, and despised others." Luke 18 : 9. Here 
 is an idol set up in the room of Christ. It is true, this sin 
 makes not so loud a noise as the sins of profane persons do ; 
 but it is as abominable m the eyes of God, as the sins that 
 are most offensive among men. Moral, persons, thus trust- 
 ing to their own morality, and neglecting Jesus Christ, will 
 be found ultimately among those who have " a portion with 
 unbelievers." Luke 12 : 4G. 
 
 Consideration 3. It has been always found a more 
 difficult thing to convince and bring to Christ the moral 
 part of the world, tlian to convince the profane part of it. 
 " Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before 
 you." Matt. 21 :31. Publicans were reckoned the vilest 
 of men, and harlots the worst of women ; yet either of these 
 were more readily brought to Christ than self-righteous 
 Pharisees. Away then with your idle pretensions that you 
 are safer and better than others. By what has been said, 
 it appears that you stand in as much need of Christ as 
 the most infamous sinners in the world do. 
 
 This doctrine presents great encouragement to every 
 obedient soul whom the Lord shall persuade to comply with 
 the call of the gospel, whatever his former rebellions have 
 been. There are some whose hearts the Lord has touched 
 with a sense of their sin and misery, and of the all-sufficient 
 remedy in Christ, but the sense of former rebellions appalls 
 them; they cannot hope for acceptance with him. Here 
 is good news for such souls ; Christ is at the door, and for- 
 mer rebellions are no bar to liim, provided there is now a 
 hearty compliance with his invitation, " I will come in to 
 him." A glorious promise, comprising five inestimable 
 benefits. 
 
 (1.) This is the most glorious work of God that can be 
 
214 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 wrought upon the heart of a sinner, to open it by repent- 
 ance and faith, and put Christ in full possession of it. 
 The power of all the angels in heaven, ministers on earth, 
 duties, and ordinances cannot effect this ; this is the pccu 
 liar work of God. " Of him are ye in Christ Jesus." 1 
 Cor. 1 : 30. As it was the marvellous work of God to 
 unite our nature unto Christ, so it is no less a marvellous 
 work of God to unite our persons to Christ, to prepare the 
 soul as a 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 ; until this be done, we 
 are without hope. But in the same hour when Christ comes 
 into the soul, a sohd foundation of the hope of glory is laid 
 in that soul, " which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 
 Col. 1 : 27. I know the unregenerate world is full of hope, 
 but their hopes are built upon the sand. Union with Christ 
 is the firm 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 he is said 
 to dwell in our hearts by faith, Eph. 3 : 17 — not sojourn for 
 a night, but abide there for ever. Nothing can separate 
 Christ and that soul Rom. 8 : 35. Thy soul shall never 
 be a habitation for Satan again. When Christ comes in, he 
 Baith, as of the temple, " This is my rest for ever : here will 
 I dwell." Psalm 132 : 14. 
 
 (4.) This coming in of Christ entitles the soul to all 
 spiritual privileges : " He that hath the Son, hath life," 
 ■ 1 John, 5 : 12 ; and, "All are yours, and ye are Christ's." 
 1 Cor. 3 : 22, 23. 
 
 (5.) This is the highest honor that ever God put upon 
 a creature, " I will come in to him." how should the 
 soul feel itself advanced by such an honor as this. What, 
 to be the living temple of Jesus Christ, for him to dwell and 
 
NONE REJECTED. 215 
 
 walk in thy soul! 2 Cor. 6:16. I tell you, this is an 
 honor beyond and above the honor done to angels. 
 
 And how near art thou to all these blessed privileges in 
 the day that thy heart is wounded for sin ? Thy thoughts 
 become solicitous about union with Christ, and thy will 
 begins to yield after a serious examination of the terms of 
 the gospel in thy most solemn thoughts. God forbid any 
 thing should now hinder the completing of so great a 
 work. 
 
216 CHRIST KNOCKINO AT THE DOOR. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 NONE RECEIVE CHRIST UNTIL HIS SPIRITUAL 
 QUICKENING VOICE IS HEARD. 
 
 "IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL 
 COME IN TO HIM." Rev. 3 : 20. 
 
 In the former chapters, Christ's general invitation to 
 sinners has been considered : we are now to consider the 
 principal instrument by which the heart of a sinner is 
 opened to receive Christ ; and that is not by the power 
 of his own will, nor merely by the efficacy of the gospel 
 preached, but by the voice of Jesus Christ, which opens the 
 will, and makes the persuasions of the gospel effectual. "If 
 any man hear my voice." 
 
 Hearing is either external or internal ; for the soul has 
 its ear as well as the body. " He that hath an ear, let liim 
 hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches," Rev. 2 : 17 ; 
 that is, he that hath a spiritual ear, by which to perceive 
 and judge the voice of the Spirit. It is a sore judgment 
 when God denies such an ear to the soul. " Go and tell 
 this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not." Isa. 6 : 9. 
 Spiritual hearing is the work of the inner man. And though 
 we have many auditors, yet, in this sense, we have no more 
 hearers than believers. Words of sense in Scripture describe 
 afiections. This hearing of Christ's voice implies not only 
 the receiving the sound of the gospel into the external organ, 
 but the work of the understanding, which by the ear trieth 
 words as the mouth tasteth meat, Job 12:11; and the 
 work of the affections, which receive the truth in love. 
 2 Thess. 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 melody of the gospel, and yet it is as if we heard 
 it not, when obedience does not follow hearing. " Thou art 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 217 
 
 unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant 
 voice, and can play well on an instrument ; for they hear 
 thy words, but they do them not." Ezek. 33 : 32. But in 
 tliis place it signifies the vital sound of Christ's ejjicat ious 
 voice, which is the principle of spiritual life to the souls of 
 dead sinners ; according to his expression, " Verily, verily, 
 I sa} unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when tho 
 dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they tliat 
 hear shall live." John 5 : 25. 
 
 From hence the eighth doctrine will be, 
 
 No man*s will savingly and effectually opens to receive 
 Christ until the sjpirittial and quickening voice of Christ 
 he heard by tlie soid. 
 
 Now, concerning this almighty spiritual voice of Christ, 
 by which the hearts of sinners are effectually opened, six 
 things must be explained in order : the divers sorts and 
 kinds of Christ's voices ; the general nature of this internal 
 voice ; the innate characters and special properties of it ; 
 the objects to whom it is directed ; the motives inducing 
 Christ to speak to one, and not to another ; and the special 
 effects wrought and sealed by it upon every soul that 
 hears it. 
 
 I. We will speak of the divers sorts and kinds op 
 Christ's voices. 
 
 1. There is an external voice of Christ, which we may 
 call his voice in the preaching of the gospel. The Scrip- 
 tures are his word, and ministers his mouth. Jer. 15 : 19. 
 He that heareth them, heareth Christ, 
 
 2, There is also an internal voice of Christ, consisting 
 not in sound, but in power ; and between these there are two 
 rsmarkable differences. First, 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 by that sound conveys his spiritual 
 
 Chritt Knocking. 10 
 
218 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 voice to the heart. Second, the external voice is inefTect- 
 ual when it is not animated by the internal spiritual voice 
 It was marvellous to see the walls of Jericho falling to the 
 ground at the sountl of ram's horns, Josh. 6 : 20 ; 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 simiers' hands, but the very enmity, itself 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. 
 
 11. This spiritual voice of Christ must be considered m 
 ITS GENERAL NATURE, which implies, 
 
 1. Almighty ejjicacy, to quicken and open the heart 
 with a word. what manner of voice is this, which car- 
 ries such a vital power with it I In all the mighty works 
 of Christ, his power was put forth in some voice, as at the 
 resurrection of Lazarus. " He cried with a loud voice, 
 Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth." 
 John 11 : 43, 44. So in curing the deaf man, Mark 7 : 34, 
 " He saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is. Be opened ; and 
 straightway his ears were opened." Thus, in exerting liis 
 almighty power in quickening a soul spiritually dead, and 
 opening the heart locked up by ignorance and unbelief, an 
 internal almighty efficacy passes from Christ, along ^^■ith 
 the voice of the gospel, to effect this glorious work upon 
 the soul ; an emblem of which we have in Ezek. 37 : 9, 10 : 
 ** Then said he unto me, Prophesy imto the wind, prophesy, 
 son of man, and say to the wind. Thus saith the Lord God ; 
 Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe 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 quickened the 
 dead came with the four winds of heaven, as this almighty 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 219 
 
 power of Christ does with the sound of the gospel ; and 
 before it the heart opens, and the will bows. Psalm 110:3. 
 Man can no longer oppose God; the power of man can 
 repel that of a fellow-creature, but when the power of Christ 
 comes with the voice of man, there is no more power to 
 resist. This voice of Christ, of which the text speaks, is 
 an impression made on the soul of a sinner from heaven, 
 wliich is to that soul instead of a voice, and as fully expres- 
 sive of God's mind concerning it as any articulate voice can 
 be. It is a beam of light shining immediately from the 
 Spirit into the soul of a sinner, as plainly revealing 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 
 his spirit, which was as a voice to him. Thus the Lord 
 not only directs a suitable word to a sinner's condition, but 
 impresses it with such a strong hand upon his heart, as 
 leaves no doubt but that it was the Lord himself that spoke 
 to his soul. This is Christ's way of speaking by his Spirit 
 to the ear of the soul : not by audible voices, which I take 
 to be but the imaginings of an overtroubled fancy, but by 
 an efficacious impression upon the heart. In audible voices 
 we may sooner meet satanical delusions than divine illu- 
 minations. The learned Gerson speaks of a good man who, 
 being in prayer, seemed to hear such a voice as this : "1 
 am come in person to visit thee, for thou art worthy." But 
 he justly suspecting a delusion of Satan, shut his eyes and 
 said, " I will not see Christ here, it shall suffice me to see 
 him in glory." Christ's voice in the written word is more 
 sure than a voice from heaven. 2 Pet. 1:19. Tliis spir- 
 itual impression is Christ's effectual call from heaven, and 
 is a voice without sound or syllable. 
 
 2. As this voice of Christ implies abnighty 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 
 
220 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 in the bodily cures performed by him in the days of hia 
 flesh ; how suddenly and easily did he effect them. " Speak 
 the word only," said the centurion, " and my servant shall 
 be healed." Thus, let the Spirit but speak to the dead soul 
 and it lives. Elijah did but cast his mantle on Elisha, as 
 he was ploughing in the field, and he entreated the prophet 
 to give him leave to go home and bid his friends farewell, 
 and he would follow him. Thus it is here : let a beam of 
 saving light shine from the Spirit into a man's heart ; let 
 an effectual impression be made upon his soul, and he is at 
 once made willing to quit and give up his dearest lusts and 
 interests, and to embrace Christ upon the terms of the gos- 
 pel. Conversion is too difficult a work for angels or men 
 to effect, but Christ can do it with a word. 
 
 III. I shall endeavor to show the special properties 
 of this spiritual voice of Christ, which must be heard, or 
 there can be no opening the door of the heart to receive 
 him. 
 
 1 . It is a secret and still voice, whereby somewhat is 
 communicated to the soul, making a particular application 
 of what is spoken to the ear, much like that of Nathan to 
 David, " Thou art the man." 2 Sam. 12 : 7. This still 
 voice sounds through the whole soul, yet none hear it but 
 the soul concerned in it. It is said, " The Lord had told 
 Samuel in liis ear, a day before," 1 Sam. 9:15, that is, he 
 whispered the secret into the prophet's mind. So the Spirit 
 of Christ whispers a word into the ear of a sinner, which 
 makes his heart tremble, after this manner : " This is thy 
 very condition ; this is thy sin, which is now opened by the 
 gospel in thine ears." This is a voice without sound to 
 others, but very intelligible to the soul to whom it is spoken. 
 You read in 1 Kings, 19 : 11, 12, that when Elijah stood 
 upon the mount before the Lord, " a great and strong wind 
 rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the 
 Lord ; but the Lord was not in the wind : and after the 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 22J 
 
 wind an earthquake ; but the Lord was not ni the earth- 
 quake : 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." So it is here: dreadful things are thun- 
 dered against men by the voice of the law ; the terrors of 
 the Lord are made known, hell is set before the eyes of sin- 
 ners ; but until the Lord come in the still voice of his Spirit, 
 and apply these things to the ccnscience, 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 
 Matt. 13 : 13. They hear the voice of man, but not th* 
 voice of God ; they hear the sound, but feel not the power 
 of the word. What is spoken externally dies in the ear that 
 hears it, but this still voice of the Spirit makes its way to 
 the heart, and none knows what God speaks but the soul 
 itself. 
 
 2. The spiritual voice of Christ is personal, speaking 
 distinctly and particularly to the state of the soul, as if by 
 name. Ministers must speak in general ; they draw the 
 bow of the gospel at a venture, not knowing to whom God 
 will direct the arrow ; but the Spirit guides it to the mark. 
 He apphes truth to particular persons, so that the soul to 
 whom he directs it is fully convinced that the Lord intends 
 and means him, in such a threatening expression. Oh, says 
 the soul, has the Lord singled me out in particular ? this is my 
 very case. You read that ChrisI calleth his sheep by name. 
 John 10:3. How does he do this, but by speaking directly 
 and particularly to their condition, as if he called them by 
 their particular names ? He does not now in an extraordinary 
 way, as of old, call, "Samuel, Samuel," or, " Saul, Saul," but 
 he sends a beam of convincing Ught into the conscience, 
 plainly showing this or that to be our sin, danger, or duty ; 
 
222 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 and as to the effect, it is all one as if God named him. And 
 truly, until it comes to this the word has no savmg operation 
 upon the soul. A man may hear ten thousand general truths 
 and assent to them, and yet be no better for them. How 
 quiet was David's conscience, until Nathan struck the nail 
 upon the head by a home personal application, and then his 
 conscience startled. Thus God singles out one from a 
 thousand in the congregation, speaks to the heart, and dis- 
 turbs the secure conscience : the rest hear the same words, 
 but feel not the same efficacy. And truly it is a choice 
 mercy when God pleases thus to single out one person 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, 
 but to none of thern was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a 
 city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. So here, 
 multitudes sat with you under the same prayer or sermon, 
 but to none of them, at that time, was the Spirit sent to 
 make a particular application thereof, but to thee. In this 
 the peculiar goodness of God shmes out, and should for ever 
 be admired by that soul. 
 
 3. This spiritual voice of Christ is distinguishable by 
 the soul that hears it from all other voices. The sheep 
 know his voice. John 10 : 4. As in the style of the Scrip- 
 tures there is a weight and majesty which distinguish them 
 fi-om all human compositions, so in this voice of Christ there 
 is a peculiar efficacy, a divine authority, by which the soul 
 distinguishes it from all human voices. It was said of Christ 
 in the days of his flesh, " Never man spake like this man." 
 John 7 : 46. The same m^ be said 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. 
 
 There arc two things in this inward voice of Christ, 
 which distinguish it from all human voices. First, a mar- 
 vellous light comes into the soul with it, which discovers 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 223 
 
 &13 the secrets of the heart. God shines into the heart at 
 the same time he speaks to it, 2 Cor. 4:6; and now the 
 secrets of the heart are manifest, and God is acknowledged 
 to be in the word of truth. 1 Cor. 14 : 25. Second, a mar- 
 vellous power accompanies tliis voice, to make a deep and 
 firm impression of what is spoken on the soul ; and this 
 power is a character of the voice of God, whereby the soul 
 reotives it as his, with much assurance, as the apostle speaks 
 in 1 Thess. 1:5: " Our gospel came not unto 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, 
 than they were that it was the Lord who spoke to them in 
 that word. It is true, at the first instant the soul may be 
 amazed and at a loss, as Peter, when he was delivered out 
 of prison, thought at first he had seen a vision ; but when 
 he was come to himself, he said, " Now, I know of a surety 
 tliat the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me." 
 Acts 12 : 11. Thus it is with the soul : it is amazed, and 
 doubts what manner of call or power this is ; it never heard 
 such a voice, nor felt any thing like this before. But the 
 matter is quickly cleared up when the soul has reflected 
 upon it, and finds such a wonderful change of the temper 
 of the heart following upon it. I now speak not of those 
 into whom grace is distilled in the way of godly education 
 in their tender years, but of adult persons, and especially 
 such as have been gross sinners. 
 
 4. This spiritual voice of Christ is a surprising voice, 
 altogether unexpected by the soul that hears it : "I am 
 found of them that sought me not." Isa. 65:1. Little do we 
 foresee the designs God has in bringing us to such a place, 
 and under such a sermon, at such a time ; even as Httle as 
 Saul thought of a kingdom when he was seeking his father's 
 asses. It is much with us as it was with the apostles when 
 Christ called them : httle did Matthew think when he sat 
 at the receipt of customs, or Saul when hasting to Damas- 
 
224 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 cus upon the devil's errand, that Christ and salvation were 
 80 near them. Some have come to deride the messengers 
 and truths of God ; others to gratify their curiosity ; and 
 many not knowing where else, with peace or reputation, to 
 spend that hour. But God's thoughts were not theirs ; the 
 time of mercy was now come, and whatever sinful ends 
 brought them thither, the Lord's design was then and there 
 to manifest himself to them. It is with such souls, in some 
 respects, as it was with the spouse, Sol. Song, 6:12: "Or 
 ever I was aware, ray soul made me like the chariots of 
 Ammi-nadib." I went to the congregation for company ; I 
 was sitting under the wofd with a careless wandering heart, 
 as at other times ; when lo, an arrow of conviction was 
 suddenly shot into my conscience, which so wounded and 
 disquieted it, that it is now beyond the power of any but 
 Christ to settle and satisfy it. 
 
 5. This spiritual internal voice of Christ is energetical; 
 mighty in power, piercing the heart, cleaving, as it were, 
 the very reins; full of efficacy to the soul that hears it. 
 The power of God comes along with his voice. " The word 
 of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two- 
 edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul 
 and spirit, and of the joints and marrow." Heb. 4:12. 
 
 Now this efficacy is not inherent in the word itself, or 
 all would feel this power who come within the sound of it. 
 No, this comes from the Spirit of Christ, speaking in it to 
 the sinner's conscience ; when it is the administration of 
 the Spirit, it becomes efficacious. You read, in Psalm 
 29 : 4-9, of the wonderful efficacy of God's voice : The 
 voice of the Lord is powerful ; the voice of the Lord is full 
 of majesty ; it breaketh the cedars, divideth the flames of 
 fi-3, shaketh the wilderness, maketh the hinds to calve. 
 This the providential voice of God, in the winds, thunders, 
 and lightnings, can do ; but what is this to the efficacy of 
 his spiritual voice ? What is the breaking of the cedar* of 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 2?1 
 
 Lebanon to the breaking of the heart of a sinner ? "What is 
 the shaking of the trees in the wilderness to the fears of 
 wrath to come, which shake the souls of convinced sinners, 
 and make their hearts tremble? Acts 16:29. What is 
 the dividing of flames of fire, to the dividing a soul from its 
 beloved lusts ? '* The weapons of our warfare are not car- 
 nal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strong 
 holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that 
 exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing 
 into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 
 2 Cor. 10 : 4, 5. Here are the glorious effects of this voice, 
 which plainly show from whom it comes. The voice oi 
 God is no less to be admired in its effects in the new crea- 
 tion, than in the first creation, with which the apostle com- 
 pares it. ** God, who commanded the light to shine out of 
 darkness, hath shined in our hearts." 2 Cor. 4:6. It was 
 marvellous to see, at the word of Christ, Lazarus, who was 
 dead in his grave, come forth bound in his grave-clothes, 
 John 11 : 44 ; and no less to see a soul dead in sin, at a word 
 of Christ, come forth with spiritual life. "The dead shall 
 hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that hear shall 
 live." John 5 : 25. 
 
 6. This spiritual voice of Christ is convictive to the 
 conscience of a sinner, so that it puts a final end to all 
 evasions. While man only spoke, the soul had a thousand 
 means to evade what was spoken ; but now all debates 
 are at an end — no more subterfuges and cunning evasions 
 now. The Spirit, when he cometh, shall convince the 
 world of sin. John 16:8. The word signifies to convince 
 by demonstration, and to show that a thing cannot possibly 
 be otherwise than we represent it to be. Formerly, when 
 the terrors of God were threatened against sin, the heart 
 was wont to say. This concerns me no more than another ; 
 if it go ill with me, it will go ill with thousands as well as 
 me. It is true, this is my evil ; and who is without sin ? I 
 
 10# 
 
226 CHEIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOUR. 
 
 have some evils in me, but I have some good too. But no 
 sooner does the Spirit speak conviction to the conscience, 
 than all these pleas are dismissed. It may be, the state of 
 the sinner's soul was doubtful to him before ; but it is not 
 BO now. It had some fears of heU, but they were balanced 
 with some vain hopes of heaven ; but now the great ques- 
 tion is determined. Whatever I am or have, whatever 
 duties I have done, and whatever sins I have avoided, I see 
 I am not regenerated, I am in my natural, Christless state ; 
 and except I am changed, I must be lost. This was the 
 effect of Christ's voice to Paul : " I was alive without the 
 law once ; but when the commandment came, sin revived, 
 and I died." Kom. 7:9. He had read the law many a 
 time, and had the literal knowledge of it ; but his vain 
 hopes lived and flourished, until the spiritual sense of the 
 law came home to his heart by the voice of the Spirit, and 
 then his vain hopes died, and his guilt stared in the face of 
 his conscience. 
 
 7. The voice of Christ is generally conveyed to the souls 
 of men through the word preached, which is the chosen 
 instrument of its conveyance. We cannot affirm that Christ 
 always speaks to men in this way ; but certainly this is his 
 ordinary course : " Our gospel came not unto you in word 
 only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost." 1 Thess. 
 1 : 5. Our gospel, because preached by us ; but had that 
 been all, it had come to you in word only, as it does to many 
 thousands of others, who 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 through which 
 the vital power of the Spirit was conveyed into your souls. 
 Providences have their voice as well as the word ; and some- 
 times the voice of Christ has accompanied the voice of provi- 
 dence, to the conversion of men's souls ; but this is unusual. 
 The established way of Christ's speaking to the hearts of sin- 
 ners is by the word, and especially the word preached, which 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 227 
 
 on that account is called "tlie power of God unto salva- 
 tion." Rom. 1:16. This instrument the Lord geucrally hon- 
 ors for the conveyance of spiritual life into the souls of men, 
 though it is 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; that is, the instrument by which the saving 
 power of God communicates itself to the souls of men. And 
 although God may exert his saving power through provi- 
 dences, we seldom find he does so where the word may be 
 had, but is neglected. Herein God consults our peace and 
 satisfaction ; for if he should make use of another medium, 
 as a voice from heaven, and after calling, which is an usual 
 case, the called soul should question, How do I know but all 
 this may be a delusion ? may not Satan impose upon mor- 
 tals, and this voice be a counterfeit? my eternal estate 
 depends upon it, and I need to be sure it was the voice of 
 God himself : in such a case, it would be hard to give such 
 distinguishing characters as might be to the satisfaction 
 of the soul. But when God makes the word his instrument 
 in this matter, it yields abundantly more satisfaction. We 
 have a more sure word of prophecy, surer than a voice from 
 heaven. 2 Pet. 1:19. And though Paul was converted by 
 a voice from heaven, yet the Lord sends him to Ananias, 
 who should preach the gospel to him. Acts 9 : 17. The 
 Lord will honor his word. Providence may prepare the 
 heart, but the word is the instrument by which the Lord 
 ordinarily puts forth his power to salvation. 
 
 8. The voice of Christ leaves abiding effects on the soul 
 that hears it. The words of men are scattered to the wind, 
 but the effects of Christ's voice are durable : "I will never 
 forget thy precepts; for with them thou hast quickened 
 me." Psa. 119: 93. How many hundred sermons have 
 we heard, and all Vanished away as a dream I Oh, but il 
 ever thou heardst Christ speaking to thy heart in any ser- 
 
228 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 mon or prayer, tliat will remain with thee for ever. His 
 words are sealed upon the soul for ever ; they are written in 
 the heart. Jer. 31 : 33. "What Job wished concerning his 
 word, is really performed in the words of Christ : " They 
 are written as in the rock for ever." Job 19 : 23. We 
 have slippery memories, but the weakest memory must 
 retain the words cf Christ, spoken to the heait by his Spirit ; 
 for " He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruc- 
 tion." Job 33 : 16. 
 
 IV. I shall next speak of the person to whom Christ 
 ORDiNARH-Y DHiECTS his efficacious and saving voice. And 
 though it be true that, the Spirit of Christ is a free agent, 
 and calls whom he will, according to John 3:8, " The 
 wind bloweth where it listeth ;" and it is true, in fact, 
 that Christ has made some of all ranks of men to hear his 
 voice ; it is seldom that he directs this saving voice to the 
 great and wise of this world : "Ye see your calUng, breth- 
 ren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many 
 mighty, not many noble are called." 1 Cor. 1 : 26. He 
 Baith not any, but many. Christ does call some, '* lest," as 
 one says, "the world should think that Christians were 
 deceived through their simplicity and weakness." One rich 
 Joseph of Arimathea ; one honorable Nicodemus, but not 
 many. Men of the greatest renown in the world have been 
 the fiercest enemies against Christ : Galen, the chief physi- 
 cian; Porphyry, the chief Aristotelian; Plotinus, the chief 
 Platonist; Libanius and Lucian, the chief orators, were 
 all professed enemies of Christ. Two things make a man 
 great in the eyes of the world : the external endowments of 
 Providence, heaping riches and honors upon him ; and 
 endowments of the mind, as strong reason, sharpness of wit, 
 etc. "When both these meet in the same person, they make 
 him great in the eyes of the world, and usually in his own ; 
 yea, too great to stoop to the simplicity of the gospel, and its 
 humbling, self-denying terms. These the Lord usually 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 229 
 
 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 blesses him for: "I thank thee, 
 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 seemed good in 
 thy sight." Matt. 11 : 25, 2G. And indeed, the wisdom ol 
 God deserves our admiration in this dispensation : For 
 
 1. Hereby the freeness of his grace is vindicated 
 None can pretend that any earthly excellence commends any 
 man to God, or that the favor of heaven is secured by the 
 same means that the respects of the world are. For you 
 see the truth of that scripture before your eyes. Job 34 : 19 : 
 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 honors, empty as they are, are 
 yet much idolized by men : what would they be, could they 
 procure our favor and acceptance with the Lord ? 
 
 2. By such a choice as this, the Lord plauily shows that 
 religion 7ieeds not worldly props to support it. As at first 
 it was spread by the power of God in the world, by poor and 
 despised men, so it is still upheld without human policy or 
 riches. The church is called the congregation of the poor. 
 Psa. 74 : 19. 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. 
 
 3. By this choice he pours contempt upon the things 
 most admired among men. So he tells us : " God hath 
 chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; 
 and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to con- 
 found the things which are mighty." 1 Cor. 1 : 27. And 
 certainly, shame and confusion of face will cover the great 
 ones of this world, when they shall see the poor Christians 
 
230 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 whom they scorned on earth, as not worthy to conie into 
 their presence, so infinitely preferred before them in the 
 favor 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 call of the gospel : " Many are called, but few 
 are chosen." Matt. 22 : 14. Christ's flock is a little flock. 
 There are many birds of prey to one bird of paradise — 
 many common pebbles to one sapphire or diamond. It is 
 not for us to dispute as to the reason, but to adore the sove- 
 reignty of God in this matter. And of those few whom he 
 calls, the greatest part is of the humbler classes of men. 
 The glitter and dazzle of this world blind the eyes of the 
 greatest ; extremity of want diverts the mind of the lowest ; 
 but between these two extremes there is a third sort ol 
 persons whom the Lord most usually calls. 
 
 v. If it be inquired why the voice and call of Christ 
 
 SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THIS PERSON RATHER THAN TO THAT. 
 
 certainly it is not from any excellence that Christ sees in 
 one rather than another ; for all are shut up under the com- 
 mon 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 the 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 pleas- 
 ure of the divine will: "Even so. Father, for so it seemed 
 good in thy sight." Matt. 11 : 26. This good pleasure of 
 the will of God sometimes causes those to hear the voice 
 of his Son who seem to stand at a far greater distance and 
 improbability to hear it than others do. It is said of the 
 Ephesians, that they were far ofl', Eph. 2 : 13 ; yet they 
 heard the voice of Christ when that discreet scribe who 
 was not far from the kingdom of God, Mark 12 : 34, and 
 Agrippa, who was almost persuaded to be a Christian, 
 Acts 26 : 28, never heard it ; therefore it is said, " Many 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 231 
 
 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." Matt. 8:11, 12. marvellous dispensation! 
 many a soul under the greatest disadvantages, a poor servant 
 who has but little time and many incumbrances, is called 
 effectually by this voice of Christ; when those who enjoy 
 multitudes of opportunities, and have abundance of time on 
 their hands which they know not what to do with, and who 
 have the choicest books at command, amidst all these ad- 
 vantages hear and feel nothing to any purpose : all this is to 
 be resolved into the good pleasure of the will of God. 
 
 VI. Let us now 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. 
 
 1. The first effect of the voice of Christ is conviction 
 on the conscience — conviction both of sin and misery. John 
 16:8. The Spirit when he cometh shall convince the 
 world of sin. This is a voice of terror, and strikes dead the 
 vain hopes of a sinner. Rom. 7:9. The soul that was 
 before secure becomes the seat of anxiety. There was a 
 general conviction of sin before ; he knew that all are sin- 
 ners, he denied not that. But alas, this general convic- 
 tion is quite another thing from what the soul feels now ; 
 now it can waive the matter no longer. This voice of 
 Christ " showeth them their work and their trangressions, 
 that they have exceeded," Job 36 : 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 on a sign-post ; but when a particular convic- 
 tion is set home on the conscience by this special voice of 
 Christ, sin is like a Hving lion, meeting a man in the way 
 and roaring dreadfully upon him. This first effect of Christ's 
 voice is introductory to, 
 
 2. Humiliation and contrition of heart for sin. Those 
 
232 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 threats of Scripture against sin and sinners which were 
 wont to be shghted, are now trembled at ; those Jews to 
 whose hearts Christ spoke in Peter's sermon, as soon as they 
 heard his voice sounding conviction in their consciences, 
 were pricked at the heart, Acts 2 : 37 : no sword can make 
 such a wound, and put a man into such pain, as a sight of 
 sin will ; therefore they are said to mourn for Christ as for an 
 only son. Zech. 12 : 10. Now this is the glorious prerog- 
 ative of Jesus Christ, to reach and wound the heart with a 
 word. The voice of man cannot do it ; but the spirit of a 
 man lies open both to be wounded and healed by a word 
 from the mouth of Christ. No sooner has a sinner heard 
 the awful voice of conviction spoken to his conscience by the 
 Lord Jesus, but he feels himself sick at heart ; he goes home 
 from that sermon by which Christ spoke efiectual conviction 
 to him, crying, My Soul is distressed because of sin. There 
 is a great difference in the degrees of this contrition and 
 humiliation ; it penetrates deeper into some hearts than 
 others, and holds them longer under it ; but whoever has 
 heard the convincing voice of Christ, feels so much sorrow 
 for sin as for ever separates him from the love of it. 
 
 3. This voice of Christ awakens the careless mind to 
 solicitude for deliverance from the danger that hangs over 
 it. Trembling and astonished, the jailer cried out, *' Sirs, 
 what must I do to be saved ?" Acts 16 : 29, 30. All the 
 powers of the soul are engaged for deliverance. You gener- 
 ally observe, in convinced and humbled sinners, three signs 
 of extraordinary solicitude about salvation. First, there is 
 a strong intentness of their minds and thoughts, they stand 
 night and day like a bow at its full bent; their thoughts 
 are ever poring upon this matter, their sleep departs, for their 
 Bin and danger are ever before them. Second, it appears by 
 their searching inquisitiveness about the way of escape ; the 
 question they carry with them wherever they meet with 
 any whom they judge able to direct them is, What course 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 
 
 
 shall I take ? What shall 1 do ? Is there an 
 such a one as I ? Did you ever know a soul in my'bi 
 tion ? Third, it appears by the little notice they take of 
 theu: outward afflictions, which, it may be, arc strong and 
 sharp enough to overwhelm them at another time ; but 
 now they take little notice of them. Sin lies so heavy 
 that it makes heavy afflictions lie light. 
 
 4. A fourth effect of the voice of Christ is encourage- 
 ment and hope, putting the soul on the use of means in 
 order to the attaiinnent of Christ and salvation ; for it is an 
 inviting as well as a convicting voice : and this is a remark- 
 able difference between the voice of Christ and the voice of 
 Satan, with respect to sin. Satan labors to cut off' all hope 
 and strike the soul dead under despair of mercy ; well 
 knowing, that if he can cut off' hope, all endeavors of the 
 soul after Christ are effectually stopped. But how much 
 terror soever there may be in the voice of Christ, there is 
 always something left behind it on the heart to breed and 
 support hope. And truly the sold, amidst these sad circum- 
 stances, has great need of some encouragement ; but the 
 Lord usually, after sharp convictions, sets home upon the 
 Boul such a word as this : " Him that cometh to me I will 
 in no wise cast out : for I came down from heaven, not to 
 do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." John 
 6 : 37, 38. Here Christ offx3rs the most rational satisfac- 
 tion, and greatest encouragement that a convinced sinner, if 
 he be willing, shall certainly find a hearty welcome with 
 Christ. For mark how he argues it on purpose for the sat- 
 isfaction of such souls : " I came down from heaven, not to 
 do mine own will, but the will of him that seift me." The 
 force of the eiicouragement lies here, *' I and my Father are 
 one," John 10 : 30— one in will and one in design ; our wills 
 never can jar one with the other, on account of the perfect 
 unity that is between us. Now, saith he, I came down from 
 heaven, not only to do mine own will, which must necessarily 
 
234 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 be supposed to be strongly inclined to receive and save all 
 convinced and willing sinners, this being the very end of 
 my incarnation and death, but also to do the will of nay 
 Father, who hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted 
 and anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek. Isa. 
 61 : 1. And therefore no such soul can rationally doubt 
 of a welcome reception with me. And because the fears 
 of a convinced conscience are great and many, and Satan 
 seeks to aggravate them beyond the hope of mercy, it is 
 usual with the Lord to direct the trembling sinner to such 
 a scripture as that in Heb. 7 : 25, " Wherefore he is able 
 also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by 
 him ;" making the fulness of Christ's saving power shine 
 with a cheerful beam into the dark and distressed soul of a 
 sinner, from such a word as that. 
 
 5. A fifth effect of Christ's powerful voice is an attrac- 
 tive ejjicacy or siveet alluring of the soul to Christ by that 
 power which it communicates to the soul. " No man can 
 come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw 
 him." *' Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath 
 learned of the Father, cometh unto me." John 6 : 44, 45. 
 Mark it, this voice speedily puts the soul into motion after 
 Christ ; coming follows hearing : when once the soul has 
 heard the voice of God, away it comes from all sinful en- 
 gagements in the world ; all ties between the soul and sin 
 break asunder and give way ; nothing can hold it from 
 Christ. There is a strange restlessness in the spirit of man, 
 and none but Christ can quiet it. 
 
 6. And then the effect of Christ's voice is rest and con- 
 solation to the inner 7na7i. When once the soul is come 
 home to Christ by the efficacy of his heavenly call or voice, 
 it enters into peace. " We which have beheved, do enter 
 into rest," Heb. 4 : 3 — not only sliall, but do enter into rest. 
 As the first effect of Christ's voice was terror to the soul, so 
 the last effect is peace ; it puts the soul into the most excel- 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 235 
 
 lent position for comfort and joy ; it never stood upon such 
 ground before ; for this vocation stands between predestina- 
 tion and glorification : *' Moreover, whom he did predesti- 
 nate, them he also called ; and whom he called, them he 
 also justified ; and whom he justified, them he also glori- 
 fied." Rom. 8 : 30. See here into what a blessed mount 
 of vision the voice of Christ calls the souls of sinners. 
 Let the soul look backward or forward from eternity to 
 eternity, there is nothing but a vision of peace before its 
 eyes. This call of God points backward to God's eternal 
 choice, which by this very call it is now manifest he made 
 of that soul before the world was ; and it points forward to 
 that eternal glory unto which God is leading it. These are 
 the efliicts of this almighty voice of Christ, and these tho 
 special instructions sealed by it upon the hearts of men. 
 
 But this voice of Christ is not heard at all times, but in 
 some special hour — as Christ calls it, " The hour when the 
 dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God." John 5 : 25. 
 And elsewhere, by the apostle, it is called the accepted 
 time, the day of salvation. 2 Cor. 6 : 2. The conjunction 
 of the Spirit of Christ with the word, ordinances, or provi- 
 dences of God, but especially the word, makes this blessed 
 hour. The word alone, though never so well preached, 
 conduces no more to the conviction and salvation of a sinner, 
 than the waters of Bethesda did to healing when the angel 
 •came not down to trouble them. John 5:4. But when the 
 Lord pours out his Spirit with the word, according to tho 
 promise,* " I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make 
 known my words unto you," Prov. 1 : 23, then Christ speaks 
 to the heart ; this great conjunction of the word and Spirit 
 makes that blessed season of salvation the time of love and 
 of life. Now the voice of Christ is heard with effect, and 
 the ordinances have a convincing and converting efficacy. 
 There was an abundant efihsion of the Spirit in the first 
 age of Christianity, and then the voice of Christ was heard 
 
236 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 by multitudes of souls at once. There has 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 eiTectually called. This has made the 
 church like a wilderness, a land of drought ; and so it is 
 likely to remain, " until the Spirit be poured upon us from 
 on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field,'- according 
 to the 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 whither- 
 soever the river shall come, shall live. And fishers shall 
 stand upon it, from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim ; they 
 shall be a place to spread forth nets ; their fish shall bo 
 according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceed- 
 ing many." Ezek. 47 : 9, 10. Then ministers shall no 
 longer fish with angles, catching now one and then another ; 
 but shall spread forth their nets and inclose multitudes of 
 converts. 
 
 There are some happy seasons wherein Christ utters his 
 almighty voice in the word, but their time is unknown 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, and wait in hope, if at any time God will 
 give the people repentance. 2 Tim. 2 : 25. "VVe are often 
 mistaken in our conjectures : when we have made the best* 
 preparations, and have a more than ordinary enlargement 
 of spirit, we are apt to conclude this is the blessed hour 
 wherein Christ wiU speak to the heart as we do to the ear ; 
 but we often find ourselves 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 remem- 
 bered, because then the first actual application of Christ 
 will be made to your souls ; without which all that the 
 Father has done in election, and the Son in his redemption. 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 237 
 
 would be of no advantage to your souls. And therefore you 
 shall find that this work of the Spirit stands between those 
 works, and makes them effectual to our salvation. 1 Pet. 
 1:2. This is the hour upon which our eternal blessedness 
 depends ; it will be celebrated for ever in your praises, in the 
 world to come. what an influence has this hour to all 
 eternity I The hearing of this voice of Christ opens the 
 councils of heaven, and brings to light the eternal counsels 
 of God concerning you : " Knowing, brethren beloved, your 
 election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word 
 only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost." 1 Thess. 
 1 : 4, 5. This gives greater assurance of the eternal love of 
 God to a man's soul," than the sweetest smile of providence 
 or any voice from heaven could do. This is the day of our 
 spiritual resurrection, John 5 : 25 — a greater and more glo- 
 rious resurrection by far than that of your bodies at the last 
 day ; so much greater, as the value of your souls is above that 
 of your bodies : as also, because the blessedness of your bod- 
 ily resurrection depends on 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 quickening your souls with spirit- 
 ual life. To conclude, this is the great era from which you 
 are to date all your spiritual mercies ; for as the Lord said 
 unto the Jews, " From this day will 1 bless you," Hag. 
 2:19; 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. 
 Inference 1. This point presents us with abundant 
 matter of lamentation over multitudes who sit under the 
 sound of the gospel, yet, as Christ speaks of the Jews, John 
 5 : 37, have not heard the voice of God at any time. The 
 ministerial voice of Christ they hear daily ; but this effica- 
 cious internal voice, which makes the ministerial voice the 
 word of life and power, they have not heard. The> gospel, 
 
238 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 to most of our hearers, is but an empty sound : this is a sad 
 symptom. " 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." 2 Cor. 4 : 3, 4. This hiding of 
 the gospel is not opposed to the external ministration of it, 
 nor to the understanding of the true sense and meaning of 
 the truths delivered by it ; but to that internal efficacy which 
 is here called hearing Christ's voice. Our hearers are gener- 
 ally satisfied when they have heard a sermon, much more if 
 they can remember something of it, though the Lord has 
 not spoken one truth they have heard home to their hearts. 
 This is a sad case, and God grant it be not that very judg- 
 ment threatened, Isa. 6:9," Hear ye indeed, but understand 
 not ; and see ye indeed, but perceive not." Hearing the 
 voice of man without feeling the power of God, is all one 
 as if we heard not. Reflect upon this, you that are as un- 
 concerned under the word as the seats you sit upon. God 
 speaketh once, yea, twice, but man perceiveth it not. The 
 eternal decrees and counsels of God are now executing upon 
 the souls of men under the gospel. As many as are or- 
 dained to eternal life shall beheve and feel the power of 
 God's truth upon their hearts. Acts 13 : 48, Andmethinks 
 it should be of startling consideration, when you see others 
 struck to the heart, cast into fear and tremblings by the 
 same word that does not in the least touch your hearts. It 
 may be you think this is but fancy and melancholy, but 
 that very thought is an artifice of Satan to blind your eyes. 
 Christ made another use of it when he told the secure and 
 self righteous Jews, " John came unto you in the way of 
 righteousness, and ye believed him not ; but the publicans 
 and the harlots believed him : and ye, when ye had seen it, 
 repented not afterward that ye might believe him." Matt. 
 21 : 32. As though he had said, "What did you do to quiet 
 your consciences, when you saw other sinners humbled and 
 brought to faith under John's ministry ? It is strange there 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 239 
 
 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 the gospel shall be the savor of" life 
 unto life, and to others the savor of death unto death. "Who 
 can look over so great a part of a congregation without ten^ 
 der compassion, considering that unto this day the Lord has 
 not given them eyes, to see, nor ears to hear ? They have heard 
 multitudes of sermons ; and they have also heard what eflects 
 these have had upon other men's hearts ; but they have none 
 upon theirs. that such souls would cry to the Lord Jesus 
 in such language as that in Sol. Song 13 : 13 : " The com- 
 panions 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 m it. Open the ears of my soul, that I may 
 hear thy voice and feel thy power ; otherwise the voice of 
 the ministry will be inefTectual to my salvation ; it will but 
 quiet my conscience for a little while, and prove a dreadful 
 aggravation of my misery in the end. 
 
 2. It also follows from the subject, that we have this 
 day before our eyes a great confirmation of the truth of the 
 Scriptures. No miracles can seal it firmer than the events 
 which are visible to all that will observe them. "What you 
 read in the word you may see every day fulfilled before your 
 eyes. " "We are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them 
 that are saved, and in them that perish : to the one we are 
 the savor of death unto death, and to the other the savor of 
 life unto life." 2 Cor. 2 : 15, 16. And again, Acts 28 : 24, 
 when Paul in his lodgings had expounded and testified the 
 kingdom of God to the people, and persuaded them to be- 
 lieve from morning till evening, it is observed, that *' some 
 believed the things which were spoken, and some believed 
 not." Here you see the contrary efTects of the preaching 
 of the gospel, according to the scripture account of it : it 
 quickens some and kills others ; brings some to faitb, and 
 leaves others still in unbelief. Compare this account with 
 
240 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOE,. 
 
 what is daily before you : do you not see souls influenced 
 to contrary^ effects under the same word ; one melting and 
 tender, another hardened and wholly unconcerned ? Tell 
 me, you that are apt to ascribe all to nature, how comes it to 
 f)ass m men exercising reason aUke, men that have the same 
 inbred fears and hopes of things eternal, who have the same 
 passions and affections, and are in the selfsame condition with 
 others ; yet one man's heart is wounded, and goes away trem- 
 bling from under the selfsame word which affects the other 
 no more than if it had been preached among the tombs to 
 the dead that lie there ? Say not that some have more 
 courage than others, or clearer understandings ; for the word 
 has convinced as rational and courageous persons as those 
 upon whom it has had no such effect. I doubt not but that 
 the jailer who was filled with such trembling and astonish- 
 ment. Acts 16 : 27-30, was as stout and rugged a person as 
 any to whom Paul usually preached ; his very office bespoke 
 him such a man. Wonder not what it is that makes men 
 alarmed at sifch 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 Scriptures give us of the contrary effects 
 of the gospel on them that hear it ; which is, I say, a firm 
 seal of the truth of the Scriptures, and highly worth the ob- 
 servation of all. 
 
 3. Wfiat dignity has God stamiyed on gospel oidi- 
 nances, in making them the medium through which Christ 
 speaks life to dead souls. This greatly exalts the dignity of 
 the gospel, and deservedly endears it to our souls. I deny 
 not but God can convey spiritual life without them ; but 
 though he hath not restricted liimself, yet he hath enjoined on 
 us a diligent attendance upon them, and that with the deep- 
 est respect and reverence. ** He that heareth you, heareth 
 me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that 
 despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me." Luke 10 : 16. 
 
HIS VOICE- HEARD. 211 
 
 Behold how this sin is aggravated to the height of sinful- 
 ness. The contempt of the gospel runs much higher than 
 men are aware of We think it no great matter to neglect 
 and contemn a messenger of Jesus Christ ; but that con- 
 tempt 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 
 by his ministers, they are his mouth. Jer. 15 : 19. More- 
 over, the sill strikes at our own souls, and we injure them 
 as well as Christ. For the word pre#hed 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," and "the power of God unto salvation." We militate 
 against our life and salvation when we despise and neglect 
 the ordinances of God. It is good for men continually to 
 wait on them ; who knows when the Spirit of God will 
 breathe life to your souls through them ? What if you have 
 yet found no such benefit from them ? The very next op- 
 portunity may be the appointed season of your salvation. 
 Bring your ungodly relatives with you, as men did their 
 diseased friends when Christ was on earth, laying them in 
 the way he was to pass. Christ will honor his ordinances ; 
 see that you do not despise them. 
 
 4. What a fearful judgment is the loss of the gospely 
 seeing that by it Christ speaketh life to the souls of men. 
 The Spirit and the word of God usually come and go togeth- 
 er ; when therefore these are gone, no more conversions are 
 to be expected : dreadful is the case of that people. "Where 
 there is no vision, the people perish." Prov. 29 : 18. Those 
 are direful menaces in Isaiah 8 : 16, "Bind up the testimo- 
 ny, seal the law among my disciples ;" and Rev. 2:5, "I 
 will remove thy candlestick out of his place." Better the 
 Bun were taken out of heaven than the gospel out of the 
 church. Think not God has made such a settlement of the 
 gospel that it shall never be removed, however you use it. 
 
 Chritt Knoolucr. 1 1 
 
242 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Your Advocate in heaven has obtained it for you for a timr 
 upon trial ; if you bring forth fruit, well ; you and the gen- 
 erations to come shall be happy in it ; if not, this blessed 
 tree, which has brought forth so many mercies to you and 
 yours, must and will be cut down. Yea, and even now is 
 the axe laid at the root of the tree. Matt. 3 : 10. It is an 
 allusion to* a carpenter that throws down the axe and the 
 saw at the root of the tree he intends to cut down. The 
 only ground of hope which remains with us is, that there 
 are some buds appflring, some fruits putting forth ; and if 
 there be a blessing in the bud, the Lord will spare it, ac- 
 cording to Isa. 65 : 8. But these hopes are balanced with 
 many sad symptoms, which may make us tremble to think 
 what God is about to do with such a sinful people. 
 
 5. Those ivho have heard Christ's voice in the gospel 
 have no reason to he discouraged from going to Christ in 
 faith. Christ's call is a sufficient warrant to believe. Many 
 are staggered in their work of faith by the fear of presump- 
 tion, an objection which they know not how to clear them- 
 selves of; but certainly this, above all other considerations, 
 destroys the objection of presumption. Men presume when 
 they act without a call or warrant ; but if Christ has spoken 
 to our hearts by the voice of his Spirit, you have the best 
 warrant in the world to go to him. What though you know 
 not the issue, your obedience is due to his call. " By faith 
 Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which 
 he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he 
 went out, not knowing whither he went." Hob. 11:8. So 
 must you. It is not necessary to your going to Christ, that 
 you must know beforehand what the result thereof shall be. 
 Your believing is an act of obedience to Christ who calls 
 you. When therefore Satan shall object. What, such a 
 wretched soul as thou go to Christ ? Canst thou imagine 
 to find favor with him, whom thou hast so deeply wronged ? 
 Thy answer should be, It is true, I have been a vilo wretch, 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 243 
 
 and deeply ^Tonged the Lord Jesus; but he has spoken 
 to my heart, he hath called me, and therefore it can be no 
 presumption in me to go at his call; but contrariwise, it 
 would be flat rebellion against his sovereign command to 
 refuse to believe, and come unto him ; yea, it would be a 
 greater sin than any of my former sins have been. Besides, 
 had the Lord Jesus no intention of mercy towards my soul, 
 he would never have spoken to my heart by conviction and 
 persuasion, as he has done. 
 
 6. If no soul opens to Christ until it hear his powerful, 
 spiritual voice, then the change made in men by conversion 
 is supep^natural. The rise of faith is from this power of 
 Christ, not from the nature of man. John 1:13. Proud 
 nature arrogates this honor to itself, but without any ground ; 
 for though some things may be done by men in their nat- 
 ural state, which have a remote tendency to conversion and 
 spiritual life, yet the soul never opens to Christ savingly, 
 without a power communicated from himself. Nature pro- 
 duces no such effect as this. The Scriptures speak plainly : 
 " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit ol 
 God ; for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he 
 know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor 
 2 : 14. '* By grace are ye saved, through faith ; and thai 
 not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Eph. 2:8. " The 
 carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to 
 the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. " How 
 can ye, being evil, speak good things." Matt. 12 : 34. " Not 
 that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as ol 
 ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God." 2 Vov. 3 : 5. How 
 fallen then is man, who can neither believe nor obey, speak 
 a good word nor think a good thought, without power from 
 on high. 
 
 Say not it is against reason for God to require men to do 
 what they cannot do, and then eternally punish them for not 
 doing it. For, first, though ma/i has lost his ability to obey, 
 
244 CHRIST KNOCKIN& AT THE DOOR. 
 
 God has not lost his right to command. For then any man 
 might shake off the yoke of God's sovereignty by disabUng 
 himself through his own sin for the duties of obedience. 
 Second, though man has not sufficient power, yet there is in 
 him an intolerable pride, which fills him with a conceit 
 that he has what he has not, and can do what he cannot. 
 The command is therefore of great use^to check this pride, 
 and to convince man of his weakness. Rev. 3:17. Third, 
 every man can do more than he does towards his conversion. 
 And therefore it is good for men to be urged by commands 
 to all the duties in the use of which Christ comes into the 
 soul by a supernatural power. 
 
 7. This doctrine furnishes a powerful incentive to all 
 within the sound of the gospel, especially to such as feel 
 some power accompanying the word to their hearts, dili- 
 gently to hearken to the voice of Christ, and obey his call 
 without further delay. "He that hath an ear to hear, 
 let him hear." Rev. 2:7. It is a dreadful and dangerous 
 thing to turn away the ear from him that speaks from 
 heaven : " See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For 
 if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, 
 much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him 
 that speaketh from heaven." Heb. 12 : 25. See that ye 
 refuse not. The caution implies the matter to be very 
 weighty, and a neglect or refusal to be highly dangerous. 
 Turn not away your ear, be not guilty of neglect in so 
 important a concern. 
 
 Truly this caution is no more than is needful ; for Satan 
 is never more busy with the souls of men than when Christ 
 first effectually calls them to himself. what a thick suc- 
 cession of discouragements 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 ; that this 
 will extinguish all thy pleasure in a dull melancholy ; that 
 thou may est have time enough hereafter to mind these mat- 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD. 245 
 
 ters. This temptation Augustine confesses kept him off 
 many years from Christ. But certainly, if thou art old 
 enough to be lost, thou art not too young to receive Christ 
 and salvation. There are graves just of thy length, and 
 young as well as old arc found in eternal perdition. Besides, 
 all those godly youth who turned to the Lord betimes, as 
 Josiah, Abijah, Timothy, and many more, will be your 
 judges, and condemn you in the great day. None ever 
 repented that they opened to Christ too soon : thousands 
 have repented that they kept him out so long. Art thou 
 old ? then he alarms thee with the manifold sins of thy 
 youth, and places them as obstructions in thy way to Christ. 
 And whether young or old, he will present the sufferings 
 and persecutions of godliness, to discourage thee from heark- 
 ening to the voice of Christ. But what are the sufferings 
 for Christ here, to the sufferings from Christ hereafter? 
 What are the pains of mortification to the pains of damna- 
 tion? Besides, all the promises of Christ, promises of 
 strength, comfort, and success, go with the command of 
 Christ to believe, and shall surely be performed to the obe- 
 dient soul. See, therefore, that thou refuse not his voice. 
 
 But you will say. All that hear this voice of Christ aw 
 said to live. John 5 : 25. Now I am much in the dark 
 whether this vital voice of Christ has sounded into my soul. 
 Alas, I feel little, if any thing, of the spiritual life in my 
 Boul. I am dead and dark. Let us then improve the doc- 
 trine by way of trial. 
 
 Q^uESTioN. By tvhat signs does the life of Christ show 
 itself in tlie souls of men ? 
 
 Answer. There are diverse signs of spiritual life, and 
 blessed is the soul that finds them. 
 
 (1.) There is a spiritual feeling accompanying the spir- 
 itual life. I speak not only of the sense of comfort, for 
 many a soul in Christ feels little of that ; but there is a 
 
246 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 sense and feeling of the burden of sin. Rom 7 : 24. And it 
 is well that we can feel that ; for there are multitudes in the 
 world that are past feeling. Isa. 6 : 9, 10. It is a sign Christ 
 has spoken to thy heart, if sorrow for sin begins to load it. 
 
 (2.) Spiritual motions towards Clcrist are a sign of spir- 
 itual life ; at least, that God is about that quickening work 
 of faith upon thy soul : " Every man therefore that hath 
 heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." 
 John 6 : 45. 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 
 fixed, there is no moving them. John 5 : 40. Now consider 
 how it is with thee, reader. Art thou weighing and ponder- 
 ing the terms of the gospel, struggling through discourage- 
 ments and temptations to come to Christ upon his own 
 terms, lifting up thy heart to him for power to beheve, cry- 
 ing with the spouse," Draw me, we wiU run after thee ? 
 Sol. Song 1 : 4. This is a comfortable sign that Christ has 
 spoken to thy heart. 
 
 (3.) A spirit of prayer is an evidence of spiritual life, as 
 the effect of Christ's voice to thy soul. As soon as Christ 
 had spoken effectually to Paul's heart, the first effect that' 
 appeared in him as a sign of spiritual life, was the breath of 
 prayer. Behold, he prayeth I Acts 9: 11. God has no 
 still-born children. Measure thyself by this rule ; time was 
 when thou couldst say a prayer, and wast very well satisfied 
 with it, whether thou hadst any commmiion with God in it 
 or no ; but is it so still ? Is there not a holy restlessness of 
 spirit after God, since the time that his word came home to 
 thy heart ? Surely thou canst remember when it was not 
 with thee as it is now. 
 
 (4.) There is a spiritual relish resulting from the spirit- 
 ual life, which is also an evidence of it. K God has spoken 
 life to thy soul, there will be in it an agreeable pleasure and 
 
HIS VOICE HEARD.. 247 
 
 delight in spiritual things : " My soul shall be satisfied as 
 with marrow and fatness." Psa. 63 : 5. Now thy thouglits 
 can feed with pleasure upon spiritual things which they dis- 
 liked before. 
 
 (5.) Spiritual aversions as well as spiritual inclinatio?is 
 indicate a spiritual hfe. Every creature has an aversion to 
 -what is destructive to it. Now there is nothing so destruc- 
 tive to spiritual life as sin ; that is the deadly poison which 
 the renewed soul dreads. " Keep back thy servant also 
 from presumptuous sins." Psa. 19 : 13. It cries out as a 
 man who fmds himself upon the brink of a pit, or the edge 
 of a precipice: "Keep back thy servant." Such aversion 
 to sin, and trembling under temptations tending to sin, are 
 comfortable signs that Christ has spoken life to thy soul. 
 
 (6.) Heavenly tendeiides and longings after God are 
 excellent signs that thy soul has heard his voice, and been 
 quickened with spiritual life by it. Sanctification is a well 
 of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4 : 14. 
 If thou hast seen the beauty, felt the power, and heard the 
 voice of Christ, thy soul, like a body which has lost its 
 centre, will still be gravitating and inclining Christward. 
 When thou hast once heard the effectual call. Come unto 
 me. Matt. 11 : 28, thy soul will continually echo the voice 
 of holy love : " And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. 
 And let him that heareth say. Come." Rev. 22 : 17. Thou 
 wilt say in reply, " Come, Lord Jesus." Hev. 22 : 20. A 
 sweeter sign of hearing Christ's voice can hardly be found 
 in a soul, than a longing to be with Christ in the state of 
 perfect freedom from sin, and full fruition of the beloved and 
 blessed Jesus. 
 
248 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOIL. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE OPENING OF THE HEART TO CHRIST BY 
 FAITH THE GREAT DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 "IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, I "WILL 
 COxME IN TO HIM." Rev. 3:20. 
 
 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 in all the external and 
 internal administrations of the gospel and the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The gospel has two great designs. One is, to open the 
 heart of God to men, and to show 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 has heen designing and contriving for their happiness in 
 Christ before the world was : " 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 
 Jesus 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." Ephes. 3:9, 10. 
 The other intention of the gospel is, to open the hearts of 
 men to receive Jesus Christ, without which all the glorious 
 discoveries of the eternal counsels and gracious contrivances 
 of God for us, would signify nothing to our real advantage. 
 Christ's standing, knocking, and speaking by his Spirit, 
 of which we have before treated, receive their success, 
 and attain their end, when the heart opens itself by faith 
 to receive him, and not tiU then. Hence we see our ninth 
 doctrine is, 
 
 Tlie opening of the heart to receive Christ by faith, is 
 the great design of the gospel. 
 
 This is the mark to which all the arrows in the gospel- 
 quiver are leveUed — ^the centre into which those blessed 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 249 
 
 hues are drawn. " These arc written that ye might believe 
 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that behev- 
 ing, ye might have life through his name." John 20 : 31. 
 All the precious truths that are written in the Scriptures 
 are to bring you to faith. The great design of the Spirit in 
 his illuminations, convictions, and humiliations is' the same 
 thing : " This is the work of God, that ye believe." John 
 6 : 29. It is not only a work worthy of such an author, 
 but 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 each person in the Godhead is 
 engaged in it. 1. The Father's hand is in this work, and 
 without it no heart could ever open or move towards Christ : 
 " No man can come to me, except the Father which hath 
 sent me draw him." John 6 : 44. None but he thai 
 raised up Christ from the dead, can raise up a dead heart to 
 saving faith in him. 2. The Son's hand is in this work ; he 
 is not only the object^ but the author of our faith. " Wo 
 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 Jesus Christ. This 
 is the true God, and eternal life." 1 John, 5 : 20. 3. And 
 then the Holy Spirit comes from heaven expressly to con- 
 vince sinners of their need of Christ, and beget faith in 
 them. John 16:9. So that this appears to be the great 
 design of heaven, the drift and level both of the word and 
 works of God. Touching this design of the gospel I shall 
 here speak, endeavoring to illustrate this great and glorious 
 project of heaven in its greatness ; its difficulty ; the Agent 
 and instrument employed in it ; and its scope and aim. And, 
 
 I. Of the GREATNESS of this design of God. We httle 
 understand what a marvellous thing is done on the earth 
 when the heart of a sinner is brought to close with Christ 
 by faith. It would transport us with admiration, did wo 
 
 11* 
 
250 CHEIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 thoroughly consider it. "Well may the apostle place it in 
 the first rank of the wonderful works of God : " Great is the 
 mystery of godliness : God was manifest in the flesh, justi- 
 fied in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, 
 believed on in the world." 1 Tim. 3:16. Observe with 
 what works of wonder faith is here associated. It is an 
 astonishing work of God, that ever God should be manifested 
 in the flesh — that he who. thunders in the clouds should cry 
 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 the gospel should 
 be preached to such miserable people as the Gentiles were, 
 the scorn and contempt of the Jews. And no less marvel- 
 lous is it, to see the hearts of such poor creatures, which 
 were glued fast to idolatry and dead in sin, 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. 
 "Were not this a marvellous work of God indeed, there 
 would not be such joy and triumph in heaven among the 
 holy angels, as there is on the opening of every sinner's heart 
 to Christ. Luke 15 : 7. The whole city of God is moved 
 with it. Heaven rings with the joyful tilings. As soon as 
 the will begins to bow and open to Christ, the news is 
 quickly in heaven, and all the angels of God rejoice at the 
 tidings. As when a young prince is born, 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 in the least degree helps 
 it on. God would never reward the instruments so richly, 
 if the success of the vy^ork were not of great value in his 
 eyes. The ministers of Christ may be ill-rewarded by men, 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 251 
 
 j»ersecuted and reproached for their labor, but God wiU 
 bountifully repay their pains and faithfulness. " They that 
 be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and 
 they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever 
 and ever." Dan. 12:3. All these things show it to be 
 a great and important design, upon which the heart of God 
 is much set. 
 
 II. As it is an exceeding great and important work of 
 God, so it is a very hard and difficult work in itself — a 
 work whose difficulties surmount the ability of angels. It 
 is certainly a work carried on by the mighty power of God, 
 through the greatest opposition ; and therefore it is said 
 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. Rev. 3:7. Men think it is an easy thing 
 to believe ; but if you consult the Scriptures, you will 
 quickly be informed how greatly you mistake the nature of 
 this work. The believing soul is said to be risen with 
 Christ, through the faith of the operation of God, who 
 raised him from the dead. Col. 2:12. In the resurrection 
 of Christ there was a glorious operation of the power of 
 God indeed I you know it astonished the world to hear of it. 
 The very same power that wrought that, must also be put 
 forth to work this, or it would never be wrought. So 
 again, "By grace are ye saved, through faith : and that not 
 of yourselves ; it is the gift of God." Eph. 2:8. Not of 
 yourselves : you are no more able to come to Christ by 
 faith, in your own power, than Lazarus was able to unbind 
 himself in the grave, and come forth. Yea, in Eph. 1:19, 
 the work of beheving is ascribed unto the exceeding great- 
 ness of the power of God. No other 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. 
 
 1. The nature of the work of faith, which is wholly 
 
252 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 supernatural. It is no less than gaining over the hearty and 
 full consent of the will to take Jesus Christ with his yoke 
 of obedience, Matt. 1 1 : 29, and with his cross of sufferings, 
 Matt. 16:24. And how far these will carry a man into 
 dangers, losses, and sufferings, who can tell? and all this 
 upon the account of an unseen happiness and glory. Lusts 
 and corruptions must be mortified, pleasures and profits in 
 the world abandoned ; reproaches, losses, pains, and all that 
 the devil and the world can lay upon us for Christ's sake, 
 must be embraced and welcomed. 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, explicit consent to such difl[i- 
 cult and self-denying terms as these ? 
 
 2. Consider the subject wrought upon : the hard, obsti- 
 nate heart of a perverse sinner — a heart harder by na- 
 ture than the nether mill-stone. It is as easy to melt the 
 most obdurate rock into a sweet syrup, as it is to melt the 
 heart of a sinner into penitential sorrows for sin. What, to 
 bring a dead heart to Hfe ; to make a man bitterly bewail 
 the sins that were his delight, more than he ever bewailed 
 the death of his dearest relation in the world ; to make a 
 proud heart renounce its own self-righteousness, which it 
 dotes upon, and take all shame and reproach to itself upon 
 account of sin : this is wonderful. You would think it a 
 strange thing to see the course of the tide stopped with the 
 breath of a man ; but what a marvellous thing is here, 
 that at the preaching of the gospel by a poor worm, the 
 Lord should turn the tide of the will, and thus bring the 
 Boul to a ready comphance with his most self-denying terms 
 and proposals I 
 
 3. That which further increases the difficulty of believ- 
 ing is the fierce (yjrposition made by tJie e7iemies of faith. 
 All the powers of hell and earth without us are in league 
 with the corruptions within us, to resist and hinder this work 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 253 
 
 of believing. Never is the devil more busy than when 
 Christ and the soul are treating about union. the dis- 
 couragements, objections, and difficulties that are rolled into 
 the way of faith I one while it is the highest presumption ; 
 another while it is impossible, and utterly too late : some- 
 times blasphemous injections, like fiery darts, are shot into 
 the soul ; at other times the invincible difficulties of religion 
 are objected, and losses and torments are opposed to this 
 work. The tempter presents himself in a thousand shapes 
 to hinder the soul's passing out of nature to Christ ; some- 
 times objecting the greatness of sin, and sometimes the loss 
 of the proper season and opportunity of mercy, together with 
 the want of due quahfications to come to Christ. Thus, 
 and many other ways, he endeavors to prevent sinners 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, conspiring together to obstruct this work ; 
 all things increase the difficulty of believing. 
 
 III. We are next to speak of the Agent and instru- 
 ment employed in this great design. 
 
 1 . The Age?it by whose efficacy the heart is opened is 
 the Spirit of God, without whom it is impossible the design 
 should ever prosper : neither ordinances, providences, oi 
 ministers can be successful without him. If the Lord make 
 use of any man for the conversion and salvation of another's 
 soul, he may rejoice in it ; but withal must say, as Peter to 
 the Jews, " Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by 
 our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk ?" 
 Acts 3 : 12 So may the ablest minister in the world say, 
 when God blesses his labors to the conversion of any soul, 
 Look not ujfon me, as though by the strength of my reason, 
 or the power of my gifts, I had opened thy soul to Christ : 
 this is the work of God's Spirit, in whose hand I am an 
 uistrument. 1 Cor. 3:7. He that plants is nothing, and ho 
 
254 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 that waters is nothing — ^nothing in himself; the very first 
 stroke of conviction, which is introductive to the whole work 
 of conversion, is justly ascribed to the Spirit. John 16:9. 
 The Spirit when he cometh shall convince the world of sm. 
 He is the Lord of all sanctifying and gracious influences. 
 Ordinances are but as the sails of a ship,, ministers as the 
 seamen that manage those sails ; the anchor may be 
 weighed, the sails spread, but when all this is done, there is 
 no sailing till a wind come. We preach and pray, and you 
 hear; but there is no motion Christward, until the Spirit of 
 God, compared to the wind, John 3 : 8, blow upon them 
 Until he illuminates the understanding with divine light, 
 and bows the will by an almighty power, there can be 
 no spiritual motion heavenward. Now the Spirit of the 
 Lord is a free agent, not tied to means, times, or instru 
 ments ; 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 the blessings 
 and efficacy depend. lift up your hearts for his blessing 
 upon the means, as ever you expect saving benefits from 
 them. 
 
 2. The instrument by which this blessed design is 
 accomplished in the world, is the gospel ministry. ** Who 
 then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye 
 believed ?" 1 Cor. 3 : 5. This is the ordinary method of 
 producing faith ; and though God has not bound himself to 
 this or that minister, time, or place, he has bound us to a 
 diligent and constant attendance upon the means of grace : 
 " How then shall they call on him in whom they have not 
 beheved ? and how shall they believe in him of whom they 
 have not heard ? and how shall they heaf without a 
 preacher?" Rom. 10:14. I confess, it seems a very 
 unhkcly means, a weak and foolish method, according to 
 human wisdom ; yet by the foolishness of preaching, it 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 255 
 
 pleases God to save them that believe, 1 Cor. 1 : 21. That 
 which the wisdom of men derides, God makes eflectual un- 
 to salvation. And how many are there that will have 
 cause to bless God to all eternity, for gifting and sending 
 ministers among them, whose doctrine the Lord blessed to 
 the conversion of their souls. 
 
 IV. Consider the great design for which these instru- 
 ments are employed ; there are no great designs in the world 
 "but aim at some end to be accomplished by them. Now 
 there are two things in this design which are worthy of it. 
 
 1. The exaltation of divine grace and the riches of 
 his goodness before angels and men to all eternity. The 
 name of God is never made so glorious in this world, as it is 
 by bringing the hearts of men to believe. God reaps more 
 glory from the faith of a sinner that comes to Christ empty 
 and weary, than from all other works of his hands. He has 
 not like glory from the sun, moon, and stars as from crea- 
 tures whose hearts open to Jesus Christ under the gospel 
 call. Thus they are fitted to manifest the glory of his grace. 
 Eph. 1:5, 6. God will have his rich and glorious grace 
 praised and admired by angels and men for evermore ; and 
 every converted soul is a monument erected unto the praise 
 of his grace. Heaven will ring with praises for ever, that 
 the great God would humble himself to come into the heart 
 of a vile sinner, and dwell and walk therein, as the expres- 
 sion is, 2 Cor. 6:16. This is admirable, that the high and 
 lofty One, who inhabits eternity, will take up his dwelling- 
 place in a poor contrite sinner, that trembles at his word. 
 Isa. 57 : 15. 
 
 2. The eternal salvation and blessedness of the soul so 
 opened to Christ, is also the design of tliis work of opening 
 the heart. When the soul of Zaccheus was opened by faith, 
 Christ said, " This day is salvation come to this house." 
 Luke 19 : 9. You do not only beUeve to the glory of God, 
 but to the salvation of your own soul. Heb. 10 : 39. The 
 
256 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 opening of our hearts to Christ now, is in order to the opening 
 of heaven to us hereafter ; this is both the end of the work 
 and the intention of the worker. " It pleased God by the 
 fooHshness of preaching to save them that believe." 1 Cor. 
 1:21. It at once puts them into a state of salvation, though 
 they be not yet actually and completely saved. There is 
 a necessary connectiftn between conversion and salvation. 
 Though between conversion and complete salvation there 
 may be many groaning hours and sad days and nights, yet 
 full deliverance from sin and misery is secured to the soul 
 in the work of faith. Christ in you is the hope of glory. 
 Col. 1 : 27. 
 
 Thus you see this great design projected and accom- 
 plished ; and that this is the very scope, aim, and intention 
 of the whole gospel, even the opening the hearts of sinners 
 unto Christ by faith, will evidently appear by considering tho 
 several parts of the gospel which haVe a direct aspect upon 
 this design, and the declared intention of the Spirit, who is 
 sent forth to make it effectual to this very purpose. 
 
 (1.) To this the commands of the gospel look; it lies 
 full in the eye of the preceptive part of the gospel. " And 
 this is his commandment, that we should believe on the 
 name of his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John, 3 : 23. It is a very 
 great encouragement, if rightly considered, that faith is con- 
 stituted a duty by a plain gospel precept ; for this cuts ofl 
 the pretence and plea of presumption. What, such a vile 
 wretch as thou, saith Satan, presume to believe in Christ ? 
 But here is a command from the highest Sovereign, the con- 
 tempt of which men shall answer at their peril. 
 
 (2.) This also is the declared intention of the gospel 
 promises a?id threate7iings, whereby the souls of sinners are 
 assaulted on both sides. As for piomises, how are all the 
 sacred pages of the Bible adorned with them as the firma- 
 ment with radiant stars. Among which that in the text 
 seems to excel in glory. " If any man open to me, 1 will 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 257 
 
 come in to him." Like unto which is this: "I am the 
 bread of hfe : he that cometh to me shall never hunger ; 
 and he that believeth on me shall never thirst ; him that 
 cometh to me I will in no wdse cast out." John 6 : 35, 37. 
 Such rich encouragements to faith had never been put into 
 the promises, but for faith's sake. And then for gospel 
 threatenings, though they have a dreadful sound, yet they 
 have a gracious design. What a terrible thunder-clap is 
 this : "He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life ; 
 but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3 : 36. To 
 which another threatening echoes with a like terrible voice : 
 "He that beheveth not, shall be damned." Mark 16 : 16. 
 There are dreadful things, you see, threatened in the gospel 
 against unbelievers ; but what is the design of those threat- 
 enings, but to rouse men by fear out of their unbelief and 
 security, and guide them to Christ ? Thus both the prom- 
 ises and the threatenings, though of far different natures, 
 conspire and meet in the selfsame design, even to open the 
 heart to Christ by faith. 
 
 (3.) For the sake of this design, all gospel ordinances 
 and officers are instituted and continued in the world to this 
 day. Why did Christ at his triumphant ascension shed forth 
 such a variety of gifts upon men, but that God might dwell 
 among them ? " Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led 
 captivity captive : thou hast received gifts for men ; yea, for 
 the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among 
 them." Psalm 68 : 18. The whole frame of gospel ordi- 
 nances is set up to bring men to Christ, and build them up 
 in him. Eph. 4 : 12. 
 
 (4 ) All the scripture records of converted sinners, whose 
 hearts God hath in any age opened, were made to encourage 
 other souls by their example to beheve in or open unto 
 Christ as they did. For this purpose the memorable con- 
 version of Paul was graciously recorded. " Howbeit, for 
 this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ 
 
258 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 might show forth all long-sufiering, for a pattern to tlicm 
 that should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 
 1 Tim. 1:16. Never was any man's heart bolted and 
 made fast with stronger prejudices against Christ than this 
 man's was ; yet the Spirit of the Lord opened it. how 
 flexible became his will : ** Lord, what wilt thou have me 
 to do ?" 'Acts 9:6. This gives great encouragement to 
 other sinners to come to Christ as he did ; and therefore 
 when men see other sinners receiving Christ, and themselves 
 continue unbelieving, the examples wliich God has set before 
 their eyes are a dreadful aggravation of their unbelief. 
 " John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye 
 believed him not : but the publicans and the harlots believed 
 him ; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterwards, 
 that ye might beheve him." Matt. 21 : 32. Though you 
 saw publicans, reputed the worst of men, and harlots, the 
 worst of women, convinced, humbled, and brought to faith, 
 these sights affected not your souls ; you never had one such 
 reflection as this : Lord, have not I as much need to flee 
 from the wrath to come, and seek the salvation of my soul, 
 as these ? "Will it not be a dreadful aggravation of my mis- 
 ery, that such as these should obtain Christ and heaven, 
 and I be shut out ? 
 
 (5.) The opening of the heart to Christ is the very etid 
 and errand of the Sjyirit of God, upon whose concurrence 
 and blessing th'e success of all ordinances depends ; upon this 
 design he is sent expressly from heaven to open the under- 
 standing and consciences of sinners by conviction. John 
 16 : 9. For it is not in the power of the word alone to pro- 
 duce this effect ; thousands of excellent sermons may bo 
 preached, and not one heart opened by conviction. 
 
 "What remains is the appHcation of this doctrine. 
 
 Inference 1. If the opening of the heart to Christ be 
 the direct intention of the gospel, how are tliey deceived who 
 are satisfied in tiie attai7iment of some lesser end, while tJie 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAIlSgUr 259x ^ 
 
 effectual persuasion of the tvill to Christ is not ^^^Cr^^^* % 
 ed in them. There are some collateral effects, aff^^^fiJ^T a 
 call them, which the gospel has upon men. It would ^in- 
 a considerate man to see how sinners fill themselves with a 
 false happiness in these lesser things, while they still remain 
 in the state of unregeneracy. I would fain imdeceive such 
 mistaken souls who bow down under the power of self- 
 deceit, and that in a point in which their eternal salvation 
 is concerned. There are two things which are apt to deceive 
 men in this matter ; these are, partial convictions on the 
 understanding, and transient motions on the affections. In 
 these things multitudes deceive themselves, as if the whole 
 design of the gospel were accomplished upon them therein. 
 
 (1 .) Partial convictions of the understanding — light and 
 knowledge breaking into the mind, producmg orthodoxy of 
 judgment : this seems to some the effectual opening of the 
 understanding to Christ, though alas, to this day they never 
 saw sin in its vileness, much less their own special sin ; nor 
 Christ in his suitableness and necessity. People who live 
 under the gospel can hardly avoid the improvement of their 
 understandings by the light that shines upon them ; know- 
 ledge grows, their faculties expand, and they can talk well 
 on religion and ably defend it. Perhaps they can even pray 
 with commendable variety and largeness of expression : 
 these things gain applause from men, and excite confidence 
 in themselves, while no saving influences are shed down to 
 quicken, change, and spiritualize the heart. 
 
 (2.) There are transient motions and touches of the gospel 
 upon the affections ^ which give some men melting pangs 
 and moods now and then under the word, though it never 
 settles into a spiritual frame, an habitual heavenhness of 
 temper ; of such the apostle speaks, Heb. 6:5. And this 
 is the more dangerous, because they now seem to have 
 attained all that is essential to religion, or necessary to sal- 
 vation. For when to the light of their understandings there 
 
260 CHRIST KNOCKINQ AT THE DOOR. 
 
 are added melting affections, a man seems to himself com- 
 jilete in all that the gospel requires to the being and consti* 
 tution of a Christian, as a great divine, Mr. Burgess, speaks. 
 Thus men are apt to reason : If I had only hght in my 
 mind, and never found any meltings of my affections, I 
 might justly suspect myself to be a hypocrite ; but there are 
 times when my affections, as well as my understanding, 
 seem to feel the power of the gospel. And yet these things 
 may be where the heart never effectually opens to Christ ; 
 all this may be but a morning dew, or an early cloud that 
 vanisheth away ; as is plain in John's hearers, John 5 : 35, 
 and in Paul's hearers. Gal. 4 : 14, 15. For except the 
 convictions of the understanding are effectual, and the mo- 
 tions upon the affections settled to a heavenly habit and 
 temper, the man is but where he was before as to the real 
 condition of his soul. Were thy understanding so convinced 
 of the evil nature and dreadful consequences of sin, and thy 
 affections and will thereupon so effectually determined to 
 embrace the Lord Jesus, upon a considerate and thorough 
 examination of his terms propounded in the gospel, then 
 thou mightest conclude the great design of it was accom- 
 plished upon thy soul ; but to rest in general convictions and 
 transient affections without this, is but to mock and deceive 
 thy own soul. Alas, this comes not home to the main end 
 of the gospel. 
 
 2. Learn from hence the 'prodigious stubbornness and 
 hardness of the hearts of men living under the gospel, 
 ichich still resist it. You have heard how all its commands, 
 promises, threatenings, and examples bear directly and 
 jointly upon the hearts of sinners to open the will to Christ ; 
 yet how few comparatively obey and answer this great 
 design of it. All these are hke heaven's great artillery 
 planted against the unbelief and stubbornness of men, to 
 batter down their carnal reasonings, overthrow their vain 
 hopes, and open a fair passage for Christ into their souls 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 2G1 
 
 " For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty 
 through God to the pulling down of strongholds ; casting 
 down imaginations, and every thing that exalteth itself 
 against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity 
 every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor. IG : t, 5. 
 If a mound be raised, and many cannon planted thciccn, 
 and all are played against the wall of a fort, thousands of 
 shots made and yet no breach, not one stone moved out of 
 its place, you will say that is a strong wall indeed. Belov- 
 ed, God hath, as I may say, raised a mound in the gospel, 
 planted the great ordnance of heaven upon it, discharged 
 many dreadful volleys of threatenings ; nay, he hath, as it 
 were, come under the walls of the unbelieving soul with 
 terms of mercy, and yet there is no opening. prodigious 
 obstinacy. *' We have piped unto you, and ye have not 
 danced ; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not 
 lamented." Matt. 11 : 17. Neither the sweet airs of gos- 
 pel grace, nor the dreadful thunders of the law, make any 
 impression upon you. what an obdurate rock is the heart 
 by nature. Certainly, every Christian may see enough in 
 others, and find enough in himself, without the help of other 
 books, to confute the doctrine which extols and flatters the 
 nature of man. It is as easy to make an impression with 
 your finger upon a wall of brass, as for the best sermon in 
 the world, in its own strength, to make a saving impression 
 upon a sinner's will. 
 
 3. Is it the great design of the gospel to open the hearts 
 of men to Christ ? Then wonder Tiot tliat it meets ivith 
 such strong and fierce opposition from Satan, wherever it 
 is sincerely and powerfully preached. As for general and 
 formal preaching, which comes not to the quick, Satan is 
 not so much concerned about it ; he knows it will do him 
 no great damage ; nay, it secures his interests in the souls 
 of men. But wherever the gospel comes with power, lay- 
 ing the axe to the root, showing men the vanity of their 
 
262 CHRIST KNOCKIKa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 ungrounded hopes, pressing the necessity of regeneration and 
 faith, this preaching quickly gives alarm to hell, and raises 
 all manner of opposition against it. ** What is it to preach 
 the gospel," saith Luther, "hut to drive the rage and fury 
 of the whole world upon us?" Satan is the god of this 
 world, all men by nature are his subjects : no prince is n^ore 
 jealous of the revolt of his subjects than he ; and it is time 
 for him to bestir himself, when the gospel comes to dethrone 
 him, as it does in the faithful preaching of it. " Now is the 
 judgment of this world ; now shall the prince of this world 
 be cast out." John 12:31. Now he falls as lightning 
 from heaven. Luke 10:18. Now sinners are made sensi- 
 ble of the cruel tyranny and bondage of Satan's government, 
 and of the glorious liberty offered to them by Jesus Christ. 
 Satan suspecting the issue of these things, bestirs himself to 
 purpose. what showers of calumnies and storms of per- 
 secution does he pour on Christ's faithful ambassadors. 
 Certainly he owes Christ's ministers a spite, and they shall 
 know and feel it, if ever he get them within the compass of 
 his chain. But let this discourage none employed in this 
 glorious design ; the Lord is with them to protect their per- 
 sons and reward their diligence. 
 
 4. If the opening of the heart be the main design of the 
 gospel, Christ and faith ought to be the pri^icipal subjects 
 that ministers should insist on among their 'people. There 
 are many other useful doctrines which ought to be opened 
 and pressed in their time and place. Moral duties have 
 their excellencies, but Christ and faith are the great things 
 we are to preach. Let men be once brought to Christ, and 
 the rest will follow ; but to begin and end with morality, 
 will never make men gospel Christians. Grace teaches 
 morality, Tit. 2:11, 12 ; but morality without grace saves 
 no man. It has been a grand artifice of the devil -to con- 
 found grace with morality, and make men believe that 
 nothing more is required for men's salvation, than a civil. 
 
 
THE HEAUT OPENED BY FAITH. 263 
 
 sober conversation in the world, and so lay aside the princi- 
 pal part of the gospel, which opens and presses the necessity 
 of regeneration, repentance, and faith in the blood of Christ 
 Such preaching as this answers not the design of Christ in 
 the conversion of souls; such preaching disturbs not the 
 consciences of men : the Lord help all his ambassadors to 
 mind the example and charge of their Redeemer, and laying 
 aside all carnal interest, to apply themselves faithfully unto 
 the souls and consciences of their hearers, not as men-pleas- 
 ers, but as the servants of Christ. Gal. 1 : 10, 
 
 5. In the next place, this doctrine is of excellent use to 
 convince tnen of the damning nature of the sin of unbe- 
 lief — a sin which frustrates the main design of the gospel 
 of Christ on the unbeliever's soul. This is the sin that 
 keeps the heart fast shut against him. As faith is the rad- 
 ical-grace, so unbelief is the radical sin. It is the traitor's 
 gate, through which those souls pass that are to perish for 
 ever. The gospel can do you no good, the blood of Christ 
 can yield no saving benefit, while your souls remain under 
 the dominion of this sin. When we consider the mighty 
 arguments of the gospel, we may wonder that all who hear 
 them are not immediately persuaded to Christ by them. 
 And on the other hand, when we consider the mighty 
 power of unbelief, how strongly it holds the soul in bondage 
 to sin, we may wonder that any soul is brought over to 
 Christ even by the gospel. It was not without cause that 
 the apostle puts faith in Christ among the great mysteries 
 of the gospel. 1 Tim. 3 : 16. The intrinsic evil and fearful 
 consequences of this sin of unbelief will appear in these 
 three particulars. 
 
 (1.) It fixes the guilt of all other si7is on the person of 
 tilt unbeliever; it binds them all fast on his soul : " For if 
 ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." 
 John 8 : 24. It were better for thee to die any other death. 
 What more terrible can God threaten, or man feel ? This 
 
264 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOU. 
 
 is the sin that makes the death of Christ of none effect to 
 us. Gal. 5 : 4. There is indeed a sovereign virtue in the 
 blood of Christ to pardon sin, but thy soul cannot have the 
 benefit of it while it remains under the dominion of this 
 sin. As it was said of the inhabitants of Nazareth in their 
 treatment of Christ, " He did not many mighty works 
 there, because of their unbelief," Matt. 13 : 58 ; so none of 
 his spiritual works, no ordinances can do thy soul good, 
 until the Lord break the power of this sin. " The word 
 preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in 
 them that heard it." Heb. 4:2. If a man were danger- 
 ously sick, or wounded, the best medicines could never 
 recover him, unless received and applied. Unbelief pours 
 the most sovereign cordials of the gospel as water upon the 
 ground. The greatest sins ever committed might be par- 
 doned, did not this sin lie in the way; were this gone, all 
 the rest were gone too : but while unbelief remains, they 
 also remain upon thee. 
 
 (2.) Of all the sins that are upon the souls of men, thit 
 is the most dijjicult to be removed. Other sins lie open to 
 conviction, but this has the most specious pretences to coun- 
 tenance it. Men commit this sin out of a fear of sin. They 
 will not believe, lest they should presume ; they dare not 
 believe, because they are not qualified. The strength of 
 other sins meets in this sin of unbelief: it is the strongest 
 fort wherein Satan trusts. Take an adulterer, or a profane 
 swearer, and you have an open way to convince him of his 
 sin : show him the command he has violated, and he has 
 nothing to say in his own defence ; but the unbeliever has 
 a thousand plausible defences. 
 
 (3.) This is the great damning sin of the world. All 
 other sins deserve damnation, "for the wages of sin is 
 death," but this is the sin in consequence of which other 
 sins damn and ruin the soul. " This is the condemnation." 
 John 3:19. And it is a sin which damns with aggravated 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 2G5 
 
 ruin. 2 Tliess. 1:8. then, let us mourn over and trem- 
 ble at this dreadful sin, which opposes and so often frustrates 
 the great design of the whole gospel. 
 
 6. Is it the main scope of the gospel to bring men to 
 Christ by faith ? theii be pcrsiiadcd heartily to eomiily ivith 
 this great design of the Father, Son, and Spirit, minis- 
 ters, ordiTtances, and providences, in opening your hearts 
 to receive Christ this day by faith unfeigned. that I 
 could suitably press this great point, which falls in so directly 
 with the main scope of the whole gospel : and that while 
 I am pressing it, you would lift up a hearty cry to heaven. 
 Lord, give me faith, whatever else thou deniest me ; open 
 my heart to Christ under the gospel calls. I not only press 
 you to a general assent to the truths of the gospel, that 
 Christ is come in the flesh and laid down his life for sin- 
 ners, but to a hearty consent to receive him upon gospel 
 terms — ^to close with him in all his offices, subjecting heart 
 and life to his authority, living entirely upon him for right- 
 ousness and to him by holiness. The value of such a faith 
 as this is above all estimation. For, 
 
 (1.) This is the grace which God has dignified and 
 crowned with glory and honor above all its fellow-graces. 
 Its praises are in all the Scriptures. It is called precious 
 faith, 2 Pet. 1:1; soul-enriching faith, Jas. 2:5. That 
 is a poor soul indeed that is destitute of it, whatever the 
 gifts of providence have been to him. And he is truly rich 
 to whom God has given faith, whatever he has denied him 
 of the comforts of this life. This Christ calls the work of 
 God : " This is the work of God, that ye beUeve." John 
 6 : 29. So are all other things that your eyes behold the 
 works of God ; the earth, the sea, the sun, the moon, and 
 gtars, are his handiwork. True, but this is the ivork, the 
 most glorious and admirable work of God, excelling all his 
 other works. And, 
 
 (2.) That which exalts it not only above all the works 
 
 Chiitt Kaockiag. 12 
 
266 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 of God's hands, but even above its fellow-graces the work 
 of his Spirit, is the high office to which it is appointed in the 
 justification of a sinner. God has singled out this from all 
 the other graces, to be the instrument of receiving and ap- 
 plying the righteousness of Christ for the justification of a 
 guilty soul. You are never said to be justified by love, hope, 
 or desire, but by faith. Rom. 5:1. It is true, all other 
 graces are supposed in the person justified ; but none appre- 
 hends and applies the righteousness of Christ for justifica- 
 tion, but this only. And the justifying act of faith being a 
 receiving act, the glory of God is therein secured : *' There- 
 fore it is of faith, that it might be by grace." Rom. 4:16. 
 
 (3.) The grace of faith which I am now recommending 
 to you, is not only the instrument of your justification, but 
 the bond of your union with Christ : ** That Christ may 
 dwell in your hearts by faith." Eph. 3:17. It is the 
 uniting grace ; it is that which gives interest in and title 
 to the person and benefits of Christ ; the great thing upon 
 which the eyes of all awakened sinners are intently and 
 solicitously fixed. Whatever views you have of an interest 
 in Christ, and whatever his benefits are worth in your eyes, 
 neither himself nor they can ever be obtained without faith. 
 brethren, there is a day coming when they that now 
 neglect this concern of their souls, would gladly part with 
 ten thousand worlds for the friendship of Christ, could it be 
 purchased therewith; but it is faith that entitles you to 
 Christ and to his benefits. 
 
 (4.) That which should yet more endear this gi*ace of 
 faith to you is, that it is the Jiand which receives your par- 
 don from the hand of Christ, the messenger that brings 
 pardon to a trembling sinner. " By him all that believe 
 are justified from all things, from which they could not be 
 justified by the law of Moses." Acts 13 : 39. They are 
 clearetl from all those sins from which the law could never 
 clear them, nor any repentance, restitution, or obedience of 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 267 
 
 their own without faith. what a welcome messenger is 
 faith, and what joyful tidings does it bring I you will say so if 
 you have felt the efficacy of the law upon your conscience — 
 if you have lain, as some sinners have, with a cold hor- 
 ror on your panting bosoms, under the apprehensions of the 
 wrath of God. This fruit of faith is rather to be admired 
 than expressed. Psa. 32 : 1. 
 
 (5.) Faith is not only the messenger that brings you a par- 
 don from heaven, but it is, as I may say, the heavenly herald 
 that publishes peace to the sinner. peace, how sweet a 
 word art thou ; how welcome to a poor condemned sinner ! 
 " Beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that 
 bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace." Isa. 52 : 7. 
 It is faith that brings this blessed news and publishes it in 
 the soul, without wliich all the publishers of peace without 
 us can administer but little support. Rom. 5:1. Faith 
 brings the soul out of the storms with which it was tossed, 
 into a sweet rest : " We which have believed do enter into 
 rest." Heb. 4:3. Is the quiet harbor welcome to weather- 
 beaten seameji, after they have passed furious storms and 
 many fears on the raging sea ? how welcome then must 
 peace be to the soul that hath been tossed on the tempestuous 
 ocean of its own fears, blown up and incensed by the terri- 
 ble blasts of the law and of conscience. It was a com- 
 fortable sight to Noah and liis family, to see an olive-leaf in 
 the mouth of the dove, by which they knew the waters 
 were abated. But what is it to hear such a voice as this 
 from the mouth of faith: "Fury is not in me, saith the 
 Lord ; his anger is turned away, and he comforteth thee ?" 
 Isa. 12:1. Fear not thou, the God of peace is thy God. 
 
 (6.) Faith not only brings the soul into a calm, but opens 
 to it a door of access into the gracious presence of God; 
 without it there is no coming to him acceptably : " He that 
 Cometh unto God must believe." Heb. 11:6. This access 
 to God is indeed the purchase of the blood of Christ ; but 
 
26S CHRIST K.NOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 faitli is the grace that brings the soul actually into the 
 presence of God, and there helps it to ease its griefs, and 
 with holy freedom to make known its grievances, fears, and 
 burdens to the Lord. This world were not worth living in 
 without such a blessed relief to our troubles. The believer 
 only has the key that opens the door of access unto God ; if he 
 has sins, wants, burdens, afflictions, or temptations, here he 
 can lay them down. Ah, Christian, the time may come when 
 thy heart may be filled with sorrows, and there may not be 
 found a person of thy acquaintance in all the world to whom 
 thou canst turn to relieve thy sorrows. Blessed be God for 
 faith ; the ease that the act of faith gives to a troubled 
 soul. . Well may it be said, "The just shall live by his 
 faith." Hab. 2 : 4. How can we imagine we should live 
 without it ? Our afflictions and temptations would swallow 
 us up, were it not for the sweet assiduous reliefs that come 
 in by faith. 
 
 (7.) And yet further to inflame your desires after faith, 
 this is the grace that gives you the soul-reviving sights of 
 the invisible world, without which this world would be a 
 dmigeon to us. It is not only the substance of things 
 hoped for, but the evidence of things not seen. Heb. 11:1. 
 it is a precious eye : how transporting are those visions of 
 faith. " Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though 
 now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory." 1 Pet. 1 : 8, We who preach 
 of heaven to you, cannot show you the glorious person of 
 Christ there, nor the thrones and crowns that are above ; 
 but faith can make these things visible. That is an eye 
 which can penetrate the clouds, and show to you him that 
 is invisible. Heb. 11 : 27. 
 
 (8.) The grace of faith, which I am now recommending 
 to you, is instrumentally the sustenance of your souls in this 
 world : *' The just shall hve by his faith." Hab. 2 : 4. 
 When God gives a man faith, he gives it to him to sustain 
 
THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 2G9^ 
 
 his life, and expects him to live upon it while he lives in 
 this world. He has made plentiful provision for your souls, 
 when he has given them faith, and furnished such a variety 
 of precious promises for it to feed upon. Abraham, Moses, 
 David, and all the saints, lived on no other provision but 
 \vhat faith brought in ; and at what an excellent rate did 
 they live. Here man eateth angels' food. It is a store- 
 house of provision, it is a shop of cordials : " I had fainted 
 unless I had believed." rsa. 27 : 13. A believer lives the 
 highest life of all men on earth ; and as his soul is daily fed 
 by faith, so all his other graces are maintained and daily 
 supported by the provision faith brings them in. The other 
 graces, like the young birds in the nest, live upon the pro* 
 vision this grace of faith gathers for them. Take away 
 faith, and you starve the soul of a Christian. Will not al] 
 this engage your desire after faith ? 
 
 (9.) Consider also, that this is the grace whereby we die 
 safely as well as live comfortably : as you cannot live com- 
 fortably without faith in this world, so neither can you die 
 safely or comfortably without it, when you go out of the 
 world. " These all died in faith, not having received the 
 promises ; but having seen them afar off, and were per- 
 suaded of them, and embraced them." Heb. 11 : 13. These 
 excellent persons all died embracing the promises in the 
 arms of their faith. An allusion to two dear friends em- 
 bracing each other at their parting. precious promises, 
 says the dying believer ; of what unspeakable benefit have 
 you been to me all the days of my pilgrimage. To you I 
 was wont to turn in all my troubles and distresses ; but I 
 am now going into the life of immediate vision : farewell 
 blessed promises, scriptures, ordinances, and communion of 
 saints on earth; I shall walk no more by faith, but by 
 sight. 
 
 (10.) In a word, this is the grace that saves you : "By 
 grace are ye saved, through faith." Eph. 2 : 8. Your salva- 
 
270 CHUIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 tion is the fruit of free-grace ; but grace itself will not save 
 you ill any other method but that of believing. The grace 
 of God runs through the channel of faith ; faith is the grace 
 that espouses your soul to Christ here, and accompanies 
 you every step of the way until you come to its full enjoy- 
 ment in heaven, and then it is lost in vision. It embarks you 
 with Christ, and pilots you through the dangerous seas, till 
 you drop anchor in the haven of everlasting rest and safety ; 
 where you receive the "end of your faith, the salvation of 
 your souls." then, in consideration of the incomparable 
 worth and absolute necessity of this grace, make it your 
 great study, make it your constant cry to heaven, night and 
 day, Lord, give me a believing heart, a heart opening to 
 Jesus Christ. If you fail of this, you come short of the 
 great design of the whole gospel, which is to bring you to 
 faith, and by faith to heaven. 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 271 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CHRIST BRINGS GREAT BLESSINGS TO THE 
 SOUL THAT OPENS TO HIM. 
 
 "IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL 
 COME IN TO HIM, AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH 
 me:' R«v. 3:20. 
 
 In the former chapters we have considered Christ's suit 
 for a sinner's heart : we now come to the powerful argu- 
 ments and motives used by him to obtain his suit, which are 
 two : first, union, "I will come in to him, and sup with 
 him ;" and second, communion, " and he with me." 
 
 These are strong and mighty arguments and encourage- 
 ments, able, one would think, to open any heart m the world 
 to Christ : and yet considering how the hearts of men are 
 attached to their lusts and riveted in their sins, until the 
 Spirit come upon them with powerful convictions ; and when 
 under conviction, what discouragements they labor under 
 from their former sinfulness and present unworthiness, all is 
 little enough to bring them to faith, nay, utterly insuffi- 
 cient, without the almighty power set them home with efiect 
 on the heart ; for it is not pere moral suasion will do the 
 work. It is true, Christ will not make a forcible entrance 
 into the soul, he will come in by consent of the will ; but 
 the will consents not, until it feels the power of God upon 
 it. Psalm 110:3. Almighty power opens the heart and 
 determines the will, but in a way congruous to the nature 
 of the will. " I drew them with cords of a man, with bands 
 of love." Hos. 11 : 4. When, under the influence of this 
 power, the soul opens to Christ, he will come in, take that 
 soul for his everlasting habitation, refresh and feast it with 
 the sweetest consolations and privileges purchased by his 
 blood ; whence the tenth doctrine is, 
 
272 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOH. 
 
 Christ icill certainly come in to the soul tliat opens to 
 him; and will bring rich entertainment ivith him. " I 
 will come in to him, and sup with him." 
 
 "When the prodigal, the emblem of a convert, returned 
 to his father, Luke 15 : 22, his father not only received, but 
 adorned and feasted him. In opening this point, I shall 
 show what Christ's coming into the soul implies ; how it 
 appears that Christ will come in to the opening soul ; what 
 entertainment he brings with him ; and why he thus enter- 
 tains the soul that opens to him. 
 
 I. What Christ's coming in to the soul implies; and 
 in general I must say this is a great mystery, which will not 
 be fully understood till we come to heaven : "At that day 
 ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I 
 in you." John 14 : 20. Then the essential union of Christ 
 and his Father, and the mystical union between behevers 
 and Christ, will be more clearly understood than we are 
 capable of understanding them in this imperfect state ; yet 
 for the present so much is discovered, as may justly astonish 
 poor sinners at the marvellous condescension of the Lord 
 Jesus to them. More particularly, the expression, " I will 
 come in to him," imports no less than his uniting such a 
 soul to himself; for he comes in with a design to dwell in 
 that soul by faith, Eph. 3 : 17 — to make such a man a mys 
 tical member of his body, flesh, and bones, Eph. 5 : 30, 
 which is the highest honor the soul of man is capable of. 
 This coming of Christ into the soul of a sinner does not 
 indeed make him one person with Christ ; that is the singular 
 honor to which our nature was advanced by Christ in his 
 uniting the divine nature with it. But this makes a person 
 mystically one with Christ, and is more than a mere federal 
 union. Christ's coming into the soul signifies more than his 
 entering into covenant with it ; for it is taking such a person 
 into a mystical union with himself, by imparting his Spirit 
 unto him. As the vital sap of the stock coming into tb« 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 273 
 
 graft, makes it one with the stock, John 15:4, so the com- 
 ing of Christ's Spirit inio the soul makes it a member of his 
 mystical body ; and this is a glorious supernatural work of 
 God, 1 Cor. 1 : 30, most honorable, most comfortable, and 
 for ever sure and indissoluble ; as I have more fully showed 
 in The Method of Grace.* 
 
 II. I shall show the certainty that Christ taill come 
 in with refreshments mid comforts to every soul that opens 
 to him. No former rebellions or present unworthiness shall 
 bar out Christ, or obstruct his entrance into such a soul. 
 "Whatever thou hast been or done, Christ will come in to thee 
 and dwell with thee, and make thy soul a habitation for him- 
 self through the Spirit. Eph. 2 : 22. Let thy heart bo 
 open to him, and he will both fill and feast thee, notwith- 
 standing all thy former sins. 
 
 I know it is a common discouragement that multitudes 
 of convinced sinners lie under, that seeing so much vileness 
 in their nature and practice, they cannot be persuaded that 
 the Lord Jesus will cast an eye of favor on them, much less 
 take up his abode in them. What, dwell in such a heart as 
 mine, which has been a habitation of devils, a sink of sin 
 from my beginning ? this is hard to be believed. But, sin- 
 ner, thou hast the word of a King from heaven for it, a word 
 whose credit has never failed from the first moment it was 
 spoken, that whatever thy former or present unworthiness 
 has been, or is, he will not withhold himself from such a 
 soul as thou art, if thou be but willing to open to him. Thy 
 great unworthiness shall be no bar to his union with thee. 
 " K any man open, I vdll come in to him." For, 
 
 1. If personal unworthiness were sufficient to bar Christ 
 out of thy soul, it would equally bar him out of all othe? 
 soulSy for all are unworthy as well as thyself. Wherever 
 Christ finds sinfulness, he finds unworthiness ; and to be 
 sure he finds this wherever he comes. Christ never expect- 
 * Published by the American Tract Society. 
 12* 
 
274 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 ed to find worthiness in thee, but it highly pleases him to 
 find thee under a becoming sense of thy unworthiness. 
 " Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast trans- 
 gressed against the Lord thy God." Jer. 3 : 13. The re- 
 turning prodigal acknowledged to his father, I am not worthy 
 to be called thy son. Luke 15:18, 19. But this did not 
 hinder his acceptance by his father. All that come to 
 God to be justified, must see and confess their own vile- 
 ness, and come to him as one that justifieth the ungodly 
 Rom. 4 : 5. 
 
 2. Thy former vileness and present unworthiness can be 
 no bar to Christ's entrance, because it can be no surpj-ise to 
 him. He knew thou wast unworthy when he made the 
 first overture of grace and reconciliation to thee ; and if thy 
 unworthiness hindered not the beginning of his treaty with 
 thee, it shall not hinder the closing act in his union with 
 thee. " I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacher- 
 ously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb." 
 Isa. 48:8. 
 
 3. Christ never came into a soul where Satan had not 
 the possession before him. Every soul in which Christ now 
 dwells was once in Satan's possession. ** To turn them 
 from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto 
 God." Acts 26 : 18. " When a strong man armed keepeth 
 his palace, his goods are in peace ; but when a stronger than 
 he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from 
 him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his 
 spoil." Luke*ll:2l, 22. 
 
 4. Thy present unworthiness can be no bar to Christ's 
 entrance into thy soul, because Christ never objected to any 
 man his unworthiness, but only his unwillingness to come 
 to him. " Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have 
 life." John 5 : 40. And again, "How often would I have 
 gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
 chiStens under her wings, and ye would not." Matt. 
 
THE G-OSTEL FEAST. 275 
 
 23 : 37. You find something like a repulse from Christ to 
 the poor Canaanitess : " Have mercy oii me, Lord," said 
 that distressed soul ; " but he answered and said, it is not 
 meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs." 
 Matt. 15 : 22, 26. However harshly these words sound, it 
 was not Christ's intention to discourage her faith, but to 
 draw it forth to a more intense degree ; which effect was 
 produced. Verse 27. 
 
 5. Neither would Christ have made the tenders of mercy 
 so large and indefinite, had he intended to shut out any 
 soul on account of its personal unworthiness, provided it be 
 but willing to come to him. Cast thine eye, discouraged 
 soul, on Christ's invitations and proclamations of mercy in 
 the gospel, and see if thou canst find any thing besides 
 unwillingness as a bar between thee and mercy ; hearken to 
 that voice of mercy : " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come 
 ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, 
 buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money 
 and without price;" that is, without personal desert or 
 worthiness. Isa. 55:1. So again, "The Spirit and the 
 bride say, Come ; and let him that heareth say, Come ; and 
 let him that is athirst come ; and whosoever will, let him 
 take the water of life freely." Rev. 22 : 17. Here you see 
 personal unworthiness is no obstacle in the way of Christ. 
 Once more, ** In the last day, that great day of the feast, 
 Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him 
 come unto me and drink." John 7 : 37. Thus you see 
 what Christ's coming in to the soul is, and what evidences 
 there are that when the soul is made truly wiUing, Christ 
 will certainly come into it ; and no former vileness or pres- 
 ent imworthiness shall be a bar to obstruct his entrance. 
 
 in. I shall show that when Christ comes in to the 
 SOUL, HE WILL NOT COME EMPTY-HANDED. It is Christ's mar- 
 riage-day, and he will make it a good day, a festival day ; 
 bringing such comforts with him as the soul never tasted 
 
276 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 before. He spreads a table and furnishes it with the deli- 
 cacies of heaven. " I will sup with him," saith the text. 
 What those spiritual mercies are which Christ brings with 
 him to the opening soul, comes next in order to be spoken 
 of And, 
 
 1. When Christ comes in to the soul of a sinner, he 
 brings a pardon with him — a full, free, and final pardon of 
 all the sins which that soul has ever committed. This is a 
 feast of itself, good cheer indeed ; Christ thought it to be so 
 when he told the poor palsied man, " Son, be of good cheer ; 
 thy sins be forgiven thee." Matt. 9:2. He does not say, 
 Be of good cheer, thy palsy is cured, and thy body recovered 
 from the grave ; but, "be of good cheer, thy sins are for- 
 given." how sweetly may the pardoned soul feed upon 
 this. And this is not a mercy designed for some special 
 favorites, but what is common to all behevers. " By hira 
 all that believe are justified from all things." Acts 13:39. 
 Christ and pardon come together ; and without a pardon no 
 mercy would relish : neither feast nor music, neither money 
 nor honor bring any comfort to a condemned man ; but the 
 comfort of a pardon reaches to the very heart. " Comfort 
 ye, comfort ye my jpeople, saith your God. Speak ye com- 
 fortably to Jerusalem," Isa. 40 : 1, 2 ; or, as in the Hebrew, 
 " speak to the heart of Jerusalem." But what are the ingre- 
 dients of that cordial that will comfort Jerusalem's heart ? 
 " Ciy unto her, that her iniquity is pardoned." That carries 
 with it the spirit of all consolation. 
 
 There are three things in the pardon of sin which make 
 it the sweetest mercy the soul ever tasted ; comfort which 
 is impossible to be communicated to another as the pardon- 
 ed soul has it. Rev. 2:17. 
 
 (1.) One thing which makes the pardon of sin sweet, is 
 the trouble that went before it. The laborings and restless 
 tossings of the troubled soul, before his pardon, make the 
 ease and peace that follow it incomparably sweet. As the 
 
THE aOSPEL FEAST. 277 
 
 bitterness of hell was tasted in the sorrows of sin, so the 
 sweetness of heaven is tasted in the pardon of it. 
 
 (2.) Hie nature of the mercy itself is incomparably 
 sweet, for it is a mercy of the first rank. Pardon is a mercy 
 which admits no comfort before it, nor can any just cause of 
 discouragement follow it. If God has not spoken pardon to 
 the soul, it can have no settled ground for joy. Ezek. 
 33 : 10. And if he has, there can be no just ground for 
 dejection, whatever troubles lie upon it. " The inhabitant 
 shall not say, I am sick ; the people that dwell therein shall 
 be forgiven their iniquities." Isa..33 : 24. 
 
 (3.) This mercy is made sweet to the soul by the prop- 
 erties of it, which are four : first, God writes upon thy par- 
 don, yVee; it is mercy which costs thee nothing: "Being 
 justified freely by his grace." Eom. 3 : 24. " Thou hast 
 bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou 
 filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices ; but thou hast made 
 me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine 
 iniquities." But, " I, even I, am he that bloltel.h out thy 
 transgressions, for mine own sake, and will not remember 
 thy sins." Isa. 43 : 24, 25. Second, God writes upon thy 
 pardon, /wZZ, as well as free ; the pardon extends to all the 
 sins thou hast ever committed : "By him all that believe 
 are justified from all things." Acts 13 : 39. The sins of 
 thy nature and practice ; the sins of thy youth and riper 
 age ; great sins and lesser, are all comprehended within thy 
 pardon. Thou art acquitted not from one only, but from 
 all. Certainly, the joy of heaven must come down in the 
 mercy of remission. What a feast of fat things with mar- 
 row is this single mercy, a pardon free without price, full 
 without exception. And then, third, it is final, without 
 revocation ; the pardoned soul never more comes into con- 
 demnation. Thine iniquities are removed from thee as far 
 as the east is from the west. As those two opposite points 
 can never meet, so the pardoned soul and its pardoned sins 
 
278 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 can never more meet unto condemnation. Psalm 103 : 12. 
 Fourth, God writes upon the pardon another word, as sweet 
 as any of the rest, and that is, sure. It is a standing mercy, 
 never to be recalled or annulled. Rom. 8 : 33-35. The 
 challenge is sent to earth and hell, men and devils : " Who 
 shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ? It is God 
 that justifieth. "Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ 
 that died." Who can arrest when the creditor discharges ? 
 Who can sue the bond when the debt is paid ? " It is Christ 
 that died." The table is spread, and the first mercy served 
 in is the pardon of sin. " Eat, friends ; drink, yea, drink 
 abundantly, beloved." Sol. Song 5:2. Now the labor- 
 ing conscience that rolled and tossed upon the waves of a 
 thousand fears, may drop anchor, and ride quiet in the 
 pacific sea of a pardoned state. What joy must flow through 
 the conscience when the sweetness of that scripture, " There 
 is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in 
 Christ Jesus," Rom. 8:1, shall be pressed into thy cup of 
 consolation. The pardoned soul may think of death and 
 judgment without consternation ; yea, may look upon them 
 as a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Acts 
 3 : 19. This is heavenly manna, the sweetness of it exceeds 
 all expression ; no words, no thoughts can comprehend the 
 riches of this mercy. 
 
 2. And yet this is not all ; behold another mercy brought 
 in to cheer the consenting soul, and that is peace with God. 
 Pardon and peace go together: " Being justified by faith, 
 we have peace with God." Rom. 5:1. Peace is a word 
 of vast comprehension : in the language of the Old Testa- 
 ment, it comprehends all temporal good things, 1 Sam. 
 25 : 6 ; and peace in the New Testament comprehends all 
 spiritual mercies, 2 Thess. 3:16: the blessings of heaven 
 and earth are wrapt up in this word. The soul that opens 
 to Christ has the peace of reconciliation with heaven ; the 
 enmity that was between God and that soul is taken away 
 
THE aOSPEL FEAST. 279 
 
 through Jesus Christ. " Lord, I will praise thee : though 
 thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and 
 thou comfortedst me." Isa. 12 : 1. This must be an inval- 
 uable mercy, for the purchase of it cost the blood of Christ : 
 " The chastisement of our peace was upon him." Isa. 53 : 5. 
 He madx) peace by the blood of his cross, Col. 1 : 20 ; and 
 this peace of reconciUation is settled by Christ upon a firm 
 foundation. His blood gives it a more firm foundation than 
 that of the hills and mountains. Isa. 54 : 10. And that 
 which makes it so firm and sure, is the advocateship of Jesus 
 Christ in heaven : " If any man sin, wc have an Advocate 
 with the Father." 1 John, 2:1. There is also peace in 
 the believer's conscience — peace as it were by proclamation 
 from heaven ; and this is built upon the peace of reconcili- 
 ation. We cannot have the sense of peace till we are 
 brought into a state of peace ; the one is the result of the 
 other. And this is a part of the supper Christ provides to 
 entertain the soul that receives it. How sweet this is, is 
 better felt than spoken. A dreadful sound was lately in the 
 ears of the law-condemned sinner ; but now his heart is the 
 seat of peace. This peace is, 
 
 (1.) The smd's guard against all inward and outward 
 terrors. The peace of God shall keep, or, as the original 
 word is, guard your hearts and minds. Phil. 4:7. The per- 
 sons of princes are secured by guards of armed men, who 
 watch while they sleep. Thus Solomon had his royal guard, 
 because of fear in the night. Sol. Song 3:7,8. This peace 
 of God, Christian, is thy hfe-guard, and secures thee better 
 than Solomon's threescore valiant men about him. Time 
 was when thou wast afraid to sleep, lest thou shouldst awake 
 in hell. Now thou mayest say with David, " I will both lay 
 me down in peace, and sleep ; for thou, Lord, only makest 
 me to dwell in safety." Psa. 5: 8. Now, come life, come 
 death, the soul is safe ; the peace of God is its royal guard. 
 
 (2.) This peace is ease as well as safety to the soul ; it is 
 
280 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 heart's-ease. No sooner does God speak peace to the con- 
 science, than the soul finds itself at ease and rest: "We 
 which have believed, do enter into rest." Heb. 4:3. It is 
 with such a soul as it was with the dove Noah ^ent out of 
 the ark : that poor creature wandered in the air as long as 
 her wings could carry her ; had her strength failed, there 
 was nothing but the waters to receive her. how sweet 
 was rest in the ark ! 
 
 (3.) This peace is news from heaven, and the sweetest 
 tidings that ever blessed the sinner's ear, next to Christ. 
 The blood of Christ speaketh better things than that of 
 Abel, Heb. 12: 24; and you are come to this blood of 
 sprinkling, as soon as Christ comes into your soul. This is 
 the voice of that blood : " Thou hast sinned, I have satisfied ; 
 thou hast kindled the wrath of God, and I have quenched 
 it." The angels of heaven cannot fare better : their joys 
 are not more sweet than those prepared for believers are, 
 whereof this is a foretaste. Whatever trouble a man may 
 be in, this eflectually relieves him. Paul and Silas were iu 
 sad circumstances, shut up in the inner prison, their feet 
 made fast in the stocks, their cruel keepers at the door, 
 and their execution expected in a few days : God did but 
 set this dish upon the table before the prisoners, and they 
 could not forbear to sing at the feast. Acts 16 : 25. 
 
 3. Ahei 2Xirdo7i and jieace, a third blessing will come, 
 namely, joy in the Holy Ghost. This is somewhat beyond 
 peace, it is the very quintessence and spirit of all consola- 
 tion. The kingdom of God is said to consist in it, Rom. 
 14 : 17 ; it is somewhat hke the joy of the glorified, 1 Pet. 
 1:8; it is heaven upon earth. All believers do not imme- 
 diately attain it, but one time or other God usually gives 
 them a taste of it ; and when he does, it is as it were a 
 reahzation of full salvation. 0, who can tell what that is 
 which the apostle calls, the shedding abroad of the love of 
 God in the heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us ? 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 281 
 
 Rom. 5:5. It is a joy that wants an epithet to express ita 
 full sweetness : " Joy unspeakable, and full of glory." 1 Pet. 
 1:8. It has the very taste of heaven in it, and there is 
 but a diiTerence of degrees between it and the joy of heaven. 
 This joy of the Holy Ghost is a spiritual cheerfulness stream- 
 ing tlu'ough the soul of a believer from the Spirit's testi- 
 mony, which proves his interest in Christ and glory. No 
 sooner doth the Spirit shed forth the love of God into the 
 believer's heart, than it overflows with'joy. 
 
 This will appear, if you consider the matter of it: it 
 arises from the light of God's countenance, Psa. 4 : 6, 7, the 
 heavenly glory : *' Whom having not seen, we love." 1 Pet. 
 1 : 8. The soul is transported with joy, ravished with the 
 glory and excellency of Christ. Didst thou ever see Christ 
 with whom thy soul is so delighted ? No, I have not seen 
 him ; yet my soul is transported with love to him, " whom 
 having not seen, we love." But if thou never sawest him, 
 how comes thy soul to be so dehghted with him ? "Why, 
 though I never saw him by the eye of sense, I do see him 
 by the eye of faith ; and by that sight my soul is flooded 
 with spiritual joy: "Believing, we rejoice." But what 
 manner of joy is it which you taste ? No tongue can 
 express that, for it is joy unspeakable. But how are Christ 
 and heaven turned into such joys to the soul? The Spirit 
 of the Lord gives the behever a sight to discern not only the 
 transcendent excellency of these spiritual objects, but his in- 
 terest in them also. This is my Saviour, and this the glory 
 prepared for me. Without appropriation, heaven itself can- 
 not be turned into joy. My soul rejoices in God my Saviour. 
 Luke 1 : 47. We read of some who shall have a sight of 
 Abraham, and Isaac, and Jaco*b, and all the prophets in the 
 kingdom of God, and yet shall be without joy, Luke 1 3 : 28 ; 
 a dreadful sight to such, for want of a joint interest with 
 them in that glory. They shall see, and yet weep and gnash 
 their teeth. But an interest sealed gives joy unspeakable 
 
282 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOH. 
 
 As to the excellency of this joy, it will prove the pleas- 
 ant light of the soul. Light and joy are synonymous terms 
 in Scripture. Psa. 97 : 11. It is as the cheerful light of the 
 morning, after a sad and dismal night. You who have sat 
 in darkness and the shadow of death, who have sat mourn- 
 ing in the dark without one glimpse of a promise, who have 
 conversed with nothing but dismal thoughts of hell and 
 wrath — 0, 1 shall be cast away for ever ; what will you say, 
 when after all this darkness, the day-star shall arise in your 
 hearts, and the joy of heaven shall beam upon your souls ? 
 Will not this be a glorious reward for all your self denial for 
 Christ, and fully recompense the frowns of ungodly relations 
 for giving entertainment to Christ ? This joy of the Lord, 
 if there were no other heaven, is an abundant recompense. 
 This joy of the Lord shall be your strength. Keh. 8: 10. 
 Let God but give a person a little of this joy into his heart, 
 and he shall presently feel himself strengthened by it, either 
 to do or to suffer the t\dll of God. Now he can pray with 
 enlargement, hear with comfort, meditate with dehght ; and 
 if God call him to suffer, this joy shall strengthen him to 
 bear it. This it was that made the martyrs go singing to the 
 stake. This therefore transcends all the joys of the world. 
 There are sinful pleasures which men find in fulfilling their 
 lusts ; there are sensitive joys that men find in the good 
 creatures of God, filling their hearts with food and gladness ; 
 there are also delusive joys, that hypocrites find in their 
 ungrounded hopes of heaven. The joys of the scnsuahst are 
 brutish, the joys of the hypocrite are ensnaring and vanish- 
 ing ; but the joys of the Holy Ghost are sohd, sweet, and 
 leading to the fulness of everlasting joy. 
 
 4, We read in Scripture of the scaling of the Spirit, a 
 blessed privilege of believers, consequent upon believing : 
 " In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with 
 that Holy Spirit of promise." Eph. 1 : 13. This may bo 
 expected by every soul that opens to Christ, how rich soever 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 283 
 
 the comforts of it be. The Spirit indeed seals not before 
 faith, for then would he set his seal to a blank; but he 
 usually seals after believing, and that as the Spirit of prom- 
 ise. Notice here the agent or person sealing, "the Spirit ;'' 
 he knows the counsels and purposes of God. 1 Cor. 2 : 10, 11. 
 He also is authorized to this work ; and being the Spirit of 
 truth, he cannot deceive us. There is a twofold seal spoken 
 of in Scripture ; one referring to God's eternal foreknowledge 
 and choice of men : " Nevertheless the fomidation of God 
 standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that 
 are his," 2 Tim. 2:19; he perfectly knows every soul that 
 belongs to him throughout the world. But the believer has 
 more than this. There is another sealing of the Spirit, as 
 his act on believers, to make them know that they are his. 
 The first is general. The Lord knoAveth who are his ; but 
 tliis is particular, The Lord knoweth thee to be his. This is 
 joyful news indeed. The former makes it sure in itself, the 
 latter makes it sure to us. Now tliis is a glorious privilege, 
 a work of the Spirit, which has a most delightful sweetness 
 in it ; for, 
 
 (1 ) The weightiness of the matter sealed, which is no 
 less than Christ, and the eternal inheritance purchased by 
 his blood. This seal secures our title to Christ, and to the 
 eternal glory. We are sealed to the day of redemption. 
 The sealed believer can say, Christ, how great, how glorious 
 soever he be, is ray Saviour ; and the covenant of grace, and 
 all the invaluable promises contained in it, are mine. 
 
 (2.) The rest which follows it, makes it an invaluable 
 mercy. This brings the anxious conscience to peace. 
 what a mercy is it to have all those knots untied, those 
 objections answered, those fears banished, under which the 
 doubting soul so long labored, and which kept it so many 
 nights waking and restless. God only knows how some 
 poor creatures live, under their alarms of conscience and 
 frequent fears of heU. And what an inconceivable mercy 
 
284 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 would it be to them to be delivered at once from their dan 
 gers and fears, which hold them under a spirit of bondage I 
 Open to Christ, and thou art in the way to such a dehver- 
 ance : Come unto me and I will give you rest, saith Christ, 
 Matt. 11 :2S, 29. 
 
 (3.) This sealing of the Spirit which follows believing, 
 will establish the soul in Christ, and settle it in the ways 
 of God, which is an unspeakable privilege : " Now he which 
 establisheth us with you in Christ, is God; who hath also 
 sealed us." 2 Cor. 1:21, 22. Mark how establishment 
 follows sealing. Temptations may come, great persecu- 
 tions and sore afflictions may come, but how well is that 
 soul provided for them all, that has the sealing of the Spirit 
 unto the day of redemption. Yea, though that soul should 
 for the present be under new darkness, temptations, and 
 fears, the former sealing will give establishment and relief, 
 when the thoughts go back to the sealing day, and the man 
 remembers how clear God once made his title to Christ. 
 Well then, open to Christ, if ever you expect to be sealed 
 to salvation. If you continue to reject the tenders of Christ 
 in the gospel, while others who embrace him are sealed to 
 the day of redemption, your unbelief and final rejection of 
 Christ will seal you to the day of damnation. 
 
 5. We read in the Scriptures of the earliest of the 
 Spirit ; this is three times mentioned : " Which is the 
 earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the pur- 
 chased possession." Eph. 1 : 14. The apostle Paul joins it 
 with the former privilege of sealing: '* Who hath also sealed 
 us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts," 
 2 Cor. 1 : 22 ; and again, *' He that hath wrought us for 
 the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the 
 earnest of the Spirit." 2 Cor. 5 : 5. The word is originally 
 Syriac ; the Greeks are supposed to have got it from the 
 Phenician merchants with whom they traded, and it denotes 
 a part paid in hand to confirm a bargain for the whole. An 
 
THE aOSPEL FEAST. 285 
 
 earnest is part of the sum, or inheritance : if it were a con- 
 tract for a sura of money, it was a small part of a greater 
 amount ; if for an inheritance, the earnest is taking a twig, 
 or turf, as a part of the whole. The Spirit of jr2».i chooses 
 this word to signify two great tilings to his people. 
 
 (1.) That the comforts communicated by the Spirit to 
 believers, are of the same kind loith the joys of heaven, 
 though in a far inferior degree. They are called, " Joy 
 unspeakable, and full of glory," 1 Pet. 1:8; and, " The 
 first-fruits of the Spirit." Rom. 8 : 23. The first-fruits, 
 and the harvest, are one in kind ; there is something of 
 heaven, as well as hell, tasted by men in this world : hell is 
 begun here in the terrors of some men's consciences, and 
 heaven is begun here in the peace and comfort of other 
 men's consciences. 
 
 (2.) As an earnest is part of the sum or inheritance, so 
 the use of it is confirmation and security; as much as to 
 say, take this in part till the whole be paid — take it for thy 
 security that the whole shall be paid. Believers have a 
 double pledge or earnest for heaven : one in the person of 
 Christ, who is entered into that glory for them, John 
 14 : 2, 3 ; the other in the joys and comforts of the Spirit, 
 which they feel and taste in themselves. These are two 
 great securities, and the design of God in giving us these 
 earnests and foretastes of heaven, is not only to settle our 
 minds, but to increase our industry, that we may long more 
 earnestly and labor more diligently for the full possession. 
 The Lord sees how apt we are to flag in the pursuit of 
 heaven, and therefore gives his people a taste, or earnest of 
 it, to excite their diligence in its pursuit. God deals with 
 his people in this case, as with Israel : they had been forty 
 years in the wilderness ; many sore temptations had they 
 there encountered ; at last they came upon the very borders 
 of Canaan, but then their hearts began to faint ; there were 
 Anakiras, giants in the land, and Israel feared they should 
 
286 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 not stand before them : but Joshua sent spies into the land, 
 who brought the first fruits of Canaan to them, whereby they 
 saw what a goodly country it was ; and then the fear of the 
 Anakims began to vanish, and a spirit of courage to revive 
 in the people. Thus it is even with the borderers upon 
 heaven : though we are near that blessed land of promise, 
 our hearts are apt to faint on a prospect of the sufferings 
 without us, and the conflicts with corruptions within us; 
 but one taste of the first-fruits of heaven, like the grapes 
 of Eschol, revives our spirits, rouses our zeal, and quickens 
 our pursuit of blessedness. For these reasons, God will 
 not have all heaven reserved till we come thither. And 
 now tell me, you that have tasted these first-fruits of the 
 Spirit, 
 
 Is there not something of that glorified eye, in faith, by 
 which the pure in heart see God in heaven ? Matt. 5 : 8. 
 that eye of faith — that precious eye, which comes as near 
 to the glorified eye as any thing in tliis imperfect state can 
 do: "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though 
 now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory." 1 Pet. 1:8. 
 
 Is there not something of that glorified love felt in an 
 inferior degree by the saints in this world ? What else can 
 we make of that transport of the spouse : " Stay me with 
 flagons, comfort me with apples ; for I am sick of love ?" 
 Sol. Song 2 : 5. Our love to God in heaven will be much 
 more fervent, pure, and constant ; yet these high-raised acts 
 of spiritual love have a taste and relish of it. 
 
 Is there not something here of that heavenly delight 
 wherewith the glorified rejoice in God ? As the visions of 
 God are begun on earth, so heavenly delights are begun hero 
 also. Some drops of that delight are let fall here : "In the 
 multitude of ray thoughts within me thy comforts delight 
 my soul." Psa. 94:19. David's heart had been full oi 
 BoiTow ; a sea of gall and wormwood had overflowed his 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 287 
 
 soul : God lets fall but a drop or two of heavenly delight, 
 and all is turned into sweetness and comfort. • 
 
 Is there not something here of that transformation of 
 the soul into the image of God, which is complete in heaven, 
 and a part of the glory thereof? It is said, " "We shall be 
 like him ; for we shall see him as he is." 1 John, o : 2. 
 This is heaven, to have the soul moulded into full conforniity 
 with God : something thereof is experienced in this world , 
 that we had more I " But we all, with open face behold- 
 ing as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the 
 same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." 
 2 Cor. 3 : 18. 
 
 Is there not something felt here of the siceetness of God's 
 'presence in ordinances and duties, which is a faint shadow, 
 at least, of the joys of his glorious presence in heaven ? 
 There is certainl}^ a felt presence of God, a sensible nearness 
 to God at some times and in some duties of religion, wherein 
 his name is as ointment poured forth, Sol. Song 1 : 3 — some- 
 thing that is felt above all the comforts of this world. 
 
 In a word, the joys of heaven are unspeakable joys ; no 
 words can make known what they are. When Paul was 
 caught up into paradise he heard unspeakable words, 2 Cor. 
 12:4; and are there not times, even in this life, wherein 
 the saints do feel that which no words can express ? 1 Pet. 
 1:8; Rev. 2 : 17. 
 
 Now, if such earnests of the Spirit come with believing, 
 if openmg the soul to Christ bring it unto these suburbs of 
 heaven, who would not receive Christ into his soul, and such 
 a heaven upon earth with him ? 'Thus I have showed you 
 what are some of those heavenly joys which Christ gives to 
 believers upon earth, the fulness of which is reserved for 
 heaven, and hereby secured to the opening or believing soul. 
 
 IV. We shall show the reasons why Christ thus feasts 
 and refreshes the soul that receives him. 
 
 1. This he does to express the great joy lie has in tlie 
 
288 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOE. 
 
 faith and obedience of miners. We read of the travail of 
 Christ's soBl, and the satisfaction he has in the fruit and 
 issue thereof: " He shall see of the travail of his soul, and 
 shall be satisfied." Isa. 53 : 11. what pleasure and sat- 
 isfaction doth it give him to behold the eternal counsels of 
 God and the travails of his soul brought to such a result ; 
 there is no pleasure like it to the soul of Christ in this world. 
 As it is satisfaction* to a man to see a design upon which he 
 has laid out many thoughts and much cost, at last happily 
 finished ; or as it is to a woman to behold the fruit of her 
 womb, to embrace and smile upon the child she travailed 
 for ; so, and much more, it is to Christ : and therefore, as 
 the Father of the prodigal manifested the joy of his heart 
 for the return of his son by a feast and music, so does Christ 
 here manifest the satisfaction of his soul by entertaining the 
 believer with these foretastes of heaven ; it is the soul's 
 welcome home to Christ. 
 
 2. This Christ does to relieve distressed souls who have 
 endured so many fears and sorrows from the time of their 
 first conviction until the day of their union with Christ by 
 faith. The way of faith is a very humble -way ; there it 
 much painful work in previous convictions and humiliations, 
 sad nights and days with many poor souls ; and these things 
 bring them low : they see the law broken by sin, wrath 
 hanging over them in the threatenings, the bitterness thereof 
 they have in their consciences ; they have dealt with fears 
 and horrors a long time, and they need support, which the 
 Lord Jesus now gives them, lest the spirit fail before him. 
 Isa. 57 : 16. He delights to comfort them that are cast 
 down. 2 Cor. 7:6. Christ is of a compassionate nature ; he 
 is as ready as able to succor them that are tempted. Heb. 
 2:18. The word which we render succor, signifies to run 
 in by way of help at the cry of one in distress. Many cm- 
 phatical cries have gone up to heaven from the distressed 
 Boul ; these the compassionate Jesus hears, and now comes 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 289 
 
 in to succor and refresh it ; he has rich cordials for fainting 
 hours ; the soul hath hiid a bitter breakfast, and therefore 
 Christ will give it a comfortable supper : ** I will come in 
 to him, and sup with him." 
 
 3. TJwse tliat open their hearts to Christ must expect 
 to meet uith great troubles and temptations in the new 
 course on which they have entered : their way to heaven 
 lies through much tribulation ; all our troubles are not over 
 when we are once in Christ ; nay, then commonly our great- 
 est outward troubles begin : " After ye were illuminated, 
 ye enduired a great fight of afflictions." Heb. 10:32. 
 Carnal relations scoff, frown, and cast us off; the world 
 hates us and marks us out for persecution. Now, that 
 Christians may not utterly be discouraged when they meet 
 with troubles in the way of duty, Christ will cheer them 
 by these spiritual refreshments. Christ himself had a voice 
 from heaven, " This is my beloved Son," Matt. 17 : 5, a 
 little before his great combat; much more do his people 
 need such consolations, to support and encourage them. 
 God foresees and by this provision prepares for the troubles 
 they are to meiet with ; an hour of seahng fortifies the soul 
 for an hour of suffering. It has been the observation of 
 some Christians w?ien they have felt more than ordinary 
 comforts of the Spirit, that some great trial has been near 
 them ; and the event has confirmed it. Whatever com- 
 forts Christ gives his people at their first entrance into his 
 service, they will have need enough of them all before they 
 finish their course. To these first seaUngs they will need to 
 have frequent recourse, and all will be little enough to sup- 
 port them in after-trials. 
 
 4. Christ comes in to the opening soul with such divine 
 refreshments to defeat the plot of Satan, who has so often 
 discouraged them by representing the ways of Christ as 
 melancholy ; telling them they shall never laugh more, 
 never be merry more, after they have espoused the ways of 
 
 Chri<t Knockinif. 13 
 
290 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 holiness. Their own experience shall confute it, for they now 
 taste that pleasure in Christ, in faith and obedience, which 
 they never tasted in the ways of sin ; thus that scandalous 
 libel of Satan is confuted. They find they were never 
 truly merry till now ; for all true mirth commences from 
 our closing with Christ : " And they began to be merry." 
 Luke 15:24. 
 
 These spiritual refreshments are here called a supper, 
 because the supper among the Jews was their best meal, 
 Luke 14 : 17, and because it is the last meal. This is not 
 only the best enjoyment that a believer ever had, but upon 
 these spiritual comforts, though much more refined and per- 
 fected, he is to feed for ever in heaven. Christian, well 
 mayest thou be contented with thine outward lot of provi- 
 dence, however it shall fall in this world with respect to thy 
 outward man. "Will the King of heaven come and sup 
 with thee ? Does he feed thy soul with pardon, peace, and 
 joy in the Holy Ghost, and seal an earnest of future glory ? 
 Then thou livest at a higher and nobler rate than any of 
 thy carnal neighbors do. " Blessed be the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all 
 spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Eph. 1 : S, 
 The same person who thus blesses God^with a heart over- 
 flowing with joy and comfort, endured as many persecutions, 
 felt as many wants and straits as any man. What if Prov- 
 idence do but meanly clothe your bodies, so that you cannot 
 ruffle it in the splendor that others do ? Yet mayest thou 
 gay with the church, " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my 
 Boul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me with 
 the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the 
 robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with 
 ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." 
 Isa. 61 : 10. What if thou fare not so deliciously as the 
 great ones of this world do ? Yet, if Christ will give thee 
 to eat of the hidden manna which he promiseth, Kev. 2:17, 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 291 
 
 art thou not better clothed and fed than any of the nobles 
 of the world ? This takes away all grounds of complaint. 
 It may be you will say, 0, but we have bodies as well as 
 souls ; if God had created us angels, so that we could live 
 without material food, it were another case. I reply, Christ 
 never thus intended to feast thy soul and starve thy body ; 
 he that feeds thy soul with bread from heaven, will take 
 care for all necessary provisions on earth. Isa. 41 : 17. You 
 have sought and found the kingdom of God and his right- 
 ousness ; fear not but all other things shall be added to you. 
 
 The doctrine before us is full of instruction : I shall 
 begin with the following. 
 
 Inference 1 . It is a vile and groundless slander upon 
 religion, to say or insinuate that it deprives men of the 
 comfort and joy of life. The devil, in design to discourage 
 men from the ways of God, puts a frightful mask on the beau- 
 tiful face of religion, pretending there is no pleasure to be 
 expected therein ; but this is abundantly confuted in the text : 
 "I will come in to him, and sup with him." Solomon tells 
 us, " A feast is made for laughter." Eccl. 10 : 19, I am 
 sure the soul that sits with Christ at such a feast as has 
 been described above, has the best reason of any man in the 
 world to be merry. Religion indeed denies us all sinful 
 pleasure, but it abounds with spiritual pleasure. No rational, 
 solid mirth can come before Christ : the unsanctified rejoice 
 in things of naught, and their joy will be soon ended; they 
 are hastening to the place where they will find that to be 
 verified of the wages of sin, which they now falsely impute 
 to the wages of holiness ; they shall never rejoice more, 
 never be merry more : but believers shall find this scripture 
 attested by their daily experience : "Her ways are ways of 
 pleasantness, and all her paths are peace," Prov. 3:17; 
 and that there are such pleasures in the ways of God, as 
 they never experienced in the ways of sin. Is it a solid 
 
292 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 ground of comfort to a man to be out of debt and all fears 
 of arrest ; and is it not much greater to have our debts paid 
 to God by Christ our surety ? " Be of good cheer ; thy sins 
 be forgiven thee." Matt. 9:2. Is it matter of joy to have 
 a sufficiency of all things for the supply of every want ? 
 He that is in Christ has this : " All are yours ; and ye are 
 Christ's." 1 Cor. 3 : 22, 23. Is it a joyful life to border 
 upon heaven, to be on the confines of blessedness itself? 
 Then it is joyful to be in Christ ; for they that are so may 
 rejoice in the hope of glory. Rom. 5:2. Is it inatter of 
 joy to have the Comforter himself, who is the Spirit of all 
 consolation, taking up his residence in thy heart, comforting 
 and refreshing it with cordials unknown in all the unbeliev- 
 ing world ? Then certainly the life of a Christian and the 
 ways of holiness must be most comfortable. Let none 
 therefore, that are looking towards Christ, be discouraged in 
 their way by the slanderous reproaches designedly cast upon 
 religion. Christ and comfort dwell together. 
 
 2. Hence, in like manner it follows, tlmt Christians 
 usually meet the greatest difficulties at their first entrance 
 into religion. The first work of religion is wounding and 
 weeping work. Thus religion usually begins. Acts 2 : 37 ; 
 16 : 29. The soul seems to be struck dead, in the giving 
 up of all its former vain hopes : " When the commandment 
 came, sin revived, and I died," Rom. 7:9; but afterwards 
 come pardon, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. They that 
 go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, now come back 
 rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. Psa. 126 : 6. 
 Now the blessing is rcahzed : " Blessed are they that 
 mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matt. 5 : 4. "Light 
 is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in 
 heart." Psa. 97 : 11. It is quite contrary in the ways of 
 sin ; all the pleasures of sin come first, the terrors of con- 
 science come after. Sin comes with smiles in its beginning, 
 but a sting in its end. Pleasures lead the van, hell and 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 293 
 
 destruction bring up the rear, " Though wickedness be 
 sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue ; 
 though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within 
 his mouth ; yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the 
 gall of asps within him." Job 20 : 12-14. But here con- 
 viction and humiliation come first, these prepare the way for 
 Christ ; and with him come rest and peace. Their sorrow 
 is turned into joy. John 16 : 20. 
 
 Objection. But is this always true ? Do not the worst 
 things of religion many times come last? How many 
 Christians go out of the world in an unhappy manner. 
 
 Answer. Whatever the after-sufferings of Christians 
 may be, the worst is past when they are in Christ. Great 
 and sharp sufferings they may endure, but the Lord sweet- 
 ens them with answerable consolations : *' I am filled with 
 comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation." 
 2 Cor. 7 : 4. The lowest ebbs are followed by the highest 
 tides ; the greatest troubles need not give interruption to 
 peace. 
 
 3. Hence it follows, that no man can he truly happy 
 till he he in Christ. Comfort and refreshment in the natu- 
 ral order follow faith ; it is the vainest imagination in the 
 world to expect solid, spiritual comfort before union with 
 Christ ; you may as well expect a harvest before a seed- 
 time. I do confess there are two sorts of comforts found in 
 the world without Christ. First, men may have sensitive 
 and sinful comforts without Christ ; these are common in 
 the unregenerate world, where you may daily see rich 
 men taking comfort in their riches, and voluptuous men in 
 their pleasures : " Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth.'* 
 James 5:5. But these are pleasures common to brutes, 
 and beneath the immortal spirit of a man. Second, hypo- 
 crites have their delights and comforts in an imaginary hap- 
 piness, which they fancy to themselves ; but this is a van- 
 ishing shadow. They take comfort firom their groundless 
 
294 CHy .ST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 hope of heaven, whither they shall never come ; it is a 
 feast in a dream. Isa. 29 : 8. Thus they make a bridge of 
 their own shadow, and are drowned in the waters. Such 
 sensitive and false comforts and pleasures men may have, 
 but no true, solid, spiritual joy enters any man's heart before 
 Christ come into it. 
 
 4. See from hence what heaven is, if there be such a 
 feast to the soul in the very foretastes of it. If a relish, a 
 taste of heaven as the earnest of it, be so transporting and 
 ravishing, what is the full fruition of God? If these are 
 unutterable, what must that be ? "Whatever the comforts 
 and joys of any beUever in this world may be, yet heaven 
 will be a surprise to him when he comes thither. The joys 
 of God's presence are not to be measured by our present 
 comforts ; though these are of the same kind with them, 
 they are far inferior in degree. There is a sixfold difference 
 between the spiritual comforts of beUevers on earth, and 
 the joys that are above. 
 
 (1 .) They differ in quantity. Here, " We know in part ; 
 but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is 
 in part shall be done away." 1 Cor. 13:9, 10. When the 
 Scripture speaks of the comforts communicated to saints on 
 earth, it usually expresses them in some diminutive term or 
 other, calling them first-fruits, earnests, and the hke ; and 
 indeed it is necessary we should receive them here in small 
 degrees, because the weakness of our present state will not 
 bear them in their plenitude and perfection. Here the joy 
 of the Lord enters into us, but there we are said to enter 
 into that joy. Matt. 25 : 21. It is too great to enter into 
 us ; therefore we enter into, and are swallowed up in it. 
 
 (2.) They differ in constancy. The best comforts on earth 
 are intermitting : a sun-blast and a cloud ; a good day and 
 a bad. You know we feed on two sorts of meat, daily 
 bread and dainties ; rarities come not every day to the table. 
 The daily bread on which behevers live, is the repose and 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 295 
 
 reliance of faith ; as for assurance and joy, these come but 
 now and then. 
 
 (3.) They difler in purity. Here we have the comforts 
 of the Spirit, but we mingle sin with them, and especially 
 the sin of spiritual pride, which spoils all. Yea, many times 
 the Lord sufiers Satan to mingle his temptations with them, 
 lest we should be imduly exalted. 2 Cor. 12:7. But in 
 . heaven the comforts of the saints are as the pure water of 
 life, clear as crystal. Rev. 22 : 1 . 
 
 (4.) They differ in efficacy. The highest comforts of the 
 Spirit here do not perfectly transform our souls into the 
 image of God, as they will be in heaven. " We shaU be 
 like liim, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John, 3 : 2. 
 Here, after we are comforted by him, we grieve the Com- 
 forter by sin. Neither do the comforts of the Spirit, in this 
 state, produce the fruits of obedience in their maturity, as 
 they do above ; there is the same difference in point of effi- 
 cacy, as there is between the influence of the sunbeams in 
 the winter months, and those in May and June. 
 
 (5.) There is a great difference in respect to society. 
 Here, the believer for the most part eats liis pleasant mor- 
 sels alone : one Christian eats, and another hungers ; but in 
 heaven they all feast together at one table. They shall sit 
 down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of 
 God. Matt. 8:11. what must it be to rejoice in the 
 fellowship of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, where the 
 joy of one is the joy of all ? 
 
 (6.) They differ also in durability. Sin here puts a stop 
 to our comforts, but in heaven there shall never be an end : 
 " Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads." Isa. 35 : 10. 
 There is an eternal feast. It is everlasting consolation : 
 "We shall be ever with the Lord " 2 Thess. 2 : 16. 
 
 5. This doctrine puts serious matter of exhortation 
 mto my mouth. The Lord direct it to the hearts of aU, 
 whether they be in Christ or out of Christ. 
 
296 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOil. 
 
 (1.) To those who are out of Christ, and will not be 
 persuaded to open their hearts and consent to his terms. 
 what a spiritual infatuation is here. "What, shut the door 
 of thy heart against Christ, and all the dehghts of this and 
 the coming world ? What madness is this. Hear me, thou 
 poor deluded sinner, who wilt not be persuaded to part with 
 thy sinful, sensual delights in exchange for Clirist, and the 
 peace, comfort, and joy that follow him. I have a few. 
 things to speak on Christ's behalf at this time. that they 
 may prevail ; that by them the Spirit of the Lord may 
 persuade thy spirit. Let me offer four or five pleas on 
 Christ's behalf, if haply they may prevail and make way 
 for his entertainment in thy soul. And, 
 
 Plea 1. Let me plead thine ovm. necessity: a mighty 
 argument, which in other cases makes its way through all 
 oppositions, and makes all difiiculties fly before it. Thou 
 art a poor, necessitous, pining, famishing soul ; however thy 
 body be accommodated, thou hast not one morsel of spiritual 
 bread for thy famishing soul to live upon, Christ is the 
 bread that cometh down from heaven. The starving prod- 
 igal is the lively emblem of thy soul ; he feeds upon husks, 
 Luke 15:16, 17, and thou feedest upon that which is not 
 bread. Isa. 65 : 2. " Thou art wretched, and miserable, 
 and poor, and blind, and naked." Rev. 3 : 17. Thy body 
 has often been filled and refreshed with the good creatures 
 of God, but thy soul never tasted one morsel of spiritual 
 bread since it came into thy body ; it never rehshed the 
 sweetness of a pardon, the deliciousness of a promise, or the 
 joy and comfort of Christ : the choicest food thou hast ever 
 tasted, was such as thy soul cannot live upon. 
 
 Plea 2. Christ is at the door of thy sold with plenty 
 and variety of heavenly comforts purchased by his blood ; 
 if thou wilt but open to him, thou shalt be abundantly sat- 
 isfied with the fatness of his house, and drink of the rivers of 
 his pleasure. Psalm 36 : 8. " He that believeth on me, as 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 297 
 
 the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of 
 living water," John 7 : 38 ; meaning the graces and com- 
 forts of the Spirit. 
 
 Plea 3. If Christ he refused now, you may never taste 
 those invaluable mercies for ever. " For I say unto you, 
 that none of those men which were hidden shall taste of 
 my supper." Luke 14 : 24. They were invited to this 
 feast, and so are you ; they refused to come, God grant that 
 you may not ; for metliinks this sentence of Christ, " Those 
 men wliich were hidden shall not taste of my supper," is 
 like a sentence on a malefactor that is to he hanged in 
 chains, whom the law permits none to reheve. 0, it will 
 be dreadful to see the saints sitting at the royal feast in 
 heaven, and yourselves shut out like starving beggars stand- 
 ing in the streets and abeut the doors where the marriage- 
 supper is kept : they see the lights, they behold the rich 
 dishes carried up, they hear the mirth and music of the 
 guests, but not a bit comes to their share. 
 
 Plea 4. Tlie refusal of Christ's invitation, as it is the 
 greatest of all sins, will be avenged toith tha greatest pun- 
 ishment. It is said of those guests that were bidden, that 
 they made light of it, Matt. 22 : 5 ; but it fell heavy upon 
 them : "He was wroth, and he sent forth his armies and 
 destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city . ' ' Ver . 7 . 
 Beware of making light of Christ. 
 
 Plea 5. What vain things are all those pleasures of 
 sin, for the sake of which you deprive your souls of the ever- 
 lasting comforts Jesus Christ can give. Deluded soul, it is 
 not the intent of Christ to rob thee of comfort, but to ex- 
 change thy sinful for spiritual dehghts, to thy unspeakable 
 advantage. True, you can have no more pleasure in sin ; 
 but instead of that, you shall have peace with God, joy in 
 the Holy Ghost, and solid comforts for evermore. What are 
 the sensitive or sinful pleasures of the world ? You have 
 the total sum of them in 1 John, 2 : 16, 17 : " All that is in 
 13* 
 
298 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOil. 
 
 the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the 
 pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And 
 the world passeth away, and the lusts thereof; but he that 
 doeth the will of God, abideth for ever." 
 
 Q,UESTioN. But how may a poor unregenerate soul be 
 prevailed upon to make such a blessed exchange as to part 
 with the p)leasures of sin for the blessings of Jesus Christ? 
 
 ANS^\^ER. Besides all that has been offered before, let me 
 briefly add three counsels to such a soul. 
 
 Labor to feel thy need of Christy and then thou wilt 
 quickly be willing to give up all the pleasures of sin for the 
 enjoyment of him. What makes men so tenacious of their 
 lusts, so hard to be persuaded to give up their sinful pleas- 
 ures, but this, that they never felt the need of a Saviour ? 
 0, sinner, didst thou but feel thy need of Christ, wert thou 
 but hungry and thirsty for him, thou wouldst never stand 
 upon such trifles for the enjoyment of him. We read, in the 
 famine of Jerusalem, how they parted with their pleasant 
 things for bread to relieve their souls ; jewels, rings, brace- 
 lets, things wjiich cost dear and were highly valued at 
 another time, were now willingly parted with for bread. 
 Christ is more necessary to thee than thy necessary food. 
 
 Consider the spiritual and immortal nature of thy soul 
 which cannot live upon material things, and must outlive 
 all temporal things. If thy soul cannot live upon thera, 
 and must certainly outlive them, what a miserable condition 
 will it unavoidably fall into, when all these sensual and sin- 
 ful enjoyments are vanished and gone, as thou knowest they 
 shortly will be. These things pass away, 1 John, 2 : 17, 
 and then has thy soul nothing to live upon to all eternity. 
 
 Hearken to the experiences of the saints, who have tried 
 both sorts of pleasure, which you never did. They have 
 tried the pleasures of sin, and they have tasted the pleasures 
 of Christ, and so are able to give a true judgment on both ; 
 and they have accordingly determined, that one glimpse of 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 299 
 
 the light of God's countenance puts more gladness into their 
 hearts, than in the time that their corn and wine increased. 
 Psahn 4 : 6, 7. Nay, the wisest Christiana, on trial of both, 
 liave rightly determined, that the worst things in religion 
 are infinitely to be preferred to the best things belonging to 
 sin ; the very sufferings and afflictions of the people of God 
 have been pronounced better than the pleasures of sin for a 
 season. Heb. 11 : 25. Could you but see with their eyes, 
 and were you capable of making a right judgment as they 
 did, there would not need a word more to persuade you to 
 deny your most pleasant lusts, in exchange for Christ and 
 his beneficial sufferings. 
 
 (2.) The doctrine also affords various exhortations to the 
 regenerate^ who have opened their hearts to Christ, and are 
 thereupon admitted into this comfortable state. It is found 
 in experience a difficult thing, for souls after conversion to 
 bear their own comforts, as it was to rightly manage their 
 troubles at conversion. My business here is to advise souls 
 under the first operations of the Spirit, how to improve their 
 epiritual comforts, that they may abide with them and be 
 growing continually in their souls. 
 
 Advice 1 . See tJiat you humbly admire and adore the 
 condescending goodness of God to you, in all the comforts 
 of the Spirit which refresh you. that God should com- 
 fort such a soul as thjne, that has so often grieved him — 
 that Christ should be a joy to thee, who hast been a sorrow 
 to him. In Paul's epistle to the Ephesians you will find the 
 spirit of the apostle filled with admiration of this mercy, 
 which breaks forth into this rapturous expression : " Blessed 
 be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 
 blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in 
 Christ." Eph. 1 : 3. Some never enjoy an ordinary de- 
 gree of earthly comforts, Job 30 : 3-5 ; others enjoy abun- 
 dance of earthly, but no spiritual comforts. Psalm 17:14. 
 There are others for whom God intends everlasting consola- 
 
300 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 tion in the world to come, who are kept low as to spiritual 
 comforts in this world. Psalm 88 : 15. What cause have 
 you to admire the boimty of God to you, for whom there is 
 not only fulness of joy prepared in heaven, but such pre- 
 cious foretastes and earnests of it communicated in the way 
 thither. 
 
 Advice 2. Cleave fast to Christ and those duties of 
 religion in which you have found the best comforts that 
 ever your souls knew. This is one thing God intends in the 
 communication of these spiritual refreshments, to attach 
 your souls fast to the ways of holiness. The Lord knows 
 that temptations will befall you ; discouragements enough 
 you will be sure to meet with ; but the enjoyments of God, 
 which you have met with in prayer and hearing, in medita- 
 tion and sacraments, should engage your hearts for ever to 
 the ways of obedience. You never found that sweetness in 
 the ways of sin which you have found in repentance and 
 faith. When a temptation comes baited with sinful pleas- 
 ures, think of Jotham's parable of the trees, and of the 
 answer of the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine. Judges 
 9 : 8-13, and say, in reference to thy spiritual enjoyments. 
 Shall I leave such soul-refreshing comforts as these for the 
 pleasures of sin ? God forbid. 
 
 Advice 3. Communicate the spiritual comforts yo'tt 
 enjoy, for the benefit and refreshment of others. The Lord 
 never intended you should engross the comforts of his Spirit 
 to yourselves, nor eat your pleasant morsels alone. He 
 comforts us, that we may be able to comfort them that are 
 in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are 
 comforted of God. 2 Cor. 1:4. It is true, rehgion lays 
 not all open; nor yet does it conceal all. There needs a 
 great deal of wisdom, humility, and caution to secure U8 
 from pride and vanity in spirit, while we communicate our 
 comforts to others. Both ostentation and self appropriation 
 of our comforts are against scripture law ; he may be justly 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST. 301 
 
 Buspected that opens all, and so may he too that conceals 
 all. Spiritual comforts are not diminished, but improved by 
 a wise and humble communication. 
 
 Advice 4. Be frequent in reneiving the acts and exer- 
 cises of faith. Your first faith brought in your first com- 
 fort ; your renewing and repeating those precious acts of 
 faith, will bring you in greater stores of comfort than you 
 yet enjoy. We are not to look upon faith as a single, but a 
 continued act : " To whom coming as unto a living stone." 
 1 Pet. 2:4. Thy soul, Christian, is to be in a continual 
 motion towards Christ ; the more you believe, the more you 
 will rejoice. You see the door through which comfort comes 
 into your soul. Joy is the daughter of faith, Rom. 15 : 13 ; 
 your present comfort is the first offspring of faith ; but there 
 are many comforts more which will yet be born to your 
 souls, if unbelief prevent it not. 
 
 Advice 5. Take heed that you he not a grief to Christy 
 who IwLth already brought so much coTnfort to you. It will 
 be a sad requital if, after he hath given you the joys of 
 heaven to drink, you shall give him that which is as worm- 
 wood and gall ; the Lord, write that caution upon thy soul : 
 "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed 
 unto the day of redemption." Eph. 4 : 30. The argument 
 of the apostle in this place strongly infers caution from com- 
 fort. Christ hath been all joy, all peace, rest, and comfort 
 to you ; take heed you be not a grief and shame to him. 
 The intermission of thy duties, the falling of thy affections 
 in duties, thy rash adventures unpn sin, will be a grief to 
 the heart of Christ, who hath filled thy heart with so much 
 comfort; and if you grieve him, you cannot expect he 
 should comfort you. A little sin may rob you of a great 
 deal of comfort. 
 
 Advice 6. Be not dejected if the first comforts Christ 
 gives you should afterwards abate, or be taken away for a 
 time. This is a common thing in the experience of most 
 
302 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Christians. You must not think your first comforts are such 
 fixed, settled things, that there is no hazard of losing them , 
 alas, nothing is more liahle to change than the joys of a 
 Christian. You will he apt to lose your first love. Rev. 2:4; 
 and if you lose your first love, no wonder that you lose your 
 first comforts. Yet if it should so fall out, be not cast down 
 and discouraged ; Christ is not gone, though comfort be 
 gone ; and though comfort be gone, it is not gone for ever ; 
 renew thy repentance, faith, and obedience, and try if God 
 will not renew thy comfort. There is a former and a latter 
 spring of joy ; God will make thy comforts spring again. 
 Besides, thy justification is steadfast, though thy consolation 
 is not so. There are two things which belong to a Chris- 
 tian : one to his being, namely, union with Christ ; another 
 to his well-being, namely, comfort from Christ. The latter 
 is contingent, the former fixed and steadfast. 
 
 Advice 7. Be filed vdth compassion to others who lack 
 the comforts you enjoy ^ especially sttch as God has united 
 to you as natural relations. Art thou a father or mother, 
 to whom God has given the comforts and soul-refi:eshments 
 that have been opened in this discourse ? And hast thou 
 no compassion for thy children, who never yet tasted one 
 drop of these spiritual consolations ? It will do a man little 
 good to be •feasted abroad, while his wife and children are 
 starving at home. Say to them as Paul, in another case, 
 ** I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear 
 •me tliis day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, 
 except these bonds." Ac^ 26 : 29. Religion creates bowels 
 of compassion. tell them what sweetness there is in the 
 ways of godliness ; counsel, plead, and pray that those who 
 are yours may also be Christ's. 
 
 Advice 8. As ever you expect the continuance and 
 enlargement of your comforts, see that you ivalk circum- 
 spectly. It is as much as all your comfort is worth to give 
 way to a little carelessness. That is a remarkable expression 
 
THE GOSPEL FEAST, 303 
 
 of the psalmist, " I will hear what God the Lord will spegik ; 
 for he wiU speak peace unto his people, and to his saints : 
 but let them not turn again to folly." Psalm 85 : 8. Sin, 
 in this text, is fitly called folly ; for indeed it is the greatest 
 folly and madness in the world to divest ourselves of such 
 sweet peace and comfort by returning to sin, which has cost 
 us so much sorrow before. Are you willing to be in your 
 former darkness and troubles — to exchange the pleasant 
 light you now enjoy for the horrors you formerly felt ? This 
 you must do, if you return again to folly. 
 
 Advice 9. Long for heaven, where is the fulness of 
 those jmjs of which these you now taste are but the earnest 
 and fir St fruits. One design of God in giving them, is to 
 set us a longing after heaven, to help our conceptions, and 
 raise our afiections : if these be so sweet, what must those 
 be ? " Ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the 
 Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting 
 for the adoption, to vfiX, the tedemption of our body." Rom. 
 8 : 23. We are not to sit down satisfied, and say we have 
 enough of these first-fruits ; they are given to make us long 
 after the fulness of those enjoyments. This answets God's 
 end in giving. 
 
 Advice 10. Improve every spiritttal comfort you have 
 from Christ to greater cheerfulness in the paths of obedi- 
 ence to Christ. This is another end for -v^hich God com- 
 municates them, that our souls being refreshed by them, we 
 might move the more nimbly in the paths of duty. " I will' 
 run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge 
 my heart." Psalm 119:32. God expects that you pray 
 more frequently, meditate more delightfully, and perform 
 every duty more cheerfully; this is the way to perpetuate 
 your comforts. How many Christians go on droopingly in 
 the ways of duty for want of the encouragements you 
 enjoy. 
 
304 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 COMMUNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEV 
 ERS ON EARTH 
 
 "I WILL COME m TO HIM, AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND Hh 
 WITH ME.'' Rev. 3:20. 
 
 We have heard the first argument of Christ to persuade 
 the hearts of sinners to open to him, that he will come in to 
 them, and that not empty-handed ; he will also sup with 
 them. And, to make the encouragement complete and full, 
 he here adds, "and he with me." This last clause sets 
 forth that spiritual, soul-refreshing communion which is 
 between Christ and believers, begun in this world, com- 
 pleted and perfected in the world to come. Hence our 
 eleventh doctrine is. 
 
 There is a muttuil, sweet,. and intimate communion 
 between Jesus Christ and believers in this world. 
 
 Communion with Christ is frequent in the lips of many 
 men, but a hidden mystery to the souls of most men. This 
 atheistical age scoffs at and ridicules it as enthusiasm and 
 fanaticism ; but the saints find such a reality and incompar- 
 able sweetness in it, that they would not part with it for ten 
 thousand worlds. When the Roman soldiers entered the 
 temple at Jerusalem, and found no image there, as they used 
 to have in their own idolatrous temples, they gave out in a 
 jeer that the Jews worshipped the clouds. Thus ungodly 
 men scoff at the most solemn and sweetest part of internal 
 rehgion as a mere fancy ; but the thing is real, sure, and 
 Bensible. If there be truth in any thing, there is truth in 
 this, that there is real intercourse between the visible and 
 invisible world, between Christ and the souls of believers, 
 which we here call communion. " Truly our fellowship is 
 with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1 John, 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 305 
 
 1:3. It is really and truly so ; we impose not upon tne 
 world, we tell you no more than we have felt. The life of 
 Enoch is called his walking with God. Gen. 5 : 24. 
 sweet and pleasant walk ; all pleasures, all joys are in that 
 walk with God. " Blessed is the people that know the joy- 
 ful sound ; they shall walk, Lord, in the light of thy coun- 
 tenance." Psalm 89 : 15. The joyful sound there spoken 
 of was the sound of the trumpet which called the people to 
 the solemn assemblies, where they walked in the light of 
 God's countenance, the sweet manifestations of his favor ; 
 and because the world is so apt to suspect the reality and 
 certainty of this doctrine, the apostle again asserts it : *' Our 
 conversation is in heaven." Phil. 3:20. "We breathe 
 below, but we live above ; we walk on earth, but our 
 conversation is in heaven. To understand this doctrine, 
 three things must come under consideration : what com- 
 munion with Christ is ; that there is such a communion 
 between him and believers ; and the excellency of this com- 
 munion. 
 
 I. What communion with Christ is, in the general 
 nature of it. , To open this, it must be considered that there 
 is a twofold communion : a state of communion, and actual 
 communion. The first is essential to the second ; we can 
 have no actual communion with the Father, Son, or Spirit, 
 till we be first brought into a state of communion. This 
 state of communion is in Scripture caUed out felloivship or 
 partnership with Christ : such a fellowship as merchants 
 have in the same ship and cargo, where one has more and an- 
 other less, but still a joint though unequal interest ; one lives 
 in one kingdom, another in some other kingdom, but they 
 are jointly interested in the same goods. This comparison 
 must not be stretched beyond its intention, which is to show 
 nothing but this, that Christ and behevers are csoheirs in 
 the same inheritance. Hence they are called his fellows oi* 
 equals : " God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of 
 
306 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 gladness above thy fellows." Psalm 45 : 7. And again, 
 *' If children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
 Christ." Rom. 8 : 17. Christ endows his people, gives 
 them a title not only to himself, but to those good things 
 purchased by him, yea, and the very glory he enjoys in 
 heaven. " The glory which thou gavest me, I have given 
 them." John 17:22. 
 
 It is true, there are some things in Christ which are pe- 
 culiar to himself, and incommunicable to any creature, as 
 his eternity, equality with his Father, etc.: neither have we 
 fellowship in his mediatorial work ; we have the fruits and 
 benejfits of it, but no partnership with him in the glory and 
 honor of it ; that is pecuHarly his own : and though it is 
 said in the Scriptures, that believers are " righteous as he is 
 righteous," 1 John,. 3 : 7, yet the meaning is not that they 
 can justify others as Christ doth ; no, they are justified 
 by him, but carmot conununicate righteousness to others. 
 But there are other things wherein there is a partnershi|) 
 between Christ and his people: they partake Svith him in 
 the spirit of sanctification on earth, and glory in heaven; 
 the same spirit of hoHness which dwells in Christ without 
 measure, is communicated by him to the saints in measure : 
 " He hath given us of his Spirit." 1 John, 4 : 13. And as 
 Christ communicates his Spirit to the saints, so he commu- 
 nicates the glory of heaven to them : not that they shall be 
 as glorious in heaven as Christ is ; no, he will be known 
 among the saints in glory, as the sun is known from the 
 stars. Thus briefly of the state of communion, which is 
 called in Scripture our ** being made nigh," Eph. 2 : 13, and 
 indeed we must be made nigh before we can actually draw 
 nigh. We must be put into a state of fellowship before we 
 can have actual communion with God. 
 
 Besides this state of communion, there is also a7i act- 
 ual communion which the saints have in this world with 
 ^he Father and the Son in the duties of religion. This is 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRISr 
 
 
 
 our supping with Christ, and he with us : and, 
 
 sake, I shall consider, ^*«i^*^IA. 
 
 Negatively, xvliat it is not; for I find persons are apt 
 greatly to mistake in this matter, taking that lor communion 
 with God which is not so ; and here let it he noted : 
 
 Com77iunion ivith God does not consist i?i the bare per- 
 formance of religious duties. I do not say that men may 
 have communion with God in this world without duties ; it 
 is a delusion of Satan to think so ; but I say, that commun- 
 ion with God consists not in the mere performance of du- 
 ties. Communion and duties of religion are two things, 
 separable one from the other. Men may multiply duties and 
 yet be strangers to communion with God in them ; even 
 days of humiliation and fasting may be kept by souls that 
 are estranged from communion with the Lord : " Speak unto 
 all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, -When 
 ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even 
 those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me ?" 
 Zech. 7:5; that is. Had your souls pure intentions and 
 respect in those duties to my glory ? Had you communion 
 with me, or I with you, in those duties ? Did you ever feel 
 your souls in those days wounded for sin ? Or did you not 
 fast out of custom ? God may be in men's mouths and at 
 the same time far from their hearts. Jer. 12:2. Religious 
 words may flow out of men's lips when no religion touches 
 their hearts, the inward powers of their souls ; you cannot 
 therefore safely depend upon outward duties, Christ rejects 
 this plea. Matt. 7 : 22. Get a better evidence of com- 
 munion with God than this, or you will certainly come short 
 of your expectation. I know you not, saith Christ ; there 
 was never any spiritual acquaintance between your souls 
 and me ; I know you not in a way of approbation. 
 
 Neither do all stirri?igs and workings of the affections 
 in duties prove communion between Christ and the soul; 
 for it is possible, yea, common, to have the affections raised 
 
308 CHPlIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOft. 
 
 by external motives in the duties of religion : this you see 
 in that example, Ezek. 33 : 32 : " Lo, thou art unto them as 
 a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice,* and 
 can play vv^ell on an instrument ; for they hear thy words, 
 but they do them not." The sweet modulation of the 
 prophet's voice was like the skilful touch of a rare musical 
 instrument, which in a natural way moved and excited 
 their affections. Thus John's hearers rejoiced in his minis- 
 try for a season. This is very apt to lead souls into a mis- 
 take as to their condition. They distinguish not between the 
 influences that come upon their affections from without, and 
 those that are inward, divine, and spiritual. 
 
 But to show, positively, wliat communion with God iSy 
 we must consider what things it presupposes in us ; and in 
 what the nature of it consists. 
 
 There are various things prerequired a7id presupposed to 
 all actual communion with God in duties ; and where these 
 things are wanting, men have no communion vdth him. 
 They may have communion with his people and his ordi- 
 nances, but not with God and Christ in them. 
 
 (1.) Union with Christ is fundamentally necessary to 
 all communion with him. All communion is founded in 
 union ; and where there is no union, there can be no com- 
 munion. The member receives nothing from the head un- 
 less it be united to it; nor the branch from the root. " AU 
 are yours; and ye are Christ's." 1 Cor. 3 : 22, 23. Here 
 is a vast possession, but all founded upon union ; union ter- 
 minates in communion ; and the closer the union, the fuller 
 is the communion. 
 
 Before our union with Christ we are strangers to God, 
 we live without God in the world, Eph. 2:12: it is in 
 Christ that we are made nigh ; it is in the Beloved that we 
 are accepted. While we are in the state of alienation from 
 Christ, we have no more to do with the communications of 
 joy and peace, with the seals and earnests of the Spirit, than 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 009 
 
 an Indian hath with the privileges of London. " If any 
 man open to me, I will come in to him and sup with him, 
 and he with me." 
 
 (2.) Communion with God presupposes the habits oj 
 grace implanted in the sotd by regeneration; a sound 
 change of heart. No regeneration, no communion : " If we 
 say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in dark- 
 ness, we lie, and do not the tnith." 1 John, 1 : 6. The 
 apostle gives the lie to such pretenders. " The Lord is nigh 
 unto all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in 
 truth," Psa. 145 : 18 ; the latter clause restrains all spiritual 
 communion to upright souls : " For a hypocrite shall not 
 come before him." Job 13 : 16. 
 
 (3.) Communion with God not only supposes grace im- 
 planted, but also implanted grace excited, grace in action. 
 A man may have the habits of faith, love, and delight in 
 him, and yet be without actual communion with God. A 
 believer when he is asleep, and performs no acts of grace, is 
 in a state of communion with God ; but if he will have 
 actual communion, his faith, love, and delight must be 
 awakened ; they must not lie asleep in the habit. " When 
 thou saidst. Seek ye my face ; my heart said unto thee. Thy 
 face, Lord, will I seek." Psa. 27 : 8. It is in order to actual 
 communion with Christ that the church so earnestly begs 
 fresh influences of the Spirit to excite her graces into action : 
 " Awake, north wind ; and come, thou south ; blow upon 
 my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my 
 beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." 
 Sol. Song 4:16. And though believers are not so to wait for 
 the influences of the Spirit as to neglect the outward means 
 of engaging their hearts to approach unto God, Jer. 30 : 21, 
 yet certainly it is the work of God's Spirit, and without him 
 we can do nothing to any purpose. The seamen may trim 
 the sails, weigh the anchor, and put all into sailing order ; 
 but till a gale come from heaven there is little or no motion. 
 
310 CHEIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 The same Spirit that plants the habits, excites the acts of 
 jrrace. These three things therefore are prerequisites to all 
 communion with God. 
 
 Now let us more directly consider in what this heav- 
 enly PRIVILEGE OF COMMUNION WITH GoD CONSISTS; and 
 
 generally it will be found to lie in a spiritual correspondence 
 between Christ and the soul. God sends forth influences 
 upon our souls, and we, by the assistance of his Spirit, make 
 returns again unto God. Communion is a mutual action ; 
 so in the text, "I will sup with him, and he with me." 
 We cry to God, and God answers that cry by the incomes 
 of spiritual grace upon the soul : "In the day when I cried 
 thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength 
 in my soul." Psa. 138 : 3. More particularly, there are 
 many. ways wherein men have this spiritual correspondence 
 or communion with God, as in the contemplation of his attri- 
 butes, in the exercises of our graces in religious duties, and 
 in his various providences. In all these the saints have 
 communion with him. 
 
 1. There is a sweet communion between God and his 
 people, in the contemplation of the divine attributes, and 
 the impressions God makes by them upon our souls while 
 we meditate on them. 
 
 (1.) Sometimes the Lord manifests to the souls of his 
 people his immense greatness; the manifestation of which 
 attribute makes an humbling impression upon the soul, and 
 saints seem as nothing to themselves. Thus when Abraham, 
 that great believer, considered the greatness of the God with 
 whom he had to do, that sight of God seemed to reduce 
 him as it were into dust and ashes : " Behold now, I have 
 taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust 
 and ashes." Gen. 18:27. He looks upon himself as*a 
 heap of vileness and unworthiness ; so David, " When I 
 consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers ; the moon and 
 the stars, which thou hast ordained ; Lord, what is man, that 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 311 
 
 thou art mindful of him ?'' Psa. 8:3,4; that is, When I 
 consider what a great God the Creator of the world is, I am 
 astonished that he should set his heart upon so vile a thing 
 as man. When men compare themselves among them- 
 selves, and measure themselves by themselves, their spirits 
 are apt to swell with pride ; but would they look up to God, 
 as these holy men did, they would admire his condescension. 
 And this is communion with God in the meditation of his 
 immense greatness. 
 
 (2.) The representation of the purity and holiness of 
 God, working shame and deep abasement in the soul for the 
 pollutions and sin that are in it, this is communion with 
 God, and an excellent way of fellowship with him. Thus, 
 when a representation of God in his holiness was made to 
 the prophet, there were the seraphim, covering their faces 
 with their wings and crying one to another, saying, ** Holy, 
 holy, holy is the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of 
 his glory." The efiect this produced, or the return made by 
 the prophet to this manifestation of God in his hohness, was 
 deep abasement of soul for his unsuitableness to meet so 
 holy a God : " Then said I, Woe is me I for I am undone ; 
 because I am a man of unclean lips." Isa. 6 : 3-5. This 
 is communion with God in his holiness. Thus Job, who had 
 stiffly defended his own integrity against men, when God en- 
 ters the lists with him and he saw with what a great and 
 holy God he bad to do, cried out, Job 40 : 4, 5, " Behold, I 
 am vile ; what shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand 
 upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not an- 
 swer ; yea, twice, but I will proceed no further." That is, 
 I am silent ; Lord, I have done : I could answer men, but I 
 cannot answer thee ; thou art holy, but I am vile. 
 
 (3.) There are sometimes representations of the goodness 
 and inercy of God made to the souls of his people. When 
 these produce an ingenuous melting of the heart into an hum- 
 ble, thankful admiration, and a corresponding care of pleas- 
 
312 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 ing him in the ways of obedience, then have men commun- 
 ion with God in his goodness. The goodness of God runs 
 down to men in a double channel : to their bodies, in exter- 
 nal providences ; and to their souls, in spiritual mercies. 
 When the goodness of God, either way, draws forth the love 
 and gratitude of the soul to the God of our mercies, then 
 have we real communion with him. Thus Jacob : " And 
 Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my 
 father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me. Return unto 
 thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with 
 thee : I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and 
 of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant ; 
 for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am 
 become two bands." Gen. 32 : 9, 10. Ah, Lord, I see a 
 multitude of mercies round about me, and the least of them 
 is greater than I. So "David the king came and sat before 
 the Lord, and said. Who am I, Lord God, and what is 
 my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ? And yet 
 this was a small thing in thine eyes, God ; for thou hast 
 also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, 
 and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of 
 high degree. What can David speak more to thee ?" 
 1 Chron. 17 : 16-18. You see in these instances, what 
 effects the goodness of God, even in inferior, outward mer- 
 cies, produces in sanctified hearts. But, if you come to 
 spiritual mercies, and ponder the goodness of God to your 
 Bouls, in pardoning, accepting, and saving such sinful crea- 
 tures as you have been ; this much more affects the heart, 
 and overwhelms it with holy astonishment; as you see in 
 Paul : I " was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and 
 injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly 
 in unbelief: and the grace of our Lord Jesus was exceed- 
 ing abundant." 1 Tim. 1 : 13, 14. So when pardoning 
 grace appeared to Mary, that notorious sinner, into what a 
 flood of tears, into what transports of love did the sight of 
 
COMiltr-NION WITH CHRIST. 313 
 
 mercy cast her soul I She wept and washed her Saviour's 
 feet with tears of joy and thankfulness. Luke 7 : 44. No 
 terrors of the law, no frights of hell melt the heart like the 
 apprehensions of pardoning mercy. 
 
 (4.) Sometimes special representations of the veracity 
 and faithfulness of God are made to his people, begetting 
 trust and holy confidence in their souls ; then have men 
 communion with God in his faithfulness. Thus, Hebrews 
 13 : 5, 6, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." 
 There is a discovery of the faithfulness of God ; and what 
 follows upon this ? "So that we may boldly say, the Lord 
 is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto 
 me." Here is faithfulness in God, producing trust and con- 
 fidence in the believer ; this is that reciprocation, that sweet 
 fellowship and communion between God and a believer with 
 respect to his fidelity. *' Behold, God is my salvation ; I 
 will trust and not be afraid." Isa. 12:2. And truly, 
 friend, this is what the Lord justly expects from thee, even 
 trust and confidence in him, thy steady dependence on him, 
 in return for all the manifestations of his faithfulness to thee 
 both in his word and providence. 
 
 (5.) There are manifestations of the displeasure of God 
 by the hiding of his face and the frowns of his providence : 
 when these produce repentance and deep humiliation for 
 sin, an unquietness, a restlessness of spirit till he restore his 
 favor and manifest his reconciliation to the soul, even here 
 also is a real communion between God and the soul. *' Thou 
 didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." Psa. 30 : 7. Nor 
 will a gracious soul rest there, but will take pains to sue out 
 a fresh pardon. " Make me to hear joy and gladness, that 
 the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Restore 
 unto me the joys of thy salvation." Psa. 51 : 8, 12. 
 
 I cannot here omit to point out a great mistake even 
 among God's own people : many of them understand not 
 what communion there should be with God under the man- 
 
 Christ Knockiaif. 14 
 
314 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 ifestations of his displeasure for sin. They know the afiec- 
 tionate meltings of their souls into love and praise to he 
 communion with God; hut that in the shame, grief, and 
 Borrow produced in them by the manifestations of God's 
 displeasure — that even in these things there may he com- 
 munion with God, they understand not. But let me tell 
 thee, that even such things as these are the choice fruits of 
 the spirit of adoption, and that in them thy soul hath as 
 real and beneficial communion with God, as in the greatest 
 transports of spiritual joy. it is blessed to be before the 
 Lord as Ezra was, after conviction of carelessness, and 
 spiritual defilements; saying with him, "0 my God, I am 
 ashamed and blush to hft up my face to thee, my God." 
 Ezra 9:6. Shame and blushing are as excellent signs of 
 communion vjdth God as the sweetest smiles. 
 
 (6.) There are special contemplations of the o??^msc^e7^ce 
 of God, producing sincerity, comfort in appeals, and recourse 
 to it in doubts of our own uprightness ; and this also is an 
 excellent method of communion with God. First, when 
 the omniscience of God strongly obUges the soul to sincerity 
 and uprightness, as it did David : " If I say, Surely the dark- 
 ness shall cover me ; even the night shall be light about 
 me ; yea, the darkness hideth not from thee ; but the night 
 shineth as the day : the darkness and the light are both alike 
 to thee," Psa. 139: 11, 12, compared with Psa. 18: 23, 
 " I was also upright before him." The consideration that 
 he was always before the eye of God was his preservative 
 from iniquity, yea, from his own iniquity. Second, when 
 it produces comforts in appeals to it, as it did to Heze- 
 kiah : " I beseech thee, Lord, remember now how I have 
 walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and 
 have done that which is good in thy sight." 2 Kings, 20 : 3. 
 So Job also appeals to this attribute : " Thou knowest that 
 I am not wicked." Job 10 : 7. So did Jeremiah : " But 
 thou, Lord, knowest me ; thou hast seen me, and tried 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 315 
 
 my heart toward thee," Jer. 12:3. Third, when we have 
 recourse to it under doubts and fears as to our own upright- 
 ness. Thus did David : " Search me, God, and know my 
 heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; and see if there be 
 any wicked way in me." Psa. 139 : 23, 24. In all these 
 attributes of God, Christians have real and sweet commun- 
 ion with him. 
 
 2. The next method of communion with God is in the 
 exercise of our graces in the duties of religion, such as 
 prayer, hearing, and the sacraments ; in all which the 
 Spirit of the Lord influences the graces of his people, and 
 they return the fruits thereof in some measure to him. As 
 God hath planted various graces in regenerate souls, so he 
 hath appointed various duties to exercise and draw forth 
 those graces ; and when they do so, then have his people 
 sweet communion with him. And, 
 
 (1.) To begin with the first grace that shows itself in the 
 soul of a Christian, to wit, repentance, or sorrow for sin. 
 In the exercise of this grace of repentance, the soul pours 
 out itself before the Lord with much bitterness and broken- 
 ness of heart, and spreads forth its sorrows, which are as so 
 much seed sown ; and in return thereto the Lord usually 
 sends an answer of peace. " I said, I will confess my trans- 
 gression unto the Lord ; and thou forgavest the iniquity of 
 my sin." Psa. 32 : 5. Here is a voice of sorrow sent up, 
 and a voice of peace coming down, which is real commun- 
 ion between God and man in the exercise of repentance. 
 
 (2.) As there are seasons in duty wherein the saints 
 exercise their repentance, and the Lord returns peace ; so 
 lilcewise the Lord helps them in their duties to did faith, in 
 return whereunto they find from the Lord inward sup- 
 port, rest, and refreshment. " I had fainted, imless I had 
 beheved." Psa. 27 : 13. And ofttimes an assurance is 
 given them of the mercies they have acted their faith about. 
 1 John, 5 : 14. 
 
316 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 (3.) The Lord many times draws forth eminent degrees 
 of our love to him in the course of our duties ; the heart is 
 filled with love to Christ. The strength of the soul is 
 drawn forth to Christ in love, and this the Lord repays in 
 kind, love for love : " He that loveth me shall be loved of 
 my Fatlier, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to 
 him. My Father will love him, and we will come unto 
 him, and make our abode with him." John 14: 21,23. 
 Here is sweet communion with God in the exercise of love. 
 what enjoyment do Christians thus gain in their duties 
 and exercise of graces I 
 
 (4.) To mention no more, in the duties of passive obe- 
 dience Christians are enabled to exercise their patience^ 
 meekness, and long-suffering for Christ ; in return to which 
 the Lord gives them the special consolations of his Spirit, 
 double returns of joy : "The Spirit of glory and of God 
 resteth upon them." 1 Pet. 4 : 14. The Lord strengthens 
 them with fortitude, and with all might in the inner man, 
 unto aU long-suffering ; and the reward of that long-suffer- 
 ing is joyfulness. Col. 1:11. 
 
 3. Besides communion with God in the contemplation 
 of his attributes, and graces exercised in the course of duties, 
 there is another method of communion with God in the 
 way of his providences ; for therein also his people walk with 
 him. To give a view of this, let us consider providence in 
 a fourfold aspect towards the people of God. 
 
 (1.) There are afflictive providences and rebukes where- 
 with the Lord chastens his children ; this is the discipline of 
 his house : in answer whereunto, gracious souls return meek 
 and childlike submission, a fruit of the Spirit of adoption ; 
 they are brought to accept the punishment of their iniquities. • 
 And herein lies communion with God under the rod. This 
 answer to the rod may not be made at once, for there is 
 much stubbornness unmortified in the best hearts, Heb. 12:7, 
 but this is the fruit it shall yield ; and when it doth, there 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 317 
 
 is real communion between God and the afflicted soul. Let 
 not Christians mistake themselves : if when God is smiting 
 they are humbled, search their hearts, and bless God for the 
 discoveries of sin made by their afflictions ; if they admire 
 his wisdom in timing, moderating, and choosing the rod ; ii 
 they kiss it with childlike submission, and s&y. It is good 
 for me that I have been afflicted, they have real communion 
 with God, though it may be for a time without joy. 
 
 (2.) There are times when providence straitens the 
 people of God, when their waters of comfort ebb and run 
 very low, and their wants pinch ; the soul then exercises in 
 return filial dependence upon fatherly care, saying with 
 David, " The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want," Psa. 
 23 : 1 : it belongs to him to provide, and to me to depend ; 
 I will trust my Father's care and love. Here now is sweet 
 communion with God under pinching wants. The wants 
 of the body enrich the soul ; outward straits are the occasion 
 of inward enlargements. See, from hence, how good it is to 
 have an interest in God as a Father, whatever changes of 
 providences may come upon you. 
 
 (3.) There are seasons wherein the Lord exposes his peo^ 
 pie to imminent dangers, when to the eye of sense there is 
 no way of escape. When this produces trust in God, and 
 resignation to the pleasure of his will, there is communion 
 with God in times of distress and difficulty. Thus David, 
 Psa. 56 : 3 : " What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee :" 
 Father, I see a storm rising, thy poor child comes under his 
 Father's roof for shelter ; for whither should a distressed 
 child go but to his Father ? 
 
 (4.) And then, as to the events of doubtful providences, 
 when the soul resigns and leaves itself to the wise disposal 
 of the will of God, as David in 2 Sam. 15 : 26 : " Here 
 am I ; let him do to me as seemeth good in his sight :" this 
 is real and sweet communion with God in his providences 
 So much for the nature of communion with God. 
 
318 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 11. I shall show the reality of communion with God, 
 and prove it to he no fancy. I confess it grieves me to he 
 put upon the proof of this, but the atheism and profaneness 
 of the age we live in seem to make it necessary ; for many 
 men will allow nothing for certain hut what falls under the 
 cognizance of 'sense. that they had their spiritual senses 
 exercised ; then they would sensibly discern the reality of 
 these things. But to put the matter out of question, I shall 
 show the truth and reality of the saints' communion with 
 God in divers ways. 
 
 Evidence 1. From the saints' union with Christ. If 
 there be a union between Christ and believers, then of 
 necessity there must be communion between them also. 
 Now the whole word of God which you profess to be the 
 rule of your faith, plainly asserts this union between Christ 
 and beUevers ; an union like that between the branches and 
 the root, John 15 : 4, 5, or that between the head and the 
 members, Eph. 4:16. Now, if Christ be to believers as 
 the root to the branches, and as the head to the members, 
 then of necessity there must be a communion between them ; 
 for if there were not a communion, there could be no com- 
 munications ; and if no communications, no Hfe. It is by 
 the communication of vital sap from the root and from the 
 head, that the branches and members subsist and live. 
 
 Evidence 2. There is a cohabitation of Christ with 
 believers ; he dwells with them, yea, he dwells in them : 
 " I will dwell in them, and walk in them." 2 Cor. 6 : 16. 
 The soul of a believer is the temple of Christ ; yea, his Uv- 
 ing temple. 1 Pet. 2:5. And if Christ dwell in them and 
 walk in them, then certainly there must be communion 
 between him and them ; if they live together, they must 
 converse together. A man indeed may dwell in his house, 
 and yet cannot be said to have communion with it ; but the 
 saints are a living house, they are the living temples of 
 Christ; and he carmot dwell in such temples capable of 
 
I 
 
 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 319 
 
 communion with him, and yet have no communion with 
 them. 
 
 Evidence 3. The reahty of communion between God 
 and the saints is undeniably evinced by the spiritical rela- 
 tions into which God has taken them. Every believer is 
 the child of God and the spouse of Christ. God is the 
 believer's Father, and the church is the Lamb's wife. 
 Christ calls the believer not only his servant, but his friend. 
 •* Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth 
 not what his Lord doeth : but I have called you friends." 
 John 15 : 15. Now, if God be the believer's Father, and 
 the believer be God's own child, certainly there must be 
 communion between them. If Christ be the believer's hus- 
 band, and the believer be Christ's spouse, there must be com- 
 munion between them. What, no communion between the 
 Father and his children, the husband and the wife ? We 
 must either renounce and deny all such relation to him, 
 and therein renounce our Bibles ; or else yield the conclu- 
 sion that there is a real communion between Christ and 
 beUevers. 
 
 Evidence 4. The reality of communion with God ap- 
 pears from the institution of the ordinances and duties of 
 religion^ to maintain daily communion between Christ and 
 his people. As to instance but one institution, that of 
 prayer — a duty appointed on purpose for the soul's meeting 
 with God, and communion with him : " Draw nigh to God, 
 and he will draw nigh to you." James 4:8. Now, to 
 what purpose can such an ordinance be appointed for the 
 eoul's drawing nigh to God, and God to it, if there be no 
 such thing as communion to be enjoyed with him ? If com- 
 m anion with God were a mere phantom, as the carnal 
 world thinks it to be, what encouragement have the saints 
 to bow their knees to the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ ? But surely there is an access to God in 
 prayer : " In whom we have boldness, and access with con- 
 
320 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 fidence." Eph. 3 : 12. Access to what ? If God be not 
 there, and there can be no communion with him, what 
 means that access ? " And there I will meet with thee, 
 and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat." 
 Exod. 25 : 22. Duties had never been appointed, but for 
 the sake of God's communing with us, and we with him. 
 
 Evidence 5. Tliis is yet further proved from the mutual 
 desires both of Christ and his people to be in sweet and 
 intimate communion one zvith the other. The Scripture 
 speaks much of the saints' vehement desires after commun- 
 ion with Christ, and of Christ's desires after communion 
 with the saints, and of both jointly. The saints' desires after 
 communion with him are frequent in the Scriptures ; see 
 Psa. 63 : 1-3 ; 42 : 1 ; 119 : 20, and the like throughout 
 the New Testament. And Christ is no less desirous, yea, 
 he is much more desirous of communion with us than we 
 are with him. Consider that expression of his to the spouse, 
 in Sol. Song 8 : 13 : " Thou that dwellest in the gardens, 
 the companions hearken to thy voice ; cause me to hear it.'* 
 As if he had said, my people, you frequently converse one 
 with another, you talk daily together ; why shall not you 
 and I converse with each other ? You speak often to men ; 
 that you would speak more frequently to me ! " Let me 
 see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice ; for sweet is thy 
 voice, and thy countenance is comely." Sol. Song 2 : 14. 
 And then these desires are mutually expressed one to another. 
 Christ has said, " Surely I come quickly." And the church 
 replies, •' Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22 : 20. 
 Now, if there be such vehement mutual desires after com- 
 munion between Christ and his people in this world, then 
 certainly there is such a thing as real communion between 
 them, or else both must hve a very restless and dissatisfied life. 
 
 Evidence 6. The mutual co??iplaints of the interrup- 
 tion of communion plainly prove there is such a thing. li 
 God complain of his people for their estrangements froni 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 321 
 
 him, and the saints complain to God of his silence to them, 
 and the hidings of his face from them, surely there must be 
 a communion between them, else there could be no ground 
 of complaints for the interruptions of it. But God does 
 complain of his people for their estrangements from him. 
 '* Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of 
 thy youth, the love of thine espousals. What iniquity have 
 your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me ?" 
 Jer. 2:2, 5. As if he should say, You and I have been 
 better acquainted in days past ; what cause have I given for 
 your estrangements from me ? And thus Christ complains 
 of the church of Ephesus ; after he had commended many 
 things in her, one thing grieves him : " Nevertheless, I have 
 somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first 
 love." Rev. 2:4. And then on the other side, when the 
 Lord hides his face and seems to estrange himself from his 
 people, what sad lamentations and moans do they make about 
 it, as an affliction they know not how to bear. Thus the 
 Psalmist : " Lord, why castest thou off my soul ; why hidest 
 thou thy face from me?" Psa. 88 : 14. "Hide not thy 
 face far from me ; put not thy servant away in anger." Psa. 
 27 : 9. This is what they cannot bear. 
 
 Evidence 7. The reality of communion with God is 
 made visible to otliers, in the effects of it upon the saints 
 who enjoy it. There are visible signs and tokens of it 
 appearing to the conviction of others. Thus that marvel- 
 lous change which appeared on the very countenance of Han- 
 nah, after she had poured out her heart in prayer, and the 
 Lord had answered her : it is said, " The woman went 
 her way, and her countenance was no more sad." 1 Sam. 
 ] : 18. You might have read in her face that God had 
 spoken peace and satisfaction to her heart. Thus, when 
 the disciples had been with Christ, the mark of communion 
 with him was visible to others : " Now, when they saw the 
 
 boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were 
 
 14# 
 
322 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled ; and they took 
 knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus." Acts 
 4 : 13. It is sweet, Christian, when the cheerfulness and 
 spirituality of thy conversation with men shall convince 
 others that thou hast been with Jesus. 
 
 Evidence 8. We may prove the reality of communion 
 with God, from the impossibility of sustaining the troubles 
 which the saints Jmve without it. If prayers did not go up 
 and answers come down, there were no living for a Christian 
 in this world. Prayer is the outlet of the saints' sorrows, 
 and the inlet of their supports and comforts. Rom. 8 : 26. 
 Say not that other men have their troubles as well as the 
 saints, and yet bear them without the help of communion 
 with God. It is true that carnal men have their troubles, 
 and those troubles are often too heavy for them. The sor- 
 rows of the world work death ; but carnal men have no 
 such troubles as the saints have, for they have their inward, 
 spiritual troubles, as well as their outward troubles. And 
 inward troubles are the sinking troubles; but thus the 
 strength of God comes to succor them : and except they had 
 a God to go to, and draw comfort from, they could never 
 bear them. " I had fainted, unless I had believed." Psa. 
 27 : 13. Paul had sunk under the bufietings of Satan, 
 unless he had gone once and again to his God, and received 
 the answer, " My grace is sufficient for thee." 2 Cor. 12:9. 
 
 Evidence 9. We argue the reality of communion with 
 God from the end of the saints' vocation. We read fre- 
 quently in Scripture of effectual caDing; and what is that 
 to which God calls his people, out of the state of nature, 
 but unto fellowship and communion with Jesus Christ ? 
 ** God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellow- 
 ship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Cor. 1 : 9. They 
 are called, you see, into a life of communion with Christ : 
 therefore there is such a communion, else the saints are 
 called to the enjoyment of a fancy, instead of a privilege ; 
 
I 
 
 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 323 
 
 which is the greatest reproach that can be cast upon the 
 faithful God that called them. 
 
 Evidence 10. The characters and description given of 
 the saints in Scripture, evidently show their life of cora- 
 I munion with God. The men of this world are, in Scrip- 
 ture, manifestly distinguished from the people of God ; they 
 are called, the children of this world ; but the saints, the 
 children of light. Luke 16:8. They are said to be after the 
 flesh, but saints to be after the Spirit. Rom. 8:5. They 
 mind earthly things, but the conversation of the saints is in 
 heaven. Phil. 3 : 19, 20. By all which it undeniably appears 
 that there is a reahty in the doctrine of communion between. 
 Christ and his people. We are not imposed upon ; it is no 
 cunningly devised fable, but a thing whose foundation is as 
 sure as its nature is sweet. 
 
324 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 COMMUNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEV- 
 ERS ON EARTH — CONTINUED. 
 
 «I WILL COME IN TO HIM, AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HS 
 WITH ME." Rev. 3:20. 
 
 I SHALL now proceed to show you, 
 
 III. The transcendent excellency of this hfe of com- 
 munion with God : it is the life of our life, the joy of our 
 hearts ; a heaven upon earth — as will appear by these twenty 
 excellencies thereof. 
 
 Excellency 1. It is the assimilating i?istrument where- 
 by the soul is Tnoulded after the image of God. This is the 
 excellency of communion with God, to make the soul hke 
 him. There is a twofold assimilation or conformity of the 
 soul to God, the one perfect and complete, the other imper- 
 fect and in part. Perfect assimilation is the privilege of the 
 perfect state, resulting from the immediate vision and per- 
 fect communion the soul has with God in glory : " When 
 he shall appear, we shall be like hiip, for we shall see him 
 as he is." 1 John, 3 : 2. Perfect vision produces perfect 
 assimilation; but the soul's assimilation or imperfect con- 
 formity to God in this world, is wrought and gradually car- 
 ried on by daily communion with him. And as our com- 
 munion with God here grows up more and more into spirit- 
 uality and power, so in an answerable degree does our 
 conformity to him advance: "But we all, with open face 
 beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed 
 into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit 
 of the Lord." 2 Corinth. 3:18. All sorts of communion 
 among men have an assimilating efficacy : he that walks in 
 vain company is vainer than he was before ; and he that 
 walks in spiritual, heavenly company, will be more serious 
 than before. But nothing so transforms the spirit of a man 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 325 
 
 as coramunion with God. Those are most hke God that 
 converse most frequently with him. The beauty of the Lord 
 is upon those souls ; it changes the spirit of a man after the 
 divine pattern. 
 
 Excellency 2. It is the beauty of the soul, in the eyes 
 of God and all good men ; it makes the face to shine. No 
 outward splendor attracts like this ; it makes a man the most 
 desirable companion in the whole world : " That which we 
 have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may 
 have fellowship with us ; and truly our fellowship is with 
 the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1 John, 1 : 3. 
 This is the great inducement the apostle makes use of to 
 draw the world into fellowship with the saints, that their 
 fellowship is with God. And if there were ten thousand 
 other inducements, there could be none like this. You read 
 of a blessed time, when the earth shall be full of holiness ; 
 when the Jews, now as a lost generation, shall be called, 
 and an eminent degree of sanctification shall be visible in 
 them ; and tlien see the effect of this : " In those days it 
 shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all 
 languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirts 
 of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you ; for we 
 have heard that God is with you." Zech. 8 : 23. This 
 is the powerful attractive, the Lord is with you ; it is the 
 efiect of communion with God, which makes the righteous 
 more excellent than his neighbor. Prov. 12 : 26. What a 
 visible difference does this make between one man and 
 another. How heavenly, sweet, and desirable are the con- 
 versation and company of some men ; how frothy, burden- 
 some, and unprofitable is the company of others ; and what 
 makes the difference but only this, the one walks in commun- 
 ion with God, the other is alienated from the life of God ? 
 
 Excellency 3. It is the centre on ivhich rests the weary 
 soul — the rest and refreshment of a man's spirit : "Return 
 unto thy rest, my soul." Psa. 116 : 7. When wc attain 
 
326 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 perfect communion with God in heaven, we«attain to perfect 
 rest ; and all the rest the spirit of man finds on earth, is in 
 communion with God. Take a sanctified person who has 
 intermitted for some time his communion with the Lord, and 
 ask him, Is your soul at rest and ease ? He will tell you, No. 
 The motions of his soul are like those of a member of his 
 body out of joint, neither comely nor easy. Let him recover 
 his spiritual frame again, and with it he recoveie his rest 
 and comfort. Christians, you meet with a variety of troub- 
 les in this world ; many a sweet comfort is cut ofi*, many a 
 hopeful project dashed by the hand of Providence ; and 
 what, think you, is the meaning of these blasting, disappoint- 
 ing providences ? Surely this is their design and errand, to 
 disturb your false rest in the bosom of the creature ; to pluck 
 away the pillows you were laying your heads upon, that you 
 may be led back to God, recover your lost communion with 
 him, and say with David, "Return unto thy rest, my 
 soul." Sometimes we are settling ourselves to rest in an 
 estate, in a child, or the hke : • at such a time it is usual for 
 God to say, Go, losses, smite such a man's estate ; go, death, 
 and take away the desire of his eyes with a stroke, that my 
 child may find rest nowhere but in me. God is the ark ; 
 the soul, like the dove Noah sent forth, let it fly where it 
 will, shall find no rest till it come back to God. 
 
 Excellency 4. It is the desire of all gracious souls 
 throughout the world. Wherever there is a gracious soul, 
 its desires work after communion with God. As Christ was 
 called, " The Desire of all nations," Hag. 2 : 7, so communion 
 with him is the desire of all nations ; and this speaks the 
 excellency of it : " One thing have I desired of the Lord, 
 that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the 
 Lord all the days of my Hfe, to behold the beauty of the 
 Lord, and to inquire in his temple." Psa. 27 : 4. That is 
 to enjoy communion with him in the public duties of his 
 worship. One thing have I desired, that is, one thing above 
 
! 
 
 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 327 
 
 all others ; such an one, that if God shall give it me, I can 
 comfortably bear the want of other things. Let him deny 
 me what he will, if he will not deny me this one thing ; 
 this shall richly recompense the want of all other things. 
 Hence the desires of the saints are so intense after this one 
 thing : "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so pant- 
 eth my soul after thee, God ;" and, " My soul fainteth for 
 thy salvation ;" "When wilt thou come imto me?" Psalm 
 42 : 1 ; 119 : 81 ; 101 : 2. No duties can satisfy without it, 
 the soul cannot bear the delay, much less the denial of this 
 communion. Christians reckon their lives worth nothing 
 without it. Ministers may come, ordinances and sabbaths 
 may come ; but there is no satisfaction to the desires of a 
 gracious heart, till God comes too : "0 when "w^t thou 
 come unto me?" 
 
 Excellency 5. As it is the desire, so it is the delight 
 of all the children of God, both in heaven and earth. As 
 communion with the saints is the delight of Christ, "Let 
 me hear thy voice ;" and again, " The companions hearken 
 to thy voice; cause me to hear it;" so communion with 
 Christ is the delight of his people : " I sat down under his 
 shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my 
 taste." Sol. Song 2 : 14 ; 8 : 13 ; 2 : 3. It is the pleasure of 
 Christ to see the earnest countenances, the blushing cheeks, 
 the weeping eyes of his people on their knees ; and it is the 
 delight of the saints to see a smile upon his face, and to hear 
 a voice of pardon and peace from his lips. I must tell you, 
 Christians, you must look for no such delights as these in 
 any earthly enjoyment ; there are none better than these, 
 tiU you come home to glory. Communion with God then 
 appears most excellent, inasmuch as it is the desire and 
 delight of all gracious souls. 
 
 Excellency 6. It is the envy of Satan, that which 
 mortifies and disappoints that wicked spirit. how it grates 
 and gaUs that proud and envious spirit, to see men enjoying 
 
328 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 the pleasure of communion with God, from which he hifiiSeli 
 is fallen and cut off for ever ; to see the saints in delightful 
 communion with Christ, while he feels the pangs of horror 
 and despair : this he cannot endure to behold. And there- 
 fore you find in your experience, that times of communion 
 with God are usually busy times of temptation from the 
 devil. "And he showed me Joshua the high-priest standing 
 before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right 
 hand to resist him." Zech. 3:1. It is well for thee, Chris- 
 tian, that thou hast an Advocate standing at God's right 
 hand to resist and frustrate his attempts upon thee ; other- 
 wise Satan would thus destroy your communion vidth God, 
 and make that which is now your delight, your terror. 
 Many ways doth the devil oppose the saints' communion 
 with God : sometimes he labors to divert them from it ; tliis 
 business shall fall in, or that occasion fall out, on purpose to 
 divert thy soul's approach to God ; but if he cannot prevail 
 in this, then he labors to distract your thoughts into a thou* 
 sand vanities ; or if he succeed not there, he attacks you in 
 your return from duty, with spiritual pride and security. 
 These fierce oppositions of hell show the worth and excel- 
 lency of communion with God. 
 
 Excellency 7. It is the design of all the ordi?iances 
 and duties of religion. God has instituted every ordinance 
 and duty, whether public or private, to beget and maintain 
 communion bertween himself and our souls. "What are ordi- 
 nances, duties, and graces, but perspective-glasses to give us 
 a sight of God and help us to communion with hin\ ? God 
 never intended his ordinances to be our rest, but mediums ol 
 communion with himself, who is our true rest. When wo 
 go into a boat, it is not with an intention to dwell there, but 
 to be ferried over the water where our business lies. If a 
 man miss of communion with God in the best ordinance oi 
 duty, it yields him little comfort. He comes back from it, 
 like a man that hath travelled many miles to meet a dear 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 329 
 
 friend on special business, but met with disappointment, and 
 returns sad and dissatisfied. God appoints ordinances to be 
 meeting-places with himself in this world : " Thou shalt 
 put the mercy-seat above upon the ark ; and in the ark thou 
 shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I 
 will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from 
 above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubims." 
 Exodus 25 : 21, 22. It was not the sight of the golden 
 cherubims, or of the ark overlaid with pure gold, which 
 could have satisfied Moses, had not the special presence of 
 God been there, and had he not held communion with him. 
 " God, thou art my God ; early will I seek thee : ray soul 
 tliirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and 
 thirsty land, where no water is ; to see thy power and thy 
 glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." Psalm 
 63 : 1, 2. Magnificent structures, or artificial ornaments of 
 places of worship, are of little account with a gracious soul ; 
 it is the presence of God and .communion with him which 
 is the beauty and glory the saints desire to behold. 
 
 Excellency 8. It is the evidence of our union with 
 Christ and interest in him. All union with Christ must 
 evidence itself by a life of communion with him, or our pre- 
 tensions to it are vain and groundless. There are many — I 
 wish there were more — inquiring after evidences and signs 
 of their union with Christ ; here is an evidence that can 
 never fail you : Do you live in communion with him ? May 
 your life be called a walking with God, as Enoch's was? 
 Then you may be sure you have union with him ; and tHs is . 
 so sure a sigii, as that death itself, which usually discovers 
 the vanity of false signs, will never be able to destroy it. 
 Hezekiah could say, "I beseech thee, Lord, remember now 
 how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect 
 heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight." 
 2 Kings, 20 : 3. 0, professors, it will be a dreadful thing, 
 whatever ungrounded hopes and false comforts you now 
 
330 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 have, to find them shrinking away firom you, as certainly 
 they will at death ; and all on this account : "I have been 
 a man of knowledge, have been frequent in the external 
 duties of religion, but my heart was not in them ; I had 
 no communion with the Lord in them, and now God is a ter- 
 ror to my soul. I am going to his awful bar, and have not 
 one sound evidence to carry with me." That is a remark- 
 able text in Gal. 5 : 25, " If we live in the Spirit, let us 
 also walk in the Spirit ;" that is, let us evidence the life of 
 grace in us by exercising that grace in a life of communion 
 with God. When all is said, this is the surest evidence of our 
 union with Christ ; and no gifts or performances whatever 
 can amount to evidence of union with Christ without it. 
 
 Excellency 9. It is ease in all pains, sweet and sensi- 
 ble ease to a troubled soul. As the bleeding of a vein cools, 
 eases, and refreshes a feverish body ; so the opening of the 
 soul by acts of communion with God, gives ease to a bur- 
 dened soul : griefs are eased by groans heavenward. Many 
 souls are deeply laden with their own fears, cares, and dis- 
 tresses ; no refreshment for such a soul, no anodyne in the 
 whole world like communion with God. Psa. 32 : 1, 2. 
 How did troubles afflict David's soul ; night and day God's 
 hand was heavy on him ; his soul, as Elihu speaks, was like 
 bottles full of new wine : he must speak to God ; and so he 
 did, and was refreshed by it : "I said, I will confess my 
 transgressions imto the Lord ; and thou forgavest the iniquity 
 of my sin." Ver. 5. It would grieve one to see how many 
 distressed souls carry their troubles up and down the world, 
 making their complaints to one and another ; but obtain no 
 ease. Away to thy God, poor Christian; get thee into thy 
 closet, pour out thy soul before him ; and that ease which 
 thou seekest in vain elsewhere, will there be found, or no- 
 where. 
 
 Excellency 10. It is food to the soul, and the most 
 delicious, pleasant, proper, and satisfying food that ever it 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 331 
 
 tasted; it is hidden manna. Rev. 2:17. "0 Lord, by 
 these things men live, and in all these things is the life of 
 my spirit." Isa. 38 : 16. Regenerate souls cannot live 
 without spiritual food : their bodies can live as well without 
 bread, as their souls without communion with God ; it is 
 more than their necessary food. Here they find what they 
 truly call marrow and fatness. Psa. 63 : 5. the satisfac- 
 tion and support they draw from spiritual things by medi- 
 tations upon them. "To be spiritually minded is life and 
 peace." Rom. 8 : 6. The delicacies upon princes' tables 
 are husks and chaff to this. Ungodly men may live on the 
 vanities of the world, but a renewed soul cannot subsist long 
 without God. Let such a soul be diverted for a time from 
 its usual refreshments, and he will find his heart aching and 
 pining within him. It is angels' food, that which your souls 
 must live upon throughout eternity. 
 
 Excellency 11. It is the guard of the soul against the 
 assaults of temptation. It is like a shield advanced j^gainst 
 the fiery darts of the wicked one. Your safety lies in draw- 
 ing nigh to God. " They that are far from thee shall 
 perish. But it is good for me to draw near to God." Psalm 
 73 : 27, 28. It is good indeed ; not only the good of com- 
 fort, but the good of safety is in it : " The beloved of the 
 Lord shall dwell in safety by him." Deut. 33 : 12. The 
 gracious presence of God is your shield and safety ; and if 
 you would have the Lord thus present with you in all your 
 fears, straits, and dangers, see that you keep near to him in 
 the duties of communion. " The Lord.is with you while ye 
 be with him." 2 Chron. 15 : 2. 
 
 Excellency 12. It is the honor of the soul, and the 
 greatest honor God ever conferred on any creature. It is 
 the glory of the holy angels in heaven, to be always behold- 
 ing the face of God. Matt. 18 : 10. that God should 
 admit poor dust and ashes unto such a nearness to himself: 
 to walk with a king, and to have frequent converse with 
 
332 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 him, puts great honor upon a subject ; but the saints walk 
 with God ; so did Enoch, so do all the saints. " Truly our 
 fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus 
 Christ." 1 John. 1:3. They have liberty and access with 
 confidence ; the Lord, as it were, delivers to them the golden 
 key of prayer, by which they may come into his presence on 
 all occasions with the freedom of children to a father. 
 
 Excellency 13. It is the instrument of mortification^ 
 and the most excellent and successful instrument for that 
 purpose. " This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall 
 not fulfil the works of the flesh." Gal. 5 : 16. Walking in 
 the Spirit is the same thing as walking in communion with 
 God. Now, says the apostle, if you walk thus in the Spirit, 
 in the actings of faith, love, and obedience, through the 
 course of holy duties, the effect will be, that ye shall not 
 fulfil the lusts of the flesh. He does not say, You shall not 
 feel temptations to sin assaulting you ; but. You shall not 
 fulfil die lusts of the flesh, sin shall not have dominion over 
 you ; this will free you from the power of sin. A tempta- 
 tion overcome this way is more effectually subdued, than by 
 all the vows, resolutions, and external means in the world. 
 A candle that is blown out with a puff of breath may be 
 rekindled by another puff; but if it is quenched in water, 
 it is not easily lighted again : so you never find such power 
 or success of temptation over you when your hearts are up 
 with God in the exercise of faith and love, as you do when 
 your hearts hang loose from him, and dead towards him. 
 The schoolmen assign this as one reason why no sin can 
 fasten upon the saints in heaven, because they there enjoy 
 the beatific vision of God. This is sure, that the more com- 
 munion any man has with God on earth, the more free he is 
 from the power of his corruptions. 
 
 Excellency 14. It is tJie kei-nel of all duties and 
 ordinances. Words and gestures axe but the husks and 
 ehells of duties. Communion with God is the sweet kernel. 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 333 
 
 the pleasant and nourishing food which lies within them : 
 you see the fruits of the earth are covered and defended by 
 husks, shells, and such-like integuments, within which lie the 
 pleasant kernels and grains ; and these are the food. The 
 hypocrite who goes no further than the externals of rehgion, 
 is said to feed on ashes, Isa. 44 : 20, to spend his money for 
 that which is not bread, and his labor for that which satis- 
 fieth not. Isa. 55 : 2. He feeds upon husks, in which there 
 is but little pleasure or nourishment. What a poor house 
 doth a hypocrite keep ! Words, gestures, ceremonies of re- 
 ligion, will never fill the soul ; but communion with God is 
 substantial nourishment. As David said, " My soul shall 
 be satisfied as with marrow and fatness ; and my mouth 
 shall praise thee with joyful lips; when I remember thee 
 upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches." 
 Psa. 63 : 5, 6. It grieves one's heart to think what airy 
 things many souls satisfy themselves- with ; feeding like 
 Ephraim upon the wind, well contented if they can but 
 perform a few heartless duties ; while the saints feeding on 
 hidden manna, are feasted as it were with angels' food. 
 
 Excellency 15. It is the light of the soul in darkness^ 
 and the pleasantest light that ever shone upon the soul of 
 man. There are many who walk in darkness ; some in the 
 darkness of ignorance and unbelief, the most dismal of all 
 darkness, except that in hell. There are others who are 
 children of light in a state of reconciliation, yet walk in the 
 darkness of outward afflictions, and inward desertions and 
 temptations ; but as soon as the light of God's countenance 
 shines upon the soul in the duties of communion with him, 
 that darkness is scattered ; it is all light within and round 
 about the soul. " They looked unto him and were light- 
 ened." Psa. 34 : 5. They looked, there is faith acted in 
 duty; and were enlightened, there is the sweet eflect of 
 faith. The horrors and troubles of gracious souls retire on 
 the rising of this cheerful hght. As wild beasts come out 
 
334 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 of their dens in the darkness of the night, and shrink back 
 again when the sun ariseth, Psa. 104 : 20-22 ; so do the 
 fears and inward troubles of the people of God, when this 
 light shines upon their souls. Nay more, this is a light 
 which scatters the very darkness of death itself. It was the 
 gaying of a worthy divine of Germany upon his death-bed, 
 when his eyesight was gone, being asked how it was with- 
 in : " Why," said he, " though all be dark about me," yet, 
 pointing as well as he could to his breast, " here is light 
 enough." 
 
 Excellency 16. It is liberty to the imprisoned soul, 
 and the most comfortable and excellent liberty in the whole 
 world. He only walks at liberty who walks with God : " I 
 will walk at liberty ; for I seek thy precepts." Psa. 119 : 45. 
 Wicked men cry out of bands and cords in religion ; they 
 look upon the duties of godliness as the greatest bondage 
 and thraldom. " Let us break their bands asunder, and cast 
 away their cords from us." Psa. 2 : 3. Away with this 
 strictness and preciseness, it extinguishes the joy and pleas- 
 ure of our lives ; give us our cups instead of Bibles, our 
 jovial songs instead of spiritual psalms, our sports and pas- 
 times instead of prayers and sermons. Alas, poor creatures, 
 how do they dance in their chains, when, in reality, the 
 sweetest Hberty is enjoyed in the duties at which they thus 
 scoff. The law of Christ is the law of liberty ; the soul of 
 man never enjoys more freedom than when it is bound with 
 the strictest bonds of duty to God. Here is liberty from 
 enthralling lusts, and from enslaving fears : " The law of 
 the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from 
 the law of sin and death." Rom. 8 : 2. And here is free- 
 dom indeed : "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye 
 shall be free indeed." John 8 : 36. And here is freedom 
 fi'om fears. Luke 1 : 74, 75. Those that will not endure 
 any restraint from their lusts, will have their freedom to 
 sin ; a freedom they shall have, such as it is. " When yo 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 33^ 
 
 were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness." 
 Rom. 6 : 20. Let none therefore be prejudiced agamst the 
 ways of duty and godUness. The law of Christ is the per- 
 fect law of liberty, James 1 : 25 — ^not liberty to sin ; but hb- 
 erty from sin. 
 
 Excellency 17. It is a niercy purchased by the blood 
 of Christ for believers, and one of the principal mercies set- 
 tled upon them by the new covenant. A peculiar mercy, 
 which none but the redeemed of the Lord partake of — a 
 mercy the purchase of wliich cost the blood of Christ. I do 
 not deny but there are thousands ^f other mercies bestowed 
 upon the unregenerate : they have health, wealth, children, 
 honors, pleasures, and all the delights of this life ; but com- 
 munion with God, and the pleasures which result therefrom, 
 they are incapable of enjoying. There can be no supping 
 with Christ on such excellent privileges and mercies as 
 these, till the heart is opened to him by faith ; you cannot 
 come nigh to God, until you are first made nigh by reconcil- 
 iation. Eph. 2 : 13 ; Heb. 10 : 19-22. What would your 
 lives, Christians, be worth to you, if this mercy were cut off 
 from you ? There would be little sweetness or savor in all 
 your outward mercies, were it not for this that sweetens 
 them all. And there is this difference, among many others, 
 between this and all outward mercies : you may be cut off 
 from the enjoyment of those, but you cannot from this ; no 
 prison can keep out the Comforter. bless God for this 
 invaluable mercy. 
 
 Excellency 18. It is natural to the new creature ; the 
 inclination of the newly regenerated soul leads to commun- 
 ion with God. It is as natural to him to desire it and work 
 after it, as it is to the new-born babe to seek the breast: 
 " As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, 
 that ye may grow thereby." 1 Pet. 2 : 2. There is a law 
 upon the regenerate soul, which inwardly and powerfully 
 constrains it to actg of duty, and fellowship with God in 
 
336 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOGE. 
 
 them. Communion with God arises out ot the principles of 
 grace. You know all creatures act according to the laws 
 of nature : the sun will rise and the sea will flow at their 
 appointed times ; and the gracious soul will make towards 
 its God in the times and seasons of communion with him. 
 It is not forced to these duties by the frights of conscience 
 and the fears of hell, so much as by the natural inclina- 
 tion of the new creature. Two things demonstrate com- 
 munion with God to be conatural to the regenerate soul, 
 the inner-man, the hidden-man of the heart : namely, first, 
 the restlessness of a gracious soul without it. The church 
 had sought her Beloved, but found him not. Does she sit 
 down satisfied in his absence ? No ; " I will rise now, and 
 go about the city ; in the streets and in tht broad ways 1 will 
 seek him whom my soul loveth." Sol. Sc ig 3 : 2. Second, 
 the satisfaction and pleasu?'e which the soul feels in the 
 enjoyment of communion with God, plainly show it to be 
 agreeable to the new nature : "My soul shall be satisfied as 
 with marrow and fatness ; and. my mouth shall praise thee 
 with joyful lips ; when I remember thee upon my bed." 
 Psa. 63 : 5, 6. And when it is thus, duties become easy and 
 pleasant to the soul : " His commandments are not griev- 
 ous." 1 John, 5 : 3. Yea, such a soul will be constant and 
 assiduous in those duties. That which is natural, is constant 
 as well as pleasant. What is the reason hypocrites renounce 
 the duties of religion in times of diflficulty, but because they 
 have not an inward principle agreeable to them ? The mo- 
 tives to duty lie without them, not within them. 
 
 Excellency 19. It is the holy commerce of all sancti- 
 fied persons, and the richest trade ever engaged in by men. 
 Thus they grow rich in spiritual treasures ; the revenues 
 of it are better than silver and gold. Many of you have 
 traded long for this world, and it comes to little ; and liad 
 you gained your designs, you had gained but trifles. This 
 is the rich and profitable occupation : '• Our conversation is 
 
I 
 
 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 337 
 
 ill heaven." Phil. 3 : 20. Our commerce lies thai way, so 
 the word signifies. There are few Christians who have 
 engaged in this soul-enriching trade any considerable time, 
 but can show some spiritual treasures which they havo 
 gotten by it : " This I had, because I kept thy precepts." 
 Psa. 119 : 56. As merchants can show the gold and silver, 
 the lands and houses, the rich goods and furniture, which 
 they have obtained by their successful adventures abroad ; 
 and tell their friends, so much I got by such a voyage, and 
 so much by another ; so Christians have invaluable treas- 
 ures, though their humility conceals them, which they have 
 gained by tliis heavenly commerce of communion with God. 
 Their souls are weak, but by communion with God they 
 have gotten strength : "I cried, and thou answeredst me, 
 and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul." Psa. 
 138 : 3. They have gained peace by it, a treasure inesti- 
 mable : " Great peace have they which love thy law ; and 
 nothing shall offend them." Psa. 119: 165. They have 
 obtained purity by it : " They also do no iniquity : they 
 walk in his ways." Psa. 119: 3, what rich returns 
 are here ; nay, they sometimes get full assurance by it. The 
 riches of both the Indies will not purchase from a Christian, 
 the least of these mercies. These are the rich rewards of 
 our pains in the duties of religion ; in keeping his com- 
 mandments there is great reward. Psa. 19 : 11. 
 
 Excellency 20. It is oU to the ivheels of obedience, 
 which makes the soul go on cheerfully in the ways of the 
 Lord : *' I will nm the way of thy commandments, whea 
 thou shalt enlarge my heart." Psa. 119:32. Oiled wheels 
 run freely. How prompt and ready for any act of obedience 
 is a soul under the influence of communion with God. 
 Then it cries, as Isaiah, having gotten a sight of God, 
 " Here am I, send me." Isa. 6 : 8. 
 
 Hereby the soul is prepared for the duties of active obe- 
 dience, to which it applies itself with delight : " Then will 
 
 Christ Knocking. 1 5 
 
338 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy/' 
 Psa. 43 : 4 ; or, as it is in the Hebrew, " the gladness of my 
 joy." The soul goes to prayer as a hungry man to a feast, 
 or a covetous man to his treasures : "I have rejoiced in the 
 way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches." Psa. 
 119: 14. 
 
 It prepares the soul for passive obedience, and makes a 
 man rejoice in his sufferings. Col. 1 : 24. It will make a 
 Christian stand ready, to receive any burden that God may 
 lay on his shoulders, and even be thankful to be so employed : 
 *' The joy of the Lord is your strength." Neh. 8 : 10. A 
 Christian under the cheerful influences of near communion 
 with God, can with more cheerfulness lay down his neck 
 for Christ, than other men can lay out a shilling for him. 
 In all these twenty particulars, you have an account of the 
 excellency of this privilege ; but how short an account 
 have I given of it. What remains, is the application of this 
 doctrine. 
 
 Inference 1. How certain it is, that there is a God, 
 and a state of glory prepared for sa?ictifed sotds. These 
 things are undeniable. God has set them before our spirit- 
 ual eyes and senses. Besides the revelation of heaven in 
 the gospel, which without any thing more makes it infalli- 
 ble, the Lord, for our abundant satisfaction, has brought 
 these things down to the touch and test of our spiritual 
 senses and experience. You who have had so many sights 
 of God by faith, so many sweet tastes of heaven in the 
 duties of religion, what a confirmation and seal have you 
 of the reality of invisible things. You may say of heaven, 
 and the joys above, as the apostle did of Him that purchased 
 it, '' Wliich we have licard, which we have seen witli our 
 eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have 
 handled," 1 John, 1:1; for God has set these things in 
 Bome degree before your eyes, and put the first-fruits of them 
 into your hands. The sweet rehsh of the joy of the Lord is 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 339 
 
 on the very palate of your souls. To tliis spiritual sense of 
 the believing Hebrews the apostle appealed when he said, 
 ye " took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in 
 yourselves that ye have m heaven a better, and an enduring 
 substance." Heb. 10 : 34. This knowing in ourselves is 
 more certain and sweet than all the traditional reports we 
 can get from others : ** Whom having not seen, ye love ; in 
 whom, though now ye see hira not, yet beheving, ye rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Peter, 1 : 8. 
 There is more of heaven felt and tasted in this world than 
 men are aware of; it is one thing to hear of such countries 
 as Spain, Italy, and Turkey by the reports we heard of them 
 in our childhood, and another thing to understand them by 
 the rich commodities imported from them, in the w^ay of 
 commerce. did w^e but know what other Christians have 
 felt and tasted, we should not have such doubtful thoughts 
 about invisible things. But the secret comforts of religion 
 are, and ought to be for the most part, hidden things. Re- 
 ligion lays not all open ; the Christian life is a hidden life. 
 
 2. If sue! b a lieight of communion ivith God be attain- 
 able on earth, then rnost Christians live below the duties 
 and comfoi'ts of Christianity. Alas, the best of us are but 
 at the foot of this pleasant mount Pisgah. As we are but 
 in the infancy of our graces, so we are but in the infancy of 
 our comforts. What a poor table is kept by many of God's 
 own children ; living between hopes and fears, seldom tasting 
 the riches and joys of assurance. And would you know the 
 reasons of it ? There are five things which us:ually keep 
 them poor and low as to spiritual joys. First, the incum- 
 brances of the world, which divert them from, or distract 
 tliem in their duties of communion with God, and so keep 
 them low in their spiritual comforts. They have so much 
 to do on earth, that they have little time for heavenly em- 
 ployments. what a noise and din do the trifles of this 
 world make in the heads and hearts of many Christians. 
 
340 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 How dear do we pay for such trifles as these. Second, a 
 spirit of formahty creeping into the duties of religion impov- 
 erishes its vital spirit, like the embraces of the ivy, which 
 binds and starves the tree it clasps about. Religion cannot 
 Ihrive under formality, which it is difficult to keep out of a" 
 settled course of duty, and much more when duties are inter- 
 mitted. Third, frequent temptations annoy the minds of 
 many Christians, especially such as are of melancholy tem- 
 perament. How importunate and restless are these tempta- 
 tions with some Christians. They can gain little comfort 
 or advantage in duty, by reason of them. Fourth, heart 
 apostasy, the inward decay of our first love, is another reason 
 why our duties prosper so little. " Thou hast left thy first 
 love." Rev. 2 : 4. You were not wont to serve God with 
 such coldness. Fifth, in a word, spiritual pride impoverishes 
 our comforts ; the joys of the Spirit, like brisk wines, are too 
 strong for our weak heads. For these causes, many Chris- 
 tians are kept low in spiritual comforts. 
 
 3. How siveet and desirable is the society of the saints. 
 It must needs be desirable to walk with them who walk 
 with God. 1 John, 1:3. There are no such companions 
 as the saints. What benefit or pleasure can we find in con- 
 verse with sensual worldlings ? All we can carry away out 
 of such company is guilt or grief David speaks of his de- 
 light as being with the saints, the excellent of the earth. 
 Psalm 16:3, And their society would certainly be much 
 more sweet and desirable than it is, did they live more iu 
 communion with God than they do. There was a time 
 when the communion of the saints was exceedingly lovely, 
 Mai. 3:16; Acts 2 : 46, 47 ; the Lord restore it to its prim- 
 itive glory and sweetness. 
 
 4. Wiiat an unspeakable mercy is conversion, which 
 lets the soul into such a state of spiritual pleasure. Hero 
 is the beginning of your acquaintance with God — the first 
 spiritual pleasures, of which there shall never be an end. 
 
I 
 
 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 341 
 
 All the time men have spent in an unconverted state, has 
 been a time of estrangement and alienation from God ; when 
 the Lord brings a man to Christ, in the way of conversion, 
 he begins his first acquaintance with God. " Acquaint 
 now thyself with him, and be at peace ; thereby good shalA 
 come unto thee." Job 22:21. This your first acquaint- 
 ance wdth the Lord, will grow ; every visit you give him in 
 prayer increases intimacy, and humble, holy familiarity be- 
 tween him and you. And what a paradise of pleasure 
 does this let the soul into ; the life of religion abounds with 
 pleasures. Psalm 16 : 11. "Her ways are ways of pleas- 
 antness, and all her paths are peace." Prov. 3 : 17. Now 
 you know where to go for relief from any trouble that presses 
 your hearts ; whatever prejudices and scandal Satan and his 
 instruments cast on religion, this I will affirm of it, that that 
 man must necessarily be a stranger to true pleasure, and 
 empty of real comfort, who is a stranger to Christ and com- 
 munion with him. True, here is no allowance for sinful 
 pleasures ; nor is there any lack of spiritual pleasures. Bless 
 God, therefore, for converting grace, you that have it ; and 
 lift up a cry to heaven for it, you that want it. 
 
 5. If there be so much dehght in our imperfect, and often 
 interrupted communion with God here, then what is heaven; 
 what are the immediate visions of his face in the j)crfect 
 state ? " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
 entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath 
 prepared for them that love him." 1 Cor. 2:9. You have 
 heard glorious and ravishing reports in the gospel, of that 
 blessed future state, things which the angels desire to look 
 into. You have felt and tasted joys unspeakable and full of 
 glory, in the actings of your faith and love upon Christ ; yet 
 all you have heard, and all you have felt and tasted in the 
 way to glory, falls so short of the perfection and blessedness 
 of that state, that heaven vsdll and must be a great surprise 
 to them who have now the best acquaintance with it. 
 
342 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Though the present comforts of the saints are sometimes as 
 much as they can bear, for they say, " Stay me with flagons, 
 comfort me with apples ; for I am sick of love," Sol. Song 
 2:5; yet these high tides of joy are but shallows, compared 
 with the joys of his immediate presence. 1 Cor. 13 : 12. 
 And as they run not so deep, so they are not constant and 
 continued, as they shall be above : "So shall we ever be 
 with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4 : 17. 
 
 6. Is this the privileged state into which all believers 
 are admitted by conversion ? then strive for the highest 
 attainment of communion with God in this world : be 
 not contented with just so much grace as will secure you 
 from hell, but labor after such a height of grace and com- 
 munion with God as may bring you into the suburbs of 
 heaven on earth. Forget the things that are behind you, as 
 to satisfaction in them, and press towards the mark for the 
 prize of your high calling. It is greatly to your loss that 
 you live at such a distance from God, and are so seldom with 
 him. Think not that the ablest ministers or the choicest 
 books will ever be able to satisfy your doubts or comfort 
 your hearts, while you let down your communion with God 
 to so low a degree. that you may be persuaded now 
 to hearken obediently to three or four necessary words of 
 counsel. 
 
 (1 .) Make communion vdth God the very level and aim 
 of your soul in all your approaches to him in the ordinances 
 and duties of religion. Set it upon the point of your com- 
 pass, let it be the very thing your soul designs ; let the 
 desire and hope of commmiion with God be the thing that 
 draws you to every sermon and prayer : " One thing have I 
 desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell 
 in- the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold 
 the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." 
 Psa. 27 : 4. That was the mark David aimed at ; and 
 men's success in duties is usually according to the spiritual 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 343 
 
 aims and intentions of their hearts in them : both sincerity 
 and comfort lie much in men's aims. 
 
 * (2.) In all your approaches to God, 2>^^cl(1 hard with him 
 for the manifestation of his love^ and further communica- 
 tions of his grace : " Hear. Lord, when I cry with my voice : 
 have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When thou 
 Baidst, Seek ye my face ; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, 
 Lord, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me ; put not 
 thy servant away in anger." Psalm 27 : 7-9. How full 
 of pleas and arguments for communion with God was this 
 prayer of David. Lord, I am come, in obedience to thy 
 command ; thou saidst, '* Seek ye my face," thou badest me 
 come to thee, and wilt thou put away thy servant in anger ? 
 Thou hast been my luelp, I have had sweet experience of 
 thy goodness, thou dost not use to put me off and turn me 
 away empty. 
 
 (3.) Desire 7Wt comfort for its oivn sake, but comforts 
 and refreshments for service and obedience' sake ; that there- 
 by you may be strengthened to go on in the ways of your 
 duty with more cheerfulness. '" I will run the way of thy 
 commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart." Psa. 
 119 : 32. As if he should say, Lord, the comforts thou 
 shalt give me, shall be returned again in cheerful services to 
 thee. I desire them as oil to the wheels of obedience, not as 
 food for my pride. 
 
 (4.) As ever you expect much comfort in the way of 
 communion with God, see that you are strict and circum- 
 sjject in your conversation. It is the looseness and careless- 
 ness of our hearts and hves which impoverishes our spiritual 
 comforts. A little pride, a little carelessness frustrates a 
 great deal of comfort which was very near us, almost in 
 our hands. " When I would have healed Israel, then the 
 iniquity of Ephraim was discovered." Hosea 7:1. So, 
 just when the desire of thy heart was at the door, some sin 
 Btept in the way of it, "Your iniquities have separated 
 
344 CHRIST KNOCKIN& AT THE DOOR. 
 
 between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face 
 from you." Isa. 59 : 2. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is 
 tender, and hath quick sensibility to your unkindnesses and. 
 ofiences. As ever, therefore, you expect comfort from him, 
 be careful in your conduct towards him, and grieve him not. 
 7. This point speaks needful counsel to UTibelievers — to 
 all that live estranged from the life of God, and have done 
 so from the womb. Psalm. 58 : 3. To you the voice of the 
 Redeemer sounds a summons once more : " Behold, I stand 
 at the door and knock." that at last you may be pre- 
 vailed with to comply with the merciful terms propounded 
 by him. Will you shut out a Saviour bringing salvation, 
 pardon, and peace with him ? Christ is thy rightful owner, 
 and demands possession of thy soul ; if thou wilt now hear 
 his voice, thy former refusals shall never be objected. If 
 thou still reject his gracious oilers, mercy may never more 
 be tendered to thee ; there is a call of Christ which will be 
 the last call, and after that no more. Take heed what you 
 do ; if you still demur and delay, your damnation is just, 
 inevitable, and inexcusable.' Hear me, therefore, ye unre- 
 generate souls, in what rank or condition soever Providence 
 has placed you in this world, whether you be rich or poor, 
 young or old, masters or servants, whether there be any 
 stirrings of conviction in your consciences or not ; for how- 
 ever your conditions in this world differ from each other 
 at present, there is one common misery hanging over you 
 all, if you continue in that state of unbelief in which you 
 now are. 
 
 (1.) Hearken to the voice and call of Christ, you that are 
 exalted by Providence above your i^oorer nd^lihon — who 
 have your heads, hands, and hearts full of the world : men 
 of trade and business, I have a few solemn questions to ask 
 you this day. 
 
 You have made many gainful bargains in your time, 
 but what will all profit you if the agreement be not made 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRJST. 345 
 
 between Christ and your souls ? Christ is the only treasure 
 which can enrich j'ou. Matt. 13 :44. Thou art poor and 
 miserable, whatever thou hast gained of this world, if thou 
 hast not gained Christ ; thou hast heaped up guilt Avith thy 
 riches, which will more torment thy conscience hereafter, 
 tiian thy estate can yield thee comfort here. 
 
 You have made many insurances to secure your estates, 
 which you call policies; but what insurance have you made 
 for your souls ? Are not they exposed to eternal hazards ? 
 impoHtic man, to be so provident to secure trifles, and so 
 negligent in securing the richest treasure. 
 
 You have adjusted many accounts with men, but who 
 shall make up your accounts with God if you are Christ- 
 less ? " What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole 
 world and lose his own soul?" Matt. 16 : 26. Say not, 
 you have much business on your hands, and cannot afford 
 time ; you will have space enough hereafter to reflect upon 
 your folly. 
 
 (2.) You who are poor in tlie world, what say you ; will 
 you have two hells, one here and another hereafter ? No 
 comfort in this world, nor hope for the next ? Your expec- 
 tations here laid in the dust, and your hopes for heaven built 
 upon the sand ? if you were once in Christ, how happy 
 were you, though you knew not where to obtain your next 
 bread. Poor in the world, but rich in faith ; and heirs ot 
 the kingdom which God has promised. James 2:5. 
 blessed state. If you had Christ, you would have a right to 
 all things, 1 Cor. 3 : 22, 23 ; you would then have a Father 
 to take care for you. But to be poor and Christless, no com- 
 fort from this world nor hopes from the next, this is to be 
 miserable indeed. Your very straits and wants should 
 prompt you to the great duty I am now pressing on you ; 
 and methinks it should be matter of encouragement that the 
 greatest number of Christ's friends and followers come out 
 of that rank of men to which you belong. 
 15* 
 
346 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 (3.) You who are seamen, floating often on the great 
 deep, you are reckoned a third sort of persons between the 
 living and the dead ; you belong not to the dead, because 
 you breathe, and scarcely to the living, because you are con- 
 tinually so near to death. "What think you, friends, have 
 you no need of a Saviour ? Do you live so secure from the 
 reach and danger of death ? Have your lives been so pure, 
 righteous, and innocent, who have been in the midst of 
 temptations in the world abroad ? Ponder that scripture, 
 1 Cor. 6:9, 10 : "Be not deceived ; neither fornicators, nor 
 idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of them- 
 selves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunk- 
 ards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom 
 of God ;" ponder it, I say, and think whether you have not 
 as great and pressing a necessity of Jesus Christ as any poor 
 souls under heaven. You have had from God many temporal 
 salvations, great and eminent deUverances ; and will these 
 satisfy you ? Is it enough that your bodies are delivered 
 from the danger of the sea, though your souls sink and perish 
 in the ocean of God's wrath for ever ? If you will yet accept 
 Christ upon his terms, all that you have done shall be for- 
 given. Isa. 55 : 1, 2. The Lord now calls to you in a still 
 voice : if you hear his voice, well ; if not, you may shortly 
 hear his voice in the tempestuous storms without you, and a 
 roaring conscience within you. Poor man, think what an 
 interest in Christ will be worth, wert thou now, as shortly 
 thou mayest be, floating on a piece of wreck, or shivering on 
 a cold and desolate rock, crying, Mercy, Lord, mercy. Mercy 
 is now offered thee, but in vain wilt thou expect to find it, 
 if thou continue thus to despise and reject it. 
 
 (4.) You who are aged and full of days, hearken to the 
 voice of Christ ; God has called on you a long time. When 
 you were young you said, it is time enough yet, we will mind 
 these things when we are old, and come nearer to the bor- 
 ders of eternity. Well, now you are old, and just on the 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 347 
 
 borders of it ; will you indeed mind it now ? You have 
 left the great concerns of your souls to this time, this short, 
 very short time ; and do the temptations of your youth take 
 hold upon your age ? What, delay and put ofi^ Christ still, 
 as you were wont to do ? Poor creatures, you are almost 
 gone out of time, you have but a short space to deliberate ; 
 what you do must be done quickly, or it can never be 
 done. Your night is even come upon you, when no man 
 can work. 
 
 (o.) You who are youngs in the bud or flower of your 
 time, Christ is a suitor for your first love ; he desires the 
 kindness of your youth ; your spirits are vigorous, your hearts 
 tender, your affections flowing and impressible ; you are not 
 yet entered into the incumbrances and distracting cares of 
 the world. Hereafter a crowd and thick succession of 
 earthly employments and engagements will come on; sin 
 will harden you by custom and continuance. Now is your 
 time ; you are in the convertible age ; few that pass the 
 season of youth are brought to Christ afterwards. It is the 
 wonder of an age to hear of the conversion of aged sinners. 
 Besides, you are the hope of the next generation. Should 
 you neglect and despise Christ, how bad soever the present 
 age is, the next *will be worse. Say not, we have time 
 enough before us, we will not quench the sprightly vigor of 
 our youth in melancholy thoughts. Remember, there are 
 skulls of all sizes and graves of all lengths in the church- 
 yard. You may die before those that seem to stand nearer 
 the grave than you. you cannot be happy too soon. As 
 young as you are, did you but taste the comforts that are in 
 Christ, nothing would grieve you more than that you knew 
 him no sooner. Behold, he standeth at thy door in the 
 morning of thy age, knocking this day for admission into thy 
 heart. 
 
 (6.) To you who liave had some slight, ineffectual, and 
 vanishing convictions formerly, the Lord Jesus once more 
 
348 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 renews his call. Will you now at last hear his voice ? It 
 is an infinite mercy to have a second call. I doubt not but 
 many among you, while you have sat under the word, have 
 had such thoughts as these in your hearts : " Sure my condi- 
 tion is not right, nor safe ; there must another manner ol 
 work pass upon my soul, or I am lost for ever. External 
 duties of religion I do perform, but I am a stranger to regen- 
 eration." Such inward convictions as these were the knocks 
 and calls of Christ, but they passed away and were forgot- 
 ten : your convictions are dead, and your hearts the more 
 hardened ; for it is with a soul under conviction as in putting 
 iron into the fire, and quenching it again ; this hardens it the 
 more. You have been near the kingdom of God, but will 
 be the more miserable for that, if you are shut out at last. 
 The quickening of your convictions is the right way to the 
 saving of your souls. The Lord make you this day to hear 
 his voice. 
 
 (7.) Such as go to hear the gospel on vain accounts, for 
 mere novelty or worse ends — to catch advantages, or to 
 reproach the truths of God — scoffing at the most solemn 
 voice of Christ : the word that you have slighted and re- 
 proached, the same shall judge you in that great day, except 
 the Lord give you repentance unto life, arid make the heart 
 tremble imder it that hath scoffed at it. "Be ye not mock- 
 ers, lest your bands be made strong." Isa. 28 : 22. 
 
 (8.) Let cdl whose hearts the Lord has opened this day, 
 for the enjoyment of the gospel, the blessed instrument of 
 their salvation, bless the Lord that has made it a key by 
 regeneration to open the door of salvation to your souls : 
 " And as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, 
 80 walk ye in him." Col. 2 : 6. 
 
THE SIN OF STlFLINa CONVICTION. 349 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE TRUTH HELD IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 «« THE WRATH OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN AGAINST 
 ALL UNGODLINESS, AND UNRIGHTEOUSNESS OF MEN, WHO 
 HOLD THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." Rom. 1 : 18. 
 
 In all the foregoing discourses, I have heen pleading and 
 wooing for Christ. And as Abraham's servant, to win 
 Rebekah's consent, told her what treasures his master's son 
 had, so I have labored to show you some part of the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ, if by any means I might allure 
 your hearts, and be instrumental to close the happy union 
 between him and you ; and, as the apostle speaks, espouse 
 you to one husband, even to Christ. 2 Cor. 11:2. 
 
 But alas, how few move towards him. The most seem 
 to be immovably fixed in their natural state and sinful 
 course. All our arguments and entreaties return to us 
 again, and effect nothing. It is amazing to think that souls 
 which have in them the hopes and fears of the world to 
 come, and self-reflecting powers, cannot be prevailed upon to 
 quit the way of sin and to embrace the way of holiness, 
 though their consciences meanwhile stand convinced that 
 eternal damnation is the result of the one, and life, peace, 
 and eternal joys of the other. 
 
 This has put me upon a serious search what may be the 
 cause of this fixed and unreasonable obstinacy ; and it seems 
 evident that most who live in an unregenerate state under 
 the gospel, put a force upon their own consciences, and im- 
 prison and hold the truth in unrighteousness, though the 
 wrath of God be revealed from heaven against all that do so 
 
 If by this discourse I can but set truth at liberty, and 
 loose the Lord's prisoners which lie bound in your souls, I 
 shall not doubt that the estimate of the value of Christ will 
 quickly rise among you, and free convictions will make tho 
 
350 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOH. 
 
 work of your ministers more easy and successful than they 
 now find it. It is hardly imaginable but that the things 
 you have heard must leave your souls under convictions ; but 
 if you suppress and stifle them, they produce nothing but ag- 
 gravations of sin and misery. Now, in order to the effectual 
 working of your convictions, and awakening the reverence 
 "which is due to them from- every soul, as to the voice of God, 
 I have chosen this scripture, the scope and sense whereof I 
 shall endeavor to give you. 
 
 The true scope and aim of this context is to prove the 
 justification of sinners to be only by the imputed righteous- 
 ness of Christ in the way of faith. To make this evident, 
 he divides the whole world into Gentiles and Jews : the one 
 seeking righteousness by the dim light of nature, or the law 
 writtisn in their hearts ; the other, the Jews, by the works of 
 the law, or external conformity to the law of Moses. But 
 that neither Can find what they seek, he distinctly and fully 
 proves. He proves it first upon the Gentiles from this verse 
 to the seventeenth of the second chapter ; and then he proves 
 it upon the Jews also, from thence to the end of the third 
 chapter. As for the Gentiles, he acknowledges that they 
 had some notions of God imprinted in their nature ; they 
 had also the book of creation, giving them knowledge enough 
 to leave them without excuse. But this knowledge of God, 
 and of good and evil, they did not obey and put in practice, 
 but acted against the dictates of their consciences. For 
 which cause the wrath of God was revealed from heaven 
 against them, as the text speaks. Wherein we notice, 
 
 1. Here is a dear and dreadful revelation df divine 
 wrath, " the wrath of God is revealed from heaven ;" bpyn 
 Qeov, the indignation or vengeance of God. It is a word of 
 deep and dreadful signification; the damned who feel its 
 weight, have the fullest sense of it. It is said, Psa. 90 : 11, 
 "Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according 
 to thy fear, so is thy wrath." That is, the fears of an 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 351 
 
 incensed Deity are no vain imaginings, nor the efTects of 
 ignorance and superstition, as atheists fancy ; but let men's 
 fears of it be what they will, they shall find, except they 
 repent, the wrath of God to be according to, yea, far above 
 their fears of it. If the wrath of a king be as the messen- 
 ger of death, what is the wrath of the great and terrible 
 God ? This wrath is here said to.be revealed, discovered, or 
 made manifest ; and so it is in various ways. It was revealed 
 to them by the light of nature, their own consciences gave 
 them notice and warning of it. Thus it was revealed to 
 tl\em by an internal testimony, a witness within them ; and 
 it was also revealed to them by the instances of punish- 
 ment of sin in all ages by the immediate hand of a justly 
 incensed God. They came not by chance, but divine direc- 
 tion ; therefore it is added, " from heaven," or from God 
 in heaven. 
 
 2. Here is the cause of this revealed and inflicted 
 wrath: it "is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
 and unrighteousness of men." The former word, u?tgodliness, 
 comprises all sins against the first table of the law ; the irre- 
 ligious lives and practices of men, Hving in the neglect of the 
 duties of religion : the other word, unrighteous?iess, com- 
 prises all sins against the second table, such as acts of fraud, 
 uncleanness, lying, and other sins, against men. And because 
 these two comprehensive words are branched out into many 
 particulars, therefore the apostle says, "The wrath of God is 
 revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness." There 
 is not one of the many sins into which ungodliness and un- 
 righteousness are branched out, but incenses the Lord's wrath ; 
 and though he only mentions the sins, we are to understand 
 them as put for the siimers that commit them, or God's pun- 
 ishing these sins upon the persons of the sinners. 
 
 3. We have here before us the sj^ecial aggravatioii of 
 these sins, or that which made them more provoking to God 
 than otherwise they had been. And it was this : that while 
 
352 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 they committed these sins, or omitted those duties, they " held 
 the truth in unrighteousness :" the word signifies to detain or 
 hinder the truth of God, or the knowledge they had of his 
 being, power, goodness, and truth, as also of his worship, and 
 the difierence between good and evil. These truths acted 
 on their consciences ; conscience labored to excite them to 
 duty, and restrain them from sin ; but all in vain, they over- 
 bore their own consciences, and kept those sentiments and 
 convictions prisoners, though they struggled for liberty to 
 break forth into practice and obedience. Their convictions 
 were kept down under the dominion of corruption, as a pris- 
 oner is shut up by his keeper. Their lusts were too hard for 
 their hght. Thus you have both the scope and sense of the 
 text. The doctrine taught by it is this. 
 
 The wrath of God is dreadfully incensed against all 
 those who live in any course of sin, against the light a7id 
 dictates of their own consciences. 
 
 "Sins of ignorance provoke the wrath of God ; yet they 
 are not of so heinous a nature as sins against Hght and con- 
 victions are, nor will they be punished so severely. " That 
 servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not him- 
 self, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with 
 many stripes." Luke 12:47. It excuses a man in some 
 measure, when he can say. Lord, had I known this to be a 
 sin, I would not have done it. But when the conscience is 
 convinced, and strives to keep us from such an act or course 
 of sinful actions, and we stop our ears against its voice and 
 warnings, here is a high and horrid contempt of God and 
 his law, and it gives the sin a scarlet dye. Sins of igno- 
 rance cannot compare with such sins as these. , John 3:19; 
 15 : 22. To open this point, let me show what conscience 
 is ; what the light of conscience is ; and how this Hght binds 
 the conscience and makes it strive in us ; then instance 
 some cases wherein it doth so ; and lastly show how and 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 353 
 
 why the imprisoning of these convictions so dreadfully 
 incenses the wrath of God. 
 
 I. It will be needful to speak of the nature of con- 
 science in general. Conscience is the judgment of man 
 upon himself, as he is subject to the judgment of God. A 
 judgment it is, and a practical judgment too ; it belongs to 
 the understanding. " If we would judge ourselves, we 
 should not be judged." 1 Cor. 11 : 31. This self-judgment 
 is the proper office of the conscience, and to enable it to 
 fulfil its office, there are three things belonging to every 
 man's conscience. 
 
 1 . A knowledge of the rule or law according to which 
 it is to judge ; without which conscience can no more do 
 its work, than an artificer without his square or level can 
 do his. 
 
 2. Knowledge of the facts or matters to be judged. 
 The conscience of every man keeps a register of his actions, 
 thoughts, and the very secrets of the heart. 
 
 3. An ability or delegated authority to pass judgment on 
 ourselves and actions according to the rule and law of God, 
 Here it sits upon the bench as God's vicegerent, absolving or 
 condemning, as it finds the sincerity or hypocrisy of the heart 
 upon trial. 1 John, 3 : 20, 21. 
 
 Conscience, therefore, is a high and awful power ; it is 
 next to and immediately under God our Judge. Concern- 
 ing conscience, God says to every man, as he once did to 
 Moses with respect to Pharaoh, " See, I have made thee a 
 god to Pharaoh." Exod. 7:1. The voice of enlightened 
 conscience is the voice of God. "What it binds or looses on 
 earth, is boimd or loosed in heaven, 1 John, 3 : 20 ; the great- 
 est deference and precise obedience is due to its command. 
 Its consolations are of all the most sweet, and its condem- 
 nations, excepting those by the mouth of Christ in the 
 last judgment, most terrible. Zuingle spoke not without 
 ground, when he said, " What death would I not rather 
 
354 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOE,. 
 
 choose ; what punishment would I not rather bear ; yea, 
 into what a profound abyss of hell would I not rather enter, 
 than to witness against my conscience ?" It is Hkely he had 
 felt the terrors of it to be more bitter than death. How 
 many have chosen strangling, rather than life, under the 
 terrors of conscience. Wherever you go, conscience accom- 
 panies you ; whatever you say, do, or but think, it records, 
 in order to the day of account. When all friends forsake 
 thee, yea, when thy soul forsakes thy body, conscience will 
 not, cannot forsake thee. When thy body is most weak, thy 
 conscience is most vigorous and active. Never is there more 
 life in the conscience than when death makes its nearest 
 approach to the body. When it smiles, acquits, and com- 
 forts, what a heaven does it create within a man. And 
 when it frowns, condemns, and terrifies, how does it becloud, 
 yea, benight all the pleasures and delights of this world. 
 conscience, how glad would the damned be to have taken 
 their last farewell of thee, when they bade this world and 
 its inhabitants farewell at death. And what had become of 
 all the martyrs, when shut up from friends in dungeons, had 
 it not been for the cheering cordials and comforts thou didst 
 administer to support them ? It is certainly the best friend 
 or the worst enemy m the whole creation. Tliis is con- 
 science, these are its powers and offices. 
 
 II. Our next inquiry must be mto the light of con- 
 science, and the various kinds of that light. The Lord did 
 not frame such an excellent structure as the soul of man, 
 without windows to let in light, nor does he deny the bene- 
 fit of light to any soul ; but there is a twofold light which 
 men have to inform and guide their consciences. 
 
 1. There is tlie common light of natural reason, called 
 by Solomon, the candle of the Lord : *' The spirit of man 
 IS the candle of the Lord." Prov. 20 : 27. This is affirmed 
 by him who had an extraordinary portion of intellect, a 
 brighter lamp of reason and wisdom than other men ; and 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLINa CONVIC«^^. < ^>355 y^ ^ 
 
 this is not only true of the soul in general, bir^o^jJyi^aJiSP'H (> 
 cial power of it which is called conscience, whnj^^BXjkd's <^ 
 
 witness, and man's overseer. The heathen had t^jkJfeiirT' A 
 shinmg in their minds and consciences; some of them,"^^^^]^ 
 the help of this natural light, made wonderful discoveries of 
 the mysteries of nature ; yea, they found its efficacy and 
 power great in their consciences, to raise their hopes or fears, 
 according to the good or evil they had done. Ovid says, 
 " As is every man's conscience, so are his hopes and fears." 
 And to the shame of many who are called Christians, some 
 among the heathen paid great reverence to their own con- 
 sciences. "Principally revere thyself," says one; "tempted 
 to any base action, dread thyself, even when there is no other 
 witness." The generality of the heathen, however, did not 
 so, and are charged with this in the text ; besides, this light 
 can make no discoveries of Christ, and of the way of salva- 
 tion by him. The most eagle-eyed philosophers among them 
 were in the dark here. And therefore, 
 
 2. God has afforded men a more clear and excellent 
 light to shine into their minds and consciences, even the 
 light of the gospel, which compared with the light of natu- 
 ral reason, is as the light of the sun to the dim moonlight. 
 "He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his 
 judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any na- 
 tion; and as for his judgments, they have not knov4ni them. 
 Praise ye the Lord." Psa. 147 : 19, 20. Every creature 
 has the name of God engraven on it, but he has magni- 
 fied his word above all his name. Psa. 138 : 2. God, who 
 best knows the value of his own mercies, accounts this a 
 singular favor and privilege to any nation. Without reve- 
 lation we could never have known the cause of our misery, 
 the fall of Adam, or the only way of our recovery by Christ 
 by this a people are lifted up to heaven, Matthew 11: 23, 
 in respect to the means of salvation ; and consequently, the 
 neglect of such light and love will plunge the guilty into 
 
356 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 proportionable misery. "This is the condemnation, that 
 light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather 
 than light." John 3 : 19. 
 
 Moreover, God not only affords the light of reason and 
 gospel revelation to some men in an eminent degree, but to 
 these he adds the internal illumination of his Spirit, the 
 clearest and most glorious light in the world. He shineth 
 into their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the 
 glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor, 4 : 6. 
 These are the three sorts of hght God makes to shine into 
 the souls and consciences of men to guide them ; the first a 
 common and general light, the two last the most clear and 
 transcendent in excellency, especially that of the Spirit with 
 the gospel. For though the sun be risen, yet men may 
 draw the curtains about them, and lie in darkness ; but the 
 Spirit enlightens the soul. 
 
 III. How this light shining into the consciences of men 
 LEADS THEM TO OBEDIENCE, and how mcu's lusts Struggle 
 against the obligations of an enlightened conscience, is the 
 next thing to be considered. 
 
 It is beyond all controversy, that an enlightened coU' 
 science lays strong and indispensable obligations on the soul 
 to obedience ; for the will of God is the supreme law ; it is 
 the will of "the only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord 
 of lords." 1 Tim. 6 : 15. And the promulgation and man- 
 ifestation of it binds the conscience to obedience, so that no 
 authority on earth can loose the bands. For conscience, as 
 God's vicegerent, in his name requires obedience, and the 
 man that hears the voice of God from the mouth of his own 
 conscience thereupon becomes a debtor, Rom. 1 : 14, and is 
 put under a necessity. 1 Cor. 9:16. 
 
 Now conscience, by reason of the light that shines into 
 it, feeling itself imdcr such strong bands and necessities, 
 stimulates and urges the soul to obedience, warns, com- 
 mands, ar^4 presses the soul to its duty against the contrary 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLINa CONVICTION. 357 
 
 iiielinatioiis of the flesh ; and hence arise Aosc conflicts in 
 the bosoms of men. Sometimes conscience prevails, and 
 sometimes lusts and corruptions prevail, and that vi^ith great 
 difficulty ; for it is not alike easy to all men to shake ofT or 
 burst the bands of their consciences. What a hard task had 
 Saul to conquer his conscience. "I forced myself," saith he, 
 1 Sam. 13 : 12 ; he knew it belonged not to liim to offer 
 sacrifice, liis conscience plainly told him it would be sin ; but 
 the fear of the Philistines being stronger than the fear of God, 
 he ventured upon it against the plain dictates of his con- 
 science. Thus Herod gave sentence to put John to death : 
 ** The king was sorry ; nevertheless, for the oath's sake, and 
 them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be 
 given her." Matt. 14 : 9. His honor weighed more than 
 his fear of sin, his own word more than God's word. No 
 man is so perplexed between two vices, but he may find an 
 issue wdthout falling into a third. 
 
 Pilate's conscience was convinced of Christ's innocence, 
 Matt. 27 : 18, 19, yet the fear of Cesar hurried him on to 
 the greatest wickedness, even to give sentence against inno- 
 cent blood, yea, the blood of the Son of God. Darius, in 
 like manner, knew that Daniel was not only an excellent 
 person, but that he was entrapped 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, 
 and many encounters he had with it ; for the record saith, 
 he " was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on 
 Daniel to deliver him ; and he labored till the going down of 
 the sun to deliver him," Dan. 6:14; but after a day's con- 
 test between him and conscience, sin prevailed against light 
 and returned victor in the evening. So it was with poor 
 Spira, a sad apostate ; he seemed to hear, as it were, an in- 
 ward voice, Do not write, Spira, do not write. But the love 
 of his estate, wife, and children, drew his hand to the paper, 
 though conscience struggled hard to hold it back. 
 
358 CHRIST KNOCKma AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Thus, as th5 restless sea strives to beat down or break 
 over its bounds, so do impetuous lusts strive to overbear 
 light and conviction. As the Roman poet has said, 
 
 . . . " Video meliora proboque, 
 Deteriora sequor." 
 
 . . . " I see the right and must approve ; and yet 
 The wrong pursue." 
 
 They know this or that to be sin,* and that they hazard their 
 souls by it ; yet they venture on it, and rush into sin as the 
 horse into the battle. 
 
 IV. I promised to give some instances of the conflict 
 
 BETWEEN men's CONSCIENCES AND THEIR CORRUPTIONS, where- 
 in conscience is vanquished and overborne, and by what 
 weapons the victory over conscience is obtained. The con- 
 victions of men are twofold : general, respecting their state ; 
 and particular, respecting this or that action. 
 
 1 . There are general convictions given to some men by 
 their consciences, that their state of soul is neither right nor 
 safe — that they want the main thing which constitutes a 
 Christian, namely, regeneration, or a gracious change of 
 heart. They hear and read the signs and effects of this 
 change, but their consciences plainly tell them that these 
 evidences are not to be found in them — that they enjoy the 
 external privileges of the saints, but belong not to them — that 
 something is still wanting, and that the main thing too. 
 *' 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 eter- 
 nity : thou passest for a good Christian among men, but 
 woe to thee if thou die in the state thou art." These, and 
 such as these, arc the whispers of some men's. consciences in 
 their ears ; and yet they cannot so yield themselves up into 
 the hands of their convictions, as to confess and bewail their 
 hypocrisy and gross mistake, and seek for a better foundation 
 to build their hope on. Felix's conscience gave him such a 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLINa CONVICTION. 359 
 
 terrible monition as this, and made him tremble while Paul 
 reasoned with him of righteousness, temperance, and judg- 
 ment to come. Acts 24 : 25. It whispered in his ear such 
 language as this : "0 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 is certainly to 
 come ?" For, as Tacitus says of him, he was an insatiable 
 gulf of covetousness. So it was with Agrippa ; he stood 
 unresolved what to do : he saw the heavenly doctrine of 
 Christianity evidently confirmed by doctrines and miracles, 
 his conscience pleaded hard with him to embrace it, and had 
 almost prevailed ; almost, or within a little as the word is, 
 thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Acts 24 : 27. But 
 Agrippa had too much wealth and honor to forsake for 
 Christ ; the love of the present world overbore both the 
 hopes and fears of the world to come. And thus that excel- 
 lent fisher for souls, who had thoroughly converted so many 
 to Christ, came short of securing Agrippa : almost is a great 
 deal for so great a person. The gospel is a net, and encloses 
 all sorts, whole Christians and half Christians. The con- 
 science is caught, and the will begins to incline ; but the 
 power and prevalence of sin, which, Hke the rudder, com- 
 mands all to a contrary course. 
 
 Let us come a little nearer, and inquire what are those 
 hinderances that stop conscience in its course, bind and im- 
 prison, stifle and suppress its convictions ; so that although a 
 man strongly suspect his foundation to be but sand, and his 
 hopes for heaven a strong delusion, yet will he not throw up 
 his vain hopes, confess his self-deceits, and begin all anew. 
 "VYhat is it which overbears conscience in this case ? Let 
 men impartially examine their hearts, and it will be found \ 
 that three things bind and imprison these convictions of con- 
 science, and hold the truth in unrighteousness. 
 
 (1 .) SJiame. Men who have been professors, and of good 
 esteem in the world, are ashamed the world should know the 
 
360 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 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 ac- 
 quaintances in the face ? what will men think and say of 
 them ? " How can ye believe, which receive honor one of 
 another ?" saith Christ. John 5 : 44. "What, you Chris- 
 tians, and yet not able to endure a censure or a scoff upon 
 your names ! you who stand more upon your reputation than 
 your salvation, how can you beheve ? 
 
 what madness and folly appear in this case ! men will 
 choose rather to go on, though conscience tells them the end 
 of that way will be death, than make a just and necessary 
 retraction, which is not their shame, but their duty and 
 glory. You who 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 ? Luke 9 : 26. It is no shame to acknowledge your 
 mistake ; but to persist in it, after conviction, is shameful 
 madness. 
 
 1 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. He had excellent natural and acquired gifts, 
 and could preach of regeneration, faith, and heavenly-mind- 
 edness, though he felt nothing of these things in his own 
 experience. His life was unblamable, and he had no mean 
 esteem among good men. It pleased the Lord, while ho 
 was studying an excellent spiritual point to preach to others, 
 that his conscience first preached it in his study to himself, 
 and that with such a close and rousing application, as made 
 him tremble; telling him, that though he had gifts above 
 many, and sobriety in his conversation, yet one thing, and 
 that the main thing, sanctifying grace, was wanting. Here- 
 upon the pangs of the new birth seized his soul, and the 
 Lord made him a most searching, experimental minister, 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING- CONVICTION. 361 
 
 and crowned his labors with unusual success. This minister, 
 to his dying day, was not ashamed in all companies to ac- 
 knowledge his mistake, and bless God for his recovery out of 
 it ; and in most of his sermons, he would endeavor to con- 
 vince false professors of the necessity of a second conversion. 
 
 (2.) Fear is another drawback which withholds men. 
 from executing the convictions of conscience, and obeying its 
 calls in tliis grand concern of the soul. They are easy 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. There are two things 
 which alarm them. 
 
 TJie troubles of spirit cUteTiding tJie new birth; which 
 they have read and heard of, and seen the eflects in others. 
 it is a dreadful thing to lie under the terrors which many 
 have felt I and thus it is with them as with one that hath a 
 bone ill-set, who, if he have any ease, will rather endure a 
 little daily pain, and be content to halt all his life, than un- 
 dergo the pain of another fraction or dislocation in order to 
 a perfect cure. 
 
 They are afraid of external sufferings. The form of 
 godliness leaves men a liberty to take or leave, according as 
 the times favor or frown upon the ways of religion ; but the 
 power of godhness will engage them beyond retreat. They 
 must stand to it, come what will. But, soul, let me tell thee, 
 if the just fears of hell and eternal wrath of God, to which 
 thou art exposed by thy formality, were upon thee, all these 
 fears of inward or outward troubles would vanish the same 
 hour. 
 
 (3.) Pride of heart suffers not this conviction of con- 
 science to work out its effects, but holds the truth in un- 
 righteousness, to the ruin of many souls. Men that live 
 upon their own duties and self- righteousness, are not easily 
 brought to renounce all this, and hve upon the righteousness 
 of Christ alone for justification. Proud nature will rathei 
 
 Chrkt Knockinsf. 1 6 
 
362 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 venture the hazard of damnation than practise such self^ 
 denial, Rom! 10 : 3 ; as you see it common among poor peo- 
 ple to live on coarse fare of their own, rather than upon the 
 alms and bounty of another. 
 
 But if once the day of God's power come, and a man 
 feels the commandment come home to his conscience as 
 Paul did, Rom. 7 : 9, when he comes to reahze the world 
 to come, the value of his soul, and the danger it is in, then 
 all these hinderances 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 suflerings be ever so great, it is bet- 
 ter 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. 
 
 2. As this general conviction with respect to men's con- 
 dition is held in unrighteousness, and they go with troubled 
 consciences and frequent inward fears by reason of it ; so 
 there are Tnanvy particular convictioiis bound and imprisoned 
 in men's souls — particular convictions both as to sins com- 
 mitted and known duties omitted against both tables of the 
 law of God, called in the text ungodliness and unright- 
 eousness. Conscience labors and strives to bring men to 
 confess, bewail, and reform them, but cannot prevail ; con- 
 trary 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 in some instances. And 
 first, for convictions of ungodliness. 
 
 Instance L There are many who call themselves Chris- 
 tians, whose conscience tells them that God is to be daily 
 worshipped by them, both in family and closet prayer. It 
 sets before them Joshua's pious practice : " As for me and 
 my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24 : 15. They 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 36? 
 
 know God is the founder, the owner, the master of their 
 families ; that all family blessings are from him, and there- 
 fore he is to be acknowledged and sought in daily family 
 prayers and praises. It tells them that the curse of God 
 hangs over prayerless families, Jer. 10 :25; and that they 
 live in the inexcusable neglect of these duties, seldom wor- 
 shipping God with their families or in their closets, and that 
 therefore they live without God in the world. Dreadful 
 will the 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 pass for 
 professors of Christianity. 
 
 Lord, how sad a case is here. How can men live in the 
 neglect of so great, so necessary a duty ? Certainly it is not 
 for want of light and conviction ; the very light of nature, if 
 we had no Bibles, discovers these duties. But three things 
 hold this truth of God dictated by men's conscience in un- 
 righteousness. 
 
 (1.) The love of the world chokes this conviction in the 
 souls of some ; and they think it enough to plead for their 
 excuse, the want of opportunities and the many encumbran- 
 ces 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 toils. And 
 must the mouth of conscience then be stopped with such a 
 plea as this ? No ; God and conscience will not be answered 
 and put off so. The greatest number of persons in the world 
 from whom God has the most spiritual and excellent wor- 
 ship, are of the poorer class. Psalm 74 : 21 ; James 2 : 5. 
 And it is highly probable your necessities had been less, if 
 your prayers had been more. And what sweeter outlet and 
 reliei' for all these troubles can you find than prayer ? This 
 would sweeten all your labors and sorrows in the world. 
 
 (2.) Conscimisness of want of gifts restrains this con- 
 
364 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 viction ill others. Should they attempt such duties before 
 others, they shall but expose their own ignorance and shame. 
 But this is a vain pretence to shake off duty. The neglect 
 of prayer is a principal cause of the inability you complain 
 of; gifts as well as graces grow by exercise. "Unto every 
 one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance." 
 Matt. 25 : 29. And besides, it is the fruit of pride, and 
 argues your eye to be more upon your own honor than God's. 
 The Lord regards not oratory in prayer ; your broken ex- 
 pressions, yea, your groans and sighs please him more than 
 all the eloquence in the world. 
 
 (3.) But the principal thing which restrains men from 
 obeying their convictions as to family and closet prayer, is a . 
 disinclined heart ; that is the root and true cause of these 
 sinful neglects and omissions. You savor not the sweetness 
 of these things ; and what a man tastes no sweetness in, or 
 finds no iiecessity of, is easily omitted. 
 
 But woe to you that go from day to day self-condemned 
 for the neglect of so known, so sweet, and so necessary a 
 duty. If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our 
 heart. 1 John, 3 : 20. He who lives witliout prayer is 
 dead while he lives ; and let men say what they please of 
 secret communion with God, I am sui-e, if religion thiives in 
 the closet, it will never be banished from the family. The 
 time is coming when death will break up your families, sep- 
 arate the wife from the husband, the child from the parent, 
 the servant from the master ; and then where you will find 
 relief and comfort who have spent your time together so sin- 
 fully and vainly, I cannot tell ; nor what account you can 
 give to God in the great day. Think seriously on these 
 things, they are worth thinking of 
 
 Instance 2. A second instance of ungodliness under the 
 co^ivictions of conscience, informality in the external duties 
 of religion and ordinances of God. Have not the consciences 
 of some of you often and plainly told you, that though you 
 
i:HE SIN OF STIFLINa CONVICTION. 365 
 
 are often engaged in the public duties of hearing, prayer, 
 and other ordinances, yet your hearts are not with God m 
 those duties ? They do not strive after communion and fel- 
 lowship with him therein. It is nothing but the force of 
 education, of custom, and the care of reputation which brings 
 you there. 
 
 Such a conviction as this, could it do its work thoroughly, 
 would be the salvation of thy soul ; were power added to 
 the form, as conscience would have it, thou wouldst then be 
 a real Christian, and out of the danger of hell. The want 
 of this thy conscience sees will be thy ruin, and accordingly 
 gives thee plain warning of it. what pity is it such a 
 conviction as this should be held in unrighteousness. But 
 so it is in very many souls, and that on several accounts. 
 
 (1 .) Because hypocrisy is so odious and abominable a sin 
 that men are loath to own and acknowledge it, how guilty 
 soever they be of it. What, dissemble with God, and play 
 the hypocrite with him ? It is so foul a crime that men can- 
 not easily be brought to charge themselves with it. They 
 may have the infirmities wliich are common to the best of 
 men, but they are not hypocrites. Thus, pride of heart casts 
 a chain upon conviction, and binds it, that it cannot do its 
 work. 
 
 (2.) It is a cheap and easy way to give God the external 
 worship of the body, but heart-work is Jiard work. To sit 
 or kneel an hour or two is no great matter ; but to search, 
 humble, and break the heart for sin, to raise earthly affec- 
 tions into a spiritual, heavenly frame, this will cost many a 
 hard effort. It is no severe task to sit before God as his peo- 
 ple, while the fancy and thoughts are left at liberty to wan- 
 der where they please, as the thoughts of hypocrites use to 
 do, Ezek. 33 : 31 ; but to set a watch on the heart, to retract 
 every wandering thought with a sigh, and to fix the thoughts 
 on God, this is difficult, and the difficulty overpowers con- 
 viction of duty. 
 
366 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 (3.) The atheism of the heart quenches this conviction 
 in men's souls. FormaUty is a secret sin, not discernible by 
 man ; the outside of religion looks fair to man's eye, and so 
 long it is well enough, as if there was not a God who trieth 
 the hearts and the reins. Thus, when a beam of light and 
 conviction shines into the soul, a cloud of natural atheism 
 overshadows and darkens it. 
 
 But, poor self-deceiving hypocrite, these things must not 
 pass so ; thy conscience, as well as the word, tells thee it 
 is not the place of worship, but the spirituality of it that 
 God regards, John 4 : 23, 24 ; that they are hypocrites in 
 scripture account who have God in their mouths, while he 
 is far from their reins, Jer. 12:2; and that hypocrites will 
 have the hottest place in hell. Matt. 24 : 51. 
 
 Instance 3. A third instance of convictions of ungodli- 
 ness held in unrighteousness, is in declining or denying to 
 confess the known truths of God, which w^e ourselves have 
 professed, when the confession of them exposes us to danger. 
 In times of danger, conscience struggles hard with men to 
 appear for the truths of God, and on no account whatever 
 to dissemble or deny them; and enforces its counsels and 
 warnings upon us with such awful scriptures as these: "No 
 man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, 
 is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9 : 62. " But who- 
 soever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny 
 before my Father which is in heaven." Matt. 10 : 33. 
 In this case conscience useth to struggle hard with men, 
 yet is many times overborne by the temptations of the 
 flesh. As, 
 
 (1.) By carnal fears. The fear of sufiering gets ascen- 
 dency over the fear of God ; men choose rather to venture 
 theii souls upon wrath to come, than the present wrath of 
 incensed enemies. They vainly "hope to find mercy with 
 God," but expect none from men. Thus the fear of man 
 bringeth a snare, Prov. 29 : 25 ; and so the voice of con- 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION, 3G7 
 
 science is drowned by the louder clamors and threats of 
 adversaries, 
 
 (2.) As the fear of man's threatenings, so the distrust of 
 God's pi'077iises defeats the design of conscience. If men 
 believed the promises, they would never be afraid of their 
 duties ; faith in the promises would make men bold as lions, 
 if such a word was in mind as this : " Of whom hast thou 
 been afraid or feared, that thou hast hed, and hast not 
 remembered me ?" Isa. 57 : 1 1 . Men would say, as Zuingle 
 in the like case, "VMiat death would I not rather choose to 
 die ; what punishment would I not rather undergo ; yea, into 
 what vault of hell would I not rather choose to be cast, than 
 to witness against my own conscience ? 
 
 (3.) The inordinate love of the ivmid overpowers cou 
 science, and drowns its voice in such an hour of temptation. 
 So Demas found it. 2 Tim. 4 : 10. what a dangerous 
 conflict is there in an houf of temptation, between an enlight- 
 ened head and a worldly heart. 
 
 (4.) Tlie ezam2:>les of others who embrace the sinful 
 terms of liberty to escape the danger, embolden men to fol- 
 low, and Satan will not be wanting to improve their exam- 
 ples. " Do not you see such and such men traveUing the road 
 before you ? Learned and prudent men, who, it may be, 
 have less heart but more wisdom than you. Why will you 
 be singular, and hazard all for that for which others will 
 hazard nothing ?" 
 
 But certainly such sins as these will cost you dear : it is 
 a dreadful thing to betray the truth and honor of God fbr 
 base, secular ends ; and you will find it so when you and 
 your consciences shall debate it together in a calm hour. 
 
 There are also sins of unrighteousness against the sec- 
 ond table, in which many live against the plain dictates and 
 warnings of their own consciences, though they know the 
 wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all un- 
 
368 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 righteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteous- 
 ness. 
 
 Instance 4. And here let me instance the sin ^i defraud- 
 ing, others, in our dealings with them ; overreaching and 
 cheating the ignorant or unwary, who, it may be, would not 
 be so unwary as they are, did they not repose confidence in 
 our deceitful words and promises. Conscience cannot but 
 startle at such a sin, the light of nature reveals it, and even 
 the sober heathen abhor it ; but we who live under the gos- 
 pel cannot but feel some terror and trembling in our con- 
 sciences when we read such an awful prohibition, backed 
 with such a dreadful threatening as that in 1 Thess. 4:6: 
 ** That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any 
 matter; because that the Lord is the avenger of all such." 
 The Greek word imports that no man overtop, that is, 
 by power, or by craft and poUcy. To this sin a dreadful 
 threatening is annexed, "the Lord is the avenger of all 
 such." This word is but once more, that I remember, used 
 in the New Testament, Rom. 13 :4, and is there applied 
 to the civil magistrate, who must see execution done upon 
 malefactors ; but here the Lord himself says he will be this 
 man's avenger. This rod, or rather this axe, conscience 
 shows to men, and gives warning of the danger, and yet its 
 convictions are overpowered and bound as prisoners by, 
 
 (1.) The excessive love of gain. "But they that will 
 be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many 
 foohsh and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction 
 and perdition." 1 Tim. 6 : 9. When a resolution is made 
 for the world, men will be rich by right or wrong; this 
 powerfully arms the temptation. Set gain before such a 
 man, and he will break through the law of God and convic- 
 tions of conscience, but he will have it ; this drowns them 
 in destruction and perdition, that is, it surely, thoroughly, 
 and fully ruins them. He is a dead man who is only drown- 
 ed ; but to be drowned in destruction, yea, in destruction 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 369 
 
 and perdition too, this must needs make his ruin sure ; and 
 so all shall surely find who persist in such a course. 
 
 (2.) Necessities a?id straits overbear conscience in others ; 
 necessity has no ears to attend the voice of the vi^ord and 
 conscience. Here conscience and poverty struggle together, 
 and if the fear of God is not exalted in the soul, it now falls 
 a prey to temptation. This danger the wise Agur foresaw, 
 and earnestly entreated the Lord for a competency to avoid 
 the snare of poverty. Prov. 30 : 8, 9. How much better 
 were it for thee to endure the pains of hunger than those ol 
 a guilty conscience. Such gains may be sweet in thy mouth, 
 but bitter in thy bowels. 
 
 (3.) The examples of others who venture on such sins 
 without scruple, and laugh at tender consciences. This 
 emboldens others to follow them, Psa. 50 : 18, and thus the 
 voice of conscience is drowned, and convictions buried for a 
 time ; but conscience will thunder at last, and thy buried 
 convictions will have a resurrection, and it shall be out of 
 thy power to silence them again. 
 
 Instance 5. The truth of God is held in unrighteousness, 
 wh£n me7i's lusts tvill not suffe?- them to restore tvhat they 
 have unjustly gotten into their liands. This sin resting on 
 the consciences of some men, makes them very uneasy, and 
 yet they make a hard shift to rub along under these regret? 
 of conscience. Now those things which make a forcible 
 entry into the conscience, take the truths of God prisoners 
 and bind them, that they cannot break forth into the duty of 
 restitution, are, 
 
 (1.) The sliame which attends and follows the duty to 
 which God and conscience call the soul. It is a shame and 
 reproach, they think, to get the name of a cheat ; loath, loath 
 they are, that these works of darkness should come to the 
 open light ; men will point at them, and say. There goes a 
 thief, a cheat, an oppressor. This keeps many from restitu- 
 tion. But dost thou not here commit a greater cheat than 
 
 16# 
 
370 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 the former ? Which is the greatest shame, thinkest thou, 
 to commit sin, or to confess and reform it ? To bind the 
 snare upon thy soul by commission, or loose it from thy con- 
 science by repentance and restitution ; to be the derision of 
 wicked men, for none else will deride thee for thy duty, or 
 be the contempt and derision of God, angels, and all good 
 men for ever ; to attain inward peace at this hazard, or to 
 lie under the continual lashes and wounds of thy own con- 
 science ? 
 
 (2.) Poverty is sometimes pleaded to quiet the troubled 
 conscience ; and indeed this is a just, and very frequent 
 blight of God on ill-gotten goods ; the curse of God is upon 
 them, and they melt away. in what a snare have you 
 now entangled your souls. Once you could, but would not 
 restore ; aT worldly heart would not part with unjust gains , 
 now you would, but cannot. Thus a worldly heart and an 
 empty purse hold you first and last under the guilt of a 
 known sin. A lamentable case. 
 
 (3.) Vain purposes often suppress and silence convic- 
 tions. My condition may alter ; I may be in a situation 
 hereafter when I can better spare it than at present ; or I 
 will do it in my last will, and charge my executors with it 
 Thus do men bribe their consciences to get a little quiet, 
 while they continue under known guilt, and cannot tell how 
 soon death shall summon them to the awful bar of a just 
 and terrible God. 
 
 Sirs, as you value your peace, and which is more, your 
 souls, release the Lord's prisoner which hes bound within 
 you with cords and chains of Satan's making ; do it, I say, 
 as you hope to see the face of God in peace. You know that 
 without repentance there can be no salvation, and without 
 restitution no repentance ; for how can you repent of a sin 
 you still knowingly continue in ? Repentance is the soul's 
 turning from sin, as well as its sorrow for sin. You cannot 
 therefore repent of sin and still continue in it : " How shall 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLINa CONVICTION. 371 
 
 we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein ?" Rom. 
 6 : 2. Trust Providence for the supply of your wants and 
 the wants of those dependent on you in the way of duty and 
 righteousness. " A little that a righteous man hath is better 
 than the riches of many wicked." Psa. 37 : 16. You will 
 have more comfort in bread and water with peace of con- 
 science, than in full tables with God's curse. You will lie 
 more at ease on a bed of straw, than on a bed of down with 
 an accusing conscience. 
 
 Instance 6. How many lie under the condemnation of 
 their consciences, for the lusts of U7icleanness i?t which they 
 live. They read, and their consciences apply to them such 
 scripture as 1 Cor. 6 : 9, 10 : "Be not deceived ; neither 
 fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor 
 abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covet- 
 ous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall 
 inherit the kingdom of God." A dreadful sentence ! And 
 this, " Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Heb. 
 13 : 4. Yet convictions are overborne and stifled by, 
 
 (1.) The impetuous violence of carnal lusts, which per- 
 mit not calm debates, but hurry them on to the sin, and 
 leave them to consider the evil and dangerous consequences 
 afterward. Thus they go, "as an ox to the slaughter, or as 
 a fool to the correction of the stocks." Prov. 7 : 22. Lust 
 besots them. To give counsel now is but to give medicine 
 in a paroxysm, or counsel to him who is running a race. 
 Lust answers conscience as Antipater did one that presented 
 him a book treating of happiness, I have no leisure to read 
 such discourses. 
 
 (2.) Others would fain solve their scruples with the fail- 
 ings of good men, as David, Solomon, and others , not con- 
 sidering what brokenness of heart it cost David, Psa. 51, 
 and Solomon sorrow more bitter than death, Eccl. 7 : 26. 
 This is a presumptuous way of sinning, and how dreadful 
 that is, see in Num. 15 : 30. 
 
372 CHRIST KNOCKOa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Instance 7. Truth is often held in unrighteousness by 
 sinful silence, in not reproving other men's sins ; thereby 
 making them our own. "We are sometimes cast into the 
 company of ungodly men, where we hear the name of God 
 blasphemed, or the truth, worship, or servants of God re- 
 proached ; and have not so much courage to appear for God, 
 as others have to appear against him : in such cases con- 
 science is wont to stir up men to their duty, and charge it 
 home upon them in the authority of such a scripture as 
 this : " Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart ; 
 thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer 
 sin upon him." Lev. 19 : 17. 0, says conscience, thy 
 silence now will be thy sin ; this man may perish for want 
 of a seasonable, plain, and faithful rebuke ; thy silence will 
 harden him in his wickedness. No sooner does such a con- 
 viction stir in the conscience, but many things are ready to 
 lay hold on it. As, 
 
 (1.) A spirit of coivardice which makes us afraid to 
 displease men, and chooses rather that the wrath of God 
 should fall on them, than their wrath fall on us. We dare 
 not take as much liberty to reprove sin as others do to com- 
 mit it. They glory in their shame, and we are ashamed of 
 what is both our glory and our duty. 
 
 (2.) Dependence mt, or near relation to the person sin- 
 ning. It is a father, a husband, a superior, on whose favor 
 I depend, and should I displease him I may ruin myself; 
 this is the voice of the flesh. Hence duty is neglected, and 
 the soul of a friend basely betrayed ; our interest is preferred 
 to God's, and thereby frequently lost ; for there is no better 
 way to secure our own interest in any man's heart, than to 
 fasten it in his conscience by our faithfuhiess and by being 
 willing to hazard it for God's glory. The Lord blesses 
 men's faithfulness above all their sinful, carnal policy. " He 
 that rebukcth a man, afterwards shall find more favor than 
 he that flattereth with his lips." Prov. 28 : 23. 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLINa CONVICTION. 373 
 
 (3.) 3Ie?i'soiv7i guilt silences them.. They are ashamed 
 and afraid to reprove other men's sins, lest they should hear 
 of their own. Fear of retort keeps them from the duty of 
 reprehension. Thus we fall into a new sin for fear of reviv- 
 ing an old one. " He that reproveth a scorner, getteth to 
 himself shame ; and he that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth 
 himself a blot." Prov. 9 : 7. But this is the fruit of our 
 pride and ignorance. What we fear, might turn to our ben 
 efit. The reproof given is duty discharged ; and the retort 
 in return is a fresh call to repentance for sin past, and a 
 caution against sin to come. 
 
 Instance 8. Another instance of conviction of unright 
 eousness imprisoned in men's souls is, not distributing to 
 the necessities of others, especially such as fear God, when 
 it is in the power of our hands to do it, and conscience as 
 well as Scripture calls us to our duty. Men cannot be igno- 
 rant of that text where charity to the saints is by the Lord 
 Jesus Christ put for the whole of obedience, and men's 
 eternal states are fixed according to their observance of this 
 command. Matt. 25 : 40, 41 ; though I fear few, very few 
 study and believe it as they ought. Thou canst, says con- 
 science, if thou wilt, relieve such or such a poor Christian, 
 and therein express thy love to Christ : do it, God will repay 
 it ; if thou refusest, how dwelleth the love of God in thee ? 
 1 John, 3 : 17. This is the voice of God and conscience, 
 but divers lusts are ready to seize and bind this conviction 
 also as soon as, it stirs. 
 
 (1.) The excessive love of earthly things. The world 
 is so deep in men's hearts, that they will rather part with 
 their peace, yea, and their souls too, than part with it. 
 Hence come those churlish answers, like that of Nabal, 
 " Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh, 
 that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men 
 whom I know not whence they be ?" 1 Sam. 25 : 11. 
 
 (2.) Unbelief; which denies honor and due credit to 
 
374 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 Christ's bills of exchange drawn upon them in Scripture, and 
 presented to them by the hands of poor saints. They refuse 
 to credit them, though conscience protest against their non- 
 compliance. Christ says, " Whosoever shall give you a cup 
 of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, 
 verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." Mark 
 9:41. He shall gain that which he cannot lose, by parting 
 with that which he cannot keep. 
 
 (3.) The want of love to Jesus Christ. Did we love 
 him in sincerity, and were that love fervent as it ought to 
 be, it would make us more ready to lay down our necks for 
 Christ, than we now are to lay down a shilling for him. 
 1 John, 3:16. It is our duty, in some cases, to spend oui 
 blood for the saints. So it was in the primitive times : 
 Behold, said the Christian's enemies, how they love one an- 
 other, and are willing to die one for another. But that spirit 
 is almost extinguished in these degenerate days. 
 
 Instance 9. How many stand convinced, by their own 
 consciences, what a sin it is to spe7icl their precious time so 
 idly and vainly as they do. When a day is lost in vanity, 
 duties neglected, and no good done or received, at night 
 conscience reckons with them for it, and asks what account 
 they can give of that day to God, how they can satisfy 
 themselves to lie down and sleep under so much guilt. 
 A.nd yet, when the morrow comes, the vanity of their hearts 
 carries them on in the same course again the next day ; 
 and while they keep in vain company thqy are quiet, till 
 conscience finds them at leisure to debate it again with 
 them. Now the things which overpower these convictions 
 are, 
 
 (1.) In some men, their ignorance and insensibility of 
 the preciousness of time. They know it is a sin to spend 
 their time so vainly, but little consider that eternity itself 
 hangs upon this little moment of time ; that the great work 
 of their salvation will require all the time they have ; and 
 
I 
 
 THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 375 
 
 if it be not finished in this small allotment of time, it can 
 never be finished. John 9:4. 
 
 (2.) The examples of vain persoTts who are as prodigal 
 of their precious time as themselves, and entice them to 
 spend it as they do. 
 
 (3.) The delusive power o£ sensual pleasures. how 
 pleasantly does time slide away in theatres and taverns, in 
 relating or hearing stories, news, and other such matters. 
 
 (4.) Inccmsiderateness of the sharp and terrible rebukes 
 of conscience for this on a death-bed, or' the terrors of the 
 Lord in the day of judgment. 
 
 In all these instances you see how common is this 
 dreadful evil of holding the truth in unrighteousness ; yet 
 these are but a few selected from many. 
 
376 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE TRUTH HELD IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS^ 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 "THE WRATH OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN AGAINSl 
 ALL UNGODLINESS AND UNRIGHTEOUSNESS OF MEN, WHO HOLD 
 THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." Rom. 1 : 18. 
 
 V. I NOW proceed to show how and why the imprison- 
 ment of convictions, or holding the truths of God in un- 
 righteousness, SO DREADFULLY INCENSES HIS WRATH. And 
 
 this it does on several accounts. 
 
 1. Knowledge of sin is a choice help to preserve men 
 from falling into it. There are thousands of sins commit- 
 ted in the world, which had never been committed if men 
 had known them to be sins before they committed them 
 Every sinner durst not make so bold with his conscience as 
 you have done. The apostle tells us, the reason why the 
 princes of this world crucified the Lord of glory was, be- 
 cause they knew him not, 1 Cor. 2 : 8 ; had they known him 
 they would not have dared to do as they did. And so, in 
 multitudes of lesser sins, Satan blinds the eyes of men with 
 ignorance, then uses their hands and tongues in wickedness ; 
 he is the ruler of the darkness of this world. Eph. 6:12. 
 But when men know this or that to be sin, and yet venture 
 on it, an excellent antidote against sin is turned into a 
 dreadful aggravation of it, which highly incenses the wrath 
 of God. 
 
 (2.) Knowledge and conviction going before, add pre- 
 sumption to the sin that follows after it ; and presumptuous 
 sin is the most provoking and daring sin : from this way of 
 sinning David earnestly besought God to keep him: " Keep 
 back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." Psa. 19 : 13. 
 "When a man sees sin and yet ventures on it, in such sinning 
 there is a despising of the law of God : a man may break 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 377 
 
 the law while he approves, reverences, and honors it in his 
 heart, Rom. 7 : 12, 13 ; but here the commandment is de- 
 spised, as God told David, 2 Sam. 12:9. It is as if a man 
 should say, I see the command of God armed with threaten- 
 ing in my way, but I will go on for all that. 
 
 3. Knowledge and conviction leave the conscience of a 
 siimer wholly without excuse for his sin. In this case there 
 is no plea left to extenuate the offence : " Now they have 
 no cloak for their sin." John 15 : 22. If a man sins igno- 
 rantly, his ignorance is some excuse for his sin* ; it excuses it 
 in a measure, as Paul tells us, 1 Tim. 1 : 13, "I did it 
 ignorantly :" here is a cloak or covering, an extenuation ol 
 the sin ; but knowledge takes away this cloak, and makes 
 the sin appear naked in all its odious deformity. 
 
 4. Light or knowledge of the law and will of God, is a 
 very choice and excellent mercy ; it is a choice and singular 
 favor, for God to make the light of knowledge sliine into a 
 man's understanding ; it is a mercy withheld from multi- 
 tudes, Psa. 147 : 19, and those who enjoy it are under sjwcial 
 €7igagements to bless God for it, and to improve it diligently 
 and thankfully to his service and glory : but for a man to 
 arm such a mercy as this against God, to fight against him 
 \vith one of his choicest mercies, this must be highly pro- 
 voking to the Lord ; it is therefore mentioned as a high 
 aggravation of Solomon's sin, that he simied against the 
 Lord, after the Lord had appeared unto him twice. 1 Kings, 
 11 : 9. 
 
 5. This way of sinning argues an extraordinary degree 
 of Jiardness of heart ; it is a sign of but little tenderness, 
 or sense of the evil of sin. Some men, when God shows 
 them the evil of s'n in the glass of the law, tremble at the 
 sight of it ; so did Paul : " When the commandment came, 
 sin revived, and I died," Rom. 7 : 9, he sunk down at the 
 sight of it. But God shows thee the evil of sin in the glass 
 of his law, and thou makest nothing of it : obdurate 
 
378 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 heart I When the rod was turned into a sei-pent Moses fled 
 from it) being afraid to touch it ; but though God turn the 
 rod into a serpent, and discover the venomous nature of sin 
 in his word, thou canst handle and play with that serpent, 
 and put it into thy bosom : this shows thy heart to be awfully 
 infatuated. 
 
 6. To go against this convincing, warning vcice, wounds 
 a man's c&nsdence more than any other way of sinning 
 doth; and when conscience is so wounded, who or what 
 shall then comfort thee ? It is a true rule, the more any sin 
 violates a man's conscience, the greater that sin is. The sin 
 of devils is the most dreadful sin ; and what makes it so, 
 but the horrid violation of their consciences, and their ma- 
 licious rebellion against clear knowledge ? They know and 
 sin, they beheve and tremble, Jas. 2 : 19 ; they roar under 
 the tortures of conscience Uke the roar of the sea, or the 
 noise of the rocks before a storm. 
 
 then, if there be any degree of tenderness left in you, 
 if any fear of God or regard for salvation, let go all God's 
 prisoners which lie bound and imprisoned in the souls of any 
 of you this day. Blessed be God, some have done so, and 
 are at rest in their spirits by so doing ; they could have no 
 ease till they unbound and yielded obedience to them. It is 
 said. Acts 16 : 38, that when the magistrates at Philippi 
 understood that the men whom they had bound and im- 
 prisoned were Romans, they feared ; and well they might, 
 for the punishment was great for any man who injured a 
 citizen or freeman of Rome ; but every conviction you 
 imprison is a messenger of heaven, a commissioned officer 
 of God, and woe to him that binds or abuses it. Do you 
 know what you do ? Are you aware of the danger ? "Wast 
 thou not afraid, asked David of the Amalekite, to stretch 
 forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed ? 2 Sam. 
 1 : 14. So say I, Art thou not afraid to destroy the immc- 
 •liate messenger of God, sent to thy soul for good ? Con- 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 379 
 
 victioii is a kind of embryo of conversion ; the conversion 
 and salvation of thy soul would be the result, were it 
 obeyed : thy striving with it renders it abortive, and thy life 
 must go for it, except God revive it again. Loose then 
 every man the Lord's prisoners — I mean, your restrained, 
 stifled convictions — stifle them no longer ; you see what a 
 dreadful aggravation of sin it is, and that *' the wrath of 
 God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and 
 unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in imrighteous- 
 uess." 
 
 Inference 1, This will prove a fruitful doctrine to 
 inform us, first, that knowledge in itself tb not enough to 
 secure the soul of any man from hell. No gifts, no know- 
 ledge but that only which is influential upon the heart and 
 life, and to which we pay obedience, can secure any man 
 from wrath : "If ye know these things, happy are ye if 
 ye do them." John 13 : 17. The greatest sins may be 
 found in conjunction with the greatest knowledge, as yoxi 
 see in the fallen angels : light is then only a blessing when 
 it guides the soul into the way of duty and obedience : there 
 is many a knowing head in hell. Yet let no man indulge 
 himself in ignorance, or shun the means of knowledge, that 
 he may sin with less danger ; for you must account to God 
 for all the knowledge you might have had, as well as for 
 that you possessed — for the means of knowledge he gave 
 you, as well as for the knowledge you actually attained. 
 
 2. What a choice mercy is a tender conscience — a con- 
 science yielding obedience to conviction. A drop of such 
 tenderness in the conscience is better than a sea of specula- 
 tive knowledge in the head. 1 Cor. 12 : 31. Many Chris- 
 tians are ashamed to see themselves excelled by others in 
 gifts, and are apt to be discouraged ; but if God has blessed 
 thee with a tender heart, obedient to his will, so far as he is 
 pleased to manifest it to thee, thou hast no reason to be dis- 
 couraged for want of those gifts which others enjoy. You 
 
380 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 cannot discourse floridly or dispute subtlely, but do you obey 
 conscientiously, and comply with the manifested will of God 
 tenderly ? Then happy art thou. 0, it is far better to feel 
 a truth than merely to know it. It was the high commen- 
 dation of the Romans, that they obeyed from the heart the 
 form of gospel doctrine which was delivered them, Rom. 
 6 : 17, or rather into which they were delivered, as melted 
 metals into moulds. Two learned divines travelling to the 
 council of Constance were affected even to tears at the sight 
 of a shepherd in the fields, mourning and melting at the sight 
 of a toad, and blessing God that he had not made him such 
 a loathsome creature ; whereupon they applied Augustine's 
 words to themselves : " The unlearned will rise and take 
 heaven from the learned." Thy little knowledge made 
 effectual by obedience, is more sanctified, more sweet, and 
 more saving than other men's, and therefore of much greater 
 value. It is more sanctified ; for the blessmg of God is upon 
 it. Gal. 6:16. It is more SAveet ; for you relish the good- 
 ness, as well as discern the truth of gospel doctrines. Psa. 
 119 : 103. It is not an insipid, dry speculation. And then 
 it is more saving, being one of those better things that accom- 
 pany salvation. Heb. 6:9. 
 
 3. Learn hence wJiat an uncomfortable life intelligent ^ 
 but unregenerate men live : they are frequently at war with 
 their own consciences. " There is no peace, saith the Lord, 
 to the wicked." Isa. 48 : 22. They and their consciences 
 are ever and anon at daggers ; they have little pleasure in 
 sin, and none at all in rehgion : they have none in religion, 
 because they obey not its rules ; and little in sin, because 
 their consciences are stdl galling and terrifying them for 
 imprisoning their convictions. 
 
 It is true, some men's consciences are seared as with a 
 hot iron, 1 Tim. 4:2; but most have grumbling, and some 
 have raging and roaring consciences : they seldom come 
 under the word or rod, but their consciences lash them ; 
 
THE SllT OF STIFLINa CONVICTION. 381 
 
 and when death approaches, the terrors of the Almighty do 
 shake and terrify them. Altogether to neglect duty they 
 dare not, and how to escape a lash from their consciences 
 they know not. Fain they would have the pleasures of sin, 
 but, like Balaam, they meet a sword in the way ; they 
 plunge themselves into diversions like Cain, to be rid of a 
 fury within them ; but all will not do. Is this a life for thee, 
 reader, to live? No peace with God nor with thyself? 
 Expect no peace while thy convictions lie bound and im 
 prisoned in thy conscience. Sin for a moment is sweet in 
 thy mouth, but it is presently turned into the gall of asps 
 within thee. Job 20 : 14. that you did but know the 
 pleasures of a pure, peaceable conscience, and how much it 
 excels all the delights of sense and sin. 
 
 4. Ministers had need often to repeat and inculcate 
 the same truths to their hearers; for the work is not half 
 done, ivhen truth is got into the mind's and consciences of 
 men. Our work sticks at the heart more than at the head ; 
 the understanding is many times opened, when the heart and 
 will are locked and fast barred against it. To open the 
 passages between the head and heart is the greatest diffi- 
 culty ; this is the work of almighty power. There is know- 
 ledge enough in some men's heads to save them, but it has 
 not its liberty ; restrained truth cannot do its office. It is 
 much easier to convince the mind than to change the heart 
 or bow the will. The hardest part of the ministerial work 
 is to preach truth into the hearts and lives of men. This 
 makes the frequent inculcation of the same truths uecessary 
 to the people's souls. " To write the same things to you, to 
 me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe." Phil. 3:1. 
 
 5. How wonderful is the strength of si?t, ivhich can 
 hold inert fast after their eyes are opened to see the misery 
 and danger it has involved them in. One would think if 
 a rrian's eyes were but once opened to see the moral evil that 
 is in sin, and the everlasting train of penal evils that follow 
 
382 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 it, together with a way of escape from both, it would be 
 impossible to hold that sinner a day longer in such a state 
 of bondage : the work were then as good as done. But alas, 
 we are mistaken; sin can hold those fast who see all this. 
 They know it is a horrid violation of God's just and holy 
 laws ; they know it brings them under his MTath and curse, 
 and will damn them to all eternity if they continue in it ; 
 they know Christ is able to save them to the uttermost that 
 come unto God by him, and that he is as willing as he is 
 able ; and yet no arguments can prevail with them to part 
 with sin. Show but a beast a flame of fire, and you cannot 
 drive him into it if he see any way of escape. Tell a man 
 this is rank poison and will kill him, and you cannot make 
 him swallow it though wrapt up in sugar, or put into the 
 most pleasant sweetmeats. But let a sinner see death and 
 destruction before him, and sin can make him rush on, as a 
 horse into the battle. Jer. 8:6. He goes as an ox to the 
 slaughter ; his heart is fully set in him to do evil, Eccl. 8:11; 
 as one, when his physician told him if he followed such a 
 course of sin he would in a little time lose his eyes, said, Fare- 
 well, then, sweet light : I cannot part with this practice. 
 So with sinners : rather than forego their pleasures and break 
 their customs in sin, farewell heaven, Christ, and all. the 
 bewitching power of sin. " And they said, there is no hope, 
 but we will walk after our own devices." Jer. 18 : 12. 
 "When a man considers what visions of misery and wrath 
 convictions give men, he may wonder that all convinced 
 men arc not converted ; and on the other hand, when he 
 considers the strong hold sin has upon the hearts of sinners, 
 it may justly seem a wonder that any are converted. 
 
 6. How dreadful is the state of ajjostates who have had 
 their eyes opened, their consciences awakened, their resolu- 
 tions for Christ seemingly fixed ; and yet, after all this, 
 return to tlieir former course of sin. You see, brethren,' sin 
 has not only power to hold men in bondage to its lusts after 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 3S3 
 
 their eyes have been opened, but it has power to entice back 
 those who seemed to have clean escaped out of its hands. 
 2 Pet. 2:18, 19. The unclean spirit may depart for a time, 
 and make his reentr}'^ into the same soul with seven spirits 
 worse than himself Matt. 12 : 43-45. Restraints by con- 
 viction and formality do not wholly dispossess Satan, he still 
 keeps his property in the soul, for he calls it "my house ;" 
 and that property which he keeps under all these convictions 
 and partial reformations, opens to him and all his hellish 
 retinue a door for his return. But how awful will the 
 end of such men be ; and how just is that law of heaven 
 which dooms the apostate to eternal wrath I Heb. 10 : 38. 
 Such are twice dead, and will be plucked up by the roots. 
 Jude 12. 
 
 7. How sure and dreadful tvill be the condemnation of 
 all those, in the day of the Lord, who obstinately continue 
 in sin, tinder the convictions and condemnations of their 
 own consciences. Unhappy men, you are condemned already, 
 John 3:18; condemned by the law of God and by the sen- 
 tence of your own consciences. What your own conscience 
 says according to God's law, he will confirm and make good. 
 " If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, 
 and knoweth all things." 1 John, 3 : 20.' His sentence 
 will be as clear as it will be terrible ; for in the last day the 
 books will be opened — the book of God's omniscience, and the 
 book of thine own conscience. The book of conscience is as 
 it were a transcript or counterpart of God's book for thee to 
 keep in thine own bosom. When God's book and thy own 
 shall be compared and found exactly to agree, there can be 
 no further dispute of the equity of the account. Then God 
 shall charge thee, saying, " Thou knewest this and that to be[ 
 sin, and yet thy lusts hurried thee on to commit it ; is it not ' 
 so ? look, sinner, into thine own book, and see if thy con- 
 science has not so charged it to thy account. Thou knewest 
 prayer was thy duty when thou neglectedst it; and over- 
 
384 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 reaching the ignorant, credulous, and unwary was thy sm 
 when the love of gain tempted thee to it. You knew I had 
 plainly told you that theft, uncleanness, drunkenness, and 
 extortion would bar you out of the kingdom of Christ and of 
 God, 1 Cor. 6 : 9, 10 ; and yet, putting that to the venture, you 
 have lived in those sins; is it not so? Examine the book 
 in your own bosom, and see." Tfie Lord make men sensible 
 of coming wrath for the sins they hve in under light ; for 
 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against them. 
 
 Is the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all 
 who hold the truth in unrighteousness ? Then let me exhort 
 and persuade you by all the regard and love you have for 
 your souls, by all the fears you have of the incensed Avrath 
 of the great and terrible God, that you forthwith set your 
 convictions at liberty, and loose all the Lord's prisoners that 
 lie bound within you : " Because there is wralh, beware." 
 Job 36 : 18. stifle the voice of your conscience no more, 
 slight not the softest whisper or least intimation of con- 
 science ; reverence and obey its voice. Motives pressing 
 and persuading this, are many ; yet estimate them by weight 
 rather than by number. 
 
 Motive 1. -The wrath of God is revealed from heaven 
 against them who hold the truth in unrighteousness ; and 
 because there is wrath, beware. Are you truly informed 
 what the wrath of God is ? " Who knoweth the power of 
 thine anger ? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath." 
 Psalm 90:11. 0, if the wrath of a king, who in all his 
 glory is but a worm, be as the roaring of a lion, and as the 
 messengers of death, Prov. 20 : 2 ; 16:14; what then is the 
 power of His wrath, at whose frowns the kings of the earth 
 tremble, and the captains and the mighty men shrink aM'ay ? 
 If the lesser executions of it by providence in this world be 
 so dreadful that even good men have desired a hiding-place 
 in the grave till it bo past, Job 14 : 13 ; then what is the 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 385 
 
 full execution, thereof upon the ungodly in the place of tor- 
 ment ? If the threats and denunciations of it against others 
 made Habakkuk, though assured of persont^l safety, to quiver 
 with his lips and tremble in his bowels, Hab. 3 : 16 ; how 
 much more should those tremble and quiver who are to be 
 the subject of it, and not the mere heralds of it as he was ? 
 And, which is more than all, if Jesus Christ, who was to 
 feel it but a few hours, and had the power of the Godhead 
 to support him mider it, did, notwithstanding, sweat as it 
 were great drops of blood, and was sore amazed ; think with 
 thyself, poor man, how shall thy heart endure, or thy hands 
 be strong, when thou hast to do with an incensed God ? 
 
 Motive 2. Till you set free your convictions, Satan 
 loill not let you go; he binds you while you bind them. 
 Here is^ the command of God and the command of Satan in. 
 competition. Let my truths ^o free, which thou holdest in 
 unrighteousness, says Jehovah ; bind and suppress them, 
 says Satan, or they will deprive thee of the liberty and pleas- 
 ure of thy life. While thou slightest the voice of God and 
 conscience, dost thou not avowedly declare thyself the bond- 
 slave of Satan ? " His servants ye are to whom ye obey." 
 Rom. 6:16. Dare not to take one step further in the way 
 of known sin, says conscience ; continue not at thy peril in 
 such a dangerous state, after I have so clearly convinced and 
 warned thee of it. Fear not, says Satan, if it be ill with 
 thee, it will be as ill with miUions. God wdll wound the 
 heads of such as go on in their trespasses, says the Scripture. 
 Psalm 68 : 21. Tush, othersvdo so, and escape as well as 
 the most scrupulous, says Satan. Now, I say, thy obedi- 
 ence to Satan's commands plairJy declares thee, all this 
 while, to be a poor enslaved captive to him, acted on and 
 carried according to the prince of the power of the air, the 
 spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. 
 
 Motive 3. Until you obey your convictions, you are con- 
 federates with Satan in a desperate plot against your own 
 
 Chri«t KnockiDff. 17 
 
386 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT TJIE DOOR. 
 
 souls ; you join with Christ's great and avowed enemy to 
 dishonor him and destroy yourselves. Two things make you 
 confederates with Satan against your own souls. First, your 
 consent to this project for your damnation ; for so your own 
 conscience out of the Scriptures informs you it is : consent 
 makes you a party. Second, your concealment of this plot 
 brings you in as a party with him. Confess thy sin, and 
 bewail it, says conscience : not so, says pride and shame ; 
 how shall I look men in the face if I do so ? Do not you, in 
 all this, believe Satan and make God a liar^ Do not you 
 act as men that hate their own souls, and love death ? Prov. 
 8 : 36. it is a dreadful thing for men to be accessory to 
 their own eternal ruin, and that after fair warning and 
 notice given them by their own conscience. Satan, be his 
 power what it will, caimot destroy you without your own 
 consent. 
 
 Motive 4. While you go oyi stifling convictions, and 
 turning aicay your ears from calls to repentarice, you can- 
 TWt he 'pardoned; you are in your sins, and the guilt of them 
 all lies at your door. You see what the terms of remission 
 are : " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
 man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and he' 
 will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he will 
 abundantly pardon." Isa. 55 : 7. So again, " He that cov- 
 ereth his sins shall not prosper : but whoso confesseth and 
 forsaketh them, shall have mercy." Prov. 28 : 13. You 
 see by these, and many more plain scripture testimonies, 
 that there can be no hope of remission while you go ton in 
 this path of rebellion ; concealing, yea, and persisting in 
 your known wickedness. There is a necessary and insepa- 
 rable connection between repentance and remission, Acts 
 6 : 31, and Luke 24 : 47 ; and can you endure to have guilt 
 your companion during life and for ever ? 
 
 Motive 5. You can never have 'peace with conscience 
 while you keep convictions pisoners. A man's pansoience 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 38Y 
 
 is his best friend or his worst enemy ; thence are the sweet- 
 est comrorts, and thence are the bitterest sorrows. It is a 
 dreadful thing for a man to lie with a cold sweating horror 
 upon his panting bosom. And this, or which is worse, obdu- 
 racy and stupidity must be the case of them who hold the 
 truth in unrighteousness. There can be no sounding a 
 retreat to these terrors till Sheba's head be thrown over the 
 walls ; I mean, till that sin which your conscience convinces 
 you of, be delivered up. As Israel could have no peace till 
 Achan was destroyed ; so thou shalt have no peace while 
 thy sin is covered and hid. Men may cry peace, peace, to 
 themselves while they continue in sin, Deut. 29 : 19, but the 
 sharpest troubles of conscience are better than such peace. 
 Deliver up thyself, if thou love peace, into the hands of thy 
 own convictions, and thou art in the true way to peace. 
 Thy rejoicing must be in the testimony of thy conscience, as 
 the apostle speaks, 2 Cor. 1 : 12, or thou rejoicest in a dream, 
 in a delusion, in a thing of naught. 
 
 Motive 6. What dreadful charges are you likely to 
 meet with on your death-beds on account of the sins you 
 have lived in, against knowledge and conviction. Con- 
 science is never more active and vigorous than in the last 
 hours and moments of life. Now it will be stifled and over- 
 ruled no longer. It whispered before, but now it thunders. 
 If a man has a clear and quiet conscience, his evening is 
 clear and his sun sets without clouds : " The end of that 
 man is peace." Psalm 37 : 37. In contemplation of this 
 felicity, Balaam uttered that wish, " Let my last end be like 
 his." Num. 23 : 10. This peace is the result of a man's 
 obedience to the voice of conscience, this being the evidence we 
 can most safely rely upon of our interest in Christ ; but the 
 result of such violations and abuses of thy conscience cannot 
 be peaog to thy soul. It is true, some wicked men die in 
 seeming peace, and some good men in trouble, but both the 
 one and the other are mistaken : the first, as to the good 
 
388 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 estate he fancies himself in, and the other as to his bad 
 estate ; and a few moments will clear up the mistake of 
 each. 
 
 Motive 7. Obedience to conviction will not only produce 
 peace at death, but ivill give you present ease and refresh- 
 ment. No sooner did David resolve to obey the voice of con- 
 science in confessing his sin, but he had ease in his spirit- 
 Psa. 32:5. "The work of righteousness shall be peace; 
 and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for 
 ever." Isa. 32 : 17. On the contrary, you find wicked men. 
 have no rest in their conscience, Job 20 : 20 ; for guilt lies 
 Working there as a thorn in the flesh. And what is life 
 worth without ease ? To live ever in pain, to live upon the 
 rack, is not to live. If, then, you love ease and quietness, obey 
 your conscience ; pull out that thorn — I mean, the sin that 
 sticks fast in thy soul, and pains thy conscience. Who 
 would endure so much anguish for all the flattering pleas- 
 ures of sin ? 
 
 Motive 8. Convictions obeyed are the inlets to Christ 
 and eternal salvation by him; they are the leading of the 
 Spirit, in order to union with Christ. John 16:14. Till 
 you obey and yield up yourselves to them, Christ is shut 
 out of your souls ; he knocks, but finds no entrance. At 
 your peril, therefore, be obedient to their calls. While you 
 parley with your convictions, and demur to their demands, 
 Christ stands without, offering himself graciously to you, but 
 is not admitted ; so that no less than your eternal happiness 
 or misery depends on your obedience or disobedience to the 
 calls of your convictions. 
 
 Motive 9. Obey your convictions, honor their voice, and 
 restrain them not ; then sliall your conscie7ice give a fair 
 testimony for you at the judgment-seat of Christ. You 
 read of the answer of a good conscience toward God, 1 Pet. 
 ^ ; 21 ; than which nothing can be more comfortable. This 
 gives a man boldness in the day of judgment. 1 John, 4:17 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 389 
 
 Believe it, sirs, it is not your baptism, your church privileges, 
 or the opinion men have of you, but the testimony of your 
 conscience, that must be your comfort. I know men are not 
 justified at God's bar by their own obedience, nor by any 
 exactness of life ; it is only Christ's righteousness that is the 
 sinner's plea ; but your obedience to the calls of (rod and con- 
 science is the evidence that you are in Christ. 
 
 Motive 10. Consider wJiat a cJwice mercy it is, to be 
 under such calls and convictions of conscience as may yet 
 he obeyed : it is not so with convictions after -death. Con- 
 science convinces in hell as well as here, but all its convic- 
 tions there are for torment, not recovery. it is a choicfa 
 mercy that your convictions are yet remedial, not purely 
 penal — that you are not fixed in the state of sin and misery 
 as the damned are, but yet enjoy the benefit of your convic- 
 tions; but this you will not enjoy long; therefore I beseech 
 you, by all that is dear and valuable in your eyes, reverence 
 your conscience, and set free the Lord's prisoners which lie 
 bound within you. 
 
 I now come to expostulate the matter with your con- 
 sciences, and propound a few convictive queries to your souls. 
 I am afraid there are many in this wretched case, who hold 
 the truths of God in unrighteousness, though the wrath of 
 God be revealed from heaven against all them that do so. 
 Let me set before you some of God's dealands. 
 
 Demand 1. Do not some of you stand convinced by 
 your own consciences this day, that your hearts and prac- 
 tices are vastly different from those of the people of God 
 among whom you live, and whose character you read in 
 Scripture ? Do not your consciences tell you, thxt you never 
 took the pains for your salvation you see them take ; that 
 there are some in your families, nay, possibly in your bosoms, 
 who are serious and heavenly, while you are vain and 
 earthly — ^who are on their knees wrestling with God, while 
 
890 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 you are about the things of the world ? And does not con- 
 science sometimes whisper thus into thine ear : Soul, thou art 
 not right ; something is wanting to make thee a Christian ; 
 thou wantest that which others have ; and except something 
 further be done within thee, thou wilt be undone for ever ? 
 If it be so, let me advise thee to hearken diligently to this 
 voice of conscience ; do not venture to the judgment-seat of 
 God in such a case : ponder that text, Matt. 21 : 32, "For 
 John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye be- 
 lieved him not : but the pubhcans and the harlots believed 
 him ; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, 
 that ye might believe him ;" and let the dispanty your 
 conscience shows you between your own course and that of 
 others, awaken you to more diligence and seriousness about 
 your own salvation. How canst thou come from the tavern, 
 or thy vain recreations, and find a wife or child in prayer, 
 and thy conscience not smite thee ? It may be, they have 
 been mourning for thy sins while thou hast been committing 
 them. Perhaps there lives not far from thee a godly poor 
 man, who out of his hard and pressing labors redeems more 
 time for his soul in a week, than ever thou didst in thy life. 
 hearken to the voice of thy conscience, else thou art he 
 that boldest truth in unrighteousness. 
 
 Demand 2. Did thy conscience never meet thee in the 
 luay of sin, as the angel of the Lord met Balaam with a 
 drawn sword, brandishing the threatenings of God against 
 thee ? Did it not say to thee, as a captain once said to his 
 soldiers about to retreat, casting himself down in their way, 
 " If you go this way you shall go over your captain, you 
 shall trample him first under your feet ?" " Stop, soul, stop I" 
 said thy conscience ; '* this and that word of God is against 
 thee ; if thou proceed, thou must trample upon the sover- 
 eign authority of God, in this or that command." Yet thy 
 impetuous lusts have hurried thee forward : thou wouldst not 
 feirly debate the case with thy conscience ; and then did not 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 391 
 
 thy conscience say to thee, as Reuben did to his brethren, 
 •* Spake I not unto you, saying. Do not sin against the child ; 
 and ye would not hear ? therefore behold also liis blood is 
 required." Gen. 42 : 22. If this has been your course of 
 sinning, verily you are the persons that have held the truth 
 of God in unrighteousness, and against you the wrath of God 
 is revealed from heaven. 
 
 Demand 3. Have you not seen the wrath of God re- 
 vealed from heaven against other sinners who have gone 
 before you in the same course of sin in which you now go ? 
 and yet you persist in it, notwithstanding such dreadful 
 warnings. Thus did Belshazzar, though he saw all that 
 the God of heaven had done to his father. Dan. 5 : 20-22. 
 You have seen great estates scattered, and their owners that 
 got them by fraud and oppression reduced to beggary ; yet 
 when a temptation is before you, you cannot forbear to take 
 the advantage, as you call it, to get the gain of oppression. 
 You have seen drunkards clothed with rags, and brought to 
 miserable ends — adulterers severely punished, their names 
 and estates, souls and bodies blasted, and wasted by a secret, 
 but just stroke of God. Have you taken warning by these 
 strokes of God, and hearkened to the monitions and cautions 
 your consciences have thereupon given you ? If not, thou 
 art the man who boldest the truth of God in unrighteous- 
 ness. 
 
 Demand 4. Do not your hearts rise against necessary 
 and due reproofs given you by those who love your souls 
 better than you do? If you hate a faithful reprover, though 
 you know you are guilty of the sin he reproves — if you re- 
 criminate or deny in such cases, you are certainly so far con- 
 siderate with Satan against your own soul, and imprison 
 your own convictions. 
 
 Demand 5. Have not some of you apostatized from 
 your ^rst profession^ and are not those hopeful blossoms 
 which once appeared upon your souls blighted and gone ? 
 
392 CHUIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOH. 
 
 You had lively convictions and melting affections, tenderness 
 in your conscience and zeal for duties ; but all is now van- 
 ished ; your affections are cold and your duties are omitted, 
 though conscience often bids you remember from w^hence 
 you are fallen, and do your first works. You are the persons 
 guilty of this sin. 
 
 Demand 6. Do none of you presume upon future re- 
 pentarwe, and make bold with your conscience for the pres- 
 ent, thinldng thus to compound with it ? This argues thee 
 to be a self condemned man, and one holding truth in un- 
 righteousness : thy sin is present and certain, thy repentance 
 but a peradventure. 2 Tim. 2 : 25. This is a daring way 
 of presumptuous sinning. 
 
 Demand 7. Have none of you taken the vows of God 
 upon you to break off' your iniquities by repentance, when 
 you have been in dangerous sickness on shore, or dreadful 
 tempests at sea ? Have you not said, Lord, if thou wilt but 
 spare me this once, I will never live in the way I have lived 
 any more : try me, Lord, this once ; and yet, when that 
 affliction has vanished, your purposes and promises to God 
 have vanished with it : you are the persons that hold the 
 known truths of God prisoners in your souls. And to all 
 these seven sorts of sinners, this text may justly be as the 
 handwriting upon the wall once was, even a mene tekel 
 that may make thy very loins to shake. Dan. 5 : 25—31. 
 
 This doctrine furnishes important directions for the pre- 
 vention of such presumptuous sins in men, that truth may 
 have its free course through their souls. 
 
 Direction 1 . And to this end my first direction is, that 
 you fail not to put every conviction into speedy execution. 
 Do not delay ; it is a critical hour, and delays are exceedingly 
 hazardous. Convictions are fixed and secured in men's souls 
 four ways. First, by deep and serious consideration : *' I 
 thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimo- 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 393 
 
 nies." Psalm 119: 59. Secondly, by earnest prayer : thus 
 Saul, under his first convictions, fell on his knees : " Behold, 
 he prayeth." Acts 9:11. The breath of prayer foments 
 and nourishes the sparks of conviction, that they be not ex- 
 tinct. Thirdly, by diligent attendance on the word. The 
 word begets conviction, and the word can through God's 
 blessing preserve it. Fourthly, by performing, without de- 
 lay, the duty thou art convinced of. " If any be a hearer of 
 the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding 
 his natural face in a glass ; for he beholdeth himself, and 
 goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of 
 man he was." James 1 : 23, 24. Take the sense thus : a 
 man looks into the glass in the morning, and perhaps he sees 
 a spot on his face, or a disorder in his hair or clothes, and 
 thinks with himself, I will rectify it anon ; but being gone 
 from the place, one thing or other diverts his mind, he forgets 
 what he saw, and goes all the day with the spot on his face, 
 never thinking of it more. brethren, delays are dangerous, 
 sin is deceitful, Heb. 3 : 13 ; Satan is subtle, 2 Cor, 11:3, 
 and in this way he gains his point. This motto may be 
 written on the tomb of most that perish : " Here lies one 
 that was destroyed by delays." Your life is uncertain, so 
 are the strivings of the Spirit. Besides, there is a mighty 
 advantage in^he first impulse of the soul. When thy heart 
 is once up in warm affections and resolutions, the work may 
 be easily done ; as a bell, if once up, goes easily, but is hard 
 to raise when down. See, in 2 Chron. 29 : 36, what advan- 
 tage there is in a present warm frame. Besides, the nature 
 of these things is too serious and weighty to be postponed and 
 delayed. You cannot get out of the danger of hell, or into 
 Christ too soon. Moreover, every repetition of sin after con- 
 viction greatly aggravates it. For it is in sinning as in num- 
 bering, if the first be one, the second is ten, the third a hun- 
 dred, and the fourth a thousand. And to conclude, think 
 what you will, you can never have a fitter season than the 
 
394 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 present : the same difficulties you have to-day, you will have 
 to-morrow, and it may be greater. Begin at once, therefore, 
 to execute your convictions. 
 
 Direction 2. If you would be clear from this great 
 wickedness of holding the truth in unrighteousness, see that 
 you reverence the voice and authority of your conscience ; 
 and resolve with Job, " My heart shall not reproach me so 
 long as I live." Job 27 : 6. There are two considerations 
 fitted to beget reverence in men to the voice of their con- 
 sciences. 
 
 (1.) Conscience obeyed and kept pure and inviolate, is 
 thy best friend on earth. "Our rejoicing is this, the testi- 
 mony of our conscience." 2 Cor. 1:12. The very heathen 
 could say, " A good conscience is a wall of brass." "What 
 comforted Hezekiah on his supposed death-bed, but the testi- 
 mony his conscience gave of his integrity? 2 Kings, 20 : 3. 
 Solomon says, " The backslider m heart shall be filled with 
 his own ways ; and a good man shall be satisfied from him- 
 self." Prov. 14 : 14. Mark the opposition ; conscience gives 
 the backshder a heart full of sorrow, while the heart of the 
 upright man is full of peace. He is satisfied firom himself, 
 that is, from his own conscience, which though it be not the 
 original spring, yet is the conduit at which he drinks peace, 
 joy, and encouragement. 
 
 (2.) Conscience wounded and abused udll be our worst 
 enemy; no poniards are so mortal as the wounds of con- 
 science. "A wounded spirit who can bear ?" Prov. 18 : 14. 
 Could Judas bear it, or could Spira bear it ? What is the 
 torment of hell, but the worm that dies not ; and what is 
 that worm, but the remorse of conscience ? Mark 9 : 44. Oh, 
 what is that fearful expectation mentioned by the apostle, 
 Heb. 10 : 27 ; and what sorrows are those described, Deut. 
 28 : 65, 66. The primitive Christians chose rather to be cast 
 to the lions than into the power of an enraged conscience. 
 Every little trouble will be insupportable to a sick and 
 

 THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 395 
 
 wounded conscience, as a quart of water would be to your 
 shoulder in a great vessel of lead. 
 
 Oh, if men did but fear their own consciences, if they 
 reverenced themselves, as the moralist speaks, if they exer- 
 cised themselves to have always a conscience void of offence, 
 as Paul did, Acts 24 : 16, then would they be clear of this 
 great sin of holding the truth in unrighteousness. 
 
 Direction 3. If you would escape the guilt and danger 
 of holding God's truth in unrighteousness, keep your hearts 
 under the awful se?ise of the day of judgment, when every 
 secret thing must come into judgment, and conscience like a 
 register-book is to be opened and examined. The considera- 
 tion of that day gives your conscience a seven-fold defence 
 against sin. First, it incites every man to get real, solid 
 grace, and not rest in an empty profession, and this secures 
 us from formal hypocrisy, that we be not found foolish vir- 
 gins. Matt. 25 : 3. Second, it excites us to the diligent 
 improvement of our talents, that we be not found slothful 
 servants, neglecting any duty to which God and conscience 
 call us. Matt. 25:21. Third, it confirms and establishes 
 us in the ways of God, that we wound riot conscience by 
 apostasy. 1 John, 2 : 28. Fourth, it is a loud call to every 
 man to repent, and not to lie stupid and senseless, under 
 guilt. Acts 17:30, 31. fifth, it is a powerful antidote 
 against formality in religion, the general and dangerous dis- 
 ease of professors. Matt. 7 : 22, 23. Sixth, it excites holy 
 fear and watchfulness in the whole course of life. 1 Peter, 
 1 : 17. Seventh, it puts us not only on our watch, but on 
 our knees in fervent prayer. 1 Peter, 4:7. 
 
 And he who feels such effects as these from the consider- 
 ation of that day, is fortified against the sin my text warns 
 us of, and dares not hold the truth of God in unrighteous- 
 ness. It is our indifference as to a judgment to come, and 
 ignorance of the nature of it, which embolden us to neglect 
 known duties and commit known sins. Amos 6:3:2 Pet. 
 
396 CHRIST KNOCKINa AT THE DOOR. 
 
 3:3,4. If our thoughts and meditations were engaged more 
 frequently and seriously on such an awful subject, we should 
 rather choose to die than to do violence to our consciences. 
 
 Direction 4. Get true apprehensions of the moral evil 
 that is in sin, and of the penal evil that follows ; then 
 no temptation shall prevail vidth you to commit sin that you 
 may escape a present trouble, or neglect a known duty to 
 accommodate any earthly interest, and consequently to hold 
 no truth of God in imrighteousness. It is fear of loss and 
 sufferings that so often overbears conscience ; but if men 
 were thoroughly sensible that the least sin is worse than the 
 greatest affliction or suffering, the peace of conscience would 
 be well secured. That this is really so, appears thus : first, 
 afflictions do not make a man vile in the sight of God. A 
 man may be under manifold afflictions, and yet very precious 
 in God's accoimt, Heb. 11 : 36-38; but sin makes man vile 
 in the sight of God. Dan. 9 : 14. Second, afflictions do not 
 put men under the curse of God ; blessings and afflictions 
 may go together, Psa. 94 : 12, but sin brings the soul under 
 the curse. Gal. 3:10. Third, afflictions make men more 
 like God, Heb. 12 : 10 ; but sin makes us more like Satan. 
 
 1 John, 3:8; John 8 : 34. Fourth, afflictions for conscience' 
 sake are but the creature's wrath inflamed against us ; but 
 sin is the inflamer of God's wrath against us, as in the 
 text. Fifth, afflictions are but outward evils on the body ; 
 but sin is an internal evil on the soul. Prov. 8 : 36. 
 Sixth, afflictions for duty's sake have many sweet promises 
 annexed to them. Matt. 5:10; but sin has none. Seventh, 
 the effects of sufferings for Christ are sweet to the soul, 
 
 2 Cor. 7 : 4, but the fruits of sin are bitter ; it yields 
 nothing but shame and fear. Eighth, afflictions for Christ 
 are the way to heaven, but sin is the broad way to hell. 
 Rom. 6 : 23. Ninth, sufferings for duty are but for a mo- 
 ment, 2 Cor. 4 : 17 ; but sufferings for sin will bo eternal. 
 Mark 9 : 44. 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLINa CONVICTION. 397 
 
 If such thouglits might be suffered to dwell with us, how 
 would they guard the conscience against temptations, and 
 secure our peace and purity. 
 
 Direction 5. Be thoroughly persuaded of this great 
 truth, that God takes great pleasure in uj^rightness, and 
 will own and honor integrity amidst all the dangers which 
 befall it. Psa. 11:7; Prov. 11 : 20. When he would en- 
 courage Abraham to a life of integrity, he engages his 
 almighty power for his protection in that way : "I am the 
 Almighty God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect." 
 Gen. 17 : 1. " The Lord God is a sun and shield ; the 
 Lord will give grace and glory ; no good thing will he 
 withhold from them that walk uprightly." Psa. 84: 11. 
 An upright man is the boast of heaven, Job 1 : 8, because 
 he bears the image of God. *' The righteous Lord loveth 
 righteousness." Psa. 11:7. And if integrity brings men 
 into trouble, they may be sure the Lord will bring them out. 
 " Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord 
 deUvereth him out of them all." Psa. 34 : 19. How safely 
 then may they leave themselves in the hands of his infinite 
 wisdom, power, and fatherly care. Nay, God is not only 
 the protector y but also the reivarder of conscientious integ- 
 rity, Psa. 18 : 20 ; and that in four ways. First, in the in- 
 ward peace it yields : " The work of righteousness shall be 
 peace ; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assur- 
 ance for ever." Isa. 32 : 17. But the effect of sinful and car- 
 nal policy is shame and sorrow. Second, in the success and 
 issue of it ; it not only turns to God's glory, but it answers 
 and accommodates our own designs and ends far better than 
 our sinful projects can do. Prov, 28 : 23. Third, great 
 is the joy resulting from it in the day of death. 2 Kings, 
 20 : 3 ; Psahn 37 : 37. Fourth, in the world to come. 
 Psalm 49 : 14. Were this duly considered and believed, 
 men would choose rather to part with life than with the 
 purity and peace of their consciences. They would sufi'et 
 
398 CHRIST KKOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 
 
 all wrongs and injuries rather than do conscience the least 
 injury. 
 
 Direction 6. Do rwt idolize the worlds nor overvalue 
 the trifles of this life : it is the love of the world which/ 
 makes men violate the rules of their own conscience, ' 
 2 Tim. 4:10; it is this that makes men strain hard to get 
 loose from the ties of conscience. The young man was con-, 
 vinced, but the world was too hard for his convictions, Luke 
 18 : 23 ; the degree of his sorrow was according to the 
 degree of his love of the world. It is not having, but over- 
 loving the world that ruins us ; it is a worldly heart which 
 makes men turn and dissemble at the rate they do, in time 
 of temptation. Could you once dethrone this idol, how safe 
 would your conscience be. The church is described as 
 clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet. Rev. 
 12 : 1 ; the most zealous age of the church was the age of 
 poverty. Try then these considerations upon your hearts, 
 to loose them from the inordinate love of the world. First, 
 what good will the world do when you have lost your integ- 
 rity for its sake, and peace is taken away from the inner 
 man ? "What joy of the world had Judas, and what com- 
 fort had Spira ? If you part with your integrity for it, God 
 will blast it and it shall yield you no joy. Second, except 
 you renounce the world, you are renounced by Christ : dis- 
 claim it, or he will disclaim you. Luke 14 : 33. No man 
 can be admitted into Christ's service, but by sealing this 
 covenant with him. Third, whatever loss you shall sustain 
 for Christ and conscience, he stands pledged to repair it to 
 you, and that with an infinite overplus. Mark 10 : 29, 30. 
 Fourth, in a word all the riches, pleasures, and honors in 
 the world are not able to give you such joy and heart-re- 
 freshing comfort as the acquitting and cheering voice of your 
 own consciences can do. Settle these things in your hearts 
 as defences against this danger. 
 
 DiEECTioN 7. Be^ of God, and labor to get more Chris- 
 
THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 399 
 
 tian courage and magnanimity; for want of this, con- 
 science is often overborne against its own light and convic- 
 tion : Christian magnanimity is the security of conscience. 
 It is excellent and becoming a Christian to be able to face 
 any thing but the frowns of God and his own conscience. 
 All the famous champions of truth and witnesses for God 
 who came victorious out of the field of temptation, with safe 
 and unwounded consciences, were men of courage and reso- 
 lution. Dan. 3:16; Heb. 11:27; Acts 21:13. And 
 what is this Christian courage but the fixed resolution of the 
 soul to encounter all dangers, all sufferings, all reproaches, 
 pains, and losses, in the strength of assisting grace, which 
 shall assault us in the way of our duty ? and so it stands 
 opposed in Scripture to the spirit of fear, Heb. 1 1 : 27 ; to 
 shame, Mark 8 : 38 ; to apostasy, Heb. 10 : 39. He must 
 neither be afraid nor ashamed, nor lose one inch of ground 
 for the sake of whatsoever dangers he meets with, and that 
 because he has embraced Christianity upon those terms, and 
 was told of all this before, John 16:1; because there is no 
 retreating, but to our own ruin, Heb. 10 : 38 ; because he 
 owes all this, and much more than this, to Christ, Phil. 
 1 : 29 ; because he understands the value of his soul above 
 his body, and of eternal things beyond all temporal concerns, 
 Matt. 10 : 28 ; and, in a word, because he believes the 
 promises of God's assistance and reward, Heb. 11 : 25-27. 
 
 my friends, were our fears thus subdued, and our 
 faith thus exalted, how free and safe would truth be in our 
 consciences I He who owns any truth for the sake of a living, 
 or to promote worldly interest by it, will disown that truth 
 when it comes to live upon him, let conscience plead what 
 it will ; but he that has agreed with Christ upon these terms, 
 and is content to be miserable for ever if there be not enough 
 in Christ to make him happy, this man will be a steady 
 Christian, and will rather lie in the worst prison, than im- 
 prison God's known truths in unrighteousness. 
 
400 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I HAVE now delivered my message. I have set before 
 you the Lord Jesus in the glory of his free-grace and conde- 
 scending love to sinners. that I had had skill and ability 
 to do it better ! I have wooed and expostulated with you 
 on Christ's behalf; I have labored according to my little 
 measure of strength, to cast up and prepare the way by 
 removing the stumbling-blocks and discouragements out of 
 it. This has been a time of conviction to many of you, 
 some have no longer held their convictions under restraint, 
 but many, I fear, do so ; and therefore I have in the close 
 of all handled this awakening scripture, to show you what 
 a horrid evil it is to detain God's truths in unrighteousness. 
 I have also, in the name and by the authority of God, de- 
 manded all the Lord's prisoners, his suppressed and restrained 
 truths, at your hands : if you will unbind your convictions 
 this day, and cut asunder the bonds of carnal fear and 
 shame with which you restrain them, those truths you 
 make free will make you free indeed ; if not, but you will 
 still go on stifling and suppressing them in your own bosoms, 
 remember they are so many witnesses prepared to give evi- 
 dence against you in the great day. And that while you 
 delay this duty, the sound of this text may never be out of 
 your ears, nor suffer you to rest : " The wrath of God is re- 
 vealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteous- 
 ness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." 
 
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