horrid to appearance as other men's are, yet, continued in, they will prove as mortal and deftructive as thofe greater abominations of No fin, abfolutely confidered, is finall. Every fin is mortal and damning without Chrift, Rom. vi. ult. The wages of fin is death. It is no great odds, if a man be killed, whether it were by a broad fword, or by a fmall penknife. The leaft fin violates the whole law, James ii. 10. "He that offendeth in one point "is guilty of all." The least tranfgreffion of the law pulls down the guilt and curfe of the whole law upon the finner's head. And this is your mifery, that you are out of Christ, and stand under the rigorous terms of the first covenant Moreover, the law of God is violated grofsly and externally; or spiritually, and more internally. Thus every unchafte thought is adultery: And the very inward burning of malice and anger in the heart is murder. Now, if the Lord fhall bring the fpiritual sense of the law home to your confciences, as he did to Paul's, Rom. vii. 9. you will certainly give up that plea, and you have not so much need of converfion as other finners have. There are fins of greater infamy, and fins of deeper guilt. There may be more guilt in those fins that are stifled in thy heart, and never defamed thee, than there may be in fome fins that make a louder noise in the world.

Confid. 2. You are guilty of one fin (how civil and blameless foever your lives are) which is certainly more great and heinous than any outward act of fin can ordinarily be, and that is, your trufting to your own righteousness, as the Pharifees did, Luke xviii. 9. "He spake this parable unto certain which trufted in themselves "that they were righteous, and defpifed others." Here is an idol of jealoufy fet up in the room of Chrift. It is true, this fin makes not fo loud a noife in the world, raises not fuch a duft as the fins of profane ones do. But certainly it is as abominable in the eyes of God as the fins that stink fo much in the noftrils of nature. vilized perfons, thus trufting to their own civility, and neglecting Jefus Chrift, will be one day put into the van of that wretched crew that are going to hell; a portion with unbelievers, as the fcripture fpeaks.

Ci

Confid. 3. Lastly, It hath been always found a more rare and difficult thing to convince and bring home to Chrift the civilized part of the world, than it is to convince and work upon the profane part of it, Matth. xxi. 31. " Publicans and harlots go into "the kingdom of God before you." Publicans were reckoned the vileft fort of men, and harlots the worit fort of women; yet, either of these were easier to be brought to Chrift than self-righteous Pharifees. Well then, away with your vain and idle pretenfions, that your cafe is fafer and better than others. By what bath been faid, it evidently appears, that you ftand in as much

need of Chrift as the most infamous finners in the world do.

III. Use.

This point winds up in encouragement to every willing and obedient foul, whom the Lord fhall perfuade to comply with the call of the gospel, whatever his former rebellions have been. There are fome whose hearts the Lord hath touched with a deep fense of their fin and mifery, and of the all-fufficient remedy that is in Chrift; but the sense of former rebellions appals and daunts them; they cannot hope for any acceptance with him. Here is good news for fuch fouls; Chrift is at the door, and former rebellions are no bar to him, provided there be now a hearty compliance with his voice; I will come unto him. A glorious promife, comprifing five ineftimable benefits and mercies in it. (1.) This is the most glorious work of God that ever was, or can be wrought upon the heart of a poor finner, to open it by repentance and faith, and put Chrift into the full poffeffion of it. The power of all the angels in heaven, ministers on earth, duties and ordinances, cannot effect this; this is the peculiar work of God, 1 Cor. i. 30. "But of him are "ye in Chrift Jefus." Look, as it were the marvelous work of God to unite our nature unto Christ, by an hypoftatical union; so it is no less a marvelous work of God to unite our perfons to Chrift by a myftical union, to prepare the foul as a habitation for Christ, and give him the poffeffion of it. (2.) This coming of Christ into the foul is the very foundation of all our hopes for glory; until this be done, we are without hope. But in the fame hour Chrift comes into the foul, a folid foundation of the hopes of glory is laid in that foul, Col. i. 27. " which is Chrift in you, the hope of glo"ry." I know the unregenerate world is full of hope; but their hopes are built upon the fand. Union with Chrift is the steady foundation on which the hopes of heaven are laid. (3.) I will come unto him; that is, to dwell in his foul for ever, never to leave him more: therefore (Eph. iii. 17.) he is faid to dwell in our hearts by faith; not fojourn for a night, but abide there for ever. Nothing can feparate Chrift and that foul, Rom. viii. 35. Thy foul fhall never be an habitation for Satan any more. When Chrift comes in, he faith, as of the temple, "Here will I dwell for ever." (4.) This coming in of Chrift entitles the foul to all fpiritual privileges, 1 John v. 12. "He that hath the Son, hath life:" and, 1 Cor. iii. ult. "All is yours, for ye are Chrift's." (5.) This is the highest honour that ever God put upon a creature, I will come in to him. O, how fhould the foul feel itself advanced by fuch an honour as this! What, to be the living tempie of Jefus Christ! for Chrift to dwell, and walk in thy foul! as it is 2 Cor. vi. 16. I tell you, this is an honour beyond and above the honour done to angels.

And, how near art thou to all these bleffed privileges, in the day that thy heart is wounded for fin! Thy thoughts become folicitous about union with Chrift, and thy will begins to bow and yield after a serious debate of the terms of the gospel in thy most folemn thoughts. Now is the door half open, and Christ ready to make his first entrance into thy foul. God forbid any thing should now hinder the completing of fo great work.

SERMON VIII.

REVEL. iii. 20.

Behold, Iftand at the door, and knock; [if any man hear my voice,] and open the door, I will come in to him, and will fup with him, and he with me.

IN

[N the former fermons, Chrift's free and general invitation to finners hath been confidered; in the next place, we are to take into confideration the principal means or inftrument by which the heart of a finner is opened to receive Chrift; and that is not by the native power of his own will, not by the alone efficacy of the gofpel preached, but by the voice of Jefus Chrift, which opens the will, and makes the perfuafions of the gofpel effectual. If any man

bear my

voice.

Hearing is either external, or internal; for the foul hath its ear, as well as the body. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what "the Spirit faith unto the churches," Rev. ii. 17. i. e. He that hath a fpiritual ear to perceive and judge the voice of the Spirit by. And it is a fore judgment when God denies fuch an ear to the foul, Ifa. vi. 9. "Go tell this people, hear ye indeed, but un"derftand not." Spiritual hearing is the work of the inner man. And though we have many auditors, yet, in this fenfe, no more hearers than believers. Words of fenfe do in fcripture connote affections. This hearing of Chrift's voice implies not only the receiving of the found of the gofpel into the external organ; but it notes the work of the understanding, which by the ear trieth words, as the mouth tafteth meat, Job xii. 11. And the work of the affections, which receive the truth in love, 2 Theff. ii. 10. It also implies the obedience of the foul to what we hear. We cannot be faid, in this fenfe, to hear what we obey not. Our minds may be delighted with the pleafant air and melody of the gospel, and yet it is all one as if we heard it not, when obedience doth not follow hearing, Ezek. xxxiii. 32. "Thou art unto them a very lovely fong, "&c. for they hear thy words, but they do them not." But in

this place it efpecially fignifies the vital found of Chrift's efficacious internal voice, which is the principal of fpiritual life to the fouls of dead finners; according to that expreffion of Christ, John v. 25. "Verily, verily I fay unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, "when the dead fhall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they

"that hear fhall live."

From hence the eighth Observation will be this,

Doct. 8. That no man's will favingly and effectually opens to receive Chrift, until the fpiritual quickening voice of Christ be first heard by the foul.

Now, touching this almighty fpiritual voice of Chrift, by which the hearts of finners are effectually opened, fix things must be explained in order.

1. The divers forts and kinds of Chrift's voices.

2. The general nature of this internal voice.

3. The innate characters and special properties of it.

4. The objects to whom it is directed.

5. The motives inducing Christ to speak to one, and not to another.

6. The fpecial effects wrought and fealed by it upon every foul

that hears it.

First, We will fpeak of the divers forts and kinds of Christ's voices. I am here only concerned about two, viz.

1. His external.

2. His internal voice.

1. There is an external voice of Chrift, which we may call his minifterial voice in the preaching of the gofpel. The fcriptures are his word, and ministers his mouth, Jer. xv. 19. He that heareth them, heareth Chrift.

1. There is alfo an internal energetical voice of Christ, confifting not in found, but power: and betwixt these two, there are two remarkable differences. (1.) The external or minifterial voice of Chrift, is but the organ or inftrument of conveying his internal and efficacious voice to the foul; in the former he speaks to the ear, and in or by that found conveys his fpiritual voice to the heart. (2.) The external voice is evermore ineffectual and fuccefslefs, when it is not animated by that internal spiritual voice. It was marvelous to fee the walls of Jericho falling to the ground at the found of ramshorns; there was certainly more than the force of an external blaft to produce fuch an effect; but more marvelous it is, to fee at the found of the gospel, not only the weapons of iniquity falling out of finner's hands, but the very enmity itfelf out of their hearts. Here you fee is a voice in a voice, an internal efficacy in the external found; without which the gofpel makes no faving impreffion.

Secondly, This fpiritual voice of Chrift must be confidered in its general nature, which implies two things in it:

1. Almighty efficacy.

2. Great facility.

1. Almighty efficacy, to quicken and open the heart with a word: 0 what manner of voice is this, which carries fuch a vital power along with it! In all the mighty works of Chrift, his power was ftill put forth in fome voice, as at the refurrection of Lazarus, John xi. 43. "He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth; "and he that was dead came forth." So in curing the deaf man, Mark vii. 34." He faith unto him, Ephphatha, and ftraightway his "ears were opened." Thus, in the exerting of his Almighty glorious power in quickening a foul fpiritually dead, and opening the heart that was lockt up by ignorance and unbelief; an internal almighty efficacy paffeth from Chrift, along with the voice of the gofpel, to effect this glorious work upon the foul: an emblem whereof we have in Ezek. xxxvii. 9, 10. "Then faid he unto me, prophefy unto the wind, prophefy, fon of man, unto the wind, "faith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, "and breathe upon thefe flain, that they may live. So I prophe"fied 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 in, or with the four winds of heaven, as this almighty power of Chrift doth with the found of the gospel; and before it the heart opens, the will bows, Pfal. cx. 3. Man can no longer oppofe the power of God; man and man ftand upon equal ground; the power of man can repel the power of a fellow-creature; but when the power of Chrift comes along with the voice of man, there is no more power to resist. *This voice of Chrift then, of which the text fpeaks, is an almighty impreffion made upon the foul of a finner from heaven, which is to that foul inftead of a voice; and as fully expreffive of God's mind concerning it, as any articulate voice in the world can be. It is a beam of light thining inmediately from the Spirit, into the foul of a finner; as plainly and evidently discovering both its danger and duty, as if a voice from heaven had declared them. Thus it is faid, Ifa. viii. 11. The Lord fpake to Ifaiah with a ftrong hand, that is, by a mighty impreffion upon the prophet's fpirit, which was as a voice to him. Thus here, the Lord not only directs a fuitable word to a finner's condition; but also impreffes it with such a strong hand upon his heart, as leaves no doubt behind it, but that it was the Lord himself that

* This voice and this knocking fignify the thoughts which God injects, in order to awaken the finner's confcience; this God doth fometimes, not always. Pool's Synopfis on this place.